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KL Rahul and T Natarajan play key roles too as Australia go down by 11 runs

Daniel Brettig04-Dec-2020Concussion substitute Yuzvendra Chahal plucked three vital wickets and opened a fresh chapter in cricket’s long history of debating topics after being chosen – controversially – to replace Ravindra Jadeja, delivering India a comfortable victory in the opening T20I at Manuka Oval in Canberra.ALSO WATCH: Match highlights – Jadeja, Chahal, Natarajan help India win series opener (India subcontinent only)Jadeja’s exit from the contest – he suffered a hamstring injury first and was then hit on the helmet in the last over of India’s innings – allowed India to call upon a wristspinner in Chahal, who had been harshly treated during the ODI series but found himself defending a serviceable total on the night and responding grandly.Yuzvendra Chahal made a big impact after coming on as a concussion substitute•Getty Images

In contrast, the Australians gradually lost grip of a contest that had appeared more or less in their keeping when India were restricted to 114 for 6 with 19 balls of their innings remaining after Aaron Finch sent them in to bat. A target of 162 should still have been well within the grasp of Finch’s team, but their innings sank steadily into the mire thanks to Chahal, T Natarajan’s zippy left-armers, and Virat Kohli’s growing command of the battlefield.Starc returns in finer fettle
Something was not quite right about Mitchell Starc in the first two ODIs, and he was missing from the third with what was described as a minor side and/or rib complaint. This had been a surprise to many, given his recent displays with both white and red ball, but the physical ailment had at least gone some way to explaining why he had been lined up so effectively by India’s batsmen at the SCG.At Manuka, Starc returned, and while not quite firing on all cylinders, he offered something far closer to his best in his opening two overs. At high pace, he found a hint of swing into KL Rahul during the opening over of the match, and found the lines and lengths that made him hard to dispatch to the boundary on a good pitch. In his second over, Starc struck, and Shikhar Dhawan was the victim.Seeing a delivery of fullish length, Dhawan leant forward to drive, but, to his horror, saw the ball curl away late to flick off stump. Starc celebrated with a touch of the rueful grin – there was something of “so that’s where I left it” about his response.ALSO WATCH: Video highlights: Chahal’s match-winning three-for (India subcontinent only)Henriques does a Watson
Back in the day, when he was a strapping teenager, Moises Henriques was regarded as one of Australian cricket’s brightest young pace-bowling prospects by no less a judge than Damien Fleming. He was undoubtedly able to bowl faster at a younger age than many. In this, he shared something with Shane Watson, who suffered early in his career from the injuries and fluctuations of a body trying to cope with his efforts to bowl as fast as possible while still developing into maturity.At length, Watson evolved into a highly intelligent swing and seam bowler at a little over medium pace, and right up to his retirement from T20s this year was a highly challenging opponent for any batsman in the shortest format. Australia had certainly felt his absence at key times since his retirement from internationals in 2015. Five years later, Henriques has returned to the Australian team and shown that he too has evolved with time into a clever middle-overs merchant.His spell of 3 for 22 ensured Rahul could not take control of the latter part of the innings after Mitchell Swepson had pouched the key wicket of Kohli, and also ensured that Hardik Pandya could not exert the kind of late-innings influence he had in the third ODI. Even when Marcus Stoinis is fit, Henriques’ bowling has given the selectors something to think about.Moises Henriques celebrates a wicket with Matthew Wade•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Like for dislike
When Jadeja was struck on the helmet by Starc in the final over of an innings he played a key role in pushing to competitive territory, having already been restricted by an apparent hamstring strain while batting, his case raised all sorts of questions. Not checked for concussion on the field, Jadeja was apparently assessed between innings and found to be suffering from a possible concussion. India’s squad lists include a doctor – Abjihit Salvi – but there had been no mandatory test on field for a hit on the helmet as now has become commonplace in Australia.Once the decision for a concussion substitute was made, the questions evolved into those around the right replacement. In what was a very public debate between Langer and match referee – also his first batting partner in a Test match – David Boon, it was very clear the hosts were miffed by both the concussion situation and the fact that Chahal was chosen as Jadeja’s replacement.But just as Langer himself had recently demonstrated when he revealed the selection debate around whether to choose Mitchell Marsh or Marnus Labuschagne to sub for Steven Smith in the 2019 Ashes Test at Lord’s, “like for like” is a very subjective concept. It only became more so when Chahal dismissed Finch and Smith, to give India a chance of upsetting the Australian chase.India make it 2-2
On one level, Australia have won the ODI series and are still in the T20I series. On another, India have emerged from the funk of the first two games of their tour in Sydney, and have now twice beaten the hosts in two games in different formats to give their visit a sense of momentum. They did so with an impressive ensemble effort with the ball, whatever the whys and wherefores of Chahal subbing in for Jadeja.Australia’s innings, having begun well through Finch and Short as they added 56 in 46 balls, went on a long, slow decline after the loss of the first wicket. The quick exits of Smith and Glenn Maxwell, the latter after an interminable delay while ball-tracking was summoned on an lbw that appeared to feature a good deal of doubt about whether the ball had pitched outside leg stump, rather took the wind out of the home viewing area, and it was clear that Short, as his innings slowed to ineffectiveness, Henriques and Matthew Wade were not going to be able to step up.Ultimately, the game was not particularly close as T20Is go, leaving the Australians to choose between their evident frustration at the substitution and the fact of an increasingly resurgent India.

