Before his trip to Australia, Martin Guptill visited Martin Crowe and said the advice provided by his mentor was simple and straight to the point

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane03-Nov-20151:14

NZ openers confident ahead of stern test down under

Get forward, despite the bounce. Do not let yourself get pushed back. Those were key words of advice New Zealand opener Martin Guptill took from a chat with Martin Crowe before the squad departed for the three-Test tour of Australia. And they are words that Guptill will take seriously at the Gabba, where Crowe scored 188 in New Zealand’s innings win back in 1985.Crowe has been a source of much wisdom for Guptill over the years; in the lead-up to the World Cup final, Crowe described Guptill and Ross Taylor as “the two sons I never had”. It was a poignant comment in a heartfelt piece Crowe wrote at the time for ESPNcricinfo, in which he reflected on the pride in watching New Zealand’s success at a time when he himself was battling terminal lymphoma.At the time, Guptill was not one of New Zealand’s incumbent Test batsmen, but he returned to the team for the tour of England this year and made 70 in each of the two Tests at Lord’s and Headingley. Before this trip to Australia, Guptill visited Crowe and he said the advice provided by his mentor was simple and straight to the point.”He said you’ve still got to look to get forward over here,” Guptill said. “Even though there’s a lot more bounce you still have to look to get forward, you can’t just get pushed back and stay back. That’s definitely one thing he’s, not harped on about, but certainly tried to drill into my mind as well. He does know what he’s talking about. Pretty good record and he definitely knows about the game. Anything he says you want to listen to.”There is no doubt about that. And Guptill knows having been dropped from New Zealand’s Test side in 2013 that he will need to keep justifying the faith of the selectors in reinstating him this year. The last time New Zealand toured Australia in 2011, Guptill was part of the team that won in Hobart and leveled the series 1-1, but in four innings he himself managed no scores greater than 16.”There were a few things,” Guptill said of the changes he had made to his game since then. “Some have worked and some haven’t. It’s still a work in progress and all I can do is keep working hard and the changes I’ve made can help me bat a long time and score some runs in this series.”Guptill’s opening colleague on this tour will be Tom Latham, and while the pair had three small opening partnerships on this year’s England tour, they also put on 148 for the opening wicket in the first innings of the first Test at Lord’s. Latham has struck two centuries and averaged nearly 40 in his first two years as a Test cricketer, and Guptill said they worked well together as a duo.”He’s had a great start to his Test career and he’s a very talented young player,” Guptill said. “He’s just going to prosper, I think. We’ve got different styles of play. Batting together in the one-dayers has also furthered that batting partnership that we have. I love batting with Tommy and hopefully we can get a few more good partnerships in this series.”The Australians consider Latham a Chris Rogers-like presence at the top of the New Zealand order compared to the freer-hitting Guptill, and it is a role Latham has relished since joining the Test team in February 2014. He was just 19 when New Zealand and Australia last played a Test and he said that match – the New Zealand win in Hobart – was his best memory of previous clashes between the sides.”We were all huddled around a phone for a school promotion for my home side, Canterbury,” Latham said. “We were all huddled around the phone watching it. That was a pretty exciting time. It would be great to try to repeat that game.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced an overhaul of domestic cricket, which features three city-based tournaments that will be launched in the upcoming season

Andrew Fidel Fernando13-Nov-2015Sri Lanka Cricket has announced an overhaul of domestic cricket, which features three city-based tournaments that will be launched in the upcoming season.

