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Far from being downcast after a chastening defeat in the first ODI, Jos Buttler believes England have the batting firepower to bounce back at Cuttack

Vishal Dikshit in Cuttack18-Jan-20171:59

‘Chasing can be an advantage’ – Buttler

Jos Buttler is relishing the fear factor that has been attributed to him over the last few years, and especially on Wednesday evening by an Indian player. On the eve of the second ODI in Cuttack, where England hope to launch their comeback in the three-match series, India opener KL Rahul was asked which England batsmen he thought were the biggest threats for India. He was given one option – Buttler – and he didn’t need more.”When he was batting in the last game we were worried about Jos, because we know what he can do at the death,” Rahul said. “We’ve watched him in the IPL, he can play around the wicket, he’s a 360-degree player. We’ll have to make sure to get him out early, that’s our best chance. We’ve seen how he’s changed scenarios and won games for England.”When told a couple of hours later about what Rahul had said, Buttler kept a straight face but took pride in the kind of menacing match-winning for which his opponent had singled him out.”Yes, I really enjoy that,” Buttler said in acknowledgement. “That’s something I want to be as a player, someone who can win games for England. The real motivation is to try and win games of cricket for England and to stand up and take responsibility to do that. That’s something I really want to develop even more as a player and try and keep doing for this side.”Especially in this series, it is a fantastic challenge for us. As a group, we’ve made good strides in the last couple of years and playing India in these conditions and against these crowds is a fantastic challenge. That’s something that, personally, I want to stand up and overcome.”Buttler, after all, has been one of the batting mainstays in England’s new wave in the last two years, breaking numerous records in limited-overs matches. Since the 2015 World Cup, he has scored 968 runs at 53.77 in 23 innings with a staggering strike rate of 132.78, which is faster than any other batsman (minimum 15 innings).Jos Buttler believes England have the weapons to fight back against India•AFPHe also resumed his Test career against India before Christmas, after a year on the sidelines, but his most notable feat this winter was to lead the England ODI side to a series win in Bangladesh – something Pakistan, India and South Africa were unable to achieve in the last two years. It was probably that recent leadership stint that, when asked about his own game, led him to talk as much about the team as his own performances.”As a side, if we can come from 1-0 down and win the series 2-1… obviously we’ve got to progress one game at a time but I think it is great that we can get that excitement, not just for myself but for the group, that straight away, tomorrow is a knockout type of a game. I think that’s a real motivation.”England could probably count themselves somewhat unlucky to be a defeat away from a series loss in a three-match contest, despite scoring 350 and reducing India to 63 for 4 in the chase. Buttler, however, looked at the other side of the story – how the two teams had gone about scoring those 350 runs.”There are a lot of positives for us to take from the other game,” he said. “We reached 350 without anyone going on getting a hundred. That’s the difference between the two sides, two guys standing up for the Indian team and going past the three figures. Getting to 350 should give us confidence. Guys do go on and make telling contributions, 350-plus is achievable for us as a side.”The Barabati Stadium, the venue for the second ODI, does not have big boundaries and may easily play host to another high-scoring match. It is only slightly bigger than the MCA Stadium in Pune and looked like a “very good batting wicket”. While there may be some dew, making bowling second more difficult, Buttler said that, even though England had recently put other teams under pressure by putting massive totals on the scoreboard first, batting first on flat tracks is not always the best option as one could not be sure what score would be enough.So was batting second an advantage? “It can be,” he said. “Sometimes it is good to know exactly what you are chasing. Sometimes the challenge on very good wickets is trying to pace the innings when you’re not chasing a score. So it’s probably tough to be estimating what way you need to get to and what you need to get to, to be a winning score.”I think we weren’t far away the other day. Probably when I got out was the time when we were looking to really pick up the pace. Between 30 and 40 overs can be quite a crucial time. So chasing can be an advantage, obviously knowing exactly what is required. Whether you bat or bowl first, you have to do it very well and one of the strengths of our side has been winning the toss and batting and putting teams under immense pressure by putting a score on the board. We had India at 60 for 4 and 350 seemed a long way away. I think both have advantages.”Buttler captained England to victory in the ODI series against Bangladesh in October•Getty ImagesButtler was also happy to go back to being vice-captain on the return of regular captain Eoin Morgan. After leading England to a 2-1 series win in Bangladesh, Buttler said it was good to be the deputy as well as the wicketkeeper to offer advice.”Yes definitely, I’m enjoying it [vice-captaincy],” he said. “Under Eoin, it’s fantastic to have him back. As a wicketkeeper, your role is to always offer advice to the captain and try and come up with plans and solutions.”He has a wealth of experience; he’s played a lot of cricket compared to the young group that we are. His vision for the game as to where the side should get to, he’s a fantastic leader in that sense. He really champions people playing in the way they believe and he goes out and shows that in the way he plays and he has done that for England.”He’s probably one of the first revolutionary players for England and that shows in the group in the way the people look to him, the way he’s taking his career forward and the way he champions guys to play. He gives guys a lot of confidence to go out there and play in that fashion. He’s very calm under pressure, a very forward thinking guy.”

The bowling attack was pretty straightforward, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the way, but the batting order has a few surprise entries

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2017Sixteen ESPNcricinfo staffers, having spent their evenings over the last two months immersed in the IPL, picked their teams of the 2017 season. The collated votes produced an XI like no other previous IPL season. No AB de Villiers, no Virat Kohli, no Chris Gayle, no Lasith Malinga, no Rohit Sharma, no Suresh Raina, and no Sunil Narine. Only three players from last year’s XI made it to this year’s list as well. Here you go …

Openers

1 David Warner – 641 runs, average 58, strike-rate 1422 Gautam Gambhir – 498 runs, average 41.50, strike rate 128Rahul Tripathi (nine) and Hashim Amla were the openers with the next highest number of votes. Amla had a terrific season personally – 420 runs, an average of 60, and surprisingly a strike rate of 146. Two of his best performances came in defeats though and his team – Kings XI Punjab – did not make the playoffs. Chris Lynn was the blockbuster, but his shoulder injury limited his opportunities and he was behind Warner and Amla in the pecking order of overseas openers.

Middle order

3 Robin Uthappa – 388 runs, average 30, strike rate 1654 Steven Smith (capt) – 472 runs, average 39, strike rate 1225 Rishabh Pant – 366 runs, average 26, strike rate 166Most of the usual middle-order heavyweights had poor seasons. Uthappa was the favourite in this category and he too got only five votes. Apart from the three that made it, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni were other contenders. Pant blew hot and cold, but when he was hot he was irresistible. Karthik and Smith had the same number of votes but Smith gets the nod because he led his team to the final.

Allrounders

6 Ben Stokes – 316 runs, strike rate 143; 12 wickets, economy 7.187 Krunal Pandya – 10 wickets, economy 6.82; 243 runs, strike rate 136Stokes and Krunal were clear favourites. Stokes was one of two unanimous choices, while Krunal was in all but one selection. Notable mention for Axar Patel, who scored 227 runs at a strike-rate of 140 and took 15 wickets and had an economy of 7.54.

