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“If you could bottle that performance and take it with you, you are going to be very consistent around the world,” he says

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Jun-2023Sri Lanka have been a modest ODI team for years now, but in Sunday’s win over Afghanistan, coach Chris Silverwood saw a workable blueprint. This was on the batting and fielding fronts at least.Having chosen to bat first, Sri Lanka made 323 for 6, with Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis making half-centuries, while the likes of Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga also made valuable contributions.The hosts then dismissed Afghanistan for 191, rounding off a clinical performance. Sri Lanka had lost the first match comfortably, on Friday, raising concerns that they might struggle in the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.”I’m very pleased with how we have bounced back,” Silverwood said. “If you could bottle that performance and take it with you, you are going to be very consistent around the world. The key is to be consistent. They know they are capable of it now.”We batted well and created partnerships. But equally, I thought, we were excellent in the field today. I saw lots of energy and lots of people supporting each other. We kept them below the [required] run rate and built pressure, and eventually it gave. We took wickets in the middle overs, which is something we needed today.”In addition to making 29 not out off 24 balls, de Silva also claimed the key wicket of Ibrahim Zadran, on his way to the game’s best figures of 3 for 39. Although Afghanistan were behind the asking rate, de Silva’s three wickets – which came in his three successive overs – helped send the opposition into a nosedive from which they would not recover. He had also hit 51 in the first ODI.”I think in the first match he played a super innings,” Silverwood said of de Silva. “Today we saw him go in and capitalise on what was a very good start. There was a great platform when he went in. He kept the momentum going and scored quickly. That’s what we needed to get above that 300.”When it comes to his bowling, he has been threatening to do this for a while. He’s a very good one-day bowler. We saw that in Kandy last time we played Afghanistan there. Today, he bowled beautifully and got the rewards he deserves.”Sri Lanka’s innings had been set up by the 82-run stand for the first wicket between Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka, who made 43. Later, Samarawickrama and Mendis put on 88 together.”I think Dimuth played superbly,” Silverwood said. “He had played well in the Test series against Ireland as well. I think his tempo is very good, and I think between him and Pathum they built a great platform for us to build on. When you have an 80-plus opening stand, it always helps. They gave us that platform for the rest of the guys to spring from.”The partnership between Sadeera and Kusal was a fraction over a run-a-ball and the partnerships after that were at more than a run-a-ball. It shows what we can do when we have wickets in hand and a platform. Pushing fielders into corners and making the boundary sweepers work very hard – it worked today.”

Pair put on 177-run stand with Threlkeld unbeaten on 107 to end Thunder’s season on a high

ECB Reporters Network16-Sep-2023Thunder ended their Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy campaign with a five-wicket victory against Western Storm in an entertaining and spirited game at Emirates Old Trafford.Half-centuries from Emma Corney, Sophia Smale and skipper Sophie Luff led Storm to 250 for 7 with Thunder spin duo Olivia Bell and Liberty Heap taking three wickets apiece.In reply, Thunder captain Ellie Threlkeld and Naomi Dattani posted the highest-ever partnership of 177 for Thunder, with both players making career-best List-A scores of 107 not out and 82 respectively to chase down their target with 20 balls to spare.Corney and Smale made the perfect start for the Storm after Luff won the toss, compiling a 98-run partnership across the opening 20 overs.Corney, who played a confident range of shots on both sides of the wicket including a six over midwicket off Bell, reached an excellent 57-ball fifty but perished for 53 after hitting Bell to Tara Norris at long-on.The introduction of Bell in the 14th over had started to apply the brakes to the Storm run-scoring and the off-spinner next bowled Fran Wilson for 24 to give Thunder some further relief.Sophia Smale responded in fine fashion reaching her fifty off 77 balls before slicing a drive back to Bell who took a good diving catch to claim her third wicket. It was a sensational effort by Bell who bowled her ten overs in one spell that produced a return of 3 for 30, and the 19-year-old has now taken 25 wickets from her last eight Thunder outings.Heap backed that up with a further three wickets to bring Thunder back into the game, bowling Niamh Holland for a duck and Nat Wraith for 8 with two sharply turning deliveries to have Storm 160 for 5 in the 35th over.Heap (3 for 39) then broke a good 39-run partnership between Luff and Katie Jones when the latter top-edged a pull to Dani Collins at backward square leg for 16.Luff, who had arrived at the crease at the fall of the second wicket, played a gem of an innings using all her experience to rotate the strike and keep the score moving steadily, and she next joined forces with Chloe Skelton in an enterprising partnership of 50 off 51 balls over the closing overs.Visiting skipper Luff went to a 63-ball half-century in the penultimate over of the innings before falling in the last, caught for 54 off Norris with Skelton unbeaten on 21.Chasing 251, the Thunder made a disastrous start to their reply losing three wickets for 17 runs inside eight overs.Heap was run out without scoring, Seren Smale fell lbw to namesake Sophia for 3 who then held onto a good caught-and-bowled offering at the second attempt when Fi Morris drove back up the wicket having made 11.Dattani and Threlkeld stopped the rot with a steadying partnership that initially added fifty inside 11 overs and the pair kept the momentum going, reaching the halfway point of the innings on 115 for 3 with 136 required.Once established, the Thunder duo played their shots and ran cleverly putting the visitors under increasing pressure with both reaching fifties, Threlkeld from 54 balls and Dattani off 83.It took a spectacular one-handed diving catch by Holland off her own bowling to break the partnership and dismiss Dattani, leaving Thunder on 194 for 4 and needing 57 off 67 balls.Threlkeld expertly finished the job, reaching a fabulous century from 107 balls and getting good support from Laura Delaney (22) and Dani Collins (12 not out) before hitting her 14th boundary to win the game in the 47th over.

