Southern Brave wristspinner Jake Lintott reflects on two powerhouse innings against champions

Jake Lintott17-Aug-2022We are disappointed with how we’ve played in the first half of the group stages, with one win and three defeats in our first four games. There’s no excuses: we’ve just been a little bit off the pace.We had a week off after our first game and struggled to find our rhythm against Birmingham Phoenix. We played London Spirit two days later, who have gone really well. We did a lot of things right but just left ourselves a bit too much to do. On Sunday, against Oval Invincibles, we were pretty poor.Will Smeed and Will Jacks both scored hundreds against us and played really well, but we’re not naive: that doesn’t just happen randomly. It’s not a case of being unlucky that we’ve had two great innings against us. We tried to stick to plans against them but we probably fed their strengths. We have to be better moving forwards.Injuries don’t help any team. At the draft, the seam attack that was put together featured Jofra Archer, Tymal Mills, Chris Jordan and Craig Overton. At various stages, all four of them have been unavailable. Clearly, we’ve been a little bit unlucky there but we still feel like we have the players to win games. It’s quite simple from here: we have to have a proper shot at winning every game if we’re going to qualify.As I see it, there’s no reason why we can’t. It only takes one person to play a special innings or bowl a special spell, and things can change really quickly. Our overseas players – Quinton de Kock, Tim David and Marcus Stoinis – haven’t quite fired yet but they are all world-class performers and will come good at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later.We play Manchester Originals on Thursday, who won their first game last night after starting with three defeats. They have a really strong batting line-up on paper and it’s really important that we plan well before then. Joe Maiden, our analyst, sends through all the opposition information a couple of days before a game, which will outline each batter’s strengths, weaknesses, where to bowl, where not to bowl, all of their preferences.Will Jacks walks off after making 108 not out against Southern Brave•Getty ImagesSome people won’t spend long looking at it and others will spend a lot of time on it. I’m quite thorough, just because I came into the professional game late: analysis is such a big thing now, and it’s all I really know. For others, who have played for 10 or 15 years, they are happy to focus on themselves. I’ll go through everything with Graeme Welch, the bowling coach, and then we’ll have a meeting with him, Joe and Mahela Jayawardene to make sure our plans marry up.It’s quite a thorough process, just making sure our plans are ready so that if we execute them on the night, we can really shut batters down. Sometimes you find things out that you didn’t know about batters and that means it’s worth looking into: you might find out that, randomly, a particular batter struggles to score against wide cut-balls.Manchester’s line-up is very strong: Jos Buttler and Phil Salt opening up, plus some quality overseas players like Andre Russell and Tristan Stubbs in the middle order. It’ll be a good test for us, and an opportunity to put things right. Personally, I’m really looking forward to the challenge of bowling against some of the best players in the world.The standard this season has been very high. Every team is star-studded and going up against the world’s best is a great gauge of where you’re at. A lot of the overseas players this year are big names which adds pressure, but I have to try and break the game down so that I’m really clear with my plans.It’s easy when you’re in the flow of the game to end up just bowling without thinking, and that’s when you can make mistakes. I’ve been a little bit disappointed with certain deliveries, but that’s part and parcel of bowling wristspin. I’ve still got a lot of confidence in myself that I can make a big impact on games moving forward.I’m really looking forward to playing against Jos. We trained together at Somerset when we were much younger, and we played a bit of school cricket against each other: he went to King’s College, Taunton, and I was at Queen’s. He was still as formidable then as he is now. I haven’t come across him much since then but Thursday should be a really good challenge, bowling to one of the best batters in the world.

How many can you get right?

Sreshth Shah24-Apr-2021 .

And in which one-day international did brothers make their debuts for opposing sides?

Steven Lynch12-Jan-2021Is it true that some of the characters in the musical are named after cricketers?

Knowing that the lyricist of Chess was the cricket-loving Tim Rice – he was MCC’s president in 2002 – I thought this was quite likely. And it’s true: the world champion in the stage musical is called Freddie Trumper, after the great Golden Age Australian batsman Victor Trumper, while one of the Americans in his delegation (he’s also a CIA agent) is Walter de Courcey, after the Australian batsman Jim de Courcy, who toured England in 1953. The musical’s Russian grandmaster Anatoly Sergievsky does not appear to be based on any former wearers of the baggy green cap.Tim Rice has previous form when it comes to slipping in cricket references: he confused American onlookers at the 1995 Oscar ceremony after receiving an Academy Award for the music for The Lion King, as his acceptance speech thanked (among others) Denis Compton, “a childhood hero”. A flustered spokesperson had to admit: “We don’t know who Denis Compton is. He doesn’t appear to be at Disney Studios or have anything to do with them.”I know there hasn’t yet been a Test triple-century in Ireland. But is there any other country which hasn’t had one? asked Michael O’Kelly from Ireland

