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Nottinghamshire took less than an hour to complete a ten wicket victory over Leicestershire on the third day of the Specsavers County Championship match at the Fischer County Ground

ECB Reporters Network09-Apr-2017
ScorecardJames Pattinson completed a fine allround match•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

Nottinghamshire took less than an hour to complete a ten wicket victory over Leicestershire on the third day of the Specsavers County Championship match at the Fischer County Ground.Resuming on 51-6, still needing another 27 runs to make the visitors back again, Leicestershire’s remaining batsmen could not cope with the pace of James Pattinson.Night-watchman Gavin Griffiths was first to go, edging Pattinson to third slip, where Greg Smith took a fine diving two-handed catch diving to his right.
Zak Chappell was caught behind off the inside edge, and Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove mis-pulled Luke Fletcher to Michael Lumb at midwicket.
Pattinson then ripped out Clint McKay’s off-stump, giving the Victorian figures of 5-29 for the innings, to go with 3-55 in Leicestershire’s first innings.Pattinson also hit a first-class career best 89 not out, completing an outstanding debut for Nottinghamshire, whose win was their first in the county championship since beating Surrey in the first game of the 2016 season.The defeat completes a deflating few days for Leicestershire, who were deducted 16 points on the eve of the season following an incident in their match against Loughborough MCCU.Leicestershire head coach Pierre de Bruyn: “I feel we came across a very good side. We prepared accordingly and on the first day managed to get ourselves out of trouble and then put them under pressure with the ball on day two.”But we are better than this and I will continue to back these guys to bounce back. Facing the likes of James Pattinson and Stuart Broad, world-class bowlers, sets a benchmark. But we know we weren’t good enough.”It’s the first game and I need to back these players. Our noses are out of joint, but we’re not going to panic over selection. Every player is in the mix.”It’s been a very tough few days with the 16 point deduction on the eve of the match and then this result. But this dressing room has character, we’ll have a good week of preparation and we will fight back.”

Mohammad Hafeez called Pakistan’s series-levelling win at the MCG a “special, special blessing” and said his bowlers accepting responsibility set the tone in the first innings

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2017Pakistan’s stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez called his side’s series-levelling win at the MCG a “special, special blessing”, and said his bowlers accepting responsibility set the tone in the first innings. It was Pakistan’s first victory against Australia in 17 matches across formats since January 2005.”This win was a special, special blessing,” Hafeez said at the post-match press conference. “Everyone took that responsibility to do that job for Pakistan. Last game, we had our moments but we couldn’t continue that pressure. We had a good team meeting and realised the importance of taking responsibility. Stats have changed, history has changed.”Last game, when we had to put the pressure, our bowlers couldn’t respond. In this match, our bowlers didn’t let go of that attacking tendency. For me as a captain, and even the coach, we had to ensure we played attacking and positive cricket. We couldn’t be negative and think about the past.”Hafeez also said his bowlers assessed conditions early and chasing more than 250 would have been “very difficult.””It was important to restrict Australia to a score where we as a batting unit, could chase that: 250 was a par score on this pitch because it was not coming on to the bat,” Hafeez said. “We kept the pressure on and that really worked for us.”If we had to chase a 250-plus score, it would have been very difficult. The bowlers got the wickets at the right time, which gave us the confidence to do everything we wanted to.”Hafeez wasn’t part of Pakistan’s initial ODI squad, but received a late call-up from the team management and the captain, Azhar Ali. “I was never negative, I knew I’ll be back in the team at any stage,” Hafeez said. “My performance was not good at the domestic level, but the management trusted my ability and asked me to come here and add the value to the team.”

From 77 for 2, Zimbabwe collapsed to 108 all out in their chase

Danyal Rasool01-Dec-2024Pakistan saw off a brief scare from Zimbabwe to seal a 57-run win and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series in Bulawayo. A late, unbroken stand of 65 in 34 balls between Tayyab Tahir and Irfan Khan following a bit-part batting effort helped them surge to 165 with 34 runs in the final two overs. Even that appeared like it might not be enough when Sikandar Raza and Tadiwanashe Marumani got the hosts off to a flier, with the hosts sitting pretty at 75 for 2 in eight overs.But the fall of that partnership triggered an immediate implosion as Sufiyan Muqeem and Haris Rauf ripped through the Zimbabwe line-up. They lost their last eight wickets for 31 runs as Pakistan wrapped up a win that looked more comfortable on the scorecard than it was for three quarters of the contest.