McCullum told Crawley to “chase moments” before the start of the series and he duly delivered

Matt Roller01-Aug-2023Brendon McCullum believes that Zak Crawley’s success against Australia validated England’s approach to Test cricket since he took over as head coach, saying of his Ashes record this summer: “People don’t do that, you know?”Crawley is one of three players – along with Joe Root and Ben Stokes – to have featured in every one of England’s 18 Tests since McCullum’s appointment, and has consistently been backed publicly despite averaging 23 last summer, with a single half-century.McCullum told Crawley to “chase moments” before the start of the series and he duly delivered, thumping the first ball of the series for four through the covers off Pat Cummins on his way to an agenda-setting 61 off 73 at Edgbaston.After 48 and 3 at Lord’s, he made 44 and 33 in a low-scorer at Headingley, then thrashed 189 off 182 balls in Manchester as England dominated a rain-ruined fourth Test. He finished with 22 and 73 at The Oval, helping to set up England’s 49-run win and securing his status as their leading run-scorer for the series.Related

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“Coming into the series, he was under quite a lot of pressure,” McCullum said. “The great thing was he was able to block that out as much as possible… you hope that’s down to the environment the skipper’s trying to create, and the sincere messaging.”480 runs at a strike rate of 90 [88.72], against the best bowling attack in the world, against the Dukes ball, in an Ashes series: people don’t do that, you know? As the skipper said: you look at what people’s upsides are, what their best days are, what they’re capable of achieving rather than focusing on things that might not be there. He’s a case in point.”I think we’ve seen someone really grow and mature and really develop over the last six weeks or so. I’m sure he’ll be proud of the series he’s had and won’t get carried away, because that’s the type of personality he is. It’s great – not just for Zak, but also for other guys around the side and around county cricket. They know that when they get the opportunity, they’ll get support.”For the first time in a decade, there are no doubts about the identity of England’s best opening pair, with Ben Duckett averaging 35.66 for the series and 53.21 since he was recalled to the Test set-up for the tour to Pakistan last year.”Their contrasting skills – which we’ve talked a lot about leading into the series – is pretty evident and it helps one another,” McCullum said. “Ben Duckett’s turned into a really serious player at the top of the order for us. Away from home as well, his game in sub-continent conditions you’d expect to really flourish, too.”McCullum said that squaring the series from two-nil down – while doubling down on their attacking style with the bat – proved the point that the approach he and Stokes have implemented gets the most out of England’s players. “We have a certain style we try to exhibit every time we play,” he said.”I think for us, that is our best chance of winning. The skipper and I firmly believe that, and some of the performances we’ve seen… are testament to that. Look, you’re always trying to win, right? You just don’t want to be bogged down in key moments by the result.”What we are trying to do is allow ourselves to get in a space in our own minds where it allows your talent to come out. If you’re weighed down by fear of failure or by external noise, all you’re doing is suffocating that talent. It’s as simple as that. For us, entertainment is a big part of it and how we play is a big part of it. But for sure, we want to win.”From one win in 17 when Stokes and McCullum took over, England have won 13 of their 18 Tests under new leadership. “You look back to when the skipper took over and to come in as well,” McCullum reflected, “would we be able to take on a great Australian team – and they are a great Australian team – and go toe-to-toe with them?”I think the answer is yes – and that’s a tremendous confidence-booster for the group, but also testament to the investment to all the guys who have really gone quids-in with their belief in this side and the direction the skipper wants it to head. When you go two-nil down in a series and you’ve played some really good cricket, you know there’s going to be some challenges.”To come back from that and square the series two-two, both teams will be disappointed they don’t end up walking away with the scoreline, albeit Australia walk away with the urn. We stayed true to that under the fiercest of pressure.”