Apart from Ireland, where there has only been one Test so far (the only century was Kevin O’Brien’s 118 against Pakistan in 2018), there have also been no triple-centuries in Tests in Zimbabwe, where the highest score is Kumar Sangakkara’s 270 for Sri Lanka in Bulawayo in May 2004.More surprisingly perhaps, there has not yet been a triple-century in the 241 Test matches played in South Africa. The highest is Gary Kirsten’s epic 14.5-hour 275 against England in Durban in 1999-2000, which sneaked past Graeme Pollock’s rather quicker 274 against Australia, also at Kingsmead, in 1969-70. In all there have been 18 double-centuries in Tests in South Africa, and nine in Zimbabwe.In which Test was the wicketkeeper the first bowler to take an opposition wicket? asked Ajith de Silva from Sri Lanka

This unlikely feat was actually achieved by the Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu, in a Test against Sri Lanka in Harare in May 2004. Sri Lanka’s openers, Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, had already cruised past Zimbabwe’s modest first-innings total of 199. Taibu, who was playing in his 15th Test but, aged 20, captaining in his first, decided to take off the pads and have a bowl for the first time – and ended the first-wicket stand at 281. It remained the only time Taibu bowled in a Test, although he did strike twice in ODIs.Keeper Tatenda Taibu bowled in a Test for the first time on his captaincy debut, and broke a 281-run first-wicket stand between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya• Arif Ali/AFP/Getty ImagesI seem to remember hearing about a batsman walking off in a Sheffield Shield game thinking he had been caught, but the dismissal going down as retired as he hadn’t been. Who was this? asked Ross McDonald from Australia

This strange “dismissal” concerned Graeme Watson, the batting allrounder who played five Tests for Australia, and was the first to represent three states (Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales) in the Sheffield Shield. In his first match for Western Australia, in Perth in 1971-72, Watson had made 145 when he cut a ball from left-armer Warwick Neville into the gully and walked off, convinced he had been caught by Don Allen. After play the umpires informed Watson that he hadn’t been caught at all, and instructed the scorers to record the dismissal as “retired out”. I’ve never discovered why they didn’t tell him before he left the playing area.A similar thing happened to the Surrey and England bowler James Southerton, when playing against MCC at The Oval in 1870. Wisden reported: “Southerton cut a ball hard on the ground, which Mr [WG] Grace at point caught from the bound. Southerton thought the ball went straight from the bat to Mr Grace’s hands, but neither of the umpires, point, nor any other man but Southerton thought so (Mr Grace did not toss up the ball); however, Southerton walked away, and although called back, did not walk back, so he lost his innings.”It also calls to mind a timid tailender in a 1920s county match, who was facing a rapid spell from Nottinghamshire’s Harold Larwood. He is supposed to have edged the ball and walked off, despite the fielders telling him the ball had bounced in front of the wicketkeeper, saying “It was close enough for me!”In which one-day international did brothers make their debuts – for opposing sides? asked Tom Johnston from England

The match in question was England’s first official one-day international against Ireland, in Belfast in June 2006. Dublin-born Ed Joyce opened the batting for England, and later his younger brother Dominick Joyce faced the first ball for Ireland (he was out to the third, from Steve Harmison).Ed later returned to play for Ireland, and appeared in their first Test match, against Pakistan in Dublin in 2018, before announcing his retirement. Another brother, Gus Joyce played for Ireland in an unofficial international in 2000, and their twin sisters Cecelia and Isobel had long careers with the Ireland women’s team.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page or Steven Lynch’s email to ask your stats and trivia questions

Fast bowler looked a shadow of himself in the game against India but that’s not the case anymore

Danyal Rasool12-Nov-202218:37

Shaheen Shah Afridi: the rise of the falcon

As Shaheen Shah Afridi trots in to bowl to Virat Kohli, it’s difficult to imagine a more favourable scenario for Pakistan. The premier T20 fast bowler in the world – his prime years ahead of him – faces up to Kohli, whose prime years are almost certainly behind him. By his lofty standards, Kohli’s had a torrid time of it of late, especially so in this shortest format, where the refinement of his game increasingly looks like an anachronism in the age of power hitting. India need 48 off three overs, and Afridi’s been brought on to kill off the game.But there’s something not quite right here. Afridi lumbers in as if encumbered, and when he gets into his stride, appears to labour through his delivery motion. There’s little intensity or heat to the deliveries themselves, as if only getting the ball down the other end is the priority right now. He misses the short ball, he misses the yorker, and he misses his line. He doesn’t hit 140 kph once. And Kohli smashes three boundaries off him, India help themselves to 17 in the over. The momentum swings away from Pakistan, and India end up winning a classic.Related