Pakistan start brightly

The visitors included Saim Ayub in the T20I squad just before the start of the series, and the in-form left-hander was instrumental in getting them up and running. Omair Yousaf took on Blessing Muzarabani in the second over but was fortunate to be out there, having been dropped in the first over. Zimbabwe’s catching was an issue for much of the innings; in the following over, Usman Khan was put down first ball he faced. Ayub picked up the next ball over point for a glorious six, while Usman helped himself to 11 in the over that followed. By the end of the fifth over, Pakistan had romped to 49, and on a belter of a batting surface, 200 did not seem unrealistic.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The spin squeeze

Sikandar Raza’s consistency is almost boring by this point, but he was at his all-round best on Sunday. Bringing himself on when Pakistan were soaring at the end of the powerplay, he sent down four near-perfect overs, landing barely a ball in the wrong place. Thirteen of his 24 deliveries were dot balls as he allowed just 14 runs during his spell. It was during this time that Pakistan slowed almost to a grinding halt, going 63 deliveries without a boundary.At the other end, Ryan Burl and Wellington Masakadza held the fort down as wickets fell at regular intervals; between the end of the 6th over and the start of the 19th, Pakistan could only score 79 runs in 13 overs. It will invariably leave Pakistan with questions to ask of their middle order that seemed unable to cope with the pressure or keep up the scoring rate, with captain Salman Ali Agha struggling most of all.

The scare

An onslaught in the final two overs got Pakistan to 165, but Zimbabwe came out of the traps brimming with belief they could chase this down. Undeterred by the early loss of Brian Bennett and Dion Myers, Marumani and Raza took Pakistan on, and took them down, in the powerplay. Marumani plundered 20 off Jehandad Khan’s second over, while three successive fours by Raza off Abrar Ahmed got Zimbabwe to 50 in the fifth over, quicker than Pakistan had managed during their brisk start.But Zimbabwe’s Achilles’ heel has been the lower middle order, and so it proved once more. As soon as a careless run-out put paid to Marumani’s innings, the rot set in once more. Raza was isolated at the non-striker’s end as Pakistan helped themselves to wickets. Rauf had Ryan Burl slap one to mid-off while Muqeem dismissed Clive Madande, and it soon became obvious any effort at victory would have to be a one-man show.But a lovely change of pace from Jehandad Khan and a sharp catch at point from Ayub drew the curtains on Raza’s enterprising knock, and the game was over as a contest. Muqeem struck twice in the following over, while Abrar polished off the win with the final wicket; Zimbabwe had lost their last eight in 43 balls.

Both captains played down the significance of Rashid Khan’s absence, with the Afghan spinner being rested

Mohammad Isam12-Jun-2023Bangladesh captain Litton Das believes their experience will give them the edge over Afghanistan in the one-off Test in Dhaka that begins on Wednesday. Litton is standing in for the regular captain Shakib Al Hasan who is out with a finger injury. His opposite number, Hashmatullah Shahidi, is also making his captaincy debut after being appointed two years ago.The other similarity between the two captains is the absence of their best bowler, respectively, from their attacks. While Shakib is out for a few weeks with the injury, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has rested Rashid Khan “to prioritize his long-term fitness”. Litton played down Rashid’s absence although the legspinner took 11 wickets in the only Test between the two sides four years ago. He said that Bangladesh’s maturity in Tests will keep them ahead of the visitors.”We will take them as seriously as we would have done with Rashid in their team,” Litton said. “Our last Test was in April after which we played a white-ball series. We play a lot of Tests, which gives us the advantage over them. It gives us a better level of maturity in this format. We don’t have a great idea about them. They play a lot of ODIs and T20s, which makes it hard to judge them in Tests. We have a plan in our mind, and if we can execute it, we will get a good result.”Related