South African duo claim three apiece as Hants cruise to seven-wicket victory

ECB Reporters Network22-Aug-2019Chris Morris and Kyle Abbott claimed three wickets apiece as Hampshire kept their Vitality Blast hopes alive with a seven-wicket win over Middlesex at Lord’s.The men from the Ageas Bowl came through the Grace Gates knowing they needed four wins out of four to have a chance of making the knockout stages and their South African pace duo all but clinched the first of these as they bundled out the hosts for 128.James Vince’s 69 made short work of the chase, leaving Middlesex, who have been riding high in the South Group standings still looking for a couple of wins to book their own place in the quarter-finals.Middlesex were put in after losing the toss and struggled from the outset.Paul Stirling’s poor form in T20 this year continued when he became Abbott’s first victim, lbw to the first ball of the fourth over.Dawid Malan and Stevie Eskinazi briefly threatened to post a score, but once the former had edged Morris through to keeper Lewis McManus the Seaxes lost their way.Eoin Morgan continued the cameos trend, striking two sixes in his 20, before perishing attempting a third from the bowling of the excellent Liam Dawson, who bowled well in tandem with South African debutant Tabraiz Shamsi.Middlesex debutant and Pakistan Test star Mohammed Hafeez tried to hold things together with 34, sharing a stand of 46 with wicketkeeper John Simpson. But he was bowled by Wood before Abbott dismissed Simpson and Toby Roland-Jones with successive balls.Morris picked up two late scalps as Middlesex lost their last five wickets for seven runs in 16 balls.Having top scored with the bat, Hafeez struck an early blow with the ball when Rilee Rossouw drove him straight to Nathan Sowter at cover.Hampshire skipper Vince, though, looked in ominous form from the get-go, one sumptuous cover-drive underlining his class.Sam Northeast tried to follow his example only to blast a Roland-Jones delivery straight up in the air and give Stirling a simple catch.But Dawson, fresh from his unbeaten half-century against Surrey in the County Championship 24 hours earlier, proved a valuable ally to Vince, who went to 50 from 33 balls with his seventh boundary. The 50 partnership came in just 32 deliveries and although Vince holed out on the cover boundary, Hampshire sprinted home with 31 balls to spare.

With Mitchell Santner still recovering from a long-term knee injury, left-arm spinner who was domestic Player of the Year last season could be in line for debut

