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Babar Azam to lead, Sarfaraz Ahmed included and Yasir Shah out for all three formats

Umar Farooq12-Mar-2021Sharjeel Khan’s PSL form has been rewarded with a recall to the national side for the first time in over four years, as he was included in Pakistan’s T20I squad for the tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe next month.Sharjeel was the third-highest corer in this year’s curtailed PSL season, finishing only behind Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, but at a fantastic strike rate of 170.94, well ahead of what the other two recorded. Sharjeel, playing for the Karachi Kings, was the only player to score a hundred in this edition, against the Islamabad United.The recall capped an eventful four years for the left-handed opener, who was out of the game altogether for two and a half of them, banned for his part in the 2017 PSL spot-fixing scandal.There have, however, been question marks about Sharjeel’s fitness. “Fitness isn’t the only criteria for selection – at the end of the day, a player has to play cricket. We are already working on reviewing the fitness testing levels and will introduce a new strategy [to gauge fitness],” Mohammad Wasim, Pakistan’s chief selector, said in a press conference. “I didn’t comment on Sharjeel’s fitness earlier as his performances [last year] were patchy, but now we have to look at anyone who performs, whatever the fitness they have.”Yes, I understand there is still a lot work that needs to be done on his fitness and he will improve with time, but at the moment he can win us big games with his bat.”The view on Sharjeel’s fitness marked something of a U-turn for the PCB. As recently as a year ago, PCB CEO Wasim Khan, not normally known for singling out players for criticism, had made an exception for Sharjeel, bemoaning his inability to remain fit while serving his ban, and said there was “a long way to go” before he could be considered for national selection.The other significant development was the absence of Yasir Shah from the Test side as he continued to nurse a left knee injury.The senior legspinner has been a regular in Pakistan’s Test squads for much of the past seven years, but has also experienced a form dip in recent times. The emergence of spinners like Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood and Nauman Ali – all included in the expanded Test squad – have also meant that Pakistan can afford to look beyond him. Shah’s performances in the southern hemisphere have been particularly underwhelming, with an average of 87 in that part of the world over the years.Shahnawaz Dhani, the Multan Sultans fast bowler who was something of a feel-good story during the PSL, was also called up for the Test series against Zimbabwe, with the chief selector saying that his performances during the tournament showed he could perform under pressure.Dhani took nine wickets in four PSL matches this season – the second-most among all bowlers, and while an economy rate of 10.33 needs work, there was enough for Mohammad Wasim to suggest he could be a white-ball prospect.”We basically saw him playing red-ball cricket in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and in the PSL he exhibited that he can handle the pressure,” the chief selector said. “He has the quality, the way he is bowling with control and pace… if we were playing Tests against South Africa, we would have reconsidered it, but we picked him because we are playing Zimbabwe.”Also, we are lacking fast bowlers in red-ball cricket. In white-ball cricket, we have more options than him. He is presently our future in red-ball cricket and we are trying make a pool and attract players in this format. He is definitely going to be considered for white-ball cricket in future.”Pakistan play three ODIs and four T20Is against South Africa before moving to Zimbabwe, where they are scheduled to play two Test matches and three T20Is.Test squad: Babar Azam (capt), Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Tabish Khan, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dhani, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mahmood, Sajid Khan.ODI squad: Babar Azam (capt), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Qadir, Hasan Ali.T20I squad: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Qadir, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal.

