Melbourne Stars, Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers lose key signings, with Rashid Khan also departing for Adelaide Strikers

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2022Pakistan stars Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan have been recalled from the BBL by the PCB to be ready for the start of the PSL which begins on January 27.Brisbane Heat were left frustrated by Fakhar’s withdrawal in particular after Heat signed the opener on December 31 as a replacement player for injured Englishman Tom Abell, but he only managed to play one game for them due to a combination of Covid-19 issues and travel restrictions between states in Australia.”Unfortunately the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed it had rescinded its permission for Fakhar to play our remaining games, along with all Pakistan players currently involved in the BBL, and summoned him to return immediately to prepare for the Pakistan Super League,” Heat said in a statement.”We are disappointed that he won’t be able to play for us and he is disappointed he won’t have the opportunity to get some more games in for us. He asked us to thank the fans for their support and wish the team all the best for the remaining three games.”Rauf confirmed on social media on Saturday that he was leaving Melbourne Stars with two games to go, while Shadab didn’t play in Sydney Sixers’ win over Sydney Thunder.Meanwhile, Adelaide Strikers have also lost Rashid Khan for the remainder of the tournament due to international duty for Afghanistan, who play Netherlands in a three-match ODI series starting January 21.Heat do receive a boost with Michael Neser and Mitchell Swepson to return for their clash with Stars, while Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis have also been released from Australia’s Test squad to rejoin Perth Scorchers.

Thunder inflict their third-heaviest defeat in BBL history as they jump to second on the table

Tristan Lavalette08-Jan-2022Sydney Thunder 7 for 209 (Sams 98*, Hales 63, Richardson 2-39) beat Melbourne Renegades 80 (Seymour 25, Hasnain 3-22, Sandhu 2-8, Sangha 2-12) by 129 runs
Daniel Sams and a rejuvenated Alex Hales destroyed Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium to set up red-hot Sydney Thunder’s fifth-straight BBL victory.An almost flawless Thunder (7-3) stormed to second on the ladder after Sams (98 not out off 44 balls) and Hales (63 off 28) powered them to a massive 7 for 209 after being sent in. Their disciplined bowlers then tore through meek Renegades batting as Thunder cemented their standing as the BBL’s in-form team.The crushing 129-run victory – the third heaviest in BBL history – was made even more impressive for Thunder after stand-in captain Chris Green was a late withdrawal due to being a close contact of a person who tested positive for Covid-19.The Hales-Sams show
Thunder have emerged as a serious title contender even without Hales firing. The English import had a highest score this season of just 35 and also missed a couple of matches due to testing positive to Covid-19.But Hales was always going to emerge from the rut and he did so with trademark pyrotechnics featuring five sixes. The opener needed just 17 balls to surpass his previous best of the season, relishing the short boundaries and launching several slog sweeps into the second tier of the grandstands.He was especially ruthless against Afghanistan’s Zahir Khan, smashing two sixes in his first over, before eventually holing out in the 12th over.There was no respite with Sams, elevated to No.4 after Ashes-bound Sam Billings’ departure, signalling his intention with a second-ball six, and he dominated square of the wicket much like Hales. Sams, who boasts of the highest strike-rate in the tournament, notched his highest BBL score with brute force highlighted by eight sixes.Needing six runs off the final ball, Sams agonisingly fell short of a deserved century with a miscued boundary, but the eye-catching knock of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad member surely may have caught the attention of the national selectors.Zahir struggles amid onslaught
Renegades’ attack was without speedster James Pattinson and allrounder Mohammad Nabi, whose spin was particularly handy in their previous outing. Left-arm seamer Josh Lalor made his season debut but struggled to find his rhythm as Renegades had no answer against Hales and Sams with the pair especially laying into Zahir, who finished with 1 for 49 off three overs.Zahir has had a strong season with 10 wickets at an economy rate of 7.81 but he copped a flogging and his confidence slumped. Spearhead Kane Richardson and the youngster Will Sutherland tried hard to stymie the runs but to no avail.Highly-rated Sutherland has had an underwhelming BBL season but showcased his obvious talent by clean bowling Thunder stand-in captain Jason Sangha. He finished with 1 for 23 off 3 overs in a rare positive for Renegades.Mohammad Hasnain had an excellent outing with the ball•Getty Images