Unbeaten half-century does enough to edge victory by two runs on DLS method

ECB Reporters Network07-Sep-2024Eleanor Threlkeld staged a superbly-judged knock of 69 not out as Thunder beat Western Storm by two runs on the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern Method in a rain-shortened Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy contest at Taunton’s Cooper Associates Ground.Thunder’s captain won the toss, elected to bat first and then led by example as the visitors raised 216 for 9 from 50 overs, Alice Clarke weighing in with 41 and Grace Johnson contributing a useful 23, their efforts representing atonement for three self-inflicted run outs in a rollercoaster innings.Making her final appearance of what has been a successful campaign in Storm colours, Australian international Amanda-Jade Wellington signed off with 2 for 28 from 10 overs, her leg breaks doing much to undermine northern progress during the middle overs. Restored to the attack, Mollie Robbins impressed with the new ball and again at the death to finish with 3 for 28, keeping things tight while her fellow seamers proved expensive.Required to score at four an over as the rain clouds gathered away to the south west, Storm appeared to be in control of their own destiny. Openers Emma Corney and Sophia Smale departed early on, but the experienced pair of Sophie Luff and Fran Wilson restored calm and were in a position to dictate terms.But the third wicket pair inexplicably failed to move their team ahead of the DLS requirement of 71 as the rain began to fall and, when umpires Mark Newell and Fiona Richards finally led the players off the field after 20 overs, Storm were 69 for 2 with Luff and Wilson unbeaten on 16 and 13 respectively.Needing to resume their innings if they were to register a second win in three days and move off the foot of the table, Storm were ultimately frustrated by the weather, the umpires deciding they had no option but to abandon the game at 4.42pm.When Storm last encountered Eve Jones, playing for Central Sparks on this ground two weeks earlier, they found themselves on the receiving end of a match-winning 130. No wonder Ellie Anderson celebrated when having the experienced opener caught at the wicket for 16 with the score on 26 after Thunder had won the toss. But the home side had to be patient thereafter as Clarke and Seren Smale staged a steadying partnership of 40 in 10 overs for the second wicket.Wellington entered the fray with the scoreboard on 66 for 1 and immediately made her presence felt, having Smale comprehensively stumped by Katie Jones for 18 and then accepting a straightforward return catch to send back Fi Morris for six. When she was not taking wickets herself, the Australian was spreading panic among the opposition, her reputation inducing muddled thinking and contributing to a trio of run outs that saw the visitors lose their way.Danielle Collins was run out by Fran Wilson’s throw from the deep, while Clarke was nine runs short of a maiden half century when she was run out in the act of backing up her captain as Thunder slipped to 102 for 5. Threlkeld pushed a ball from Wellington into the leg side and set off on a single, only for stop-start confusion to set in, allowing Emma Corney time to throw in to Jones, who completed a slapstick dismissal. It was a disappointing end to a workmanlike innings that had seen Blackburn-born left-hander Clarke graft her way to 41 from 78 balls.Panic reared it’s head once more when Wellington returned to bowl the 37th over. Having gone along nicely in accruing 23 in a stand of 43 with Threlkeld, Grace Johnson clipped a ball from Wellington behind square and was called through for a risky single by her captain.Corney’s pick-up and throw was precise and Johnson was still out of her ground when Wellington whipped the bails off. Darcey Carter then played on to the returning Robbins as the visitors further subsided to 149 for 7.Having been involved in two of the three run outs, Threlkeld no doubt felt it incumbent upon herself to make amends, the 26-year-old wicketkeeper-batter taking charge of affairs to claim a spirited unbeaten half century and ensure the tail wagged. Tara Norris played her part, contributing 11 runs in a partnership of 34 for the eighth wicket, before being caught at the wicket by Jones, standing up to Robbins, who then had Hannah Jones held by Luff at mid-on later in the same over on her way to season’s best figures.Thereafter, Sophie Morris faced 13 balls without scoring, surviving long enough for Threlkeld to reach her 50, Thunder’s skipper going to that landmark from 77 balls with a reverse sweep off Sophia Smale for her fourth boundary. Storm succumbed to pressure at the death, Anderson being removed from the attack after sending down two beamers and being replaced by Alex Griffiths in a final over that cost 17 runs as the last wicket pair raised an unbeaten alliance of 33.

