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Punjab Kings head coach says their batters should have finished the chase in 19 overs

Shashank Kishore21-Sep-20214:52

Steyn: The better team lost tonight

Anil Kumble, the Punjab Kings coach, was at a loss of words to explain yet another loss from a winning position. Kings failed to score the eight runs they needed off the last two overs to lose to Rajasthan Royals by just two runs. It made their qualifying chances that much harder. A sixth loss in nine games now means Kings will have to win every single game to control their own fate.

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“It’s sort of become a pattern for us especially when we get to Dubai, it seems,” Kumble said. “The approach was clear, we needed to finish it in 19 overs. That was the approach, to not let it go till the end. But unfortunately, when you leave it to the last couple of balls, it becomes a lottery. Credit to [Kartik] Tyagi for the way he bowled.”The loss followed a somewhat similar pattern to their game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi last year. Back then, they lost despite needing just 22 off 18 balls with nine wickets in hand. On that occasion, they turned a cruise into complete wreckage by throwing their bats around and then being bested by Sunil Narine. Here, they couldn’t quite get bat to ball.Kumble was particularly irked by his batters not being able to read Tyagi’s plans towards the end.”It was pretty clear he was going to bowl wide outside off, and somehow our batters didn’t take the right options,” he said. “We need to discuss this and sort it out. We have five more games to go, we don’t want to get bogged down by this defeat but it’s certainly a bitter pill to swallow.”Related

• Stats – The Rahul-Agarwal century partnership jinx, and Tyagi's excellent final over

• Mustafizur Rahman, Kartik Tyagi pull off a coup as Punjab Kings suffer yet another meltdown

• How Mustafizur and Tyagi won it for Rajasthan Royals

• Kartik Tyagi concedes just one run in final over to stun Punjab Kings

Asked if he thought Royals left them with too much to chase, Kumble felt the bowlers had done everything that was asked of them on a “good wicket.” And it was simply a case of the batters failing to see off the chase. Arshdeep Singh picked up his maiden T20 five-for, while Mohammed Shami’s late strikes meant Royals finished well short of the 200-plus they looked to get. In fact, they lost 6 for 19.”I think it was a very good wicket, and we really came back in the last four overs where we gave away just 20 runs and picked up six wickets or so. Arshdeep bowled brilliantly, as did Shami. [Harpreet] Brar bowled really well on a tough pitch. On a ground where one side of the boundary is short, at one stage Royals looked good to score 200-210. So to really squeeze them in the last four, I thought the bowling effort was really good.”With the bat also, we showed it till the 17th over. We were cruising but we were pulled back in the 18th and 19th overs after [Aiden] Markram’s six. As batters, they know what their scoring shots are. All it needed was a bit of hitting. Even if someone got out first ball, the next batter had five balls to get the runs. When it goes to the last couple of balls, it becomes hard. The messaging was clear. We had to finish it in 19 overs, unfortunately that didn’t happen today.”

In a small chase, they stumbled to 65 for 6 before Agar’s calm helped seal the deal