Thunder crash through meek RenegadesThunder’s attack didn’t miss a beat without the services of Green and spearhead Saqib Mahmood, who returned to the UK as part of England’s T20 squad for the Caribbean. Pakistani speedster Mohammad Hasnain and legspinner Tanveer Sangha returned as Thunder’s well-oiled machine never gave Renegades a sniff.Hasnain bowled swiftly from the get go to set the tone and he was well supported by seamer Gurinder Sandhu fresh off claiming his third hat-trick in Australian cricket.In his first over back after being sidelined due to Covid-19, Sangha bowled Aaron Finch with a perfect legspinner as Thunder could do no wrong. Sams’ terrific performance continued when he claimed the wicket of Mackenzie Harvey as Thunder’s irresistible form showed no signs of abating.Reality bites for RenegadesIt might have just been a reality check for Renegades, who had leapfrogged two places off the bottom after victories against Covid-19 decimated opponents Melbourne Stars and Heat.They would have felt confident of giving the daunting total a shake under the closed roof but never threatened after losing three wickets in the four-over powerplay. Veteran Shaun Marsh, who has inserted confidence in the team since his recent return, was run out in the third over and skipper Nic Maddinson fell a few balls later as Renegades crashed.The burden was on Finch, who was dropped at slip in the second over, but he couldn’t conjure heroics as Renegades were embarrassingly bowled out in the 15th over.Renegades will need to return to the drawing board after a confidence denting defeat.

Mithali Raj made a smooth half-century but the rest of India’s line-up ran into some turbulence

Srinidhi Ramanujam12-Feb-2022
An all-round performance helped New Zealand thrash India by 62 runs in the first of the five-match women’s ODI series in the windy Queenstown. Centurion Suzie Bates shouldered the responsibility alongside Amy Satterthwaite to guide New Zealand to a competitive total of 275. Pacer Jess Kerr starred with four wickets to bowl India out for 213.New Zealand’s total would have swelled to 300, but India struck with a flurry of wickets towards the end of the innings – after picking up just three for the first 223 runs – to bowl the hosts out in 48.1 overs. By then, Bates and Satterthwaite, who scored 106 and 63 respectively, had accumulated the bulk of runs and inflicted the damage.Asked to bat first, New Zealand made a steady start with Bates and Maddy Green sharing a 54-run opening stand. Offspinner Deepti Sharma broke the partnership when Green was caught at the first slip for 17 in the 13th over. Bates made the most of her drop in the fourth over, off Pooja Vastrakar, on 1 to notch up her 11th ODI century. Her 111-ball innings comprised ten fours as she remained proactive throughout the innings.Bates has not had an easy ride in the last 12-15 months. Since returning to international cricket in September last year after her shoulder injury in November 2020, she had scored 57 runs in five ODIs before the ongoing home series against India. Having opted to skip the WBBL, Bates shifted her focus to playing more matches back home to fine-tune her game in the lead up to the ODI World Cup in March. She accumulated 218 runs in six one-dayers, averaging 43, and finished the Super Smash T20 tournament as the highest run-getter: 504 runs in 12 matches.Suzie Bates made her 11th ODI century. Only Meg Lanning has more (14)•Getty Images