He was also effusive in praise for left-arm spinner Kuhnemann

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Feb-20252:48

Steven Smith: ‘A near-flawless performance’

It was the length Australian spinners bowled that helped them take 20 Sri Lanka wickets so easily. This is what the stand-in captain Steven Smith felt after his team inflicted a record innings-and-242-run victory on Sri Lanka in the first Test.The Sri Lanka batters struggled substantially against the spinners, losing 17 wickets to them in Galle. Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann took 9 for 149 in the match, to top the wicket-chart for the series so far.”I just think he bowls nice balls consistently,” Smith said of Kuhnemann. “Left-arm spinners to right-hand batters – it just works in the subcontinent.Related

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“He did a wonderful job when he bowled in India [where he took nine wickets across five innings in early 2023], and he bowled beautifully again in this game. It’s a pretty good effort.”Australia, unusually, played only one frontline seam bowler. Mitchell Starc has an outstanding record in Sri Lanka, but spin nevertheless claimed a bulk of the Sri Lanka wickets to fall in this Test, leaving just three for Starc.”I thought all the spinners worked really well together, and that’s the beauty of having three frontline spin bowlers,” Smith said. “You can sort of chop and change them, and as soon as one’s not looking quite as effective, and the batter gets a bit of a read on them or they get a little bit tired, you put the next one on and wait to see what’s happening.”But, while Australia’s spinners took 17 wickets in the Test, Sri Lanka’s spinners managed only the six.”For me, for [the] spinners it’s more length than pace,” Smith said. “If you can consistently hit a good length, then regardless of what’s going on, you’re going to be in play. If you can get the ball to skid or one to rag – the length where they’re lunging forward and can’t get back to it or they can’t drive at that length. If you’re hitting that consistently, your pace is kind of irrelevant, I think.”Australia scored 654 for 6 declared in the first innings. This is generally a position from which teams tend not to lose, and Australia felt especially confident, considering how quickly the pitch was deteriorating.”I think they lost 7 for 17 [7 for 15] across the day today at one point. It was one of those where it was really tough to start on, and as soon as we got a breakthrough, we always felt we could get another one quickly.”

Thakur starred with three wickets; however, it wasn’t a convincing batting show from India with Samson top-scoring with 43 not out

S Sudarshanan20-Aug-2022A complete bowling performance led by Shardul Thakur’s three-for, followed by a 56-run partnership between Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson, helped India inflict a 14th straight ODI defeat on Zimbabwe to win the three-ODI series, on Saturday in Harare, with one game to go.Thakur got the most wickets for India on the day. But it was a collective effort, with Mohammed Siraj’s eight overs going for just 16 runs, and all the bowlers on show getting among the wickets to bowl Zimbabwe out for 161. In reply, India cruised home with five wickets and more than 24 overs to spare.After being asked to bat, Zimbabwe openers Takudzwanashe Kaitano, brought in for Tadiwanashe Marumani, and Innocent Kaia began cautiously. Having lost four wickets in just over ten overs in the first ODI, the instruction, clearly, was to conserve wickets upfront, when there is help for seamers.They crawled to 12 for none in seven overs when Kaia decided to attack Thakur. He used the cross-batted pull to send one past mid-on’s right before flicking one well over midwicket in Thakur’s next.Shardul Thakur led the way with the ball with a three-wicket haul•Associated Press