Bowlers

8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 26 wickets, economy rate 79 Rashid Khan – 17 wickets, economy rate 6.610 Jasprit Bumrah – 20 wickets, economy rate 7.411 Jaydev Unadkat – 24 wickets, economy rate 7The bowling attack was really easy to pick. Bhuvneshwar was the second unanimous choice, while Unadkat, Bumrah and Rashid were in almost every team too. The only other specialist bowlers to even get a vote were 17-year old Washington Sundar (two votes), Imran Tahir (one) and Harbhajan Singh (one).

Stats highlights from the third day of the Test in Hamilton, where Kane Williamson led New Zealand’s response

Shiva Jayaraman27-Mar-201717 Test hundreds by Kane Williamson – joint-most by a New Zealand batsman alongside Martin Crowe. Williamson has taken ten innings fewer than Crowe, who hit his 17th century in his 120th innings.110 Innings taken by Williamson to complete 5000 Test runs; he is the fastest New Zealand batsman to the landmark. Crowe was the previous fastest: he got there in 117 innings. Click here for a list of the quickest batsmen overall to 5000 Test runs.0 Number of times before this New Zealand’s top-three batsmen had each made a fifty-plus score in a Test innings at home. This was also the first such instance for them in Tests against South Africa. Overall, this was only the eighth such instance for New Zealand anywhere in Tests. The previous one had come against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2016.2 Number of higher scores by New Zealand’s openers in Tests against South Africa than Raval’s 88 in this Test. Geoff Rabone’s 107 in Durban in 1953-54 is their only century in Tests against South Africa. Matt Horne’s 93 in Auckland in 1998-99 is the only other higher score.4 Number of higher partnerships for any wicket at the Seddon Park, Hamilton, than the 190-run stand between Raval and Williamson in this Test. For New Zealand, the 339-run stand between Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum against Bangladesh in 2009-10 is the only higher partnership at this venue. Craig McMillan and Mark Richardson had also put on 190 for the fifth wicket here against Bangladesh in 2001-02.136 Deliveries bowled at Williamson by South Africa pacers in this innings, only 14 of which were pitched on a good length outside the off stump. Williamson has been kept from scoring by South Africa pacers in this series when they have bowled in that area. Two of Williamson’s three dismissals in this series have come off such deliveries. Morne Morkel, who was the most expensive bowler against Williamson in this innings conceding 34 off just 39 balls, himself had dismissed Williamson caught behind in the Wellington Test off a similar line and length. While the New Zealand captain has had only three scoring shots off 54 balls by South Africa pacers off good-length balls pitching outside off so far in this series, he has been more prolific against them off deliveries not pitched in this area.

254 Deliveries faced by Raval in his innings of 88 – the fourth-highest by a New Zealand batsman in a Test innings against South Africa since latter’s readmission. Fleming’s 423-ball marathon in Cape Town in 2006 leads this list.2 Number of higher partnerships for any wicket for New Zealand in Tests against South Africa than the one between Raval and Williamson. The last time a New Zealand duo added more runs than this pair was in Cape Town in 2006, when Stephen Fleming and James Franklin had a partnership of 256 runs. The only other higher stand had come between Chris Cairns and Jacob Oram in Auckland in 2003-04, when they had added 225 runs for the seventh wicket.6 South Africa bowlers to take 250 or more wickets in Tests including Morne Morkel, who reached the milestone with the dismissal of Tom Latham. Among the other five, only Jacques Kallis had taken more Tests than Morkel to take 250 Test wickets. Kallis, who had to divide his attention between batting and bowling, took 120 matches to Morkel’s 74. Click here for a list of bowlers quickest to 250 Test wickets overall.

Heather Knight, Jenny Gunn, Tammy Beaumont, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Fran Wilson, and coach Mark Robinson tell the story of England’s World Cup journey

Interviews by Jarrod Kimber24-Jul-2017Jenny Gunn: I’m really glad you brought this back up. Robinson: There were certain things that were blatantly obvious. We had players that weren’t fit enough. The girls had come back from the Big Bash; only two of them had come back in the right state, the rest of them had come back and let themselves down. It was just certain things that were fundamentally wrong, and they could be easily dealt with. It was a case of what we needed to be doing.Gunn: I think that’s what we’ve really done over the last year and a half. We knew back then that this is what we needed to work on: we needed to work on our fitness, we needed to be more attacking, and I think we’ve really shown that this tournament.Gunn: It’s always hard. She’s been my captain for what – the last ten years? Played in the same team when I was 13, so it always comes as a bit of a shock.

“We’ve fought like hell this tournament. It’s been a theme of the tournament – us fighting hard and holding our nerve”Heather Knight

Fran Wilson: It was quite a turbulent time because Charlotte’s always been a part of the England team, as long as I can remember. It was quite a big shock and probably affected the girls a little bit. But I think in the long run, what Mark Robinson has done has been really good for the team. That’s just testament to Robbo and the kind of faith he’s shown in all of us.Tammy Beaumont: It was a tough month or so. Charlotte has been probably quite a big influence on the first half of my career. She’s also a good friend. She can look back at her career knowing that she did a great job for England and left us in a good place.Robinson: I just knew it was right. When it’s that simple in your mind – and it wasn’t against Charlotte, because Charlotte was still a very good player, but the team had to go in a different direction and we had to put things differently in place, and I think it was something like 18 months before the next competition – this one. It was too long to wait and get through to before you start making changes. It was about looking big picture really, and luckily Clare Connor backed the decision.Beaumont: I think he’s just been really honest. It was pretty obvious what was wrong in the World T20 semi-final in India. It was one of those where you know we may have been blinded for a few years and it took something like that.Natalie Sciver: He’s the starting point. He’s had coaches come in and help along the way. In our team, we’ve created an open and honest environment where we can all give each other feedback, take feedback, but not let it affect you – take it on the chin and let each other thrive in the environment. It’s a really special kind of culture that we’ve created and I think it really shows on the pitch when we’re all smiling and looking like we’re having fun. It’s not forced. Looking like we’re having fun and just being happy out there representing your country with your best friends.Gunn: I think it’s helped [to have a coach] coming from men’s cricket, really. He’s got us all fitter, anyway. He’s brought in the support staff which has been brilliant, really. We’ve got Ian Salisbury for the spinners, Tom Smith for allrounders, Ali Maiden batting.Getty Images/ICCRobinson: Mistakes are okay. You will make mistakes, you will get out; it’s what kind of mistakes you’ll make. I would rather you make a positive mistake, rather you make a mistake by being on the front foot than going into your shell and doing things for the sake of it.Wilson: He’s very honest with us – if we need something, some feedback which isn’t something we necessarily want to hear, but in the long run is going to help our game, that is something for me the biggest thing the coach has done for me. Growing up I didn’t want to be told what to do because I thought I was right, but the environment he’s created is this open and honest environment where everyone’s opinion counts and everyone helps each other. When someone else scores runs, you feel like you’ve helped them get there because you’ve been giving them feedback and helping them with their game. I think that’s the biggest thing with our environment.Beaumont: When Robbo came in, I saw it as a second chance. It made it very simple for me. If you have any doubt over what shot to play, don’t. He’d tell me off for poking around.Wilson: As the home team, you are under more pressure. Just a few things didn’t go our way and we came out on the wrong side.Beaumont: This tournament has been built up for four years, and for us as, a home nation hosting it, it really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s one of those things that can happen. In a way, we hadn’t actually played any international cricket for over six months before that, so we probably hadn’t tested ourselves in that way – obviously we played warm-up games against India and West Indies in favourable conditions for us, when they’d just got off the plane, so you take the results with a pinch of salt. It is different when you step out at Derby and have that pressure of a World Cup game, and I think it was a good reminder to us that we need to keep doing what we’ve been doing and get better with every game.Gunn: Towards the back end we had to score at what – eight or nine an over? So we were going to take some silly runs and we were going to get run out.