All the hard yards that she had put in at the domestic level was visible on Saturday, when she punished the Indian bowlers with ease, concentrating more on the legside to score the majority of her runs.After putting on 52 runs with Amelia Kerr for the second wicket, Bates shared a crucial 98-run stand with the left-handed Satterthwaite, who brought up her 25th ODI half-century. En route, the 35-year-old Satterthwaite also became the first player to score 2000 runs in ODIs in New Zealand.That India were sloppy in the field didn’t help them either. Barring Harmanpreet Kaur, all the Indian bowlers were among the wickets with Deepti, Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami and Rajeshwari Gayakwad accounting for two apiece, and Poonam Yadav picking up one. However, seven of those wickets came in the last 10 overs.With experienced batter Smriti Mandhana also missing the first match due to quarantine in New Zealand, India toiled to chase down a 250-plus score with Mithali Raj putting up a lone fight.There were early jitters, with the visitors losing both their openers cheaply – including the debutant S Meghana – inside the powerplay. However, Raj and Yastika Bhatia brought some stability – albeit rather briefly – with a partnership of 88 runs for the third wicket. Raj top-scored for India with 59 off 73 balls – her 60th fifty in ODIs – while Bhatia made a 63-ball 41.The team then witnessed a mini-collapse, going from 105 for 2 to 165 for 6, as New Zealand kept their line and length accurate. With both experienced batters Raj and Kaur, who made a 22-ball 10, dismissed by the 33rd over – courtesy Jess Kerr, India more or less, were knocked out of the game.

Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj blew away Sri Lanka’s top order, and the visitors couldn’t recover despite Dasun Shanaka’s 74

Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Feb-20221:44

Can India fit both Shreyas and Kohli in their T20 XI?

Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj showed serious pace and skill in helpful conditions to blow away Sri Lanka’s top order, and there was no coming back from 29 for 4 – even after an unbeaten 38-ball 74 from Dasun Shanaka that transcended the circumstances, the conditions, and the ordinariness of his team-mates’ output. Extras (24) was the second-highest scorer, and no Sri Lanka batter other than Shanaka (194.73) managed to score at even a run a ball.Sri Lanka only set a target of 147, and it never really tested India, even though they went into this match a batter short and had Harshal Patel slotted at No. 7. Shreyas Iyer commanded the run-chase with his third half-century in three games, and Ravindra Jadeja – who didn’t bowl a ball – scored an unbeaten 22 to ensure India’s lack of depth didn’t get tested.India, who wrapped up the series 3-0 and completed their 12th successive T20I win, will now reflect on a triumphant shortest-format home season that has left them with a problem of plenty as far as selection for the T20 World Cup later in the year is concerned.New approach, new problems
Yesterday, Sri Lanka’s openers batted with caution to ensure they didn’t lose early wickets on a Dharamsala pitch that offered both bounce and seam movement when the ball was new. Their openers put on 67, and they eventually put up a total of 183, but India still won with 17 balls to spare.Perhaps because of this, Sri Lanka’s top order took more chances early on today, and that didn’t work either. The bounce made it particularly risky to try and hit good-length balls down the ground, and Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka were both dismissed while attempting to do so against Avesh and skying the ball off the high part of the bat. Danushka Gunathilaka had already inside-edged an attempted pull onto his stumps off Siraj by then, and Sri Lanka’s situation worsened further when Janith Liyanage was bowled through the gate by a Ravi Bishnoi googly in the ninth over. At 29 for 4, they were going nowhere.Chamika Karunaratne and Dasun Shanaka added 86 in quick time but it wasn’t enough•BCCI