Elite Championship teams

Colombo
Base: Khettarama
Catchment area: Western province
Major affiliated clubs: SSC, Ragama CC, Badureliya CC
Kandy
Base: Pallekele Stadium
Catchment area: Central Province & Sabaragamuwa
Major affiliated clubs: Colts Cricket Club, Moors Sports Club, Saracens Sports Club
Hambantota
Base: Hambantota Stadium
Catchment area: Uva Province and parts of Southern Province and Eastern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, Burgher Recreation Club, Army Sports Club
Galle
Base: Galle Stadium
Catchment area: Part of Southern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Galle CC, Nondescripts CC, Lankan CC
Kurunegala
Base: Dambulla Stadium
Catchment area: Northwestern Province, North-Central Province, Northern Province, and part of Eastern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Tamil Union, Chilaw Marians, Navy Sports Club

The 2015-16 season will also feature a four-day, 50-over and Twenty20 tournament based out of five regional hubs, in addition to the club-based premier tournaments which will continue as usual. The new city-based structure, titled the ‘Elite Championship’ aims to decentralise Sri Lanka’s cricket from Colombo, and distill talent to ensure a sterner level of domestic competition.According to SLC officials, the plan for the Elite Championship was “spearheaded” by Mahela Jayawardene. The interim committee, which took over in early April, has made the overhaul of the domestic system a priority of their administration, which is set to end in January – before any of the new tournaments are played. It is hoped the new structure will help better identify and foster provincial talent.”Today, the bulk of our cricketers are coming from the outstations,” SLC chairman Sidath Wettimuny said. “We’ve got to encourage these cricketers to remain in their home territory and play. Everybody doesn’t need to come to Colombo. We’re taking cricket out to them and providing them with what they need.”The five Elite Championship teams will be based out of stadiums in Pallekele, Dambulla, Hambantota, Galle and Khettarama, and will take the names of the nearest major urban centre (Kandy, Kurunegala, Hambantota, Galle and Colombo respectively).”Historically and geographically, these are the cities that have brought cricket to the level it is now,” SLC cricket operations manager Carlton Bernardus said. “The advantage also is that the facilities in these regions cater to the game.”By fielding only five teams, SLC aims to concentrate the talent in its domestic pool, in order to better prepare domestic cricketers for the international level. The Premier League first-class tournament, which features 14 club sides, has been criticised by players and administrators for being bloated, and as such, producing relatively-low quality cricket.Each Elite Championship team will be assigned SLC coaches and support staff. Romesh Kaluwitharana, Nuwan Zoysa, Piyal Wijetunge, Roy Dias and Avishka Gunawardene have been identified as head coaches for the five teams. SLC said it was also in the process of advertising for managers, and assigning trainers and physios for each side. The Elite Championship support staff will be advised and overseen by the national coaches in Colombo.Existing clubs have also been given an administrative role to play in the Elite Championship. The top clubs have been split into five clusters, each of which has then been assigned an Elite Championship side. For example, Sinhalese Sports Club, Badureliya Cricket Club, Ragama Cricket Club along with several other clubs have been clustered with the Colombo team.”We will get the support of the clubs and the district associations to run the tournament,” Bernardus said. “The tournament will tap into the facilities and infrastructure which the clubs have.”A new player-payments structure has also been announced for the Elite Championship tournaments. Seventy-five players (15 per team) will be signed up for these tournaments, and those who play will receive 20,000 rupees per day for the Elite Championship four-day tournament, 25,000 rupees per 50-over match, and 15,000 rupees per T20 game.The Elite Championship T20 tournament is set to be the first of the city-based tournaments to be played: it is scheduled from January 26 to February 5 – ahead of the World T20. The Elite Championship four-day tournament is scheduled for March and April 2016. The teams are scheduled to play a round-robin, before two sides progress to the final.The club-based Premier League Tournament is still set to take the largest part of the domestic calendar. That tournament features seven three-day group fixtures for each of the 14 sides, before the top eight teams split off to play four rounds of four-day cricket, known as the Super Eights phase. Club-based 50-over and T20 tournaments are also scheduled.SLC has sought to persist with the club structure instead of doing away with it in favour of the new tournaments for two major reasons. First, the clubs control much of the existing domestic infrastructure and facilities, including coaches, equipment and grounds. Secondly, the clubs also wield substantial constitutional power, via SLC votes.Any moves to marginalise the clubs would have effectively killed the city-based tournament at its inception. At any rate, with SLC elections scheduled for January, the clubs would likely have elected candidates promising to return the club tournaments to their historical place – as the centrepiece of Sri Lanka’s domestic season. Playing the Elite Championship after the Premier League tournament is seen as a sort of compromise.SLC has previously held provincial tournaments that sought to concentrate domestic talent. However, those tournaments had been administered directly by SLC, from Colombo. The Elite Championship aims to herald a greater devolution of power. It is hoped that district associations and the club clusters will administer the week-to-week affairs of each team, and that these teams will only be broadly overseen by SLC. It is also hoped that this devolution of powers brings with it grassroots support from fans in the various cities, as well as organic development of cricketers at each hub.