Dawid Malan says he felt like he was banging his head against a wall as Middlesex captain

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2019England batsman Dawid Malan has described his frustration at the way his time with Middlesex ended. Malan gave up the captaincy at the end of the 2019 season and subsequently agreed a move to Yorkshire after 13 seasons with the London club.Under new head coach, Stuart Law, Middlesex finished eighth in Division Two of the Championship, despite Malan leading the way with more than 1000 runs. They reached the quarter-finals of both the Vitality Blast and the Royal London Cup but Malan announced his decision to step down at the end-of-season members’ forum.Malan is currently on tour of New Zealand with the England T20I team and after his move to Yorkshire was announced said that it had begun to feel like he was “banging my head against a wall” at Middlesex, after a communications breakdown with Law.”I just needed a fresh challenge,” he said. “I’ve been captain of Middlesex for two years, and I’ve been banging my head against a wall for a wee while. I didn’t really enjoy the cricket as much as I’d have liked to.”When I spoke to them, Yorkshire seemed like a team that really want to win trophies, and that’s the ambition. I don’t want to finish my career just plodding along in county cricket. I want to be somewhere that really wants to challenge to win stuff.”I was wanting things to move in the right direction [at Middlesex]. That was it. It frustrated me that I didn’t really know what was going on, or what the plans were and so on.”While Malan has played all three formats for England, he has struggled to nail down a spot. He was their leading run-scorer in a T20I tri-series featuring New Zealand and Australia two winters ago but then did not feature again as England utilised Jos Buttler as an option at opener.With several first-choice players such as Buttler, Jason Roy and Joe Root rested from this tour, Malan has another opportunity to stake his claim, contributing scores of 11 and 39 in the first two games.”It was disappointing Jos went back up to open the batting, because it made position for guys like Vincey [James Vince] and myself, who bat at the top of the order, really tough,” he said.”I think I was the leading run-scorer in the last series I played in, but I hadn’t played a game for the last 18 months in Twenty20. That’s just the way it goes. I did everything I could to be part of the squad, but unfortunately it didn’t work out because of the players they’ve got above you.”He also indicated he hopes to force his way back into Test contention, despite England’s national selector, Ed Smith, suggesting that Malan’s game was better-suited to overseas conditions when he was dropped from the side during the 2018 summer.”I still want to play for England across all three formats,” Malan said. “I’m only 32, so I’ve got a lot of good years ahead of me, it’s just up to me to perform.”What Ed said wasn’t ideal but he’s clarified it to me – my Test record in England isn’t as good as it should be, which is my own fault and no one else’s. But that doesn’t mean I can’t play Test cricket again. It’s up to me to score runs for Yorkshire and keep my name in the hat.”

With several senior players returning to the fold, the coach is confident his team will put on a better show than they have in the recent past

Liam Brickhill28-Sep-2018Zimbabwe’s coach Lalchand Rajput is oozing optimism ahead of the first ODI in Kimberley on Sunday. It’s one trait by which his short tenure – he took over the position full-time in August after filling in on an interim basis in July – has been characterised.”South Africa has to be aware that this is not the Zimbabwe team of the past,” Rajput said. “This is a team that is going to give them a good run for their money. We have come to show the world that we are a competitive team and every game is important. We are here to show we can play aggressive cricket and we are here to win.”That’s fighting talk, and Rajput has inspired teams before. Part of the Indian team’s think-tank for a couple of years, including when they won the inaugural World T20 in 2007, Rajput was also in charge of Mumbai Indians in the 2008 IPL and oversaw many of Afghanistan’s recent achievements during his tenure as their coach. On his watch, Afghanistan won six out of 10 limited-overs series, secured Full Membership, and even toppled West Indies in an ODI in Gros Islet – their first win in the format over a Full Member other than Zimbabwe or Bangladesh.Rajput is no doubt looking to replicate that success with Zimbabwe, and is hoping the challenge of taking on South Africa for the first time in three years will spur his team on. “South Africa is always a big challenge, but a challenge always gets the best out of me and the players,” he said.Rajput’s optimism, however, is yet to translate to success on the field. While Zimbabwe stayed just about afloat in their T20I tri-series against Australia and Pakistan, they floundered in the ODIs to lose 5-0 as Pakistan set numerous records.”The series we played when I took over was not good for us, but it was never going to be easy to face Australia and Pakistan in the T20I triangular series and then Pakistan in the ODI series when we were missing seven to eight players,” Rajput explained.”But now that the players are back, it looks a balanced team – a team that wants to do well. Apart from Graeme Cremer and Sikandar Raza, most of our senior players are back and, when experience and youth combine, we can get the best out of the team.”