Shanaka to the rescue
Sri Lanka’s next two partnerships were worth 31 and an unbroken 86, but Dinesh Chandimal and, in particular, Chamika Karunaratne were mostly just spectators. Shanaka began cautiously, as he had to in the situation he walked into, and moved to 25 off 19 by the end of the 16th over.Then, as he had done yesterday, he took India’s bowlers apart at the death with his clean hitting, capitalising on width when he was offered any, and showing tremendous hitting range down the ground, especially when he used the power of his bottom wrist to shovel low full-tosses – which aren’t usually easy to hit – back over the bowler’s head.Siraj, Bishnoi and Harshal Patel all went for plenty, and Avesh, who only conceded four runs in his first three overs, gave up 19 in his fourth. Sri Lanka took 56 off their last four overs, and they had something to bowl at.Chameera gets Rohit again
With Ishan Kishan ruled out after taking a blow to his helmet on Saturday, Rohit Sharma walked out with a new opening partner in Sanju Samson. Rohit adopted a similar approach to Sri Lanka’s top order, and on the day achieved similar results, skying a catch to mid-off while attempting to hit his nemesis Dushmantha Chameera over the top. On this pitch, particularly against the new ball, the “hard” length for fast bowlers was a much larger patch on the pitch, extending fuller than it usually does in Indian conditions. It was the sixth time Chameera had dismissed Rohit in T20Is. No other bowler has dismissed any batter even five times.Shreyas takes over
Shreyas is a lavishly gifted player, but his batting against high pace and shorter lengths has always come under the scanner. Lahiru Kumara’s first ball was a 147kph rib-tickler that Samson tucked into the leg side for a single. Shreyas, facing the next ball, gave himself yards of room, expecting a similar delivery with the field set for such a ball, with the two fielders outside the circle stationed at fine leg and deep square leg. The ball arrived exactly where Shreyas wanted it to, and he slashed it over point for four.The next ball was over-corrected and overpitched, and Shreyas caressed it between cover point and extra-cover. He was looking in rare touch already, and with the target not a particularly challenging one, the question for India was how the rest of their inexperienced line-up would perform.As it turned out, there were promising starts from Samson and Deepak Hooda, but they only made 18 and 21 respectively. When Venkatesh Iyer was fourth out in the 13th over, joining the long list of batters who succumbed to the extra bounce of this pitch, India needed 44 off 46 with six wickets in hand.Another wicket might have brought Sri Lanka back into the contest, but the required rate was too low to push Shreyas and Jadeja into the sort of mistakes that would give them that opening. The fifth-wicket pair saw India home with an unbroken stand of 45 off 27 balls, completing the job with 19 balls to spare.

Tailender Corey Rocchiccioli’s 28-ball 50 pushed Western Australia to 386, before Pucovski made 59 in Victoria’s reply

Alex Malcolm01-Apr-2022A brilliant five-wicket haul from Will Sutherland, and a half-century from Will Pucovski helped drag Victoria back into the Sheffield Shield final against Western Australia on the second day at the WACA.Sutherland’s third Shield five-wicket haul saw Western Australia bowled out for just 386 after beginning the second day at a solid 3 for 290. His withering spell in the morning was vital for Victoria as the ball nipped and swung prodigiously under cloudy skies after barely moving for large portions of the opening day.Western Australia’s total could have been even less without a spectacular 28-ball 50 from No.10 Corey Rocchiccioli. It was the first half-century by a No.10 in Shield final history, and was made all the more extraordinary by the fact he had faced just eight balls and scored one run without being dismissed in his only three Shield matches prior to the final. Rocchiccioli had also never made more than 38 in first-grade cricket for his Perth premier cricket club university.In reply, Victoria batted sensibly in the afternoon against some very consistent bowling, with Pucovski making a composed 59. But at the end of the day, Western Australia’s quicks managed to restrict Victoria’s run rate to 2.53, leaving them in danger of falling well short of Western Australia’s first-innings bonus-point tally, something which could decide the Shield if the match ends in a draw.Western Australia lost 4 for 17 in the first 12 overs of the day, with Sutherland nicking off nightwatchman Matt Kelly, 17-year-old Teague Wyllie – who was playing just his second game – and wicketkeeper-batter Josh Philippe in quick succession. Kelly was squared up by a ball that leapt from a length and nicked to second slip, where Peter Handscomb took a Shield record 24th catch for the season for a non-wicketkeeper, before finishing the day with one more.Wyllie and Philippe fell in almost identical fashion, with Sutherland going wide of the crease to both right-handers to angle into off stump. Both were caught on the crease as the ball straightened a fraction to catch the edge, as Matt Short held two simple catches at first slip.Will Pucovski scored 59 in Victoria’s reply with the bat•Getty Images