“I couldn’t play tennis because I kept hitting the ball too far. I wanted to hit it hard but it just wouldn’t stay in the court. Luckily, here I’m allowed to do that”Nat Sciver

Robinson: I always felt that we’d get better as the competition went on. Anya hadn’t played since November, she was down on overs, down on confidence. [Katherine] Brunty had picked up an injury in the Big Bash – she was down on overs, down on confidence. Heather Knight had just had this foot injury, no cricket, bit anxious herself. We missed [Lauren] Winfield. Sarah [Taylor], everybody was hoping and praying that she was going to be okay. There was a lot of hopes and not a lot of guarantees.Wilson on her run-out: I thought I was in. I thought I was miles in, to be honest. I was gutted to get out in that way. Looking back now on that game, I think every cloud has a silver lining. It was the best thing that happened. It really gave us a bit of a kick, put us under a bit of pressure.Robinson: We took the game deep, and on another day we could’ve pinched it. We wouldn’t have deserved it, but we could have pinched it, and that’s what we always talk about – taking games deep, staying in games as long as you can to keep them alive. We actually took confidence from that and then we played Pakistan and Sri Lanka and got some momentum and were off running.Sciver: I think also we didn’t do the good things for long enough. We had all the plans, knew what we wanted to do, but just didn’t quite execute. The first game of the tournament and it was bigged up a lot. Obviously there were a few nerves around and there still are – we’re just better at controlling it now.Heather Knight: () I’m going to embarrass her now – I think it was the best innings I’ve seen Nat play. I think she hit the ball brilliantly from ball one, as she often does, and she is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in the world.Gunn: She hits balls so hard. She hits like a man. I feel for people who have to field against her, but it’s just so nice to do it on a big stage. How she scored two hundreds in the tournament – it just shows that she’s a world-class batter, and she’s up there with some of the best players I’ve ever played with.Getty ImagesWilson: I guess it’s not really a surprise for people like us because we see it in training. We see Nat smash sixes every day in training.Beaumont: She’s incredible, the way that she can strike the ball. Nat is superhuman, I think.Sciver: When I was younger, I played a lot of tennis and hockey and things like that, so I had the hand-eye coordination. I couldn’t play tennis because I kept hitting the ball too far. I wanted to hit it hard but it just wouldn’t stay in the court. Luckily, here I’m allowed to do that.Sciver: She’s got her own little mannerisms. She likes to do a lot of gardening. When she and Lauren Winfield bat together, they kind of do it together.Beaumont: Heather’s nicknamed us Twinfield. That’s quite cute. Lauren and I go back a long time. We used to open the batting together at university and we’re really good friends off the pitch as well.Robinson: I couldn’t understand why Lauren Winfield wasn’t scoring any runs, and I couldn’t understand why Tammy Beaumont wasn’t in the squad or in the team. The first thing was to try and negotiate her into the reckoning. She’d had a lot of baggage within the group and with those who had written her off.

“She will never lay down, she will win. It’s a great thing to have someone like that in your team”Fran Wilson on Alex Hartley

Beaumont: I’ve had a pretty good 12 months coming in, had a bit of a breakthrough against Pakistan last summer. It’s been nice, this tournament, to test myself against the better bowling attacks in the world, and that is something I’ve been working towards for a long time. I think for me it’s all about getting the team off to a good startRobsinon: She managed to get into the T20 team in India by default really, because Charlotte was ill for a game. She came in and she got fifty and got herself in. She’d had a good T20 campaign, so when we came out of that – as we do with all the players – we sit down and identify what they need to do. We wanted Tammy to tighten up off stump. Management of off stump, as you’re opening the batting, is the obvious thing to do. Then all we did was back her and give her the freedom to play as we have all the players.Beaumont: I almost went away and said, “Right, I want to be the world’s best opening batter.” I’m still not there yet – I’ve still got a long way to go – but I’m working towards that.Robinson: She’s an emotional girl, and she’ll always ride that rollercoaster of emotions. She’s ever so talented and it was pretty obvious.Beaumont: I personally would happily get a duck if we win. Kind of.Guardian Beaumont: I lived with the girl for a couple of years and she’s a massive fighter. She’s so determined, so that almost comes out in her bowling.Getty Images Gunn: She’s picked up wickets regularly, and big wickets as well which no one’s complaining about. She’s just willing to learn and she wants to do so much for the team. Ian Salisbury has really helped her understand her bowling a bit more. She’s doing really well.Wilson: She’s just a very very gritty player. Batting and fielding hasn’t always come naturally to her, and with her bowling, she was dropped out of the academy squad when she was 14. Ever since then she just trains so hard and she’s just so resilient and gritty. When you’re facing her that just comes out. She will never lay down, she will win. It’s a great thing to have someone like that in your team. Beaumont: When she sets her mind to something, she’ll go out and get it. She had to overcome a lot of things to get into the squad in the first place, so it was kind of an uphill struggle for her to get into the squad. Robinson: She doesn’t go away, and she keeps getting people out. You can’t ignore that. I’d been watching her. Jonathan Finch, who’s our performance director, he’d just been to Sri Lanka and he kept talking about Alex. None of the batters played her well, she attacked both edges, and she kept getting people out. You can’t ignore that. She’s a bit different and she’s a bit quirky but she’s ever so resilient as well. Everyone told her what she can’t do and that she’s not good enough, and she’s not gone away. I like players like that. You watch her in her performances – it was about giving her opportunities. Beaumont: She’s kind of unfazed by anything and she’s not necessarily from the biggest cricket background. At Surrey Stars last year, she met Alec Stewart. She went, “Sorry, who are you?” I was like, “Alex, that’s the captain of England, wicketkeeper, opening bat. Just shut up.” Nothing fazes her. It doesn’t matter if she’s bowling at Meg Lanning or a No. 11. She knows exactly her job, to nail the stumps, always keep hitting the stumps and she’s worked incredibly hard over the last 12 months to hone her bowling.Hartley on bowling to Lanning: It’s just another batter to me when I’m bowling. We’re all in it, we’re all capable of getting her out. If I think about it too much, I get too nervous. Before I bowled that ball, I was like “Quicker ball, slower ball, quicker ball, slower ball?” I was like, “Slower ball.” And it worked! I’m new on the scene, so I had to keep chill.

