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The tournament will retain its usual 4pm and 8pm starts, with double-headers restricted only to weekends

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Feb-2018Defending champions Mumbai Indians will face Chennai Super Kings in the IPL opener on April 7 in Mumbai. Super Kings will also play the last match of the league phase, which ends on May 20, against Kings XI Punjab. The IPL has also decided not to alter the tournament’s regular match timings with afternoon matches scheduled for a 4pm IST start and the evening matches commencing at 8pm.In a welcome change, all the double headers – 13 in total – will be played over Saturday and Sunday. In the final schedule released by the IPL on Wednesday, 44 matches during the league phase will be played in the evening, while the remaining 12 games will be start in the afternoon.In addition to the home bases of the eight franchises, Indore will be the ninth venue, playing host to the home games of Kings XI. Apart from the tournament opener and the final, Mumbai will also host the first qualifier.Incidentally the venue for the other two play-offs – the eliminator and the second qualifier – remains unnannounced. The main reason behind that was because the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) sent a letter to IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, demanding the two play-off matches be played in Pune, home of last year’s runner-up Rising Pune Supergiant.In the letter, MCA president Abhay Apte told Shukla that he was merely asking the IPL to stick to the norm and allot the Eliminator and second qualifier to the home base of last season’s runner-up. A final decision on the issue is likely to be taken by the IPL Governing Council at its next meeting.Meanwhile, the IPL acquiesced to the franchises’ demand of sticking to the original match timings and not alter it. In January, the Governing Council had approved the proposal – worked out with the host broadcaster Star – that afternoon matches would begin at 5.30 pm, and evening games would commence at 7pm. The immediate repercussion of that move, the franchises argued, was the second innings of the first match and the first innings of the second would overlap on double-header days.According to an IPL official, one solution was to start the day match at 3.30pm to “avoid” the overlap. That, however, was not a feasible solution considering the IPL is played during peak summer and the franchises did not want the players to suffer in India’s unforgiving heat.

Adelaide Strikers batsman Jake Lehmann had not faced a delivery in the entire BBL but hit a six off his first ball to win the match for his stuttering team against a desperate Hobart Hurricanes

The Report by Tristan Lavalette13-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOne-ball hero: Jake Lehmann hit a six when the Adelaide Strikers needed four•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

It seemed an almost unfair task. Adelaide Strikers batsman Jake Lehmann had not faced a delivery in the entire BBL but needed to hit a four off his first ball to win the match for his stuttering team against a desperate Hobart Hurricanes. Astonishingly, Lehmann, the son of Australia coach Darren Lehmann, calmly lofted the ball over mid-off and over the rope to rescue the Strikers much to the delight of a frenzied Adelaide Oval near-capacity crowd.As knockouts tantalisingly loom, the Strikers are in prime position to finish atop the BBL ladder for the second straight season. The six-wicket victory propelled them to the top and they are almost a lock to host a semi-final. Conversely, the slumping Hurricanes are struggling to stay afloat in the finals race.Chasing an apparently mediocre 144, the Strikers, sans an injured Mahela Jayawardene, appeared to be coasting but were stymied by a disciplined Hurricanes attack in the middle overs. Knowing the importance of the result, the Strikers batted cautiously in a bid to chase down the target without too many undue risks. Out of nowhere, the game tightened with the Strikers needing 34 runs off the last three overs. But with just two wickets down, they had Tim Ludeman well set on 50 and the ever reliable Brad Hodge showcasing his coolness.Hodge and Ludeman calmly made their match-winning move in the 18th over, bludgeoning 18 runs off Cameron Boyce to essentially put the result beyond doubt. Or so we all thought. Hodge was bowled by a piercing Shaun Tait yorker in the penultimate over to ensure there would be a grandstand finish. Needing 10 runs off the final over, Strikers batsman Alex Ross scored a couple of twos to bridge the gap. But the game once again flipped when Ross was brilliantly caught by a diving Jon Wells at the wide long-on boundary, bringing the equation to five off two.Highly impressive paceman Simon Milenko, who was a late replacement for Darren Sammy, bowled accurately off the penultimate delivery and ensured Ludeman could only score a single.
Milenko appeared to be his team’s surprise match-winner, until Lehmann stole the show with an astonishing last-ball six, much to the relief of the Strikers who appeared set for an unfathomable choke.The gripping ending looked highly unlikely earlier in the day when the Hurricanes were bowled out for 143, losing six wickets for 23 runs in a horrific late collapse. They scored at a brisk rate for much of the innings but lost wickets at regular intervals to stymie their momentum before crumbling to the wizardry of Adil Rashid. The legspinner was trumpeted pre-match as the “player of the Big Bash” by Damien Fleming on the television commentary, and Rashid lived up to the billing with a mesmerising performance.Rashid finished with highly impressive figures of 2 for 16 from four overs to become the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. Tapping into his bag of tricks, Rashid duped Jonathan Wells with a trademark googly and then trapped danger man Daniel Christian in front. Rashid backed up a vibrant Strikers attack fuelled by debutant Greg West’s exuberance. The left-armer bowled with hostility marked by an array of short deliveries and finished with 2 for 24 from four overs. West was not overawed by the occasion, notably exchanging in a verbal stoush with Hurricanes batsman Michael Hill.But West backed up the bravado by claiming his first wicket with the scalp of the out-of-form Ben Dunk for just 8. Part of Australia’s T20 team last summer, Dunk may have played himself out of contention for a World T20 berth. West capped off a memorable debut by dismissing his nemesis Hill, who loomed as a potential match-winner having struck a brutal 21-ball 32.It was a disappointing effort for the revamped Hurricanes, who reshuffled their top order in a desperate bid to turn around their sagging form. The Hurricanes separated explosive openers Dunk and Tim Paine, due to an underwhelming opening partnership this tournament.Regular No. 3 Kumar Sangakkara swapped positions with Dunk but it was merely one struggling player replacing another. Sangakkara averaged a paltry 14 coming into the match, and the promotion failed to turn around his fortunes. He lasted just five deliveries, deceived by Michael Neser’s slower ball and spooning a catch to short cover. Just when a partnership between Paine and Hill looked ominous, Paine was run-out attempting an ambitious second run.It started a collapse of eight for 51, one that ultimately doomed the Hurricanes despite their admirable resolve.

