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ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2016Nuwan Kulasekara accounted for Soumya Sarkar, and Bangladesh were soon tottering at 26 for 3•Associated PressEnter Sabbir Rahman•Associated PressSabbir led a one-man effort, stroking a 54-ball 80, more than 50% of his team’s total score•Associated PressSabbir and Shakib Al Hasan added 82 runs for the fourth wicket, as Bangladesh looked for a late push•Associated PressRuns were hard to come by after Sabbir’s dismissal, but Bangladesh huffed and puffed their way to a competent 147 for 7•Associated PressSri Lanka were sedate throughout the chase, and Tillakaratne Dilshan was the first to depart, for 12•Associated PressThe dismissal came courtesy a stunning catch from Soumya, who charged to the boundary all the way from long-off and held on to the ball with both hands•Associated PressDinesh Chandimal top-scored with a run-a-ball 37, but Bangladesh kept striking at regular intervals to wrest the advantage. Al-Amin Hossain ended with figures of 3 for 34•Associated PressThe visitors couldn’t cope with the high asking rate and had to settle for 124 for 8, ensuring Bangladesh completed a 23-run win – their second of the tournament•Associated Press

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2016But he was foxed by a Piyush Chawla googly soon after Manan Vohra fell to Morkel, and the hosts slumped to 47 for 2 in 7.5 overs•BCCIKolkata Knight Riders’ spinners made further inroads – dismissing four of Kings XI’s top six – as the hosts suffered yet another middle-order failure•BCCIDavid Miller’s bad run of form continued, as he could manage only 6 before falling to Yusuf Pathan•BCCIRobin Uthappa took two sharp catches off the spinners and one of Morne Morkel to cap off a good day behind the wickets•BCCIMorkel and Umesh Yadav returned to bowl well in the end, continuing Knight Riders’ chokehold on Kings XI’s innings•BCCIShaun Marsh’s unbeaten 56 off 41 was the sole resistance Knight Riders’ bowlers faced as the hosts could just manage 138•BCCIKnight Riders’ reply started strongly – Uthappa leading the way by smashing the third-fastest fifty in this year’s IPL, off 24 balls•BCCICaptain Gautam Gambhir provided steady support from the other end with a run-a-ball 34•BCCILegspinner Pardeep Sahu removed the openers, with Gambhir falling to a fine catch by Glenn Maxwell at deep midwicket•BCCIAxar Patel chipped in with two wickets but Knight Riders’ chase never looked threatened•BCCIYusuf joined Suryakumar Yadav at the crease and the two put on 18 in 8 eight balls as Knight Riders reached their target with 17 balls to spare, and climbed to the top of the points table•BCCI

The return of James Anderson and Ben Stokes will give England a boost as they look to level the series at Old Trafford

