While there could be attempts from BCCI office bearers and state associations to bring back N Srinivasan for the ICC Board meeting, the CoA has said such a move would need the approval of the Supreme Court

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Apr-2017The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has made it clear that any attempted move by the BCCI office bearers and state associations to bring former board president N Srinivasan back into the fold would need the approval of the Supreme Court.The office bearers want to nominate Srinivasan as the BCCI representative for the crucial ICC Board meetings later this month in Dubai. A final decision is likely to be taken at the board’s special general body meeting (SGM) on April 9 in Delhi.Although Srinivasan has not made his thoughts public, he met the three existing BCCI office bearers in Hyderabad on Wednesday. This was just before the three men – Amitabh Choudhary (acting secretary), Anirudh Chaudhry (treasurer) and CK Khanna (acting president) – were headed to meet the CoA, led by Vinod Rai and Vikram Limaye. It is understood that Rai, the CoA chairman, told the three office bearers that members attending the SGM or any ICC meeting would need to comply with the eligibility criteria approved by the Supreme Court.Srinivasan fails the eligibility test on three main fronts. He is past the age cap of 70 years. He has also completed nine years as an office bearer both at the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) and the BCCI, which disqualifies him automatically. Srinivasan is also yet to resign as the president of the TNCA, thereby flouting the court judgement of July 2016, which had approved the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.However, in their meetings with the CoA, the office bearers pointed out that there were no restrictions on the states or BCCI appointing a representative to attend the ICC meetings.The CoA, on Thursday, said it would seek the court’s approval, but asked the BCCI members to adhere to the court order. “Members may kindly note that the Committee of Administrators has decided to seek appropriate directions from the Hon’ble Supreme Court on matters relating to eligibility for participating in any Special General Meeting or Annual General Meeting of the BCCI (both with reference to Members and their nominees/representatives) as well as eligibility for being appointed to represent the BCCI at the ICC.”Members are requested to consider the above issues and ensure that attendance and decisions at any Special General Meeting or Annual General Meeting of the BCCI is in compliance with the orders passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court as well as all applicable norms, rules and regulations.”There have been murmurs in the past few weeks of Srinivasan making a return at the ICC Board, which was considered improbable after he was forced to step down as BCCI president by the Supreme Court in 2015.In its meetings on April 26 and 27, the ICC Board is expected to deliberate, and probably vote, on the various resolutions concerning the governance structure and the revenue distribution model. Last month, the CoA sent an expansive e-mail to the ICC elaborating on its differences on the various resolutions.Nonetheless, the BCCI office bearers and most state associations have been sceptical of the CoA’s accommodating attitude towards the ICC Board. The CoA has stressed that the BCCI ought to engage and not confront the other member boards. However, the office bearers are adamant that the BCCI could not afford to loosen its grip and certainly not come down on its share derived from the ICC’s broadcasting rights.These office bearers and the other members of the BCCI have strongly objected to the reformist drive put in place by ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, who was the board president until last April. To take on Manohar, the office bearers felt a strong opposing voice was necessary.Incidentally, in an order issued in February, the court had approved three names – Limaye, Choudhary and Chaudhry – who could attend the ICC meetings that took place couple of months ago. Choudhry attended the ICC chief executives committee meeting while Limaye sat in the Financial & Commercial Affairs as well as the ICC Board.

South Australia have called up left-arm spinner Tom Andrews, along with fast bowler Kane Richardson, for the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria in Alice Springs

