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While they are committed to keep playing the longest format, preferably overseas, hosting teams has been leading to troubling financial losses

Firdose Moonda and Osman Samiuddin04-Nov-2017Hosting fewer Tests and scaling down operations may be the way forward for Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) as it navigates a changing cricket structure and tricky financial waters. Zimbabwe will not be part of the new Test league that is set to start in July 2019, and are happy with the development. They do not intend to stop playing Tests altogether, preferring in future to play them away from home. Instead they will shift focus to limited-overs cricket.In one way it is a formalisation of the status quo, in which Zimbabwe are already playing a greatly reduced number of Tests. “What we quickly realised was that hosting Tests is something that costs us a lot of money, and that is a commodity we do not have at the moment – in fact we owe people a lot of money,” ZC’s recently appointed MD Faisal Hasnain told ESPNcricinfo.”As things stand, it costs us money because we get almost negligible amounts from our current TV rights and sponsorships, and these continue till 2019. So if we were in a formal Test league, where we were forced to play Tests at home, we just would not be able to sustain it financially, unless we get substantial help from the ICC or from some other source – and the ICC Test fund no longer exists and other funding sources are few and far between.”Obviously, we will continue to play Test cricket, but in our current circumstances we will try and play them away from home, primarily to save costs. We will concentrate on playing more ODIs and T20s, home and away, under the ODI league and the T20 open format, which will hopefully enable us to cut expenditure and potentially generate greater revenues.”Zimbabwe have just finished hosting a two-Test series with West Indies, which has cost them somewhere in the region of $1 million. For an organisation in as much of a financial battle as ZC, that is an unnecessary strain. There is a possibility that, in discussion with Afghanistan and Ireland, Zimbabwe will formally ask the ICC for certain relaxations from the full requirements of the strict playing conditions – conducting matches without DRS for example. They may also ask for leniency in TV broadcast requirements for international cricket. This could ultimately make it more affordable to host Tests, and ZC has already taken up the matter, informally, with the ICC.Crucial to their quest to better financial health is income from the ICC, in the form of distribution and World Cup participation fees, which makes qualification for the 2019 event even more important. With that in mind, Zimbabwe has embarked on an ambitious project to convince certain players who had left the country to return, but the flipside of that has been the toll it has taken on their finances.Both Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis are being paid more than they were at Nottinghamshire and Lancashire respectively, and were also given a small portion as an advance to secure their return. Solomon Mire, based in Australia, received what one source said was a “good deal, better than that of the other players who have stayed behind”.Unsurprisingly, the treatment of the trio has created issues within the team. “Players who come back automatically get paid more than the guys who are there,” one source said. “It’s bad because there are players who have made sacrifices to stay in Zimbabwe and they are suffering.” ZC denies their return has led to rifts; Hasnain says players have told him the atmosphere in the dressing room remains fine.Brendan Taylor walks out for the national anthem•ICC

In addition to employee and player salaries being part-paid at the end of October, and because of the financial challenges their board faces, Zimbabwe’s players have yet to receive their match fees for the Sri Lanka tour that took place in July. A proposed increase in player allowance for this season’s domestic matches has also not come to pass.At least one board member is understood to have opposed the efforts to lure Taylor, Jarvis and Mire back because of the expense, but the prospect of having them in the team for the World Cup qualifiers motivated ZC to do “everything it could”, according to the source, to convince the players to commit to Zimbabwe.ZC is attempting to stabilise its operations and finances under Hasnain and CFO Feroza Shariff, though given the country’s ongoing economic crisis and the limited opportunities to raise money that will not be easy.ICC money will be an important source of income and rationalisation of costs will have to continue. With no Test ranking points for Zimbabwe to concern themselves with, there would appear to be sense in not hosting home Tests. So even though they will not abandon Tests altogether, this could lead to a fundamental shift in outlook and the way they position themselves as a cricketing nation. The Logan Cup, Zimbabwe’s first-class competition, for example, may be shortened from its current format – in which teams play each other in a double round – to a single round, and there could be an increase in domestic ODI and T20 competitions.In that light, it is not outlandish to wonder whether West Indies might have been the last team that will play a Test in Zimbabwe for a while. According to the current FTP, Zimbabwe are scheduled to host Pakistan for a two-Test series next year in June-July, a tour which also includes three ODIs and two T20Is. Preceding that, Australia visit for a tour that was originally scheduled to include two Tests, but no longer does; instead they will feature in a T20I tri-series alongside Pakistan.For Zimbabwe Test fans, the good news is that their team’s schedule on the road is busier. They will play the inaugural four-day Test in South Africa over Boxing Day, and are in talks to become Afghanistan’s first Test opponents in February next year, most likely in the UAE. That is set to take place after a tri-series in Bangladesh and they are then supposed to return to South Africa for one Test, three ODIs and a T20I in October next year. In March, they are also due to host the ICC qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup, in which two teams from 10 will proceed.Another tour to Bangladesh – for three Tests and three ODIs in early 2019 – and a single Test in India along with three ODIs in March 2019 takes Zimbabwe to the end of the current FTP, with their hopes pinned on participation in the World Cup.