Andrew McGlashan07-Aug-2021

Andrew Tye and Mitchell Swepson come into Australia’s XI•AFP

It may not rank particularly high in Australia’s sporting achievements today as the Olympics draws to a finish, but the cricketers avoided a series whitewash against Bangladesh with a three-wicket win in a low-scoring scrap on a devilishly tricky surface.The home side made them sweat for it, too, and when the chase subsided to 65 for 6 – with 30 of those runs having come when Dan Christian took Shakib Al Hasan for five sixes in an over – it looked like they could pull off an extraordinary victory. However, Ashton Agar produced a calm and clever innings to take Australia to the brink of the target alongside Ashton Turner.This entire series has been hard work for batters, and this match took it to another level. Bangladesh were set back by the excellent Josh Hazlewood, stumbled against the recalled Mitchell Swepson and only crossed three figures in the final over when Mahedi Hasan struck an enterprising 23 off 16 balls.Christian’s promotionWhen Matthew Wade fell in the first over the chase, missing an arm-ball from Mahedi that went between bat and pad, Australia signalled a change of intent. Christian walked in at No. 3 and it was clear from ball one that he was going to play his strokes. He thumped his second ball for four and then the fourth over against Shakib, he unleashed with five sixes in the arc from long-on to deep midwicket. Only the fourth ball of the over did not go over the rope when Shakib manage to toss one wider that spun to beat the bat. At 45 for 1 after four overs the chase was almost half done, but things had changed before the Powerplay was over with Ben McDermott lbw to Nasum Ahmed and then Christian carving Mustafizur Rahman to point as the left-arm started with a wicket maiden.Surely not, AustraliaThe tension started to grow, Bangladesh sensed Australia were vulnerable and it felt like Australia knew it themselves. Except for a thumping inside-out drive by Mitchell Marsh, he and Moises Henriques were cautious. There was no rush, of course, given the required rate but it did not feel convincing. Then a moment of fortune for Bangladesh when Marsh’s firm drive clipped Shakib’s fingers and went onto the stumps with Henriques short of his crease. Alex Carey was kept quiet by Mahedi and then pinned lbw by another superb cutter from Mustafizur. Five balls later, Marsh played inside one from Mahedi and Bangladesh were favourites before Turner and Agar combined. The tension was broken somewhat when Agar slog-swept Nasum with just enough power to clear deep midwicket in what became a little gem of an innings under pressure.Shakib’s tough nightAside from the finger-tip run out, it was not a night that Shakib will remember too fondly but it can happen to the best of them. Like most batters he could not get going, labouring to 15 off 26 balls after Bangladesh had made a relatively and deceptively brisk start. He was kept quiet by Agar, Turner and Andrew Tye before eventually falling when he tried to cut Hazlewood. With the ball, he responded well from going for 30 in one over but figures of 4-0-50-0 in a low-scoring match certainly stood out.Swepson grabs his chanceThis was just Swepson’s second outing of the twin tours to West Indies and Bangladesh but he took his chance to make a mark with his best figures of a short T20I career. He trapped Mahmudullah lbw sweeping then pinned Nurul Hasan first ball with a googly although couldn’t join Nathan Ellis with a hat-trick. But he did claim a third when Mohammad Naim, who top scored with 28 off 36 balls, top-edged a slog sweep. If a third frontline spinner is needed for the World Cup he should be locked in.

Jimmy Adams upstaging Wasim Akram in St John’s or Pat Cummins’ Australia beating Bazball? Pick between two classics

Deivarayan Muthu08-May-2025Update: This poll has ended. The ENG-AUS 2023 Birmingham Test moves to the round of 16.West Indies’ one-wicket jailbreak vs Pakistan – St John’s, 2000After more twists and turns than a whodunnit, Jimmy Adams upstaged Wasim Akram to complete a one-wicket heist with a healthy helping of luck. West Indies benefited from two umpiring errors and Saqlain Mushtaq fluffing two run-out chances, including one when Adams and No. 11 Courtney Walsh were both stranded at the striker’s end.When West Indies were 202 for 9, still 14 runs away from victory, Saqlain panicked under pressure and failed to gather the throw cleanly at the bowler’s end. Adams and Walsh eventually scrambled a leg-bye, leaving Pakistan wondering what might have been. Walsh held on limpet-like for 72 minutes with his captain Adams, who remained unbeaten on 48 off 212 balls, as West Indies clinched one of their most memorable and dramatic wins in Test cricket at the turn of the century in St John’s.Despite the lapses in the field, Akram had kept Pakistan in it by taking out four of West Indies’ top six – he came away with a match haul of 11 wickets – but Adams had the final say when he squeezed a single to point off Akram.Australia beat Bazball – Birmingham 2023″Boring, boring, Aussies” was the chant from the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston on the fourth afternoon when Usman Khawaja was digging in and slowly building for Australia in their pursuit of 281. By the fifth evening, the crowd was stunned into silence as Australia aced the old-school long game to beat England’s new-age fast play.When Khawaja fell for 65, with Ben Stokes ending his near-five-and-a-half-hour vigil, Australia had slipped to 209 for 7. Then, when Alex Carey’s wicket left Australia at 227 for 8, it certainly felt like England’s Bazballers were on their way to another famous win. Australia captain Pat Cummins, though, flipped the mood and result with an unbeaten 44 off 73 balls, with No. 10 Nathan Lyon hanging on in an unbroken 55-run partnership for the ninth wicket.After having come under fire with his defensive fields on the opening day, Cummins played the decisive hand on the final day, absorbing good balls from Stokes and Ollie Robinson and lining up Joe Root’s part-time offspin for a brace of sixes. After sealing the deal, Cummins let out a big roar, threw his bat and punched his fist in a rare show of emotion that summed up how much this win meant to him and Australia.

da lvbet： Chelsea have flattered to deceive over the past few years but with Enzo Maresca now installed to the dugout, there is a growing belief that Stamford Bridge can enjoy a resurgence.

da stake casino： In fairness, Mauricio Pochettino engineered an impressive second-half-of-season advancement that salvaged Europa Conference League football, but the Argentine's departure was mutually agreed at the end of the term, with Maresca's purposeful ball-centric brand of football viewed as the ideal fit for the project.