But Siraj struck from the other end when he had Kaitano edging one to wicketkeeper Samson, who dived to his right to cling on after having been wrong-footed. Thakur then bookended his third over with the wickets of Kaia and Regis Chakabva, before Prasidh Krishna’s peach had Wessly Madhevere walking back.It was familiar territory for Zimbabwe despite the watchfulness at the start, with the scoreboard reading 31 for 4 after 12.4 overs. It had been 31 for 4 in 10.1 the last time.Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams, moved down to No. 6, then held fort for a while; with Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav in the attack, they stayed firm despite looking uncomfortable. Raza, in particular, struggled against Axar, who was mixing his orthodox spinners and arm balls, and survived a strong lbw appeal too. But Raza fell to Kuldeep when he sliced one to backward point, ending a 41-run union with Williams.Williams found the boundaries and ran well between the wickets, and looked on course for his second fifty-plus score in ODIs in 2022, when he slogged Hooda straight to deep backward square-leg. Along with Ryan Burl, he had just started to rebuild the innings with a 33-run stand.Thakur then returned to bounce out Luke Jongwe, which opened the floodgates all over again. Burl was left stranded on 39 not out as Axar had Brad Evans – dropped earlier by Kuldeep off his own bowling – chopping on before the last two batters were run-out.Sean Williams top-scored for Zimbabwe•AFP/Getty Images

In the reply, Shikhar Dhawan got off to a rollicking start, even as captain KL Rahul, promoted to the top, fell lbw to Victor Nyauchi for just 1.Dhawan used his feet against the high pace of Tanaka Chivanga, who replaced Richard Ngarava in the Zimbabwe XI, cutting and driving well. India had raced to 41 for 1 inside six overs before Chivanga got revenge with a perfect fast bowler’s response. After being driven crisply through covers, Chivanga angled a bouncer into Dhawan, who was caught off guard, and skied the pull towards midwicket.Shubman Gill, who had finished 82 not out in the first game when Dhawan got 81 not out in the ten-wicket win, got going from No. 3 with a pull through midwicket before hitting a couple of drives through the covers off Nyauchi.However, Jongwe managed to strike twice in two overs to peg India back. He first had Ishan Kishan playing away from his body and inside-edging on to his stumps and then had Gill hop and cut one straight down deep third’s throat.But Hooda and Samson ensured the chase didn’t stutter while unveiling some of their best attacking shots. Samson took a special liking to the spin of Raza and Williams, hitting the two for three sixes combined, before smacking another one off the legspin of Kaia to seal the win. Batting at No. 6, Samson finished on 43 not out off just 39 balls to exhibit his finishing prowess and perhaps provide another reminder of his abilities in white-ball cricket.