A round-up of the opening day of Group A matches in the fourth round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2016

Group A

Fourteen wickets fell in Dharamsala in the fourth-round clash between Bengal and Railways. Railways’ bowlers vindicated their captain’s decision to field by dismissing Bengal for 205. But their batsmen couldn’t hold on to the advantage as they slipped to 37 for 4 by the close.Four of the five bowlers used by Railways picked up wickets, with Anureet Singh’s 4 for 66 leading the way. Right-arm medium pacer Amit Mishra picked up 3 for 38, while Karan Thakur took two wickets and Karn Sharma one. Bengal’s innings featured two partnerships of note. First, Sudip Chatterjee, the No. 3 who top-scored with 85, added 52 with Sayan Mondal for the second wicket. He then combined with Agniv Pan for a fifth-wicket partnership of 66. Ashok Dindachipped in with a 26-ball 30, before Bengal’s innings was wrapped up in 69.5 overs. Dinda got the wickets of Saurabh Wakaskar and Mrunal Devdhar early in Railways’ reply. Amit Kulia and Sayan Ghosh also joined in with a wicket each to compound Railways’ woes.At the Feroz Shah Kotla, Deepak Hooda was in sight of his maiden first-class double century as his career-best 190 not out headlined Baroda’s day of dominance against Punjab. Baroda piled on 358 for 6 in 90 overs, despite a four-for from Sandeep Sharma, who had rocked them early in the day with the wickets of their openers.With Baroda reduced to 11 for 2, Dhiren Mistry and Hooda compiled 178 for the third wicket to offset the early stumble and lay a solid platform. Mistry made 76 before being caught behind off Siddharth Kaul. Hooda added 80 more for the fourth wicket with wicketkeeper Pinal Shah. Sandeep removed Pinal for 42 and Yusuf Pathan for a second-ball duck, while Vishnu Solanki also fell cheaply. But Hooda stayed dominant and ended the day with 16 fours and three sixes, having struck at 88.37 per 100 balls.Elsewhere, at the DRIEMS Grounds in Tangi, Tamil Nadu put behind twin early jolts to recover to 262 for 4 on the opening day against Madhya Pradesh. Tamil Nadu lost both their openers for ducks inside the first two overs, after being put in. They were then lifted through half-centuries from Kaushik Gandhi (71*) and Dinesh Karthik (95).Gandhi and Karthik got together with the score at 54 for 3 and added 144 in 46 overs for the fourth wicket. Karthik struck 15 fours in his 153-ball knock, before being caught off Chandrakant Sakure, the right-arm medium pacer, five short of a century. B Indrajith and Gandhi then joined hands for an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 64. Indrajith was unbeaten on 44. Sakure ended the day with 2 for 47, while Ishwar Pandey and Ashwin Das, the new-ball duo, dismissed the Tamil Nadu openers.At the Palam Grounds in New Delhi, right-arm medium pacer Imtiaz Ahmed’s 4 for 48 helped Uttar Pradesh fight back against Gujarat, who squandered a strong start to end the day on 276 for 8. Gujarat’s openers Samit Gohel and Priyank Panchal laid a solid platform through a 122-run opening stand. Both batsmen made scores of 60, before Imtiaz dismissed both. But none of Gujarat’s other batsmen could make a noteworthy contribution, with the exception of Parthiv Patel, the captain, who also scored 60. Chirag Gandhi, the No. 6, was not out on 33 when stumps were drawn.

