Stats highlights from the fourth day in Galle, when Sri Lanka made a strong start in their chase of 370

S Rajesh19-Jul-2014110 – The largest first-innings deficit for Sri Lanka in Tests which they’ve ended up winning. There’ve been only two instances of Sri Lanka turning around 100-plus run deficits into wins, and both were in matches when they batted first and got out cheaply: against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1995 they were all out for 223 and conceded a lead of 110, but won by 42 runs, while against England at Headingley last month they were bowled out for 257 and conceded a lead of 108, but won by 100 runs. 58 – The largest first-innings deficit for Sri Lanka in Tests in which they’ve batted second and won the game. That happened at the SSC in Colombo against West Indies in 2005, when the visitors batted first and scored 285, and then bundled out Sri Lanka for 227. In their second innings, though, West Indies were bowled out for 113, and Sri Lanka chased down 172 losing only four wickets. 1 – Number of times, since their readmission to international cricket, that South Africa have lost a Test match after taking a first-innings lead of more than 100. The only such instance was against Australia in Port Elizabeth in 1997, when South Africa scored 209 and then bowled Australia out for 108, but ultimately lost the Test by two wickets. (This excludes the Test when South Africa forfeited an innings against England in Centurion in 2000.)300 – The highest fourth-innings total in Galle, by Pakistan in 2012. They lost that Test by 209 runs.1018 – The number of Test runs for Kumar Sangakkara in 2014, in 13 innings, at an average of 92.54. He is the first to go past 1000 Test runs for the year – the next-best is Angelo Mathews with 693.87.93 – AB de Villiers’ strike rate in South Africa’s second innings (51 off 58 balls), which is the third-best among South Africans who’ve scored 50 or more in a Test innings in Sri Lanka.68.50 – The average partnership in a Test innings between Sangakkara and Kaushal Silva. In 11 partnerships, they’ve added 685 runs, with one century and five half-century stands. The last three partnerships (including this one) have yielded 97, 98 and 96 runs.8 – The number of wickets in the match for Dilruwan Perera, the Sri Lankan offspinner. It’s the first instance of eight or more wickets in a match for a Sri Lankan right-arm spinner in almost four years – the last such instance was in August 2010, when Suraj Randiv took 9 for 162 against India in Colombo.

Phillip Hughes’ death brings to mind the grief felt across Australia at the passing of brilliant, humble 23-year-old Archie Jackson 81 years ago

Greg Growden03-Dec-2014An electrical storm was about to hit Sydney. The clouds were swirling, darkening. Last Sunday afternoon, many did not venture outside. They had obviously looked out to the west, seen what was coming from over the Blue Mountains, and thought it best to stay under cover.Maybe that’s why the Field of Mars Cemetery in Ryde was near-deserted. Two women, walking a Jack Russell that was clearly irritated to be on a lead, were having a brief sit-down, leaning up against a palm tree. Two or three cricket pitches away, in the Methodist Section, was the only other person in the cemetery grounds. He was slowly running his fingers along the front of a red granite gravestone, getting emotional when they went over four special words.

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Eighty-one years earlier, this spot was the scene of overwhelming grief. Thousands had arrived at the cemetery to mourn the tragic end of a precocious sporting talent. People had walked for hours to this out-of-the-way spot to pay their respects.As with today, when a nation struggles to comprehend the sudden loss of a special cricketer, in February 1933, Australia found it difficult to comprehend why such a mighty athlete, “our Archie Jackson”, had been taken. He was only 23.As police cordoned off the crowd at Field of Mars, six distraught Australian Test cricket team-mates took on the duty of pallbearers, picked up the casket and walked it through the cemetery grounds.At the front were Victor Richardson and Bill Woodfull. Behind them were Bill Ponsford, Don Bradman, Bert Oldfield and Stan McCabe. When they eventually arrived at the gravesite, Alan Kippax replaced McCabe, who had suddenly been taken ill.As the body was lowered, Reverend Sam McKibbin, who, due to the dying wishes of Archie, had travelled from Singleton for the burial address, said: “All over the British Empire there will be a sense of disappointment and loss today, as we lay beneath the sod the body, whose short but brilliant career started in such a blaze of glory and now ends in this sudden way. Words are but poor instruments to express the things we feel.”In the Referee newspaper that weekend, editor JC Davis wrote: “It is sad to realise that such a beautiful flower of the cricket field should pass almost just as it became a full bloom. And what a wonder bloom!”

Bradman described Jackson as “tall and slim, rather lethargic and graceful in his movements”