Bolstering effectively this summer will be paramount to gaining an edge over rivals, and while Tosin Adarabioyo has already been welcomed to the defence, Chelsea are set on strengthening up front, with a deal believed to be nearing completion.

Chelsea agree exciting deal

According to Football Insider, Chelsea are now in advanced discussions with Aston Villa for the transfer of forward Jhon Duran, with the move possibly completed in the next week after having reached an 'agreement in principle' regarding personal terms.

Fabrizio Romano has since corroborated the claim, and while the 20-year-old is desperate to complete the switch, the Blues are yet to make their final decision.

Duran has enjoyed an impressive breakout campaign at Villa Park, and though a £40m deal has been agreed, it is stressed there are still several obstacles to overcome.

Why Maresca wants Jhon Duran

The tumult and upheaval that have buffeted Stamford Bridge in recent years were never going to be conducive to a successful period on the pitch, but this forgettable epoch is now expected to have been placed in the past, with Maresca crafting a young and aspiring team capable of rising to a position of power among the heaviest hitters in the Premier League.

Duran is not the finished article by any stretch but he proved himself to be a formidable force at a young and unrefined stage of his career, scoring eight goals in all competitions last season, including five in the Premier League despite starting only three matches.

Given that Duran only averaged 22 minutes of match action per top-flight fixture, not even taking a shot per game (0.9), it's evident that he's got the mark of a natural-born goalscorer, though, in truth, his skill set offers so much more.

As per FBref, the Colombia international ranks among the top 14% of forwards across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for aerial duels won and tackles, the top 7% for blocks and the top 1% for clearances per 90. He is not, indeed, merely a goalscorer.

Aston Villa Top Scorers 23/24

Rank

Player

Apps

Goals

Per 90

1.

Ollie Watkins

53

27

0.56

2.

Leon Bailey

52

14

0.39

3.

Moussa Diaby

54

10

0.29

3.

Douglas Luiz

53

10

0.21

5.

John McGinn

53

9

0.19

6.

Jhon Duran

37

8

0.65

Stats via BBC Sport

Duran has actually been described as a "nightmare for defenders" by his Villa captain John McGinn and he would bring a cauldron of chaos to west London's finest frontline.

But that frontline is going to be chopped and changed over the next few months. Duran is at the top of the shopping list at centre-forward, but he's certainly not the only Premier League star coveted by Todd Boehly and Co.

How Chelsea's attack could look in 24/25

Chelsea are pushing to land a new striker but so too are they eyeing up one of English football's most destructive wide forwards. As per Romano, Chelsea are pushing to sign Michael Olise from Crystal Palace.

The 22-year-old, born in England but aspiring for the French national team, endured an injury-hit season but still managed to score ten goals and supply a further six assists from just 19 Premier League matches – including only 14 starts.

He won 5.7 duels and averaged 2.1 dribbles per game to boot and clearly possesses one of the most combative, creative and, in summary, complete styles of any talent forward in Europe, and Chelsea would only rise to another level with him in the team.

Let's just, for one moment, imagine Olise on the right. Shuttling forward with panache and purpose and whipping in those balls that leave commentators with a kind of giddied wonder. Or, alternatively, he could cut inside, stepping across like a cheetah changing pace, before finding space and rifling a shot into the corner.

Ah, but how could we forget Cole Palmer? Chelsea's star man enjoyed quite the campaign after freeing himself from the shackles of bloated sparkle at Manchester City and cementing himself as London's finest during an almighty emergence season, scoring 25 goals and adding 15 assists from 45 matches for Chelsea.

The England international has all the tools in his locker. Olise and Palmer would form a deadly and dynamic partnership that could be perfect for Duran's chances of success, the young striker using his pace and power to skim through the lines and latch onto the creative wizardry of his peers.