“Mental health is new to a lot of people but helping and supporting Yards [Michael Yardy] helped me as a human being, and it helped me be able to manage cricketers. The same with Sarah”Mark Robinson

Robinson: The difference with Sarah from the Yards situation was it was a lot more integrated. The ECB have more experience now, so we’ve had a lot more openness and access about what is happening through Sarah that allows it to be a lot easier.Wilson: I think it just gives you a bit of a reality check because it puts everything into perspective, because your health is more important than anything, and Sarah’s life is more important than anything that happens on the pitch. I think that gave us as a squad a bit of perspective and also made us more open with maybe being a bit nervous or worried. It is a high-pressure environment, and Sarah being so open about what she went through helped.Robinson: Mental health is new to a lot of people but helping and supporting Yards helped me as a human being, it helped me as a dad, helped me as a husband, and it helped me be able to manage cricketers. The same with Sarah, to share the experiences with what’s happening with Sarah to the group – we do a lot of not trying to normalise emotion. Everybody’s going to be nervous as hell, you’re going to feel your heart going, and it’s okay. It’s absolutely normal to do it.Gunn: We went to Abu Dhabi as a training side and she scored runs out there. It was like she’d never been away. We know how good she can play, and yes, she’s had a year off but once she picked up a bat – it was like “Okay, Sarah’s back.”Robinson: You’re going to fail as well as succeed. Anxiety from Sarah – she’s obviously got it to an extreme, but we all get anxious at times. She helps players deal with it by saying some of the distractions that she uses.Getty ImagesBeaumont: Anytime Sarah’s got a smile on her face it’s great to see, and when she’s scoring runs in an England shirt that’s even better.Gunn: I think a few people would’ve thought: shit. If I can say that. Wilson: This team – it doesn’t feel like we ever panic. That shows on the pitch, with the way that we’ve got over the line in a few games. Even when Katherine and Jenny went in, we all knew how capable they are.Gunn: Our batters are normally too good, so I don’t normally get a go. It was nice to bat with Katherine. I haven’t batted with her for ages – it’s still like old times. She still tells me what to do all the time! But we got a decent score on the board.Yes, we had to kind of rebuild. We were both kind of new to the crease, so it’s always trying to figure out where our scoring options are to certain bowlers. It was a really good track that day, so I think that helped, but we knew that we probably had to target a few more towards the end – like [Kristen] Beam’s bowling.I think as well, on any day, Katherine – if she hits it well, she can clear any boundary. I don’t think she likes it when people hit sixes bigger than her. It was really nice to get up to a score where we thought it was a bit more above par, because it was a good track and with that team they can obviously chase 260.Wilson: For me, watching, I was a bit nervous in general, but in the back of my mind I always knew that they could do it.

“It’s more when I have a drink I don’t shut up. So I get called Verbal Valerie, because I don’t shut up. Val just comes out. The other day when we were batting against Australia – they just said, ‘Oh, Val’s out!'”Jenny Gunn

Sciver: I always find it harder to watch a batting innings when you’re not out there, so you can’t control it yourself. I was a bit nervous but I was just excited for them to show what they could do because I know that Katherine and Jenny can both score runs and also clear the ropes.Gunn: I think we can actually bat down the lower order. In the past our batters have performed so we haven’t had to score runs really, but we do bat right down the order. I think you just kind of bat time, and we had a lot of time to bat for a change, whereas normally we get five balls and it’s like, swing and hope for the best. It was nice to have some time, and I know Katherine’s game really well. We bat together quite a lot. We run well and actually managed to get it up there, where we could actually have some fun and actually try and hit some boundaries.Wilson: Off the pitch, Jen is like the caring mum of the group, and then when I went out there, she was very relaxed, just really stern. I was like, “Woah, she’s like flipped!” She actually has this alter ego called Val.Sciver: She’s verbal, Val, but she can also be the confident, outrageous alter ego of Jenny Gunn. We like to have Val on the pitch with us.Gunn: It’s more when I have a drink I don’t shut up. So I get called Verbal Valerie, because I don’t shut up. Val just comes out. The other day when we were batting against Australia – they just said, “Oh, Val’s out!” I think it was more when I hit a one-handed six – it wasn’t a one-handed six, but when it came off the bat, they were like, “Oh that’s so arrogant, that’s Val!” I was like, “It’s not Val – I just literally wasn’t there so my hand just came off!” It’s just the girls having a bit of fun, saying “Val’s out!” all the time.Getty ImagesShrubsole: I gave myself quite a long walk by staying in the dressing room as opposed to sitting down on the bench.Gunn: Anya – we call her Hoof, because she sometimes walks like a show pony with her feet. She strode out to the wicket and I was like “Yes, this is Hoof.” She was proper serious and I was like “We’ve got this.” First of all I told her she might get an offcutter, but she didn’t listen to a word I said.Shrubsole: She’s been telling everyone I didn’t listen to her, but I 100% did! She said that she’d been walking at [Shabnim] Ismail, so I was like “Oh, that sounds like a great idea.”Beaumont: We always joke – one of our old assistant coaches, Jack Birkenshaw, he used to say, “One day Anya can bat like Donald Bradman, another day she can bat like Donald Duck.” Over the last year or so she bats more like Don Bradman.Shrubsole: I was just thinking to get some bat on it and to try get Jen back on strike. I thought I’d try and walk outside the line of the ball, so at least if it hit me on the pad, I wasn’t going to be out and just get Jen back on strike.Beaumont: I felt a little sorry for little Alex Hartley. She was stood trembling in the corner next to us. When I looked over and it was two to win off three balls, I was like, “Alex, are you really going to keep that thigh pad on?” She had so much protection. She was like “Why, I can’t take it off!””Well you’ll run faster!”So we end up having a debate with the No. 11 over whether you should take your thigh pad off because she’ll run faster.

“She was stood trembling in the corner next to us. When I looked over and it was two to win off three balls, I was like, ‘Alex, are you really going to keep that thigh pad on?’Tammy Beaumont to Alex Hartley in the semi-final

“Well, what if I get hit on my leg?””Well, it really won’t matter because you can’t be out and you’ll run faster and we’ll win.”Gunn: Anya just charged and smashed it through the covers.Sciver: Anya Shrubsole crunched it through the covers for four, which we’d all been trying to do for the whole innings. She just nailed it first ball, so it was just meant to be.Gunn: She jumped at me. It was nice that Anya hit the winning runs. To be fair, if anyone hit the winning runs that day I didn’t care, it was just nice to get over the line. Shrubsole: I was just lucky that the ball was in the right place and stole a little bit of the glory from all the girls who’d done the hard work before.Shrubsole: My dad is this new-media superstar. It was an amazing photo, to be here watching him play when I was ten, and then to be back here 16 years later. If someone had told me I’d be back in a World Cup final and winning a World Cup final I’d have laughed them away.Knight: I know Ian Shrubsole, Anya’s dad. He’s a very proud parent, and Anya massively looks up to him.I remember coming here as a kid for my first training session and being in awe of the ground and the history of the place, so to come here today and win the World Cup final in front of a full house, is something I never thought I could do.Getty ImagesKnight: It did feel like it was slipping away, but we’ve fought like hell this tournament. It’s been a theme of the tournament – us fighting hard and holding our nerve.Shrubsole: Heather said she was about to take me off.Knight: We had the experience of getting over the line in tight games against Australia and South Africa in the semi, so if we got the chance, we thought we’d take it.Knight: It felt like she dropped the World Cup, to be honest. It was a hard one to deal with. I thought we’d won it, and then that drop went down.

There was a collective failure from England’s batsmen on the second day at Trent Bridge, but issues start at the top

George Dobell19-Aug-20185:37

#PoliteEnquiries: Why can’t England convert 10s into 20s?