Spin ruled again at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, as 19 wickets fell on the second day of the Tamil Nadu-Baroda clash

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai02-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Bhargav Bhatt ended with match figures of 10 for 90•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Spin ruled again at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, as 19 wickets fell on the second day of the Tamil Nadu-Baroda clash. So much so that the pacers from either side did not bowl a single over, and were left manning the boundaries for the entire day or resting in the dressing room.After debutant left-arm spinner DT Chandrasekar and his senior partner Rahil Shah picked up four wickets each to skittle Baroda for 159, the three-pronged spin attack of Bhargav Bhatt, Swapnil Singh, and Yusuf Pathan took center stage again to bowl Tamil Nadu out for 155. Set a target of 122 with over two days to spare, Baroda negotiated the last two overs of the day without any damage.Malolan Rangarajan and Rahil began proceedings amid bright sunshine and found assistance right away, but it was Chandrasekar who started the slide. He showed little signs of nerves and struck thrice in his first three overs. Chandrasekar first had Aditya Waghmode pop a catch to Baba Indrajith at short leg for 21. Chandrasekar then looped it up, drew Kedar Devdhar out of the crease, and had him stumped for 40. Hardik Pandya was trapped lbw for 2, a wicket that Chandrasekar recalled with fond memories after stumps. He let out a roar and even let rip a throw towards Yusuf’s head in his follow through during the probing spell. He was not going to hold back. And neither was Yusuf.Yusuf’s first four balls read: 4 0 6 6. Malolan was smote for sixes straight down the ground and over long-on. Ahead of the start of play, Yusuf had emphasised on an attack-first approach and walked the talk. He drilled drives down the ground, picked gaps, and kept the scorecard ticking. He helped his team move into the lead in the 41th over, but was out leg before in the next over off a flat darter from Rahil for 41 off 43 balls.In between, Deepak Hooda was also dismissed by Rahil, and Swapnil Singh was caught short by an accurate direct hit from L Vignesh, another debutant. Vignesh almost produced another moment of brilliance when he back-pedaled from midwicket towards cow corner to snap up Bhatt, but the momentum pushed him past the rope. Bhatt indulged in leg-side hacks and Pinal Shah’s slog-sweeps also turned out to be substantial contributions, as Baroda nudged ahead.Tamil Nadu captain Abhinav Mukund’s 100th first-class game, though, got worse: he danced down the track and feebly chipped Swapnil into the lap of short midwicket to bag a pair. Once again, it was down to Bharat Shankar and Baba Aprajith to rebuild. Much like on the first day, both batsmen flicked on the blockathon switch before Aparajith broke the shackles with a firm pull over midwicket off Swapnil. He late-cut Bhatt in the next over before unfurling his trademark inside-out lofted drive over wide long-off.Both Aprajith and Shankar benefited from the in-out field, but the 48-run partnership ended when Shankar spooned a leading edge to cover. Aparajith soon followed him when he was given out caught behind, though there was a daylight between bat and ball. He swiped his bat onto the turf and walked back, shaking his head, and the slender crowd was silenced. Indrajith took over from his twin and showed more intent with Dinesh Karthik in a 37-run stand.Karthik began scratchily, though, and was scoreless for 15 balls. Just when it looked like he had found his range, Pandya hurled a direct hit from backward point to cut short his effort. Indrajith, however, nudged Tamil Nadu’s lead past 50 with a punchy drive through the covers before Yusuf held onto a stunning catch, diving low to his right.J Kousik hung on for 14 and Malolan struck a six before Bhatt wrapped up the innings with his sixth wicket, extending his match-haul to 10. Yusuf played up with the crowd, throwing the ball into the stands and flashed a big smile before trooping off.