It is, no doubt, a tentatively exciting time to be a Chelsea fan. The seeds of success have been placed within firm soil, and while there is much to do to ensure Maresca's arrival is not a false dawn, with such players dotted across the frontline it is hard to imagine that the Blues will not rise above the malaise of recent times.

And all that's without even considering Nicolas Jackson, who has faced his detractors since signing for Chelsea from Villarreal for a fee in excess of £30m last season but scored 17 goals in total and has the all-round game to forge a prosperous career under Maresca.

But Duran would offer assistance, both as a foil and a rival to push and promote growth for both. Chelsea need to get it right this summer to ensure that the canyon dividing them from the top three is narrowed. Duran has demonstrated his talent at Villa Park and now he could take the next step in his promising career by moving to the capital.

Related £35 million defender wants to join Maresca as Chelsea eye new priority

He’s keen on the move to Stamford Bridge.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini Jun 13, 2024

MatériaMais Notícias

da bet vitoria： Uma situação, no mínimo, curiosa ocorreu nesta semana envolvendo o Ceará e a montagem de planejamento feita pelo clube pensando na temporada 2022 com relação ao sistema ofensivo da equipe treinada por Tiago Nunes.

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Isso porque, segundo informação da jornalista Nadja Mauad, o Vozão tem interesse no atacante Iury Castilho, nome que defendeu a equipe do CSA na última temporada, mas que tem seus direitos ligados ao Portimonense-POR.

Apesar da ligação contratual, a tendência é que ele seja novamente negociado pelos portugueses com a intenção de valorizá-lo para uma futura venda. A tendência, no entanto, é que exista certa concorrência para o Alvinegro no negócio, pois equipes como Vasco e Coritiba também analisam a mesma oportunidade.

Porém, o que o Ceará poderia não imaginar é que uma situação envolvendo o Al-Qadisiyah-ARA, clube onde até recentemente o atacante Leandro Carvalho atuava por empréstimo após passagem pelo América-MG, decidiu pela rescisão antecipada do acordo que tinha validade até maio de 2022.

Desta forma, o plantel volta a contar com Leandro como uma opção ofensiva. Ao menos, até que fique claro por parte da atual comissão técnica não contar com o atleta de 26 anos de idade que fez 15 partidas e dois gols na equipe saudita.

The baseball postseason—and specifically the World Series—has a habit of creating heroes from the most unlikely sources. This time, unlikely hero Addison Barger navigated some extenuating circumstances to help power the Blue Jays to an 11–4 win over the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.

Addison Barger makes World Series history

Barger went from a pull-out couch, to the Blue Jays bench to the plate, where he belted the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history, blowing the game open and extending Toronto's lead to 9-2 in its eventual win.

"His family is coming in, came in tonight," Blue Jays outfielder Davis Schneider said after the game. "He needed someone. He was staying with Myles [Straw] and then stayed with me last night. My girlfriend is here so like, he’s like, ‘Can I sleep in the bed with you guys.' "

According to , it is not uncommon for Blue Jays players to stay at teammates' houses during the season, and some have looked to stay closer to Rogers Centre to beat World Series-related traffic.

So Schneider offered to have Barger sleep on his pull-out couch, though it may not have been the best night's sleep for the 25-year-old Barger.

"So I was like ‘No,’ sleep on my couch. Sleep on the pullout.' It’s a pullout, yeah. But it was squeaking all night. Yeah, it was so funny. I looked over and I just see him sleeping there in the middle of the night. He’s a headcase, but he’s fun."

Barger slept on the couch again?

Barger, as Schneider's sister Madeline pointed out on X, slept on the couch once again following the World Series victory. At this point, it's either that Barger genuinely likes sleeping on the squeaky pull-out couch, or he and the Blue Jays aren't messing with what could be good superstition.

Game 2 of the World Series begins at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night.

ينتظر عشاق كرة القدم الإفريقية، معرفة موعد إجراء قرعة دور ربع النهائي (دور الـ 8) من بطولتي دوري أبطال إفريقيا وكأس الكونفدرالية الإفريقية 2025.

ويشارك من مصر، في بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا، الأهلي وبيراميدز، وتأهل الثنائي لدور الـ 8 بعدما تواجدا في المركز الثاني للمجموعتين الثالثة والرابعة.

ومن المقرر أن يلتقي الأهلي مع أحد متصدر المجموعات الأخرى، وهم الهلال السوداني، الجيش الملكي المغربي والترجي التونسي.