George Dobell at Old Trafford20-Jul-2016The reaction to defeat at Lord’s speaks volumes for the febrile atmosphere in English cricket at present.With a couple of newspapers calling for the selectors to be sacked, you would think defeat at Lord’s, or defeat against Pakistan, was an unprecedented disaster. But actually England lost at Lord’s in 2015 and 2014 and Pakistan beat them 2-0 barely six months ago.So quite why the defeat at Lord’s has caused such shock is puzzling. Pakistan are a fine side with, arguably, the best bowling attack in the world. They are rated above England in the rankings and Lord’s (and The Oval and Manchester) offer England little home advantage. Anyone surprised by Pakistan playing well – or England’s batting looking fragile – really hasn’t been paying attention.The consternation over the absence of James Anderson is puzzling, too. The decision not to risk him at Lord’s – a not unreasonable decision bearing in mind he had yet to play a game after sustaining a shoulder injury – was not responsible for the defeat. England’s “naïve” batting, as Alastair Cook termed it, was.It’s certainly not a selection fiasco in the grand traditions of English cricket. Take the Major Nigel Bennett episode, for example. Major Bennett popped into The Oval in 1946 to renew his county membership after the war, but was mistaken for Major Leo Bennet – who had represented the British Empire XI during the war – and offered the captaincy. He took up the offer before anyone realised a mistake had been made and went on to lead Surrey to what was, at the time, the worst season in their history. He averaged 16 with the bat.Still, Anderson’s return to the squad – he bowled in the nets on Wednesday and looks fully fit – is welcome. So, too, is Ben Stokes, who admitted he required the bowling he gained in the Championship match he played against Lancashire instead of the first Test to regain match fitness. Both of them are highly likely to play though the selectors have given the captain and coach – a coach, it should be remember, who has barely seen a week’s county cricket in his life – every option with an unusually large 14-man squad.With Stokes and Woakes available as allrounders, England have plentiful options here. One of those is to field a second spinner (Saqlain Mushtaq worked with Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in training on Wednesday) and either drop one of the batsmen (probably James Vince, but perhaps Gary Ballance) or play only three of Stokes, Woakes, Anderson and Stuart Broad.Bearing in mind Pakistan’s excellence against spin and England’s record of success fielding a two-man spin attack in home Tests – they have not won a game in England using a two-man spin attack since 1985 – and that looks both an unwise and unlikely scenario. England have only fielded a two-man spin attack at home six times in the last 20 years. The last time – at The Oval in 2013 – saw Simon Kerrigan’s unfortunate debut. The time before that was in 2009 when Monty Panesar helped James Anderson bat England to what had seemed an unlikely draw against Australia in Cardiff.It seems more likely that England will pick the four-man seam attack with one spinner. Whether that is Rashid or Moeen remains to be seen, though Rashid does look the favourite at this stage. Pakistan look likely to play only one spinner though, as Stokes remarked on Wednesday, Yasir may well be “the best legspinner since Shane Warne.”As well as a few Lancashire players, Glen Chapple and Steve Rhodes attended England training on Wednesday with a view to taking coaching tips back to their counties. Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, will again bowl in the nets on Thursday (he was with the England squad at Lord’s) and Mason Crane, the Hampshire legspinner, will do the same at The Oval. The England camp also hope to continue to engage with former players and create situations where they can pass on their tips to the current team. Andy Caddick is expected to speak to the squad at Edgbaston and Darren Gough will do so later in the summer.Although the outfield at Old Trafford is not especially pretty – the result of staging lucrative Rihanna and Beyonce concerts here in recent weeks – the pitch is expected to be good. It should offer some pace, bounce and spin as the surface wears; in short, it should reward good cricket.Lancashire played two spinners in their last Championship match here. One of them – Parkinson – took a five-wicket haul in the first innings. The groundstaff are using the ‘cannabis hot lamps’ we have seen previously at Edgbaston to promote grass growth on the outfield (either that or they have moved into a most unorthodox sideline) but, unless heavy rain hits, it should only be a cosmetic problem.

Stats highlights from the first ODI between India and New Zealand in Dharamsala, where the home team picked up a six-wicket win

Shiva Jayaraman16-Oct-2016 1 Tom Latham became the first New Zealand batsman to carry his bat through an ODI innings. Latham is only the tenth batsman in ODIs to do. This was Latham’s sixth fifty-plus score, and his first against India, in his first match against them. He has scored four fifties in seven international innings in this tour so far. No other New Zealand batsman has made more than one. 32 Number of fifty-plus scores by Virat Kohli while chasing in day-night ODIs – the second-highest, behind Sachin Tendulkar, who had 34 such scores from 107 innings. Kohli has scored 3801 runs at an average of 69.10 in 70 innings. In day matches, Kohli averages 40.70 while chasing, crossing fifty six times in 22 innings. This was also Kohli’s 38th fifty-plus score in the 92 innings in which he has chased. 5 Number of consecutive ODIs in which India had gone winless against New Zealand before this match. They lost a five-match bilateral series in New Zealand 4-0, with one match ending in a tie. At home, however, this is India’s seventh straight ODI win against New Zealand. Their last loss had come in Cuttack in 2003. 1 Number of batsmen to have got their maiden fifty-plus score in their 100th ODI before Tim Southee. Incidentally, the first one to so was also a New Zealand batsman and against the same opposition: Kyle Mills had got 54 against India in in Christchurch in 2009. Southee’s 55 in this match is the highest by a New Zealand batsman at No. 9 or lower, and only the fifth fifty by them. 3 Number of India players to have won the Man-of-the-Match award on debut before Hardik Pandya. The previous such instance came earlier this year when KL Rahul won the award for his unbeaten century against Zimbabwe. Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Patil are the others to have achieved this for India. 125 Runs added by New Zealand for their last three wickets – their highest in an ODI. They had added 118 for their last three wickets against India in Vadodara in 2010-11, which was their previous highest. 6 Number of lower scores at seven down from which a team has added 100 or more runs for its last hree wickets in an ODI. New Zealand were tottering at 65 for 7 in this match before adding 125 for the last three wickets. The lowest such score came in an ODI involving the same two teams, but on that occasion, India recovered from 43 for 7, only to be bowled for 164 in pursuit of 216. 6 Number of lower scores at which New Zealand have lost their seventh wicket before this match. Their lowest score at seven-down was 32, against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1986. They were eventually bowled out for 64. 3 Number of India bowlers to have taken fewer matches to complete 50 ODI wickets than Amit Mishra. Mishra, who was playing his 32nd ODI, is the quickest India spinner to the landmark, beating R Ashwin, who took 34 matches. Ajit Agarkar (23 ODIs), Mohammad Shami (29) and Irfan Pathan (31) are the bowlers to have taken fewer ODIs than Mishra. 3 Number of India bowlers to have returned better figures on debut than Hardik Pandya’s 3 for 31 in this match. Noel David took 3 for 21 against West Indies in 1997, which are the best. Varun Aaron, who took 3 for 24 against England in 2011-12, and Subroto Bannerjee, who claimed 3 for 30 against West Indies in Perth in 1991-92, are the others ahead of Pandya.

