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ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2016Debutant Jasprit Bumrah then removed Steven Smith for 28•Getty ImagesGeorge Bailey and Shaun Marsh also failed as Australia were reduced to 4 for 117 within 22 overs•Getty ImagesDavid Warner and Mitchell Marsh, however, combined well to lift Australia with an 118-run partnership•Getty ImagesBoth batsmen hit centuries, but the hosts lost momentum in the death•Getty ImagesAfter having conceded only seven runs from the last two overs, India, led by Shikhar Dhawan, started positively in the chase of 331•Getty ImagesShikhar found good company from Rohit Sharma as they added 123 together•Getty ImagesThe partnership ended when Shaun Marsh took a brilliant catch off John Hastings to remove Dhawan for 78 off 56 balls•Getty ImagesRohit was soon dismissed, for 99, as Hastings accounted for India’s top three•Getty ImagesManish Pandey, though, played a fluent hand…•Getty Images…while Dhoni pitched in with 34•Getty ImagesPandey struck his maiden international century and helped India take 13 off the final over to guide his side to a consolation win•Getty Images

Mitch Santner’s first over cost 15 but by the end of Pakistran’s strangled run chase his left-arm spin had again given New Zealand the look of potential finalists

Jarrod Kimber22-Mar-2016The first ball almost hit Ahmed Shehzad at the non-striker’s end. The fact that it was hit at all was the shock. Mitch Santner had been bowling in this tournament like his deliveries were made of dreams and whispers rather than leather and string. Hitting them anywhere, other than the odd spooned catch, seemed improbable, and when the ball really span, impossible. Yet his first ball at Mohali was bludgeoned from the heavy heave of Sharjeel Khan.But perhaps the most shocking thing was Santner didn’t even land it. Not a failure to land it on an inviting length with ample turn, but a failure to land it at all. It was a full toss.His next ball was not much better. Aimed down the legside, he was only saved when Sharjeel missed it. The third ball was a quicker ball; it felt defensive already, like Santner was trying to spear the ball down just to get one right. He almost took a wicket from Sharjeel’s mistimed slog. By the fifth ball he was back down the legside again, this time for a wide.It was clear the next ball was going to deep midwicket: Sharjeel had the sort of drool you only get when you’ve got a left arm orthodox on the hop. It went high, and for another team, would have landed quite safely a metre or so inside the fence, before reaching the boundary. For New Zealand, it was nearly a catching opportunity as Martin Guptill looked more athletic in one dropped catch that the entire Pakistan team had in their best fielding moments.The last ball of the over, Sharjeel slapped back another straight drive, his best shot of the over, and to one of the better balls.Santner had gone for 15. The same Santner who had destroyed India and who at one stage had 2 for 4 against Australia. The same Santner who in his first 35 balls of the tournament had gone for one four. The same Santner who had 6 for 15 off his first six overs of the tournament. That guy was now opening the bowling for New Zealand and getting slapped.As in the other matches, Santner set the trend. Corey Anderson’s first over was down the legside, either for runs, or for wides. Adam Milne and Mitch McClenaghan both tried short to Sharjeel, then full. Both went, a long way.In all five other bowlers bowled before Santner came back on. It was really only Ish Sodhi, whose first over went for three, who seemed to worry the Pakistanis. The following over was Santner’s second, the ninth of the innings. Pakistan were chasing well. Sharjeel’s innings had ended, but there were only one wicket down, they were well set, and had hitters to come. New Zealand hadn’t been as sharp in the field, Williamson had tried a lot, but it hadn’t quite worked.Sodhi wasn’t enough, the two of them had to work together.

The worrying thing for the other teams was that New Zealand never really played that well. They are capable of much more