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A few days earlier, sat in his room, Afridi had begun to worry. He’d suffered a ligament injury in his right knee in July during a Test match against Sri Lanka, but fairly inept management of his injury meant it wouldn’t be properly diagnosed until a month after. Even then, somewhat bizarrely, he spent some time travelling with the team before being sent to London for specialist treatment. It saw him miss the Asia Cup and the seven-match series against England.But Pakistan’s record of nursing fast bowlers back to health is far from glowing; just about any injury can end up career-threatening. As recently as 2020, Hasan Ali’s career looked in existential danger thanks to the repeated flare-up of a back injury that never seemed like it was properly diagnosed and treated. Mohammad Zahid’s back injury killed off a fledging career, while inveterate knee troubles brought a premature end to Junaid Khan’s time with the national side.So Afridi’s concern wasn’t just for the length of time he’d be away, but how high he could soar post-recovery. By that metric, his performance against India, and a similarly pedestrian showing against Zimbabwe, might have been his worst nightmares come to life.Shaheen Shah Afridi. Hear him roar•Getty Images”I am trying,” he said after the final group match against Bangladesh. “I can’t say I’m bowling at full tilt, and I can’t say I’m bowling 150 [kph] like Haris Rauf. I used to bowl 135-140 [kph] even before injury anyway. But I used to feel a pinch during my run-up. I’m feeling better, but when you don’t play cricket for two months, just sit in your room focusing on your injury any cricketer or athlete would begin to wonder how you’d come back. On top of that, there’s a World Cup, too so of course you have those doubts.”Rushing a Pakistan fast bowler back from a ligament injury feels like an incredibly reckless move, though it appears Afridi wouldn’t countenance missing out on another shot at a World Cup title. And he only sat there for the press conference after the Bangladesh game because he had turned that form upside down, taking 8 for 55 runs in his last 11 overs, including two top-order wickets against South Africa that see Pakistan storm to victory in a must-win match.But it is against New Zealand in the semi-final that Afridi puts any concerns over a long-term decline to bed. Tearing in with a packed SCG roaring him on, he overwhelms New Zealand’s best hope of victory, Finn Allen, in a moment that will take pride of place among Afridi’s legion of first-over triumphs.Backing his strength, the full, inswinging ball at pace, he doesn’t back down against Allen, even after he’s driven back down the ground first ball. He pitches it up again, getting the inside edge next ball before beating the bat completely off the third ball, felling him lbw. It isn’t just that Afridi takes a first-over wicket, but does so purely on his terms. A mentally weakened Afridi would not have tried that mode of dismissal; a physically encumbered one simply could not have.Even at the death, Afridi no longer seems the sad shadow of himself he appeared to be while bowling to Kohli on that day that took Pakistan to the brink of elimination. In three matches since, his economy rate in overs 16 to 20 is 4.75, and he takes a wicket every 4.75 runs he concedes. That’s not just leaps and bounds better than that Kohli death over – the only one he bowled in the first two games – but also a vast improvement on his career numbers – an economy rate of 8.76 while averaging 17.32. Somehow, impossibly, Afridi seems to have gone from injury rust to purple patch all within the span of a fortnight.Lionising an athlete’s prowess for playing through pain or injury can be problematic, but Afridi’s determination to force his way into the equation for a World Cup campaign was never really in question. When he races in – and it won’t be a lumber this time – to bowl that first ball to Jos Buttler in the World Cup final at the MCG, there’s little doubt in his mind that it’s all been worth it. Shaheen Afridi always seemed to be built differently, but in his return from injury, it looks as if that might almost literally be true.

Rishabh Pant’s accident is a cause for concern, as is the lack of a credible back-up for Hardik Pandya