Pakistan’s ODI captain Azhar Ali and allrounder Mohammad Hafeez have agreed to ‘unconditionally’ return to the ongoing conditioning camp in Lahore, two days after they chose to stay away due to Mohammad Amir’s presence at the camp

Umar Farooq26-Dec-2015Pakistan’s ODI captain Azhar Ali and allrounder Mohammad Hafeez have agreed to ‘unconditionally’ return to the ongoing training camp in Lahore, two days after they chose to stay away due to Mohammad Amir’s presence at the camp.Amir, who is in the selection mix after serving a five-year ban for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, was one of the 26 probables named for the pre-season conditioning camp in the build-up to the New Zealand tour. On Thursday, both Azhar and Hafeez were scheduled to join the camp after completing their domestic matches, but they did not do so. Azhar went on to state that he would not attend the camp “as long as Amir is there.”The players, however, decided to join the training camp after meeting with PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan.”They both met and decided to join the training camp,” Khan said, after a final meeting with the players. “I do respect their concerns but some of them, I told them, are not acceptable. So they understood and confirmed that they are on the same page with us and now we are looking forward to the success of the team.”Amir had been allowed to return to cricket ahead of schedule by the ICC in January this year and has impressed in Pakistan’s domestic first-class competition and in the Bangladesh Premier League. He was also signed up by the Karachi Kings franchise for the upcoming Pakistan Super League. Khan urged both players to respect Amir and extend their full support to the bowler who has completed his punishment. Apart from the five-year suspension, Amir was given a six-month jail sentence and he served half of it at the Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset.”We have also conveyed that for a while we have only selected Amir in the training session and he has not been selected in the national team so far,” Khan said. “But if so [Amir is selected] then they both have to stand with him and should not see him with suspicion or behave badly with him. It is now their responsibility – Azhar as captain and him [Hafeez] as a senior player – to take him like a family. We, at the same time, will ensure that Amir stays on course and does not commit any mistake in future.”Hafeez was happy that Khan had agreed to listen to his reservations and said he will continue to oppose corruption on principle.”My stance has been simple all the way, that anyone who damages the pride and integrity of the country should not be given a chance again,” he told the media, after agreeing to return to the camp. “It was my principle stance and will remain the same throughout my life.”I am happy that the PCB chairman heard my reservations and agreed to safeguard our concerns for the sake of Pakistan cricket. Playing cricket is my passion and I don’t need to convince people about my talent. I know I am an average player but I won an honour to represent Pakistan and I vow to contribute to the success of Pakistan. I will, in my humble capacity, continue to support every player.” ‘In November, Hafeez had reportedly turned down an offer in the Bangladesh Premier League from the Chittagong Vikings franchise, which had enlisted Amir. Hafeez told ESPNcricinfo that he could not play “with any player who has tarnished and brought a bad name to the country”.On Saturday, Hafeez stressed his stance was not directed at a particular individual.
“I also want to clarify that my stance wasn’t against any one individual but it was for all who have committed [corruption],” Hafeez said. “I have forgiven all who have damaged the integrity of the Pakistan cricket through corruption but I, in principle, am against corruption and will keep holding this stance forever. I hope people will understand and support me.”

Jos Buttler has set his sights on a stint in this year’s Indian Premier League after losing his place in the England Test team to Jonny Bairstow

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2016Jos Buttler has set his sights on a stint in this year’s Indian Premier League after losing his place in the England Test team to Jonny Bairstow.After carrying the drinks throughout England’s 2-1 Test series win over South Africa, Buttler will return to centre stage next week as the ODI and T20 section of the campaign gets underway.