Santner’s second ball was a wicket, the over went for four runs. His next over went for two runs. Pakistan had only five overs that went for less than six runs, Santner now had two of them in his first three. His last over picked up another wicket, he was also slogged by Afridi, and it ended up with eight runs. But from the time Santner came on for his second spell, the game was over. Sodhi ended it in his last over when he took Afridi’s wicket.Between them, despite Santner’s 15 over opening gaffe, they took 3 for 54 in 8 overs. Conceding three boundaries outside the powerplay.Boundaries became like diamonds, or in Afridi’s case, possessed a sense that they wouldn’t last. Pakistan’s innings was stopped, and it never started again.The pitch didn’t spin, Pakistan were well set, and Sodhi and Santner, the most unlikely of spin twins, took New Zealand to 3-0, a semifinal, and probably at least equal favouritism in this tournament.The worrying thing for the other teams was that New Zealand never really played that well. Tthey are capable of much more, it was the first time their batsmen made runs, and even then, they could have scored far more. And almost all their bowlers came back strong once the spinners had got going.They weren’t as focused or prepared as other games, and they still easily won the game with their now familiar method of choking the middle overs. There is no team in the tournament with bowlers harder to score off, or fielders more likely to stop them scoring.And all this with Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Nathan McCullum getting splinters. Their bench bowling is better than other teams’ front liners.Before this event, few knew of Sodhi, fewer knew of Santner, and none, or practically none, of the New Zealand media bothered to show up. Now the first two are making some noise, and there will be some hastily booked, red faced journalists making their way to India. Even from that distance, they, too, have been bamboozled by Santner.

Plays of the day from the World T20 match between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Kolkata

Mohammad Isam and Alagappan Muthu26-Mar-2016Something to remember me byDebutants would want to make good first impressions on their captains. Henry Nicholls, though, took it a little too far. Playing his first T20I, looking for his second boundary, he strode confidently down the track and smacked one at Kane Williamson at the non-striker’s end. The magic spray was needed, some ointment and a bandage wrapped around the left elbow for good measure. If Nicholls was fretting about his captain’s mobility though, Williamson allayed those fears by extending that left elbow up to the sky while hitting a pristine cover drive in the fifth over.Williamson spins one off the batIn the ninth over, Williamson managed to blast Mustafizur Rahman over the in-field to the cover boundary. Tamim Iqbal was running in from wide long-off but just when the ball pitched on the practice wickets, it showed that every playing surface at Eden Gardens has spin and bounce. The ball turned sharply away from Tamim, and went for four.The 1-2-3But the next three balls belonged to Mustafizur, who basically played with Williamson despite the New Zealand captain being quite settled at the crease. In the three-ball combination that led to Williamson’s dismissal, Mustafizur first beat him with a slower off-cutter that fizzed past Williamson’s attempt to hit the ball straight. Next, Mustafizur bowled a fast cutter that zoomed past a slanted bat that tried to squeeze it past point. Finally, Mustafizur aimed at the stumps despite Williamson moving towards the off side. It was another slower ball which struck the off stump.The helpMustafizur did not need much help with his five wickets (four batsmen were bowled) but for his fourth, Shuvagata Hom helped him out with a stunning take. He ran back at least 10 yards from mid-on after Grant Elliott skied another slower ball, before diving full-length and completing the catch. It was great judgment from Shuvagata, who saw Mustafizur as the first to congratulate him.The anti-climaxHaving bowled Mitchell Santner and Nathan McCullum off consecutive deliveries in the last over, Mustafizur faced yet another hat-trick opportunity. But Mitchell McClenaghan, who walked in to huge cheers building up for the hat-trick ball, ensured that there was no fairytale ending. McClenaghan slammed that delivery for a huge six over long-on – not a bad way to hit your first six in T20Is.The continuing bad luck
It seemed a perfectly mild seam up delivery from Grant Elliot to Mushfiqur Rahim in the 11th over. But the ball swerved away just enough to beat the batsman’s outside edge and strike the off-stump. Only the wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi had some idea of what had happened as Elliott looked more dumbfounded than Mushfiqur. Walking back to the dugout, Mushfiqur re-enacted the delivery and shook his head. After his troubles in Bangalore, he bagged a duck in Kolkata.

A look at the key numbers from the 2016 Warne-Muralitharan series which saw Australia suffer a 3-0 whitewash

Shiva Jayaraman18-Aug-201618.50 Bowling average of Sri Lanka spinners in the series; they took 54 of the 60 Australia wickets that fell in the series striking every 41.5 deliveries, with three five-wicket hauls from Rangana Herath and one from Dilruwan Perera. In comparison, Australia’s spinners took 24 wickets at an average of 38.29 with a best of 4 for 123 by Nathan Lyon.