A round-up of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge matches played on March 6, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2013
Scorecard
Knights prevailed over Titans by eight runs in Centurion in a high-scoring game. The Knights were asked to bat and their openers gave them a fitting start, Rilee Rossouw and Loots Bosman adding 92 in 10.4 overs. Bosman almost batted through to the end of the innings, dismissed off the penultimate ball for 91, an innings that included five fours and five sixes. He was involved in another attacking partnership, with Pite van Biljon, who blasted 32 off 16 balls and helped push the score to 196.Titans lost captain Henry Davids in the first ball of the chase. The Knights seamers Johan van der Wath and Malusi Siboto made steady inroads, picking up two wickets each, and reducing the opposition to 61 for 5 in the eighth over. Roelof van der Merwe and Albie Morkel revived the innings, however. Van der Merwe made 66 in 45 and Albie smashed four sixes in his 48. The pair put on 96 runs in 51 balls, giving their team sniff at victory. But both fell off successive deliveries in the 17th over bowled by Dean Elgar, and even though the tail took the Titans to 188, the big push Albie and van der Merwe are capable of delivering at the death was absent.Knights now have three wins from five games.
Scorecard
Warriors beat Cape Cobras by seven wickets in Port Elizabeth. Their bowlers, seamers Wayne Parnell and Andrew Birch, especially, bowled economically, to restrict Cobras to 129 for 7. The pair picked up four wickets between them and conceded just 44 in eight overs. After being reduced to 13 for 3, Justin Ontong (41) and Dane Vilas (35) put together 75, before the lower middle order took the score to 129.Warriors began the chase steadily, with a 42-run opening stand, though quickly slipped to 52 for 3. But Sambit Patel (34) and Adrian McLaren (36*) stabilised the innings in a 630run partnership and set up the team’s victory. Victory was sealed with three balls to spare. Warriors are third on the points table now, behind Knights, who trail table-toppers Lions.

Tasmania kept in touch with the Sheffield Shield pace-setters Queensland and Western Australia with a six-wicket defeat of New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2012

ScorecardTasmania kept in touch with the Sheffield Shield pace-setters Queensland and Western Australia and maintained hope of defending last summer’s title with a six-wicket defeat of New South Wales on the final day of the match in Hobart.Six points at Bellerive Oval took the Tigers to 22, four behind WA after their dramatic victory over Queensland at the Gabba, which kept the Bulls on 30 points with three rounds remaining.The Blues began the day uncertainly placed at 4 for 75 and the seamer Jackson Bird ensured the visitors’ lead would not be substantial by matching James Faulkner’s four wickets for the innings.Simon Katcih was unable to bat as he continued to suffer from headaches and dizziness following a blow to the head while batting in the first innings. Only Phillip Hughes and the captain Steve O’Keefe passed 20 for NSW as the Tigers were set 147 to win.The openers Ed Cowan and Steven Cazzulino brought the target well within sight via a stand of 49, and while no local batsmna passed 50, solid contributions down the order reaped a comfortable victory.NSW are now out of contention for the final, having won only one of seven matches so far.

Australia Day would be the perfect occasion for the home side to wrap up the one-day series, but it for the sake of the remaining contests an England victory is what’s really needed

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan in Adelaide25-Jan-2011

Match Facts

January 26, Adelaide

Start time 13.50 (03.20 GMT)James Anderson will make a welcome return to England’s one-day team•Getty Images

The Big Picture

Australia Day would be the perfect occasion for the home side to wrap up the one-day series, but for the sake of the remaining contests an England victory is what’s really needed. The visitors have played some poor cricket, especially in the last two matches, with the batting faring badly. A defeat here and the plane home won’t be able to come soon enough.That, though, won’t be any concern of Australia’s. They desperately needed to regain some belief following the Ashes and with coloured clothes back on they are beginning to hit their stride. England haven’t forced them to play at their best, but even with injuries they are building up a head of steam. David Hussey was the star at the SCG as he showed his finishing skills, which will be valuable at the World Cup, but Brett Lee took the Man-of-the-Match award and he has led the attack superbly.England’s bowlers have actually performed a decent role, considering that it has been a second string attack, and the likes of Ajmal Shahzad, Chris Tremlett and Chris Woakes show the depth available. But somewhere in the transition from Tests to one-dayers key batsmen have lost the skill to convert starts into big innings.It’s a feeling of déjà vu as far as both sides are concerned. In the aftermath of the 2009 Ashes, also won by England, the one-day series was a horribly lop-sided affair as Australia cruised to a 6-1 drubbing. If the hosts continue their winning streak in Adelaide, it’s very easy to see this series going the same way.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWL

England LLLWL

Watch out for…

James Anderson was given a break after the Ashes but following 10 days at home with his new baby has returned to the tour in the nick of time. Although England’s quicks have performed an admirable role, Anderson’s experience of 133 matches will be a valuable addition. He’s got fond memories of Adelaide after his impact during the Test match when he helped reduce Australia to 3 for 2 on the first morning and is a dangerous operator with the new white ball.Cameron White has played a couple of valuable innings in this series; his 25 at Melbourne helped Shane Watson complete victory and his 45 at Hobart began the first recovery. He’ll want to make his decent form count in the remainder of this series because, even though his place is secure, there will be strong competition for batting places if Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey both recover. With his immense power White shouldn’t have a problem clearing the square boundaries at the Adelaide Oval and against the spinners even the straight hits aren’t out of reach.