Joe Denly took two late wickets to follow scores of 119 and 71 not out as Kent closed in on victory over Sussex

Paul Edwards at Tunbridge Wells28-May-2017
Scorecard”There will be days and days and days like this,” says Susan Traherne at the end of , the film David Hare adapted from his own stage play. Susan is wrong; that final scene is a flashback and we know that her later life will be filled with unhappiness. All the same, as spectators watched Kent’s bowlers press hard for victory over Sussex on the third evening at Tunbridge Wells it would have been easy for them to echo Susan’s blamelessly optimistic sentiments as she looked over the French countryside. The ovations that greeted Matt Coles’ two early wickets and Joe Denly’s two late ones were also outpourings of pleasure from people grateful to be watching their sport at one of English cricket’s other Edens. And surely there will be more Sundays like this?Such assumptions are dangerous. As reported in the on Friday, this game was nearly moved to Canterbury because of concerns about both the outfield and the pitch, the latter having flooded because of inadequate covering by employees of Tunbridge Wells council, the body which “owns” this ground. Hours of work by Kent’s groundstaff and members of the Tunbridge Wells club saved the Festival but it was a close-run thing and the county’s officials are clear they will not go through such a shemozzle again.All of which may not have troubled some of those who had seen Kent’s batsmen do much as they wished with Luke Wright’s bowlers in the morning session. Sean Dickson had made 74 when he was leg before on the front foot to Danny Briggs. The batsmen looked down at his leg and back at the stumps when Peter Hartley gave his decision; perhaps he was regretting all those Friday afternoons when he dozed off during geometry lessons.Daniel Bell-Drummond seemed set for a hundred when he inside-edged an attempted square-drive on to his stumps and departed with 90 runs against his name. At that point Kent were 188 for 2 but the real entertainment was to come as Denly and Sam Northeast scored 70 runs in 35 minutes before lunch. The crowd enjoyed this, too, although their pleasure was alloyed somewhat by the need to protect their strawberries and Sancerre from cricket balls travelling at ferocious velocities. Denly cleared the rope three times in successive overs as he and Northeast sought to pile up the sort of lead that would allow them to set very aggressive fields while giving Sussex nothing but a draw on their dance card. Thirty years ago the picnics may have been more modest – Scotch eggs and Blue Nun, perhaps – but no one doubted that the Tunbridge Wells festival would continue, rather as it had since 1901.Northeast and Denly brought up their century partnership in 72 balls and the declaration was applied 20 minutes after the resumption. Sussex were challenged to score 504 to win and one or two Kent supporters may have pledged that they would breakdance in the Pantiles if Darren Stevens and his congregation of bowlers allowed this one to slip.Immediately the self-respect of the Sevenoaks faithful, not to mention the ambience of Tunbridge Wells’ most stylish quarter, seemed secure. Harry Finch was leg before to a full delivery from Coles in the third over of the innings; ten minutes later Luke Wells played too early at a delivery from the same bowler and gave an shin-high return catch to the Maidstone mountain. Poor Wells, his misery seemed beyond conception. He dropped his bat, bowed his head in his hands and took longer to leave the ground than a substituted Premier League footballer when his team is winning 1-0 and there are moments to play.Two balls later Chris Nash could offer his sympathy. His foot movement restricted by Adam Rouse’s decision to stand up to the stumps, the Sussex opener had his off stump knocked back and its bail broken by a good ball from Stevens which nipped away a shade. Sussex were then 8 for 3 and we were wondering whether we might be home before evensong.It did not turn out that way. Partly this was because Wright hit Stevens’ more attacking deliveries for eight boundaries in 38 before he nicked a leg-side catch to Rouse off James Harris. More persuasively, however, it was explained by Stiaan van Zyl and Michael Burgess’ obduracy, the pair batting for 30 overs and deep into the evening session as they sought to make Kent fight for their points. Van Zyl’s shot selection was particularly impressive and he had made 78 off 134 balls when he was judged caught behind off Denly’s part-time legspin. To say that he was not pleased by Hartley’s decision does little justice to his apparent ire.Next over, Chris Jordan collected a pair when he gave a gentle return catch to Denly and, once again, a three-day finish threatened. But David Wiese and Burgess batted stoutly through the final 11 overs and Burgess in particular will have gained more than 44 runs from his 157-minute innings. Kent’s victory, though, should be confirmed at some stage on Monday and one could wish that the future of cricket at the Nevill was as certain. One hopes, indeed, that the banks of dark asperatus cloud which encircled this sacred place in the late afternoon did not symbolise something.There is clearly a need for all parties to talk and to do so soon. More responsibility should be given to Steve Niker and his staff at the Nevill; they would break their backs to ensure that the festival continues. It would be easy to demonise the local authority but they have pressing financial priorities and may wish to delegate to people who actually know something about cricket outfields and pitches.On the other hand, Tunbridge Wells council may be under the misapprehension that they own this blessed plot. They do not; rather, they are the guardians of one of the finest cricket grounds in England and they are properly charged with the task of ensuring that the Nevill’s full glory is available to the next generation. Kent, meanwhile, are doubly blessed: “God or whatever means the good” has granted them the use of the St Lawrence and Nevill grounds; they must honour such gifts and do whatever they can to stay at both venues. Tunbridge Wells is a demi-paradise and we have seen so much good cricket this weekend. Surely there will be days and days like this?

