A round-up of the Dhaka Premier League matches played on May 6, 2016

Mohammad Isam06-May-2016Mohammedan Sporting Club leapfrogged Gazi Group Cricketers on the points table by beating them in Mirpur by seven wickets, thereby putting themselves in second place behind Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club.The win was set up through four-wicket hauls from left-arm spinners Enamul Haque jnr and Naeem Islam jnr. After being inserted, Gazi Group made a decent start but from 63 for two, they collapsed to 110 for 8. Only captain Alok Kapali hung around to make a 67-ball 48; he was the last man out in the 38th over, as Gazi Group were bowled out for 141. The two other wickets went to Habibur Rahman.Mohammedan lost Ezaz Ahmed early but Upul Tharanga and Shykat Ali added 76 for the second wicket to keep the chase on track, before Naeem Islam and Ariful Haque took them home in 31.5 overs.Kalabagan Krira Chakra secured their first win of the tournament by beating Cricket Coaching School by 49 runs in Fatullah. The win was set up by Hamilton Masakadza’s 104-ball 115, which included ten fours and two sixes. Opener Shadman Islam chipped in with 47 off 63 balls as Kalabagan made 270 for 9. The bowlers then, led by Abdur Razzak kept CCS to 221 for 8.Having been sent in, Kalabagan lost Jashimuddin early, but Islam and Masakadza laid a strong base with a 74-run partnership for the second wicket. After Islam offered a return catch to Rajin Saleh in the 18th over, Masakadza combined well with Tasamul Haque for a 77-run stand. Masakadza pressed on to score his seventh List-A century, also his second in the Dhaka Premier League, having made one in 2013. Nasum Ahmed took three wickets while Salman Hossain and Uttam Sarkar claimed two each.CCS began positively in the chase, with opener Pinak Ghosh and Saif Hasan taking their side to 89 for 1 by the 22nd over. Razzak then had Ghosh caught by captain Mashrafe Mortaza and a ball later, the left-arm spinner pinned Salman Hossain lbw for a duck. When Nasum Ahmed holed out for 5 in the 27th over, CSS were reduced to 106 for 5. Uttam Sarkar mounted late resistance, with 63 off 74 balls, but his team eventually came up short. Mashrafe complemented Razzak by picking up two wickets.Legends of Rupganj picked up their second victory in the competition by thumping Kalabagan Cricket Academy by 29 runs (D/L method) in a rain-affected match at the BKSP-3 ground.Batting first, Rupganj posted 239 for 9 in 50 overs with Asif Ahmed top-scoring with 82 and Sajjadul Haque making 70. Asif and Sajjadul revived their side’s innings with a131-run sixth-wicket after Rupganj had slipped to 81 for 5 in the 24th over. Seamer Abu Jayed took four wickets while Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Rifat Pradhan took two each.Rain reduced KCA’s chase to a 25-over innings, and their revised target was 171. KCA slipped to 85 for 7 inside 15 overs before Taposh Ghosh and Bishawnath Halder added 56 runs for the unbroken eighth-wicket stand. The Taposh-Halder stand, however, was not enough as KCA restricted to 141. Mosharraf Hossain and Nahidul Islam led Rupganj’s charge by picking two wickets each.

Phil Simmons, West Indies’ head coach, has praised Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard for their contributions in West Indies’ four-wicket win against South Africa in Providence