• Bangladesh, Afghanistan meet amid rains as solitary Test struggles for significance

• Litton to captain Bangladesh in Afghanistan Test, in Shakib's absence

• Rashid Khan rested for Afghanistan's one-off Test against Bangladesh

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said that they will miss Rashid, but they have options in both the pace and spin departments to make up for his absence. He said that legspinner Izharulhaq Naveed, who impressed during last season’s Big Bash League, could step up”It will be challenging. We all know that Rashid is one of the main bowler in our team. He did very well in the past in Test matches. Still we have another option like wristspinners and they will perform well .”He (Izharulhaq) played good cricket. He played in the Big Bash. T20 cricket is different. He did very good in the past in age-group cricket also and so he will be one of the biggest star in future for Afghanistan.”I think both Shakib and Rashid are rested. We have good quality players and we have good quality players, and other options to win the game for us and I think that would be the point,” said Shahidi.He was also confident that even if Mirpur dished out a greenish pitch, Afghanistan had the pace firepower to take advantage of it. “I think we saw the pitch today and they made it green and that’s fine for us because we have good seamers and we have good spinning options as well so we will be thinking of our own strength and what we have and what we have to work and we are ready for everything,” said Shahidi.Litton countered the point by saying that they wanted to challenge themselves on a green wicket in Mirpur, having played on raging turners here for most of its existence. “Mirpur has had a turning wicket for most of the time. We want to challenge ourselves on a grassy pitch. We want to see how we can survive here and play a long innings.”It is quite normal to want to play on an even wicket. We also have a quality pace attack. You would need five bowlers on such a wicket too. This is what I prefer,” said Litton.He will be Bangladesh’s 12th Test captain and although it is a stopgap option, Litton believes that he has been helping out in the field as a wicketkeeper for quite some time. Litton made 800 runs last year, only the third Bangladeshi to reach that landmark in a calendar year in Tests. But there’s still some concern about his conversion rate.”I have been doing this in the field for a long time, so it is not really a major challenge. I will have to run things in the field. There’s a ‘captain’ added next to my name. As for my batting, it is important to have the focus. It helps you read the game better. When I get into that mindset, I want to play a big innings,” he said.As for Afghanistan’s batting, Shahidi has to bank on memory, and recent white-ball form. “We have batsmen that we can trust. They did well in the past. We also have someone who played good cricket in ODIs recently – Ibrahim Zadran. Rahmat Shah is doing well. I scored a double-hundred in the last Test against Zimbabwe.”We have other promising batsmen also and I believe our batsmen will do very good and we will keep improving day by day and match by match in batting department.”

The left-hander is looking forward to returning to the Indian squad and partnering with his old friend and captain

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jan-20171:14

Yuvraj’s many limited-overs comebacks

Yuvraj Singh feels MS Dhoni has a lot to contribute to Indian cricket as a player and is looking forward to batting “fearlessly” with his old team-mate on his return.In an interview with , Yuvraj said Dhoni was “extremely good” as captain, but had stepped down at the right time; Dhoni gave up the ODI and T20I captaincy last week.”I think he’s been an extremely good captain for India. We’ve won World Cup and the Champions Trophy under him. We were the No. 1 Test team under him. These are amazing achievements and I’m not sure how many [other] captains have that,” Yuvraj said.”I think he took a very good decision stepping down because I’m sure he felt that it’s [time for] the next guy to take over before the World Cup and I’m sure he saw that in Virat.”He has a lot to contribute as a player in the team. I think he’s gonna play the way he used to. We were both very fearless when we used to play together, so hopefully we can do the same in the upcoming series.”Yuvraj, who was recalled for the upcoming series against England, has spent more than three years out of the Indian ODI team, and hasn’t played an international match since rolling his ankle in a World T20 game against Australia in March 2016. He was picked on the basis of his form in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy – 672 runs in five matches for Punjab, at an average of 84.00 – and said he had been working on his fitness, especially considering he is now in the mid-30s.”I’ve been working pretty hard on my fitness because as you grow older, you’ve got to work harder on your body. In your mid-30s your body asks for a lot of training and recovery time. I’ve changed my diet completely and I’ve been putting in some extra hours because I need to be careful after what my body went through.”He is also aware that the new captain demands a 100% from his team.”Virat commands [] performance. He’s been very consistent throughout his career, and that consistency and fire has converted him into a very good captain,” he said. “He demands 100% effort from the team and that is the hallmark of a good captain.”He gets better every year – early in his career he got a lot of runs, then he got a lot of hundreds and now in Tests he’s getting double hundreds. I don’t know who else averages more than 50 in all formats. Hopefully he continues that and takes India to the next level.”