Daniel Brettig22-Mar-2017South Australia have added left-arm spinner Tom Andrews and fast bowler Kane Richardson to their squad for the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria in Alice Springs.The pitch at Traeger Park has traditionally taken spin, meaning Andrews is in with a chance of joining Adam Zampa in a spin bowling pair for South Australia as they seek to defeat Victoria in the decider, having lost to them in the final last season. Andrews has played three first-class games and taken seven wickets. His last Shield match was against New South Wales in February 2016.”We’ve heard that it is a good cricket wicket and that it tends to spin a bit later in the game, but we think we have the squad to take advantage of the conditions and put our best foot forward,” South Australia high performance chief Tim Nielsen said.”We need to play positively and aggressively and back ourselves in and make sure that we give ourselves the best chance of winning the game. Unlike last year, we have to win to hoist the Shield in the air so there’s no second option.”Two players who missed out last season, Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper, are set to take part and will both be playing in their first Shield final after long domestic careers. Ferguson, a Test debutant earlier this summer, was waylaid last year by a serious knee injury, while Cooper was dropped due to a lack of runs. Both have been firm contributors to South Australia this season. The final commences on Sunday.South Australia squad: Travis Head (c), Tom Andrews, Alex Carey (wk), Tom Cooper, John Dalton, Callum Ferguson, Jake Lehmann, Joe Mennie, Kane Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Jake Weatherald, Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa

The 24-year old wicketkeeper batsman understands some of their big players will be leaving soon and he wants to step up

Firdose Moonda14-May-2017Moments after scooping five awards including Cricketer of the Year at CSA’s annual celebration, Quinton de Kock made a curious confession: he would like to make more mistakes. Errors, he believed, were the best way to improve as a cricketer, especially if he could figure out how to overcome them himself.”I feel that I am learning but I don’t know as much as a lot of the other players,” de Kock said. “I’m the type of guy, you can tell me what to do but I need to do it for myself – for me to actually experience it and learn from those mistakes myself. Once that happens I know I’ll grow. I’m a fairly fast learner – well, I think I am – but we’ll see next season.”Among de Kock’s accomplishments in the 2016-17 season were a string of five consecutive scores of fifty or more at the top of the order in ODIs and repeatedly bailing his team out of tough situations from down the order in Tests.”I am really focused on getting my batting ability much higher, better knowing that in the next couple of years the older guys will start falling out and we will have to start replacing them,” he said. “And I’m going to have to start playing more of a senior role in the team. It’s that sort of mindset that’s shifting at the moment for me.”Most noticeably, de Kock seems to have struck a balance between carefree and confident. He has found a way to retain his naturally aggressive style of play, without being reckless, and explained that his next challenge was showing more patience on pitches that lack in pace.”Sometimes I’m quite instinctive but sometimes I try and read what the bowler is doing and I try and play to that situation. Sometimes my technique is not the best for slow decks. It’s about learning to play on them and in those situations,” he said. “I’ve grown up on the Highveld so fast wickets are my game. So I’m still learning to play on slow decks where the ball’s turning excessively.”What may help de Kock in that endeavour is his other skill of keeping wicket. From behind the stumps, where he took 61 catches across all formats last season, de Kock has as close a view as anyone could want to assess how the ball behaves off a particular surface. “The keeping helps me in my batting. I’m in a good position, I can see the wicket, I feel I can adapt quicker to how things will pan out,” he said.De Kock’s all-round ability will be important for South Africa on their next assignment: the Champions Trophy. He will go into the tournament, much like he did the 2015 World Cup, on the back of an injury with massive expectation on both him and the team. De Kock has declared himself fully fit after the finger injury sustained in New Zealand which kept him out of the IPL and also brushed aside the public pressure to break a major tournament drought.”I don’t want to say too much,” he said. “I don’t want to jinx myself or jinx the team. The Proteas have always been seen as favourites when they go into big tournaments. This time we don’t want to be that. We just want to be that team who go there and does our best. We’ll try to win it. We know we’ve got a lot of backing at the moment because of the season we’ve just had. People can say we’re going to win, but we hear that at every ICC tournament. So we’re just going to take it game by game and not get too ahead of ourselves.”Unlike some of his team-mates, de Kock truly does appear unaffected by South Africa’s wretched luck at ICC events, as he was about the handful of trophies he collected on Saturday. All he wants is to get better so that he can help the team do better and he considers anything that comes after that a bonus.”I never feel quite as good when I walk off the field and I haven’t done anything for the team, whether that’s helping out with a run-out or something that could just change the momentum of the game or keep the momentum in our favour. That makes me enjoy the game more. Sure, accolades make you feel good. But when you know you’re doing your bit for the team, that’s what makes you feel good.”