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2016Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine were controversial inclusions in West Indies’ squad for the ODI tri-series. They had not played international cricket since November 2015, and did not take part in West Indies’ domestic 50-over competition, which was considered to be one of the WICB’s criteria for selection.The two of them, however, proved the match-winners in the opening game of the tournament, with Narine’s 6 for 27, the best ODI figures by a West Indies spinner, helping bowl South Africa out for 188 and Pollard’s unbeaten, run-a-ball 67 sealing a four-wicket win.Phil Simmons, West Indies’ head coach, praised the pair’s contributions, highlighting Narine’s effort to bounce back from a difficult period, in which he has remodeled his bowling action after it was found to be illegal.”They are the two guys who took the game away from South Africa, and it showed that they’re very important to our cricket,” Simmons said. “Narine himself, coming back from everything he’s been through, to come and perform the way he did today, you have to give him a lot of kudos for his grit and his determination, to come out of where he’s been and to come back and perform like this.”Pollard showed his ball-striking ability by hitting six sixes, but waited for the right moments to play his big shots on a sluggish pitch. West Indies were a slightly shaky 76 for 4 when he walked in and took over.”Pollard’s experience showed there,” Simmons said “His ability to hit the ball but also his experience to guide young [Darren] Bravo and so on through the end. [It] showed in [South Africa’s] innings too, [AB] de Villiers guiding [Rilee] Rossouw. And also, I think we came out and [showed] a little bit more grit and a little bit more determination today.”Simmons was heartened by what he felt was an improved fielding display from his side.”I think, again, the bowling has been fantastic and the fielding is getting to where I would like to see, it’s improving all the time,” he said. “Everybody knows that we can bowl and we can bat, but the fielding in particular has been improving and that has helped in us keeping teams to low scores.”

Offspinner Jeetan Patel sparked a Surrey collapsed and ended with a ten-wicket match haul as Warwickshire raced to victory

Tim Wigmore at Guildford04-Jul-2016
ScorecardJeetan Patel took a ten-wicket match haul to rout Surrey•PA Photos

Warwickshire have won two Championship crowns this century. Each has been defined less by thrilling cricket than a remorseless, unyielding spirit: in 2012 the side drew nine of their 16 games but lost just one; in 2004 Warwickshire were undefeated, but won only five of their 16 matches.This is a side that shares the characteristics of those victorious teams. Brimming with depth in batting and bowling, the Warwickshire vintage of 2016 has a hard, attritional edge. Perhaps that derives from their experience: eight members of the team to thrash Surrey inside three days are aged 29 or over, including five who are 33 or above.All five of those played crucial roles in this match. Jonathan Trott made a high-class century, putting on century stands with both Ian Bell and Tim Ambrose. Returning to the ground on which he learned the game, Rikki Clarke ensured a happy homecoming with a high-class spell with the old ball. Deliveries that jagged late snared Aaron Finch and Sam Curran in consecutive overs, and there was a fine slip catch, too, to claim Tom Curran.But best of all was Jeetan Patel. In an age that fetishes mystery offspin, Patel is a flagbearer for the best of the orthodox art. He has no need for a doosra while bowling with such subtlety and immaculate control, varying his pace, trajectory and delivery point on the crease. His arm-balls recognise that the most dangerous delivery can sometimes be that which does not turn at all. Each of his 46 overs in the game was a distillation of the nous acquired over 16 years and 219 first-class matches.”It’s such a tight league that you have to call on experience to win games. That experience also has to help the youngsters coming through and it is – it’s an exciting time for Warwickshire,” Patel said, suggesting that the new toss regulations might have helped a side with Warwickshire’s character. “It has made it more attritional and scrappy. Teams are playing on flatter wickets which means you’ve got to work harder and do the right things at the right time.”There is a sense that this year represents the generation of 2012’s last viable chance of a repeat. Warwickshire this year are borrowing much from the 2012 template: six of their nine games to date have been draws.That this game ended with such alacrity could be explained by the contrast between Surrey’s spin twins, normally so admirable, and Patel. Zafar Ansari and Gareth Batty ended the match with combined figures of 1 for 135 from 32 overs; Patel ended with 10 for 123, following his first innings 5 for 62 with 5 for 61 in the second innings.In the process of this game his haul of first-class wickets for Warwickshire cleared that for Wellington: a small symbol of how, in a county that has been blessed with some of the most mesmerising overseas players in the game, Patel has established himself as an undemonstrative recruit of enduring worth. He now has 270 first-class wickets for Warwickshire at 26.73 apiece, to go with 2101 runs at 27.28, a record that marks him out as the premier overseas player around.”After spending seven years here, I’m probably an adopted Brummie,” he reflected. “I get opportunities to play here and keep playing the game I love. I want to keep winning games for Warwickshire, I want to my titles. It’s up to me as the overseas player to show that professionalism and today was my day.”He has plenty of them. Warwickshire have a bowling attack whose variety and depth is only challenged by Yorkshire, as was exemplified here. The left-armer Keith Barker bowled an outstanding, luckless spell with the old ball before tea; Clarke jagged the ball around with pace and bounce; and the beanpole Boyd Rankin finished Surrey off, leaving Josh Poysden’s legspin virtually unused. Chris Wright, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Mark Adair and, England commitments withstanding, Chris Woakes are all ready to augment the attack, but, even at 36, Patel’s worth stands out above all others.”I want to play for as long as I can,” he said. “You’re a long time retired. Yes, I’m a little bit older but I still feel I’ve got a lot to give – whether that’s in a bowling capacity or a coaching capacity or whatever it is.”On this evidence, Patel will be bowling for Warwickshire for a fair while after his current contract expires, at the end of this summer. “This is handy to go into negotiations with something like this behind my back – we’ll work something out I would have thought.”Surrey’s batsmen could not work Patel out. Until Steven Davies made a sprightly 44, immune to the crumbling edifice of Surrey’s batting order, only Zafar Ansari and Rory Burns offered any resistance worthy of the name.After the early loss of Arun Harinath, the two combined for an alliance of 102 runs in 41.2 overs, including the entire afternoon session, as a rather somnolent air engulfed Guildford on a gloomy day: attritional cricket and an unseasonal wind were far from the idyllic image of festival cricket.Then Patel intervened. Rather aptly, Burns was dismissed not by an ill-judged shot but by the lack of one: he was snared playing on as he tried to withdraw his bat. Two overs later, Ansari was surprised by a delivery with extra bounce, and edged to short leg. Then, “the right-handers came in, we threw the ball into the footmarks, and boom,” as Patel put it.Ben Foakes was lbw to an arm ball; Tom Curran edged obligingly to slip; and Stuart Meaker played down the wrong line. And, just like that, Surrey had lost nine wickets in the final session. Even allowing for Patel’s chicanery and overcast conditions exploited by a menacing spell from Clarke, it amounted a deeply underwhelming effort.”The batting is faulty,” Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, said. “I thought we bowled well, our bowling is moving in the right direction, but our batting isn’t. That is an issue. If you are only making scores of 270, and not batting four sessions, you are making it very hard for the bowlers. There are players with talent, but they are not battle-hardened cricketers. They will get there, but we need to see some results soon.”

