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“The team culture has improved in the last two years under the senior players. We have to continue on that.”

Mohammad Isam24-Jul-2022Bangladesh’s new T20I captain Nurul Hasan wants his side to play “fearless cricket” in Zimbabwe in the three-match series next week. In his first press conference as captain, Nurul offered a glimpse into his thinking as he fended off tough questions about a struggling team and his own performance in the format.BCB named Nurul captain for only their next three T20I games, replacing Mahmudullah who had been in charge since 2019. But it is a major concern that Bangladesh have won only one of their last 13 T20Is, and have stagnated in the format. It is widely believed that Nurul is a stopgap option before Shakib Al Hasan, who has been rested from the Zimbabwe tour, takes over for the Asia Cup next month.Related

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But Nurul is to be taken seriously. He is known for his shy demeanor off the field and his aggression on it. For a cricketer who only returned to the T20I setup in Bangladesh’s most recent series, it is a big ask to lead a side that has so much expectation riding on it. He said that the characteristic of not being too excitable will be handy for him as captain.”It is important to play fearless cricket,” Nurul said. “It creates more opportunity. We want to stick to our process too but we can’t plan too far ahead. Captaincy is definitely a matter of pride but I am thinking more about the challenge ahead. At every level I have led teams, I tried to [get the players to] play as a team. I want to continue that team-first culture.”I have very little expectation and excitement in my life. I don’t worry too much about results or the past. These things don’t really matter to me. I have been successfully doing this for a long time.”Nurul said he would take the best bits of what he has learned from the previous leaders, but believes that captains differ vastly. “I have learned a lot playing under [Mahmudullah] Riyad ,” he said. “I have learned from all our captains, all of whom are quite different. I want to work by taking something from each of those experiences.”The team culture has improved in the last two years under the senior players. We have to continue on that. You can’t mention the contribution of our senior cricketers in one or two words. They have brought Bangladesh cricket to a level, so now our job is to take it forward.”Nurul’s T20I record with the bat is modest – 271 runs at an average of 12.90 and a strike rate of 111.98, with a top score of 30 not out from 29 innings – but he felt those numbers didn’t reflect the extent of his contributions.”The type of batting I do, it creates more impact than what my score often suggests.” he said. “I might score 15-20 runs but it has a direct consequence for the team. I will try to continue in that vein.”Meanwhile, the man widely tipped to take over from Nurul after the Zimbabwe tour endorsed the new captain. “I think he is a worthy captain,” Shakib said. “BCB also feels he can contribute to Bangladesh’s future, which is why they made him the captain. I wish him well. I hope he can overcome the challenge in Zimbabwe.”

Australia’s openers David Warner and Joe Burns both coshed hundreds to stretch the home side’s lead at the Gabba after a classical century by Kane Williamson

The Report by Daniel Brettig07-Nov-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:52

