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Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs, playing his first game this season, set up Mumbai Indians with a 167-run stand that ended Kolkata Knight Riders’ unbeaten run of seven games

The Report by Siddhartha Talya12-May-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs added 167 for the second wicket•AFP

Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs, playing his first game this season, set up Mumbai Indians with a 167-run stand that helped end Kolkata Knight Riders’ unbeaten run of seven games. Rohit, who made his maiden IPL ton, was in complete command and Gibbs settled in quickly despite having watched the bulk of the season from the dug out; the pair justified their captain’s decision to bat, piled on a formidable total that proved beyond the hosts’ reach and preserved Mumbai Indians’ place in the top four.For a team that had been among the most consistent in this IPL, Knight Riders’ bowling line-up slipped up considerably. Batsmen were given a generous dose of short-pitched deliveries together with width that gave them several opportunities to open up. Both Rohit and Gibbs displayed a ruthlessness that ensured Knight Riders were made to pay. The only highlight for the hosts was the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar; from there on, it was one-way traffic.Rohit relished the short ball and seemed to have the time to rock back and dispatch it with ease. He pulled Brett Lee for a six over square leg before slashing Shakib Al Hasan twice through point, even as the left-arm spinner pushed one through quicker the second time round. Sunil Narine, difficult to pick, beat the bat on occasion but there was plenty of release available at the other end to deal with him cautiously. Rohit slog-swept Shakib for six and then targeted Jacques Kallis.Kallis was taken for 18 in the 11th over, Rohit sending him over deep square leg and bringing up his half-century with a flick past short fine leg. Rajat Bhatia’s dibbly-dobblies weren’t spared either, Rohit even sweeping him for four in an over that fetched 19. Returning for a new spell, Lee struggled for the right length – Rohit launched him over long-on, cracked him through point, clipped him over midwicket and brought up his century – the eighth Indian to score a ton in the IPL – in the same over.Gibbs was comfortable playing second-fiddle but, even then, showed how destructive he could be in his own right. He nonchalantly charged out to Lee to hammer him over extra cover three times in one over, stepped out to Bhatia and Narine to collect more boundaries and marched along to a half-century, giving Mumbai Indians an opening combination they could stick to for the remainder of their campaign.Knight Riders were dealt a severe blow when they lost their captain Gautam Gambhir – who scored five fifties in his previous nine games – in the first over, bowled while trying to cut. His opening partner Manvinder Bisla top-edged a catch next over, and despite an attempted revival from Kallis, Knight Riders couldn’t get far enough.On a slowish track, the Mumbai Indians bowlers varied their pace and didn’t dole out too many freebies. Even though Knight Riders bat deep and had Kallis and Yusuf Pathan together for almost half the innings, they struggled to keep up with the required-rate. Kallis, though, managed to reach his first half-century this season and Yusuf, who’d had a forgettable season with the bat before this, found some form during his unbeaten 40. The defeat was a blip Knight Riders could afford, given their place at No.2, but they have stiff competition.

Sussex youngster Luke Wells took the opportunity of an County Championship match heading nowhere to score his second century of the season

07-May-2011Sussex 438 and 254 for 6 dec drew with Hampshire 480
ScorecardSussex youngster Luke Wells took the opportunity of an County Championship
match heading nowhere to score his second century of the season at the Rose Bowl
where another easy-paced pitch led to a dramaless last day against Hampshire.Sussex predictably batted through before declaring their second innings 212
ahead at 254 for 6, leaving Hampshire no time to respond. The visitors began the day 42 behind after each side had completed their first innings over the first three days and a draw seemed inevitable.Ed Joyce and Chris Nash put on 32 for the first wicket before slow left-armer
Danny Briggs took the first of his four wickets. Joyce mistimed a sweep and top edged Briggs to square leg where Friedel de Wet clutched the opportunity.Wells signalled his intentions on arrival with a straight six off Briggs and it
became clear the match was petering out when Sussex went in at lunch with a lead
of 66 at 108 for 1. Briggs, who got through another marathon spell of 30 overs spread across the innings, struck again at 124 when Nash, who had hit six fours in his 56, chopped
the ball onto his stumps.Nash and Wells had put on 92 for the second wicket to make sure there were no
alarms and the afternoon session brought little respite for the Hampshire
bowlers. Murray Goodwin, the Sussex captain, was the third to go at 157, curiously
offering no shot to a delivery from Briggs and being bowled via the top of his pad.Five balls later De Wet struck for the first time when he had Ben Brown caught
at the wicket with the score 158 but there was still no real hope for
Hampshire. Wells, who made 103 earlier in the season, reached his century off 169 balls,
hitting 11 fours in addition to his six.But Wells failed to go on and beat his previous best score because at 248 and
having faced only another seven balls, Wells drove Sean Ervine to James Vince
for exactly 100.Wells and Luke Wright had put on 90 for the fifth wicket to make the game safe
and by then the few spectators were already heading home. Wright perished soon afterwards, edging Briggs to Jimmy Adams after making 39 soon afterwards Goodwin decided to call a halt.Briggs was rewarded with figures of 4 for 99 as the match fell away. Hampshire, still looking for their first Division One win of the season in four attempts, finished with nine points and Sussex took seven back home along the south coast.