Sean Ervine has been named as Hampshire captain in T20 and 50-over cricket after James Vince’s England call

ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2016The rise of James Vince to England’s Test team has left his county, Hampshire, looking for a replacement captain, with Sean Ervine named as the man to take charge in T20 and 50-over cricket.Ervine, 33, is one of Hampshire’s longest-serving players and captained the team on their pre-season tour of Barbados, when Vince was away at the World T20.”It feels great to be captain,” Ervine said. “Whilst we’re disappointed Vince can’t be with us, it’s brilliant he’s been selected for England.”I’ll bring calmness, and try and use my experience from over the years to counter certain situations – it can get quite manic out there. I captained in Barbados during pre-season and I really enjoyed the experience. Jimmy [Adams] has been a brilliant example and Vince has done an amazing job. It’s just about making sure we continue the success we’ve had over the last few years.”Vince was named Hampshire’s T20 captain in 2014, then took over in 50-over cricket at the start of last season. Adams’ decision to relinquish the Championship captaincy midway through 2015 saw Vince elevated in all three formats but this has coincided with his England career taking off and the club may not see much of him this year.A former Zimbabwe international, Ervine has played a key part in Hampshire’s limited-overs success, helping them to lift the C&G Trophy in 2005, as well as T20 titles in 2010 and 2012. He was the first Hampshire player to make 100 T20 appearances and has helped them to a record six successive Finals Days.His first match in charge will come next Friday, when Hampshire begin their NatWest Blast campaign with a fixture away to Middlesex at Uxbridge.

Neeraj Kumar, the former Delhi Police commissioner, has been appointed as a consultant for the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit (ACU).

Amol Karhadkar20-Apr-2015Neeraj Kumar, the former Delhi Police commissioner, has been appointed as a consultant for the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit (ACU). Kumar was appointed by the IPL governing council, which met in New Delhi on Monday. Mumbai and Pune were also confirmed as venues for the first two IPL playoff games.”Neeraj Kumar has been appointed for one year as a consultant to the ACU. He will be involved in improving ACU’s operations and awareness programmes,” Rajiv Shukla, IPL governing council chairman, told ESPNcricinfo.