وعلى الجانب الآخر، فريق بيراميدز، سيلاقي أورلاندو بايريتس الجنوب إفريقي أو الهلال السوداني أو الجيش الملكي المغربي.

طالع | “أسد”.. حساب كأس العالم للأندية يعلق على صفقة الأهلي الجديدة

وفي بطولة كأس الكونفدرالية، يتواجد فريقا الزمالك والمصري، حيث تأهل الثنائي من المجموعة الرابعة الذان كانا يتنافسان فيها.

وجاء الزمالك في المركز الأول، وسيواجه، إما شباب قسنطينة الجزائري أو نادي ستيلينبوش الجنوب إفريقي وأسيك الإيفواري.

بينما المصري الذي حل وصيفًا في المجموعة، سيلتقي مع اتحاد العاصمة الجزائري أو نهضة بركان المغربي أو سيمبا التنزاني. موعد قرعة دور ربع نهائي لـ دوري أبطال إفريقيا وكأس الكونفدرالية

وكشفت صحيفة الصباح التونسية، أن الاتحاد الافريقي لكرة القدم “كاف”، قرر إجراء قرعة ربع نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا وكأس الكونفدرالية، يوم 17 فبراير القادم في العاصمة القطرية الدوحة.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has shared what’s impressed him most about teenager Andre Harriman-Annous after the Hale End graduate’s senior debut against Brighton on Wednesday.

The Gunners extended their unbeaten run to 11 in all competitions whilst booking a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after their victory over Brighton.

Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal 1-1 Man City

Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal

Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal

Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

Fulham 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal 4-0 Atlético Madrid

Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace

Arsenal 2-0 Brighton

Goals from fellow youngster Ethan Nwaneri and star winger Bukayo Saka handed Arsenal a routine win at the Emirates Stadium, despite summer signing Kepa Arrizabalaga being forced into a string of early saves to deny the Seagulls, who threatened to break through first.

The headlines initially belonged to Max Dowman, after the 15-year-old became Arsenal’s youngest ever starter.

Dowman showed flashes of brilliance on the right-hand side in place of Saka and the injured Noni Madueke, who’s believed to be making “faster-than-expected” progress in his recovery from a knee injury.

However, once the teenager was hauled off Saka, and Harriman-Annouss replaced Declan Rice, attention turned towards the latest in a long queue of star-studded talents from the Hale End production line.

Harriman-Annous, who bagged 18 goals in 37 games for the Under-21s last season, has been a regular in first-team training at London Colney with Arteta taking note.

The England Under-18 international can feel hard done by that he didn’t mark his first senior appearance for the club with a goal too, having watched Jason Steele save his one-v-one effort before Saka dispatched the rebound.

Arteta shares what's impressed him about Harriman-Annous after Arsenal debut

It was a night to remember for Harriman-Annous, with Arteta explaining in a post-match press conference why he finally gave the youngster a chance to shine at N5.

Arsenal’s boss explains that Harriman-Annous has impressed him with a fierce mentality and work ethic behind-the-scenes, with the versatile centre-forward desperate to make an impact.

Arsenal supporters have plenty of reasons to feel excited about Harriman-Annous after his debut against Brighton.

Stepping onto the pitch in a high-stakes cup match is no small feat, and the teen showed glimpses of the potential that has impressed coaches throughout his development.

His composure and confidence stood out. He demonstrated good technical skills and an understanding of the game that belies his age. For a young player making his first senior appearance, showing such calmness under pressure is a promising sign of future growth.

Harriman-Annous made the bench against Liverpool in August, and if he continues to seize his opportunities like he did against Brighton, it’s only a matter of time before he makes his first Premier League outing.

