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New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White has said that the board aims to find a replacement for head coach John Wright by the end of July

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2012New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White has said that the board aims to find a replacement for head coach John Wright by the end of July. The board met in Auckland on Friday to discuss the process and timeline for recruiting Wright’s successor.”We want the best person for the job and will not limit our search for the right candidate,” White said. “We are aiming to have the new head coach in place by the end of July but will not be drawn into making self-imposed deadlines.”White said the position will be publicly advertised in the coming weeks and that the best candidate will be appointed, regardless of his nationality. “The key responsibilities for the head coach will be to manage the support staff, prepare the team for international cricket and, along with the captain, be responsible for performance of the team,” White told .Earlier this month, John Wright, confirmed that he would step down after the tour of the West Indies in August. He cited differences with New Zealand’s director of cricket, John Buchanan, as a factor that influenced his decision not to extend his contract.Wright’s decision prompted the board to announce that the demanding nature of the Future Tours Programme would mean that the workload of the support staff would be considered before making a decision on a new coach. New Zealand will tour the West Indies in June, India in August and then head to Sri Lanka for the ICC World T20 in September.Edited by Carlyle Laurie

A combination of courageous batting by Northamptonshire and bad light frustrated Yorkshire in their victory bid on the final day at Headingley

02-Jun-2012
ScorecardA combination of courageous batting by Northamptonshire and bad light frustrated Yorkshire in their victory bid on the final day at Headingley. The 11 points from the draw pushed Yorkshire into second place in the Division Two table but it was still a big disappointment for the home side that they could not sweep aside their opponents and notch a third win of the season.Northamptonshire were 250 for 6 and leading by 118 when the umpires brought the players off, despite Yorkshire having two spinners on at the time. David Murphy (31 not out) and Con de Lange (20 not out) had by then denied Yorkshire for 18 overs while adding 52 for the seventh wicket.Northamptonshire still trailed by 120 when they resumed the final day on 43 for 1 and only four had been added in almost half an hour when Stephen Peters drove at Steve Patterson and deflected the ball on to his stumps.Yorkshire had to wait for the light to improve before they dared to unleash their Australia international fast bowler Mitchell Starc but it was the introduction of offspinner Azeem Rafiq that ended a troublesome stand between Kyle Coetzer and Alex Wakely. Coetzer, having battled away for two hours for his 39, gave a bat-pad chance that was snapped up by Joe Root at short leg.There was no sign of Northants throwing in the towel, however, and Rob White helped Wakely to take the visitors in to lunch on 120 for 3. The struggle continued in the afternoon but Wakely suddenly relieved pressure on the batting side by off-driving Rafiq cleanly for six.Yorkshire needed a breakthrough and it came when their lead had been whittled down to just three runs, White bowled for 42 playing over a ball from the patient Patterson. In the same over, captain Andrew Hall put his side in the black by finding the square-leg boundary. Wakely completed his half-century with a Chinese cut for four off Starc but soon afterwards the same bowler got some lift to a delivery that left Hall and he was caught behind by Jonny Bairstow.Starc gave Yorkshire renewed hope by striking again, this time bowling the obstinate Wakely with a quick one which breached his defences. The new batsman de Lange appeared to survive a sharp return catch to Rafiq as Northants went in to tea on 205 for 6 and leading by 42 with a minimum of 37 overs remaining.Soon after the interval, Yorkshire had two chances off consecutive balls but both went begging. First, de Lange swung Rafiq wide of mid-on and Starc was unable to get into position for the catch, the ball just brushing his fingers. The batsmen ran two and then De Lange played off bat and pad and Gary Ballance could not quite hold on as he dived on to the pitch from silly point.Yorkshire took the new ball as soon as it became available but two fours off Ryan Sidebottom to the vacant third man by Murphy lifted the Northants’ lead to 70 and the draw became inevitable once the light deteriorated even further.