Sidharth Monga09-Jan-2023The top order – has Dhawan dropped out of contention?It is a little too late to drop someone you have invested in for the last three years, even making him the captain in the absence of the regular captain, but Shikhar Dhawan has made himself droppable. In the last couple of years, his returns have dipped, and it’s not like his replacement is going to debut at the World Cup: Shubman Gill has played 15 ODIs, Ishan Kishan ten.It will take extraordinary circumstances for Dhawan to return so close to the World Cup, but he remains an outside shot given his experience should both Gill and Kishan hit wretched form. At the moment, though, they have only strengthened their case with runs in New Zealand and Bangladesh. Kishan has even scored a double-century.ESPNcricinfo LtdOther top-order batters since the last ODI World Cup
Rohit Sharma
Innings: 18, Runs 745, Average 44, Strike Rate 96Made a comeback after injury during the ODI series in Bangladesh. It is important he gets a string of matches and some rhythm under his belt in the lead-up to the World Cup. Time for resting might be over.Ishan Kishan
Innings 6, Runs 401, Average 67, Strike Rate 127Brings the dynamism and left-handedness needed at the top of the order to capitalise on the powerplay. Was only an outside contender two series ago, but the injury to Rohit left a gap in the door for him, which he has burst open with the double-century.Shubman Gill
Innings 13, Runs 671, Average 67, Strike Rate 102Wasn’t a part of the squad in Bangladesh, but scored a 50 and 45 not out in New Zealand. Will definitely be part of the plans.Virat Kohli
Innings 27, Runs 1169, Average 45, Strike Rate 93Master of the format, scored a century in the shadow of Kishan’s double-century. ODIs also happen to be his best format.Middle order – the Pant situation is a worryRishabh Pant’s road accident means he may or may not be able to present a case for the World Cup in time. On the other hand, it will be heartening that Hardik Pandya is back.ESPNcricinfo LtdMiddle-order batters since the last ODI World Cup
KL Rahul
Innings 14, Runs 698, Average 58, Strike Rate 106Back to the middle order, where he has scored runs, after having been tried in other positions. Might also keep wicket if Kishan doesn’t play in the series against Sri Lanka.Shreyas Iyer
Innings 24, Runs 955, Average 45, Strike Rate 97Keeps going from strength to strength in the middle order in both ODIs and Tests. Important spin hitter in the middle overs.Hardik Pandya
Innings 10, Runs 429, Average 48, Strike Rate 116Time to take this vital cog out of cotton wool. The only doubt over his place in the XI can be fitness-based, if it prevents him from bowling.Suryakumar Yadav
Innings 14, Runs 350, Average 29, Strike Rate 98Hasn’t yet had a proper run in ODIs, but there are those who believe he can challenge Rahul in the middle order based on his exploits in T20s.Rishabh Pant
Innings 17, Runs 638, Average 40, Strike Rate 111A definite force in the middle order, or even the top order, if he is fit and ready in time.It might be time to move on from other outside contenders except maybe Deepak Hooda, that too because he bowls.Allrounders – still no back-ups for HardikThere is no seam-bowling allrounder to be back-up for Hardik should he get injured again. All the other allrounders are spinners. India will still play at least one of them or possibly two depending on the pitches.ESPNcricinfo LtdRavindra Jadeja
Matches 18, Runs 335, Strike Rate 95, Wickets 13, Economy Rate 5.4On the weight of his improved batting, the first choice, but his injury layoff mysteriously keeps getting longer. Might he have to prioritise formats when he is back?Axar Patel
Matches 8, Runs 168, Strike Rate 120, Wickets 10, Economy Rate 4.39A better bowler than Jadeja in limited-overs formats, and his batting has only been improving, as seen in his crucial innings when promoted in a tense chase in the Mirpur Test, followed by a blinder of a T20I half-century against Sri Lanka in a chase that India lost.Washington Sundar
Matches 11, Runs 212, Strike Rate 87, Wickets 13, Economy Rate 4.4Providing variety as opposed to the two left-arm spinners is his biggest draw. Has been injury-prone himself.Spinners – will Chahal or Kuldeep pip a fingerspinner?If pitches assist spin, India might not play either of them in the XI because then they can bank on their fingerspinners. However, on flatter pitches, a wristspinner is extremely valuable.ESPNcricinfo LtdYuzvendra Chahal
Matches 21, Wickets 34, Strike Rate 30, Economy Rate 5.7India’s second-highest wicket-taker since the 2019 World Cup, taking one every 30 balls. Unlucky not to have played a single game in the last two T20 World Cups.Kuldeep Yadav
Matches 22, Wickets 26, Strike Rate 46, Economy Rate 5.76Not being fielded in ODIs, but slowly being rehabilitated into international cricket after massive drop in confidence. Left-arm wristspin could be a point of difference.Fast bowlers – Shami and Malik in the frameThere has been no clear direction here either, which is only getting compounded by the extended injury layoff for Prasidh Krishna. They need to get a middle-overs enforcer back-up. It just brings Mohammed Shami and Umran Malik into the picture.ESPNcricinfo LtdJasprit Bumrah
Matches 14, Wickets 18, Strike Rate 38, Economy Rate 5.16Coming back from a stress reaction of the back, which kept him out of the T20 World Cup. His performance on return will be followed with bated breath.Prasidh Krishna
Matches 14, Wickets 25, Strike Rate 27, Economy Rate 5.32Has an excellent strike rate of 27 balls per wicket, but needs to get back on the park soon.Mohammed Siraj
Matches 15, Wickets 24, Strike Rate 31, Economy Rate 4.62Continued bowling well in Bangladesh. Can bowl with the new ball and also bang it in in the middle overs. Minus the height of Krishna.Arshdeep Singh
Only just coming back from an illness. Left-arm angle, swing each way, experience of bowling death overs in T20s could go in his favour, but needs some more ODIs under his belt.Mohammed Shami
Matches 15, Wickets 25, Strike Rate 30, Economy Rate 6.16Has kind of become the man India go to for all World Cups even if he plays little cricket in that format in the intervening years. Great seam position, lot of experience, bustling pace.Umran Malik
Matches 5, Wickets 7, Strike Rate 28, Economy Rate 6Raw pace, but is showing signs of higher accuracy having stayed in the India bubble. Is an outside chance especially if Krishna’s fitness remains under a cloud. His selection for the Sri Lanka ODIs says as much.Deepak Chahar
Matches 12, Wickets 15, Strike Rate 32, Economy Rate 5.58Again, fitness dodgy, but when available, he is a genuine swing bowler with decent batting ability in the lower order.Shardul Thakur
Matches 26, Wickets 38, Strike Rate 32, Economy Rate 6.23If batting down the order is something India hold dearly, Thakur is that man. Takes wickets quickly but concedes runs just as quickly. Not part of the current squad.