Spinners in the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, 2016

Team Wkts Ave SR 5wi/10wmSri Lanka 54 18.50 41.50 4/2Australia 24 38.29 69.00 0/054 Wickets taken by Sri Lanka spinners – the most by them in a series. Their previous best was a tally of 50 wickets against New Zealand in a series at home in 1998.15.16 Starc’s bowling average – the best by a fast bowler to take at least 20 wickets in a series in Asia since Waqar Younis took 27 wickets at 13.81 in a series against Zimbabwe in 1993-94. Overall, Starc’s average is the eighth best for a fast bowler with 20 or more wickets in a series in Asia. The other pacers in this series took 13 wicket at an average of 38.61.24 Wickets taken by Mitchell Starc in this series, 11 more than other pacers in the series combined. This is the highest ever lead by a fast bowler over others in terms of wickets in any Test series. The previous best was by Richard Hadlee. He took 33 wickets in the Trans-Tasman Trophy in Australia in 1985-86 while other pacers from either side together took six wickets fewer.25.8 Starc’s strike rate in this series – the best for any bowler to take at least 20 wickets in any series in Asia. Muttiah Muralitharan’s strike rate of 26.0 in a series against Bangladesh at home in 2007 was the previous best. Including Muralitharan’s figures, the next three instances in this list are by spinners. Waqar Younis’ strike rate of 29.0 in a series against Zimbabwe in 1993-94 is the next best by a pacer.19.08 Average of Australia batsmen in the series – their lowest ever in any series involving two or more Tests in Asia. Their lowest before this had also come in Sri Lanka, in 1999, when their batsmen averaged 22.65 per dismissal.1978-79 The last time Australia batsmen averaged lower in a series involving two more Tests – in the Ashes in Australia when they managed just 17.99 runs per dismissal. Their average of 19.08 is the third worst in any Test series involving at least two matches since 1950.18 Single-digit scores by Australia’s top-order (No. 1 to No.7) batsmen in the series – their most in a series since 1900 and their fourth highest in any series involving three or fewer Tests. Overall, only one visiting team had had more scores under ten runs from their top-order batsmen in a series in Sri Lanka. West Indies had 19 such scores in a three-Test series in 2001-02.885 Runs scored by Sri Lanka’s batsmen at No. 6 or lower in the series – the second highest in a series against Australia in Asia and only two runs fewer than in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India in 2008-09. Sri Lanka’s last six batsmen averaged 32.77 in the series and made two hundreds and two fifties.13.16 Runs Australia’s last six batsmen averaged per dismissal – their lowest in any series in Asia. Their batsmen managed to score only 395 runs from 36 innings and the only fifty came from Mitchell Marsh in the first innings of the third Test. Overall, there have been only five instances for Australia – the last of which was in the 1978-79 Ashes – when their last six batsmen have averaged lower after 30 or more innings in a series.6 Number of top-order batsmen in this series from either side who got out to a bowler four or more times while averaging fewer than 20 runs against him. This equals the most such instances in a Test series since 2002. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis got out to Starc five times and Steven Smith also fell to Rangana Herath as many times. Starc’s five dismissals of Karunaratne were spread over just 39 deliveries and the batsman managed to average just 3.80 runs per dismissal. The 2013 Ashes also saw six such batsmen-bowler combinations from five matches.

Top-order batsmen’s cheap dismissals to bowlers in this series

Batsman Bowler Inns Dis Ave Balls/DisDimuth Karunaratne Mitchell Starc 6 5 3.80 7.8Kusal Mendis Mitchell Starc 6 5 13.60 20.2Steven Smith Rangana Herath 6 5 15.80 37.8Angelo Mathews Nathan Lyon 5 4 12.25 18.3Kusal Perera Nathan Lyon 5 4 15.25 24.0Adam Voges Rangana Herath 6 4 4.75 25.3Usman Khawaja Dilruwan Perera 4 3 5.66 14.3Mitchell Marsh Rangana Herath 6 3 19.66 30.3Mitchell Marsh Lakshan Sandakan 5 3 10.33 21.3Peter Nevill Rangana Herath 6 3 9.33 31.316 Dismissals of openers for single-digits – including four ducks – in this series, which equalled the most in any series of three or fewer matches. There were 16 such instances in the series against India in Sri Lanka last year as well. Openers, of late, have been on shaky ground in Sri Lanka as illustrated in this piece by S Rajesh.11.08 Average opening stand in this series – the third poorest in any series involving 12 or more opening partnerships. The lowest average opening stand in any such series came during India’s tour of Sri Lanka last year, when teams averaged just 5.91 runs for their first wicket.10 Number of successful reviews against umpires’ decision in the series – equalled the second most in any Test series since 2010. Sri Lanka made six of these ten successful reviews. Angelo Mathews was more trigger-happy than Smith: Mathews made ten out of 14 reviews made by the fielding teams. Dilruwan Perera used the review three times while batting – the most by a batsman from either side – and was successful in overturning the umpire’s decision once. Australia’s home Test series against South Africa in 2012-13 had 11 successful reviews – the most in a series since 2010.