Kevin Pietersen and Pawan Negi were among the high profile players released by the IPL franchises during the transfer window that ended on December 15

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2016Players released 11 (six overseas)Players retained 16 (five overseas)Purse spent INR 469,000,000Purse remaining INR 191,000,000At a glance Rising Pune Supergaints released the most players among all the IPL franchises ahead of the 2017 auction after finishing second from bottom last season. They offloaded a lot of their seamers and overseas players and will need to replenish those stocks. Kevin Pietersen, their most high-profile player to get the axe, had played only four games in the 2016 season before he was ruled out with an injury.ESPNcricinfo LtdPlayers released 8 (one overseas)Players retained 16 (six overseas)Purse spent INR 516,500, 000Purse remaining INR 143,500,000At a glance Dale Steyn suffered a shoulder injury during South Africa’s tour of Australia in November and was cut from the Gujarat squad; he played only one game for them last season. Gujarat retained the core of their squad -and most of their overseas players – after finishing top of the league stage in 2016. They released seven Indian players though, so their local contingent will need beefing up.ESPNcricinfo LtdPlayers released 4 (three overseas)Players retained 19 (five overseas)Purse spent INR 426,500,000Purse remaining INR 233,500,000At a glance Despite winning only four out of 14 games and finishing bottom of the league in 2016, Kings XI released only four players – the fewest among all the teams – and retained 19. David Miller was still listed as their top contract – INR 125,000,000 – despite making 161 runs in 13 innings last season. So unless they make significant purchases in the 2017 auction, the largely same squad will be charged with the task of a better finish.ESPNcricinfo LtdPlayers released 9 (six overseas)Players retained 14 (four overseas)Purse spent INR 462,500,000Purse remaining INR 197,500,000At a glance Kolkata Knight Riders released six out of the ten overseas players in their squad and will need reinforcements. Chris Lynn was retained despite playing only two games last season, while Morne Morkel was let go despite being picked for ten. Morkel has had injury trouble for a while and is presently out of action for South Africa. KKR have released a lot of overseas seamers and might look to make a purchase to fill that gap.ESPNcricinfo LtdPlayers released 8 (four overseas)Players retained 20 (six overseas)Purse spent INR 544,450,000Purse remaining INR 115,550,000At a glance Mumbai – and RCB – retained the most players ahead of the 2017 player auction despite finishing outside the top four in IPL 2016 for the first time since the 2009 season. They cut two big hitters from New Zealand: Corey Anderson did not play a game for them last season because of fitness issues, while Martin Guptill had been brought in as a replacement player.ESPNcricinfo LtdPlayers released 7 (three overseas)Players retained 18 (five overseas)Purse spent INR 445,000,000Purse remaining INR 215,000,000At a glance At the 2016 player auction Delhi Daredevils had bought Pawan Negi, who was uncapped for India at the time, for INR 85,000,000; he was the most expensive Indian player. Negi has been released ahead of the 2017 auction, having made only 57 runs and taken one wicket in eight matches last season. Delhi have otherwise retained the bulk of their young squad that finished sixth in 2016 under the mentoring of former India captain Rahul Dravid.ESPNcricinfo LtdPlayers released 10 (three overseas)Players retained 20 (eight overseas)Purse spent INR 531,750,000Purse remaining INR 128,250,000At a glance RCB released 10 players ahead of the 2017 auction, but they still have 20 on their roster. The core remains the same, and of the players released only Varun Aaron was a regular in their XI in the 2016 season, when they lost the final to Sunrisers Hyderabad.ESPNcricinfo LtdPlayers released 6 (two overseas)Players retained 17 (five overseas)Purse spent INR 451,000,000Purse remaining INR 209,000,000At a glance Sunrisers Hyderabad won the IPL in 2016 and the core of their squad remained unchanged for 2017. They released Eoin Morgan – 123 runs at a strike rate of 117 – and Trent Boult, who played only one game last season.