Current and former England players in IPL auction

• Jos Buttler – INR 1.5 crore (£150,000)

• Chris Jordan – INR 1 crore (£100,000)

• Sam Billings – INR 30 lakh (£30,000)

• Kevin Pietersen – INR 2 crore (£200,000)

• Ravi Bopara – INR 1 crore (£100,000)

• Owais Shah – INR 1 crore (£100,000)

However, Bairstow’s success in the Test series – he scored 359 runs at 71.80 in four matches and took 19 catches, albeit with some high-profile blemishes – looks to have earned him a lengthy run in the side, which means that Buttler’s immediate future lies as a white-ball specialist.His last England performance underlined just how well attuned his game currently is to the shorter formats and, with the World Twenty20 looming in India in just over a month’s time, his abilities could be a key attribute of England’s bid to win back the trophy that they won for the first, and only, time in 2010.After limping to a top score of 42 in 12 Test innings since the start of the Ashes in July, Buttler slammed an incredible 46-ball hundred in the final ODI against Pakistan in Dubai, a performance that is sure to have piqued the interest of the IPL franchises when his name goes under the hammer at the auction on February 6.Buttler has been given the full blessing of the ECB to put his name forward for this year’s IPL, which runs from April 8 to May 24, despite the fact that it would potentially rule him out of five early-season Championship fixtures for Lancashire.”Obviously Jonny has done fantastically well in the Test series, so he is going to be in that side for a while,” Buttler said. “[ECB director] Andrew Strauss is keen to get guys playing in these overseas tournaments, [and] for me it seems the right decision at this time.”As an English player it is always quite complicated fitting it in. But this was a great window for me to try it out and with the players around you, you’d think you can learn not just about Twenty20 but all cricket.”

Big Bash is a better fit for England players – Roy

Jason Roy believes that Australia’s Big Bash League could become a popular destination for England cricketers, after withdrawing his name from the IPL auction on account of its clash with the English season.

Despite the more permissive attitude towards franchise leagues from the new England regime, Roy admitted he was concerned he might be pigeon-holed as a one-day specialist if he put his name forward for the IPL. The Big Bash, which takes place in the heart of the English winter, carries fewer such risks.

“Absolutely, the BBL is far more logical for me,” Roy told ESPNcricinfo. “That’s based on where I’ll be playing my cricket over the next couple of years internationally, and also the fact that I’d be missing quite a bit of my Surrey season if I was to play in the IPL.

“For me, that’s not where I want to be. I want to be honing my skills in every facet of my game, red-ball and white-ball, and pushing my claims for Test cricket.”

Buttler will enter in the second tier of the auction, and is understood to be a significant target for Kolkata Knight Riders, the franchise that was formerly coached by Buttler’s England coach, Trevor Bayliss.”You’re a piece of meat in an auction, aren’t you?” Buttler said. “There are no guarantees of getting a franchise, but it’s a competition I would love to be part of.”Buttler is still adamant, however, that he has not given up on the dream of forging a successful Test career, and says that the experience of playing in a winning Ashes team has whetted his appetite for the oldest form of the game.”There is an increased emphasis on one-day cricket,” he said. “However, I think an English player still feels Test cricket is the pinnacle and I don’t feel ready to throw my towel in on red-ball cricket yet.”Having experienced an Ashes series, although personally I didn’t do very well, the emotions and feelings of winning Test matches isn’t rivalled by Twenty20 or one-dayers just yet.”If we won the World Cup, I am sure it would be completely different.”England’s preparations for the one-day series step up a notch when they take on South Africa A in a 50-over warm-up in Kimberley on Saturday, for whom Marchant de Lange has been called up in place of the injured Wayne Parnell.However, England have chosen to rest four of the players who took part in last week’s fourth Test in Centurion – Stuart Broad, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, and Ben Stokes, whose Man-of-the-Series-winning exploits had been an “eye-opener’ for Buttler.”As a peer of his [Stokes], someone I grew up with, it gives you added motivation and belief you can do it,” Buttler said. “All the talk from Trevor Bayliss is that, if that is the way you want to play, it is the way to play in all forms these days.”I think I have learnt a lot from watching, it proves there is no one way to bat in Test cricket – and whatever way you do, do it your way. If you are going to fail, do it on your own terms.”England XI (possible) Alex Hales, Jason Roy, James Taylor, Eoin Morgan (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Reece Topley.

