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Medium-pacer Hamish Kingston’s four wickets helped Tasmania seal a massive 223-run win to end their seven-match Sheffield Shield losing streak, and win their first game of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Ben Dunk scored a career-best 144 not out to lead Tasmania’s charge•Getty Images

Medium-pacer Hamish Kingston’s four wickets helped Tasmania seal a massive 223-run win to end their seven-match Sheffield Shield losing streak, and win their first game of the season. Tasmania bowled out New South Wales for 170 at Bankstown Oval in Sydney after declaring on 313 for 7 to set the hosts a target of 394.Opener Ryan Carters was NSW’s only source of resistance as Ed Cowan was the first wicket to fall, to Xavier Doherty. Kingston then troubled the middle order by dismissing Kurtis Patterson and Nic Maddinson and two quick wickets from Jackson Bird left NSW reeling on 116 for 6. Ben Rohrer, Jay Lenton and Sean Abbott fell for ducks before Carters was trapped lbw by Kingston for 77. Kingston dismissed Gurinder Sandhu too and Doherty finished things off, as Bird, Faulkner and Doherty took two wickets each. Kingston registered 4 for 61, his best first-class figures, and took seven in the match.Earlier, Tasmania added 41 runs to their overnight 272 for 6, led by Ben Dunk’s career-best and unbeaten 144 that featured 18 fours, as captain George Bailey declared 50 minutes into the morning session.

Gujarat sealed a nervy chase with the help of a 36-run ninth-wicket stand against Vidarbha in Alur, to book their place in the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy

The Report by Shashank Kishore in Alur24-Dec-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Parthiv Patel provided a brisk start in a thrilling chase by hitting 10 fours in his 57•BCCI

It was a thriller that didn’t look possible at one stage, but Gujarat’s batting meltdown in a modest chase meant their lower order had to squeeze out every ounce of temperament against a spirited attack. In the end, a composed unbeaten 36 from Axar Patel, who also had two scalps earlier in the day, proved to be the difference in a nail-biter as Gujarat won by two wickets in Alur to seal a semi-final berth at the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Truth be told, the conditions weren’t half as bad as the scorecard suggested. On the day, Vidarbha were guiltier of the two as they were shot out for 195 after bucking the trend and opting to bat on a surface where most teams have had no hesitation in fielding first. That they got there was courtesy Jitesh Sharma and Faiz Fazal, the openers, who made half-centuries, with Ganesh Satish conjuring a fighting 47 even as the lower order caved in without a fight.Vidarbha fought valiantly to make a match of it courtesy Ravikumar Thakur, the left-arm seamer, and offspinner Akshay Wakhare who picked up three wickets apiece to deflate Gujarat, who were batting as if they were trying to beat the evening traffic. Amidst the ruins, Axar found an ally in Hardik Patel as the pair’s unbroken 36-run stand for the ninth wicket helped them squeeze out the win that would also somewhat ease their disappointment of having failed to make it into the Ranji Trophy knockouts.On a new surface with even bounce and decent carry, Jasprit Bumrah, the medium pacer, made the ball talk by subtle changes in length to finish with 4 for 38. Vidarbha’s last eight wickets fell for 63 to hasten their collapse that undid all the good work done by the top three who contributed 150 to the total.Gujarat were clinical with their execution on the field for most parts. There was a brief flutter at the start when Fazal (51) and Jitesh (52) were going strong, dispatching the loose deliveries while treating the good ones with respect, in a 96-run opening stand. But while the breakthrough remained elusive, Gujarat were unlucky despite creating a number of openings.They broke through finally in the 21st over, when Fazal miscued a lofted hit to deep cover, and Parthiv Patel went back to his trump card Axar immediately. The left-arm spinner, unfazed by recent criticism over his bowling style, held his own and was complemented from the other end by offspinner Rujul Bhatt.As well as they bowled, the moment that turned the tide in Gujarat’s favour was Jitesh’s run-out, a result of total breakdown in communication. Then came a double strike of S Badrinath and Ravi Jangid in the space of three deliveries that exposed a relatively inexperienced lower middle order with too much to do. Satish, who has played most of his cricket for Karnataka before moving to Vidarbha, held the innings together. But frequent wickets every time he tried to accelerate resulted in his dismissal that hastened the end with two overs left unconsumed.Gujarat came out all guns blazing as Parthiv repeatedly pierced a packed off side field, hitting six boundaries in the first four overs alone and unleashed his trademark cut shots as his innings progressed. The effect of Parthiv’s exuberance – the team total was 71 when he got to his fifty – meant Vidarha were simply going through the motion before an inspired team talk that followed Parthiv’s stumping turned things around.Chirag Gandhi kept milking the bowl to make 31 before an ugly hoick resulted in his downfall, sparking a lower-order implosion as Gujarat slipped from 139 for 4 to 162 for 8. All along, Axar kept picking singles, and as the target got within touching distance, Hardik Patel wasn’t afraid to take a risk. After surviving a run-out call that left players from both sides on tenterhooks for nearly five minutes with Gujarat needing eight, he muscled a boundary over cover. The final nail in the coffin was hammered when Axar slapped one over the off side field to seal a heart-stopping thriller in the penultimate over.