Steve Harmison took three wickets on his Yorkshire debut as the visitors fought back late in the day at Chesterfield

Nigel Gardner at Chesterfield18-Jul-2012
ScorecardPhil Jaques made 61 for Yorkshire but no other batsman reached fifty•PA Photos

Although this has been a summer most will want to forget, it has been a decent one for Derbyshire and their followers. The sun has been obscured by rain clouds but this “unfashionable” county have basked in the warm glow of County Championship success.It has been 13 seasons since Derbyshire sat down at domestic cricket’s top table but they showed why they went into this contest with a 25 point lead in Division Two. Until that is, Yorkshire and Steve Harmison came roaring back in the final sessionHarmison had endured another chastening day on his second appearance for Yorkshire who had collapsed in startling fashion on a pitch that is a decent one to bat. Harmison swung the bat breezily to help his new team-mates to a batting point but when he ran in from the Lake End with the ball in his hand, the radar was clearly not functioning.His fourth ball was a wide and there was one more before his opening over ended. There was another in his next as the ball shot away down to the leg side to the boundary and when Jaques took him out of the firing line, he had bowled five wides and two no balls in three overs which cost 27. The fact that Derbyshire’s bowlers did not concede a wide or a no ball between them made it even worse.But how quickly the tide of fortune can turn in this game and he responded in the best possible fashion when Phil Jaques brought him back in the 27th over. It proved an inspired piece of captaincy as he took 3 for 0 in 11 balls although it has to be said, Derbyshire gave Harmison generous assistance.First Jon Clare was tempted into a rash drive at a ball he should have left alone and then in his next over, Wes Durston chased one he should have ignored and edged to second slip. It was hardly vintage stuff but after all his recent problems, Harmison will not mind how the wickets come.As Yorkshire opener Joe Root said: “They might not have been the most pleasing-on-the-eye balls that got the wickets but the pace he was bowling at obviously put a lot of doubt in the batsmen’s minds. You could see they weren’t comfortable so you’ve got to give him a bit of credit.”At least his third victim was the result of a decent bouncer which former Yorkshire batsman David Wainwright helped on its way into the hands of Moin Ashraf who did well to take the catch and stay inside the ropes.By the time stumps were drawn at 7pm, 17 wickets had fallen but rather than convene a pitch panel, the ECB should summon a batting inspector to delve into what unfolded on the opening day of this top of the table clash.Yorkshire’s position after lunch matched the unusual sight of blue skies over picturesque Queen’s Park as Jaques and former Derbyshire batsman Gary Ballance proceeded in untroubled fashion and appeared to be setting the visitors up for a score of around 350. But all that changed in the 40th over as Mark Turner tore in from the Lake End to instigate a startling collapse that saw the visitors crash from 175 for 3 to 219 all out on the stroke of tea.Turner took the first three of those seven wickets to fall to fully justify the decision to give him his first Championship appearance of the season in place of a batsman, Chesney Hughes, who was originally down on the scorecard to play.Yorkshire appeared to be in even more trouble as Derbyshire replied by moving to 43 without loss but then they also hit the self-destruct button to leave the visitors holding a slight advantage at the end of a remarkable day.

Ireland’s warm-up plans for the ICC World Twenty20 have been thrown into chaos after South Africa A pulled out of the remainder of their tour

Ger Siggins27-Aug-2012Ireland’s warm-up plans for the ICC World Twenty20 have been thrown into chaos after South Africa A pulled out of the remainder of their tour due to the threat of more poor weather. The month-long visit of the South Africans ended early after the first of four Twenty20 games was rained-off at Oak Hill on Monday.”It’s not a decision we’ve taken lightly but given the amount of cricket that’s been lost on the trip already and with the further likelihood of further disruption, we felt it was necessary to give the players a chance to prepare for the ICC World Twenty20,” Vincent Barnes, the South Africa A coach, said.”It’s been an incredibly frustrating tour for everyone concerned with the weather, but I’d like to thank Cricket Ireland for their hospitality and understanding in what was a difficult decision for ourselves.”Ireland coach, Phil Simmons, said: “There’s no doubt that it’s a serious blow to our preparations for the ICC World Twenty20.”But we will have two weeks in Sri Lanka before our games against Australia and West Indies, and we of course have warm-up fixtures against Sri Lanka A, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in Colombo.”The decision by South Africa to abort the tour is unprecedented and deeply disappointing to Irish supporters. The last two T20 games of the series were to have provided a gala opening to the new international stadium in Malahide.Cricket Ireland chief executive, Warren Deutrom, said: “We fully appreciate that the priority for Cricket South Africa is to give players that might be involved in the ICC World T20 every opportunity to get meaningful practice beforehand, which we cannot guarantee here, so we completely appreciate their decision.”It goes without saying that we are disappointed for everyone, not least the players of both sides, our sponsors RSA and the hosting venues of Malahide and Oak Hill that have put in so much effort but have been ultimately defeated by the awful weather.”Although the forecast for the second half of the week is much better, the long-range view for Sunday is uncertain, while the inability of the players to train meaningfully before then and risk of possible injury is too big to take.”Simmons was forced into a late rethink of his plans for Sri Lanka, already hit by the injury to allrounder John Mooney.”It’s been a frustrating season for all concerned and the South African tour has been particularly hard hit by the elements,” he said. “If we’re unable to train outdoors this week we’ll look to go to North County and have indoor sessions before we leave for Sri Lanka next Tuesday.”The South Africa A tour was scheduled to provide 15 days of high-class competition for Ireland’s home-based players, but the weather refused to co-operate. Just 490 overs of play were possible before the tour was cancelled.Play was possible on only two days of each of the four-day games, both of which ended in draws; all three 50-over games were affected by the weather – one was abandoned and the other two ended in D/L wins for South Africa A; and the first T20 match was abandoned without a ball bowled.