Yorkshire’s limited-overs captain Alex Lees announced his intention to drop himself barely a month into the job before the NatWest Blast tie against Nottinghamshire was abandoned because of rain

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2016Yorkshire’s limited overs captain Alex Lees announced his intention to drop himself barely a month into the job before the NatWest Blast tie against Nottinghamshire was abandoned because of rain as the wettest June for years threatens to put a dampener on the competition.Less, the youngest professional to be appointed as a full-time Yorkshire captain since Lord Hawke, called his decision “a no brainer”.He said the decision was inevitable because of the availability of Root and Bairstow coupled with the form of Adam Lyth, who struck two Royal London Cup hundreds in successive days against Northants and Lancashire earlier this week.New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson was put in charge before steady rain at Headingley denied the North Group’s bottom two sides the chance to lift their ailing NatWest T20 Blast campaigns in a match chock a block with England stars including Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Notts’ Alex Hales.”For me, it was a no-brainer,” said Lees. “Obviously Rooty and Jonny come back into the team, so two had to miss out there. Adam comes into the team. You can’t not play somebody who’s just scored back-to-back hundreds off 60 balls.”It’s just a gentle reminder to everyone that nobody’s bigger than this club and going forward, we want to put out the best team that we can.”Meanwhile, Yorkshire plan to pay tribute to Jo Cox MP, who was killed by an attacker in her Batley and Spen constituency on Thursday with a minute’s silence and the players wearing black armbands in their match against Derbyshire on Sunday.