The call-ups of Keaton Jennings and Liam Dawson represent a return to pragmatism and, as such, bear the stamp of Andy Flower, the England Lions head coach

George Dobell30-Nov-2016The series can still be drawn and England could still leave India as the No. 2 rated Test side but, as they head for Mumbai (or Dubai, in a few cases), it doesn’t feel much like it.It’s not just the tour-ending injuries to Haseeb Hameed and Zafar Ansari, or the somewhat less threatening injuries to Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad. It’s the sense that, five Tests into their Asian adventure, England still do not know their best side or even what the balance of that side should be.On the face of things, the call-up of Keaton Jennings is as a direct replacement for Hameed. But it’s more than that. It’s an acceptance of a lack of confidence in the original squad and in Ben Duckett (who has already opened in Test cricket) and Gary Ballance (who spent much of his Test career at No. 3) in particular. In retrospect, it was a mistake for England to take Ballance to India if they had decided after the Bangladesh segment of the tour not to pick him. They had the opportunity to change the squad, they failed to take it and have struggled with a lack of batting options.One of the victims of that imbalance has been Moeen Ali. While he might well have benefited from some stability – most batsmen do – he has been shunted up and down the order to the point where his role has changed almost by the match. In his 35 Tests, he has batted everywhere in the top nine; a panacea for England’s failings, but one that comes at its own cost.It’s hard to argue with the selection of Jennings, though. He scored more runs than anyone else (1,548) in Division One in 2016 and, while few of them were against spin, he did make a fourth-innings century against a Warwickshire attack including Jeetan Patel (arguably the best spinner in English domestic cricket).He is well-organised, patient and, perhaps crucially, brought up with more than a hint of the South African culture that seems so popular with key figures in English cricket; more of that later. It’s probably not ideal that he is another left-hander – England may well have four in their top six against two fine offspinners – but ‘ideal’ left this tour a while ago.The selection of Liam Dawson is more contentious. He claimed only 20 Championship wickets in 2016 and they cost 43.65 each. Nor was that an aberration: in 2015 he claimed 22 at 38.63. He is respected as a defensive spinner, a decent batsman and a good fielder, but it is unlikely his selection has plunged the India camp into a state of fear. He simply doesn’t take enough wickets and, if his main role is as a bowler, that is quite an issue.Few would claim Dawson is the best left-arm spinner in county cricket. But equally few would have made the same claim about Ansari or Samit Patel, who fulfilled the role this time last year. The truth is, England have a shallow talent pool and they aren’t after the best specialist: they are after a left-arm option who can bat, field and will be low-maintenance on and off the pitch. They have assessed Dawson as a member of the limited-overs squads and decided they like his character and range of skills.With those parameters, he may prove a useful selection. He will not buckle, even if India attack him; he will be a reliable fielder, even of England are out there for five sessions; he will not be intimidated with the bat, even if he is asked to save a match. But even if he does tie up an end with his fairly flat, fairly quick spin – and that will not be easy against this India batting line-up – it is not entirely obvious who will be attacking at the other end. Besides, for a team that talks of its positivity and aggression, it seems odd to opt for a bowler whose strength is not wicket-taking but bowling maidens.Keaton Jennings scored heavily for Durham•Getty ImagesIt’s not especially unusual to pick players on a hunch rather than on statistics, though. The selection in the Mohali Test of Jos Buttler, who had played only one first-class game in the previous 12-months, could only be justified on the basis of potential and, in the past, much the same might have been said about David Gower, Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan. It sends a less than encouraging message to those involved in county cricket, but that is nothing new.You have to feel for Somerset’s Jack Leach. Having taken 65 Championship wickets at an average of 21.87 in 2016, albeit benefiting from Taunton’s spin-friendly wickets, he would be justified in feeling somewhat hard done-by as he comes to term with this latest rejection. Anyone watching county cricket last season would be hard placed to name a better left-arm spinner available to England.But it seems the selectors remain unsure how he would cope with the glare of international cricket. Chris Rogers, his Somerset captain this year, suggested Leach “emotionally had a bit of a way to go” before he was ready and it seems the experience of Simon Kerrigan, who wilted in the spotlight of the Oval Ashes Test of 2013, continues to weigh heavily on the team management’s minds. Leach is 25, though, and coped well with the expectation of a Somerset side pushing for their first Championship title on pitches where he was supposed to do the bulk of the damage. The selectors may well be doing his strength of mind a disservice.There may also be an issue here with Trevor Bayliss’ knowledge – or lack of knowledge – of county cricket. He never played it, has never coached in it and, through no fault of his own, hardly has the time to watch it. As a result, he does not know who the best players are and he has not had the opportunity to build up relationships with coaches, umpires and players in the domestic game who might have helped him. Instead, he remains heavily reliant upon Andy Flower – who is not officially a selector – who watches a lot of cricket and works with the best developing players. It is Flower who is managing the Lions team in the UAE and Flower who told Jennings of his selection.You wonder if he told Bayliss, too. For it is hard to avoid the suspicion that both these selections owe much to his influence. The tough simplicity of Jennings and the combative all-round skills of Dawson are both characteristics Flower always seemed to admire in his players; arguably more so than flair and specialist skills. None of this is necessarily a bad thing – quite the opposite, a man with Flower’s knowledge and passion can only be an asset – but it might prove slightly at odds with Bayliss’ apparently bolder, more positive approach. Nearly three years since he stepped down as head coach, Flower power is still very much alive in English cricket.