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2018New Zealand have picked uncapped left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel among the three spinners for the three-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE in October. Ajaz, who has been the top wicket-taker in domestic first-class competitions for the last three seasons, was picked in place of Mitchell Santner who continues to recover from a long-term knee injury. New Zealand also named squads for the three ODI and as many T20s they will play against Pakistan.Ajaz, 29, was named last year’s domestic Player of the Year and was a vital member of the Central Stags team that won their first Plunket Shield title in five years. He took 48 wickets at 21.52 and is among the three frontline spinners in the squad alongside Ish Sodhi and Todd Astle.”Ajaz has deserved his inclusion on the sheer weight of his domestic first-class form over the past couple of summers,” selector Gavin Larsen said. “With Mitch Santner not fully recovered yet from his knee surgery, it’s nice to have both wrist (Astle and Sodhi) and finger (Patel) spin options, given the likely conditions in the UAE.”Ajaz will leave for the UAE with the New Zealand A squad in early October and will be among those competing for the two open spots in the ODI and T20I squads each. The A squad features first-time selections such as fast bowlers Kyle Jamieson and Blair Tickner, and NZ Under-19s player Rachin Ravindra.One of the two A players who’ll be drawn into the T20I squad will replace Trent Boult, who will be on paternity leave after the Test and ODI series.Tom Blundell was named as the back-up wicketkeeping option in the Test squad for BJ Watling, who has been named in the ODI squad. Watling last played an ODI in October 2016 but is said to be in the plans for next year’s World Cup.Fast bowler Adam Milne returns to the T20I squad, while Tim Seifert, Mark Chapman and Lockie Ferguson will represent the A side in the T20s before moving to the international T20 squad to face Pakistan.Test squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Jeet Raval, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, Tom Blundell, Colin de Grandhomme, Todd Astle, Ish Sodhi, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Matt Henry, Trent BoultODI: Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Taylor, Nicholls, Latham, Watling, de Grandhomme, Astle, Sodhi, Southee, Henry, Boult, two to be added from NZ A/NZ T20 squadT20I: Kane Williamson (capt), Mark Chapman, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Seth Rance, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, two to be added from NZ ANew Zealand A (for T20, 50-over and first-class matches against Pakistan A): Corey Anderson, Astle, Blundell, Tom Bruce, Chapman, Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Scott Kuggeleijn, Patel, Glenn Phillips, Raval, Rachin Ravindra, Seifert, Blair Tickner, Logan van Beek, George Worker, Will Young, Wagner, Watling

Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Chris Woakes called his side’s successful defence of 131 an “unbelievable win” given that the team’s morale had been low during the innings break

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-20171:04

We were under par but showed intent – Woakes

The mood in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp was sombre during the mid-innings break after they had posted only 131 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The team, however, was in no mood to give up without a fight. Captain Gautam Gambhir wanted intensity from his men, and the fast bowlers set the tone for it. They picked up all the 10 wickets of the opposition inside as many overs, with Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme accounting for nine of those.After Royal Challengers Bangalore were sent crashing to 49 all out at the Eden Gardens, Woakes called it an “unbelievable” win not least because Knight Riders knew they had a below-par total. “The heads were down in the dressing room at half-time,” Woakes told . “But, we came out and we had a chat and we said it was time to show some pride and fight. The captain wanted some intensity and the two opening bowlers did that. The rest of us backed it up from there on. I suppose until you go out there and don’t pick wickets, you don’t believe you can do it. Once we started getting wickets, all of a sudden you had belief.”It was Coulter-Nile who had triggered the collapse by dismissing Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in his first two overs before claiming Kedar Jadhav’s wicket in his third. Woakes said he could tell Coulter-Nile was in good rhythm from the way he was bowling. “It was a great opening spell of T20 bowling. He was hitting the pitch pretty hard and moving the ball well,” Coulter-Nile said. “Getting Virat Kohli first ball showed you his confidence. From then on, I suppose you just try and put the ball in your right areas and hope for the wickets to come.”Coulter-Nile, though, was more subdued in his assessment of his performance. “I would have taken any three wickets as long as I was taking wickets,” he said. “All the boys did that throughout the game and it doesn’t really matter who it is. I don’t have numbers or names in my head, but yes, pretty good players to have in the bag.” Woakes himself snared a big wicket in the form of Chris Gayle with a bit of help from Coulter-Nile, who held on to a skier. Woakes joked that while he was sure that Coulter-Nile would complete the catch, the latter’s heart would have been pounding.”When I saw Nathan under the ball, I knew he would take it. He has a safe pair of hands and I knew 99% he was going to take it,” Woakes said. “It was obviously a big wicket. But I felt AB de Villiers’s wicket was a huge one too because he came and struck a couple of boundaries early on. Getting the big three was huge, but we had to get all ten to win the game. All ten were just as important.”While Woakes felt the pitch was seamer-friendly with good pace and carry on offer, Coulter-Nile said the margin for error for bowlers was very less. “It was a tough wicket to bowl actually,” Coulter-Nile said. “If you went a little bit off, you got punished. I went for 41 the last time against Gujarat Lions. You just got to be right on the money. Sometimes you go for runs and sometimes you got the wickets. It was fun to play there.”