Working committee to discuss CLT20 on April 26

The fate of the Champions League Twenty20 will be decided by the BCCI’s working committee during its meeting on April 26.
The IPL governing council was expected to discuss the proposal of scrapping the tournament but the matter wasn’t taken up. Instead, the governing council members were told that the working committee will decide on whether to scrap the tournament or persist with it for another year.

While Shukla didn’t elaborate on Kumar’s role, it is understood that the former commissioner will set in motion an improved system to prevent players from being trapped by bookies. BCCI officials also believe that Kumar’s vast experience in cracking cricket corruption-related cases during his tenure with the police will aid the BCCI.Kumar had led the investigations during the 2013 IPL corruption scandal that saw the arrests of several players and bookies. He had also played a large role in the 2000 match-fixing investigation, the first major fixing scandal in the game. Kumar is expected to work closely with ACU chief Ravi Sawani, who was present at Monday’s meeting.During the 2013 corruption scandal investigation, Kumar had been dissatisfied with the BCCI’s vigilance against corruption. “They should maintain better vigil. Most of this stuff happens quite openly: people are seen sitting with undesirable people and people do come to know about some strangers meeting somebody. So they have the list of the suspects, they should go after them,” Kumar had said in an interview to ESPNcricinfo in July 2013. “It would not be fair to say corruption is a rule and honesty an exception. There are a few rotten eggs, which should be spotted and be weeded out.”Meanwhile, the Supreme Court approved the request of the RM Lodha committee to replace IPS officer BB Mishra with CBI officer Vivek Priyadarshi. The committee was formed by the Supreme Court to decide on punishment for Raj Kundra and Gurunath Meiyappan – both of whom were found guilty of match-fixing by the Supreme Court – and to make recommendations and suggest amendments to the procedures followed by the board.Shukla also confirmed that the governing council allotted two of the four IPL knockout matches to Mumbai Cricket Association and Maharashtra Cricket Association. “The decision over the venue for the first qualifier on May 19 will be taken later,” he said.It is understood that Kolkata and Dharamsala, home venues of BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary Anurag Thakur respectively, are frontrunners to stage the first qualifier. While the second qualifier will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 22, Pune will stage the eliminator on May 20. Eden Gardens in Kolkata has already been announced as the venue for the final, scheduled for May 24.

Lions opened their One Day Cup campaign with a crushing victory over Titans in Centurion

Firdose Moonda03-Nov-2012
ScorecardLions recovered from their Champions League T20 final defeat in blazing fashion when they beat Titans by 269 runs in the first match of the domestic one-day competition in Centurion.For Titans, it was more heartache. After they lost to Sydney Sixers off the last ball of their CLT20 semi-final, they slumped to the lowest total in a domestic limited-overs competition in South African history. They were bowled out for 60 in response to Lions’ massive 329 for 6 and that, after they put Lions in to bat on a belter.Stephen Cook, who did not take part in the CLT20 but has been in training throughout, led the way with a 122-ball 125. He shared in a 161-run opening partnership with Gulam Bodi, who was the second top run-scorer of the CLT20. The pair out on their runs in 28 overs before Bodi top-edged a sweep shot to square leg off Paul Harris.Quinton de Kock, Grant Mokoena and Neil McKenzie were all dismissed cheaply and Lions had been reined in to 255 for 5 in the 44th over. Jean Symes, who also had a good CLT20 campaign, provided the late burst. His 43 off 27 balls included five fours and two sixes to take Lions over the 300-run mark.Surprisingly, Harris, Ethy Mbhalati and Roelof van der Merwe conceded under six runs an over but Rowan Richards and CJ de Villiers took punishment. Richards was a victim of Cook’s onslaught and conceded 78 while de Villiers bowled his 10 overs for 70.The pitch would have not made Lions’ bowlers think they would get away with an easy outing and they would have been surprised to see that they did. Titans were 34 for 9 in the 16th over and all out inside 19 overs. Titans’ scorecard included four ducks and only two batsmen got into double figures.Hardus Viljoen, who used to open the bowling with Marchant de Lange at Easterns, bowled a blistering spell upfront. With fiery pace in the upper 140kphs, he took 6 for 19 and showed off seam movement. Chris Morris and Ethan O’Reilly didn’t have much to share between them but picked up one and three wickets respectively. David Wiese managed 24 of 26 balls but it will be little consolation for Titans who have now lost three of their last four matches against Lions.

Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, has said the two-match Twenty20 series against England next week could help his side in the build-up to the 2012 World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2011Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, has said the two-match Twenty20 series against England next week could help his inexperienced side in the build-up to the 2012 World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.”These two matches present us with a chance to look at players as we prepare for the ICC T20 World Championship in Sri Lanka next year,” Sammy said. “Some young players have been given this golden opportunity to show what they can do. The selectors have identified the players they want to look at.”With at least seven first-choice players missing out due to Champions League T20 commitments, West Indies are going into the series with a new-look squad. The absentees include Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath and Ravi Rampaul. While the first three haven’t been included in West Indies’ Twenty20 teams earlier in the year as well since they skipped the domestic Twenty20 tournament, the latter four are representing Trinidad & Tobago in the Champions League.The new faces in the 14-man squad include batsmen Miles Bascombe and Johnson Charles, allrounder Nkruma Bonner and wicketkeeper Derwin Christian, while Dwayne Smith and Marlon Samuels are making comebacks.The England series, Sammy said, could set the tone for West Indies’ upcoming season. “This series signals the start of our overseas campaign for this year and we want to start our travels on a winning note.” Following the Twenty20s, West Indies travel to the subcontinent for series against Bangladesh and India.England have been in prime form this summer, enjoying success against Sri Lanka, before routing India in all formats. However, Sammy said he was confident of his side’s chances. “The players are working very hard as we prepare for the upcoming matches in England. The vibe among the players in the group is great. England have been playing some very good cricket in all three formats of the game and we know we face a major challenge in this series.”But we have some very confident players who are eager to prove themselves and give their utmost for the people of the West Indies. There is a lot to be gained by performing in this short series. We have our plans on how we aim to play against England and what we aim to get out of the series.”The Twenty20s are scheduled for September 23 and 25 at The Oval in London.

Mangalore United won the Karnataka Premier League 2010-11 with a strong bowling performance in the final, their left-arm spinners helping them defend a low total against Bangalore Provident (Rural)

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2010Mangalore United won the Karnataka Premier League 2010-11 with a strong bowling performance in the final, their left-arm spinners helping them defend a low total against Bangalore Provident (Rural). Udit Patel and Karun Nair shared eight wickets between them for 24 runs to dismiss Provident for a paltry 68.Provident’s chase looked in control when Thilak Naidu and MK Manjunath added 32 runs in the first five overs. Medium-pacer S Aravind bowled Manjunath with the first ball of the sixth over for the initial breakthrough before the spinners came to the party. Patel sparked the collapse, having Amit Verma caught by Bharat Chipli in the seventh over. He then trapped B Akhil, the Provident captain, leg before in his next over. Provident lost a wicket for each of the next five overs to slump to 59 for 8 – eight of their batsmen failing to reach double-figures – and it was a matter of time before Daniel Sequeira trapped Abhishek Jagan leg before to spark celebrations in the Mangalore camp.Nair, named the Man of the Match, top-scored with 21 when Mangalore batted after losing the toss. They were off to a poor start when Rohit Sabharwal – the Mangalore captain who had smashed a 44-ball 78 in the semi-final against Davangere earlier in the day – was bowled in the third over by medium-pacer Abhishek Jagan. Mangalore lost wickets regularly thereafter, and Nidhuvan Kumar was the only other batsman apart from Nair to reach 20. Three late run-outs did not help them either, and they eventually finished with what seemed, at that point, an inadequate 112.