The seamer picked up 4 for 53 to help India bowl the visitors out for just 219 on the opening day

S Sudarshanan21-Dec-2023First women’s Test at the Wankhede Stadium in close to 40 years. Tenth ball. An early message from India.Ellyse Perry’s faded helmet gives away her longevity in the sport, and how much she loves scoring runs. She gets off the mark with a thick outside edge through the cordon. Surely it is her day? Sun shining, ball seaming – nothing she has not countered in her 11 Tests spanning a 16-year international career.Pooja Vastrakar has other plans, though. She runs in hard, gets a good-length ball at 109.1kph to nip back in to make a mess of Perry’s stumps. Gone for 4, the lowest Test score Perry has been dismissed for. Memories of what Vastrakar did to Nat Sciver-Brunt last week come rushing back.Related

Harmanpreet's double-strike late on day three puts India in the driver's seat

Notwithstanding a 56-ball 50 from Tahlia McGrath, Australia were bowled out for 219 on the first day after opting to bat. Was it a fast bowlers’ paradise? Were the conditions “extreme” like in Navi Mumbai?Just as tea was called, with Australia 180 for 8, Alyssa Healy – with her floppy hat on – wandered towards the pitch with Ashleigh Gardner. Healy was done in by a Deepti Sharma ball that kept low, while Gardner couldn’t resist poking at a wobble-seam length ball from Vastrakar and was caught behind. They looked at the pitch while the ground staff swept the loose soil away and re-marked the batting and bowling crease.McGrath and Beth Mooney had scored most of their 80 partnership runs at a fair clip before slowing down after spin was introduced. Healy and Annabel Sutherland, who added 40 for the fifth wicket, were countering spin easily before Healy’s fall allowed Vastrakar to dismiss Sutherland and Gardner in succession.”Early on, I found the wicket quite nice to play on but then as soon as spin came on, it became quite tricky,” McGrath said later. “I felt reasonably comfortable with pace but as soon as spin came on, it was a big challenge. Partly because we are not used to these conditions; it was shooting low, and the spinners were extremely disciplined.”Sneh Rana, in particular, bowled really well. I struggled a lot with her, but Moons [Mooney] looked slightly more comfortable against her. I constantly felt on edge against Sneh today. She got me in the end, which was a little bit of a poor dismissal on my part.”Pooja Vastrakar was the star of the Indian bowlers on the first day•BCCIWhile Australia may have been spooked by spin – Rana and Deepti picked up five wickets combined – the real damage was done by Vastrakar. She hurried the batters with her pace and always kept the stumps in play. Which is why India didn’t panic when McGrath and Healy were stitching together those partnerships. Vastrakar kept bowling at speeds north of 105kph and got enough lift from a surface that offered uneven bounce. Like when she got a 113.3kph short ball to spit at Mooney, who gloved it to first slip.”Vastrakar bowled extremely well,” McGrath conceded. “The ball she got Pez [Perry] with was an absolute peach. When I was walking out to bat, she was getting sideways movement of the seam both ways, and she just bowls a relentless length that keeps you on your toes and is perfect for Test match cricket.”She was someone we specifically spoke about as a batting unit. Like I said, the length she bowls is perfect for Test cricket. It’s just relentless. And she’s almost robotic. She just runs in and hits the spot time after time and puts so much pressure on the batters. So, for us, it was about capitalising whenever she gave us any width… we had to put it away.”During the domestic T20s, the Indian bowlers were given a task: to clock at least 24 overs in the nets in the first week and 32 in the next. They had to log it and send the data to the bowling coach and the trainers at the National Cricket Academy. It meant they were well-prepared by the time they got to the camp in Bengaluru ahead of the England series.”I bowl outswing naturally, but we saw the videos of both teams [England and Australia] and found that their batters face difficulty with the incoming ball,” Vastrakar, who finished with 4 for 53, said of India’s bowling plans. “Our aim during practice was to bring the ball in with the wobble seam, which makes the ball cut in and makes it tough for the batters.”We saw the pitch during practice and felt it won’t be as easy [for bowlers] as it was at the DY Patil Stadium. Here, we needed to work harder. We had to hit the hard lengths and bowl wicket-to-wicket, set the batters up and get the ball in. I did that and bowled a sharp inswinger to Perry and she got out.”Australia’s last two wickets kept India on the field for over 22 overs. It did not dampen the hosts’ spirit as the openers came out all guns blazing to drive home the advantage by the end of the first day.After stumps, head coach Amol Muzumdar sauntered down from the stairs and walked to the centre. He stood at the striker’s end from the press box end and had a look. No person in either camp knows the conditions at the Wankhede better than Muzumdar. What he thought of the 22 yards was anybody’s guess. But in the two Tests so far during his tenure, India’s message has been loud and clear: underestimate them at your own peril.