It had been the most trying of summers. Just a month earlier, the Bodyline series had become venomous. Woodfull and Oldfield had been hit during the Adelaide Test. The crowd had threatened to jump the fence. Now those who had been battered by Larwood and Co had lost their dear colleague to tuberculosis. Some found it hard to cope.Archie was not just loved by his fellow cricketers. He was admired by all who had met him in day-to-day life, or observed him when he had on the cricketing crèmes. A quiet, self-effacing character who grew up in the tough working-class waterside suburb of Balmain, he was humble, forever thinking of his fellow man.Like the rest of his impoverished family, he had it tough for considerable stretches of his short life. Alan Kippax and HV (Bert) Evatt, later to become leader of the Federal Parliament Labor Party, helped him when funds were short, always ensuring that his Balmain club membership was paid for and he had the required cricketing equipment.On the field, Jackson was a poet. He played cricket with a flourish. Daring. The word most commonly used to describe his batting was “elegant”. Bradman described him as “tall and slim, rather lethargic and graceful in his movements”.In his celebrated biography, David Frith described Archie as “the Keats of cricket”. Another delicate, romantic talent who, at 25, departed far too early, also from tuberculosis.Earlier on February 18, 1933, the Australian XI team had formed a guard of honour at Central Railway Station when the coffin arrived on the Brisbane Express. The Sydney Morning Herald described it as “a pathetic scene”.Then on to his parents’ house in Drummoyne, where the funeral procession began for Field of Mars – a brisk four-mile, hour-and-a-half walk away. The coffin went along Victoria Road and Lyons Road, with the crowd three or four deep virtually all the way.Jackson’s grave in the Field of Mars cemetery•Getty ImagesThe SMH reported: “Long before the hour appointed for the cortege to leave the house, crowds began to pour into Drummoyne from neighbouring suburbs. The funeral passed through densely packed streets. As it went by Gladesville Park, a number of young lads were playing Jackson’s favourite game. As soon as the cortege was sighted, play ceased, and was not resumed for a time.”Jackson was, after all, one of them. He had begun his first-grade career with the Balmain club when just 15 years and one month old. His biggest problem at that young age was not how to handle his mature cricketing opponents, all wanting to put this upstart in his spot, but his dangerous habit of sleepwalking. So concerned was his father that Archie would walk off the balcony of their original Balmain terrace, his bedroom door handle had to be tied up.When the teenager established himself as one of the mightiest of Sydney batting talents, his sleep patterns improved. Eventually Mr Jackson was able to untie the bedroom door.Representative cricket soon followed, and before he was 20, Archie was in the Australian team. There was no quiet initiation period.After his first Test innings, in February 1929, cricket writers were describing Archie as a “national hero”. Not surprising considering that it was a near-faultless innings of 164 against England at the Adelaide Oval. Even when advised by his batting partner, Bradman, to be careful in compiling his century, Jackson opted against inhibition. He instead hit the next ball from Larwood to the point boundary. The Members Stand stood as one. They stood again when he passed three figures.It again involved Larwood, who later wrote: “He cover-drove me to bring up his hundred… That ball was delivered as fast as any I had ever bowled previously. That glorious stroke has lived in my memory to this day for its ease and perfect timing. I am sure that few among the many thousands present sighted the ball as it raced to the boundary.”There was a darker side. When his innings was finally finished, Jackson was near exhaustion. Team-mate Stork Hendry said that Archie was limp when he returned to the rooms. “We had to mop him with cold towels,” Stork said. “Poor little devil.”From then on, ill-health blighted his career. He suffered badly after an operation to remove his tonsils, losing more than 6kg. He often had to withdraw from matches due to various issues, which included a bout of influenza brought about by being caught in a storm when crossing the Hawkesbury River once.

“Well Harold, it’s only a game, but what a grand one we’re having today! You know, you’ve hit me almost as many times as I’ve hit you! I wish you’d drop one a little off line occasionally”

Then before the NSW-Queensland match in Brisbane at the start of the 1931-32 season, Jackson collapsed and was rushed to hospital after coughing up blood in the dressing room.Jackson thought he had influenza, was discharged within a week, and returned to Sydney with the NSW team. The Australian Board of Control, concerned by the collapse, installed him at Bodington, a Red Cross sanatorium in the Blue Mountains, in the hope the problem could be traced.Then seeking treatment for psoriasis, Jackson went to the Calvary Hospital, Adelaide, in July 1932. A short time later an Adelaide physician sent a confidential report to the New South Wales Cricket Association that confirmed that Jackson had “pneumonary tuberculosis with fairly extensive involvement of the lungs”.The following year, Jackson collapsed again. This prompted him and his girlfriend, Phyllis Thomas, to announce their engagement. He also moved to Brisbane in the hope that warmer weather would improve his condition. It didn’t.At 12.15am on February 16, 1933 – a short time after Ponsford, Woodfull, Arthur Mailey, Len Darling, George Duckworth and England manger Plum Warner had visited him at the Ingarfield Private Hospital in Brisbane – Archibald Jackson died.Even those from opposing teams struggled to believe that such a talent had departed so early, and after just eight Test appearances, which involved 474 runs at 47.4.Larwood was one of many to admire Jackson’s mixture of beauty and bravado. He recalled in the foreword to Frith’s biography Jackson’s innings of 73 during the fifth Test of the 1930 series, at The Oval.Between glorious innings, Jackson was often seriously ill•PA Photos”He was taking quite a physical beating. As he came down the wicket to level a high spot or two, he said: “Well Harold, it’s only a game, but what a grand one we’re having today! I hope you’re enjoying our battle as much as those spectators seem to be. You know, you’ve hit me almost as many times as I’ve hit you! I wish you’d drop one a little off line occasionally.”Larwood also appreciated Jackson’s sportsmanship. “One of my most cherished possessions to this day is a personal telegram sent to me by Archie while undoubtedly a very sick boy in Brisbane; it congratulated me on my bowling in that controversial Test of 1933. At the time he must have been very close to meeting his Maker, but he was still conscious enough to remember an old friend.”Two years after his death when the NSW players arrived at the dressing room at the Brisbane Cricket Ground for their match against Queensland, they discovered a photograph of Archie on the dining room table, alongside a bowl of roses. It had been left there by his fiancée to mark the second anniversary of their engagement. The players, some in tears, bowed their heads in memory of a distinguished team-mate they never forgot.