Glamorgan lead by 58 overnight, with potential to set final-day run-chase

ECB Reporters Network26-May-2024Glamorgan take a lead of 58 with nine wickets in hand into the final day of their Vitality County Championship match against Leicestershire after the home side declared in arrears on a rain-restricted third day at the Uptonsteel County Ground.Having been 280 for five from 85 overs overnight, Leicestershire lost not out centurion Peter Handscomb in the second over after a delayed start, and then puzzled spectators by showing little inclination to chase more than one extra batting bonus point before declaring at 343 for nine in reply to Glamorgan’s 387 all out.Handscomb made 103, his second hundred of the season. Nightwatchman Scott Currie was out five short of following last week’s career-best 72 against Gloucestershire with the second first-class fifty of his career.Timm van der Gugten, in his first match of the season after injury, finished with five for 65.Glamorgan lost opener Billy Root for one and were 14 for one when a very heavy shower at around 4.30pm left parts of the playing area underwater, forcing the umpires to abandon play for the day.The morning session was limited to just eight overs after rain delayed the start until noon and then forced an early lunch, with a 10-minute stoppage along the way for some extra mopping up in parts of the field still wet from the earlier downpour.Australian Test batter Handscomb could add only one to his unbeaten 102 overnight before he was leg before to a ball from Van der Gugten that kept more than a touch low from the Bennett End.New batter Ben Cox picked up three boundaries off Zain-ul-Hassan and Leicestershire emerged from the interval needing exactly 50 to claim a third batting point and, with 17 overs left of the 110, the possibility even of going for a fourth, mindful of the value of a high-scoring draw in this summer’s points structure.Yet those 17 overs yielded just 26 runs, with scarcely a shot struck in anger by either Cox or the nightwatchman, Currie, who had proved on the second evening that he is no mug with bat in hand. Glamorgan’s bowling remained tight and tidy but the absence of aggression in Leicestershire’s approach was difficult to fathom.To make matters worse, Leicestershire then lost two wickets in the space of five deliveries as Van der Gugten executed a brilliant caught-and-bowled to remove Cox and followed it up by bowling Ben Mike off an inside-edge on to pad, the Australian-born Netherlands international celebrating the 14th first-class five-for of his career.The general sense of bafflement with what was happening then only increased.Currie, who had been joined by the injured Tom Scriven and his runner, was leg before to James Harris, and when Matt Salisbury walked out at No.11, one assumed his role was to give Scriven the chance to swing the bat, even on one leg.Yet after just eight more deliveries, only one of which Scriven actually faced, Leicestershire declared, conceding a lead of 44.Glamorgan lost Root early in the sixth over of their second innings when he was bowled by Matt Salisbury, another ball that kept low, before the heavens opened.

Moment of ‘pure joy’ for Knight, Cross as England stay in the series in epic fashion

Andrew Miller12-Jul-2023Alyssa Healy, Australia’s captain, has challenged her side to throw out the excuses and galvanise for a response, after conceding that England’s third consecutive victory in the white-ball leg of the Women’s Ashes has left the series “on the line now, proper”.After slipping to a 6-0 deficit following defeat in the one-off Test in Trent Bridge and the first T20I at Edgbaston, England have now roared back to contention, squaring the rubber at six points all with a nailbiting two-wicket win in Bristol, with two final ODIs to come at Southampton and Taunton.And while Australia need only to take victory in either match to retain the trophy that they have held since 2015, the fearlessness of England’s fightback – led on this occasion by Heather Knight’s superb captain’s innings of 75 not out but epitomised by an astonishing penultimate-over ramp for four from Kate Cross – has put real belief into their team’s challenge.Fittingly, it was left to Knight to seal the chase with an emphatic slap for four through point off Jess Jonassen, after which she flung away her bat and let her emotions pour out as she leapt into Cross’s arms and soaked up the acclaim of another packed house, with 5,731 fans in Bristol’s County Ground.”It was just pure relief and ecstasy,” Knight said at the post-match presentation. “I thought it was slipping away there when we were eight-down, we kept losing wickets at regular intervals and kept making it hard for ourselves, but I was just trying to stay in my little bubble and keep really calm.”At 235 for 8, England still needed 29 to save the series, with only Lauren Bell to come, but Cross settled quickly into her work with back-to-back fours off Jonassen, before Knight climbed into the spin of Ashleigh Gardner with a huge six over cow corner. And then, with the requirement into single figures, Cross unfurled the stroke that telegraphed the extent of England’s resolve.”Kate Cross, what a hero,” Knight said. “She was quite nervous when she came in, but we just broke it down, trying to get it in tens. And when fine leg came up, I just had a chat with her, ‘paddle’s on, I back you to do it’. I thought she might go pace off, but Crossy executed it brilliantly, and took all the pressure off.”Cross finished unbeaten on 19 from 20 balls from No.10, a priceless contribution that showcased all of her experience, and more than made up for a tricky day with the ball, with her six overs in Australia’s innings going for 42. What’s more, after being laid low by a tropical disease in March that disrupted Cross’s preparation for this series, it was further proof of the fighting qualities that had got her back to full fitness for this campaign.”I kept saying to her, ‘Lauren Bell’s in next, so keep going, keep getting it down,” Knight joked. “Poor Lauren was a bit nervous, but I’m really pleased for Kate. She’s probably not had the best day but she’s one of the most resilient people that I know, so to see her do that was outstanding.”Heather Knight gets low to reverse-sweep during her matchwinning knock•PA Images/Getty