Persistent rain prevented any play on the first day of the second Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley

The Report by George Dobell24-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe covers never shifted on the opening day•PA Photos

Persistent showers prevented any play on the first day of the second Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley.Although there were brief gaps in the clouds, the weather did not relent enough even for the toss to be taken or teams named. The forecast is better for the weekend, though, and an extra half-hour can be added to each remaining day of the game. It was the first time since 1980 that the opening day at Headingley had been washed out.England are expected to name an unchanged team from the side that won the first Test at Lord’s by 170 runs. That means there will be no recall for Tim Bresnan on his home ground and another chance for Steven Finn.New Zealand are expected to make two changes. With left-arm spinner Bruce Martin and wicketkeeper BJ Watling both injured, New Zealand will field a four-man seam attack with Doug Bracewell coming back into the side, while Brendon McCullum will keep wicket and Martin Guptill will strengthen a batting line-up with was blown away for just 68 in the second innings at Lord’s. That would leave Kane Williamson, a part-time offspinner, as their only spin option.

An attacking knock of 75 from Stafanie Taylor led West Indies to an important two-wicket win against South Africa in Cuttack

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2013
ScorecardStafanie Taylor is now the second-highest run-getter in the tournament•WICB Media

An attacking knock of 75 from Stafanie Taylor led West Indies to a tight two-wicket win which eliminated South Africa from the competition.South Africa didn’t carry over any points from the first round, and the defeat leaves them on zero points with only two matches to play. With Australia already on six points, and New Zealand and West Indies on four and still to face each other, South Africa have no chance of making it to the final.The victory was also important for West Indies as their two remaining matches are against tough opponents in Australia and New Zealand. Defeat against South Africa would have meant that they had to win both those matches and hope for other results to go their way to qualify for the final.West Indies were set a target of 231, and Taylor came to the middle at the fall of the first wicket in the second over. She departed in the 26th, after guiding West Indies to a position of control at 146 for 3. Regular wickets thereafter pegged them back, but the lower order held their nerve to clinch victory.South Africa, after choosing to bat, played steadily for much of their innings, building on the solid start given by opener Trisha Chetty and the captain Mignon du Preez. Middle-order batsman Cri-zelda Brits slammed 44 off 41 and Dane van Niekerk hit 33 off 30 as South Africa took 90 off the final 12.3 overs.West Indies, on the contrary, maintained a high run-rate from the outset. Only as they came close to the target did the wickets slow them down. Besides Taylor, Kycia Knight, Shemaine Campbelle and Deandra Dottin all contributed significantly in the chase.West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira was delighted with the start to the Super Sixes. “We have no room to make any mistakes in the Super Sixes,” she said. “We really have to be on top of our game, so we knew we had to start well. We could have won with more wickets in hand but there are areas we need to work on.”She also praised her batsmen for getting the job done when facing a stiff target. “I must say they got 60 runs too much, we were a little bit slack on the field. Yes the batters put down their heads and did what they were supposed to do. The ball kept low at times but overall we did a good job. We have been faltering a bit with the batting.”South Africa’s captain du Preez thought her team had put enough runs on the board. “We thought 230 was a lot of runs on this wicket,” she said. “None of us have scored on this wicket so far, so I thought we had a good chance but we faltered in the bowling department.”In a tight match, they bowled 18 wides and conceded a total of 25 extras. “We have been bowling quite a lot of extras, we can’t afford to do that. We have to work on that going into the next game. I think a few misfields here and there added a bit of pressure on us. I don’t think inexperience was the reason why we couldn’t pull through in the end.”