Decision reviews, Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, 2016

Review type Reviews SL AUSFielding team review – successful 4 3 1Fielding team review – unsuccessful 10 7 3Batsman review – unsuccesful 7 3 4Batsman review – successful 6 3 3

A refusal to play low-percentage cricket is a major ingredient in MS Dhoni’s success as an ODI finisher, but that approach is no longer fetching results in T20

Sidharth Monga30-Aug-2016That’s MS Dhoni, giving a rare, fascinating insight into the mind of arguably the best finisher in ODI cricket, and also revealing a bit about the shortest format of the game, T20. Of late Dhoni has failed more than he has succeeded, and this could perhaps be a case of a thinking batsman trying in vain to eliminate luck from a format where luck plays a big part, trying to perfect an art that cannot be perfected, and trying all this in the twilight of his career, when his eye and instinct are diminishing, although his legs are still just as strong.Dhoni in the last over (since January 2014)

T20I v England, Birmingham, 2014 – 17 required, lost

ODI v South Africa, Kanpur, 2015 – 11 required, lost

ODI v Australia, Sydney, 2016 – 13 required, won

T20I v Australia, Mohali, 2016 – 4 required, won

T20I v Zimbabwe, Harare, 2016 – 8 required, lost

T20I v West Indies, Lauderhill, 2016 – 8 required, lost

If finishing matches is a gunfight, Dhoni has always wanted to win clinically, shedding as little blood as possible. Delay pulling the trigger, keep moving closer, corner your opponent, then go bang. Which is to say, take the game deep, don’t risk losing it by going for the big hit too early, and then back yourself in a one-on-one situation in the final over. It’s not that Dhoni necessarily wants to take the game to the last over or the last ball, but he doesn’t want to play low-percentage cricket early; he wants to wait for a mistake from the bowler and then pounce on it.This trait is borne out of habit and a sense of responsibility. From his young days, Dhoni has conditioned himself to come back unbeaten from chases. In any pursuit, you want to leave as little as possible to chance. Dhoni the captain in the field is known to gamble in limited-overs cricket, but with the bat, with more things in his control than when setting fields for error-prone bowlers, he is too proud to swing early and hope for the best.”If I play so many balls, I am going to finish this game,” he used to tell his coaches. Once, in his second proper year in international cricket, he played an irresponsible shot in a paltry chase in Jaipur, exposing low-on-confidence batsmen and giving India squeaky bums. He told the coach, Greg Chappell, he would never do that again. That, and the absence of big-hitting allrounders behind him – or at least that’s how he sees it – makes him keep the big shots for the end. So untrusting of others under pressure is he that in Birmingham two years ago he farmed the strike in Ambati Rayudu’s company with 17 required off seven balls. India lost by three runs.Contrast this with the time he needed 23 off the last over in an IPL game in Visakhapatnam. There were no calculations required here. No brain to be used. He knew the non-striking batsman, R Ashwin, couldn’t do it, so he farmed the strike and just hit hard with nothing to lose. He won.With eight required in the last over in Harare, Dhoni trusted Axar Patel and Rishi Dhawan. In fact, it seemed Dhoni might have asked the youngsters to have a go, looking to bat through himself. It showed in how Axar lofted Neville Madziva to long-off, and in how Rishi swung wildly. In Dhoni’s mind, this game perhaps reaffirmed the merit of getting close with relatively risk-free cricket before playing the big shots. “Quite a few of the batsmen were set, they were batting well, and at some point of time, especially when you are chasing targets, it is important to take it till the end and then look to play the shots,” Dhoni said. “That was something that was lacking in this game.”That brings us to India’s one-run defeat in Lauderhill. India were chasing 246, so there was never too much room for using “too much” brain. Dhoni himself played an important part, coming in at 137 for 3 with no batsman behind him. India needed regular big shots, there was no premeditated decision required as to when to play the big shot. Until India required only eight in the last over. In a nothing-to-lose chase, India were now decidedly ahead; now there was something grand to lose, now the brain took over from the instinct. Now we got classic Dhoni.Almost every time Dhoni has taken the game into the last over, he has looked to hit a big statement-making shot off the first ball of the over. It demoralises the bowler, it scares him