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On John Keats’ grave in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome are the words: “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.”On the other side of the world, the electrical storm had passed. The two women and their Jack Russell had long fled. The couch grass that covers the top of Archie’s grave was damp. Several weeds in the corners of an otherwise manicured grave drooped with droplets of rain.The only part of the gravestone, designed by former Test cricketer Tommy Andrews, that was dry, was right at the bottom.Where it says: “He played the game.”

The side’s new coach is taking his time with the major decisions – captaincy, overseas signings, Glen Chapple’s role – as he seeks to bring the team back to winning ways

Paul Edwards08-Jan-2015Ashley Giles was a proud and skilful cricketer. He was also a very patient one. The former England spinner would probably admit that many of his 143 Test wickets were owed to rashness on the part of batsmen deliciously unaware of the trap that was being prepared for them. It is, therefore, not that surprising to find that two months into his new job as Lancashire’s director of cricket and head coach, Giles is taking his time before making some important decisions.For example, the name of the county’s new captain may not be known until the players’ half-term break in February. Before then, there should be a couple of announcements about overseas signings, but these are “massive decisions” and no names have been revealed yet. As for Andrew Flintoff, Giles will have a talk with his old England colleague when he returns from Australia. “Freddie’s a difficult man to pin down but we’ll have a chat,” Giles says. “I’m not going to say any more at the moment.”One player Giles is happy to talk about, though, is Simon Kerrigan. Whatever its effects might be on Lancashire’s fortunes over the next few summers, Giles’ appointment could almost have been designed to further the development of a cricketer who is still a mere 25 years old.The coach has already drily observed that Kerrigan is a different type of slow left-armer to himself but the contrasts do not end there. Whereas Giles established himself in the England side, performing with distinction in most of his 54 Tests, Kerrigan’s single international game to date was not a happy experience, thanks, in part, to the gentle mercies of Shane Watson.So the old head has a lot to teach his young spinner and he is plainly relishing every opportunity to do so, even if his first piece of advice to Kerrigan has been to forget about England.”It’s been great so far,” Giles says, “We’ve done a little bit of stuff but now Simon’s pulled a muscle under his left arm, so he’s not been able to do much recently. It’s a great opportunity for me to work with him. His experiences with England haven’t gone as well as he would have liked, but he’s got a huge amount of ability. My first aim is to get him back enjoying his cricket and performing well for Lancashire. He can forget all the other stuff. If it comes back to him, great.

“If Simon Kerrigan’s bowling as well as he can, there aren’t any better left-arm spinners in the country. We’ll get him there”

“If we can do the little things right, the rest takes care of itself. I don’t get overly technical with him. You need a couple of things you can fall back on, not a million things. If Simon Kerrigan’s bowling as well as he can, there aren’t any better left-arm spinners in the country. We’ll get him there.”Where exactly “there” might be is left undefined, and perhaps there is no harm in that. Already we have the curiously persuasive paradox that in order to give himself the best chance of playing for England, Kerrigan has to forget about doing so.But, hang on, surely forgetting about England is a good plan for Giles, too.”Yes, absolutely,” he says, as he reflects on his time as one-day coach of the national side and his attempt to replace Andy Flower last spring. “It was an interesting experience for me but this has given me a whole new focus.”I drifted a little bit during the summer and at times wondered if I would get back into it, but this is a fantastic opportunity. The size of the club and its support and the expectation makes it similar to my role at Warwickshire.”So, a little as it was for the former Lancashire coach Peter Moores and rather as it is for Kerrigan, Old Trafford has become a place of recovery and reconnection for Giles. Were not the pressures to succeed so great, one would almost be tempted to compare Lancashire’s home to Craiglockhart Hospital, where shell-shocked World War I officers were treated after suffering the traumas of a profoundly different type of national service.It is six to five and pick ’em what the reaction of Lancashire supporters will be to Giles’ approach. Most appeared calmed by the departure of Mike Watkinson in the autumn but a fair few would probably like to know who the new skipper will be. Giles can’t oblige them here but he can provide something of a profile.”I’ve got a list of requirements,” he says. “In an ideal world, he’d be local and able to play all formats, heavily respected and liked to a degree, although being liked as a captain is not everything. But it’s such a big decision and I’m still sitting on it.”For the moment Giles is assessing the players who are going through their strength-and-conditioning work at Old Trafford. He has spoken to all the playing staff but admits there are a couple he might not recognise if they walked in to the indoor school.No one, though, should confuse an absence of announcements with a lack of deep thought on Giles’ part. He knows what it takes to win the County Championship and is on record as saying that his aim is to build a Lancashire side capable of challenging for the title consistently. He is simply assessing what needs to be done to achieve that.”I don’t think I’ve changed very much,” Giles says. “I’m sure the way I do things is slightly different to the way they have been done, but that’s just me and there’s only so many ways you can run these programmes. It takes a little bit of time to see how things operate. It’s about having good people around me, putting good structures in place, being professional, working hard and having discipline.”If we do those things, we’ll get pretty close, but it’s important we create our own culture and our own ethic. Since winning the title in 2011, Lancashire have yo-yoed and we can do without that.”Helping Giles develop a strategy designed to achieve excellence and stability will be former captain Glen Chapple, who is looking to make the transition from player to coach as quickly as possible and has challenged Lancashire’s seamers to hasten his retirement.”Working with Glen is great but that’s a feeling-out process as well,” Giles says. “I have a huge amount of respect for him – for what he’s done as a player and a captain and what he did last year as a coach. He had it rough but he knows this place inside out. He’s got a red rose running through the middle of him and I need to make the best use of that. It takes time to build a relationship but so far things have gone well.”I think we’re both agreed that we need to wean Lancashire cricket off Glen’s bowling, both for his sake and for the county’s sake. He’ll certainly play a role this year but how big a role we don’t know. We wouldn’t want him to play every game because we have to be looking forward and giving some of these guys opportunities to show themselves. Having someone of the quality of Glen as back-up or as someone who might play half the Championship games is going to be good for us.”Ultimately, though, while Giles may consult widely, he knows that the major calls will almost certainly be his to take. One also senses that he is more than happy with this situation and that he is enjoying the size of the job before him.”Glen and I will pick a side in conjunction with the captain, but ultimately I have responsibility and accountability. If it comes down to a single decision, it’s most likely to come down to me and the captain. I don’t think I’ve ever run a dictatorship but I’m not going to be a director of cricket who’s going to be sitting in the office. I’m going to be on the ground.”