Tim Wigmore at Hove23-May-2017
ScorecardDurham’s hopes of escape rest largely on Paul Collingwood•Getty Images

Sussex consider themselves a Division One county temporarily marooned in Division Two. Yet memories of the glories of the mid-2000s, and their three titles in five years, are receding. The £10 million bequeathed by Spen Cama in 2001 has almost been exhausted, even if the improvements to the ground will ensure a lasting legacy. While finishing fourth in Division Two last season, and losing their opening two Championship games in 2017, Sussex’s cricket has borne less resemblance to their triumphs earlier this century than the barren times that came before.But to be at Hove in the last few days has been to be transported back to the age of all conquering Sussex-by-the-sea, the image undermined only by the sea mist that wafted across the ground on the third afternoon. Until the sepulchral skies compelled Sussex to bowl spin in the last portion of the day, their performance had been utterly ruthless.First, there were the runs: so greedy that they felt almost sadistic, more in the spirit of Steve Waugh’s Australia than the old caricature of jovial Sussex. With an overnight lead of 165, Sussex more than doubled it in spite of losing two early wickets.Michael Burgess, playing on trial during Ben Brown’s injury, was resourceful and energetic in his 76, seldom playing in the batsman’s V but placing the ball astutely and scampering between the wickets. Admirably as he played, altogether more memorable was the contribution of another 22-year-old, Jofra Archer.Archer’s reward for 153 runs in Sussex’s first two Championship games, second only to the absent Brown, was a double demotion down to No. 10. If he was affronted by the decision – and Archer doesn’t give the impression of being bothered by much – his ire was reserved for Durham’s attack.Arriving at the crease at 566 for 8 was not a situation that called for restraint, and Archer did not show it. In a little over an hour, he struck five sixes – all against spin, and all into the leg side – that gave notice of his power. Yet it was Archer’s other shots, most notably a dreamy leg-side flick off Paul Coughlin, taking a stride forward to clatter the ball through midwicket, that gave notice of the full scope of his batting talent. Regardless of his position this game, Archer is much more than a big-hitting tailender: if he is not a genuine allrounder, the sort not remotely flattered by batting at No. 7, just yet, he surely soon will be.When Archer was caught attempting his sixth six, it was the prelude to him bowling again, a sight that Durham can have enjoyed scarcely more than his batting. His early burst did not bring wickets, but it brought almost everything else: venomous bouncers, which whizzed through at head height, persistent away swing, and nous. Archer set up Cameron Steel, Durham’s No. 3, with a series of deliveries that moved away; only an inside edge saved Steel when Archer brought the ball back in.It mattered not. Vernon Philander, wicketless in his opening game for Sussex and then injured, bowled with the zest expected of a man ranked the world’s 11th best Test bowler, which has not always been true during his stints in county cricket. He needed only a single delivery to win his tussle with compatriot Stephen Cook, who was squared up by a ball that curved awa. Four overs later, Keaton Jennings’ off stump was dislodged by a delivery that went through his gate.When Philander was replaced, it brought Durham no relief. Now it was Chris Jordan’s chance to move the ball both ways down the slope, doing so with vim. Outswing accounted for Steel, brilliantly snaffled by Chris Nash at second slip, who had shelled two far simpler chances off Jordan in the first innings; Graham Clark was then lbw, cut open by a ball that angled in.If Sussex like to imagine their stop in Division Two is only fleeting, the same is emphatically true of Durham, only in Division Two because of administrative failings rather than performance on the pitch.But, on this evidence, even promotion in 2018 may prove onerous. At Hove, Durham have had the look of a patched-up side, betraying the impact of being ravaged by departures, England commitments and ill-fortune, compounded by a mid-match injury to Graham Onions.The qualities of their opening batsmen and bowlers are without question, notwithstanding Cook’s underwhelming start; so is the spirit, embodied in an excellent fielding performance impervious to Durham’s bleak position in the game. Whether, besides Paul Collingwood, three days short of his 41st birthday, there is enough high-calibre support is altogether more doubtful.Redoubtable as ever, Collingwood and Ryan Pringle withstood over 200 balls together unbroken, though the spin they faced was altogether less threatening than Sussex’s pace attack, with which they will be reacquainted in the morning. On hopes of Collingwood reprising the adhesiveness of England days past lie Durham’s slim chances of leaving England’s southernmost ground without a second Championship defeat of 2017.