After India Women’s spinners squeezed Sri Lanka Women to 89 for 9, the top order cruised to an easy win, completing a 3-0 series sweep

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Ekta Bisht led a solid bowling performance for India•West Indies Cricket Board

India Women’s spinners stifled the Sri Lanka Women batting, squeezing them to 89 for 9 in their 20 overs, before the top three knocked off the target in 13.5 overs to complete a nine-wicket thumping in the third T20I in Ranchi. The win secured a 3-0 series sweep for India.Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht was the standout bowler for India, claiming 3 for 17 in her four overs, while offspinners Anuja Patil and Deepti Sharma took 3 for 30 in eight overs between them. In a good team effort, all of India’s bowlers except Poonam Yadav kept their economy rates below 5.After opting to bat, Sri Lanka got off to a poor start, losing Oshadi Ranasinghe fourth ball, before captain Shashikala Siriwardene was run out four balls later. A 33-run partnership between Nipuni Hansika and Chamari Atapattu provided Sri Lanka respite, but it was brief – when Bisht had Hansika stumped off the first ball of the tenth over, it opened a passage of play in which five wickets fell for 11 runs in 5.3 overs.An eighth-wicket partnership of 39 off 29 balls between Eshani Lokusuriyage and Ama Kanchana then steered the tourists to their final total of 89 for 9.India made light work of the chase, as openers Vellaswamy Vanitha and Smriti Mandhana put on 64 in 8.4 overs. Vanitha’s dismissal was Sri Lanka’s only success with the ball; Veda Krishnamurthy joined Mandhana to knock off the remaining 26 runs with 37 balls to spare.

Usman Khawaja’s imperious fourth Test hundred in as many first innings and Adam Voges’ calm supporting hand helped Australia take command of the first Test, stretching the lead to 280 runs

The Report by Daniel Brettig12-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:34