Will Smith recorded his highest first-class score to help Hampshire to a hefty first innings for 548 for 6 declared against Lancashire at the Ageas Bow

ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2016
ScorecardWill Smith’s double-century underpinned Hampshire•Getty Images

Will Smith recorded his highest first-class score to help Hampshire to a hefty first innings for 548 for 6 declared against Lancashire at the Ageas Bowl.Smith spent nine and a half hours at the crease to score 210 – eclipsing his previous best tally of 201 not out for Durham against Surrey in 2008.Smith, who is standing in for James Vince as captain in this match, had begun the day on 99 following a day of patient batting on a flat track.But he brought up his three figures with the first ball of the morning – cutting firmly to the boundary for his first ton since September 2014. The century, from 285 balls was watchful, bordering on sluggish although an important backbone for his team-mates to play their shots, on a pitch where the only gremlins came when the seam attack bowled a good length.There appeared no way to see the back of Smith, who had survived a dropped catch on 70, with history showing his two previous centuries for Hampshire both ended unbeaten.Around him Tom Alsop had departed after facing just five balls of the day as he was leg before to Tom Smith. But Liam Dawson kept the score ticking along with a fleeting 20 before he had his off stump removed by Jordan Clark.Adam Wheater added some much needed impetus with a quick 29 from 24 balls – contrasting Smith – but departed driving to Steven Croft.
That brought Ryan McLaren to the crease and started Smith’s second century stand of the innings – after the 191 put on with Jimmy Adams in the first day.In-form McLaren scored his fourth fifty of the season with a well-paced knock, adding 129 for the fifth wicket. Meanwhile, Smith edged towards the second double century of his career and finally reached it with an on-drive – 449 balls over a day and half. He soon departed looping Croft up to Simon Kerrigan at wide mid-off for 210.Lewis McManus and McLaren added extra runs as Hampshire meandered towards a declaration. The former ticked an edge behind before the latter ended unbeaten on 81, the declaration finally coming after a nicely controlled hook for six.Lancashire were given 25 overs to bat in the evening, and lost Smith in the seventh over nicking Gareth Berg behind.Berg and McLaren got good bounce and caused problems with the new ball – and the latter should have got on the wicket column when Haseeb Hameed slashed to Mason Crane at point – only for the leg spinner to drop the sharp chance.Hameed and Luke Procter reached the close 70 for 1 – still 478 behind, the follow on set at 399.

India allrounder R Ashwin said his promotion up the order had induced a conscious change of approach with the bat