Tamil Nadu didn’t look like making the knockouts for a third year in a row, but then pieces began to fall in place despite adversity

Arun Venugopal13-Mar-2015When R Prasanna injured his back after colliding with Ashok Dinda during the match against Bengal, Tamil Nadu seemed to have hit another roadblock. This was a team that given its pedigree had underachieved in recent times: after making the final in 2011-12, Tamil Nadu had failed to make the knockouts for two years in succession.At the end of the Bengal game, they had nine points from five matches, two more than the bottom-placed side. Also, with Prasanna out of action, there was to be a new captain for at least the next two games.Tamil Nadu hadn’t hit rock bottom yet, but the fear of relegation loomed. But, almost on a whim, there was a turnaround, fashioned not so much by spurts of individual brilliance as collective assault on made-to-order wickets. Other things fell in place at the right time.Abhinav Mukund was handed the captaincy, Dinesh Karthik started reeling off big knocks, M Vijay’s return from Australia was opportune, and Tamil Nadu registered innings wins over Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai. Their campaign gained enough momentum to take them to the final – a turnaround that scarcely seemed possible after that Bengal match.

TN’s top three performers

B Indrajith: 713 runs, 44.56
For a while, Indrajith had to be content with remaining in the shadow of his twin, B Aparajith. Making his first-class debut last season, Indrajith played only three games. This time, though, Indrajith made five fifties and a century to finish as his team’s third-highest run-getter.
Indrajith’s contributions came in at crucial junctures: he scored 97 and 49 against Vidarbha in the quarterfinal before making 69 against Maharashtra in the last-four clash. He also made 91 and 101 in TN’s outright wins over Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai.
“It’s heartening to see him do so well after being given a long rope,”Abhinav Mukund said.
Vijay Shankar: 577, 57.70; 8 wickets
Shankar, who shares the same personal coach as Indrajith and Aparajith, has been a revelation this season. After making 95 against Mumbai, he proceeded to hit two hundreds and two fifties in the knockouts, including a century in the second innings of the final. Shankar’s medium-pace was also a handy option, given the team’s spin-heavy composition.
“Vijay Shankar has never been a certainty and has never played at No.5. The move to push him up the order in hindsight worked out well,” Abhinav said.
Aswin Crist: 15 wickets, 25.93
Crist’s services weren’t required by his team until the game in Vadodara, and he impressed right away, picking up six wickets. He also claimed four wickets in the semi-final. Crist has shown that he can be handy with the bat, too.
“After a poor season last time, he has channeled his speed in the right direction. He is the quickest bowler in the team now,” Abhinav said.

“I don’t think anyone [in the team] believed we could qualify for the knockouts,” Mukund told ESPNcricinfo. “We were low on confidence. The UP game changed things. It came from a nothing to lose mentality.””Even before that there was something we had identified: the freedom with which our batsmen were batting in the second innings of the MP game. That was the trigger point. [We realised] people like Vijay Shankar are natural stroke-makers. For them to curb their game and replicate grafters like Prasanna or me isn’t going to work out.”[WV] Raman has backed me completely even if he has had different opinions. Credit to him and the selectors for giving me a free hand.”Some of the improvement could be traced back to work put in at the pre-season camps in Wayanad and Mumbai.”The Wayanad camp, training-wise, helped us a lot in playing five-day games. Some of us are playing five days for the first time,” Vijay Shankar, who played pivotal roles in Tamil Nadu’s quarterfinal and semifinal successes, said.Shankar also pointed out to “playing freely” as a big contributor to the results. “Maybe, we ourselves would have put ourselves under pressure [in the past]. Raman sir says, ‘the match anyway goes on till the fourth or the fifth day, so why think about it on the first day?'”Tamil Nadu are, however, aware that a few areas require remedying going forward. With L Balaji not getting any younger -Raman said after the final it was “unfair to expect him to take the load all the time” – the pace resources need replenishing.”I think we were unlucky to not have a pool of fast bowlers,” Abhinav said. “J Kaushik got injured unfortunately after one game where he bowled well.”Unfortunately, [T] Natarajan was called for a suspect action. If we had risked him playing, and had he been called again, it would have been a problem. [Aswin] Crist has come back strongly after a poor season.”The reason why Karnataka are really good is they have four really good fast bowlers. By the end of the next year, if we have six to eight fast bowlers, we will be in good shape. I had informally spoken to the chairman of selectors, [S] Sharath, about it after the Baroda and Vidarbha games.”Raman said after the final the tweaks made to the format of the competitive TNCA first-division league would help throw up more fast bowling talent.TN’s other pressing requirement is the opening slot, which has been a revolving door with KB Arun Karthick moving to Assam and M Vijay’s international commitments. “We tried it with Kaushik Gandhi and Bharath Shankar, but there were only okay performances from both. We need to start looking at those doing well in the league. It has been an open position for sometime.”Abhinav, however, said there were many positives that needed to be replicated the next season. “Our slip catching has improved by leaps and bounds, and the fielding overall has improved. We have made a conscious attempt to keep the intensity up by moving quickly between the overs and even deciding what to say on the field.”A TNCA official had said recently the team needed to be “more ruthless like Mumbai and Karnataka” to win consistently. Sharath agreed with the assessment.”We need to learn from a very good team like Karnataka. Our guys are intelligent and if the same group of players continues playing together, we will improve.”