Bowler has nine for the match, but Essex can’t seal early win despite taking extra half hour

ECB Reporters Network07-Sep-2022Kent 164 (Leaning 34, Cox 34, Allison 4-40) and 137 for 8 (Cook 6-33) trail Essex 573 (Khushi 164, Critchley 90, Cook 78, Westley 54, Allison 53) by 272 runsSam Cook’s 6 for 33 reduced Kent to 137 for 8 in their second innings, a deficit of 272 which left them praying for rain after day three of their LV=Insurance match with Essex at Canterbury.Sam has match figures of 9 for 60, while Adam Rossington has seven catches so far, but Essex remain two wickets shy of victory, despite taking an extra half hour after the scheduled close of 6.33pm.Kent’s top scorer, Jordan Cox, was not out on 53 at stumps, partnered by Matt Milnes unbeaten on 12, but Kent’s only realistic hope of avoiding defeat is if the weather intervenes on day four.Earlier Ben Allison took 4 for 40 as Kent were dismissed for 164 in their first innings, 409 behind the 573 Essex made after they were put in on day one.Kent were 74 for 4 when play began after a 10-minute rain delay and after some early resistance they rapidly faded.Jack Leaning batted for 41 minutes with Cox, before Cook had him caught by a tumbling Feroze Khushi at square leg, and from then on no partnership lasted for more than five overs.Sam Billings batted despite a groin injury, with Ben Compton acting as his runner, but he was visibly struggling and lasted just nine balls before he nicked Allison to Rossington.Allison then removed Grant Stewart, who edged the seventh ball he faced behind for two and Harry Podmore, who made 13 before he became Rossington’s fifth victim of the innings.Allison then clipped the top of Cox’s off stump, bowling him for 34, before the rain returned, with Kent 145 for 9, ushering in an early lunch.When play resumed Matt Quinn tried to hit Shane Snater out of the ground and was bowled for 7, leaving Essex with a mammoth first-innings lead.To the surprise of precisely no one in the Spitfire Ground they enforced the follow on, claiming an early victim when Ollie Robinson edged Cook behind for 15, before a second rain delay wiped out 19 overs.Kent’s best hope of salvaging a draw lay in batting out the day and hoping a grim weather forecast for day four would prove accurate, but when play resumed Cook hadn’t even completed his over before he’d removed Daniel Bell-Drummond for a second-ball duck, again caught behind.In Cook’s next over he took wickets with successive deliveries, first getting Ben Compton caught at second slip by Matt Critchley for 7, then getting Leaning caught for a golden duck by the same fielder.Cook claimed his fifth wicket of the innings when Joe Denly tried to pull him and instead got a top edge that floated to Nick Browne at third slip. Stewart tried to drive Cook and was caught by Browne at mid off for six.Harry Podmore lingered for 46 balls for 10 before he was bowled by Jamie Porter and Essex looked like wrapping up the win inside three days when Billings chipped the same bowler to Tom Westley, for his first ever pair, but Cox pulled Snater for four to pass 50 shortly before the scheduled close and although the extra half hour was taken, the players went off for bad light at 6.59 pm.