Karthik Krishnaswamy in St Lucia 11-Aug-2016R Ashwin has a career strike rate of 55.35 with the bat. But in his first three innings at No. 6, he has scored his runs at 40.90. Speaking to the media after scoring his second hundred of those three innings, and becoming only the fourth allrounder ever to score two hundreds and take two five-wicket hauls in the same Test series, Ashwin said his promotion up the order had induced a conscious change of approach with the bat.”It’s difficult to try and think too far ahead [at No. 6],” Ashwin said. “That’s easily possible if you are batting at No. 7 or 8, which has happened to me before when I have batted at No. 8. When I have batted at No. 8, you think like a bowler at times and want to get a few extra runs. So I used to play a few more shots.”Thankfully I had a very good preparation one month before the series. I batted quite a lot and devised a gameplan if and when I got a chance to bat at No. 6. The idea was to knock as many balls as possible. My goal is very simple. If I get a good start, if I get to 20 runs then I’m going to capitalise on it. Then I’m going to play percentage cricket. It’s all about trying to play the percentages and trying to string together a partnership and not look too far ahead in the game.”One thing I try to do is to bat sessions. There have been times when I’ve scored hundreds in two sessions or less than two sessions. This is kind of different, but I do enjoy it. It’s time-consuming and concentration-consuming but it’s enjoyable.”Ashwin came in to bat at 87 for 4, and was joined by Wriddhiman Saha at 126 for 5. They added 213 for the sixth wicket, allowing India to post a first-innings total of 353. Ashwin said his 118, which lasted 297 balls and was his longest Test innings – could prove a “series-defining” effort.”It is indeed,” he said, when asked if he considered it a special hundred. “I mean if we look at the scenario in hindsight later on, this could very well be a series-defining knock because we were in some trouble yesterday and there was every chance that we could be skittled out and also I thought it needed a bit of application.”It was not like making a hundred back home or anywhere in the world. I’m sure about that because it was definitely not a wicket where you could just plonk your front foot and play through the line. It was a hard-fought day yesterday and it was no different today. We just hope we can capitalise on the rearguard action later tomorrow.”Given West Indies’ bowling discipline, a bit of help from the surface, and a slow outfield, Ashwin only hit six fours and a six in his innings. While Saha played his shots after negotiating the first hour of the morning session, he too went through periods of almost pure defence. Ashwin said it had been “very difficult to score” at times.”When we got together we were in quite a bit of trouble and it was one of the wickets, I don’t know whether it’s improving any bit, where you are not in at any time,” he said. “There was a good chance that you might be nicked off or you might get a good ball any time. It was very difficult to score.”So we went and bit the bullet quite hard and wanted to just stick in there even if the runs weren’t quite coming. Obviously, the results came later on. It was a good partnership and both enjoyed each other’s company to be very honest.”Having batted with Saha in the past and watched him in first-class cricket, Ashwin knew what to expect from him.”I think we’ve batted a few times in the past,” he said. “Even [in Sydney] we put together a gritty partnership. The thing with Saha is he puts a price on his wicket and he’s a damn good player of spinners. He can tonk the ball, that I know from having played first-class cricket with him.”I know Saha pretty well and the communication was sticking around rather than look for avenues to score. It was just that even if we played a couple of maiden overs, we wanted to tell each other that we need to keep going and it was not about the maiden overs they keep bowling.”During the partnership, Ashwin said he and Saha had also picked up clues that might help India’s bowlers later on.”When Saha and me were batting, we were communicating about which way the ball was swinging, what the bowler was trying to do. There was a lot of help when the bowlers bowled cross-seam, and we’ve communicated to the bowlers and we hope they will find their rhythm tomorrow as well.”West Indies began strongly in their reply, ending the second day 107 for 1, with Kraigg Brathwaite batting on 53. Ashwin said India would need to stay patient and try to capitalise whenever a new batsman was at the crease.”Long partnerships came in, one breakthrough and somebody gets into a spell. That’s what we’re looking at. If and when a couple of wickets fall, we can squeeze and jam them in.”The thing is that [West Indies] did get some momentum, I believe, from the Jamaica Test, but that’s how Test cricket is like. We didn’t come over here thinking or expecting to roll them over. They’re also a Test team, and in their home conditions, it’s going to be hard and we expected it.”

James Faulkner and Shaun Marsh have both been ruled out of Australia’s one-day tour of South Africa due to injuries

Brydon Coverdale15-Sep-20161:25

Khawaja replaces Shaun Marsh

Allrounder James Faulkner and batsman Shaun Marsh have both been ruled out of Australia’s one-day tour of South Africa due to injuries. Usman Khawaja has been called into the squad in place of Marsh, while Faulkner will not be replaced in the squad, which as a result will be reduced from 15 men to 14.Marsh suffered a fractured finger during the recent tour of Sri Lanka and while he was initially named in the ODI squad to visit South Africa, further x-rays have encouraged Australia to take a more conservative approach with him. Faulkner suffered a calf strain at Australia’s training session on Thursday, and is expected to be sidelined for up to a month.

Australia’s 14-man squad

Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, George Bailey, Scott Boland, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Joe Mennie, Chris Tremain, Matthew Wade (wk), Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa.
In: Usman Khawaja
Out: Shaun Marsh, James Faulkner

“Shaun undertook a follow up x-ray and was reviewed by specialists this week,” David Beakley, the team physio, said. “Unfortunately due to the fracture being in the joint of the finger we have decided to take a more conservative approach, therefore he will not be available for the ODI series in South Africa.”James suffered a low grade calf strain during a fitness session in Sydney today which we expect to take three to four weeks to recover. Unfortunately this means he will also be unavailable for the South Africa series.”Australia’s first ODI in South Africa is against Ireland on September 27, before they begin a five-match series against South Africa on September 30.