A rather rapid change of fortunes for Chris Morris, and New Zealand’s slightly unusual choice of opening bowler make the plays of the day from Hamilton

Andrew McGlashan in Hamilton19-Feb-2017Statement of the dayImran Tahir was all over New Zealand in the T20, and though he benefited from a climbing asking rate it was a noteworthy start from the No. 1 white-ball bowler. Mike Hesson said it was important New Zealand play him on their terms, not his, during the one-day series so it could well prove quite significant that Kane Williamson showed early aggression, but in a controlled manner, with a strong slog-sweep over deep midwicket. It ended up being a rare wicketless day for Tahir.Non-catch of the dayThe athleticism of fielders around the boundary – parrying balls back to save boundaries or completing relay catches – has almost become a norm, but there are still some spectacular efforts. Tim Southee almost fell victim to one when Farhaan Behardien made huge ground around the rope to hold a skimming catch, but his momentum was taking him close to the boundary so he flicked the ball back. However, he had held the ball for so long that he did query with the umpires whether it was a legitimate catch after they had checked whether he had touched the rope. The third umpire did not agree.Change in fortunes of the dayMorris ended his fifth over with figures of 5-0-24-4. He was having a wonderful day, having knocked over the top order and was on for career-best numbers. But he may wish the captain had finished his allotment earlier. When he returned for his final two overs at the death, he was clubbed to all corners of the ground – not always off the middle of the bat – by Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee. His last over went for 25 and his final two for 38, which was more than his previous eight overs on the tour, split between the T20 and this match, had cost.Surprise of the dayBoth captains expected turn from the pitch – which is why the teams played two frontline spinners – but it was still somewhat of a surprise to see Mitchell Santner be given the first over. It wasn’t exactly India out there. Still, you could soon see why. A full delivery gripped, spun and beat Hashim Amla’s drive to go straight to slip then another slightly shorter ball, squared up Amla and beat the outside edge. However, what New Zealand really wanted to see – an early wicket – didn’t not eventuate.Curious delivery of the dayWilliamson provided the breakthrough when he had Amla caught and bowled which brought a smile of satisfaction to his face. However, at the end of the same over he had a smile of embarrassment. The delivery came out horribly wrong, was dragged down in Williamson’s half of the pitch and bounced a second time before reaching Quinton de Kock, who just managed to keep his composure and punch it to cover.Extra spin of the dayJitters were alive in South Africa’s batting line-up when JP Duminy fell to Tim Southee, a lovely slower ball which found a leading edge, but it was the next delivery that really stood out. A beautiful off-cutter gripped and zipped past Behardien’s inside edge into clatter off stump. Any of the frontline spinners in the match would have been pleased with the purchase Southee found.