After a three-week SLPL stint as the leading wicket-taker, Jacob Oram’s experience and knowledge about the Sri Lankan local players and conditions is helpful to New Zealand’s preparations, Ross Taylor has said

Andrew Fernando in Pallekele26-Sep-2012Jacob Oram’s Sri Lanka Premier League stint was a stroke of good fortune. He had made himself available for the draft, but none of the teams much liked the idea of an aging, fragile seam bowler on their payroll. Oram’s batting had lost its lustre since his youth and though he had become a wily limited-overs operator since, he is hardly a cricketer that will daunt opponents – even in a domestic tournament. Thankfully for him, New Zealand teammate James Franklin had his Test career resuscitated, and the Uva Next franchise were short of one player who could contribute in both disciplines. Oram, who was called up days before the tournament began, became one of the league’s standout players and an integral part of Uva Next’s victorious campaign over the next three weeks.What made him so potent, Uva Next captain Thilina Kandamby said, was bowling with the new ball – an opportunity he does not often get when playing for his country. At the top of the innings, he was parsimony personified. Oram found an effective length on the reforged Sri Lanka pitches that suddenly favoured seam bowlers, and plugged away predictably. The extra movement and improved bounce made him difficult to get away, and he reaped a tournament record of 11 wickets with a barely believable economy rate of 3.82. Though he has not been at his best in the group matches in the World Twenty20, Oram will hope the confidence and experience from his SLPL exploits will aid his cause in the current tournament, because that was the point.”One of the reasons I wanted to come here was that it’s the perfect preparation for the World Twenty20,” Oram had said.”Missing out on the tournament initially was disappointing, because it meant preparing for the World Twenty20 indoors in New Zealand’s winter, which is obviously not ideal preparation. Once I got picked up as a late replacement, it was the ideal scenario to have a month over here before the World Cup, that is in these conditions, so it really couldn’t be any better.”Oram’s involvement in the SLPL was also something of a reconnaissance exercise for New Zealand. He had hoped to collect information about the changed conditions to notify the New Zealand camp, and as captain Ross Taylor said on the eve of New Zealand’s Super Eights match against Sri Lanka, Oram’s knowledge was proving handy to his side’s preparation.”He’s been telling us about the local players we might not have heard much of as well,” Taylor said. “He was probably the form bowler [in the SLPL], and he plays a vital role in our team as well. Wickets are probably a bit flatter than when he played, and it’s a different time of the year. But he’s a key part of our team and hopefully he can replicate that form that he showed in the Sri Lanka Premier League.”New Zealand may also have insight into the better known players in the Sri Lankan side, with several of them having played alongside Sri Lanka players in the IPL. Taylor, who played for the Delhi Daredevils alongside Mahela Jayawardene said it could be an advantage to have that knowledge of an opponent’s game, but was wary of the knowledge Sri Lanka players would be bringing to the encounter as well.”You learn a lot about those players, but the flipside is, they know a lot about you too,” Taylor said. “It’s tit-for-tat when it comes to that. It’s an exciting time. It’s always nice to play the host country when it comes to the World Cup. They are going to be a tough opposition, but we have some form players who are doing well at the moment, so it’s time for some of the other players to step up and contribute to a team win.”New Zealand head to the Super Eights, like they have often done, as unlikely semi-final candidates. On paper, they are thoroughly inferior to Sri Lanka in both the batting and bowling. If they are to inflict an upset on Thursday to begin a familiar underdogs’ charge to the knockout stages, they must gain an advantage in whatever peripheral area they can. Perhaps knowledge of conditions that aren’t altogether familiar to the home side either, and an understanding of their opponents’ game will give New Zealand the edge to run Sri Lanka close.