You know what you’re going to get from Trent Boult, but that doesn’t make it any easier to face

Karthik Krishnaswamy02-Apr-2023Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane. KL Rahul and K Gowtham. Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi .Three times now, Trent Boult has taken two wickets in the first over of an IPL innings. He’s done it once for Mumbai Indians, and twice for Rajasthan Royals, most recently on Sunday against Sunrisers Hyderabad. No other bowler has done more than twice.ESPNcricinfo LtdOutside the three times in the IPL, Boult has taken two wickets in the first over of an innings once in the Big Bash League, for Melbourne Stars against Sydney Thunder last December, dismissing Matthew Gilkes and Rilee Rossouw and making a defence of 122 look plausible.Only one other bowler has matched Boult and done it four times in all T20s – Sohail Tanvir.Tanvir might not be the first left-arm quick, or even the first Pakistani left-arm quick, you thought of when you thought of frequent wreakers of first-over havoc, but it’s notable first of all that Tanvir, like Boult, is a left-arm quick. A swinging new ball is a dangerous weapon in any fast bowler’s hands, but a quality left-arm quick is perhaps the hardest kind of bowler for a top order to face first up.And since Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mitchell Starc don’t play in the IPL, Boult is easily the biggest new-ball gamechanger in the league.Since the start of IPL 2020, Boult has taken 33 powerplay wickets, ten more than his nearest challenger Mohammed Shami. Of the eight bowlers with at least 15 powerplay wickets in this time, Boult has the best average (22.69), and is one of three with an economy rate below 7.His method is utterly straightforward and time-tested, swinging the ball at pace against the angle from left-arm over, but it takes immense skill to make a straightforward method work as often, and as devastatingly, as Boult does. There were three left-arm quicks playing this game in Hyderabad, and while it’s possible that there was more swing available to Boult in the evening than there had been for Fazalhaq Farooqi and T Natarajan in the afternoon, it was only Boult who made the new ball look anything like menacing.When Sunrisers began their chase of 204, in fact, they may have viewed the new ball as their likeliest source of quick runs. The Royals batters had taken the new ball to the cleaners, scoring 85 for 1 in their powerplay, but had found it a lot harder to find the boundary when the ball became older. They scored 122 in their first 10 overs, and just 81 in their last 10.During the innings break, viewers may have wondered if Royals had failed to make the most of their start.It took Boult just five balls to erase all those doubts. The left-handed Abhishek Sharma looked to go inside-out to his third ball, and lost his stumps to an outswinging near-yorker. The right-handed Rahul Tripathi charged at his fifth ball, possibly looking to hit over the covers, and ended up slicing a catch to slip, possibly yanked out of shape by the ball swinging less than he expected.Abhishek Sharma lost his off stump to Trent Boult•BCCINow this is T20 cricket and there’s a high degree of randomness to what balls get wickets and what balls fly towards un-aimed-for boundaries. Boult’s new-ball spell was as good as it was because its quality wasn’t confined to two wicket-taking balls. Unlike the Sunrisers quicks earlier in the day, he constantly swung the ball, and constantly kept the stumps in play, without feeding the batters slot balls.The last ball of Boult’s second over, to Harry Brook, summed up the effect he was having. Brook shaped for a booming, on-the-up drive, backlift high and front foot unweighted to move towards the line of the ball. He’d made those same movements in the previous over and launched KM Asif thrillingly over mid-off. But this Boult delivery forced him to curtail his ambitions – it wasn’t quite as full, and it swung back late, threatening lbw if Brook continued his front-foot thrust.That Brook stilled his front foot, adjusted to the swing, and brought down a vertical bat to defend this delivery spoke volumes about his gifts of eye and balance, gifts that portend a long and sparkling career. In the context of this steep T20 chase, though, it was just another dot ball Sunrisers couldn’t afford.There were 13 dot balls in Boult’s new-ball spell, which he ended with figures of 3-1-8-2, figures that had seemed unimaginable on this surface before he began bowling. It’s what only he and a handful of others in world cricket can do.Viewers in India are fortunate to watch Boult do his thing time and again in the IPL, but the IPL has contributed to restricting his ability to do it in international cricket. Between them, New Zealand Cricket and Boult have handled the situation as well as any board and player could have, but at least one difficult decision remains to be made.Would it be unfair for New Zealand to pick Boult in their squad for the ODI World Cup later this year, ahead of a fast bowler who’s been a consistent part of the build-up to the tournament? It probably would. But given Boult’s quality, his experience, and the fact that the tournament will be in India, it might be one of those decisions that are both unfair and correct.