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2017
ScorecardBen Cox took his chance at No. 5•Getty Images

Ben Cox successfully filled the No. 5 spot vacated by the departed Tom Kohler-Cadmore before Josh Tongue caused mayhem with the ball for Worcestershire on day one of the Specasavers County Championship clash with Glamorgan at New Road.Cox was promoted up the order for the second game running after Kohler-Cadmore’s release – to join Yorkshire – was confirmed yester and he top scored with 93 out of 267 all out in 70.4.Then Tongue blitzed his way through the Glamorgan batting line-up with five wickets in four devastating overs as the Welsh County closed on 76-6.
Cox went to the middle quicker than he would have wanted after Worcestershire had been reduced to 14 for 3 within the first 45 minutes on being asked to bat.He eventually became the last of four victims of Timm van der Gugten who was well supported by new four-day skipper Michael Hogan, Lukas Carey and Andrew Salter with two wickets apiece.But then Tongue got to work with the ball as Glamorgan nosedived from 39 for 0 to 58 for 6.Worcestershire were looking for a positive response after an innings defeat at Sussex had ended a run of four successive victories.But they were immediately on the back foot as Daryl Mitchell, who had scored 534 runs in the previous five Championship innings, lost his off stump to the third ball of the innings from Lukas Carey.Tom Fell (7) was trapped lbw by Van der Gugten who also accounted for Brett D’Oliveira (7) with Aneurin Donald holding onto a sharp chance at third slip.
Cox was in aggressive mode from the start and Joe Clarke (25) partnered him in a stand of 69 in 16 overs before the latter was bowled by Michael Hogan with a delivery which was angled in.Josh Tongue: five wickets•Getty Images

Van der Gugten bowled a lengthy spell during the afternoon session and accounted for Ross Whiteley (6) who was pouched by Donald via another sharp catch at third slip.Cox was joined by Barnard in another productive stand of 59 in 11.4 overs. The former Bromsgrove School pupil looked set for a deserved century but then became the fourth victim of Van der Gugten as Andrew Salter reacted sharply away to his left in the gully. He faced only 99 deliveries and struck 15 boundaries.Skipper Joe Leach (13) was lbw to Hogan and Jack Shantry ((3) was caught down the legside off Carey but Barnard reached an excellent half century off 86 balls with six fours. The ex England Under-19 batsman finally holed out to mid-off off Andrew Salter for 60.Tongue collected two boundaries in an over from Hogan costing 15 runs to bring up the 250 before Salter brought about his dismissal at deep extra cover.Glamorgan openers Jacques Rudolph and Nick Selman put on 39, although not without the odd scare, but then the wickets started to tumble.
Selman (4) was bowled by a ball of full length from Leach – his 30th wicket of the season – and then Tongue worked his way into the Glamorgan order.
Will Bragg (7) was bowled, Colin Ingram (2) gloved a ball to first slip and Donald edged to second slip.The procession of wickets continued as Clarke pulled off a stunning catch at third slip to dispose of David Lloyd (2) while in the same over Van der Gugten (0) was victim to an excellent catch by Cox. Rudolph was left unbeaten on 49 surveying the wreckage from the non striker’s end.

Shaminda Eranga’s action has been cleared after it was found illegal a little more than a year ago

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2017Sri Lanka fast bowler Shaminda Eranga’s bowling action has been cleared and he can resume bowling in international cricket. Eranga underwent a reassessment of his action at the ICC accredited testing centre in Chennai with the conclusion that the amount of elbow extension in his standard deliveries was within the 15-degree level allowed by the ICC.Eranga’s bowling action was found illegal in June last year after it was reported following the second Test in England. His action was assessed in Loughborough on June 6 when it was found illegal.Incidentally, he was suspended from bowling in international cricket on the same day as he was hospitalised for experiencing an elevated heartbeat.Eranga had played the third Test against England after his action was reported and the subsequent two ODIs against Ireland in June. He has not played any competitive cricket since then.