Essex allrounder Graham Napier has signed a new one-year contract with Essex that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2012 season

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2011Allrounder Graham Napier has signed a new one-year contract with Essex that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2012 season. After an explosive start to his season, Napier picked up a hamstring injury but hopeful for a comeback against Surrey at Chelmsford on Friday night.”It is great that the Club offered me a new contract,” said Napier. “After such a long lay-off with injury I am hoping to continue the form I had earlier in the season through the next year into 2012.”A stress fracture to his back prematurely ended Napier’s 2010 season, but he made a mark immediately upon his return to the county game in 2011 by thrashing 196 against Surrey at Whitgift School – a knock which equalled Andrew Symonds’ world record for the most sixes in a first-class innings with 16 towering blows.

The weather won again as Victoria and Tasmania were washed out in their one-day fixture at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2010Match abandoned Victoria 2 for 112 (Finch 42*) v Tasmania 1 for 9

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Aaron Finch was stranded on 42 not out•Associated Press

The weather won again as Victoria and Tasmania were washed out in their one-day fixture at the MCG. Aaron Finch’s 42 not out pushed the Bushrangers to 2 for 112 after their first 20 overs and Tasmania were 1 for 9 when the rain came 4.1 overs into the reply.The highlight of the contest was a leaping catch by Rhett Lockyear at deep midwicket to snatch Brad Hodge’s swipe off Xavier Doherty, who will be in Australia’s one-day squad this week. Hodge left with 20, the same score the opener Glenn Maxwell managed before he was out slashing Ben Hilfenhaus to third man.Mark Cosgrove was caught down the legside from the third ball of the second innings to give Shane Harwood the wicket. The rain leaves Tasmania with a five-point gap over Victoria and New South Wales.

The consortium that owns IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab is in discussions with a number of corporations to sell a stake in the team

Cricinfo staff19-Jun-2010The consortium that owns IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab is in discussions with a number of corporations to sell a stake in the team. “We are in talks with a lot of companies, but have not finalised anything yet,” Mohit Burman, one of the promoters of the franchise, told Cricinfo in an email.However, Burman refused on to confirm or deny a story in the on Friday, which reported the consortium had applied to the BCCI for permission to sell 93% of the team to a private equity firm in London. The paper claimed the remaining 7% would remain with Preity Zinta, who apparently wishes to stay on as brand ambassador.Zinta owns 23% of KPH Dream Private Limited, the company that owns the franchise. The remaining 77% is split between Bombay Dyeing’s Ness Wadia (23%), Colway Investments (23%), MB Finmart, owned by Mohit Burman (11.5%), Windy Investments, owned by Gaurav Burman (11.5%); Apeejay Surrendra’s Karan Paul (4%) and Roots Investment (4%).The consortium paid $76 million for the Punjab franchise in 2008. The report claimed the sale is in the region of $250 million, meaning the promoters would make a profit of over 200%. At the second team auction in March this year, the Kochi and Pune franchises were sold for $333.33 million and $370 million respectively.Punjab reached the semi-finals in the inaugural IPL season but struggled in the last two years, finishing fifth in 2009 and last in 2010, when they won just four games. The team was also dogged by controversy over its choice of captain, having replaced local hero Yuvraj Singh with Kumar Sangakkara.

Australia’s players have had a long and frank discussion about their on-field behaviour as aftermath of the heated battle with West Indies continues to simmer