Uncapped 22-year old allrounder Nicola Carey will replace allrounder Grace Harris in Australia Women’s World T20 squad

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2016Uncapped 22-year-old allrounder Nicola Carey will replace allrounder Grace Harris, who is suffering from deep vein thrombosis (DVT), in Australia Women’s World T20 squad.Australia’s team doctor Leanne Hutchison said: “Grace has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and started treatment for the condition. After consultation with external specialists and the medical team at Cricket Australia, the decision was made that it was not medically safe for her to fly and play whilst undergoing treatment.”Carey, whose recent match-time includes 16 wickets at 21.50 for Sydney Thunder Women in the Big Bash League, will join the squad on Saturday, ahead of Australia’s warm-up match against West Indies in Chennai on Monday.Carey had received a last-minute call-up to Australia’s squad during the last World T20 as well, when Sarah Coyte fell ill, but she did not get a game.

Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh has suffered a hamstring injury that rules him out of Perth Scorchers’ Champions League T20 campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2013Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh has suffered a hamstring injury that rules him out of Perth Scorchers’ Champions League T20 campaign. Marsh had originally picked the injury during Australia A’s tour of South Africa in July-August, and aggravated it during a session with Scorchers.”He hurt it on the Australia A tour but he got through, he kept playing,” Scorchers coach Justin Langer was quoted as saying by Australian newspapers. “When he got back we were doing a running session and it just went.”I knew straightaway [that it is serious], it was that sort of coach’s nightmare when you see it. He has had all the tests and it shows that it’s probably a reasonably long lay-off… it won’t require surgery but it’s probably an eight to 10 week injury.”Marsh will be replaced by Western Australia allrounder Hilton Cartwright, who made his debut for Scorchers in the Big Bash League last season and played three games.*Marsh has previously had trouble with his hamstrings. He had to retire during a Ryobi Cup match last November due to a similar injury. He has also had discipline problems plaguing him over the last year. In July 2012 he was sent home from Australia’s Centre of Excellence after being “unfit to train” after a night out. In October, during the previous edition of the Champions League, after another night out he was forced to sit out by Scorchers.He was recalled to the Australian squad for the Champions Trophy in June, and then travelled with the A team to South Africa for a full tour. This injury, unless the healing process is smooth and very quick, is likely to rule him out of Australia’s limited-overs tour of India that runs from October 10 to November 2.*0752 GMT. This article has been updated with information about Marsh’s replacement in the side

The possibility of relegation looms larger for Lancashire after Worcestershire restricted them to only one batting point

18-Aug-2012
ScorecardGareth Andrew recorded his best bowling figures of the season against Lancashire•Getty Images

The possibility of relegation looms larger for Lancashire after Worcestershire restricted them to only one batting point from their crucial Championship clash at New Road. Worcestershire, still with a game in hand, closed the gap at the bottom of the table after dismissing last year’s champions for 216 in a draw that came down to a scrap for bonus points.Gareth Andrew led the way with a season’s-best return of 4 for 42 and Moeen Ali, who captured 12 wickets in last month’s win at Old Trafford, polished off the lower order with 3 for 46. To darken Lancashire’s mood, news then came through that Surrey and Durham, other counties in the danger area, had both snatched narrow victories.Lancashire may need to win two of their last three games if they are to avoid emulating Yorkshire (2002) and Nottinghamshire (2006) in falling out of Division One the season after winning the Championship.Worcestershire may still be the back-markers but they showed they have the punch in their attack to have a chance of escaping relegation. They have dropped only two bowling points all season and none at all on their own ground.Replying to the home side’s declaration at 251 for 7 on Thursday, Lancashire seemed to be laying a solid foundation when Paul Horton and Luke Procter stayed together until the ninth over on the final morning. There had been few alarms up to that point but soon after one wicket went down, Horton edging Andrew’s second delivery to Daryl Mitchell at second slip, they were wobbling at 47 for 3. Luke Procter moved too far across and lost his leg stump to Alan Richardson and Karl Brown was trapped in front by an inspired Andrew.This was how the innings continued, as Worcestershire attacked non-stop and Lancashire exploited gaps to hit 33 boundaries, but each time a partnership began to develop they would lose a cluster of wickets. Ashwell Prince fell to the Mitchell-Andrew combination and Andrea Agathangelou and Steven Croft, who promised more with six fours in his 28, were caught behind in the space of five deliveries from Richardson and Andrew.Gareth Cross quickly became top scorer with 39 from 38 balls before he was bowled by Joe Leach, giving the young allrounder his first Championship wicket, and Kyle Hogg edged Moeen to slip after a stand of 58. Lancashire eventually needed some old-fashioned hitting by Glen Chapple and Ajmal Shahzad to scramble a point before Moeen mopped up.In 50 minutes before the captains shook hands on a draw at 4.50pm, Worcestershire scored 33 without loss in their second innings.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has been named as Sri Lanka captain in all formats of the game until the end of the year