What did Ravi Shastri have to do to the dressing room atmosphere after Anil Kumble’s exit? “Nothing had changed, no special buttons I had to press. It was just that one play button, and off you went,” he said

Sidharth Monga in Colombo01-Aug-20174:12

This team has already done what big names could not – Shastri

The role of a head coach in the Indian cricket team has never been as ambiguous as it has been since the first murmurs of trouble between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble began. Kumble himself didn’t have much experience as a coach, but in the one year he spent in the job, he came across as somebody actively involved in working with bowlers, passing on some tips to batsmen, playing a role in strategising and also keeping an eye on the supply line.However, as each passing day conspired to get Ravi Shastri back as the coach, you wondered what India wanted in their coach. Now there are specialist bowling, batting and fielding coaches in the side. If Shastri had not picked them himself, the Cricket Advisory Committee would have enforced through Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid. What exactly does Shastri do then?”My role is to be in charge of the entire support staff, and to make sure that we get the boys in some great mental space to go out and express themselves with nothing else on their minds but to go out and play a brand of cricket which you have seen India play over the last three years: positive and fearless,” Shastri said, two days before the SSC Test.When asked how exactly he does that, Shastri shot back: “That is a skill, that is why I am here and you are not there.”Later he said, though, that all he had to do to achieve the right atmosphere in the dressing room was “walk in”. “That was enough”It is instructive that a press conference two days before the middle Test of a series revolved more around Shastri’s role in the team than around the Test or the series. “For me, I don’t carry any baggage,” Shastri said about the winning start in Galle. “For me it was like walking into the dressing room as I had left it. Nothing had changed, and no special buttons I had to press. It was just that one play button, and off you went.”The boys were fantastic in the last Test match but what we are striving for is improvement. There are still areas to improve from the last game. And we have discussed that and what we want from this team as a unit collectively is consistency. Not just where you are good in one game and totally the opposite in the other. Your levels of consistency have to be high.”Shastri was even asked how he makes sure he is not “overbearing” and balancing out the need to speak to players and giving them their space. “When you have been around the game for 37 years, you probably learnt a little bit,” Shastri said. “So that experience is very handy for me in knowing exactly how to deal with the players.”Just walk in, press the play button and using his 37-year experience (as player and commentator), coaching India sounds easy. He was asked how easy it exactly was. “I have been manager, director, now I am head coach, and it’s the same role,” Shastri said. “Absolutely the same role. So there is nothing that I have to change. The fact that you played the game and watched the game for long periods of time without a break does help. So you know what’s contemporary and what’s happening at the moment and you relate with people in that fashion.”I don’t think at this level coaching is needed. At this level, it is all about fine-tuning and getting the blokes in a good mental space to go out and play the game. They know they have reached here because they are good. At times you might need to just fine-tune them a bit because the amount of cricket that’s being played you might just get into the odd bad habit without you realising it. That’s where the experience of having played, probably having watched you can pick it up and pass on the message.”Shastri also said this team had achieved what many Indian greats had failed to achieve. “They have already done things that a lot of Indian teams and a lot of big names couldn’t do in their careers,” Shastri said. “Like, for example, to win a series here [in Sri Lanka] for 20 years. A lot of big names have played for 20 years, they have come to Sri Lanka many times, and they have never won a series. But they [this team] have done that. They have won a one-day series in 20 years, which a lot of teams haven’t done.”This team is used to doing things that a lot of other teams haven’t done, and that too overseas. Forget Australia, I am not even touching the Australia tour, so when you say overseas like South Africa, England, it is a lot of tough cricket coming up. I see it as an opportunity. I am very positive here that this team can do things that probably no other Indian team has done.”