Farrell: Voges was impossible to remove today

It was New Zealand’s acute misfortune to be confronted by two of Test cricket’s most prolific batsmen of the moment at a time when the Basin Reserve had flattened out from the early life that Australia’s bowlers had exploited so ably on day one.Usman Khawaja’s imperious fourth Test hundred in as many first innings and Adam Voges’ calm supporting hand helped Australia take command of the first Test, in a day of considered and relentless batting that Steven Smiths’ team will hope to replicate many times over on foreign assignments.Finding an ideal offsider in Voges, Khawaja picked gaps regularly off both front and back foot to register his first Test century overseas. Given the opposition and the conditions he faced on day one it was arguably his finest, ending only when Trent Boult briefly found some life with the second new ball.Voges was more reserved, but endured beyond the dismissals of Khawaja and a hard-handed Mitchell Marsh to forge on in the latest chapter of his extraordinary latter-day Test career. He was aided on his quest by a studied Peter Nevill and a helpful Peter Siddle – between them they helped Voges add 164. How Zealand must have cursed the “no-ball” on the first evening.The pitch in Wellington eased into an ideal batting surface, and Brendon McCullum’s bowlers struggled to find a way past Australia’s in-form batting pair. Tim Southee and Boult found little movement to assist them, with pace and bounce reliably consistent for stroke play. The new ball brought more danger.Southee had drawn a play and miss from Khawaja in the day’s first over, but the final ball was sliced firmly backward of point for a pressure-releasing boundary. From there Khawaja was particularly punishing through the covers, and swivelled to pull powerfully when Doug Bracewell dropped short.Voges was circumspect, settling into the crease for a long occupation, but drove and cut with alacrity when the opportunities arose. He was happy enough for the most part to play in Khawaja’s slipstream, an eminently sensible approach given how well Australia’s No. 3 is playing.Khawaja waited six balls on 99 before Mark Craig gave him an obligingly short delivery to tug behind square leg. The milestone was cause for ebullient celebration, before Khawaja got quickly back to business.Craig had one lbw appeal against Khawaja after he had passed three figures, but the DRS showed the ball was only clipping leg stump and Richard Illingworth’s not-out verdict stood. As if to compound Craig’s frustration, Khawaja cut the next two deliveries for four.After lunch the pair accelerated until their stand was worth 168 and Australia’s lead well past 100. The new ball brought the prospect of greater interest for New Zealand, and after Khawaja stroked Boult’s first ball to the cover fence the left-armer created trouble by varying his line and degree of movement.Khawaja finally fell to a delivery that straightened down the line of middle stump for an lbw verdict from Richard Kettleborough, though not before he had pushed his Test average beyond the 50 mark. Next ball, Marsh narrowly avoided a similar fate, but with his second he pushed with characteristic firmness and offered Boult the chance to take a wonderfully athletic return catch.Nevill’s hands were softer, and by the interval he and Voges had consolidated. The older man duly reached the fifth century of a run that is now stretching the bounds of credulity. His methods are the result of a long and hard first-class apprenticeship, his temperament and bearing, somewhat redolent of Michael Hussey.After a stand of 96, Corey Anderson found some extra bounce to prise out Nevill. The local broadcaster had given Siddle the compliment of an allrounder’s designation when the match began, and he did not let them down. Like Nevill, he began carefully before freeing up, all the while adding splendid support to Voges.By day’s end, the stand was worth 68, the lead 280 and, most memorably, Voges had in his possession a Test batting average of 100.33. In that context, at least, New Zealand’s grim day was understandable.

New Zealand’s three-pronged spin attack smothered Australia to 103, which was chased down comfortably, thanks to a quick start from the top order

The Report by Shashank Kishore in Nagpur21-Mar-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOffspinner Leigh Kasperek ripped through Australia’s top order•IDI/Getty Images

Suzie Bates, the New Zealand Women captain, applied the same principle on a pitch where Kane Williamson and company pulled off a coup against India last week, by fielding three spinners on a slow, dry, and dusty Nagpur deck. They repaid the faith with an authoritative display to sucker-punch Australia Women, the three-time World Twenty20 champions, by six wickets to all but seal a semi-final berth at the Women’s World T20.Meg Lanning’s glee at winning the toss, a record that she hasn’t been proud of, in recent times, subsided even before she could get a feel for the conditions as she was beaten by Sophie Devine’s rocket throw to walk back for a duck. By then, Australia had sensationally slipped to 2 for 3, leaving the middle order with the unenviable task of batting out a majority of the overs in the face of more spin. They eventually managed 103 for 8, courtesy sprightly knocks from Ellyse Perry (42) and Jess Jonassen (23). But it wasn’t enough to test New Zealand, whose 12-hour travel ordeal to reach Nagpur yielded fruit. Bates and Rachel Priest produced a fiery 58-run opening stand as New Zealand made light work of the target.On a surface where batsmen had to curb their natural instincts, Australia came out looking to attack and the first sign of that resulted in a double-strike to Leigh Kasperek, the offspinner, as Ellyse Villani and Alyssa Healy holed out to mid-on. When Lanning walked back after a mix-up with Erin Osborne, Australia were completely taken aback by what hit them. Their struggle to get the ball off the square forced Bates to complete the quota of Morna Nielsen and Kasperek upfront; Australia limping to 17 for 4 in eight overs.Alex Blackwell briefly attempted what the top order didn’t: batting outside the crease in an effort to smother the spin. Soon enough, she brought out the reverse sweep to bring up the first boundary of the innings, before being foxed by a delivery that spun across the face of the bat to hit the off stump.Perry, however, comfortably rotated strike and brought out the big hits seamlessly to give her side some impetus. Particularly impressive was the manner in which she used her feet and her reach to combat New Zealand. She found an ally in Jonassen, who lived a charmed live after being dropped thrice, as the pair put together 49 in just 36 balls. After Perry fell, Jonassen and Beth Mooney unleashed their aggression as Australia blasted 76 off the last 10 overs, to give their bowlers something to defend.Australia’s spinners did not learn from New Zealand’s. They came out bowling either too full or flat, and were duly punished. Priest climbed on to Kirsten Beams, the legspinner, as the openers reeled off 51 in seven overs. Australia’s faster bowlers didn’t particularly find the wicket to their liking either. Bates fearlessly hit through the line while Priest took the aerial route to muscle five fours and a six.It was Bates, though, who unfurled the shot of the evening when he lofted Beams inside-out over cover for a six; the helplessness in Australia’s ranks was well summed up as Lanning applauded that effort. In many ways, the shot and the reaction summed up the day for both sides. While Australia did strike back with four wickets late in the day, the Bates-Priest stand meant the damage had been done.