For Healy and Australia, however, it was a deeply chastening loss. Last week, their 2-1 defeat in the T20Is was their first loss in any series since 2017-18; now they have lost their first ODI in 16 attempts – and only their third in 46 – and have lost three matches in a row for the first time since February 2017.”I mean, the Ashes is on the line now proper, isn’t it?” Healy said. “So if that doesn’t galvanise the group, I don’t know what it does. We obviously haven’t been in this position a lot. And you know, we either see it as an opportunity to learn and grow, or we see it as an opportunity to throw excuses out there. So it’s up to us to turn it around for the next two games, [because] that Ashes trophy is well and truly on the line.”Defending 264, Australia were rattled early on by a brilliant Powerplay onslaught from Tammy Beaumont and Alice Capsey, whose fast-paced 40s helped lift England to 84 for 1, their highest 10-over score in ODI history. And though their spinners in particular helped to stem the tide, the run-rate remained below five an over for the bulk of the remaining chase.And despite a scruffy display that contained 23 extras, the multiple World Champions refused to give up without a fight – a trait that gave Healy some comfort as she prepared for what will doubtless be a difficult post-match debrief.”It ended up going right down to the wire,” she said. “Look, we just got outplayed a little bit at the end but thought we fought really well to keep ourselves in the fixture. It was a good game of cricket all round.Related

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“We were probably 20 runs short with a bat, and then we bowled 20-odd extras so I mean, that’s 40 runs in the game, so it’s probably what’s done us at the end of the day.”We’ve been showing it in patches,” she added. “The way we took it as deep as what we did, shows it’s still there. We’ve just got to be better, got to be sharper in different certain areas to get ourselves over the line. And that’s what we’re going to have to find over the next few days.”England, however, also have room for improvement even after this thrilling win, in particular their own fielding display which was marked by six dropped catches and a missed stumping. Knight, however, credited the Bristol crowd for playing their part in keeping the team’s spirits high throughout, and carrying them over the line.”We can be a lot better as well,” Knight said. “It was definitely not our best day. But the fight in the side is remarkable and we showed that again today.””I found it a really tricky wicket, I don’t think I middled one until I was on about 30,” Knight added. “It was quite hard to feel fluent and to rotate the ball around but the crowd kept us in it.”We know Australia are a brilliant team and we’re going to have to go again in Southampton, but the support from the crowd was unreal. I had to not get too high when everyone was singing Hey Jude at the end, and try not to sing along in my head, but it’s been awesome.”The support’s really made the difference for us and hopefully that will continue over the next few games. It’s been an awesome series. I wouldn’t mind a few less nail-biters, to be sure, but it was just pure joy at the end.”

“I let him in on my game plan, about staying leg-side of the ball and using my hands and bats to play the ball. He thought it was a good option for him as well”

Mohammad Isam10-Dec-2023New Zealand allrounder Glenn Phillips said that he shared his batting mantra with Mitchell Santner before their crucial seventh-wicket partnership took shape in the Dhaka Test. The visitors had slumped to 69 for 6 chasing 137 runs on the fourth afternoon against Bangladesh before Santner and Phillips got together to rescue the side.The pair added the rest of the 70 runs in the chase as the Bangladesh bowlers strived for the last four wickets on what the New Zealand captain Tim Southee later described as the “worst pitch” of his career. The match had the third-fewest balls bowled in a Test of the last 100 years, when at least 36 wickets have fallen in both sides.Related