Sean Dickson hit an excellent 142 to ensure West Indies endured three sessions of leather chasing on the second day against Kent at Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network07-Aug-2017
Sean Dickson dominated the West Indian attack•Sarah Ansell / Stringer

Sean Dickson hit an excellent 142 to ensure West Indies endured three sessions of leather chasing on the second day against Kent at Canterbury.Kent declared in the final over of the day on 331 for 9 to secure a first innings lead over the West Indies of 66 runs going into the third and final day of the tourists penultimate warm-up game before the first Test with England starting on August 17 at Edgbaston.Dickson, who amassed a career-best 318 against Kent’s County Championship rivals Northamptonshire last month, cracked 29 fours and three sixes in his four-and-a-half hour stay that left the tourists wondering when their next wicket would come.Dickson and first-class debutant Zak Crawley combined to post a record 182 for Kent’s second wicket – beating the county’s previous best against the tourists of 79 set by Brian Luckhurst and Alan Knott in 1969 – as the West Indies toiled all day for eight wickets.Roddy Estwick, the West Indies bowling coach, was happy in the way his attack bounced back late on “A lot of our guys haven’t really played in English conditions so they’re still learning, trying to get their lengths right.”If you look at Azzari Joseph, he got better as the day went along. He didn’t start as well as we’d have liked, but we made one or two technical adjustments with his run up and we spoke about his lines, and he was able to look a lot better.”I felt the figures of Miguel Cummins didn’t do justice to the effort he put in and Bishoo didn’t get any help of the wicket. But you have to credit Kent also, they batted nicely, they were patient and when the bad balls came along they put them away.”While Dickson, 25, took the plaudits, Crawley cut an impressive figure reaching a 94-ball 50 as Kent moved past the tourists’ modest total of 265 all out soon after tea.Crawley, 19 years-old and six feet six inches tall, played a mature and responsible knock full of well-timed drives and pulls as Kent, resuming on their overnight score of 1 for 1, dominated.The pair set out to punish anything loose or wide as Crawley, a product of Tonbridge School, got off the mark on his first-class debut with a rasping pull for four through mid-wicket against Alzarri Joseph.Dickson, making his first appearance for the county since the start of the NatWest T20 Blast, looked in good fettle from the off. His sweetly-timed punch drive flew past Joseph for four and he almost repeated the dose only to see the non-striker’s stumps act as an inadvertent barrier.The pair posted their half-century partnership inside 20 overs then Dickson upped the tempo by hitting the first six of Kent’s reply just before lunch pulling a short one from leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo over the ropes adjacent to the St Lawrence lime tree.Dickson twice edged balls from Joseph just short of the keeper, then nicked one through the slip cordon for four but the delivery from Raymon Reifer was called a no-ball.Dickson went on to post the 12th first-class 50 of his career from 105 balls with seven fours to go with his maximum, but might have gone for 51 when Bishoo downed a stinging caught and bowled chance.The pair ploughed on during the mid-session with Crawley cracking seven fours before he departed to a stunning diving slip catch by Kieran Powell.Acting Kent skipper Sam Billings scored a typically impish 25 before being run out by Shai Hope’s throw from the deep then Dickson’s stay ended when he holed out to long off. In a wonderfully old-school display of sportsmanship, the West Indies’ side lined up to shake Dickson’s hand as he trudged off.In the quest for quicker runs Adam Ball danced past one from Kraigg Brathwaite to be stumped and Will Gidman was bowled by Reifer.Against the second new ball Adam Rouse missed an attempted sweep to be skittled by Brathwaite, Charlie Hartley fenced to second slip and Adam Riley had his off pole plucked out to give Joseph hard-earned figures of 4 for 72.In the final over of the day Calum Haggett took a blow on the hand from Miguel Cummins sparking Kent’s declaration.