Brydon Coverdale23-Dec-2009Australia’s players have had a long and frank discussion about their on-field behaviour as aftermath of the heated battle with West Indies continues to simmer. Australia are trying to focus on Pakistan, whom they face in the Boxing Day Test starting on Saturday, but the Chris Gayle-Shane Watson bickering just won’t go away.A day after Watson said he was baited by Gayle at the WACA, Gayle has responded by calling Watson “soft” and “easy to get wound up over silly things”. Watson’s over-the-top celebrations at dismissing Gayle in Perth led to a fine of 15% of his match fee, making him the third Australian to be docked by the match referee during the Test.Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson were also fined for their ugly clash with Sulieman Benn and in the Adelaide Test Doug Bollinger was reprimanded for showing his anger at an umpire’s decision. The incidents have left the Australian team embarrassed and Simon Katich said the squad had addressed player behaviour on Wednesday.”As a group we’ve spoken about that at length this morning at our meeting,” Katich said. “It’s good to get it out in the open. The problem sometimes is that emotions come out on the field and in the heat of the moment you do things that later on you probably hope you’d do things differently. We’ve all been there and done that, from that point of view it’s a matter of learning from your mistakes.”Haddin is certain that he has learnt from his experience in Perth, where he pointed his bat angrily at the bowler Benn after a relatively innocuous clash between Benn and Johnson. Haddin conceded that his own actions were not appropriate but he said that Gayle “needs to get over” his incident with Watson and the Australians were especially keen to move on.”It wasn’t a good look pointing my bat,” Haddin said. “It was probably a bit too animated for what the occasion was. I apologise for that, I shouldn’t have pointed my bat, but apart from that, Test cricket is an emotional rollercoaster sometimes. It’s a pretty tough environment to be in, so there’s going to be occasions when your emotions get the better of you.”It’s just one of those things that happened in the heat of battle and with a bit of luck it won’t happen again. It wasn’t a good look for the fans and it especially wasn’t a good look for the kids. I’ll be working on that to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”The all-too-regular meetings between Australia’s players and the match referee also attracted the attention of the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland. He agreed with Watson’s own assessment that he had gone over the top with his celebrations at dismissing Gayle, but he was confident Ricky Ponting was doing his best to improve the behaviour of his men.”I was as disappointed as anyone about a couple of incidents in the last two Test matches,” Sutherland said on the radio station SEN. “But at the same time I know there’s an absolute commitment at his end to see these things improve and for the Australian public to be proud of their cricket team and how they perform on and off the field.”

Geddes shares unbroken stand worth 195 with Luke Hollman as Kent struggle continues

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 19-Aug-2025Ben Geddes and Luke Hollman hit career-bests as Middlesex raced to a six-wicket win over strugglers Kent at Radlett to keep their hopes of a place in the Metro Bank Cup’s knockout stages alive.Geddes led the way with an unbeaten 141, his first century in List A cricket, while Hollman made his maiden half-century in the format, the pair sharing a record unbroken stand of 195 for the fifth wicket as the hosts chased down a target of 280 with five overs to spare.Kent’s 279 for 6 was built around an unbeaten 63 for Jack Leaning and 50 for Chris Benjamin, with Leaning sharing a stand of 81 in nine overs with debutant Corey Flintoff, son of former England allrounder Andrew, who impressed with an unbeaten 29. Henry Brookes and Middlesex List A debutant Sebastian Morgan took three wickets apiece.England Under-19 international Ben Dawkins took three fours from one Noah Cornwell over and ramped Toby Roland-Jones over wicketkeeper Joe Cracknell’s head to dominate an opening stand of 52 with Jaydn Denly. The latter struggled for any fluency, his torturous effort ending when he cut Brookes to backward point. Dawkins took his boundary count to eight only to fall two short of 50 when caught by Cracknell, giving Morgan his first wicket.Benjamin and Joey Evison upped the tempo in a stand of 47 before Morgan pegged back the latter’s off stump and a chance for a fourth wicket was spurned when Brookes dropped Benjamin on 33.File photo: Luke Hollman shared an unbroken stand of 195 with Geddes•Getty Images

Benjamin profited from the life, flaying Morgan over third and crunching a seventh four through the covers to reach 50, but he fell immediately afterwards to Brookes, ending a stand of 58 with Harry Finch. Brookes struck again two balls later to remove Ekansh Singh, superbly caught by Sam Robson, and when Finch became Morgan’s third victim Kent were 198 for 6.However, Leaning and Flintoff launched their late charge, Flintoff evoking memories of his father’s batting heroics with two huge sixes, while Leaning’s beautifully paced effort was capped by clearing the ropes twice in the final over as Kent posted a daunting target.The host’s chase got off to a bad start when Cracknell was caught down the legside without scoring. Robson was then dropped at short fine leg by Michael Cohen, but later in the same Fred Klaassen over, Josh de Caires attempted an injudicious hook to sky a simple catch to Flintoff at midwicket.Robson’s response was to unleash a flurry of boundaries, the former England opener cutting and pulling with authority and with Geddes launching a huge six into the trees a 50-stand came up in 40 balls. Evison though wrestled back control by having Robson caught behind and though Davies planted a six over square leg, he didn’t stay long.Geddes continued to carry the fight, reaching his 50 with his second six, a blow which endangered those on the 4.45pm train to St Albans City. Cohen was similarly despatched into the trees and Hollman swept Matt Parkinson to the fence as the partnership prospered.Both batters were dropped, before Geddes moved to his hundred and Hollman to 50 with the help of a towering six. Landmarks reached, the pair cut loose to scamper home with time to spare.