In between, Cameron Bancroft, the hero of the opening day, was strangled down the leg side by Scott Boland, falling a touch too far across as he glanced too fine and Sam Harper moved superbly to his left to take the catch. Bancroft finished with an outstanding 141 from 269 balls with 17 fours.Western Australia then slumped to 8 for 322 when Aaron Hardie attempted a booming drive off a Mitch Perry outswinger to be caught behind.But Rocchiccioli, Joel Paris and Lance Morris added 64 for the last two wickets, with Rocchiccioli producing a staggering rearguard. He clubbed four fours and two sixes to reach 50 off 28 balls. Although he had nicked a couple to third man to get his innings underway, Rocchiccioli then unfurled some sensational hitting by slog sweeping Jon Holland for six, and hooking Perry into the stands.Rocchiccioli brought up his half-century with a heave to long-on, and celebrated with a huge smile having reached his highest score at any level of cricket in nearly five years. He was clean bowled next ball trying to launch Sutherland into the Lillee-Marsh Stand to hand the Victorian quick his fifth wicket.Victoria’s openers then started steadily with a 75-run stand against a disciplined Western Australia attack. They had to survive four consecutive maidens at one stage, with Travis Dean fortunate not to fall after Bancroft spilled a low chance to his left at second slip off Kelly.Pucovski looked superb at the other end, producing two silky on drives and a classy cut shot. Dean was less assured and fell not long after tea to an excellent piece of captaincy from Shaun Marsh. He put in a short leg after Dean had inside edged several balls onto his pad. Hardie got one to bounce and seam a touch more, and the inside edge bobbled off his pad to short leg where Wyllie dived forward to take a very good catch.Pucovski remained unflustered, reaching 50 from 107 balls with five fours. But Paris found a way through his rock-solid defence, snaking one back from around the wicket through the gate to scratch the inside edge and hand Philippe a simple catch behind.Victoria’s scoring slowed to a crawl thereafter, and Short’s tortured stay ended as he edged Hardie to second slip for 10 off 45 balls with Bancroft making amends for his earlier miss pouching the chance at full stretch to his right. That is when Perry came in as nightwatchman and did his job.Handscomb played nicely to finish on 39* at stumps, but Victoria remained 239 runs behind with just 42 overs left tomorrow to overcome a 0.77 bonus-point deficit, with 0.01 points accrued for every run scored over 200 inside the first 100 overs, as Western Australia look to add 0.1 to their tally with every wicket taken in the same period.

“I was actually trying to get out because I was so tired,” batter says after hitting 73 off 50 balls in searing Mumbai heat

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2022The concept of retiring a batter out is really starting to bed into T20 cricket with Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis contemplating walking off the field to allow the big-hitting Dinesh Karthik more time in the middle in their game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.As it turned out, RCB lost a wicket off the second ball of the 19th over and in came the man with the highest strike rate (200) of anybody in IPL 2022 (min 24 balls faced). Karthik smashed an unbeaten 30 off only eight deliveries to lift the total up to 192 for 3Related

• Karthik: 'Doing everything I can to be part of the Indian team'

• Report: du Plessis' 73*, Hasaranga's five-for crush Sunrisers

• Ashwin becomes first batter to be tactically retired out in the IPL

“If he keeps hitting sixes like that, everyone always wants to get him in and bat for as long as possible. But he’s just so clear. I mean, to be honest with you, I was actually trying to get out because I was so tired to get DK in and we were even contemplating, you know, myself retiring,” du Plessis, who made 73 off 50, said with that last word in air quotes.Harsha Bhogle who was conducting the post-match presentation double-checked. “Retiring out?””Retiring out, yes,” du Plessis replied, “But then we lost that wicket. Yeah, DK is in such good form. But it was a tricky wicket. It wasn’t one of those wickets where you could just come in – I think it was not evident with DK but with other guys, the first few balls, they struggled. And then lucky for us, I think there was a dropped catch off DK in that one over and then he took them apart.”2:15

Retired out – yay or nay?