at times. Here, Dhoni had an almighty swing at the first ball. Dwayne Bravo knew what was coming. He bowled a slower ball. Dhoni should have been caught but Marlon Samuels dropped him. You expect a bowler to make at least one mistake in such pressure situations. Bravo didn’t. He took it to the last ball with India needing two.Had Samuels not dropped him earlier, Dhoni wouldn’t have been in this spotlight. Now he was. A batsman less trusting of his game would have perhaps tried the big hit with six required off four and with four required off two. Dhoni had taken his one chance, and was now going to do it his way, especially in the absence of a mistake from the bowler.Bravo is a shrewd bowler, but it also helped him that Dhoni has become predictable in his pursuit of perfection. Bravo knew Dhoni was not going to go for the big hit and risk losing. Bravo wanted to plug gaps where twos could be taken. Dhoni’s favourite area is a bunt into the leg side with a two taken to the 30-yard circle. Bravo placed a midwicket. And he let Dhoni wait.Over several minutes Bravo had several conferences, everyone speaking with mouths covered. Dhoni was given enough time to contemplate. Time to think if he would be happy with just the Super Over after coming so far in a world-record chase. Or if he was happy to risk losing trying to seal the chase right there. Time to think of KL Rahul at the other end, who had played the innings of his life and deserved to be on the winning side.Dhoni stuck with what Bravo expected of him, but premeditated. Bravo said he was not sure he was going to bowl the slower ball but as he saw Dhoni walk across, out came the slower ball. Dhoni wanted to gain yards by hitting on the move, ended up playing well in front of his body, and found one of the four men inside the circle. Samuels again.This is a result-obsessed format, where even a tie is not a tie, but it is hazardous to see everything as right or wrong based on results. In an IPL game Steven Smith played a chip shot off the last ball of a Super Over to take the two required to tie the Super Over, knowing his team was ahead on the boundary count. Smith was praised unequivocally for being aware of the situation and backing himself to execute a plan. Dhoni took less of a risk here; he had less of a reward on offer: the fielders were all aware that he wasn’t looking to hit a six, so they were off the boundary a little to cut off the second, knowing they held the slight edge should there be a Super Over.A reminder that you can fail with the other approach too came two days later in Mackay, where India A needed three runs off the last two balls against Australia A. Sanju Samson, batting on 87, got a full ball from Kane Richardson – perhaps a yorker gone wrong – and looked to end the game right there. His attempt to hit a six ended in the hands of long-on, and Jayant Yadav could get only one off the last ball. India A lost by one run.Perhaps it was Dhoni’s predictability as a pragmatic batsman that allowed West Indies to have clear minds. Perhaps a younger Dhoni would have spotted the slower ball and adjusted his bat-swing; this was the second similar slower ball in the over that had drawn Dhoni’s edge. Perhaps Dhoni should have surprised them by going for the bigger hit?Yet it cannot be discounted that as a pure striker of the ball he is not the same batsman that he used to be. Since his Test retirement, with breaks available, Dhoni has come back fresher every time. Noticeably, he has begun to play the ramp shot now to make himself less predictable. He has started moving across and pulling short balls angled into his ribs, which used to leave him handcuffed a year ago. He is moving but the bowlers are arguably moving faster.It’s a tough job to consistently put yourself in pressure situations. Last year Dhoni spoke – after falling in the last over but being fortunate to see Manish Pandey finish the job in Sydney – of the unfair expectations on him in the finisher’s role. A good yorker is a good yorker, he said. Yes, at the end of the day, you will be judged by the results, but for him if a finisher can win you more games than he loses – even if it is just one more – he has done well enough. In that pressure environment, you can plan all you want, but it is extremely difficult to execute that plan.While all those around you judge you by results, you can survive either by not thinking too much or by being philosophical in your thinking. Dhoni has got the second part right. After India lost what could have been a much-celebrated chase, it didn’t take him long to assess that the plan was right and the execution wrong. He wasn’t going to let this bog him down in the next game. Or at least that’s what he told himself.