Kane Williamson believes captaincy would not have a major impact on his batting, which he sees as a “different thing”

Andrew Fidel Fernando13-Jan-2016New Zealand would seek to emulate the freedom and aggression that had defined their cricket under Brendon McCullum, new Twenty20 captain Kane Williamson said.The board has not announced a long-term successor to Brendon McCullum in any format, but Williamson has been handed charge of the T20 side until the end of the World T20 at least. Williamson said his role as “interim” captain was to continue McCullum’s work.”I’ve been enjoying stepping in for Brendon when he’s not around,” Williamson said. “We’ve been playing some good cricket together. What Brendon and Mike Hesson have created over a number of years has been huge for the team. Having the interim role as captain, it’s important that you continue the good things we’ve been doing. That’s a focus of mine. There are number of leaders in the team, all of whom need to take some responsibility.”The three-match series against Pakistan, which begins on Friday, shapes as a significant step in New Zealand’s route to the World T20. For now, these matches are New Zealand’s only T20 internationals before the World T20 in March – though they are in the process of lining up an opposition for a brief series in Dubai, on their way to India. Williamson said his team would be “aware” of the challenges his team would face in India, even if they do not have much opportunity to prepare in Asian conditions.”Playing in the subcontinent brings a lot of challenges, skills-wise,” he said. “Leading the team, there it’s important that we are all aware of those. It’s important to encourage the side to keep playing with that freedom. It’s such a short tournament and things happen so quickly, if you can go into it with momentum and have a fearless approach, then you can make inroads in the tournament. It’s a wee-way away, but it’s in the back of some of the guys’ minds.”Williamson has now established himself at the top of the order in McCullum’s absence. He said captaincy would not have a major impact on his batting, which he sees as a “different thing”.”It’s important to play to the situation, and that’s the focus,” he said. “There might be the odd time where the captaincy might come into your mindset when you are looking at certain guys coming in to bat, where there wasn’t a particular order. With my batting I’m just going to keep things as simple as I can. The captaincy is of utmost importance off the field and when fielding.”He also bats in a top order with several big-hitters. The second T20 against Sri Lanka was a display of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro’s power, while Corey Anderson and Ross Taylor – who come in at nos. 4 and 5 – have also played explosive innings in the past.”My role is to play my game,” Williamson said. “At the moment the, way Guptill’s going, I need to adapt to make sure our partnership is doing what the team requires. If guys are playing so well, it’s important that you are batting with the guy at the other end – whether that’s a role that allows them to play with that freedom, or a role that takes the pressure off them – that will change game to game.”There’s some special ball-striking in this team. With Brendon, who’s done it for so many years not being available, it’s nice to see some of the other guys step into that role. We’ve all seen Guptill do it time and time again.”Williamson was also vary of playing too aggressively at Eden Park, where the short boundaries can tempt batsmen to play big shots. That had appeared to be the case in the second T20 against Sri Lanka, who had several batsmen perish attempting to clear the rope.
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“The dimensions are a bit different from your average cricket oval,” Williamson said. “They do take a bit of getting used to. Sometimes you can go too hard. That has happened in the past. When you do lose wickets it’s harder to take advantage of the smaller boundaries. That’s something to consider as a touring side. Also, the crowd – when they get going – it can be extremely loud as well.”