Sri Lanka have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during their nine-wicket win over West Indies in the Super Eights clash at Pallekele on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2012Sri Lanka have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during their nine-wicket win over West Indies in the Super Eights clash at Pallekele on Saturday. The penalty comes just hours after England were found guilty of the same offence during their match against New Zealand at the same venue.The match referee Javagal Srinath found both captains, Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) and Stuart Broad (England), to be one over short of the target after taking allowances into consideration. The captains were fined 20% of their respective match fees while their team-mates were docked 10% each.

The final day of this unforgettable match between Somerset and Surrey was all really rather apologetic, ending in a draw

David Lloyd at Taunton31-Aug-2012Surrey 317 (Pietersen 163) and 360 for 5 dec (Harinath 105*, Burns 60, Pietersen 58) drew with Somerset 294 (Trego 92, Hildreth 85, Kartik 4-70, Meaker 4-74)
ScorecardArun Harinath went on to make his second century in successive matches•PA Photos

After the class of Kevin Pietersen’s first-innings century and the controversy caused by the ‘Mankading’ of Alex Barrow, the final day of this unforgettable match was all really rather apologetic.Gareth Batty, Surrey’s captain and the man who took ultimate responsibility for Barrow’s run-out while backing up by Murali Kartik, made his peace with Somerset opposite number, Marcus Trescothick.Then, after teasing onlookers into thinking a challenging declaration was just around the corner, a contest which lost one full day to bad weather drifted to the tamest of draws with the sides – unsurprisingly, perhaps – unable to reach an agreement.Speculation was rife that a deal had been struck when, immediately after lunch, Somerset served up four overs of dob bowling and Surrey plundered 47 runs – despite Pietersen presenting Chris Jones with a memorable maiden first-class wicket on the first occasion that his offspin has ever been called upon in senior cricket.Far from having agreed a target, though, Trescothick was just trying to tease the opposition into setting something that could be chased in the final session and a half. Negotiations continued but the figures would not add up and normal service resumed until a halt was called an hour or so early, after Arun Harinath had completed his second century in as many matches.No one could blame Somerset for trying to talk a deal: realistically, they needed a victory to keep alive their slim hopes of winning the title. And while some home supporters might beg to differ, it would be harsh to criticise Surrey, for whom a draw – and nine points – is a decent result in their fight to avoid relegation.”We couldn’t work it out,” Trescothick said. “We offered, they offered but we couldn’t agree. We thought potentially we were going to sort something out [during the four overs of ‘declaration’ bowling] but we couldn’t get to it. These have been an interesting couple of days.”That was a bit of an understatement from Trescothick, who accepts that it will be “very tough” now for Somerset to win the title. But he confirmed that yesterday’s run-out row had been put to bed following Batty’s approach. “He apologised, we move on,” Trescothick said. “These things happen, we all make mistakes [so] let’s crack on and leave it alone.”Somerset clearly harboured hopes this morning of being able to win without the need for deal-making – and Alfonso Thomas did nothing to dispel that optimism during a fiery burst which saw him give opener Rory Burns something of a going over.Thomas hit the left-hander on the glove (with a lifter), the helmet (with a bouncer) and the toe (with a slightly off line yorker). To his credit, Burns battled though but then, having just brought up Surrey’s first century opening stand of the Championship season in partnership with Zafar Ansari, he popped a bat-pad catch to short leg off left-arm spinner George DockrellAnsari edged a drive against Sajid Mahmood but two wickets down at lunch, with the visitors already 176 ahead, was not enough for Somerset – and the negotiations began.Pietersen helped himself to 30 runs from 11 balls, delivered by James Hildreth and Jones, but then – to everyone’s disbelief and general amusement – he punched Jones low to short extra cover and wandered off, smiling ruefully.The ‘proper’ bowlers returned almost immediately – with deal-making talks having failed – and Harinath set about scoring a fine century to add to the one he made against Middlesex a fortnight ago. The left-hander survived a stumping chance, on 38, but made the most of his good fortune.”Our youngsters at the top of the order have really come to the party in the second half of the season,” Surrey team director, Chris Adams, said. “I think we’ve always known that Arun has all the potential and all the ability but he hasn’t been able to take his opportunities until now. I’m absolutely delighted for him – he’s a very popular member of the squad.”