Last month, R Ashwin and Rajasthan Royals produced the first ever instance of an IPL batter retiring out as a purely tactical move, which gave Riyan Parag the chance to go in and hit some sixes. But that was a lower-order player, not renowned for his power-hitting, making way for a more recognised finisher. This – had it happened – may well have been even bigger because a specialist batter, with more than fifty runs to his name, would have quit his innings.du Plessis was effusive with his praise for the other players in the RCB set-up as well. “There’s some fantastic young Indian batters within our set up. Even someone like Suyash [Prabhudessai] who played three games and probably didn’t go the way he would have liked to, there’s some real talent there. And Rajat [Patidar] comes in and just plays with that freedom. Real cool calm composure about him and those are always really good traits for a youngster to have. And also Mahipal [Lomror] is also another young guy coming into the team. We’re very lucky that we have some real good Indian batting talent.Wanindu Hasaranga, for whom RCB shelled out INR 10.75 crore (USD 1.43 million approx), continues to impress. With his five-for against Sunriesrs, the legspinner is just one shy of becoming the top wicket-taker this season (21 from 12 matches).”Really happy for Wani,” du Plessis said. “I think personally he was looking for that one match where he blows right through the batting line-up. He’s been threatening to do that right throughout the campaign. So very happy that tonight was that night. He’s obviously one of those special bowlers, if you’re not picking him, and especially when you get to the lower-order batters, he can run through them quickly.”

Marnus Labuschagne’s legspin in the wickets to limit visitors’ progress

ECB Reporters Network05-May-2022Leicestershire finished day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Glamorgan in Cardiff on 285 for 7 with the visitors losing six wickets for 117 runs after tea.A career best 82 from Rishi Patel and a well-made 64 from Hassan Azad had given the Leicestershire hope of setting a competitive first innings score for the first time this season but a frantic evening session so those hopes fade.The visitors were well placed at tea on 168 for two before wickets for Marnus Labuschagne and two preventable run-outs meant that their middle order made limited impact.When Patel was bowled by James Harris, chopping on while attempting a cut shot, Leicestershire had lost their top order and were still short of passing 300 for the first time in the Championship this season.Having won the toss and put Leicestershire into bat Glamorgan would have been hoping for some early wickets to justify that decision. This was not to be with Leicestershire making slow but steady progress as they reached lunch at 82 for 0.Glamorgan went into this game with six seam-bowling options, but it was the part-time spin of Labuschagne who made the breakthrough. Sam Evans came down the pitch to a ball that turned just enough to go past the outside edge and Chris Cooke completed a simple stumping.Labuschagne could have dismissed Azad when the batter was on 46 but David Lloyd failed to hold on to a chance in the slips. Azad made it to 64 and looked completely untroubled before he was run out by a sharp throw from the boundary by Sam Northeast.Patel came into this side for Colin Ackermann who missed out on this match due to an injured thumb. Patel has had some misfortune himself this season with illness and then injury preventing him from making a first team appearance in 2022 until this match. From the very start of his innings he looked in fine touch as he passed fifty for the first time in his first-class career.While Patel stood firm it was chaotic at the other end with the run out of Azad and Labuschagne picking up the wickets of Wiaan Mulder and Scott Steel in consecutive balls.The new ball brought more wickets with Michael Neser, Harris and James Weighell all chipping in to cause more damage to the Leicestershire batting lineup. .Barring some late order brilliance, Leicestershire will be looking to fight their way back into a match. Given how well things had gone for Leicestershire in the first half of the day Glamorgan will be delighted with their efforts after the tea break.