Death of a Gentleman, an investigation into the dysfunctional governance of world cricket, has been recognised as the SJA Television Sports Documentary of the Year

Andrew Miller22-Feb-2016Death of a Gentleman, the independently produced film investigating the dysfunctional governance of world cricket, has been recognised as the Television Sports Documentary of the Year at the prestigious Sports Journalists’ Awards in London.The 96-minute film, directed and produced by Sampson Collins and Jarrod Kimber, the ESPNcricinfo writer, beat off a strong shortlist including Catch Me If You Can, BBC Panorama’s investigation into allegations of doping in athletics, and One Day in May, BT Sport’s story of the Bradford City fire, both of which were highly commended.MUTV’s profile of the boxer Anthony Crolla, Million Dollar Dreams, also made the shortlist, alongside Missed Warnings, BBC Yorkshire’s take on the Bradford disaster, and Rooney: The Man Behind the Goals by Goalhanger Films.Collins’ and Kimber’s film, which premiered at the Sheffield Doc/Fest in June 2015 and has since been distributed worldwide, was cut from more than 400 hours of footage and interviews conducted in England, Australia, Sri Lanka, India and Dubai.The project started life in 2011 as an investigation into Test cricket’s uncertain future, but soon became a running commentary on the so-called “Big Three takeover”, the ICC structural reforms – rubber-stamped in February 2014 – whereby India, England and Australia claimed ownership of the sport’s finances, and with it the game’s future.In the course of their investigation, the duo secured key interviews with two of the three men who drove through the reforms, N Srinivasan and Giles Clarke, the then-president and chairman of the BCCI and ECB respectively, as well as David Becker, the former head of the ICC’s legal department, who quit his post after blowing the whistle on India’s intentions to withdraw from a tour of South Africa.Srinivasan was subsequently forced to stand down from his twin roles as BCCI president and ICC chairman after India’s Supreme Court found him to have a conflict of interest as the owner of the IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings.Clarke, who stepped up to the newly created post of ECB president last year, had been considered the frontrunner to succeed Srinivasan as the next full-time ICC chairman, but his candidacy received a double blow last month when it emerged that neither Australia nor South Africa would be willing to support his election bid.At the recent ICC board meeting in Dubai, Srinivasan’s replacement as chairman, Shashank Manohar, set in motion a possible repeal of many of the board’s reforms, having announced back in November that he “did not agree with the Big Three countries bullying the ICC”. He also announced his plans to head a five-man steering committee to review the decisions made by Srinivasan, Clarke and Wally Edwards, Cricket Australia’s former chairman.”It is brilliant that the film has been recognised but, to be honest, I’d prefer it if we hadn’t had to make it in the first place.” Collins told ESPNcricinfo. “We are thrilled that there has been some sort of recognition within the game that things need to change, but this is a key moment. The things that happen now have to be meaningful, and not just lip service.”Nothing has changed yet, in the sense that the game is still looking to India and seeing what India are going to do,” Collins added. “It just so happens that India at the moment, in Shashank Manohar, is talking about change.”It’s up to the boards of England and Australia to follow suit, to recognise the importance of who they put forward for positions of power, and to embrace the need for checks and balances on the people who make the big decisions in the sport.”

The BCCI has expressed strong reservations against the exhaustive recommendations proposed by the Lodha committee and the Indian board will present its views before the Supreme Court during a hearing on Thursday