R Smaran, meanwhile, turned a maiden first-class ton into a double as Karnataka ground Punjab into the dust

Shashank Kishore24-Jan-2025

Thakur Lords over J&K after Rohit misses out again

Rohit Sharma briefly caused bursts of excitement among early-morning office-goers in Mumbai’s financial district with a typically attractive start. He hit three sixes and two fours as Mumbai began their second innings against Jammu & Kashmir with a half-century stand between Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The pair wiped out more than half their 86-run first-innings deficit, before Rohit fell for 28, mistiming a heave to midwicket. The two shots that stood out were a hooked six off Umar Nazir and a flat-bat hit down the ground for six off Auqib Nabi, who eventually dismissed him.Related

• Another day, another audacious rescue act by Shardul Thakur

• Day 1: Siddharth Desai misses perfect ten

• Thakur on his rescue act: 'I like batting in difficult situations'

Rohit’s dismissal opened the floodgates as Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube fell in quick succession. Then, from what was effectively 15 for 7, Mumbai roared back thanks to an outstanding hundred from Shardul Thakur; his unbroken eight-wicket stand of 163 with Tanush Kotian leaves Mumbai with a lead of 188 going into day three.A win for either side will take them a step closer to the playoffs. A loss won’t mean the end of the road either. But J&K have a tougher next opponent in Baroda, who are the current table-toppers, as compared to Mumbai, who play minnows Meghalaya.Ravindra Jadeja picked up 7 for 38 in the second innings to go with 5 for 66 in the first•PTI

Jadeja takes 12; Pant endures unhappy Ranji return

Few teams in domestic cricket have used home advantage as well as Saurashtra. They had spoken of the need to get two outright wins in the back-end of the group stage, and had decided that ‘spin to win’ was the way to go at home. Ravindra Jadeja duly unleashed himself on a brittle Delhi batting line-up, and picked up five-wicket hauls in each innings to secure a bonus-point win that vaulted Saurashtra from the bottom half of Group D into third position.Jadeja bettered his first-innings figures of 5 for 66 with 7 for 38 in the second innings after they had taken a first-innings lead of 83. Jadeja’s haul included the wicket of Rishabh Pant, who made 17 to go with 1 off 10 in the first innings. Pant, who began by reverse-sweeping Jadeja for his first boundary, was the second-highest run-scorer for Delhi in their capitulation; they were bowled out for just 94 before Saurashtra knocked off their 12-run target inside three overs to complete a two-day victory.

Smaran’s time in the sun

Last week, R Smaran, 21, hit a match-winning century in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Vidarbha. This week, he converted his maiden first-class century into a double to open up a 420-run first-innings lead for Karnataka against Punjab at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.In the first half of the season, Smaran had scored 145 runs in seven innings without a half-century. But the selectors kept faith in him and other youngsters, and phased out a key senior player in Manish Pandey ahead of the white-ball leg of the season. Smaran took Pandey’s position at No. 4, and played an innings that hinted at a bright future.Smaran’s initiation into the Karnataka set-up comes on the back of plenty of runs at the Under-23 level. In 2023-24, he hit 872 runs in the CK Nayudu Trophy, including a match-winning hundred in the final against Uttar Pradesh. He also enjoyed a stellar run at the Maharaja Trophy, the state’s local T20 competition.

What to look forward to on Saturday

• He was preparing for a Test debut at this time last year, but Rajat Patidar now finds himself lower down in the pecking order after missing out even on the India A tour of Australia. But a strong back end of the first-class season, and a good IPL, could propel him back. For starters, he will look to covert his unbeaten half-century into a big innings as Madhya Pradesh look to build a sizeable lead after conceding first-innings honours to Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram.
• In Bengaluru, Shubman Gill will face a stern test against a young Karnataka pace attack after Punjab have been run ragged for nearly two days. Having begun their second innings facing a 420-run deficit, they are 24 for 2. Gill, who was out to an inside-edge to the keeper while attempting a drive off left-arm seamer Abhilash Shetty in the first innings, is batting on 7.