Team news

Michael Clarke said no risks will be taken with any player before the World Cup so Shaun Tait (thigh) and Mitchell Johnson (throat infection) remain doubtful. It means Australia could field the same attack that did an impressive job in Sydney.Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Cameron White, 6 David Hussey, 7 Steve Smith, 8 John Hastings, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Xavier Doherty, 10 Doug BollingerKevin Pietersen is fit again following his groin strain and James Anderson is available, while Andy Flower confirmed Matt Prior will continue to open the batting despite his two ducks since returning to the side. Paul Collingwood would be the likeliest batsman to make way, but could be considered at No. 7 with Michael Yardy struggling to have impact with bat or ball.England (possible) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Matt Prior (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Paul Collingwood, 8 James Tredwell, 9 Ajmal Shahzad, 10 Chris Tremlett, 11 James Anderson

Stats and trivia

• Adelaide is the venue of England’s highest one-day total in Australia when they reached 3 for 302 in the infamous match against Sri Lanka during 1998-99 where Muttiah Muralitharan was also called for throwing. England still lost.
• James Anderson returns with a good one-day record in Australia. From 13 matches he has 21 wickets at 25.61, including a miserly 1 for 12 in 10 overs on this ground back in his debut series of 2002-03.
• The teams have met five times at Adelaide, with Australia ahead 4-1. England’s only win was the first encounter back in 1983.

Quotes

“We’ve played some exciting, positive cricket and I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to lead the boys. I’d like to lead from the front with the bat and make some more runs, I’m well aware of that, but everyone is in good spirits and we believe there is a lot of room for improvement.”
“It’s not ideal, the start of this one-day series, but there are still four games to go. We intend to finish strongly, we are here to win these games, it’s not just preparation for the World Cup.”

Abhimanyu Mithun has leapfrogged to the national Test squad after just ten first-class matches