With only four league matches left, we still do not know the final four yet. Since only Mumbai Indians have sealed a playoff berth, let’s look at what the other teams need to do to make it to the qualifiers

S Rajesh13-May-2017Going into the last week, it appeared the top four teams at that stage would be a shoo-in to duly take their places in the playoffs. However, thanks to some unexpected results in the last week – most notably Kings XI Punjab beating Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, and Rising Pune Supergiant losing to Delhi Daredevils – there is still plenty to play for, for the five teams that still have a shot at the top four slots. Mumbai Indians are assured a top-two slot, while Knight Riders are sure of a playoff berth, which leaves three teams fighting it out for two places.Mumbai IndiansWith Rising Pune losing to Daredevils, Mumbai Indians are pretty much assured a top-two finish. Even if they lose to Knight Riders, and Rising Pune beat Kings XI, the margins of those results have to be outlandish to ensure Mumbai Indians’ net run rate drops below that of Rising Pune. For that to happen, each of those results will need to be in the vicinity of around 115 runs – if Mumbai Indians lose by such a margin if Rising Pune win by that much, then Mumbai Indians will drop down to third. For all practical purposes, Mumbai Indians are assured of playing the first qualifier at their home fortress.Kolkata Knight RidersKnight Riders are certain to make the playoffs, even if they lose to Mumbai Indians and Kings XI beat Rising Pune. If that happens, and if Sunrisers finish on 17 by beating Gujarat Lions, then the team that will be eliminated will be Rising Pune, because of their poor net run rate (NRR). However, Knight Riders will want to finish in the top two, which will happen for sure if they win their last game; Rising Pune’s NRR is too low for them to sneak past Knight Riders. Even if they lose, Knight Riders can finish in the top two if Sunrisers lose, and if Kings XI win by a not-too-huge margin.Sunrisers Hyderabad would be in a party mode if they win against Gujarat Lions on Saturday•BCCISunrisers HyderabadThe washout against Royal Challengers Bangalore means Sunrisers are the odd ones out with an odd-numbered points tally, which means they are not caught up in the NRR rat race. If they win, they are through to the playoffs for sure; if they lose, they can still make it if Kings XI lose to Rising Pune. Sunrisers can finish in the top two if Knight Riders and Rising Pune both lose their last matches.Rising Pune SupergiantRising Pune’s defeat to Daredevils means they could still miss out on a playoff spot if they lose their last game, and if Sunrisers win theirs. Since their NRR (-0.083) is so poor, they are the team who will be knocked out if five teams finish on 16 or more points. If they win, and if Knight Riders lose to Mumbai Indians, then Rising Pune will finish second. However, since they are playing the last meaningful game of the league stage, they will know exactly what they are playing for: if Sunrisers win, then Rising Pune will need to win to make the playoffs; if Sunrisers lose and if Mumbai Indians beat Knight Riders, then Rising Pune will have a top-two spot to play for on Sunday, though a loss will still put them in the playoffs anyway as the fourth team.Kings XI PunjabAfter the defeat to Lions last Sunday, Kings XI were languishing on 10 points from 11 games, but two tough wins in the last week, and Rising Pune’s botched-up chase in Delhi, has put Kings XI’s fate in their own hands: beat Rising Pune and qualify for the last four regardless of other results. They could even finish in the top two, but that is an extremely long shot: for that to happen, Sunrisers will have to lose, and both Mumbai and Kings XI will have to win pretty convincingly. If, for instance, both teams win by around 55 runs, then Knight Riders’ NRR will drop marginally below Kings XI’s. However, given the position they were in less than a week ago, Kings XI will be happy to be in a position where their qualification chances now rest in their own hands.

Ben Stokes has found wickets hard to come by this season, but he made the ball move lavishly at Lord’s and joined a select group of players in the process