Australia had lost their first choice for short leg with the dropping of Joe Burns, meaning Marsh went in there for the spinners while Usman Khawaja went “under the lid” for the pacers

Daniel Brettig in Perth03-Nov-2016Shaun Marsh’s dive to catch a bat and pad chance from Temba Bavuma was a significant moment for Australia for a few reasons, quite apart from being a terrific piece of fielding.Short leg to a spinner is arguably the hardest position in the game in terms of courage and skill, leaving the fielder open to all kinds of punishment and danger when slow bowlers pitch short or the batsman opens his shoulders to slog sweep. As Chris Rogers has recounted in his new book .”I’ve always hated the position. I fielded there a lot as a younger player, particularly for Beau Casson. He mixed great deliveries with loose ones, meaning the short leg could be peppered. During one match at Adelaide Oval for Western Australia, I was struck on the full on my ankle and the ball then ricocheted all the way to midwicket, who proceeded to take the catch. All the players ran to the fielder except for Beau, who ran straight to me, where I lay writhing in pain on the ground.”After numerous blows, I started to dislike playing and would hardly speak when positioned close in. It’s a terrible spot to field and those who criticise these fielders would be better served to keep their mouth shut until they’ve experienced what it is like in there. The best ones are those who don’t fear it and I wasn’t one of them – Rob Quiney is possibly the bravest I’ve seen.”Australia had lost their first choice for short leg with the dropping of Joe Burns, meaning Marsh went in there for the spinners while Usman Khawaja went “under the lid” for the pacers. The intervention to catch Bavuma ended a pesky partnership for South Africa.At the same time it provided a nice bit of nostalgia for Shaun’s father Geoff Marsh, watching from the stands. A decade or three ago he fielded there for Australia in Tests, once claiming a particularly fine catch from the bat and pad of one Ian Botham at the SCG. This take, though, was better.

A round-up of the third day’s play from Group C matches, with Kerala setting Chhattisgarh a 328-run target and Tripura building on their slender advantage