James Anderson, the England fast bowler, said the team were pleased with their workout against India A after the three-day match ended in a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2012James Anderson, the England fast bowler, said the team were pleased with their workout against India A after the three-day match ended in a draw. Following a century by captain Alastair Cook on the second day, Samit Patel went on to match him with an innings of 104 that pressed his Test claims to bat at No. 6, and wicketkeeper Matt Prior added a brisk fifty. Anderson then took the wickets of both India A openers before the teams shook hands.The only setback suffered by the tourists came via an injury to Steven Finn, who was only able to bowl four overs on the first day before being forced out of the game with a thigh problem. In his absence, Tim Bresnan also pushed his case for a recall with 3 for 59 in India A’s first innings, and four wickets in the match, to go with an unbeaten 33 batting at No. 8.”I think it was pretty good,” Anderson said. “It was always going to be tough after the flight and playing so soon after landing in India I think it was going to be difficult for us but I think we got what we needed to get out of the game. The bowlers got a decent bowl under the belt, a few [batsmen] got decent hits out in the middle and that’s pretty much all we could expect.”Cook led the way with England’s top score, as they amassed 426 in response to India A’s 369. “It’s to be expected, really, that’s the way he is, very determined,” Anderson said. “He wants to lead by example and he showed exactly how he wants to do that in this game.”Although India A did not include a frontline spinner in their XI, England still faced a workout against the turning ball, with Yuvraj Singh taking 5 for 94 with his slow left-arm spin- it was the first five-wicket haul of his first-class career. Anderson, however, said the team was not fazed at the success of Yuvraj.”We got two guys getting hundreds, couple of fifties in there and the lower order chipped in with useful runs as well and I think that’s going to be the way we’re going to win Test matches out here,” Anderson said. “We need guys to score hundreds, we need the lower order to help out with runs – I thought Matt Prior played brilliantly today as well. The spinners are going to get wickets against us, it’s a turning pitch out there, day three of a wicket it’s going to turn and we are going to lose wickets to spin.”With England set to play Mumbai A in a three-day match starting on Saturday, there are likely to be changes to the side. Nick Compton only lasted three balls in England’s only innings and Joe Root could be given a chance at opener, while Stuart Broad is unlikely to be rested for two matches in a row. Finn’s injury means England will have to make use of their fast-bowling depth.”It’s not ideal because you want to choose from your strongest squad but injuries happen and we’re lucky that we’ve got a number of bowlers that can come in and do a great job for this team,” Anderson said. “Graham Onions I’m sure will get a chance in the next couple of games to show what he can do. It’s exciting for those guys, obviously it’s unfortunate, we’d like Steven to be fit for selection but injuries do happen.”As for the obligatory response to Kevin Pietersen’s return to England action, Anderson was the latest squad member to ring the bell and cry “all’s well”. “After all the stuff that’s gone on, it’s all well and good saying ‘we’re going to draw a line under it’ but I think that’s actually happened and it seems to be back to normal in the dressing room and on the field,” he said.