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2011Tillakaratne Dilshan has been named as Sri Lanka captain in all formats until the end of the year. This means he will stay in charge for the three-Test home series against Australia and at least the first two Tests of the South Africa tour that kicks off in December. The appointment was ratified by the Sri Lankan sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.Dilshan took over the reins from Kumar Sangakkara following Sri Lanka’s runners-up showing at the World Cup, but the team’s fortunes have dwindled since – they lost the Test and ODI series in England, and currently trail 1-2 with two matches to play in the home one-dayers against Australia. They have had more success in the Twenty20 format, with victories in the one-off against England and the two-match series against Australia.Dilshan, personally, has had a mixed time as batsman since taking charge. After Sri Lanka’s capitulation in the first Test against England at Cardiff, Dilshan was in the process of leading a fightback at Lord’s when he was struck on the right thumb. The injury was diagnosed as a fracture, and kept him out of the third Test and the solitary Twenty20, leaving Sangakkara to lead the side in his absence.Dilshan was in poor form on his return, failing to reach double figures in the five ODIs against England and the solitary outing against Scotland that followed. An unbeaten ton in the first Twenty20 against Australia, however, seemed to shake the rust off. Dilshan played a key role in the victory in the third ODI, hitting a half-century and bowling a tight spell in the middle overs as Sri Lanka kept the series alive.

Tim Nielsen, the Australian coach, will be in charge until the end of the 2013 Ashes after his contract was extended

Cricinfo staff24-Aug-2010Tim Nielsen, the Australian coach, will be in charge until the end of the 2013 Ashes after his contract was extended on Tuesday. Nielsen, who took over from John Buchanan in 2007, has kept Australia as the No.1 one-day nation but under his watch the Test team has slipped from top of the world to No.4.Since taking over from Buchanan, Nielsen’s outfits have won 20 of 36 Tests, 57 of 88 ODIs and 18 of 33 Twenty20s. “I am excited about the coming phase in Australian cricket,” Nielsen said. “We have players who have come into the group over the last year or so who have found their feet at international level and more young players coming through, it is a great time to be renewing my role.”Ricky Ponting said Nielsen’s reappointment was a “fantastic step forward for Australian cricket”. “I look forward to continuing our close working relationship as this team enters a period of great importance, striving to reclaim the Ashes and secure a fourth successive World Cup,” he said.Nielsen, a former South Australia wicketkeeper, was once an assistant to the Australian team under Buchanan and also was in charge of the Centre of Excellence before gaining the top job. The players cheered Nielsen’s extension when told at their camp in Queensland.”Tim has been at the helm through a significant and challenging period of transition which has seen a number of once-in-a-generation global champions retire from the Australian team,” James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, told the players. “Working closely with Ricky Ponting, team leadership, national players and team management, he has played an important role leading Australia through that transition.”

Manchester City have submitted an official bid of £100million for Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, claims Fabrizio Romano via City Xtra.

Building for 2021/22, the Citizens face the enormous task of replacing club legend Sergio Aguero after his departure to Barcelona at the start of this month [Sky Sports].

In keeping with negotiations, City are also said to have offered players alongside the fee quoted for the 27-year-old goal machine. Thus prompting a swift rebuttal from his current employers, which Romano documented in his latest Here We Go podcast appearance [City Xtra].

City are set to return with a second bid, however they may not be willing to meet the Londoners’ enormous rumoured £150 million asking price [City Xtra].

In light of this, no wonder loads of City diehards took to Twitter to react to these developments.

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City fans react:

Replying to the City Xtra Twitter page, here is how some fans summarized their opinion on the news:

“we aren’t getting him or Haaland, everyone needs to move on”

Credit: @Ethan4707

“This is so dumb…. Easily reject”

Credit: @harrythestarrr

“we don’t care”

Credit: @MoSakoooo

“£100m for Harry Kane is RIDICULOUS Look how many clubs are waiting in line to pay that amount for his signature. Absolutely ridiculous.”

Credit: @nwuba_snr

“Haaland please”

Credit: @TheDiasDynasty

“100 million in this financial climate a massive bid, just walk away city spend the money on haaland”

Credit: @MANCITYFC47

In other news, City fans react to a Sergio Aguero update.