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Mar-2016The BCCI has expressed strong reservations against the exhaustive recommendations proposed by the Lodha committee and the Indian board will present its views before the Supreme Court during a hearing on Thursday. In a 55-page counter-affidavit submitted in the court on March 1, the BCCI stated that it partially accepted some of the reforms, but had concerns on many of the recommendations presented by the Lodha panel on January 4.In the previous hearing on the matter, held on February 4, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice Ibrahim Kalifullah had asked the BCCI to let the court know by March 3 if it would implement the recommendations. Justice Thakur also told the BCCI counsel: “If you have any difficulty in implementing it we will have the Lodha committee implement it for you.”The BCCI in its affidavit has stated that it has already implemented some of the recommendations such as appointing an ombudsman, putting in place rules on conflict of interest, and releasing advertisements to appoint a chief executive officer, a chief financial officer and other top management positions.At the same time, the BCCI has listed more than a handful of recommendations that it does not agree with. Ever since the Lodha report became public, the BCCI and its units – the state associations – have been trying to figure out their response to the report.BCCI office-bearers and most of the major state associations, some of whom have filed their own counter-affidavits separately, have taken strong exception to recommendations like ‘one state one vote’, an age cap of 70 years for an office-bearer or a board official, and a limit on the tenure for an office bearer to a maximum of three terms of nine years each across positions.The other major recommendation that the BCCI is staunchly opposing is the limiting of advertisements during Tests and ODIs. The Lodha committee had pointed out that the broadcaster, in an attempt to maximise revenues, inserted ads at “crucial” parts of a match telecast, causing a disruption to the viewer.The report stated: “Commerce has also overtaken the enjoyment of the sport, with advertisements continuing many a time, even after the first ball and again commencing even before the last ball of the over is played, thereby interrupting the full and proper broadcast of the game.”It is recommended that all existing contracts for international Test & One-Day matches be revised and new ones ensure that only breaks taken by both teams for drinks, lunch and tea will permit the broadcast to be interrupted with advertisements, as is the practice internationally. Also, the entire space of the screen during the broadcast will be dedicated to the display of the game, save for a small sponsor logo or sign.”The BCCI, however, has said that if it failed to display advertisements between overs, it would suffer a “major revenue hit” and consequently the board would not be in a position to conduct any cricketing events as the value of the broadcasting contracts would be significantly devalued.The BCCI has also pointed out in its affidavit that it is against the recommendation where a nominee picked by a member of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India will be appointed on the proposed, and powerful, apex council. The Lodha committee had proposed a nine-member apex council to replace the existing working committee and look after the governance of the BCCI.The BCCI is also against the proposal of having two representatives of IPL franchises on the governing gouncil. The board said that it cannot have franchises on the IPL governing council because it is an “inherent conflict of interest.”Despite its reservations about the Lodha committee recommendations, the BCCI has made sure that the contents of the affidavit remained privy only to the top brass: board president Shashank Manohar; secretary Anurag Thakur (the signatory); Ratnakar Shetty (general manager, game development), PS Raman (legal committee chairman) and KK Venugopal, who would be representing the board in the court on Thursday.

Sussex Women have signed England allrounder Danielle Wyatt to help bolster their spin-bowling department

George Dobell29-Mar-2016Sussex Women have signed England allrounder Danielle Wyatt. They hope that Wyatt, who was previously with Nottinghamshire, will fill the spin-bowling hole left by the recently-retired Holly Colvin.Wyatt, an off-spinning batsman who enjoyed an impressive Big Bash season, is currently a member of the England squad that has made it to the semi-final of the World T20.”Playing with and against the best players in the country can only benefit me and it’s going to be great fun playing alongside the likes of Sarah Taylor, Georgia Elwiss and Georgia Adams,” she said. “Hopefully I can add to the spin and batting department and help push for the Championship with this brilliant side we’ve got.”Sussex’s director of women’s cricket Charlotte Burton said: “It is fantastic news that Danni will be joining the Sussex Women. Danni is a talented all-rounder who will strengthen all departments for us, and will be a great addition with the ball, having lost Holly Colvin to retirement.”Danni will fit in perfectly with the squad, especially as she played Junior County Age Group cricket with Georgia Elwiss at Staffordshire, and she knows many of the players already through the county set-up and at England level.”Meanwhile, underlying the increased importance of the women’s game to counties, Warwickshire have announced that some of their home T20 fixtures will take place as double-headers before games involving the men’s team.Birmingham Bears Women will take on Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston on Sunday 19 June, before Birmingham play Lancashire Lightning, while on Sunday July 17, the women’s side will play Lancashire followed by the men’s team playing Leicestershire Foxes.”Not only will it provide our women’s team with a chance to play in-front of a big crowd at an international venue, but it gives our Members and supporters an opportunity to watch an additional match at no extra cost,” Warwickshire chief executive Neil Snowball said.”Whilst we were disappointed to recently miss out on hosting a team in the new Women’s Super League, we’re committed to growing the women’s game and we hope that this initiative and our grassroots development of the game will inspire more women and girls to get involved in cricket.”