George Dobell at Lord's07-Sep-20171:50

‘Felt like I was letting the team down’ – Stokes

Like coming to a wedding, knocking over the cake and shouting ‘she’s a man,’ Ben Stokes rather upstaged the bride at Lord’s.By the time James Anderson claimed the first two wickets of the West Indies innings, taking his total Test wicket tally to 499, most in the ground thought they were going to be treated to a celebration of great English swing bowling.And, in a way, they were. It’s just the identity of the bowler was Stokes rather than Anderson.It would, of course, be premature to suggest that Stokes is one of England’s greatest swing bowlers. He is a terrific cricketer in many ways, but he is not up there with Anderson or Ian Botham or Fred Trueman as a bowler at this stage.But there were times here when he did out-bowl Anderson. There were times here when the movement he gained was so late, so sharp and so violent that you could hardly blame the West Indies batsmen for struggling to deny him. There were times when he bowled well enough to justify his selection as a specialist.That is not to suggest Anderson bowled poorly. Far from it. He passed the edge often, saw a chance put down and bowled what Stokes called “the best over in Test history not to take a wicket” to Devendra Bishoo who was beaten like a snare drum. It was just that Stokes, fresh from some remedial work with Ottis Gibson, bowled better.In particular, he has cut back on the exaggerated jump into the stumps he had a habit of making – Botham went through a similar process during the 1981 Ashes – in a bid to increase his momentum as he delivers the ball. He has also worked on ensuring he completes his action, that he isn’t too worried about getting close to the stumps – he feels if he worries too much about that he loses some pace – and on his seam position.The delivery that dismissed Roston Chase – a peach of a ball that was angled in, straightened off the seam (and down the slope) and took the off stump – might have been good enough for Sachin or Viv, while the vast inswinger that accounted for Jason Holder was reminiscent of Waqar Younis. And there isn’t much higher praise than that.There was a time, a couple of years ago, when Stokes feared he had lost his outswinger. He damaged the index finger of his right hand when fielding and a botched operation resulted in it being set in something of a clawed position. For a while he feared he would only be able to bowl an outswinger by reversing the ball.But he has clearly found a way to swing the ball conventionally. The ball that took Shane Dowrich’s edge was an outswinger that demanded a stroke and took the edge and would have pleased Anderson or Botham. He claimed his last three wickets without conceding a run and will resume in the second innings on a hat-trick.Stokes is a thoughtful bowler, too. Understanding the need to harness the swing on offer, he pitched the ball considerably fuller than usual – only once in his Test career has he pitched fuller on average during an entire innings – and had the skill to bowl an almost identical number of inswingers as outswingers.Ben Stokes quickly went through West Indies•Getty ImagesThe cynics will point to Stokes’ career bowling average – which was 35.35 before play and 33.50 after it – and suggest he is a modest bowler. But the figures don’t tell the full story of the role Stokes fulfils in this side. They don’t show that, on days when the ball swings, he barely gets a look in behind Anderson and Stuart Broad. Even here, he was not asked to bowl until the 30th over and might not have bowled nearly so much had Broad not been forced off the pitch with a recurrence of the heel problem which was troubled him intermittently over the last few years. It may be telling that Stokes’ previous best figures – 6 for 36 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015 – came when England were without Anderson due to injury. Given greater opportunity, Stokes’ figures may well improve considerably.As the quickest of England’s bowlers – only Shannon Gabriel has bowled faster than him here – it is often Stokes’ role to ‘make things happen’ at a time when others cannot. So he may be the one required to deliver the barrage of short balls that can be so draining and so damaging to personal figures. It was in one such spell earlier this summer that he bounced out Dean Elgar, well set on 80, at Trent Bridge. His stamina is such that he bowled his 14.3 overs in one spell – albeit one interrupted by tea – and his versatility is such that he bowled some offspin in the UAE. It might be stretching a point to call him the ‘Ginger Sobers’ but, as he ended the day as England’s top-scorer, he underlined the point that England are lucky to have him.He already has more Test five-fors (four) than Andrew Flintoff (three). And more centuries (six to Flintoff’s five), too. Having scored a hundred here against New Zealand in 2015, he became just the sixth England player (alongside Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Ian Botham, Ray Illingworth and Gubby Allen) to gain a place on both honours boards at Lord’s with this performance. “They can never take that away from me,” he said. And, aged 26, there should be trunk loads of memories still to come.Afterwards he praised the role that Ottis Gibson, England’s outgoing bowling coach, had had on his game. “If not for Ottis, I wouldn’t have had a day like today,” Stokes said. “I don’t feel I’ve done myself or the team justice this summer. I felt like I was letting them down a bit.”But I’ve had hours in the nets with Ottis and I feel I’ve been getting that consistency back in the last few weeks. Today I assessed the conditions pretty quickly, saw there wasn’t much there for anything back of a length, and tried to get them driving on the front foot. Yes, that’s probably the best I’ve bowled.”Ottis has been amazing. He leaves with the respect of everyone in the dressing room – players and coaches.”The only cloud on the horizon from England’s display in the field was the slip catching. They put down two chances on the first day with Root, at second slip, reprieving Jason Holder on 5 off Stokes and Alastair Cook, at first slip, putting down a relatively simple chance offered by Brathwaite off Anderson on 3. It was the third chance Cook has put down this series, including a crucial one early on the last morning that reprieved Brathwaite. They cannot afford to make such blemishes if they are to have a chance in the Ashes.