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2016Fifties from Paras Dogra (57) and Robin Bist (50 not out) helped Himachal Pradesh rebound from their dismal first-innings score of 36 to take a 142-run lead over Hyderabad on the third day in Guwahati. Himachal scored 232 for 6 in their second innings, having dismissed Hyderabad for 126 earlier in the day.Hyderabad resumed from 99 for 7 before their innings was wrapped up quickly by Mayank Dagar, Gurvinder Singh and Rishi Dhawan, who finished with a career-best innings haul of 7 for 50. Dhawan, who had taken a six-for on the previous day, bagged the wicket of Balchander Anirudh who scored 64 of his side’s 126 runs.Ankush Bains contributed a 21-ball 35 at the top of the order for Himachal in their second innings before Dogra, Bist and Sumeet Verma steadied the innings through half-century stands. Verma and Dogra added 59 for the third wicket, before a 65-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Dogra and Bist. Dogra’s 101-ball knock included seven fours, while Bist had played 113 balls until stumps.Shubham Rohilla’s 72 not out steered Haryana to 122 for 3 in their chase of 371 against Andhra at Wankhede Stadium. Earlier Andhra were restricted to 220, after having taken a 150-run first-innings lead. Hanuma Vihari scored 50, and a cameo of 42 from D Siva Kumar pushed their total to 220 after they were struggling at 136 for 6 at one stage on the third day.Rohilla and Rajat Paliwal steadied Haryana’s chase with a 67-run partnership for the third wicket after two wickets had fallen by the 14th over with the score on 48.File photo: Rohan Prem’s 11th first-class century gave Kerala a chance of recording their first win this season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Batsman Rohan Prem’s century helped Kerala set Chhattisgarh a target of 328 in Jamshedpur. Chhattisgarh ended the day on 15 for 0 in 11 overs.Prem, who had scored 62 in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 123 when Kerala declared their second innings at 307 for 2. He also shared an unbroken third-wicket stand of 125 runs with Sachin Baby who was not out on 70 off 86 balls.Early on the third day, Kerala limited Chhattisgarh for 187 to take a 20-run lead. K Monish took a four-for, while Iqbal Abdulla had returns of 3 for 26. Prem and Baby then built on solid partnerships in Kerala’s top order. Opener VA Jagadeesh scored 45 before retiring hurt while Bhavin Thakkar scored 37.Centuries from the overnight pair of Shubham Khajuria and Ian Dev Singh helped Jammu & Kashmir pile on 379 for 6 against Services on the third day in Jaipur. They ended the day trailing Services’ score of 477 by 98 runs.Having added 55 on the second day, Khajuria and Ian Dev extended their partnership to 179 before they were separated. Khajuria was dismissed by Vikas Yadav for a 257-ball 111, his second first-class century. Ian Dev was the next wicket to fall, but not before he had added 62 with Bandeep Singh for the fourth wicket. Ian Dev’s 24-ball 120 was his 13th first-class hundred. After their wickets, Parvez Rasool saw the side through to stumps, finishing on 41 not out.A 98-run eighth-wicket partnership between Rajat Dey (56*) and Gurinder Singh (41) helped Tripura stretch a slender 14-run first-innings lead over Goa to 240 in Bhubaneswar. The partnership rescued Tripura from 128 for 7 to 226 for 7 after Shadab Jakati’s 5 for 42 had cut through the batting order.Jakati had troubled Tripura with the bat earlier in the day. Goa resumed the third day at 220 for 8, trailing Tripura by 63 runs but Jakati’s stubborn 47, and his last-wicket partnership of 30 with Felix Alemao, whittled the deficit down to 14 runs. Jakati’s 47 came off 76 balls with six fours and a six.

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced it will invest heavily in club teams, and improve the facilities available to them, to beef up the talent available to the national team

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Nov-2016Sri Lanka Cricket has announced it will invest heavily in the existing club-based domestic structure, although a provincial first-class tournament is also in the works. The board has promised a grant of 11 million Sri Lankan rupees (USD $74,000 approx) for each of the 14 clubs in the first-class tournament, and has also said it will beef up facilities by providing bowling machines, mechanised rollers and other groundskeeping equipment. Ten “Tier B” clubs will get a grant of nine million rupees as well.”We have identified our clubs as the places that we promote, sustain and develop cricket in our country, and we will invest as much as possible in this area,” SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said. “For Sri Lanka to make an indelible mark on the world arena we need to focus on strengthening and developing our domestic cricket – this will provide us with a world-class pool of players to select from. Our focus is on the quality of cricket and not just the quantity.”The announcement of these grants comes weeks after SLC had reinstated domestic contracts, handing out 85 of them to cricketers from a variety of clubs. This was a repudiation of the pay-model devised by 2015’s SLC interim committee, who sought to better incentivise players by paying out substantial match fees for games played, instead of handing out contracts that guarantee income through the season.The present board also rejected the 2015 interim committee’s vision for Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket, having canned the provincial tournament devised by Mahela Jayawardene.Moreover, these latest grants suggest the board does not want to move away from a club-based domestic structure, despite growing criticism of the competition. Several former players have suggested the current first-class format does not encourage high-quality cricket, and have also voiced concerns that senior cricket has not meaningfully spread beyond Basnahira (western province) and Ruhuna (southern province).SLC is expected to announce the details of a new provincial tournament over the next few weeks. However, this tournament is expected to be much shorter than the club tournament, and is likely to feature just four teams.The Premier League Tournament – for now the main first-class competition in Sri Lanka – will be unchanged from the previous season’s format. Fourteen teams will be split into two groups, before the top sides progress to a Super Eight round-robin.