We need to talk about Alastair Cook.We know he is England’s most prolific batsman. We know his place in England’s Test history is assured. We even know he was the top-scorer in England’s top six at Trent Bridge on Sunday and that, aged 33, there should be some miles left in the tank.But Cook is starting to look like the gym subscription you forget to cancel; the mobile phone contract that ties you in long after the screen is broken; the much-loved family pet whose next trip to the vet may not involve a return journey. It’s starting to become hard to deny that he is in an inexorable decline. That he is being retained long after England should have moved on.Wait there, you might say. It’s only a few Tests since he scored a double-century in Australia. And, not long before that, he scored another double against West Indies. And, even in this game, he has taken an outstanding slip catch.All that’s true. But between those double-centuries – a five-Test span which saw the Ashes decided – he averaged just 14.40. And, since the double in Melbourne – seven-and-a-half Tests that saw England defeated by New Zealand and held to a draw by Pakistan – he is averaging just 19.38. And, while it’s true he held a fine catch in the first innings, he missed a pretty straightforward one in the second and has taken around 70 percent of chances since the start of 2016. That’s about 10 percent below the rate of South Africa and Australia in the slips over the same period.What we see now is an opening batsman uncertain where his off stump is. An opening batsman uncertain whether to play or leave. Who, in going straight back rather than back and across, seems to be stretching to play deliveries only slightly outside off stump. An opening batsmen who is stuck in the crease and often looks hurried. And bowling attacks who are on to him and know exactly where to bowl.Those double-centuries have something in common. They were made on slow surfaces providing the bowlers little assistance. The first one, against West Indies in August 2017, was also made against a pink ball that refused to swing while the second one, at Melbourne, was on a pitch so absent of assistance for bowlers that it was subsequently rated “poor” by the ICC.That’s a pattern that extends a long way further back. If we reflect on Cook’s most recent Test centuries, we find evidence that suggests he has become something approaching the ultimate flat-track bully. Before those two doubles, we have to go back to November 2016 for a Cook century. That one, in Rajkot, was made on a surface so slow and flat that England passed 500 in their first innings – he was one of four England players to make a century in the drawn match – while the previous one (in July 2016) came at Old Trafford on a surface upon which Joe Root made a career-best 235 and England declared just short of 600. Before that, he made another double against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi (in October 2015) on a surface on which England again declared just short of 600.You have to go back a long, long way to find a century made in demanding batting conditions or even on a quick pitch.Those vast scores distort Cook’s record. For example, he finished the Ashes with a series average of 47, which sounds pretty good. But he passed 50 only once in the series – in the unbeaten 244 – and the rest of the time contributed just 132 in eight innings at an average of 16.50. He has long since stopped offering any sense of assurance at the top of the order. Instead, he is doing just enough to preserve his place but nowhere near enough to shape the course of a game except on the very flattest surfaces. Besides, if you give any good county batsman enough opportunities, they will register the occasional high score. It’s consistency that marks out the really good players.Getty ImagesEngland can’t afford Cook’s failures, either. Their middle order, for all its entertainment value, needs protecting from the ball at its newest and the bowlers at their freshest. They have already pushed Joe Root up to No. 3 and Ollie Pope – who had never come to the crease in a first-class innings before the 20th over – up to No. 4. On Test debut he was in before the ball was 10 overs old.Then you have Jonny Bairstow, whose reaction to every situation appears to be to try to hit the ball harder, in at No. 5, the aggressive Ben Stokes at No. 6, and a man at No. 7 who is 23 Tests into his career but has yet to make a century. All the recipes for collapse are there. Which is why they have now lost all ten wickets in a single session three times in the last two years. Between 1936 and 2016 that never happened. England need Cook to provide the old-fashioned grit to complement the rest of the team’s new-world flair.There are a couple of factors strongly in Cook’s favour. The first is that Ed Smith, the national selector, is clearly a believer in his strengths. Smith was, after all, still advocating the retention of Cook in England’s ODI team when he was sacked just ahead of the 2015 World Cup.But Cook’s greatest asset at present is not so much his record as the record of those vying to replace him. For all his current problems, with Keaton Jennings averaging 23.76 after nine-and-a-half Tests and 22 in three-and-a-half since his recall, Cook is not even the most worrying opener in the side.In a perfect world – a world where the domestic structure is designed to develop Test players – there should be a queue of candidates knocking at the door to replace both Cook and Jennings. In reality, however, we know England have tried a dozen options to partner Cook without success. There aren’t too many options left.Haseeb Hameed, who left the India tour at the end of 2016 looking every inch a Test batsman, has not made a century since. Indeed, he’s averaged just 20.07 in first-class cricket since with three half-centuries in 44 innings.Ben Duckett, who was good enough to score more than 1,300 runs in the 2016 season, is averaging 26.78 in Division Two this year.And while Nick Gubbins is averaging almost 60 in the Championship season, he is playing only his fourth game having suffered injury and has a modest record against spin bowling. Bearing in mind England’s winter plans – tours to Sri Lanka and the Caribbean – that does him few favours.Rory Burns acknowledges his third hundred of the season•Getty ImagesThen there’s Rory Burns. He has almost 881 Division One runs this season – that’s 181 more than anyone else in the division – at an average of 67.76 (almost 30 more than Cook for Essex) and recently won praise from Dale Steyn for his temperament and technique. He is not an especially pretty batsman – he has an odd habit of peering to midwicket just ahead of delivery as if the fielder has just whispered something appalling about him – but he is effective, hungry, bright and determined. England’s batting collapses are none too pretty, either.It might not help his opening partners that Cook is at the other end. With his own struggles to worry about, he is in no position to take the pressure off them by either hitting a bowler off their length or even giving the sense of permanence that might dispirit them. Instead, the novice openers see the scoreboard going nowhere and bowlers allowed to settle into spells. There’s no slipstream to benefit from.Cook has had a great career. And he is going to have every opportunity to bat for a day or two in the second innings of this game. But all the evidence suggests the old lion is limping and the hyenas are circling.

Ajinkya Rahane’s positive mindset, Shikhar Dhawan’s new approach and a debutant getting off the mark with a six pinpointed a change of attitude from India

Nagraj Gollapudi at Trent Bridge18-Aug-2018This is how they imagined they would play. This is how England expected India to play. It just took two Test defeats for Virat Kohli’s men to finally turn up.When confronted with now or never, the chips started falling into place. Weakness of mind and lack of application gave way under the strength of their resolve at Trent Bridge. They performed their roles confidently, and, consequently India are now in a better position compared to any other point in this series so far.Each of their batsman made subtle changes to their technique. They played with soft hands and that was evident from the fact that far fewer edges flew behind the wicket. It did not help England that barring Chris Woakes, the other seamers, bowled more short than full.Shikhar Dhawan waited for the ball more than he had at Edgbaston, where he had thrown away his wicket by playing with hard hands. This time opener concentrated on rotating strike with KL Rahul, who too was quite circumspect in the first hour. Crucially, India did not lose any wickets in that first hour. More crucially, the run rate throughout the day did not drop below three.In the first two Tests India had failed to start well, which put undue pressure on the middle and lower order and became too much of a burden for Kohli to carry. But on the back of a 60-run opening stand, the captain and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane walked into the middle for the second session rejuvenated.1:19