Cheteshwar Pujara does not give England much chance of avoiding defeat after India struck late on the second day

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2012Cheteshwar Pujara batted for 513 minutes for his unbeaten 206, which took England’s ordeal in the field to 640 minutes, following which he saw England lose three wickets in a little over an hour. That has given him enough confidence to believe the match might not need to go into the fifth day.”It’s going to be a challenging task for them,” Pujara said when asked if he thought England could come back from here. “The way they were batting it looked like they were a fragile batting line-up for sure.”The three England wickets have made everyone look at the pitch in a different light. “I think there’s quite a lot of rough on the wicket and it’s turning quite big,” Pujara said. “The kind of momentum we got in these 18 overs I think we can bowl them out tomorrow. Obviously we’d like to finish the game before five days.”After the first day Virender Sehwag had said the pitch was easy to bat on if you didn’t play your shots. Pujara had a different take. “There is nothing wrong with the wicket,” he said. “We’ve got three wickets, the ball is turning. We have utilised the conditions better than them.”Even before the series began, Pujara had said he was comfortable against the England bowling. His quiet confidence only restated that belief. “I’d like to mention that it was good that I got out on 87 in the practice game,” Pujara said. “If I had ended up scoring a hundred, I wouldn’t have had the same motivation to score a hundred and then turn it into a double-hundred in this game.”I was comfortable facing all the bowlers. Initially my concern was Graeme Swann because I hadn’t faced him before. But after I faced a couple of overs against him, I felt that I could manage.”The result was his maiden double-century in Tests, but also Pujara’s ninth 150-plus score of the 16 times he has reached 100 in first-class cricket. Nine of those 150-plus scores have come in his last 10 first-class centuries. He sounded proud of that habit.”I’ve done the same thing in domestic cricket,” he said. “I never like to get out. There’s always a price on my wicket. Even after scoring a double-hundred I never wanted to give away my wicket. That’s the reason why I’m able to score big runs.”

MS Dhoni has left his future as captain in the selectors’ hands, but he has also said he won’t run away from the responsibility

Sidharth Monga09-Dec-2012MS Dhoni has left his future as captain in the selectors’ hands, but he has also said he won’t run away from the responsibility.”As a leader this is a challenge thrown at me,” Dhoni said moments after India completed their first set of back-to-back home Test losses since 1999-2000. “It is always good to lead a side when you are performing well. That is not the time you need a leader. Leading a side is all about when the team is not doing well. To try to gel the team together. To back the youngsters, back the seniors. Try to move in the right direction.”The easiest thing to do for me right now is to quit the captaincy and stay part of the side. That’s running away from responsibility that’s upon us. Of course there are others who will decide. There is BCCI and other administrative people who look into that. For me, my responsibility is to get the team together and be prepared for the next Test match.”As usual, Dhoni contradicted himself in the same answer when asked to elaborate on Duncan Fletcher’s role. He said, rightly so, that the team shouldn’t look for excuses and scapegoats, but in the same breath he made these Test defeats sound like an aberration, failing to admit to the lows that the team has reached.”He [Fletcher] has got excellent technical knowledge about our batting,” Dhoni said. “He guides us in the right direction. Ultimately once you cross that rope you are on your own whatever happens. That’s the time you have to get up and retaliate. That’s where we are lacking as of now.”It’s wrong to question the coach. We have won quite a few series, the ODI performance have been really good. In between we have won Test series. Okay in Australia and England we struggled, but this is a series after that that we have not done well, the last two matches that you see. You shouldn’t really look for excuses, to put it on the coach. Ultimately it is up to the 11 players who turn up on the field. On a wicket like this, you need to score more runs, and the situation will be different.”For the record, India have been knocked out of two ODI tournaments this year, they have lost to Bangladesh, and were disappointing in World Twenty20 too. In Tests, they have won at home, and that too against West Indies and New Zealand. In the West Indies, they won one Test and refused to try to win another. The Test record under Fletcher is 10 defeats to six wins. Reduce it to strong opposition, and it becomes 9-1. This is not to put all the blame on Fletcher, but to clarify that India haven’t won much at all, unlike what the captain believes.Dhoni also said the side’s batting can’t run away from responsibility either. The first question he was asked at the press conference was, “How bad does it need to get before it gets better?” Dhoni didn’t answer directly, but responded with a description of batting failures.”The batting order will have to take responsibility,” he said. “We need to score more runs. This was a very good wicket to bat on. Of course the bowlers will bowl a few good deliveries that you need to keep out. But the top seven, most of us will have to score at the same time so that we can get a par total, which the bowlers can look to defend. If you don’t score too many runs in the first innings and if the opposition score runs in the first innings, you will find yourself under pressure.”Dhoni said this was not the worst phase of his career. The worst came in England and Australia, he said, for at least here they can hope to rectify the problems. “If you talk about the low, the England, Australia series were the lows because we weren’t able to compete,” he said. “Here we know what the faults are and we should be able to rectify those. Overall the bowlers are doing well, I think. Once you don’t get enough runs on the board you question bowlers too as to if they would have defended a bigger score as well, but I think the spinners have done really well. Bit more contribution from the fast bowlers would really help.”On the fast bowlers, the obvious question was about Zaheer Khan’s effectiveness and fitness. “It’s a very technical question,” Dhoni said. “The beauty of it is we all know the problem and it will be great help if find out a solution. Everybody is asking the same question.”As far as the fitness is concerned, he has been the way he is for the last few years. Definitely he is not unfit, he is doing everything. The England batsmen are doing well. From behind it looks as if he is bowling in the right area. Bowlers sometimes go through a phase when they don’t get wickets. This is a phase maybe. As far as the bowling is concerned he is still bowling quite the same. He is swinging it both ways. We will have to wait and watch. He looks fit. Fitness is not an issue.”We will wait and watch indeed. Dhoni was due to go to a selection meeting soon after leaving the ground.