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Phillips said that batting out the 3.1 overs leading into the tea break was crucial for New Zealand at that point. He said that he told Santner about his method of playing at the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch. Santner took the advice on board, ending up unbeaten on 35.”They were bowling really well at the time,” Phillips said. “It was a real blessing for us to get to tea. We had a bit of chat, talked a bit about tactics. He has got incredibly fast hands. I let him in on my game plan, about staying leg-side of the ball and using my hands and bats to play the ball. He thought it was a good option for him as well. The way he came out after tea and really took it to the bowlers, the way he played the offies as well, it was incredibly impressive. It took the pressure off myself.”Phillips, who top-scored in both innings with 87 and 40 not out, said that he wanted to bat in the second innings in the same way he batted in the first. He struck nine fours and four sixes in his 72-ball knock in the first dig.”I think at the end of the day, I was sticking to my plan. It worked in the first innings. We made adjustments from the first game as well, so it was sticking to that and keeping my processes calm and clear. I was still taking the attack to the bowlers when they missed, but at the end of the day, it was about knocking down one run at a time. Take it as deep as possible,” he said.Phillips said that New Zealand taking the lead by eight runs at the end of the first innings ensured that they had the mental edge over Bangladesh. “Winning the toss was key for Bangladesh. It was a blessing to get ahead of their first innings total. Those eight runs made a lot of difference. It gave the boys the confidence in the second innings with the bat.”The Bangladesh bowlers were really good with the new ball. Some skidding on, some spinning. It was tough for our batters. It became a bit more predictable as the ball got older. Thankfully for us, it presented some more scoring opportunities,” he said.Phillips also ended with eight wickets in the Test series, fulfilling his wish to be a relevant bowler in the New Zealand attack. “It was a dream of mine for a long time to actually bowl so many overs. To be able to take a few wickets as well. The process that I have actually been through has paid off.”Timmy (Southee) had the confidence to go to me despite knowing that I don’t have the experience behind me, but thankfully the conditions were favourable to spinners.”

He departs as Australia’s leading men’s run-scorer in the format and led them to the 2021 T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2023Aaron Finch has announced his retirement from T20Is, bringing an end to his Australia career, meaning there will be a new captain when the team next take the field later this year.The move had been expected following Finch’s decision to quit ODIs late last year and a significant gap until Australia’s next T20Is following the home World Cup where they failed to make the semi-finals.After that tournament, where Finch missed the final game against Afghanistan due to injury, he said he would take to assess his future during the BBL. He enjoyed a successful tournament for Melbourne Renegades, where he made 428 runs at 38.90, but has decided he won’t push through to August when Australia next play T20Is in South Africa.Finch captained the team to their first T20 World Cup title when they defeated New Zealand in Dubai during 2021.Related

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“Realising that I won’t be playing on until the next T20 World Cup in 2024, now is the right moment step down and give the team time to plan and build towards that event,” Finch said.”I’d like to thank my family, especially my wife Amy, my team-mates, Cricket Victoria, Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association for their support to allow me to play the game I love at the highest level. I also want to say a huge thank you to all the fans who have supported me throughout my international career.”Team success is what you play the game for and the maiden T20 World Cup win in 2021 and lifting the ODI World Cup on home soil in 2015 will be the two memories I cherish the most.”To be able to represent Australia for 12 years and play with and against some of the greatest players of all time has been an incredible honour.”Finch leaves as Australia’s leading men’s run-scorer in the format with 3120 at 34.28 and a strike-rate of 142.53. His high score of 172, made against Zimbabwe in 2018, is the highest T20I innings of all-time – a record he also held with his 156 against England in 2013.Aaron Finch led Australia to the 2021 T20 World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

Although Finch was not the force of old by last year’s World Cup his T20I form did not slide away in the same way as his ODI returns although there was a notable reduction in his strike-rate over the final two years of his career.He will continue to play with Renegades and said he would take up other domestic T20 opportunities if they were offered.”As one of only four men’s players to captain Australia to a World Cup victory, Aaron will always have a special place in Australian Cricket’s history,” Cricket Australia chair, Dr Lachlan Henderson, said. “Playing at the highest level for over a decade requires incredible determination and dedication, so we thank Aaron for his enormous contribution and wish him all the best in the next phase of his career.”There is no rush for Australia to appoint a new T20I captain with the men’s team next in action on a tour to South Africa in late August. There is no obvious standout candidate with Pat Cummins unlikely to be considered for all three roles. Matthew Wade led the side in the final World Cup game against Afghanistan when Finch was injured but his career may also have finished if Australia opt to look to the future.Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa, two of the leading white-ball bowlers in the world, offer intriguing options while Steven Smith, whose recent BBL form showed he should still command a place in the team, could be in the frame.A further left-field candidate could be Ashton Turner, the hugely successful Perth Scorchers captain, who had an outstanding BBL with bat and as a leader this season albeit his stop-start international career is underwhelming.