Nicholas: Burns’ performance was commanding

Two parallel contests took place on day three of the first Test at the Gabba.In the first, which should dictate the outcome of the match, Australia tossed 10 of New Zealand’s cricketers around like rag dolls, epitomised by Joe Burns’ brutal first Test hundred in partnership with a similarly untroubled David Warner. In the second, Australia’s XI fought a lengthy and losing battle to curtail Kane Williamson, who made one of the finest hundreds Brisbane has seen with precious little support from those around him.The overall result of these two bouts was a vast lead for Australia by the close of the day with their captain Steven Smith needing only to determine how many overs he wants to bowl New Zealand out. Yet Williamson’s 140 had at least prevented Smith from enacting his best case plan when play began – namely to bowl the visitors out quickly and send them back in.Instead, Burns and Warner took progressively greater liberties against a bowling line-up shorn of the injured Tim Southee and also carrying a visibly sore Jimmy Neesham. Brendon McCullum was at one point seen rousing Neesham to greater efforts, but there was little New Zealand’s captain could do by way of field placing or motivation to stem the flow of runs.Burns went to his hundred – a vindication of his recall after the selectors were somewhat harsh in leaving him out of the winter tours of the West Indies and England – with two straight sixes in three balls from the hapless Mark Craig. After a brief rain delay, Warner too made three figures, his third set of twin hundreds in a Test match, after Cape Town and Adelaide in 2014. No previous Test opening pair had ever added 150 and 200 in the same match.Warner was eventually out essaying a switch-hit; Burns skied a similarly aggressive slog. Smith’s brief stay was ended when he sliced low to Williamson and the third umpire S Ravi used welcome common sense to take the small leap of logic required when reviewing low catches on a two-dimensional television screen. These wickets came about largely through the desire of the Australians to attack, and a little from some wear in the pitch.For New Zealand, these indignities were added to those inflicted by the CA XI in Canberra and Blacktown, where Aaron Finch and Ryan Carters had added 503 together before the match was called off due to a rapidly deteriorating pitch. The tourists may be better for the run in Brisbane, but it will take a resilient team to shrug off the humiliations being piled up here.As a source of inspiration they can look no further than Williamson, who took on Australia’s attack almost single-handedly. His 11th Test century was completely composed, containing none of the lapses in concentration that did for other team-mates such as BJ Watling and Craig, and ensured that Smith would not send the visitors back in a second time.The second new ball was ultimately required, and Mitchell Starc swung it late at pace to pluck Southee’s off stump and then find Williamson’s inside edge for 140, the second-highest score by a New Zealand batsman at the Gabba after Martin Crowe’s 188 in 1985. While Starc’s figures of 4 for 57 were handsome, Mitchell Johnson was repeatedly forced through the off side and ultimately conceded five runs per over for his 3 for 105.Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Johnson all bowled testing spells, but Williamson met them all with admirable technique and an array of strokes that stretched the fields set by Smith. His ability to make the most of the situation was summed up when the Australians raced through an over from Voges to allow Lyon one more before lunch. While Williamson made some efforts to delay and usher the interval, he then proceeded to punch a pair of boundaries in Lyon’s over.Watling and Williamson have a history of partnerships, and would have hoped to push New Zealand through the morning without loss. But after they negotiated Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, Watling hung his bat out at Johnson’s first ball of the morning and a thin edge behind was gratefully accepted by Peter Nevill.Craig showed evidence of batting talent that has allowed him to average greater than 40 in his brief Test career to date, but after a pesky stand with Williamson he decided to get down the wicket to Lyon, a task invariably more difficult than it appears. A first drive just cleared the head of the man posted at mid-off, and when Smith pushed him halfway to the boundary, Craig’s next big shot attempt was a swish across the line that brought a top edge and a simple catch to point.Bracewell showed good sense to accompany Williamson however, and the loss of partners at the other end seemed the only thing that would prevent New Zealand’s No. 3 from going past three figures. Granted enough time at the crease, Williamson cruised to his century, and Australia have found that like the rest of world cricket, they have some thinking to do about how to get him out. New Zealand, though, are hard pressed to dismiss anyone at the moment.

Head coach believes team had been “really good over a period of time'” before Shanaka changed the course of the game

Andrew McGlashan12-Jun-2022Not much has gone wrong for Australia’s T20I side since the start of last year’s World Cup, but Saturday night’s heady scenes in Pallekele – as Sri Lanka pummelled a record-breaking 59 from the last three overs – put the spotlight on an area of their game that will need some refinement ahead of their title defence later this year.For the third time this year Sri Lanka put Australia’s death bowling under severe pressure defending a target – the stunning chase followed a victory in Melbourne in February and a tie in Sydney which Australia ultimately won in a Super Over.Related