Harmison: India would be the happier team at stumps

There might have been some nerves, keeping in mind the strange shot selection from Cheteshwar Pujara, his hook on the stroke of lunch resulting in his downfall. Kohli, too, had been beaten by Broad a couple of times and came very close to being lbw early in his innings.As the clouds cleared and Trent Bridge bristled under bright sunshine, India’s best pair of batsmen took advantage of a slow and dry pitch with low bounce. The focus was on Rahane. He has been dismissed, wafting casually outside the off stump in this series, despite looking comfortable at the start of every innings in this Test series.The more batting-friendly conditions allowed Rahane to find his touch swiftly. He was meeting the ball under his eyeline with a straight bat. Like Kohli, he did not go seeking the ball, instead he allowed it to come to him. Both men exchanged strike frequently, something India had forgotten at Edgbaston and Lord’s.The best thing about Rahane was he was much bolder than he has been in the last year, a time when he could not reach a half-century in eight previous Tests.Fierce cuts, firm pushes, nice punched drives, clear calls were the hallmarks or his innings here. He looked more assured and that was because he displayed a clarity of thought and purpose. The lack of those aspects was what Kohli, the head coach Ravi Shastri and Rahane himself had spoken of as the reason behind India’s batting failures. The message had been internalised and every batsman executed the plan. Rahane, for example, lasted longer in the middle – in terms of both balls and time – than he had done at Edgbaston and Lord’s combined.Virat Kohli drills through the covers•Getty ImagesThere was no holding back. From Dhawan, to Rahul to Kohli to Rahane – each one took forward the good work and built the collective confidence. In the first session, India’s batsmen left 68 deliveries (40%) in 26.4 overs. In the second, Kohli and Rahane were a bit more aggressive as they played through the entire session. The pair left just 39 balls out of 29.2 overs which was 22.15%. In the third, India left alone a mere 47 deliveries (25.26%) in 31 overs. They were positive.As it happens when you put in the work, luck started favouring India too. Rahane cut hard against Woakes towards Anderson at point. Anderson jumped, but could not hold to a difficult catch. Three overs later, Kohli was beaten, twice, by beautiful away swingers from Broad, who had been stung by a wasp before he started the over. The pain spurred Broad on. He exchanged words with Kohli, who did not hold back. Both Rahane and Kohli had just made half centuries.Given the opportunity to bat on a clear day, on a pitch that looked good for batting first despite Joe Root’s decision to bowl, India definitely played with more freedom and were not afraid to express themselves. Take the example of debutant Rishabh Pant: he punched his first delivery in Test cricket aggressively and lofted the next one for a six. The bowler, Adil Rashid, could do little more than cup his face with a chuckle.Despite helping India to a good positon, both Rahane and Kohli would have been frustrated not to convert to three-figures. Rahane wanted to take advantage of the soft ball and tired bowlers and had switched to attack mode in the last 10 minutes of his stay. Kohli was nearing his second century of the series and got carried away when he edged a drive to slip against Rashid.Still the fourth-wicket partnership of 159 was notable – India’s first century stand of the series, better than anything they managed on tour in South Africa and their first in England since the opening Test of the 2014 tour which was also at Trent Bridge. Kohli had pointed out that the absence of partnerships, no matter how big or small, was influencing the stability of the batting. Today the Indian batting looked more stable, the batsmen more composed and much bolder.

Together against Bangladesh, Chatara and Jarvis produced a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate parts

Liam Brickhill04-Nov-2018Many of the best fast-bowling double-acts have been built around variation. Wasim and Waqar, Donald and Pollock, Marshall and Garner, Anderson and Broad – their differences are a vital ingredient in their shared success. So after Tendai Chatara and Kyle Jarvis shared five wickets to dent Bangladesh and secure a first-innings lead on the second day in Sylhet, Zimbabwe bowling coach Douglas Hondo settled on exactly the right word to describe his quicks’ complementary relationship: synergy.”They have got synergy,” Hondo said. “They’ve played a long time together. Chatara takes it away, Jarvis a little bit in, so that’s a good mix.”Though Jarvis is two years older, he and Chatara made their first-class debuts within two weeks of each other in 2009. They bowl at similar speeds, though both men started their careers in tearaway mode and had to re-adjust after major injuries, Jarvis to his back while Chatara broke his leg playing football. Both men have had breaks from the international game: Jarvis when he went to Lancashire for four seasons, and Chatara when he was out for more than six months after his horrific leg injury. But that is where their similarities end.Jarvis was always destined for cricket. Born into a famous cricket-playing family – his father Malcolm played five Tests and 12 ODIs for Zimbabwe as a left-arm medium pacer in the 1990s, and would have taken the first wicket by a Zimbabwean in Tests were it not for a dropped catch – he grew up in Harare’s leafy northern suburbs, hanging out with Mitchell Marsh when he lived in Zimbabwe for a time while his father Geoff was coaching the national side.Chatara was born in Dangamvura, a poor, high-density suburb in Mutare, nestled in Zimbabwe’s eastern highlands. He never attended any of Zimbabwe’s main cricket-playing schools, and turned up at his first Under-17 cricket trial wearing basketball sneakers. Indeed, basketball and athletics were Chatara’s primary sports until he was picked for the national Under-19 side.Their bowling actions speak to their contrasting paths into the game: Jarvis bowls with an orthodox action lacking in frills, while Chatara’s action is one of homespun lopsidedness. But together, against Bangladesh, they produced a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate parts.Before this Test, Hondo worked hard with them to alter their lengths to suit the longer format. Where they had tried to keep batsmen on the back foot in the ODIs, to prepare for this game he placed the bowling target mat on a much fuller length, attacking the stumps. Jarvis, in particular, stuck firmly to this tactic virtually throughout his spells, making the batsmen play a high percentage of deliveries, while Chatara – who had also worked on honing his line to left-handers, offered the temptation of a line outside off stump. On game day, the bowling coach’s instructions were: “Just bowl enough balls in the right area to ask enough questions and don’t give up, don’t let up. Just keep bowling in the right areas. The pitch has enough natural variation, the pitch will do enough.”With Bangladesh stuck in one-day mode, batsmen played at deliveries they might easily have left alone, with Imrul Kayes and Mahmudullah playing on and Nazmul Hossain Shanto nicking a distinctly short-format drive against Chatara. Jarvis, meanwhile, had Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim caught behind poking at outswingers, having kept the batsmen tied down with a constricting wicket-to-wicket line.”They had a good series in the ODIs, so we knew that they were going to come and play in that one-day mode, which will present us with a lot of chances in the Tests because the field sets will be quite attacking,” Chatara said. “I think they haven’t really adjusted from ODI cricket to playing Tests, where you leave many balls, whereas in ODIs you’ll be looking for scoring shots.””Early on I was just trying to hit a good area, because there’s so much talk about Bangladesh [pitches] being flat,” he added. “So hitting a good area early on, and making the batsman play as much as possible.”Chatara and Jarvis did just that, but Bangladesh’s top order also obliged them with an overly attacking mindset. The end result of that impatience was that, while there are still three days left in the match, the game moved on very swiftly on day two and it is now Zimbabwe who hold an unlikely ascendancy.”It’s Test cricket, sometimes you have to leave some balls, sometimes you have to hold yourself in,” explained Hondo. “There’s five days of play so you have to play accordingly. If you ask enough questions and they’re obliging, things will happen like that. We’re just trying to complement our batters, who took a lot of time at the wicket. So we have to complement them by bowling in the right areas.”Chatara admitted even he was a little surprised by how easily Bangladesh slipped into the seamers’ traps to put Zimbabwe in a good position. “Considering the fact that we won the toss and batted first, we really wanted to bat deep, to tea today,” Chatara said. “With Bangladesh batting before lunch, it actually felt like we gave them too much time to bat today. So I actually thought they were going to bat well. But the way we bowled, we bowled very well to restrict them to the score they had at the end of the day.”