Siddarth Ravindran28-Jan-2010Abhimanyu Mithun
started to take his cricket seriously just three years ago, having only played with a tennis ball till then. By the end of 2007, he was harrying batsmen on the Under-19 circuit with his pace, scooping up 37 wickets in the Cooch Behar tournament, only one short of topping the charts. He was hoping that performance would pitchfork him into Virat Kohli’s side that won the U-19 World Cup in Malaysia in early 2008. He didn’t make the cut then, though, but two years on, Mithun has leapfrogged everyone on that victorious team to make the national Test squad.He’s done that largely on the strength of his favourite tactic: subjecting batsmen to an intense scrutiny of their technique against the short ball. He also likes slipping in yorkers but is generally a hit-the-deck kind of the bowler, whose usual delivery is the incutter to the right-hander.He hit the headlines early last year when the Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Ray Jennings talked him up as an express bowler, but a quiet IPL followed. The buzz was back once the Ranji Trophy started in November; he ripped through perennial title contenders Uttar Pradesh twice on first-class debut, which included a hat-trick.In two months, Mithun made the leap from near-anonymity to national selection. In that time, he became the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji season, snaring 47 and topping off the season with dazzling performances against UP in the semi-finals
and Mumbai in the finals.None of this would have been possible had his fledgling career as a discus thrower blossomed. He made it to the state-level as a teenager but couldn’t progress beyond that stage. Cricket was only a hobby till one of his friends suggested he join a cricket camp, where Mithun enjoyed the experience of bowling with the leather ball, setting in motion one of most dizzying climbs to the highest level.The son of a fitness instructor, he used to train regularly in his father’s gym in his teens which has given him the sinewy build and strength so useful for a fast bowler.Another of his strong points is the ability to send down the odd cracking delivery which surprises the batsmen even when he is not at his best. For example, in the Ranji final on a bowler-friendly track in Mysore, he was guilty of wasting the new ball by not making the Mumbai batsmen play enough, and was taken off after a four-over burst. Omkar Khanvilkar and Abhishek Nayar weren’t troubled much early in Mithun’s second spell either, but he snapped their resistance by bowling both with full, quick deliveries.Even after a barnstorming season, eyebrows are bound to be raised when someone reaches the Indian team barely ten weeks after his first-class debut. Karnataka coach Sanath Kumar is not one of those surprised by the call-up. “From day one we knew he had the potential,” he told Cricinfo. “He has the pace, bowling around 140kmh, and he has performed in every game, whether it is junior cricket or first-class cricket.”Mithun has been more of a shock bowler for Karnataka this season, rather than someone who nips batsmen out by pegging away in the channel outside off stump. “He has to start thinking about how he has to plan a batsman out,” Kumar said. “That will come with experience, and being with the likes of Zaheer Khan will teach him a lot.”Over the past decade, plenty of Indian quick bowlers have made their international debut in a cacophony of hype, only to drop their pace and turn in lacklustre performances after a couple of years. The relentless grind of the Indian team has affected the likes of Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel, and Mithun needs to be wary of treading that route. “It is important to be focused, it is important to keep working on the fitness aspect of the game,” Venkatesh Prasad, the Karnataka seamer who was India’s fast bowling coach till recently, said. “There’s lot of distractions which come along your way when you are playing for the country but he should just keep doing what he’s been doing to be successful.”Kumar also has similar advice for Mithun. “Not only me, but Rahul [Dravid] also has said the same thing to him, ‘whatever you are it is because of cricket, cricket is the ultimate, focus on the game, all other things will come, but start focusing on other things and everything is over’, and he knows it well.”Mithun has taken the elevator to the top, but with Sreesanth likely to be fit for the second Test, the Karnataka bowler’s first stint with the national squad could be a short one. What should Mithun be looking to take away from this spell? “This should be a benchmark for him, that he’s capable of getting into the team, capable of playing for the country,” Prasad said. “He should take it as a motivational factor.”

Australia legspinner available for four matches from July 6

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2025Adam Zampa has signed to play for Surrey in their next four Vitality Blast matches.Legspinner Zampa will arrive ahead of the double-header featuring Surrey’s women’s and men’s teams against Essex at the Kia Oval on July 6.The highest wicket-taker for Australia in T20I cricket with 117 wickets, Zampa became the first Australian to pass the 100-wickets mark in the format and was part of the teams that won the T20 World Cup in 2021 and the 50-over World Cup in 2024.His 363 T20 wickets include appearances at the IPL, Big Bash and the Hundred, where he was part of the Oval Invincibles teams which won consecutive titles in 2023 and 2024.His IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad this year was cut short in mid-April when he suffered a recurrence of a shoulder injury. He played the first two games of the tournament as the Impact Sub, taking 1 for 48 and 1 for 46 but missed the next four games with soreness in his bowling arm and ultimately flew home to Australia.”I can’t wait to get going for Surrey and to play in front of the Kia Oval crowd once again,” Zampa told Surrey’s website. “It’s one of the great grounds in the world to play the game and I know how much playing for Surrey means to the lads so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s all about.”Zampa will also play for Surrey against Gloucestershire in Bristol, then at home against Glamorgan on July 11 and Somerset two days later.Australia are in the Caribbean playing the first of three Tests against West Indies, which will be followed by a five-game T20I series starting in Kingtston on July 21.Should Surrey reach the knockout stages of the Blast, Zampa will be available for the quarter-finals and Finals Day in September.Alec Stewart, High Performance Cricket Advisor at Surrey CCC, said: “Adam Zampa is one of the finest T20 spinners in world cricket and I’m excited to welcome him to Surrey for the Vitality Blast. He brings a wealth of experience and technical skills on the pitch and great character off it.”