The Australian allrounder’s composure and his ability to contribute in all departments of the game are firming up his case to be part of the Ashes team, and his credentials as a top-order bat

Alagappan Muthu in Bangalore26-Sep-2017Australia allrounder Marcus Stoinis has played only six ODIs for Australia. However, in that short span, he has established a strange, little niche for himself.In Auckland, with the team 67 for 6 in the 19th over, chasing 287, he struck an unbeaten 146 to bring a dying game to a dramatic climax. New Zealand, however, won it by six runs, with the non-striker Josh Hazlewood – who scored no runs in a 54-run tenth-wicket partnership with Stoinis – being run-out at the non-strikers’ end for backing up too far.Now, at another ground named Eden, he withstood India’s wristspinners that have so often been Australia’s downfall, scoring 62 off 65 balls in a manner that pleased his captain, on a night when it seemed like nothing could. Stoinis’ composure and his all-round ability are firming his case to be part of the Ashes team.But back to his lone hands. There are a couple of reasons why Stoinis has been able to play them. One: he’s originally a top-order batsman. He slots in at No. 3 for Victoria and it was from that position that he scored a 170 against Tasmania in his first full season of Sheffield Shield cricket. Two: he tries to dumb everything down.

Tye added to Australia T20 squad

Fast bowler Andrew Tye has been added to Australia’s squad for the T20s against India. He comes in to cover for the absence of Pat Cummins.
Tye, a T20 specialist, featured in the last of his five T20s for Australia in February. He was sidelined after dislocating his shoulder during the IPL in April, and has not played any competitive cricket since.
Australia and India will play three T20s, between October 7 and 13.

“I’m still quite new to those sorts of situations,” Stoinis said of having to marshall the tail. “I’m used to batting higher in the order in state cricket. But really, the only plan is to try and win the game. That’s the way I’m going about it. Not try to win the game from the start, but trying to be there at the end, trying to take the game as deep as possible and trying to communicate with my partners and keeping it as simple as that”In New Zealand, armed with the knowledge of the short boundaries, he defended the good balls that came from Tim Southee and Trent Boult, regardless of how many they could manage. But the moment they strayed, Stoinis was launching them into the stands. He was 73 off 84, with Australia eight down and still needing 91 off 54. Nine sixes and three fours took him past a century and changed the equation to a mere seven off 19 balls. But, in the end, it was Kane Williamson, who pulled off the grandstand finish, as he had done in the 2015 World Cup.That he has been able to do well in such extreme circumstances has helped Stoinis feel like he belongs at this level. “I’m enjoying the pressure. I’m enjoying the opportunities, and I’m seeing them more as opportunities. I’m obviously still young in my international career but I think that’s probably where my head is at the moment. I guess the pressure can get to you. But at the moment, the way I’m going about it is I’m enjoying the chance to be put under pressure and I’m enjoying the chance to do something good for the team.”Marcus Stoinis’ unbeaten 146 against New Zealand earlier this year brought a dying game to a dramatic climax•AFP

To ensure he has the best chance to do so, especially in subcontinent conditions, Stoinis said he might have to adopt a Test-match frame of mind when he is new to the crease. “Even in the first game, which actually got moved down to a T20 sort of thing for us, it was a bit unrealisitic for me to go in there and try and hit the first couple of balls for boundaries when you don’t know what the conditions are doing. You can see it on TV, but it’s always very different once you go out there. So I just want to get an understanding of the conditions – sometimes it takes five balls, sometimes it takes 20.”Australia looked rather upbeat in Bangalore, ahead of the fourth ODI, despite losing the one-day series to India only two nights ago. Just before training, they all got in a huddle and pulled out what looked like a giant die. They went around the group asking the players to throw it and when the number came up, there were loud whoops of laughter. Batsmen in the nets made it a point to clap when the spinners hit a length they struggled to hit, and fielders nailing a single stump from straight got a hero’s welcome back to the queue before they went at it all over again.Stoinis, before heading out to join in these exercises, said Australia were still looking at the remaining two games as a way to build morale before a huge season back home. “They’re probably pretty important, like you said, to play the Ashes. But, at the moment, [we are] not really thinking about that. [We have] two games left in the series and we’ve got a big chance to start some momentum for the summer and we’re all just focusing on that as a team.”After the tour of India, he is all set to go back home, to Western Australia, and resume his cricket. He had begun his career there, debuting at the age of 19, but couldn’t find a permanent spot. Now, in his second coming, he is hoping things have changed.”Justin [Langer, the coach] and myself have spoken about it a little bit. Maybe we should’ve spoken about it a little bit more. But it would sort itself out. I know Justin really well and I think it’ll be a good move for me. Obviously the main reason I’m going is for family, but that will sort itself out and hopefully anywhere in the top.”