Ajinkya Rahane’s position in the XI will be a matter of debate; if they can get that right, the first-season champions can go a long way

Shashank Kishore20-Mar-2019

Squad

9:28

Experts see promise in Rajasthan’s squad for IPL 2019

Where they finished in 2018

Fourth in the group stage with seven wins, before losing the eliminator to Kolkata Knight Riders.

Strengths

Royals have great depth, and have addressed each of their problems from last year with precision, so they don’t get exposed even when their big players aren’t available.Sample this: When Jos Buttler leaves, they can fill the void by playing Manan Vohra at the top. If Shreyas Gopal, the legspinner, has
a string of poor games, they can back him up with Kerala’s S Midhun. If they want experience, they can look at Ish Sodhi. Who better than Shane Warne as a mentor?ESPNcricinfo LtdRoyals’ overseas roster has been strengthened with the additions of West Indies’ Oshane Thomas and Australia’s Ashton Turner, both of whom have left their imprints on Indian soil during ODI series in recent months. The fourth overseas slot is likely to be a toss-up between those two and Jofra Archer, depending on conditions and form. Varun Aaron and Jaydev Unadkat are the two experienced Indian quicks in the squad, with Thomas available as an alternative. Because they have a solid Indian back-ups for the overseas players, they shouldn’t be hampered too much with team balance.However, they need strategic precision. Last year, they weren’t able to maximise Buttler’s utility. In seven innings lower down the order, he managed just 120 runs at a strike rate of 126.30. When they decided to open with him, Royals had already slumped midway. But he almost single-handedly steered them to the playoffs by making 428 runs in the next six innings at a strike rate of 165.9. In the month of May alone, he tallied more runs (389) than the rest of the Royals batting combined (387).Similarly, K Gowtham’s record as a six-hitter was next to none, but he faced a total of 64 balls last season over 13 innings (four not outs in there), very low for someone who can strike a mean ball. He scored at over 200 at the death across innings. Is there a case to have him bat higher, especially in tall chases, so that they don’t leave it too late?ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Weaknesses

It’s no secret that Ajinkya Rahane is still eyeing a late entry to India’s World Cup squad, and there are mixed signals from the selectors and the captain over IPL performances. In any case, for him to present his case, he has to open. But won’t that come in the way of team goals?As such, Rahane is best used as a floater, an option the team management should consider. His Powerplay strike rate last season was 127, the fifth-lowest among those who faced 50 balls or more. His middle-overs strike rate of 102.5 was the worst among all batsmen who faced a minimum of 50 balls. Now, Rahane may not buy into the theory that his strike rates come in the way of a middle-order berth with the Indian team, but these are cold numbers that tell a story.Rahane’s 370 runs last season – at a Smart Strike Rate of 101 – was the antithesis of how T20 cricket has evolved. There’s no doubting his class and ability. He’s used the downtime to train and prepare. Can he return a rejuvenated T20 batsman? It’s important for the team management to make bold calls for the greater good if some combinations aren’t working, something they didn’t do enough last season.

Availability

The England players – Buttler and Ben Stokes, and possibly Jofra Archer, who is now eligible to play for England and is in the frame for selection – will leave on May 1 for their World Cup camp. Steven Smith is available for selection till, while Turner, who mentor Warne expects to tussle for the allrounder’s spot, will be available from April 1 following Australia’s ODI series in Pakistan in UAE. They could both leave on May 1 if they’re part of Australia’s World Cup plans. Six of their eight overseas players are likely to leave on May 1, so the pressure is on them to do all the running in their first 10 games. It remains to be seen how this pressure will impact them.

The best XI

1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Stuart Binny 7 K Gowtham, 8 Shreyas Gopal, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Varun Aaron

The overseas question

Their best four foreign choices for most parts should be Buttler, Smith, Stokes and one of Archer and Turner, depending on their bowling combinations. Once the Englishmen go back, they could look at Smith, Turner, Livingstone and Thomas.

Will they make the playoffs?

Much like in season one, where not many gave them a chance, they are in with a great chance of springing a surprise. Even if a top-two finish may seem far-fetched, they will definitely be in the running for third or fourth.

Poll

How ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary covered the key lapses in the latter stage of New Zealand’s run-chase

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2019In a low-scoring thriller, South Africa appeared to be putting the squeeze on New Zealand as they entered the 38th over with 74 runs still needed from 72 balls, and just five wickets in hand. But then South Africa’s anxieties started to get the better of them on the biggest stage once again … here’s how ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary called the action37.1 Imran Tahir to Williamson , 1 run, ccaaaatchh they cry, as Miller rushes to his left , trying desperately to get under the chip from Williamson. He reaches out a hand, hoping, praying, but it lands short of him! Williamson stands and watches it all, his heard beating a mile a minute, hating himself for mistiming a shot meant to go to long-on37.4 Imran Tahir to de Grandhomme, 1 run, dropped by Miller and it’s another really tough chance again! De Grandhomme whips a googly off the back foot, hoping to clear short midwicket. But Miller leaps up and to his right, getting massive airtime, then he sticks out his right hand but it just doesn’t stick37.6 Imran Tahir to Williamson , no run, follows the legbreak – a mistake he doesn’t normally do, but here he needs to put bat to ball and get runs, and because of that pressure, he plays a low percentage glide with half a bat and is beaten. Waaaait, replays show Williamson bottom edged it! De Kock didn’t hear it. Tahir is appealing. He’s shocked no one joins him and South Africa have missed out on a big big biiiiiiiiig breakWhat a spell by Tahir. 10 overs. 33 dot balls. Plenty of oohs and aahs. 70 from 66 balls40.1 Rabada to Williamson, 1 leg bye, Oh my, a comedy of errors at Edgbaston. Awful mix-up between the wickets. Miller fluffs a run-out chance and reprieves Williamson. This was another well-directed short ball at the body, comes off pretty slow off the surface. Williamson is early into the pull and wears it on his body. De Grandhomme wants a single, Williamson doesn’t. Rabada, the bowler himself, swoops down on the ball. The throw is to Miller at the non-striker’s end. He is in a rush. He is under pressure. He dislodges the bails without collecting the ball. What a big miss for SA. Is that the game? 58 from 53 balls43.5 Phehlukwayo to Williamson, (no ball) 1 run, Ngidi has dropped it. SA’s fielding has gone to pieces. Okay, this is a beamer – well above the waist. Williamson swivels and flaps it in the air to deep backward square moving to his right. It’s all happening at Edgbaston. 33 from 31 balls45.5 Ngidi to de Grandhomme, FOUR, A catching opportunity ends up as a boundary. What’re you doing SA? Miller runs in, attacks the ball for the catch, but the ball drops in front of him at deep midwicket. Rabada is at the edge of the boundary running round, he slides, but lets the ball go to the fence. Back of a length and outside off, de Grandhomme smites it away and gets away. 20 from 19 ballsThe final over begins with New Zealand needing eight runs from six balls …48.1 Phehlukwayo to Williamson, SIX runs, Grant Elliott: 2015. Kane Williamson: 2019. New Zealand are having the times of their lives once again. What an epic century from Kane Williamson. This was full and outside off, Williamson drops down to one knee and smokes it away into the stands beyond midwicket. Williamson eases the helmet and soaks everything in. Scores level48.2 Phehlukwayo to Williamson, FOUR runs, Williamson – you beauty! It had to end this way, right? That dab down to third man. Back of a length and outside off, glides it away behind point and seals it for NZ like boss. He is the bossNew Zealand win by four wickets, South Africa’s World Cup hopes are effectively ended