Bulls batting fails; Army captain hit 39* in huge chase of 116; Strikers seamer grabbed 4 for 7 to restrict Braves to 75

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2023An excellent opening burst from Azmatullah Omarzai helped Northern Warriors pull off a record-breaking performance at the Abu Dhabi T10. The 79 for 5 that they made on Wednesday is the lowest total successfully defended in the tournament’s history.Omarzai set the tone with the new ball, picking up two wickets and they were crucial ones too, sending back the big-hitting Quinton de Kock and Johnson Charles. Bulls lost a batter every over thereafter all the way to the 10th and final one where they were left needing 26 to win. Although Naveen-ul-Haq clattered a six and a four, it wasn’t enough and Warriors savoured a victory that didn’t seem possible. After being put in to bat, they were 0 for 2 with Fazalhaq Farooqi on a hat-trick after picking up wickets with the first two balls of the match. They managed only one score above 20, which came from the wicketkeeper Rahul Chopra. Omarzai played a timely hand with the bat as well, striking a six and a four in the final over and for all that effort he went away with the Player-of-the-Match award.File photo: Moeen Ali smacked 39* from just 15 balls•ECB/Getty Images

Samp Army collected their fifth win a row, as captain Moeen Ali led from the front in their chase of 116 against Deccan Gladiators. Army were 21 for 3 in the fourth over, but the middle order got the job done with six wickets and four deliveries in the bank. Moeen smacked 39* from just 15 balls, first adding 49 off only 19 deliveries for the fourth wicket with Ibrahim Zadran, and then 46 from 17 with Karim Janat.Both Zadran and Janat too smashed runs at a rapid pace, with the former hitting 26 at a strike rate of 173, and the latter clubbing 27 at 300. But Army’s win was set up by pace bowler Salman Irshad and legspinner Qais Ahmad. Irshad removed Andre Russell and Imad Wasim in the space of three deliveries, as Gladiators lost 3 for 5 in a middle-order collapse.However, Andre Fletcher cracked an unbeaten 52 – he rammed five sixes in his 27-ball innings – thus keeping one end intact for Gladiators. Fabian Allen’s cameo of 14 off six balls helped push the total to 115, although Gladiators were helped by 15 extras. But Moeen and his batting colleagues took Army home rather comfortably in the end.File photo: Mohammad Amir removed Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Charith Asalanka without scoring•Getty Images

Four wickets in the second over left Chennai Braves in a hole from which they could hardly find their way back up, as New York Strikers strolled to a five-wicket win. After running Kobe Herft out to start the over, Strikers’ Mohammad Amir struck three times in the next five balls to remove George Munsey, and both Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Charith Asalanka without scoring.Jason Roy and Sikandar Raza briefly rebuilt with a 30-run stand from 6 for 4 at one stage, before Sunil Narine got Raza for 14 in the sixth over. Amir dismissed Roy for 18 in the eighth, and finished with 4 for 7 in two overs, as Strikers restricted Braves to 75 for 9.But a rude shock awaited Strikers in the chase. Sam Cook nearly replicated Amir’s heroics by reducing Strikers to 1 for 2 after just three balls, as openers Niroshan Dickwella and Rahmanullah Gurbaz were sent back for golden ducks. But Muhammad Waseem and Mark Deyal limited the damage by adding 30, before Asif Ali wrapped the game up for Strikers with an unbeaten 23 off just 13 balls. Their fifth successive win meant Strikers continued to top the points table.