Mehidy and Ebadot picked up two apiece as Ireland crumbled after Tector’s fifty

Mohammad Isam04-Apr-2023Bangladesh dominated Ireland’s first day back in Test cricket, bowling them out for 214 in the first innings of the one-off Test in Dhaka. Taijul Islam took his eleventh five-wicket haul as the six-man bowling attack kept themselves ahead in most situations. The home side ended the day on 34 for 2, with Tamim Iqbal falling to Andy McBrine off the last ball of the day after looking quite confident for the last half an hour along with Mominul Haque. But McBrine got one to kick at Tamim’s forward press, to take the edge and fly to second slip where Mark Adair took the catch. He had earlier bowled Najmul Hossain Shanto with an in-ducker, the ball taking the inside edge on to the stumps, in the first over. The Ireland players were cock-a-hoop with the late wicket in an otherwise difficult day.Ireland made 214, their highest first innings score in Tests, batting out all but 30 minutes of the first day’s play. In a batting line-up that had six debutants and playing a Test after four years, it wasn’t a bad effort at the Shere Bangla National Stadium’s challenging conditions.Harry Tector’s fifty had some delectable shots, particularly his drives down the ground. He also slammed a straight six, but fell prematurely after adding 74 runs for the fourth wicket with Curtis Campher. It was the highlight of the Ireland innings as the pair played some splendid shots in the first hour of the second session. Ireland were at their most comfortable during this time, but it was roughly an hour before things started to change for the visitors.They got together after Ireland lost three wickets in the first session. Shoriful Islam removed Murray Commins with a delivery that cut back into his bat, given out lbw for five. Shanto caught James McCollum at second slip, at the second attempt, after the batter edged Ebadot Hossain.The Tector-Campher partnership ended when Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled Tector with a classic offbreak turning through his forward press. Tector struck six fours and a six in his 50 off 92 balls. This was a bad time for Ireland as they also lost PJ Moor, playing his first Test for Ireland after playing eight matches for Zimbabwe, and Campher, in the space of eighteen balls.Ireland could have folded early from 124 for 6, but they added another 90 runs for the last four wickets. Tucker added 35 for the seventh wicket with McBrine, before adding another 40 with Mark Adair, who made 32 off 52 balls. Taijul removed Tucker and Adair to complete his five-for. Mehidy closed out the innings with Ben White’s wicket in the 78th over.

In a top order-heavy Royal Challengers batting line-up, Parthiv Patel has made peace with his role as an opener and the uncertainty of his position, should he lose his form

Sruthi Ravindranath in Bengaluru05-Apr-2019How does one stand out in a team that has Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in it?Just ask Parthiv Patel. He is currently Royal Challengers Bangalore’s top run-scorer in IPL 2019, with 138 runs in four games, 45 ahead of the second-placed de Villiers. Yet, nearly half the questions asked of him at the press conference on the eve of the match between Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders were about the Big Two in his side. And all Parthiv did was respond, breaking into his trademark crinkle-eyed smile. By now, he’s probably accepted that they’re always going to be the talking point.”Obviously they set very high standards, there is no doubt about it,” Parthiv said on Thursday, in Bengaluru. “The reason everyone is talking about Virat and AB is because of the performance they have given for Royal Challengers, and with Virat for India and AB for South Africa. I think more than anything, they will try and score big. AB had a good game against Mumbai here and Virat got a 40 as well in the same game. I am sure as everyone else, they will be as hungry as possible.”Royal Challengers have endured a rough start to the season, losing all four games. Their most recent match, against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday, ended in another heavy defeat but a look at the scorecard throws up just one noteworthy batting performance: Parthiv’s 67 off 41 balls.In that game, he had a cautious start, making 22 off 13 in the Powerplay, going after just the bad balls while letting Kohli take most of the strike. After Kohli and de Villiers’ wickets in succession, and another batting collapse, it seemed like Parthiv was the only one who could avert another disaster. Although he kept his wicket intact till the 18th over, he could not accelerate as expected and the team managed 158 for 4.Rewind to the opening game of IPL 2019, where Parthiv kept his cool and batted deep in a collapse which saw Royal Challengers crumble to 70 all out against Chennai Super Kings, after Kohli and de Villiers had fallen for single-digit scores. He was the only Royal Challengers batsman to get to double figures and also came close to carrying his bat: he was the last batsman to be dismissed for 29 off 35 balls.In a tournament – and a format – synonymous with big numbers, bringing up Parthiv’s statistics is unlikely to do him favours. He has played 129 matches in the IPL and has 2613 runs at an average of 22.5. His strike rate of 119.14 is the second-lowest among openers who have played at least 50 IPL matches. While he can bring out the big shots, he isn’t known as a batsman who can go wham from the first ball. Since March 2017, he has a Powerplay strike rate of 148.67 but after the first six overs, it fizzles down to 119.83. In the last five years, his average has touched 30 in just one completed season (in 2018).BCCI