Three centuries in a visiting team’s innings is a rare sight in India, just like the expensive economy rates of the home team’s spinners

Bharath Seervi10-Nov-20162009 The previous time when three batsmen from a visiting team scored centuries in the same innings in India, before England’s innings at Rajkot. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene did it at Motera in 2008-09. This is the fourth instance since 1990 in which three batsmen of a visiting team have scored centuries in an innings in India. It is also the second time the England team has done so in the subcontinent. Their first was also in India, in Kanpur in 1961-62, when Geoff Pullar, Ken Barrington and Ted Dexter struck centuries while following on.2011 The previous instance when three England players scored centuries in the same innings – against Sri Lanka in Cardiff. There were four such occasions for England between 2009 and 2011 but none in the last five years.3 Instances in which each of the first six partnerships in the innings of a visiting team in India added 25 or more runs. England are third on the list. The first two were in 2008 – South Africa in Chennai and Australia in Delhi.0, 0, 0 Ben Stokes’ scores in his first three Test innings against India – a duck at Trent Bridge and a pair at Lord’s in 2014. He managed a century in this innings, the fourth of his Test career. His four centuries have come in four different continents – Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia.England scored the first 500-plus total by a visiting team in four year•ESPNcricinfo Ltd139 Runs scored by England in the first session of second day, in 30 overs for the loss of two wickets. The most they scored in a session on the first day was 107 in 31.3 overs, between lunch and tea. They hit 19 fours and two sixes in the first session on second day compared to 33 fours and two sixes in 93 overs on the first day.1985 The last time England made higher a total in India than the 537 in this innings. They had scored 652 for 7 in Chennai during the 1984-85 tour. Their first-innings total in Rajkot is their third-highest in India. England were also the last visiting team to score 500-plus in India – 523 in Kolkata in 2012-13.8 Number of times England’s sixth wicket has added 50 or more runs in the last ten innings, stretching back to the Oval Test against Pakistan. They only missed doing so in Dhaka, where they lost to Bangladesh. Overall, the 99-run stand between Stokes and Jonny Bairstow was the 13th fifty-plus stand for the sixth wicket for England this year which is more than twice the number of partnerships any other wicket.3.52 Economy of India’s spinners in this innings – their fourth-worst at home while bowling 75 or more overs. Amit Mishra was the most expensive with an economy rate of 4.17, while R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja conceded runs at 3.63 and 2.86 respectively.83.50 Ashwin’s average in this innings, 2 for 167, his second-worst in India in innings when he has taken at least a wicket. His worst is 111, also against England, in Ahmedabad in 2012-13. The 167 runs he conceded are his second-most in an innings at home. Jadeja gave away 86 runs, which is the most by him in an innings at home.

Plays of the day from the deciding ODI between New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park

Andrew McGlashan at Eden Park04-Mar-2017The riposte of the day
Auckland wanted a repeat of Martin Guptill’s display three days ago. South Africa had other ideas. They kept him quiet, the extra pace in the surface giving the new-ball quicks something to work with. A few days ago, Kagiso Rabada said he didn’t really see himself as the leader of South Africa’s one-day attack, but he’ll be hearing a lot more about it over his career. After a bouncer ripped over Guptill’s head, the follow-up was a yorker which the batsman tried to play from outside leg stump. It didn’t work.The cheer
It’s an understatement to say Luke Ronchi has had a lean run in one-day cricket. His career-best 170 against Sri Lanka before the 2015 World Cup was the last time he passed fifty. But he has been given another chance this season and replaced Tom Latham in Hamilton. He only needed to watch Guptill finish things off there, but walked in under intense pressure this time. It wasn’t pretty viewing and when he finally found a run off his 15th ball there were loud cheers around the ground. He did not add many more.The smokin’ shot
There weren’t many notes of aggression from New Zealand, but James Neesham did manage a sweetly struck six – or chip as it is at Eden Park – straight down the ground off Dwaine Pretorius. They almost needed a new ball. Not because it was lost, but because it flew through the flames which shoot above the sightscreens whenever boundaries are hit. The ball was retrieved (no evidence of oven-mitts being needed) and inspected by the umpire who found no singeing.The bunny
Quinton de Kock was reeling off the half-centuries earlier in this series, continuing his form from the South African season, but that has come to abrupt halt since Jeetan Patel’s recall in Hamilton. There it took Patel just one ball to remove de Kock and in Auckland it was the first ball of his second over. De Kock, as usual, was keen to dominate; he lofted drive and Kane Williamson took an excellent catch tracking back from mid-off.The review
New Zealand had a glimmer after claiming three top-order wickets. Patel had two of them after luring JP Duminy into a loose drive. Then he thought he had a third, which would have left South Africa 60 for 4, but the second the umpire Chris Brown gave Faf du Plessis lbw, AB de Villiers was telling him to review. The captain was spot on. The ball turned too much and slid down the leg side.