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The Melbourne chase was never in the realms of what Dasun Shanaka achieved in Pallekele – Sri Lanka needed 28 off the last three overs and nine off the last – but Sydney had provided a warning when they ransacked 45 off the last three before Josh Hazlewood’s five-run Super Over decided the contest.The latest contest, with the series decided after Australia went 2-0 up in Colombo, again saw Aaron Finch give his team the chance to defend as he had done in Melbourne instead of continuing with the successful bowl-first model. There was little broader consequence in the outcome of the game for Australia, but that would not be the case in a World Cup knockout where the decision to defend could be taken out of their hands.”The small reviews we had last night with individuals was that if you had the time again you’d have taken some different options,” head coach Andrew McDonald said. “We felt we got a little one-dimensional at certain periods, a little too predictable and probably went away from what made us really good in the first two games, albeit we weren’t defending a total.”As in Melbourne, it was Jhye and Kane Richardson who were given the 19th and 20th overs of the innings, but it also went wrong for the previously outstanding Hazlewood who missed his length and went for 22 in the 18th over having started with remarkable figures of 3-1-3-2.”We feel that pressure probably took us away at times from what made us really good,” McDonald said. “We’ve been really good over a period of time and even last night you could argue that for 34 overs that we playing really good cricket. We’ve got some personnel who are getting exposed to situations which is always a positive.Dasun Shanaka blazed his bat around to give his team an unlikely win.•Getty Images

“There were a couple of areas we could tidy up, no doubt about that. When you get put under that type of pressure…we didn’t execute as well as we may have hoped to in that situation but full credit to an innings of that quality, it deserves the result it got and it was a great game. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of that but plenty of opportunities to learn from those types of situations.”Starc, who was injured in the first game of the series, and the rested Pat Cummins were missing from Australia’s side although Cummins was also among those taken to in the Sydney chase when he conceded 17 off the 18th over.The next opportunity Australia will have to fine-tune their T20 game is a three-match series in India in mid-September before the final lead-in to the World Cup with matches against West Indies and England at home.On this tour, the focus now switches to the five-match ODI series which begins on Tuesday and marks a starting point of sorts for the 2023 World Cup build-up. Although missing Adam Zampa, who is on paternity leave, and having Starc and Mitchell Marsh carrying injuries, it is the closest Australia have come to having a full-strength ODI side together since the start of the series against India in November 2020 – albeit this is only their third series since then.A patched-up side won 2-1 in West Indies last year and another started well in Pakistan in late March before losing the series. Australia have a lot of ODI cricket on their calendar due to Covid catch-up series, although some may not feature a full-strength team and the three matches against South Africa next January remain in doubt with CSA wanting them moved due to their new T20 league.The five games in Sri Lanka will likely see most of Australia’s squad get some match time fitness permitting, particularly among the quick bowlers who will be rotated amid a tight schedule. Allrounder Cameron Green, who made a century for Australia A last week, will not be available to bowl for the first two matches as a cautious approach is taken with his workload.”He’s just a fraction behind where we’d like him to be so we’ll go on the conservative side there,” McDonald said. “But the three games back in Colombo we feel he’ll be well positioned to fill his full capabilities in being an allrounder.”With Marsh also unavailable at least for the start of the series Australia may need to find 10 overs between Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Marnus Labuschagne depending on the final balance of their side.

Rollicking chase sealed with 77 balls to spare as tourists ring changes in build-up to series

Matt Roller12-Jul-2022Was this a case of mistaken identity? As England’s full-strength 50-over side capitulated to a ten-wicket defeat in south London, bowled out for 110 by India, their second-string counterparts blitzed their way to a target of 319 in just 37.1 overs against South Africa in Taunton.Somerset had made 265 for 5, the highest total in the history of English domestic T20, at this ground on Saturday night and the short boundaries are notoriously inviting. On another excellent batting pitch at their home ground, Will Smeed and Tom Banton added 113 for the first wicket in 13.4 overs – more than the ODI side had managed in 25.2 – to remove any kind of scoring pressure from the chase.Smeed eventually fell for 90 off 56 balls in what was his first senior 50-over innings, hitting seven fours and six sixes against the same South Africa attack that will be used in next week’s ODI series against England. Ben Duckett and Stephen Eskinazi added 127 for the fourth wicket in 15 overs; Duckett fell with two to win, but Eskinazi hit the winning runs by crashing Marco Jansen through point, bringing up his half-century in the process. The margin of defeat was six wickets, but with as many as 77 balls remaining, this was a genuine thrashing.South Africa were not overly concerned. “It was good for the batters to spend some time in the middle and get used to the conditions,” Janneman Malan, who top-scored with 103, said. “We always saw today as a warm-up: time in the middle for the boys, time on our feet. Their guys were prepared well for today and they played well but we saw this as a proper warm-up game and it’ll be a competitive game in two days’ time.”Keshav Maharaj, standing in as captain for the 50-over leg of this tour with Temba Bavuma absent through injury, juggled his bowlers and the tourists used 16 players with either bat or ball; Quinton de Kock, who was rested as a precaution due to a bruised finger, was the only squad member who did not play some part. Thursday’s second tour match, which has List A status, will be a better test of their standing heading into the England series.But this was still a significant result, one which reasserted the extent of England’s depth in limited-overs cricket – even if the cream of the crop were enduring a rare off-day simultaneously. Like Manchester City, Barcelona and Ajax’s football academies, England have encouraged their developmental sides to play in the same manner as the first team, as evidenced by the team that reached the Under-19 World Cup final earlier this year, and the Lions’ romp had all the hallmarks of the first team’s style. “They fell into the brand that England want to play perfectly,” Malan said. “They obviously have their structures and their blueprint. It looks like they bought into it.”Related