Who’s the funnier Bravo? Darren claims it’s him

Interview by Mohammad Isam18-Nov-2017Name a batsman you feel very comfortable seeing at the other end.
Kieron Pollard. We both grew up playing at the Under-13, U-15 and U-19 level. We went on to represent West Indies together. He understands the game very well. Whenever we bat together, we always have a pretty good partnership. He is someone that I really enjoy batting with.Two bowlers who challenge you.
I think Saeed Ajmal, the offspinner from Pakistan, was difficult. Wahab Riaz is very aggressive. On his day he is unplayable, you can’t get the better of him. He is someone you have to keep an eye on.There have been a few innings in the CPL in which you have hit six or seven sixes. Do you pick a zone to hit sixes?
Everyone who knows me knows that I like to hit straight. I believe in playing with the full face of the bat, which gives you a better chance to capitalise. Whenever I go for a big shot, I tend to target the straight boundaries.What do you remember about the first cricket match you saw at a ground?
I remember going to the Queen’s Park Oval when West Indies were playing England. I sat on the cycle track. They invited [boys from] the Santa Cruz Cricket Club’s coaching clinic, where I am from, to watch a game at the Queen’s Park Oval. I think that’s my first memory.What is your first memory of meeting Brian Lara?
The first time I remember meeting Brian Lara was when he broke the world record the first time – the 375. They were opening the Brian Lara ground in Santa Cruz. We were all there waiting on him.What do you admire in him?
Other than being a world-class batsman, what I most admire about him is the fact that when I am not doing well at my game, I can pick up my phone to message or call him and he is always willing to give advice. Whenever he gives me advice, I am guaranteed to score runs in the next innings. He is always my go-to guy when I am under pressure. On any given day, he will just message to find out if everything is okay, not only cricket-related. He is always looking out for me and I appreciate that.

“Before I started playing, my goal was to play 100 Test matches, which is something I want to achieve”

How does a batsman feel when he gets out for 195? How different is it to scoring a double-hundred?
The 195 was my first Test hundred. When I was on 175, the coach sent a message: you have four overs to get your double-hundred otherwise we are going to declare. I needed 11 runs in the last over. I think I hit a six off the second ball, after which Shivnarine Chanderpaul came down the wicket and said, “Hey you need to get to your double-hundred this over.” I sort of panicked. I tried to go for another six. In hindsight I should have taken my time. I am sure the coach would have given me another over.I knew that I was capable of batting long and getting big scores. I was really happy to get a double-hundred against New Zealand – tough conditions against a world-class bowling line-up. It was probably my best innings so far.What’s your favourite international innings?
My first Test hundred at my home ground, Queen’s Park Oval. It was against New Zealand again.What is the funniest thing you have seen happen on a cricket field?
West Indies v India: I think it was a water break and I believe Sachin [Tendulkar] was batting. One of the groundsmen came to paint the crease. I am not sure whether he was seeing Sachin close-up for the first time, but he actually fainted on the field.Dwayne Bravo might claim to be the better dancer, but is there something you do better than him outside the game?
I think I tell better jokes.What are the three things you would take to a desert island?
My phone, medication, and the book by Michael Jordan.If you were to face three bowlers from before your time, who would they be?
Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose and Shane Warne.What milestone do you want to achieve before you finish your career?
Before I started playing, my goal was to play 100 Test matches, which is something I want to achieve. Have you ever hit Sunil Narine for a six?
I have hit him for a couple of sixes. He got me out on a few occasions as well. We always have a good battle. I think he is a fantastic bowler.Is there a shot you have tried to play but not successfully?
The on-drive.How well do you play the one-legged pull shot?
I don’t think I am the strongest at it. I don’t like to play it early in my innings. But as the innings progresses, I can play it comfortably.What can you teach Chris Gayle about batting?
I can’t teach Chris Gayle anything! I only wish him all the best. I think when he is focused, he is very dangerous.