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2015A fit-again Mohammed Shami got rid of Dwayne Smith for 6 in the fifth over•Associated PressA huge mix-up with Chris Gayle left Marlon Samuels way short of his ground three overs later•Associated PressGayle got a couple of boundaries away, but one of his slogs found Mohit Sharma at deep square leg•Associated PressThen Denesh Ramdin was bowled for a duck as West Indies slumped to 35 for 4 in the 10th over•Associated PressIt was the perfect situation for Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin to control. They took three wickets between them•Getty ImagesJason Holder was West Indies’ only source of resistance and his 64-ball 57 pushed West Indies to 182•Associated PressIndia’s chase started poorly as their openers fell when in single digits•ICCVirat Kohli looked good for his 33 but got out trying to pull one from outside off•Getty ImagesThe short ball was a useful weapon for West Indies as well on a fast WACA track•Getty ImagesAjinkya Rahane was dismissed 15 runs later, leaving India at 78 for 4•Getty ImagesThe gamble of bowling Dwayne Smith fetched the wicket of Suresh Raina for 22 and India were 107 for 5•AFPMarlon Samuels took a catch at deep square leg to remove Ravindra Jadeja with India 48 runs away•Associated PressBut MS Dhoni struck a 56-ball 45 to guide India to an eighth successive World Cup win•AFP

A close encounter between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore turned several times before a number of decisive blows from Chris Gayle won it for the visitors. ESPNcricinfo plots the various twists in the tale

Nagraj Gollapudi in Kolkata11-Apr-2015Gambhir reprieve takes heavy tollFor the second time in two matches, Gautam Gambhir utilised the life granted to him by the opposition. In the tournament opener, Mumbai Indians paid dearly for letting off the Kolkata Knight Riders captain when he was just on 1 and the team on 5. Gambhir subsequently helped the defending champions set up a dominating victory with a lot of time to spare.Today, it was the turn of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Helped by wayward bowling and terrible fielding, the Knight Riders’ opening combination of Robin Uthappa and Gambhir had raised a quickfire 53 in the Powerplay overs. Having seen Gambhir dominate spinners, Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers’ captain, asked his fast bowlers to bowl short and aggressive. Gambhir did hit and miss on a couple of occasions, but he was not unsettled.Then, batting on 31, he pulled Abu Nechim reacting to a short delivery. The ball went straight towards AB de Villiers at deep square leg. It was a straightforward catch, but de Villiers seemed to have moved in a wee bit quickly as the ball, to the South African’s utter shock, jumped out his hands. Knight Riders were 61 for 0 in the seventh over and by the time Gambhir got out six overs later, the team score had peaked to 103.Kohli’s opening gambit failsOn the eve of the match, Kohli said that this season, the trio of Chris Gayle, de Villers and himself would express themselves more freely in the batting order. Kohli walked the talk when he came out to open along with Gayle. This move was a gamble. If Kohli failed, the opposition would immediately score a big psychological point. Chasing a strong target of 178, Royal Challengers were 4 for 0 after two tight opening overs from Morne Morkel and Sunil Narine. In Morkel’s second over, Kohli pulled him strong on the front foot for the first six of the innings. But in the South African’s third over, going for another pull to a leg-side delivery, Kohli gloved into the hands of Uthappa behind the wicket. Royal Challengers were 29 for 1 after five overs.Yusuf’s double strike keeps the match in balanceIn the immediate over after Kohli’s departure, Gayle slammed debutant KC Cariappa for a straight six and then a four to help Royal Challengers to 41 for 1 after six overs. Now, the visitors needed a partnership. Dinesh Karthik, the most expensive player bought by the franchise at this auction, was the next man in, and due to his vast experience, Royal Challengers would have been hopeful for a promising stand. However, Karthik tried to cut Yusuf Pathan away from the body and was bowled before he even faced 10 balls. Mandeep Singh then hit a first-ball six to make a bold statement, but he followed it up with a rubbish reverse sweep against Yusuf’s off break that went on to his leg stump. Royal Challengers stood precariously placed at 56 for 3 after eight overs.A dropped catch, a manic 13-ball 28, and a stumping off a debutant mystery spinner – all in a day’s work for AB de Villiers•BCCIAB de Villiers raises hopes, kills it next ball Unlike in the past, de Villiers had ample time to build an innings having come to bat in the ninth over. And there was Gayle for company. Gambhir and Knight Riders were aware it was still anyone’s game with 10 overs left. Knight Riders needed another 101 runs from the final 10. Gayle was on 32. De Villiers had hit a four against Andre Russell in his first over and then charged Yusuf to loft a six to get into double digits. Then came Cariappa, the X-factor for Knight Riders. De Villiers did not care. If there was mystery about Cariappa’s spin, it was whether he actually could spin the ball big.Using the pace that Cariappa was adding to his deliveries, de Villiers cleverly hit two fours in three balls and then a straight six, powering Royal Challengers to 93 by the 12 over. But the next ball, de Villiers stepped out to attempt another straight six, missed it miserably and Uthappa whipped the bails in a flash. De Villiers walked back swiftly in embarrassment.Morkel drops Gayle once, twiceGayle was on 33 when de Villiers left. First ball of the next over, delivered by Yusuf, Gayle flicked a full toss to deep square leg. Morkel was positioned there, but fluffed the catch. Ninety-three for 4 could have become 93 for 5 and Knight Riders would have secured the match with eight overs still to go. Instead, Gayle hit a six off the last ball of that Yusuf over to keep the match in balance. In Yusuf’s following over, having taken 10 runs with a four and a six, Gayle swept the offspinner but once again waiting in the deep was Morkel. This catch was not straightforward and Morkel had to lung forward, but he still could not pick the ball up successfully. Gayle had been looking for Morkel wherever he fielded and accordingly hit his strokes. He was now on 64.The Narine over, Gayle seals itIn contrast to his team-mates, Gayle had been content playing the waiting game. He was making sure he would hit at least one big four every second over, if not every over. Now, with the match entering the final five bracket, he upped the ante. He hit consecutive sixes off Shakib Al Hassan to reduce the margin to 31 from the final three overs. Gambhir then straightway went to his master key: Narine.So far in the match, Gayle had not bothered his Caribbean team-mate. In fact, he had been beaten on a few occasions by Narine’s turn. Gambhir had specifically left Narine for the end. This was the most crucial over. But Narine started with a loose, short delivery, which Gayle pulled between the wide long on and deep mid-wicket fielders. When Gambhir moved deep mid-wicket to his right, Gayle hit another four in the exact spot where the deep mid wicket was standing previous ball. When Harshal Patel jumped out of his crease to hit Narine for a straight six, Royal Challengers needed 14 runs from the final two overs.Gayle virtually sealed it with a first-ball six from Morkel. It did not matter that he got himself run out the next ball. He had got Royal Challengers across the line. If he had failed, it was falling short of a century by four runs. Even the partisan Kolkata crowd which was only chanting “KKR, KKR” throughout the first innings eventually changed sides and started screaming “RCB, RCB” after Gayle’s measured assault.