Both players were carrying injuries that might have ruled them out in normal circumstances

Matt Roller23-Apr-2023Abdul Basith walked to the middle at Bengaluru’s imposing Chinnaswamy Stadium needing to hit 10 runs off his first two balls in IPL cricket to clinch a victory for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore.He looked around briefly to scope out his boundary options, then limbered up as Harshal Patel ran in to bowl. He shaped to power him over the leg side, lining up the stands at deep midwicket, but was foxed by Harshal’s slower ball. The ball dribbled away for a single, and the game was RCB’s.Related

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This was a moment that exposed the difference in utility that these two teams had extracted from the Impact Player rule, a rule which has fundamentally altered the nature of selection in T20 cricket. IPL games can – and often do – turn in a single ball; off the penultimate one of the game, RCB’s substitute got the better of Royals’ and clinched the points.Faf du Plessis is having a phenomenal IPL. Nearly halfway through the league stage, he is the Orange Cap holder, has scored five half-centuries in seven innings, and is striking at 165.30. Most top T20 batters are either destructive or dependable; this version of du Plessis falls into a rare category that are both.This stellar run of form has come at 38, an age where most cricketers are long retired and working in coaching or broadcasting. Remarkably, du Plessis has done it despite suffering a grade-one intercostal strain, which would have ruled him out of his team’s last two games in any other franchise league.But the Impact Player rule has enabled him to play despite his injury. Against Punjab Kings on Thursday, he made 84 off 56 as a specialist batter, before he was replaced at the innings break. Back in Bengaluru on Sunday afternoon, he set up a second consecutive win against Royals with 62 off 39 before again being replaced at the interval.Faf du Plessis has been carrying a grade-one intercostal strain•BCCIRCB have twice made late decisions over du Plessis’ participation as a fielder. He may be able to return to his role as captain – and boundary-rider – in their game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday, but for now he can console himself with the knowledge that he has made major contributions in games he would not otherwise have played.During their win over Kings, du Plessis admitted his inclusion “probably wouldn’t have been possible” but for the Impact rule. “I saw some of the boys were trying to do this new rule now where they bat and they don’t field, so I thought I’d try it out,” he joked to the host broadcaster.The injury has clearly caused him discomfort. Thirteen overs into Sunday’s game, at the second strategic time-out, du Plessis ran straight to the dugout after batting for over an hour in the afternoon sun; two balls later, he was run out, the first time in three IPL seasons he has been dismissed by that method.Harshal, his replacement on Sunday, provided further evidence of RCB maximising the new rule. He suffered an injury while fielding during their victory over Kings; like du Plessis, he might well have missed the game but for the Impact Player rule allowing him to feature in one innings only.He arrived at the Chinnaswamy with the little finger on his left hand heavily strapped, limiting his ability to grip the bat; he later suggested that he hopes it will heal “in a week or two”. As a result, he was used exclusively as a bowler, replacing du Plessis at the innings break and bowling his four overs in the run chase.After a slow start to the IPL, Harshal put in his best performance of the season, taking three vital wickets as Royals fell just short in their run chase: Yashasvi Jaiswal, mistiming a full toss to long-on; Sanju Samson, fencing an effort ball to short third; and R Ashwin, dragging a slower ball to deep midwicket after giving RCB a scare.The injured little finger in Harshal Patel’s left hand would have limited his ability to bat, if he had been required to do so•BCCI”The way we’ve been able to use Faf as a batter and myself as a bowler in this game has been really good for us,” Harshal said. “Both of us are carrying injuries which don’t allow us to execute one of our skills: for him, it’s fielding; for me, it’s batting. The Impact [Player] rule allows us to just go out and take care of our primary skills.”RCB were even able to find another loophole which they happily exploited. When Harshal briefly went off the field at the start of the fourth over, after fielding a ball at deep third, the fact that du Plessis was off the field enabled them to use an overseas player – Finn Allen – as a fielding substitute for two overs, since they otherwise only had three overseas players on the field.But while most teams have used the rule in a similar fashion to one another this season – effectively picking a 12-man team, and replacing a specialist batter with a specialist bowler – Royals have differed, as their captain Samson suggested at the toss. “We’re starting with the same XI [either way],” he said. “We might add, or we might not add.”Royals have generally selected the same balance regardless of whether they have batted or bowled first this year, featuring six batters and five frontline bowlers. They have often delayed a decision on their substitution until midway through the second innings; some calls have worked well – bringing on Adam Zampa at Chepauk, for example – but others have not.Sunday’s game appeared to expose the issues with their method. In limiting themselves to five bowling options, Royals did not have much flexibility with the ball, with no choice but to use Sandeep Sharma at the death despite his off-day. And in the absence of Riyan Parag, who did not travel to Bengaluru, they found themselves bringing in an IPL debutant at No. 8 – leaving Jason Holder unused with the bat for the fourth time in his six appearances this season.Royals’ results this season have been significantly better when batting first (played three, won three) than chasing (playing four, lost three), and perhaps their use of the Impact rule is a reason behind that. As the conclusion to Sunday’s game confirmed, the rule has suited some teams much better than others.