The PCB has taken a step towards establishing a biomechanics facility in the country by forming a partnership with Lahore University of Management Sciences

Umar Farooq30-Apr-2016The PCB has taken a step towards establishing a biomechanics facility in the country by forming a partnership with Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and giving them $460,000 worth of equipment for three years. The equipment had been lying unused at the National Cricket Academy for the last eight years but will become operational from June.Pakistan have had severe issues with suspect bowling actions in the recent past. Saeed Ajmal has become a diminished force after he rectified an illegal action, and Mohammad Hafeez is presently serving a one-year suspension before he can have his action retested. The project would be a move in the right direction towards preventing such problems, but a drawback is that LUMS – like most other institutes in Pakistan – has no experience in sports sciences and biomechanics studies. The PCB and the university are hoping to break new ground in the country.”As you are aware the equipment has been unused for the last eight years and giving it to LUMS is for the sole purpose of making it functional rather than leaving it to become obsolete,” the PCB told ESPNcricinfo. “There is no agreement but a memorandum of understanding, which was vetted by PCB and LUMS’ lawyers. The MoU allows the transfer of equipment to LUMS and its use by faculty. It retains the PCB’s ownership of the equipment, which can be taken back whenever PCB so requires. The MoU allows both organisations to benefit mutually – PCB through operationalising a biomechanics laboratory and LUMS through the enormous research potential the lab holds.”The project will be driven by LUMS engineering laboratory director, Ahmed Kamal Nasir, a PhD in mobile robotics, and Mian Muhammad Awais, a professor of artificial intelligence. “We know our limitations but LUMS is very well placed with extensive connections with other universities – both local and foreign,” Awais told ESPNcrcinfo. “Therefore, this consortium will act as a magnet for those wanting to do research in biomechanics and will ensure a wide catchment area for experts.”Just because the lab is based in LUMS it does not mean that experts from elsewhere will not be able to come and use the equipment and provide their expertise. Eventually, not only PCB will benefit but our educational system will also grow in this field.”Pakistan could have been the first Asian country to have a high-profile biomechanics facility, but construction of the laboratory where the equipment was to be housed was suspended after an audit revealed financial mismanagement

There are presently five ICC accredited labs – in Brisbane, Chennai, Cardiff, Loughborough and Pretoria – where bowlers can go to test their actions and work on them. These labs are centres of biomechanical studies with expert personnel, with some offering a range of courses in sports sciences, motion analysis and biomechanics. LUMS, however, does not have this expertise as yet.Pakistan could have been the first Asian country to have a high-profile biomechanics facility had the equipment procured when Nasim Ashraf was PCB chairman been installed as planned by December 2008. The project, however, was put on hold by Ijaz Butt during his term as PCB chairman because an audit revealed financial mismanagement. As a result, the construction of the laboratory where the equipment was to be housed was suspended.Zaka Ashraf, during his term as PCB head, attempted to make the NCA a centre of excellence for cricket and also brought Pakistan’s only renowned biomechanist at the time – Hafsa Zaneb – on board. But the legal tussle between Ashraf and Najam Sethi in 2013 stalled the building of the facility.”When I contacted them in 2012, they had the equipment but not the physical facility. Biomechanics lab construction was halted,” Zaneb told ESPNcricinfo. “So initially we only discussed the possibilities about the functionality of a future lab, and how we could use the lab and equipment commercially too. They thought that construction will take about a year, and by then we can get other things such as human resource and training component ready.”After this understanding was achieved, my contact was with Dr Sohail Saleem [PCB former head of sports medicine] only. Dr Saleem may know better why PCB cut off that contact but one reason could be that the lab was not ready then till late 2014.”The construction had begun and was meant to be finished by March 2015 but hit more hurdles related to alleged financial fraud and was not completed. In the meantime the equipment, which was said to be state of the art when purchased, remained unused and ESPNcricinfo was told that two of the 18 cameras sustained damage, while others had software that had become outdated.The decision to try and revive the lab was made after a number of bowlers on the domestic circuit were suspected to have illegal bowling actions.

A brutal half-century from opener Richard Levi, made off just 20 balls, helped last year’s beaten finalists Northants Steelbacks make a winning start to their 2016 T20 Blast campaign against local rivals Leicestershire Foxes

ECB Reporters Network20-May-2016
ScorecardRichard Levi was at his muscular best in Northamptonshire’s chase•Getty Images