Hasnain redeemed as Dawson fightback falls inches short for England

Danyal Rasool25-Sep-2022Pakistan 166 for 4 (Rizwan 88) beat England 163 (Rauf 3-32, Nawaz 3-35) by three runsPakistan snuck home past England by three runs in a wild, mad game at the National Stadium in Karachi to level the series 2-2. In a game that ebbed and flowed so often that a three-hour contest took on the feel of an epic, England played themselves into a seemingly unassailable position at the very end, before all of a sudden playing themselves back out of it. In pursuit of 167, the visitors were one shot away from victory with three wickets in hand, before Haris Rauf tore through the lower order to leave a heartbroken England stranded against all odds.Put in to bat first, Pakistan got off to an impressive start with an 97-run opening stand, but found themselves squeezed through the middle and death, losing much of the momentum they had built up. Liam Dawson’s removal of Babar Azam looked even better in hindsight, given it brought a struggling Shan Masood to the crease, and Moeen Ali’s side wrestled the momentum back. At the end of their 20 overs, it appeared as if Pakistan were well short, having burdened their bowling attack with defending a mediocre total against the world’s most explosive batting line-up.But the hosts refused to give in, with three early wickets ensuring this wouldn’t be the cakewalk it had previously seemed. But England soon illustrated the difference in the approach both sides take to the construction of a T20 innings, with Harry Brook and Ben Duckett continuing to go after the bowlers, determined not to fall too far behind the asking rate. Moeen continued in quite the same vein for a 20-ball 29, and for a while, it looked like the jitters were over, and England were back on course.But the regular fall of wickets kept Pakistan in the hunt, until a devastating display of clutch hitting by Dawson in the 18th over seemed to swing the pendulum England’s way once and for all. But having cracked five fours and a six in the space of eight legal deliveries to leave just five required off nine, a loose shot by Dawson found midwicket’s hands, and Rauf sent debutant Olly Stone packing by knocking back his off stump first-ball. With one wicket to go, England lost their composure, setting off for a suicidal single in desperation to give Adil Rashid the strike. Shan Masood hit timber, and Pakistan had struck gold.The self-imposed squeeze Having laid the platform Babar and Mohammad Rizwan can reliably be trusted to set so regularly, Pakistan had worked themselves into a decent position after eight overs. However, as has happened much too frequently, the struggle through the middle overs manifested itself for Pakistan once more, as they sleepwalked towards a below-par total. England’s use of their bowling resources, as well as their execution, was canny enough, but the drop in intensity from the hosts was unmistakable. Masood couldn’t come close to the fluency with which he had graced the third T20I, limping to a 19-ball 21 as the bigger hitters waited their turn in the dig-out.Rizwan’s tempo dropped by a couple of notches following the Powerplay; having raced along to a 26-ball 38 after six overs, he would take 40 balls to add the next fifty. From the start of the ninth over until his dismissal in the 20th, Pakistan struck just three fours and a six. Quite what Asif Ali would have made of that was anyone’s guess, particularly since two of the three balls he did face went for enormous sixes over cow corner. Pakistan, once more, appeared to have made the fundamental T20 error of overvaluing wickets and undervaluing runs.Usman Qadir took a blinding catch to remove Alex Hales•Getty Images

England stick to their guns After being reduced to 14 for three against Pakistan’s bowling attack, few sides would have had the self-belief to go after the game, but seven years of white-ball success means confidence isn’t in short supply for this England side. They would chase this total down, or go down in a blaze of glory trying. It wouldn’t be like it had been for Pakistan the previous game, batting out 20 overs and limping to a heavy defeat.The first ball after the third wicket fell, Duckett carved Mohammad Wasim through point for four, and at the end of the fifth, he took apart the same bowler, smashing him for three successive boundaries. By the end of the Powerplay, England had brought up 50, just two the total that Pakistan managed despite England failing to pick up a single Pakistan wicket in that time. It was emblematic of how England play, and, despite the agonising defeat, perhaps illustrative of why this side has been so successful.The promise and pain of Mohammad Hasnain An overseas player getting plaudits for being the sort of sexy quick bowler Pakistan like to believe they have a hegemonic hold over? That was too much for Mohammad Hasnain to bear. Hasnain’s arguably the fastest bowler Pakistan currently possess but, in a weird way, also the least loved. Shaheen Afridi, of course, is in a league of own, while Naseem Shah has the precocious talent to enthrall and the personal story to endear, while Rauf’s evolution has seen him prove many wrong and win even more over.It leaves Hasnain out in the cold slightly, particularly so since his action troubles and a tendency to be expensive. Today, however, needing to defend a low target, Hasnain bowled his first two overs with the careless abandon that makes him such absorbing viewing. He followed Alex Hales and beat him for pace. He toyed with Duckett. He came back in the 16th over, and more or less pulled off six successive yorkers. 3-0-16-2. Surely his day?He was brought back for the 18th over to close the game off, with Pakistan well into England’s tail at 134 for 7, and Dawson struggling on a run-a-ball 7. But where the margins had gone Hasnain’s way in the third over, they left Hasnain high and dry here when it counted. Yorkers became full tosses and half-volleys, and where he had once stayed just within the popping crease, this time he overstepped. 22 came off his first four legal balls, and all of a sudden, England needed just 10 from 14. Hasnain might have played a huge part in getting Pakistan to the brink, but suddenly, here he was, unravelling it all himself. Fortunately for him, and for Pakistan, and for a vociferous Karachi crowd that had just begun to give up the ghost, Rauf was not prepared to do likewise.