Hobart Hurricanes announced themselves as a force to be reckoned with after a dominant victory over Perth Scorchers in freezing conditions in Hobart

The Report by Alex Malcolm01-Jan-2013
ScorecardTim Paine made an unbeaten 74•Getty Images

Tim Paine starred with an unbeaten 74 in the run chase after Hobart Hurricanes’ bowlers restricted the enigmatic Perth Scorchers line-up. Set 153 to win, Paine controlled the chase sublimely. He was unfazed when he lost his opening partner Aiden Blizzard early. It brought Paine and Ricky Ponting together again after they combined for a century stand against Sydney Thunder two-games earlier.There was an element of “anything you can do I can do better” between the master, Ponting, and the apprentice Paine.Paine, who has represented Australia in Tests, struck three consecutive boundaries off the inexperienced Jason Behrendorff in the fifth over. Ponting answered with a streaky leading edge to the point fence off Nathan Coulter-Nile and a phenomenal lofted cover drive for six at the other end. Paine took Behrendorff to task the following over with two powerful blows, through and over the leg-side.The pair raced to a 90-run stand, and in doing so made the required run-rate almost irrelevant. That was until Ponting fell to Brad Hogg, top-edging a paddle shot to short fine leg. It became two victims in two balls when Travis Birt was trapped on the crease to a trademark Hogg wrong ‘un.Hogg could have been the difference had he garnered support from others. When he lured a soft return catch from Owais Shah, he had figures of 3 for 13. But runs flowed like currents through the Derwent at the other end. Paine, unperturbed, cruised home with the steady support of his captain George Bailey. The Hurricanes won comfortably with six wickets and nine balls to spare.Having come from a heatwave in Western Australia, the Scorchers froze in the first match of the New Year, and without the contribution of Simon Katich they might have struggled to set a total of any significance.Electing to bat after winning the toss, Scorchers lost their first wicket to Xavier Doherty who delivered a wicket-maiden to start the match. Herschelle Gibbs cut a waist-high catch to point on the third ball of the innings.Shaun Marsh was struck a nasty blow on the thumb from a fired-up Doug Bollinger in the second over. The left-arm quick removed the in-form Marsh not long after, to leave the Scorchers reeling at 2 for 10.Then Katich produced arguably the innings of the tournament. His 66 from just 41 balls proved unequivocally that he is still a player of immeasurable quality at this level, even in a format he is not renowned for. He struck four sixes, including back-to-back bombs from the pace of Bollinger. His nine boundaries in all found every corner of Bellerive. His preference was midwicket, but he pulled Gulbis from one knee behind square and uppercut him over the point fence. He also struck Doherty over extra cover for four using nothing more than some delightful footwork and a gentle punch with the bottom hand.Katich was ably supported by his trusty lieutenants Marcus North and Adam Voges, but neither could cash in on starts. All three fell to the canny skills of Ben Laughlin who is turning into a major weapon for the Hobart side.The Scorchers return home to face the winless Sydney Thunder on Friday, whilst the Hurricanes host the Adelaide Strikers on Saturday night.