Whether it’s bowling at the death or playing the ukulele, this has been a season of learnings for the left-arm spinner

Deivarayan Muthu21-Nov-2021In the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, R Sai Kishore had an economy rate of 4.63 – the best among bowlers who had bowled at least 20 overs. In the 2020-21 tournament, the left-arm fingerspinner had an economy rate of 4.82 – the second-best with the same cut-off.This season his economy rate has jumped to 6.50, which is nevertheless impressive, considering his new role as Tamil Nadu’s middle-and-death-overs spin option in their run to their third straight T20 final.In the last couple of years, when Dinesh Karthik was the captain, Sai Kishore was the side’s new-ball specialist. He has now fronted up to bowl at the slog for the Vijay Shankar-led side, in the absence of their designated death bowler T Natarajan, and Sonu Yadav, who did the job during Tamil Nadu’s run to the title last season.”When DK was the captain, I think we were a little sorted in terms of our death bowling,” Sai Kishore tells ESPNcricinfo on the eve of the final. “It was in the powerplay that he wanted me to bowl, but this year we were playing around our roles a little bit because we weren’t particularly sure of who will bowl when.”I also bowled at the death in the TNPL and this year I had a slot to bowl at the death. I read [the intentions of batters] Vijay (Vijay Shankar) and Jaggi (N Jagadeesan) when I bowl at the nets and the coaching staff has so much belief in me to bowl anywhere. Whenever they want to plug the runs or go for the wickets, they’re trying to use me.”On his 25th birthday, in Lucknow, Sai Kishore netted a hat-trick in the last over against Puducherry, pinning them down to 129 for 8. Sai Kishore says the birthday hat-trick hasn’t sunk in yet and that his job isn’t done yet.”I really didn’t know it was a hat-trick. Jaggi only told me it was a hat-trick,” Sai recalls. “I was worried because the first ball went for six, so I just wanted to end the over well because they had scored 120-125. I didn’t necessarily go for wickets and I just tried to be as defensive as possible. It happens in T20 when you get wickets by luck… I didn’t feel much and it didn’t hit me and I’ve to perform the next match. So, maybe after some time, in hindsight, it will hit me.”Being part of the CSK squad has made Sai Kishore ‘more confident in my game and my game-reading skills have improved’•R Sai KishoreSai Kishore hasn’t got a game for Chennai Super Kings in the past three years but being part of an IPL set-up and a stint as net bowler for India on their Sri Lanka tour last year have helped him grow into a more rounded T20 bowler. He has bowled in various phases for TN in the past three years in both the Vijay Hazare (50 overs) and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournaments, forging a potent partnership with legspinner M Ashwin.”In the last two years my game has gone up, having been part of CSK, though I didn’t get a game,” Sai Kishore says. “I would have learned, but it would have taken more time had I not been there at CSK. I’m more confident in my game and my game-reading skills have improved. So, in a game situation, I’m even willing to go for extra runs, if I can finish the match for the team.”I’m also grateful to have been picked in the India squad from domestic cricket without having played IPL. That experience has given me a lot of confidence as to what that level of cricket is, what is actually needed there and for all those things I’m grateful.”Previously, I also had the ego of bowling one more ball to dare him [the batter] to hit it. If they need 15 runs an over, I can actually be smart here and if I bowl tightly at my end, the other guy has the chance of picking the wicket. When me and Ash (M Ashwin) bowl together, we plan like that. If the target is huge, we can finish it off if both me and Ash bowl well together. That game-reading skills have gotten better that way.”On the flip side, Sai Kishore has had to shift from one bubble to another in recent times, going from the one in Sri Lanka to the TNPL to CSK to Tamil Nadu. Two days after the Sri Lanka tour, Sai Kishore joined the TNPL bubble and bowled Chepauk Super Gillies to victory with 4 for 30. Sai Kishore says he has learned to embrace the bubble life and that he has found other ways to keep him occupied.”CSK bubble was good fun,” he says. “I had Rutu (Ruturaj Gaikwad) with me and the atmosphere was very good. In Sri Lanka, the first one month was spent in quarantine and moving around the hotel. In the TN bubble, I always enjoy being with these boys, so I’m just trying to look at things that are working well.”If I don’t play here and be at home, I know I definitely won’t be happy. After coming from Sri Lanka, I felt I needed match-time, so I played the TNPL, and we won the tournament, so it was a very good feeling.'[Variety] has been there in the repertoire for some time, but I haven’t been able to use it’•TNPL”The bubble has gotten us closer and I’ve got into a bit of music and trying to learn new instruments. I tried violin and the mouth organ but didn’t work for me [laughs]. Ukulele, I guess, came decently to me.”Sai Kishore has also expanded his variations, but has put them back in his locker, instead trying to fit into roles defined by the team management. However, he hints that it might not be too long before he goes funky and unveils those variations.”It’s a work in progress,” he says. “There was one game in the TNPL where I tried to do something different, and I guess sometimes I should come out of the shell sometime soon. I’ve been working on a few variations, but I haven’t bowled anywhere. [when the team wants you to bowl that over for them], it’s slightly harder to go out of the pattern and maybe I should work on a way to bring it out somewhere. It [variety] has been there in the repertoire for some time, but I haven’t been able to use it. It’s similar to a batsman having a sweep and him not having the need to use it right now.”Sai Kishore was padded up in the dug-out when Tamil Nadu suffered a heartbreaking one-run defeat at the hands of Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final in 2019 in Surat. Two years on, he has become a more versatile bowler and one of the faces of a new-look Tamil Nadu side that continues to dominate T20 cricket despite the absence of Karthik, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, M Vijay and Abhinav Mukund.Sai Kishore and Tamil Nadu are now set to face Karnataka in another T20 final in Delhi, and he believes the 2019 result will not have an impact on Monday’s game.”To be honest, there aren’t too much emotions [from the 2019 final],” Sai Kishore says. “When we lost then, I was in my second [full] season – that was when guys like Jaggi, Hari [Nishaanth], Momi [M Mohammed] got regular game-time. Since then, most of these guys have played consistently together but at that time we didn’t have that much experience of playing a final.”I feel we haven’t played to our best yet this season – we’ve been here, been there, but yet to put together a complete game. So, we’re just trying to learn from the semis, quarters and just try and put on a show.”