As Kevin Pietersen continues his pursuit of an improbable England return, we look at some other candidates with bouncebackability

Alan Gardner24-Mar-2015Geoff Boycott
The greatest scion of a Yorkshire dynasty of rhubarb-wielders, Boycott became the leading run-scorer in Test cricket while at same time winding up a large proportion of fans, administrators and team-mates. Sort of a batting anti-Pietersen, he was once dropped after scoring a double-hundred too slowly. Boycott excused himself from international selection for three years between 1974 and 1977, fretting about Yorkshire’s decline and supposedly unhappy at not being made England captain. Returned to play 45 more Tests, his talents undimmed – as evidenced by Ian Botham’s decision to run him out in Christchurch the following year.Brian Close
The youngest man to appear in a Test for England, Close was quite a bit more grizzled when he played for the last time against the West Indies in 1976, aged 45. Recalled after a nine-year absence, Close was helpfully namechecked by Tony Greig in his infamous quote about making the tourists “grovel”. At Old Trafford, in what was his final Test innings, Close withstood a fearsome short-ball barrage from the West Indians for two-and-a-half hours. Hard as they come, Close could probably still teach the current England side a thing or two about how to play Mitchell Johnson. If not quite as much with the chest.Ian Botham
England’s knight errant, Botham was the original comeback king. Given the captaincy aged 24, he quit after 12 Tests, during the 1981 Ashes – and promptly orchestrated England’s 500-1 turnaround triumph at Headingley. Five years later, he returned from a ban for smoking cannabis and took wickets with his first and 12th balls to pass Dennis Lillee’s Test record. “Who writes your scripts?” wondered Graham Gooch. Botham’s antics wrote tabloid headlines but he was back for a final hurrah in 1991, when he failed to get his leg over (for once) against West Indies, before helping England to the World Cup final.Andrew Flintoff
Another crowd-pleaser with bouncebackability. Flintoff rode the England rollercoaster for a decade and ended up being likened to the messiah – but he was also capable of being a very naughty boy. The “Fredalo” incident at the 2007 World Cup, following on from captaining England to an Ashes whitewash, might have left lesser mortals all washed up but Flintoff grabbed the limelight again by dominating the Australians with his famous arms-outstretched pose in 2009. That and he ran out Ricky Ponting. Has since resurrected his playing career with Lancashire and Brisbane Heat but might be better advised to stick to singing.Peter Moores
Moores didn’t play at international level – he got no further than keeping wicket for Sussex – but is part of an exclusive club of coaches to have taken charge of the same country twice. On the day that he was reappointed in 2014, Pietersen tweeted: “Everyone deserves a 2nd chance!” The subtext was clear – Pietersen, who helped get Moores the sack first time around, was admitting to an error of judgement and tacitly endorsing the man described by Paul Downton as “the outstanding coach of his generation”. That or he was just trying to get his place back. Either way, the point still stands.

And one we’d like to see return…

WG Grace
In some ways, he has never really gone away. The “Doctor” played for England at 50 and first-class cricket at nearly 60, so neither retirement nor death might be considered insurmountable obstacles. Still a genuine rival to Pietersen as one of the most recognisable faces in English cricket and with a similar-sized ego – though Grace is certainly more welcome at Lord’s, where his statue can be seen playing a crisp front-foot block. Might need to rein in the gambling and work on his fitness but, on the plus side, is unlikely to find that the game in England has moved on much since his time.