Yet, Royal Challengers have kept faith in the 34-year old, buying him back in 2018 even after his below-par stint with them in 2014.Parthiv has featured in all the editions of the tournament and has played for six different IPL teams. He’s had 22 different opening partners through the years; eight at Royal Challengers over three seasons and three in the last four games of IPL 2019 alone. But with Kohli admitting that the side haven’t found the right balance yet and that more chopping and changing are on the way, just a few bad scores for Parthiv could probably keep him out of a top-order heavy line-up. Considering the fragility of Royal Challengers’ batting order, it’s unlikely they would keep him just as the experienced wicketkeeper who would float around the order depending on the needs.Ask Parthiv about his role in the team and this is all he says: “Personally, I have played for so many teams and played with so many openers, it doesn’t matter that much to me. I have played a lot with Virat and with Moeen [Ali] together. I know what my role is and it doesn’t worry me too much.”Parthiv has indeed managed to show his value and has been trying to prove that he belongs in that Royal Challengers line-up. While accepting that the spotlight is always going to be on them, he probably realises he might not always be given the long rope, especially at the top of the order.”Obviously I am quite happy the way I have played but individual performances doesn’t matter as much. Whoever plays in the XI tries to do well and exactly what I have been trying to do,” he said. “Every time I get a chance to play, I try to perform to the best of my ability and I am glad the performances have come so far.”

Glamorgan lost their last six wickets for just ten runs as Leicestershire pulled off an incredible victory in their Division Two Specsavers County Championship match at Grace Road

ECB Reporters Network22-Sep-2016
ScorecardCharlie Shreck took four wickets to help bundle out Glamorgan (file photo)•Getty Images

Glamorgan lost their last six wickets for just ten runs as Leicestershire pulled off an incredible victory in their Division Two Specsavers County Championship match at Grace Road.Resuming on 11 for 1 and needing 181 to win, the visitors were wobbling when they lost two early wickets. Left-arm seamer Dieter Klein was the man responsible, swinging the ball at pace to take the edge of Jacques Rudolph’s bat before knocking Owen Morgan’s middle stump out of the ground to leave Glamorgan on 36 for 3.It should have been four, but Leicestershire dropped Will Bragg off his first ball, delivered by Klein and edged between wicketkeeper Ned Eckersley and first slip Paul Horton. Horton got his fingers to the ball, but couldn’t hang on, and it proved an expensive miss as Bragg and Aneurin Donald added 53 for the fourth wicket.Donald, who began his innings needing to score 40 to reach 1000 Championship runs for the season, was on 23 when he pushed tentatively at a Charlie Shreck outswinger and edged to second slip, but Bragg continued to make Leicestershire pay, going on to a half-century as Glamorgan lunched just 45 runs short of what would be their fourth Championship win of the season.Few could have predicted what would happen next. Clint McKay, charging in from the Bennett End seamed consecutive deliveries back in to win leg-before decisions against Kiran Carlson and then – perhaps a touch fortunately – Craig Meschede.In the following over, Mark Wallace pushed forward to Shreck and edged to Eckersley and Timm van der Gugten, deep in his crease, survived only one delivery before being pinned leg before by the veteran Cornishman.Michael Hogan drove airily and edged McKay behind the wicket, and then a despairing and desperate Bragg, who had been watching in disbelief at the other end, lofted Shreck high towards the cover boundary where Harry Dearden, making his home debut, held the calmest of catches to seal the most unlikeliest of wins.