Allrounder carries New Zealand to victory after years of near-misses and heartbreak

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Nov-20213:40

Jayawardene: Daryl Mitchell drank the magic potion

Jimmy Neesham’s first six is a mishit over the deep midwicket boundary. He’d come to the crease with his team needing 59 runs off 29 balls. He’d faced a wide first up; Liam Livingstone firing one down leg side. The next ball Neesham had tried to bash across the line, but managed only to get it as far as midwicket. A single. Even the wide and the single put together wasn’t much help. The required rate was over 14.

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The six at the start of the next over, though, provides some small squirt of hope. It isn’t a giant Livingstonesque hit. It isn’t a lusty Asif Ali blow. Chris Jordan misses his length a touch, and because Neesham swings at this with every molecule of his being in the direction he seems most comfortable swinging in, he hits it well enough to clear the midwicket boundary by five metres, even off the inside half of the bat.Relax, though. New Zealand still need 51 off 23.It wasn’t quite enough.

****

Lance Cairns hit one over the ropes one-handed. Brendon McCullum occasionally rolled towards point as he scooped balls over fine leg. But arguably the most iconic six in New Zealand’s modern history came in semi-final in 2015. Dale Steyn, one of the greatest cricketers ever to play, needed to defend five runs off two balls, and conceded a six against Grant Elliott, whose selection for that World Cup might fairly be described as one of New Zealand’s most unexpected payoffs.Perhaps Neesham should have been picked ahead of Elliott. But when Elliott hit that six, Neesham was ecstatic. “Holy f***** shitballs,” he had tweeted. “This is the best day of my life.” An allrounder who had taken his place, clinching a tight semi-final.Neesham himself, though, hadn’t been required in a World Cup campaign that players described as “the time of their life”.Related

• Neesham: 'You don't come halfway across the world just to win a semi-final'

• New Zealand always believed – Daryl Mitchell

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• Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham pull off heist as New Zealand storm into final

He was a talented allrounder, having done well in Tests, plus having been impressive in limited-overs cricket.Much as Neesham promised at the time, though, he hadn’t done anything like Corey Anderson’s record-breaking ODI hundred.And for that reason, it seemed as if what Neesham offered – it wasn’t enough.

****

Neesham’s second big shot went in that arc between long-on and deep midwicket.Ben Stokes had once hit that boundary at Lord’s – remember? He’d hit a ball over wide long-on, and although the fielder Trent Boult had taken the catch, he’d touched the boundary with his boot.Pretty much the same thing here. Neesham had launched one over wide long-on, but although Bairstow took the catch, he touched the boundary before he flicked it back infield. When the replays are consulted, it’s clear it’s six.Jonny Bairstow’s knee touches the rope before he can flick it back in•Getty ImagesBut then, England are masters at the death.It wasn’t quite enough.

****

For followers of Neesham, these sixes over midwicket are not unfamiliar shots.In the climax of probably the best limited-overs game in history, he had swung in the same direction. On that occasion, it had been Jofra Archer, in the second (legitimate) ball of the Super Over, who missed his yorker slightly, Neesham stepping across the stumps, whipped it waaay over deep midwicket, deep into the stands. He brought his team’s required runs down to seven runs from four balls.He hit the next two balls for twos and then managed a single. But with two required off the last delivery, his partner Martin Guptill couldn’t quite get back for the second, and Jos Buttler took the bails off in one of modern cricket’s iconic plays.Neesham had claimed his team’s best figures of 3 for 43. He had been trusted to hit big in the Super Over, and had struck 13 off 5.But even though New Zealand didn’t clinch that World Cup. Neesham did plenty.Still, it wasn’t quite enough.