The legspinner ran through the Sri Lanka A line-up to help West Indies wrap up a victory by an innings and 13 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2017Damion Jacobs bagged a six-for•Getty Images

A six-for from legspinner Damion Jacobs knocked Sri Lanka A out for 139 following on; the visitors lost all ten wickets for 57 after a solid start in their second-innings collapse, and just like that West Indies A had wrapped up victory by an innings and 13 runs in the first unofficial Test in Jamaica.Having skittled the opposition for 212 runs in the first innings early on the fourth day, West Indies A enforced follow-on with a 152-run lead. Sandun Weerakkody, the Sri Lanka keeper and opener, struck a brisk half-century – 56 off 58 – in an 82-run first-wicket stand with Ron Chandraguptha, but the latter’s dismissal in the 16th over triggered a dramatic slide. Only two other batsmen got into double digits as Jacobs kept dealing out blows. Offspin-bowling allrounder Rahkeem Cornwall abetted his cause with returns of 3 for 53. Jacobs finished with 6 for 27 off his 15 overs and a match haul of eight to claim the Man of the Match award.

The pair added an unbroken 209-run partnership as Lahore Whites thumped Islamabad by 109 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2017Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt set a record for the highest opening partnership in T20s, adding an unbroken 209, in an astonishing batting display that propelled Lahore Whites to a 109-run win over Islamabad. Their partnership meant that Lahore had another T20 record – the highest innings score by a team without losing a wicket.Kamran’s knock was devastating, as the former Pakistan wicketkeeper scored 150 off 71 balls, the highest score by a Pakistani batsman in the format. He hit 14 fours and a dozen sixes, even as Butt played a more sedate knock of 55 off 49. The pair surpassed the opening partnership of 207 set by Kent batsmen Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond in the Natwest t20 Blast earlier this year, and notched up only the third 200-plus opening stand in T20 cricket. There was no respite for Islamabad, none of their five bowlers going at less than 9.50 runs per over.Islamabad never began to mount a realistic chase as Lahore’s bowlers struck regularly and were economical. Wahab Riaz was perhaps the most impressive, dismissing two batsman and conceding only 7 runs in three overs, but Umaid Asif stood out despite being the only Lahore bowler to end wicketless. He conceded a mere six runs in his full quota of four overs, including a maiden, as Islamabad were scuttled out for 100.Lahore Whites had already secured their path to the semis before this game, but the margin of the win ensured they finished above their local rivals Lahore Blues and took top spot.Hammad Azam and Asif Afridi smacked a 70-run partnership in under seven overs to help FATA chase down 157 with four wickets and 20 balls to spare against Faisalabad in Rawalpindi. Finishing on seven points along with Karachi Whites on the table, FATA qualified for the semi-finals with a marginally better run rate to join Lahore Whites, Lahore Blues and Faisalabad for the knockouts.After asking Faisalabad to bat, FATA’s Zia-ul-Haq (2 for 24), Hammad (4-0-18-0), Mohammad Irfan (1 for 15) bowled economically and troubled their top order. No. 5 Asif Ali was the driving force for Faisalabad with an unbeaten 52 off 35 balls and stitched a 57-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ali Waqas (40 off 42 balls) to eventually lead them past 150.In response, FATA were off to a flying start with opener Mukhtar Ahmed scoring a 27-ball 46 before the line-up lost four wickets for 26 runs to reach 78 for 5. However, captain Hammad (37* off 19) kept the chase alive and steered the side home after assistance from Afridi’s 34 off 24.