In another clinical display, Delhi Daredevils’ bowlers restricted table-toppers Gujarat Lions to 149, setting up a convincing eight-wicket win in Rajkot’s last game of the season

The Report by Nikhil Kalro03-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRishabh Pant blitzed his first limited-overs half-century to help Delhi Daredevils to a big win•BCCI

In another clinical display, Delhi Daredevils’ bowlers restricted table-toppers Gujarat Lions to 149, setting up a convincing eight-wicket win in Rajkot’s last game of the season. In the chase, Rishabh Pant and Quinton de Kock blazed a 115-run partnership off 81 balls – the side’s joint-fourth highest opening stand – to help Daredevils breeze to the second spot on the points table. Despite successive losses, Lions retained their place at the top. It was the 24th win by a chasing side in 31 games this season.After opting to bowl, Daredevils’ bowlers set up an advantage in the first four overs. It looked like Shahbaz Nadeem had trapped Brendon McCullum in front in the first over, but umpire Chris Gaffaney indicated that the batsman had got an inside edge. After facing three of the first 16 balls, McCullum charged at a Zaheer Khan slower ball. Like most of Zaheer’s offcutters this season, it beat McCullum’s wild swing and clipped the off stump.Two balls later, Dwayne Smith chipped a long-hop from Nadeem to long-on. In the same over, Aaron Finch, who replaced an injured Dwayne Bravo, got a leading edge off his attempted sweep to short fine leg. Lions’ three overseas batsmen were dismissed and already the middle order was limited to playing for singles and twos into Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium’s large pockets. The score at the end of six overs read 35 for 3, Lions’ lowest Powerplay returns of the season.Apart from a well-timed uppercut for six, Suresh Raina struggled to find his timing. Dinesh Karthik, though, accrued his runs through well-placed sweeps and flicks in the vast outfield. Just when it looked like Lions had consolidated after the early jolt, Raina was stumped after misjudging a googly from Amit Mishra.Thereafter, Ravindra Jadeja and Karthik resorted to the same as the previous few overs. The pair, however, set up a solid platform for the end overs. Lions found at least one boundary in every over after the 13th, except the penultimate one.The last five overs yielded 50 with hard-run twos contributing to the Lions score. Yet, the extent of the damage in the first four overs was so severe that Lions could only muster a sub-par 149.De Kock and Pant, promoted to the opening slot, effectively finished the game by plundering nine boundaries in a 61-run Powerplay. Pant was particularly dominant with scythed cuts off the seamers’ wide offerings. When the ball was straight, Pant used his strong bottom hand to whip fours through the arc at midwicket.After matching Pant in the Powerplay, de Kock laid anchor and milked the bowling for singles. Pant, though, did not slow down. He used his feet to smear and swipe towards the long-on region as he struck his first limited-overs fifty, off 25 balls.Both Pant and de Kock were dismissed after across-the-line heaves, but Sanju Samson and JP Duminy, who returned after regaining fitness, took Daredevils home with 16 balls remaining.