****

The third of Neesham’s sixes is the ugliest. He’s a leftie, and as such, has the match-up against Adil Rashid. He gets down on one knee and throws his entire life into a slog over midwicket. He connects and gets six. Nobody thinks this is a pretty shot. But also nobody cares.This is the last of Neesham’s big shots, though. He gets a single. And when he gets the strike later in this over, tries to hit an offside four, and gets out. By this stage, New Zealand need 20 off 12 balls.Ideally, Neesham would have hung around, hit another one of his big leg-side shots, and even perhaps scored the winning run. But then, for a player who had been through this much, this was asking a lot. When he’d arrived at the crease a New Zealand victory was barely conceivable. Through the course of his 11 balls at the crease, he’d swung the match definitively in New Zealand’s direction.There are two photographs doing the rounds on social media. One in which the entire New Zealand team are ecstatic, celebrating the win (Daryl Mitchell hit the winning runs) while Neesham is sat expressionless in his plastic chair, in front of the dugout.

Job finished? I don’t think so. https://t.co/uBCLLUuf6B

— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) November 10, 2021

A look at where the IPL 2023 final, between Gujarat Titans and CSK in Ahmedabad, could be won or lost

Sidharth Monga27-May-20231:29

Moody lauds Titans’ relentless bowling attack

The two best teams on the points table, the finalists Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings have faced each other twice this IPL. In both matches, Titans won the toss, and CSK put more than 170 on the board, riding on top-scorer Ruturaj Gaikwad. Titans chased down the first one fairly easily, and comprehensively lost the second.Apart from the conditions in Ahmedabad (where Titans won) and Chennai (where CSK won), the big difference in the two matches was the emergence of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana, both of whom didn’t play the first game. Also, Hardik Pandya bowled in the first match, which allowed Titans to play Josh Little instead of Dasun Shanaka as the fourth overseas player, giving them a more complete bowling attack. Hardik bowled in Qualifier 2 and should do it in the final too.CSK have beaten Titans only once in four attempts. It shouldn’t be a big surprise because in Titans, Super Kings come up against the closest version of themselves. It is no secret that Titans’ leaders – Gary Kirsten, Ashish Nehra and Hardik – are admirers of MS Dhoni from the time they were associated with him. The differences between the two sides at this point are that Titans have a more rounded attack while CSK have more batters striking and have more depth in their batting.Related

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For Showman Gill, it's all about pushing the boundaries

The tactics should become sharper after Qualifier 1. Here is how the sides might look to maximise what they have at their disposal.How to stop Gill?There is precious little by way of weakness in Shubman Gill’s game, but CSK are good at hammering away at what is relatively less strong in someone’s game. In the previous two matches, CSK got Gill out on the short ball but not before he scored 63 and 42. The shot that Gill was dropped off in the match against Mumbai Indians – slower length ball on the stumps resulting in a chipped drive – is not a one-off. The idea to keep Gill quiet – whether it succeeds or not also depends on conditions – is to move the ball in towards off and middle, sprinkle slower balls on the stumps, and test him out.Deepak Chahar has managed to rein Shubman Gill in•ESPNcricinfo LtdDeepak Chahar will have to set the tone with the new ball. In 2021, Chahar bowled 18 balls to him for 21 runs and two wickets, but Gill right now is a completely different batter to 2021. Yet Chahar has bowled 14 balls to him this year for 17 runs and one wicket. Watch out for a slightly short-of-a-length ball that comes back in.About phases more than match-upsWith teams this consistent, there are no surprises left at this time of the season. Ravindra Jadeja has enough right-hand batters to bowl to right through the middle. Same with Noor Ahmad, who is a wristspinner so the kind of batter doesn’t matter that much.If required, Rashid Khan and Theekshana will bowl one over each in the powerplay, two in the middle and come back for one at the death. Chahar and Mohammed Shami will work with the new ball, Pathirana and Mohit Sharma in the back half.If the batters can successfully go after Chahar and Jadeja, or Shami and Noor, they could make the opposition captains introduce other bowlers sooner than originally intended.David Miller could be used to disrupt CSK’s spin strangle•BCCIWin the toss and?The last time CSK batted second was May 6. Since then they have defended successfully in three matches out of four. Dew at night had a significant impact in the one match they lost. These matches, though, were in Chennai and Delhi. Looking at how Titans went against Mumbai in Qualifier 2 with hardly any dew around, there is a strong case for batting first. In no IPL have teams batting first won more matches (40) or more regularly (54.8% of the time) than this year. Probably due to the Impact Player rule, sides batting first have shed the inhibitions of before, and have constantly gone past the par score.But Titans, who won against Mumbai batting first, wanted to chase on Friday because of the rain around. With very little chance of rain in Ahmedabad on Sunday, there is a small matter of the unpredictable dew, which changes equations drastically. It is a gamble that might well depend on how the outfield is on the eve of the match.A recap of tactics from previous CSK-Titans gameWatch Shami for one over. If the ball is not moving, go after him. If it is moving, try to deny him a wicket.Jadeja might have got David Miller out in the last match, but it was a turning pitch. Titans still need to make sure he is not allowed to bowl four overs at a go. Hardik doesn’t have a good match-up against Jadeja, so it is better to promote Miller if a wicket falls during Jadeja’s spell. Miller also has 17 runs off ten balls against Theekshana without getting out to him.