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South Africa started cautiously, working their way to 39 for 1 after the powerplay after Kyle Verreynne had slashed Sam Cook to point. Malan and Reeza Hendricks took a liking to George Scrimshaw’s extra pace, adding 80 for the second wicket, but England’s slower bowlers dragged things back: Benny Howell, making his Lions debut at 34, restricted the scoring with his unique brand of “fast spin” and Jake Lintott, the left-arm wristspinner, had Hendricks caught behind, edging a googly through to Banton.Malan continued to accumulate, reaching a 112-ball hundred, but was one of three men to fall to Rehan Ahmed, the 17-year-old legspinner, as South Africa looked to take him down. He finished his six overs with figures of 3 for 54 as Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller attacked, but David Payne nailed his yorkers at the death, taking four late wickets to restrict South Africa to 318.Smeed and Banton, Somerset’s opening pair, were both beaten outside off stump early on but soon found their range, adding 78 inside the 10-over powerplay and taking on Anrich Nortje’s express pace. Banton reached his half-century off 43 balls and whacked his next for six off Maharaj, but then fell looking to repeat the trick as he top-edged to short third.Smeed, the 20-year-old batter, will not make his List A debut until Thursday and last played a 50-over game in club cricket, but looked like a natural after getting himself set. He generated remarkable power off the back foot against South Africa’s spinners, clubbing Maharaj for two sixes in the space of four balls before hitting a back-to-back pair off Tabraiz Shamsi to fly into the 70s.He was in no mood to slow down, reaching 90 with a hoick over midwicket off Andile Phehlukwayo, but was bowled a ball later, looking to swing him across the line once more. His innings, off 56 balls, reinforced his status as one of England’s brightest young talents; a full international debut is a matter of when, not if.Sam Hain came and went for a 17-ball 20 at No. 3 but Duckett and Eskinazi did not let up. Duckett breezed along, scooping and dinking South Africa’s seamers and accumulating at will against spin, while Eskinazi – overlooked by all eight teams in the Hundred – brought up a 36-ball half-century when he hit Jansen for the winning runs, crashing him through point. If England need reinforcements for the second ODI at Lord’s on Thursday, they will not have to look far.

Setback for the defending champions as they slump to their second straight loss

Firdose Moonda08-Mar-2022After their takedown of hosts New Zealand on the opening night, West Indies beat England for the first time at a Women’s World Cup to throw the qualification race wide open. A second straight win, this one almost as late in the script as the previous one, took them to the top of the standings, even as the defending champions suffered their second straight loss.Stafanie Taylor’s side defended 225 on a slow pitch in a see-saw match. For a while, it seemed to have settled with England as their ninth-wicket pair of Sophie Ecclestone and Kate Cross added 61 to take them within nine runs of victory. Then some magic, along with a bit of luck, for Anisa Mohammed turned the game again as West Indies pulled off a sensational win.Tasked with bowling the 48th over, Mohammed was at the receiving end of a ferocious Ecclestone hit. But she stuck out a hand and deflected the ball on to the stumps to run Cross out at the non-striker’s end. Three balls later, Mohammed bowled Anya Shrubsole, who yorked herself as she charged down the track and missed a full ball, to seal the deal.It was heartbreaking for England after Ecclestone and Cross had brought them back from 156 for 8, through a mix of street-smart cricket and calculated aggression.The game was set up, however, by West Indies openers Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin, who added 81. Then they lost four wickets for 17 runs to concede the advantage. And then came the bailout courtesy a 123-run fifth-wicket stand between Shemaine Campbelle and Chedean Nation, which took them to 225, which at the halfway point seemed a decent total on a slow pitch.Anisa Mohammed leads the West Indies victory sprint after her sensational last over•Getty Images