Pick your three batsmen for an all-time IPL XI and help put together the team with our panel of experts

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2017After more than 11,000 votes to pick the short list of openers for ESPNcricinfo’s all-time IPL XI, the six nominees are Chris Gayle, David Warner, Virender Sehwag, Brendon McCullum, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir. Now, it’s time to pick the rest of the batsmen. We have included five possible wicketkeepers in the list of 12. Vote for three or four batsmen, depending on what you want your team combination to be, including one player who can keep wicket.The votes* will be used to create a shortlist from which our jury, which includes four former Test players (Sanjay Bangar, Aakash Chopra, Brad Hogg and Ajit Agarkar) and members of our staff, will pick the final XI. In keeping with the IPL’s rules, the number of overseas players in the XI will be restricted to four. The best comments will be part of discussions on the all-time XI during our live shows and video analysis. Keep visiting our all-time IPL XI page for updates on the team selection.*Voting on this poll closed at 12:30 IST, April 15, 2017. Here are the nominees picked by our readers.ESPNcricinfo LtdAll the player stats are as of 22:30 IST, 10 April, 2017.

Solomon Mire, who was the architect of the win, also racked up the fourth fastest ODI century for Zimbabwe

Gaurav Sundararaman30-Jun-20170 Previous instances of a 300-plus target being chased down successfully in Sri Lanka in 32 attempts. Zimbabwe’s pursuit of 318 was the highest successful chase in the country. The previous highest was 289 by Sri Lanka against Pakistan in 2009. Sri Lanka becomes the twelfth country to witness a successful 300-plus chase. Out of 67 instances of teams successfully chasing 300-plus targets, India has hosted 13, followed by 11 in England.

Successful chases in each country

Host 300+ target Successful chases Win PercentageIndia 78 13 16.66England 55 11 20.00South Africa 54 7 12.96Australia 65 8 12.30New Zealand 39 7 17.94Pakistan 29 6 20.68Bangladesh 23 4 17.39West Indies 35 4 11.42Zimbabwe 23 4 17.39Kenya 13 1 7.69Scotland 5 1 20.00Sri Lanka 33 1 3.032010 The last instance when Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka in ODIs. Friday’s win in Galle was also Zimbabwe’s first win over the home side in Sri Lanka in any format. Overall, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka have met 51 times with Sri Lanka winning 41 times. This was only the eighth win for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in ODIs.1 Number of scores higher than 317 successfully chased by Zimbabwe in ODIs. They have won chasing 300-plus targets on two other occasions in ODIs – both against New Zealand at home. Their highest successful chase is 329 in 2011 in Bulawayo .85 Balls taken by Solomon Mire to score his first ODI century. This is the fourth-fastest century for Zimbabwe. Mire’s 112 is also the joint-highest for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, equalling Grant Flower’s 112 in 1998.79Runs scored from 47 balls by Zimbabwe through the sweep or reverse sweep in their total of 322. Mire scored 33 of those runs. In contrast, Sri Lanka scored 25 runs from 15 balls through the same shots.28 Innings taken by Kusal Mendis to reach 1000 ODI runs, making him the joint second-fastest Sri Lanka batsman to the milestone, after Roy Dias who got there in 27 innings. Since his debut in June last year, no other player has made more 50-plus scores in ODI cricket, with Joe Root tied with Mendis at the top of that table, having made 12 such scores.