Though Nepal’s preparations for the World T20 qualifier were hit by the recent earthquake, Sharad Vesawkar believes the tragedy has strengthened the players to succeed against all odds

Amol Karhadkar28-May-2015Over the next three-four days, all of Nepal’s key cricketers arrive in New Delhi. Not just because the Indian capital is the most convenient city before proceeding to Dharamsala for their preparatory camp ahead of the World Twenty20 qualifier.More importantly, the Nepal squad won’t be able to board a flight to the UK for the World T20 qualifier without halting in New Delhi. The UK consulate in Kathmandu was one among many buildings to suffer major damage due to the earthquake on April 25. Nepal’s cricketers will have to complete visa formalities at the consulate in New Delhi.Sharad Vesawkar, one of the biggest names in Nepal cricket, was the first to reach New Delhi. The top-order batsman had to submit his passport to the consulate, after having spent the last fortnight in Mumbai.Vesawkar is no stranger to Mumbai. His brother has been residing in the city for well over a decade. But this trip was different from all his previous ones. Three months ago, when Vesawkar came to Mumbai for his wedding, the family was in the mood to celebrate. But come May, things were different when he and his mother arrived in Mumbai.”The kind of devastation we have seen back home had never been imagined by anyone. The earthquake has resulted in so much destruction that it was extremely difficult to think about cricket for the first fortnight or so,” Vesawkar says, wearing his Cricket Association of Nepal jersey at a coffee shop in a Mumbai suburb.Since Nepal’s big assignment, the World T20 qualifier, was barely two months away, Vesawkar started training a couple of weeks after the April 25 earthquake. But it resulted in an injury. “Two days before the next big quake [on May 12], I was jogging on the streets and twisted my right ankle. It was so badly swollen that I couldn’t even put my foot on the ground.”I was in the house and had to run when I just couldn’t. It was very scary. We managed to get on to the street and thankfully, there wasn’t much damage to the house but during the rush, I ended up aggravating my ankle even more. So I decided to start the rehab by resting here in Mumbai.”The earthquake destroyed what little cricket infrastructure the country had. Featuring in the 2014 World Twenty20 was Nepal’s biggest achievement on the international stage but the earthquake destroyed their only two “proper turf wickets”. And he is not sure when the handful of games that used to be played – “not more than 10 to 15 matches in a year for national cricketers” – would resume.”Thankfully, most cricketers in the national team and their families haven’t suffered much. But when you see destruction all around you, cricket takes a backseat. It is the livelihood that you are bothered most about. And that’s what happened with all of us.”The earthquake also coincided with what would have been the beginning of Nepal’s preparations for the World T20 qualifier. After finishing fourth in the World Cricket League Division Two in January, Nepal didn’t have any international commitments till the World T20 qualifier in July. The Cricket Association of Nepal had chalked out a two-month preparatory programme, which was to start in May. But the earthquake rendered the plan useless.”Thankfully for us, the BCCI has offered a helping hand and Nepal cricket and Nepali people would always be grateful for their wholehearted gesture,” says Vesawkar.As he leaves to pack his bags for Delhi, Vesawkar assures that in July the Nepal players will not be bogged down. “I am sure the calamity has given us more strength to succeed against odds. We will emerge stronger and give our best.”Having become the first from Nepal to appear in a world event of a team sport, it is our responsibility to qualify again. If we can do that, it will be some sort of a soothing balm for our countrymen.”

We asked readers what their favourite season of the IPL is

29-Apr-2015John Dallman
The very first season was my favourite simply because it was new and strange. One didn’t know what to expect, and Brendon McCullum’s 158 in the first match answered that: spectacular, dramatic play. The subsequent seasons have not had the same drama. They’ve been good, but they’ve been within the pattern set by the first one.Freddie Wilde
The IPL 2012 was the season when the cricket outgrew its Bollywood stimulant. Kolkata Knight Riders, a team in turmoil in the early seasons, placed cricket first, embraced Moneyball, and won. The IPL was about cricket, and the cricket was serious. The most successful teams on the pitch are now the most popular teams off it.Pranam
IPL 2010 for RCB! We had a bunch of great people in our squad. Legends like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis; veterans like Kevin Pietersen, Dale Steyn, Mark Boucher, Ross Taylor; local talents like Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Vinay Kumar (Dravid and Kumble too); and some Indian non-locals like Virat Kohli (we still have him), Praveen Kumar and many more.Abhijeet
I think the 2009 season of the IPL was the best. The conditions in South Africa made it an equal contest between bat and ball and there was no added advantage to either side. It was also a keenly-contested season and the sheer brilliance from Gilly [Adam Gilchrist] made it even better.Abhishek Reji
IPL 2012 was my favourite. Most matches going down to the wire, the most deserving players got the Orange and Purple Caps (Chris Gayle and Morne Morkel). It was simply stunning to see Sunil Narine baffle batsmen in 2012.Nishant Dogra
My favourite season of IPL was 2008. It was something new for the audience to see Sachin Tendulkar open with Sanath Jayasuriya for Mumbai Indians, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag for Delhi Daredevils, and some foreign flavour in a domestic tournament. We had unexpected champions in Rajasthan Royals. New stars began to rise: the likes of Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, M Vijay, R Ashwin, and the list go on.Maroof Fajandar
My favourite season of the IPL till now has been the third one because until then the growth of the IPL was upwards. We saw innovation and creativity: every edition had something new coming until then. However, after that it has become the same thing over and over. It’s run very much like how the ICC operates world cricket. It is not ‘cricketainment’ anymore.Afnan Junaidi
My favourite IPL season was IPL 7. The first leg was in the UAE. Players performing in the desert, tickets being sold out and Maxi’s [Glenn Maxwell’s] raining sixes. We want the first leg of every IPL season to be in the UAE.Prajval J
My favourite season was 2013 because the legend of cricket – the one and only Sachin Tendulkar – played his final IPL for the Mumbai Indians.Parag Jain
My favourite season of the IPL is the first season because the excitement was at its peak as it was the first time something like this was happening in India. Another reason is the performance of the winners, Rajasthan Royals. Before the tournament started, Royals looked the weakest, but one foreign captain took the trophy away from seven Indian captains. It was amazing!Venkatesh Ramachandran
2011 is my favorite IPL season because it had more IPL games and teams.