Victory for home side ensures they leapfrog visitors in final Charlotte Edwards Cup standings

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2022England slow left-armer Sophie Ecclestone collected 5 for 15, her maiden five-wicket haul in T20 cricket, as Thunder ended their Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign with a five-wicket victory over Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford.The victory was completed with 28 balls to spare and ensures that Thunder do not finish bottom of their group, that unwanted honour being taken by Lightning, whose total of 103 was comfortably overhauled.But Lightning’s innings had got off to a superb start when the visitors took 27 runs off the first ten balls of the innings, 16 of them conceded by Kate Cross’s opening over. However, that early momentum was lost when Marie Kelly attempted one cross-batted swipe too many at Alex Hartley’s left-arm spin and was bowled for 17.In the third over, Ecclestone had Ella Claridge caught by Phoebe Graham at mid-on for nought and Bethany Harmer pouched at backward square leg for 7. That left Lightning on 29 off 3 after three overs and only 15 runs were scored off the remaining 18 balls of the Powerplay.Thunder struck the next blow when Sarah Bryce was neatly caught and bowled by Hannah Jones for 13 and when Bethan Ellis’s top-edged sweep off Emma Lamb was nonchalantly plucked out of the air by Graham at backward square leg on the 45, Lightning were 54 for 5 after nine overs.Kathryn Bryce and Piepa Cleary tried to stabilise the innings but their attempt foundered when non-striker Bryce called Cleary for a single but was run out for 13 by Graham’s sharp throw. Lightning’s task now was to balance steady accumulation with the priority of batting out their remaining eight overs but Cleary and Lucy Higham’s careful progress was derailed in the 16th over with the score on 86, when another bullet throw by Graham ran out Higham for 16.Ecclestone then cleaned up Sophie Munro, Grace Ballinger and Josie Groves, the last of her victims smartly stumped by Ellie Threlkeld first ball, to leave Lightning all out for 103 with two of their overs unused.Thunder’s pursuit began even more poorly than Lightning’s had. Georgie Boyce was lbw to Kelly for 1 and Cross caught at mid-off with Ballinger the successful bowler for 9, both wickets falling in the first three overs, and when Ecclestone was leg before to Kathryn Bryce for two, the home side were 25 for 3 after 4.5 overs.That, though was where the good news appeared to end for Lightning. Lamb moved carefully onto the attack and had made 42 off 35 balls when she was leg before to Kathryn Bryce. That was at the halfway stage of the Thunder innings and the home side were still well placed on 75 for 4, especially so since Kelly had been removed from the attack for bowling two beamers above waist height.Danielle Collins was leg before to Josie Groves for 12 in the next over but by that stage Thunder needed 23 runs off nine overs with five wickets in hand. That job was completed with litte fuss by Threlkeld and Daisy Mullan, skipper Threlkeld finishing unbeaten on 12. Kathryn Bryce, with 2 for 24, was the most successful Lightning bowler.

Owners of a team from the now defunct Global T20 League want in on the new competition

Firdose Moonda22-Jul-2022Cricket South Africa is confident of seeing off a legal challenge aimed at stalling the progression of their new T20 competition from at least one owner of the abandoned Global T20 League (GLT20). Hermis Sports Ventures Limited, the owners of Pretoria Mavericks, has written to CSA asking for a “reasonable opportunity,” to submit an application to acquire a franchise in the new tournament, failing which they will consider applying to the courts to issue an interdict to stop the games from going ahead. At the same time, Hermis is also suing CSA for US$ 515,627.91 in damages from the failed GLT20 despite being refunded their deposit of $250,000 with interest.CSA has already concluded agreements and announced the six owners of the new T20 league, all of whom are from the IPL. However, Hermis claims that CSA “invited certain selected parties to bid for ownership of the teams,” and that opportunities to bid were not “widely available.” Hermis issued CSA with a notice of their intention to take legal action on Wednesday and asked for a response by Friday. ESPNcricinfo understands CSA intends to defend any allegations made by Hermis. Sources close to the board believe the case is without merit.Related

• Klusener appointed coach of Durban-based franchise in new CSA T20 league

• CSA T20 league likely to have four overseas players and no transformation targets