The patterns of play Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side had executed so well over the past three years vanished into the Lahore evening

Danyal Rasool in Lahore08-Oct-2019Cricket really has its own, cruel ways. A team that trekked the globe mopping up T20Is for fun have seen Sri Lanka wipe the floor with them when the game returned home, in front of an adoring public who had been convinced of the quality of their side based on their television screens. Was it really the same side they had watched on TV pummel West Indies in Port of Spain, hammer Australia in Harare and New Zealand in Auckland? Did Pakistan, brushed aside by a Sri Lankan team cobbled together from among the consenting and the capable, really win 29 of 33 T20Is since the end of the last World T20?The patterns of play Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side – and for now, it remains his side – had executed so ruthlessly over the past three years have vanished in the Lahore evening. On each of the two nights, they fielded first, and found themselves on the back foot within the first Powerplay. This, in itself, is not unusual; with only two fielders out of the circle, batsmen will look to apply the pressure. Pakistan have experienced it, Pakistan have dealt with it. Pakistan have dished it out too. But on Monday night and Saturday, they simply couldn’t.Sarfaraz used five different bowlers in the Powerplay on Saturday, with Danushka Gunathilaka, the man whose chanceless century in the third ODI in Karachi had served as a warning shot to Pakistan, running riot against a side that had plotted itself into disarray. Sri Lanka smashed 64 in those first six, and on a day when Pakistan’s fielding was so abysmal it may have left Steve Rixon (now sat in the Sri Lanka dressing room) red-faced with vicarious embarrassment, the visitors went on to notch up 165.

Misbah has been roped in despite his lack of coaching experience for a cricket brain believed in some circles to be among the sharpest in the country. It is difficult to reconcile that with the unnecessary gamble he took with Shehzad and Umar, guaranteed to reflect poorly on him if they failed and prove little if they didn’t

This allowed Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad the opportunity to show why they had been called back into a side that had risen to world No. 1 without them.Instead … Shehzad was lucky to survive nine balls; he should have been dismissed at least twice before then, while Umar needed just the one to play across the line and find himself trapped plumb in front. Babar Azam’s rare failure took the asking rate close to nine.Just over a year ago, Pakistan had found themselves in a similar situation in the final of a tri-series against Australia in Harare. Two wickets in the first over had set them back in a chase of 184, with the required rate rising to ten after just two overs. The two at the crease, though, understood the importance of ensuring runs continued to flow; without that happening, the game would be gone anyway. An improbable hour and a half later, they had won with four balls and six wickets to spare.ALSO READ: Shehzad, Umar Akmal have my full backing as captain – SarfarazIn a less challenging situation and against a lower quality attack at home in the first T20I, Sarfaraz and Iftikhar Ahmed opted for the safety of strike rotation and wicket preservation, watching the Powerplay tick by as Sri Lanka’s limitless supply line of spinners began to tighten the noose. Sarfaraz, on 24 off 30, went for a low-percentage slog he would have missed six times out of ten even if he wasn’t in the seemingly endless rut currently afflicting him. He would miss, the ball would hit, and Pakistan would be skittled less than five overs later.The second T20I was more of the same, with Pakistan never really in the chase after a shocking bowling effort allowed Sri Lanka to put up 182, the biggest T20I total in Pakistan. Two early wickets put the pressure on Pakistan once more. Following that, Shehzad and Sarfaraz adopted the novel stance of rejecting the notion that 183 was a rather stiff chase, or that just two boundary riders represented an opportunity to make it a little less stiff. Just 25 runs were added in the first five; Sri Lanka had scored 41 and lost the same number of wickets in that period.Two overs of acceleration were followed by three wickets in an over from Wanindu Hasaranga. His uncanny ability to not just bowl a mean googly, but apparently also make the subsequent batsman forget he could do so, saw him clean up each of Shehzad, Umar and Sarfaraz playing the same shot to almost identical deliveries, in the process condemning Pakistan to their first T20I series defeat against Sri Lanka.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt’s these errors of strategy and execution that one hoped Pakistan had moved on from following the 2016 World T20. Sri Lanka might have the makings of a wonderfully exciting young side, but the Pakistan of 2016-2018 would have had little trouble getting over the line in this series. This Pakistan that’s turned up this year, however, is startlingly distinct from that one.They have lost five of six T20Is this year; since the end of the 2016 World T20 through to 2018, they had ended up on the wrong side just four times in 33 games. Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan, two of the bowlers to play seminal roles in Pakistan’s rise to the top in the shortest format, have regressed to the point where one is out of the team and the other needs a spell away from it. Fakhar Zaman, the spearhead at the top – the flourish to Babar’s finesse – hasn’t crossed 25 since that heist in Harare, leaving his partner unfairly saddled with the burden of providing a strong start.These problems, and others, gnawed away beneath the surface, each irksome enough in their own right. But the open sores generated by the simultaneous return of Shehzad and Umar, an assertion of authority by a new head coach (and chief selector), preclude any deeper introspection into the side’s malaise. Despite bursting at the seams with talent, the two had been dropped for the cause of the greater good, results justifying the move with each passing series. Their return in the face of scepticism Misbah had dismissively waved away, and the spectacular manner in which the move backfired, meant the head coach and chief selector had scored a remarkable open goal, his honeymoon period prematurely terminated and the scrutiny on him decidedly more antagonistic.Misbah has been roped in despite his lack of coaching experience for a cricket brain believed in some circles to be among the sharpest in the country. It is difficult to reconcile that with the unnecessary gamble he took with those two selections, guaranteed to reflect poorly on him if they failed and prove little if they didn’t (soft runs, weak opposition, etc). It came off as a gratuitous two-fingered salute to his predecessor Mickey Arthur, who had used the sacking of Umar in particular to brand himself an uncompromising disciplinarian and saw the ascent of Pakistan’s T20I side as vindication of the decision.Pakistan have rarely shown as much consistency in any format for a sustained period as they did in T20I cricket for two-and-a-half years. With the next T20 World Cup approaching, the wheels appear to be coming off at the worst possible time, and the three-match T20I series in Australia next month that promised to be a celebration of the format could now instead be a sobering reality check for the world’s best side.As Sri Lanka celebrated at a Gaddafi Stadium rapidly clearing of people who knew not when they would have the opportunity to watch international cricket live again, it was despair that overrode all emotions for the locals. Cricket had come home, but the cricket team they knew off the TV had not.