A brutal half-century from opener Richard Levi, made off just 20 balls, helped last year’s beaten finalists Northants Steelbacks make a winning start to their 2016 T20 Blast campaign against local rivals Leicestershire Foxes.Even then, Leicestershire took the game to the final over, before Steelbacks’ overseas player Seekkuge Prasanna lifted the first ball he faced high over backward square for six to complete victory.Playing for the first time under the new permanent lights now installed at Grace Road, Leicestershire were put in by the visitors, and their innings began in some style, openers Mark Cosgrove and Mark Pettini taking 62 from the six-over Powerplay.Cosgrove’s dismissal for 27, lbw to Azharullah, resulted in a marked loss of momentum, exacerbated by the introduction of Prasanna. Although there was no real turn for the legspinner, the Leicestershire batsmen found him hard to get away, and Prasanna also picked up a wicket, Kevin O’Brien trying to hit him over long-off and giving Josh Cobb a comfortable catch.With Prasanna conceding only seven runs from his first two overs, Pettini tried to force the pace at the other end, and was given leg before after missing an attempted slog-sweep at the left-arm spin of Graeme White.Niall O’Brien chopped a Rory Kleinveldt slower ball onto his middle stump, and had Richard Levi not dropped an Umar Akmal skier off the bowling of Azharullah, Leicestershire’s innings might have petered out.As it was, however, Akmal, a surprise omission from his country’s training camp in preparation for their forthcoming tour of England, began to connect cleanly. Together with Tom Wells, he picked up 23 runs from the final over, going to his 50 off the last ball, to ensure the Foxes set a reasonably challenging total.It looked considerably less challenging after Levi’s fine innings, and the opener received effective support from fellow opener Adam Rossington as Northants raced to 87 for 1 from just seven overs. Although Levi then steered a ben Raine full toss straight to extra cover, Ben Duckett batted sensibly, hitting 37 not out on either side of a rain delay that reduced the visitors’ target to 164 from 18 overs.”We weren’t at our sharpest, but their start set up the game for them and Levi played sensationally,” said Leicestershire’s director of elite performance Andrew McDonald.

Scotland’s first ODI at home in more than two years ended in frustrating fashion, with the first ODI of the two-match series against Afghanistan finishing with a no result

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Edinburgh04-Jul-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRahmat Shah and Najibullah Zadran added a record 157 for the fifth wicket, for Afghanistan•AFP

Scotland’s first ODI at home in more than two years ended in frustrating fashion, with the first game of the two-match series against Afghanistan finishing in a no result. Yet the partisan Afghanistan crowd got their money’s worth – and a steal it was for the £10 charged at the gate – before play was abandoned with Afghanistan at 283 for 4 in 47.2 overs, courtesy Rahmat Shah’s maiden ODI ton and a career-best 89 not out from Najibullah Zadran.The visitors kicked off their seven-match European ODI tour in menacing fashion, Rahmat and Najibullah producing a record fifth-wicket partnership for Afghanistan in ODIs. They added an unbroken 157 – the fourth best for any wicket in ODIs for Afghanistan – after coming together at 126 for 4 in the 31st over.While Rahmat ended the day ahead of Najibullah in the runs column, the 23-year-old left-hander evoked a more emotional response from the vocal Afghanistan supporters in the crowd, with chants of “Na-jib! Na-Jib! Na-Jib!” growing louder after each six.Rahmat was on 40 before Najibullah faced his first ball, and the frenetic rollercoaster ride began three balls into the 32nd over, when an edged drive off Alasdair Evans barely eluded the reach of wicketkeeper Matthew Cross for the first of Najibullah’s nine fours. His second boundary in the following over, a Brad Wheal half-tracker creamed over midwicket, was a portent of what was to come.After Rahmat brought up his fifty off 88 balls with back-to-back pulled fours, Rahmat turned the steering wheel to Najibullah, who flashed two more boundaries, before rain stopped play for the first time with the score at 180 for 4 in 39 overs. A 100-minute break ensued with lunch taken early to ensure no overs were deducted.Upon resumption, Rahmat briefly became the aggressor with four more boundaries before Najibullah took over. He targeted Evans midway through the 42nd and a booming drive over mid-off was the first of five sixes. A single off Wheal in the 43rd brought up his fifty in 35 balls before he smashed two sixes off debutant Ruaidhri Smith over mid-off in the 44th over. Najib then shifted his focus to the midwicket fence in the 46th, hammering a free-hit from Safyaan Sharif into the practice nets before Evans was heaved over the same region to end the 47th.Amid the fireworks supplied by Najibullah, Rahmat inconspicuously made his way to 99 for the start of the 48th and a single took him to three figures in 123 balls.Najibullah was on 87 off 52 balls and with 17 balls remaining in the innings, he looked set to break the Afghanistan record for the fastest ODI century, jointly held by Karim Sadiq against Netherlands and Mohammad Shahzad against Scotland in 72 balls.Rain, however, had returned to impact proceedings, the free-hit in the prior over came after Sharif – struggling to grip the damp ball – bowled a beamer that cleared Najibullah’s head by two feet and was desperately knocked down by a leaping Cross to prevent five extras. After Najibullah pushed for two on the second ball of the 48th, the umpires took the players off for good.Scotland had made a reasonable start, after inserting Afghanistan, with Wheal producing extra bounce to clip the shoulder of Noor Ali Zadran’s bat as Cross snapped up the chance in the third over to make it 7 for 1. Shahzad survived a strong lbw shout from Evans in the following over, while on 6, and then feasted on the fast bowler for three boundaries in a see-saw eighth over. Evans, however, hit back with a full ball to have Shahzad lbw for 26.Rahmat joined Javed Ahmadi for an assured 53-run stand that was broken when Ahmadi couldn’t keep a Sharif yorker out. Captain Asghar Stanikzai made 20 before Wheal beat him for pace with a short ball and had him fluttering a pull to Con de Lange at mid-on. Wheal got carried away with the short-ball strategy against Rahmat and Najibullah, and paid the price with inflated figures of 2 for 51 in nine overs. It was Evans, though, who struggled the most to find a consistent length and was left nursing the most expensive figures of the day – 1 for 73.The two sides return to the Grange on Wednesday, with more promising weather on the horizon, for the second and final match of the series. Afghanistan then depart for Belfast, where they will take on Ireland in a five-match ODI series.