• IPL franchise owners buy all six teams in South Africa's new T20 league

Hermis’ claim is based on a letter written by former CSA CEO Thabang Moroe to the eight owners of the GLT20 franchises in August 2018. At the time, Moroe was explaining board’s decision to abandon the idea of private ownership of franchise teams and move the league in-house to what became the Mzansi Super League. He cited “commercial reasons,” for the decision but said that CSA may explore the possibility of private owners in future, at which point the GLT20 owners could put themselves forward again.”In such event, we confirm that each of you, as the previous owners, will be given an opportunity, on a first right of refusal basis, to acquire ownership (or part ownership depending on how much team equity is made available for private ownership) of your previous teams,” the letter read. “Needless to say, this first right of refusal is not unconditional but is subject to such conditions as CSA and/or the special purpose vehicle which has been incorporated to manage the league (“SPV”) will, given the dictates of the financial model then in place, our procurement policy and other relevant considerations, determine. These conditions will be communicated at the time that the model is adapted to allow for private team ownership, should that materialise.”While Hermis’ communication recognises the old owners right of refusal was not unconditional, they allege that CSA breached the previous agreement by not informing them of the new league or inviting them to bid for it. ESPNcricinfo understands that CSA approached some parties, including representatives of IPL teams such as Kolkata Knight Riders (who owned a team in the GLT20 and now own a team in the UAE T20 league, which will be played at the same time in January 2023), but also received unsolicited bids from various business people. This includes South African entrepreneur and former player Terence Lazard and Osman Osman, a part-owner in the Mavericks’ franchise. In total, CSA announced that they received 29 expressions of interest and it is understood that the IPL owners outbid their competitors by a distance.A further complication to Hermis’ challenge is that the new league is not being run by CSA alone but by a newly-formed entity named Africa Cricket Development (PTY) Limited (ACD). CSA is the majority stakeholder in this company, with 50%, while broadcaster Supersport has a 30% share and former IPL COO Sundar Raman, the remaining 20%. Any legal claim against the new league would thus have to be a claim against the new company, and not CSA.

600th first-class wicket the highlight as high-scoring contest peters out in third innings

ECB Reporters Network28-Jul-2022Durham and Middlesex played out a draw in their LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two clash as the hosts batted out the majority of day four after Chris Rushworth claimed yet another milestone earning his 600th first-class wicket.Rushworth struck three balls into the day to dismiss John Simpson for a brilliant 132, earning a warm reception from the sparse crowd in Seat Unique Riverside. The visitors added quick runs to secure a lead of 34 with Ben Raine wrapping up the tail.Although Durham had a slight wobble with the bat and lost David Bedingham to a hand injury, the North-East outfit worked their way to a draw despite receiving a barrage of short-pitch bowling, earning their third on the bounce on home soil. Durham ended the contest with 14 points, while Middlesex claimed 13 for their exploits over the four days.The hosts and Rushworth enjoyed the perfect start to the day notching his 600th first-class wicket after finding Simpson’s outside edge, adding another milestone to his distinguished career. Tom Helm steered Middlesex past Durham’s first-innings total with his third first-class fifty, but he could not beat his best score of 52, falling short after being pinned lbw by Raine.Umesh Yadav added a quick-fire 29 from 19 balls, but Middlesex could only extend their lead to 34 before Raine claimed his third wicket by removing Ethan Bamber.Durham eradicated the Middlesex lead before lunch with a steady partnership between Alex Lees and Michael Jones. Bamber responded after lunch by hitting Jones on the arm, which unsettled the opener enough to force a mistake in the following over. Helm then turned up the pressure on the home side with two wickets in two balls. Lees played a loose pull shot that took his top edge and was claimed by Pieter Malan at fine leg before Nic Maddinson nicked off for a golden duck.Scott Borthwick and David Bedingham steadied the Durham innings, forcing a change in approach from the visitors. Yadav charged in with a spell of short-pitched bowling and struck Bedingham on the hand, which resulted in the South African retiring hurt with an apparent dislocated finger.Yadav remained hostile in the evening session as Borthwick and Jonathan Bushnell were forced to weather a storm, taking several blows to the body in the process. However, the two players came through the spell before the teams agreed to shake hands on a draw.