Kagiso Rabada has gone rapidly from 6 for 25 in the Under-19 World Cup semi-final to 9 for 33 in a first-class innings to 6 for 16 on ODI debut. Who knows how much better is to come

Firdose Moonda10-Jul-2015If anybody thought Kagiso Rabada’s best was on display when he took 6 for 25 in the Under-19 World Cup semi-final against Australia last February, they were wrong. The young man had better in him.That much should have been obvious when the triumphant U-19 side returned home to be presented to fans at a Test match at Newlands. Their seniors were being flayed by a buoyant Australia – the seniors of the men Rabada had torn apart just a few days before – so the U-19s were a welcome distraction for South Africans looking for something to be cheerful about and Rabada an immediate hero. Even his team-mates thought so.”Do you know he has a franchise contract lined up?” the likes of captain Aiden Markram, who was the team’s top-scorer in the World Cup, and Corbin Bosch, the all-rounder who starred in the final, were whispering among each other, within earshot of the media.”Does anyone else have a franchise contract they are discussing?” I remember asking. “No, just him,” the bright-eyed boys said. They were obviously in awe.So were the suits at the Johannesburg-based Lions franchise, who made sure they secured Rabada’s signature before anyone else.Ten days after Rabada was presented to the crowd at Newlands, he made his first-class debut for one of their provincial affiliates – the teams that feed into the franchise squads – Gauteng. He took 3 for 28 in the first innings and went wicketless in the second. The next week, he had a match return of 4 for 66. Neither performance was particularly spectacular, but the week after that, Rabada was promoted to the franchise side. Clearly, big things were expected of him.”I knew about Kagiso from the time he was at school and I knew he was a player to keep a close eye on and I wanted him in my team,” Geoffrey Toyana, the Lions coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “His reputation was that he was fast, so fast that he didn’t take as many wickets as he should have at school level. He was actually too quick for the guys he was playing against – they couldn’t even nick him off.”At professional level, the batsmen were more capable of handling the pace but equally flummoxed by Rabada’s guile, which was remarkably well developed for a young man. “From the beginning, he had a lot of control but it’s also something he really worked at,” Toyana said. “He spent a lot of time at the Wanderers, in the nets, with (bowling coach) Gordon Parsons, with the other bowlers.”Rabada consumed cricket and it consumed him. Shortly after the domestic season ended, he was picked for the South Africa A squad to play in Australia and before that could even happen, was also included as a non-playing member of the national team, which went to a triangular series in Zimbabwe. In three months, Rabada had gone from schoolboy to sporting sensation.When the next summer began and Rabada’s U-19 team-mates were contemplating things like whether to begin tertiary education or whether they may be picked up by a provincial side, Radaba made his international debut in a T20 series against Australia. He only took one wicket in three matches but impressed Allan Donald, who was then South Africa’s bowling coach and gave Rabada a glowing review.”He is a young pup. He asks great questions. I am blown away by the knowledge he has got at 19,” Donald said. “He wants it badly. He is a great athlete, he has got immaculate work ethic and he has got some gas. He is built like a race horse, a thoroughbred and that’s exciting.” Donald predicted Rabada’s “time will come,” but he didn’t know how quickly the clock was ticking.Rabada returned home to find himself a full-fledged member of Lions’ pack and in his 10th first-class match, he became their leader. Against Dolphins, Rabada took a record off none other than the leader of South Africa’s attack Dale Steyn. He claimed 5 for 72 in the first innings and 9 for 33 in the second, to finish with 14 for 105 – the best bowling figures in a first-class match in the franchise era. Steyn had produced 14 for 110 seven seasons earlier.”What was so amazing about that performance was the way he kept coming back,” Toyana said. “Sometimes when a bowler takes a five-for, he thinks his work is done and then he relaxes but after he did that in the first innings, he wanted more. He ran in hard in the second innings and just kept taking wickets.”But if anybody thought Rabada’s best was on display that day, they were also wrong. The young man had better in him.There were glimpses of it during the first T20 in Bangladesh, Rabada’s first full international tour in which he features in the squad for every format. In conditions which are supposed to be tough for seamers, Rabada put on an impressive short-ball display and although he was expensive, his aggression would not have gone amiss. Still, he was not picked for the next match.”Dropped” is not a word South Africa use too freely, “rotated” is more like it, but whatever it was, it seems Rabada does not want it to happen to him again. When picked for the first ODI, he made himself undroppable with a jaw-dropping performance that included only the second hat-trick on debut and the best figures by a bowler on ODI debut. Ever.If anybody thinks Rabada’s best was on display during his 6 for 16 in Dhaka on Friday, chances are they are wrong too. Who knows how much better is to come.