Ed Joyce’s fourth ODI century and Kevin O’Brien’s all-round brilliance combined to give Ireland a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in the third ODI in Belfast

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Kevin O’Brien came good with bat and ball to lead Ireland to a six-wicket win•Getty Images

Ed Joyce’s fourth ODI century and Kevin O’Brien’s all-round brilliance combined to give Ireland a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in the third ODI in Belfast.Ireland’s bowlers, led by O’Brien’s 3 for 28 in 9.1 overs, put up a strong performance after they lost the toss and dismissed Afghanistan for 236. O’Brien then made another crucial contribution, scoring 75, and his fourth-wicket partnership of 144 with Joyce helped the hosts cruise to the target in 47.3 overs and level the five-match series 1-1. Joyce remained unbeaten on 105.The chase wasn’t smooth until the Joyce-O’Brien partnership: Ireland were reduced to 29 for 3 in the ninth over after Hamid Hassan struck twice. Ireland captain William Porterfield edged to first slip for 1 in the second over, before Sean Terry was trapped lbw for 3 by one that came back in. Asghar Stanikzai introduced spin in the ninth over and the move immediately paid off as Stuart Poynter picked out backward square leg off Mohammad Nabi’s second delivery.Joyce and O’Brien then steered Ireland to safety by batting together for 28.5 overs. O’Brien struck seven fours in his 85-ball knock before falling in the 38th over, with Ireland requiring 64 off 77 balls.The breakthrough hardly provided respite for Afghanistan. Paul Stirling chipped in with an unbeaten 39 off 37 balls to dominate an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 64 with Joyce, who reached his century off the first ball of the 48th over and hit the winning runs two balls later.Ireland could have been pushed harder if Afghanistan’s batsmen had built on Mohammad Shahzad’s platform. He held firm with 81, his third consecutive half-century, even as wickets tumbled around him.Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah and Samiullah Shenwari fell without doing much to leave Afghanistan on 63 for 3 in the 17th over. Shahzad, who had marched to 36, resurrected the innings through a 76-run fourth-wicket stand with Stanikzai. The duo kept Ireland’s bowlers at bay for 15 overs, before pace bowler Peter Chase removed both batsmen in the space of three deliveries. Stanikzai chased a wide one and got an edge towards third man where Joyce completed a running catch, before Shahzad found first slip in his attempt to guide a short delivery.Afghanistan once again lost quick wickets. That they passed 200 was down to Nabi and his 52-run eighth-wicket stand with Rashid Khan, who scored 24 at No. 9. Nabi was the ninth man dismissed, for a 41-ball 40, and Afghanistan were bowled out in 49.1 overs. O’Brien and Barry McCarthy finished with three wickets each.