It looked even bigger than it was when England were reduced to 94 for 5, before Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley put on 60 for the sixth wicket to keep England in the hunt. But they fell away again by losing three wickets in six balls before Ecclestone and Cross took them close, only to fall short again.Both teams will be disappointed with their efforts on the field. England dropped four chances, and West Indies three. England sent down 23 wides, West Indies 15. Yet, the clincher that started England’s troubles was Dottin’s leaping one-handed stunner at backward point that broke England’s steady opening stand. She was fully airborne as she leapt to her left and put out her non-dominant hand to dismiss Lauren Winfield-Hill. It came on the back of two dropped catches.Three overs later, Heather Knight was out caught behind as she advanced down the pitch to a Matthews delivery that drifted away and held its line. The decision was initially referred for a stumping, but UltraEdge confirmed a thin spike and Knight was given out. Matthews had a second when Nat Sciver top-edged a slog sweep to mid-on. England had slipped to 58 for 3 at that stage.When Amy Jones offered a return catch that was shelled by Aaliyah Alleyne, England had a brief reprieve, but Alleyne had the last laugh when she had Jones driving to Matthews at slip. Tammy Beaumont looked good, but fell to Mohammed when she played all around a full ball. A wobble had turned into a full-blown collapse.Dunkley and Wyatt repaired the innings by ticking the runs sensibly. The pair put on 60 and appeared to have eased the nerves in the England camp when Dunkley mistimed a swat straight to Taylor at short midwicket in the 34th over. Two balls later, Wyatt sliced a lofted hit to mid-off. When Katherine Brunt slapped Shamilia Connell to point, it looked like the writing was on the wall at 156 for 8.Sophie Ecclestone was impressive, and her three-wicket burst gave England a good chance•Getty Images

Earlier, Dottin and Matthews started briskly, scoring at close to six runs an over. It changed after the 11th over. Cross could have had Matthews but for a return catch that went down. She did, however, apply the squeeze with Sciver before Ecclestone forced a slowdown through eight boundary-less overs that led to a collapse.Matthews was the first to go on 45 when she top-edged a heave to short third to break an 81-run opening stand in the 21st over. Three balls later, Dottin was run-out after a mix-up with Kycia Knight, as Wyatt swooped in to under-arm a direct hit at the striker’s end. One ball later, Taylor met a slow Ecclestone delivery with an open-faced bat to defend but got the outside edge and was caught behind for a first-ball duck.West Indies could have lost a fourth shortly after but Campbelle’s lbw decision was overturned by DRS when the impact – she had attempted a sweep off Knight – was found to be outside off. But England only had to wait until the next delivery to get a wicket as Knight drilled Ecclestone straight to short cover.West Indies were 98 for 4 after 27 overs. Only 37 runs came in the next ten overs, with just one boundary, as England continued to apply pressure, but Campbelle and Nation absorbed it. They saw off Ecclestone, who bounced back from none for 77 against Australia to finish with 3 for 20 today, and brought up their 50-run stand in the 40th over.As the innings approached its end, the pair became more aggression. Nation broke a 13-over drought when she drove Sciver square of the wicket for a boundary in the 45th. Then Campbelle swivel-pulled Sciver behind square and flicked her to midwicket to raise a 70-ball half-century. Soon, they also raised the century stand. This proved to be the difference in the end as it gave West Indies a total they managed to defend after a struggle.