And which players have scored most runs and taken most wickets in the history of the Champions Trophy?

Steven Lynch19-Jun-2017I’ve heard Michael Holding say more than once that he never bowled a wide or a no-ball in a one-day international. Is that true, and does he hold the record if it is? asked Liam Clayton from Australia
Michael Holding sent down 5473 deliveries in one-day internationals, and he’s right that none of them was a wide or a no-ball. His long-time team-mate Joel Garner bowled 5330 deliveries without a wide (or a no-ball), and Lance Cairns 4021. Without wishing to play down Holding’s feat, we should probably recognise that the calling of wides has become much more rigorous over the years since his heyday. Mohammad Hafeez has so far sent down 7076 deliveries in ODIs without a no-ball (but 85 wides), while Ravi Shastri bowled 6613 without a no-ball (but one wide). In Tests, the West Indian offspinner Lance Gibbs bowled 27,115 balls in 79 matches, without a single wide or no-ball. Richard Hadlee sent down 21,918 deliveries without conceding a wide, but did have 22 no-balls, while Derek Underwood (21,862 balls in 86 Tests) and Garry Sobers (21,599 in 93) never bowled a wide or a no-ball. (It’s just possible that some of these players delivered no-balls which were scored from, which would not have counted against them at the time so might have escaped notice; the practice of debiting no-balls and wides against the bowlers’ analyses started in the early 1980s.)Has Shikhar Dhawan now scored more runs in the Champions Trophy than anyone else? asked Ajmal Bharat from India
Shikhar Dhawan finished this year’s tournament with 701 runs overall in the Champions Trophy (363 in 2013 and 338 in 2017; he was the leading scorer in the competition both times). That leaves him third on the overall list, behind Chris Gayle (791 Champions Trophy runs) and Mahela Jayawardene (742). He passed Kumar Sangakkara (683) during the final at The Oval. Those three all played more innings: Dhawan’s average of 77.88 from ten matches is the best of anyone who scored more than 530 runs (Virat Kohli has 529 at 88.16). Lasith Malinga finished this tournament with 25 wickets overall in the Champions Trophy, leaving New Zealand’s Kyle Mills as the overall leader with 28.The Merv method: let the ball do the talking, then chip in with your mouth•Getty ImagesBangladesh did not concede an extra in India’s innings of 265 in the Champions Trophy semi-final – was this a record? asked Shivam Ahuja and several others on Facebook
India’s 265 for 1 in the Champions Trophy semi-final at Edgbaston was indeed the highest total in one-day internationals not to include a single extra. The previous-highest was Scotland’s 229 for 3 against UAE in Edinburgh in August 2016, while South Africa’s 178 for 5 against New Zealand in Faisalabad during the 1996 World Cup didn’t include any extras either. The Test record is Pakistan’s 328 against India in Lahore in 1954-55, while South Africa totalled 251 without any extras against England in Durban in 1930-31.I seem to remember a bowler from Afghanistan doing well in county cricket in the 1990s, but I can’t remember his name. Who was it? asked Robin Burton from England
I think the bowler you’re referring to is the left-arm seamer Alamgir Sheriyar, who took more than 500 first-class wickets in a career that started and finished with Leicestershire, and also took in spells with Worcestershire and Kent. He had most success during his time at New Road: in 1999, he was the leading wicket-taker in the country with 92, when his career-best 7 for 130 for Worcestershire against Hampshire in Southampton comprised the first seven wickets to fall. The following winter – 1999-2000 – Sheriyar toured Bangladesh and New Zealand with England A (now the Lions). He was of Afghan descent, but was actually born in Birmingham.What’s the funniest sledge you’ve ever heard? asked Ken Harrison from England
That’s a tough one – people have written whole books on this subject! The other problem is that rather a lot of them are unprintable. But I suppose one of my favourites involves, almost inevitably, that Australian arch-sledger Merv Hughes. The story goes that in 1989-90, Pakistan’s Javed Miandad reacted to a bit of bluster from Merv by informing him he was too fat to play cricket and that he should be a bus conductor instead. Not long afterwards, Hughes had Javed caught in the gully off a rearing bouncer and, as he chugged through to celebrate, put out his hand towards Javed and chirped “Tickets please!”Leave your questions in the comments below