In the end, only two players, Sahara India Pariwar and Bharti Airtel, submitted bids for the right to sponsor the Indian team.

Nagraj Gollapudi and Tariq Engineer29-May-2010In the end, only two players, Sahara Group and Bharti Airtel, submitted bids for the right to sponsor the Indian team. Both Sahara, the existing sponsors, and Airtel bought the tender document at the last possible minute before the submission deadline, and Cricinfo has learnt both companies have submitted the mandatory Rs 50 crore (US$10.7 million) deposit required by the BCCI.The Indian board issued the tender on Monday inviting companies to bid for the rights, whose tenure is three-and-a-half years beginning July 1, 2010. Other companies in the fray included the ADA Group (ADAG), consumer electronics major Videocon, Delhi-based Monnet-Ispat, sports broadcaster Nimbus, which owns the rights to matches played in India, and advertising firm Percept.A source close to Nimbus said the broadcaster was approached by ADAG on Saturday morning, as its top brass was reluctant to commit as much as Rs 400 crore (US$ 85.6m) on its own. Nimbus, meanwhile, was trying to put together a consortium to bid for the rights, but was unable to pull it off due to the short time-span – less than a week – between the date the tender was released and the date the bids were submitted. “They released the tender on Monday and all the bids need to go in by Saturday, which is just about four working days by the time the tender was in hand. That is not very easy to work out when you are trying to get people to commit to Rs 400 crore.”It was reported widely that the BCCI was against consortiums bidding for the rights, but one of the interested players, who was among the first to pick the document, said that the board never had any issues there. “They had sent a clarification stating they did not want any marketing agencies to be part [of the consortium].”The BCCI has set a base price of Rs 2.5 crore per match for a three-and-a-half year period, during which India will be playing between 144 and 167 matches, depending on how far the team progresses in the ICC tournaments.The current price represents a 16% discount from the tender the board issued late last year, which had a base price of Rs 3 crore per match, and failed to attract a single bid. As a stop gap measure, the Sahara Group agreed to extend its sponsorship of the Indian team for a further six months, a period that ends on June 30.The lack of interest in the tender six months ago and the subsequent lowering of the base price represents “the impact of the IPL,” according to Hiren Pandit, Managing Partner-Entertainment, Sports and Partnerships at Group M, a prominent media buying agency. Pandit believes the IPL gives firms an alternative avenue to get involved with cricket, thereby reducing the exclusiveness of the Indian team.After winning the bid for the Pune IPL franchise, Sahara chairman Subrata Roy had said the company would re-evaluate its sponsorship of the Indian team. Subsequently, when contacted by Cricinfo, the company declined to comment to on whether it would be bidding this time around. The Sahara Group had paid roughly Rs 400 crore in 2005 for the right to sponsor the Indian team for four years.At least one prospective bidder, who bought the bid document, thought the current base price was still too high. “Anyone who bags the rights will have to spend on an average 125 crore annually only on this. That is a huge amount of money.”Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept Limited, which had reportedly purchased the bid document for a client, says the Indian team is still the best cricket brand around. “From a value perspective, the sport of cricket stands unparalleled as a property for sponsors today,” he said. “For any fan, especially in India, the national team is the ultimate. People follow IPL because you have the cricketers from the Indian team playing, they are the main attraction. Hence this in no way reduces the importance or following of Team India. Team India will be one of the best cricket properties always.”The BCCI will announce the winning bid after holding its marketing committee meeting in Mumbai on Monday.

Royals have also retained Quinton de Kock and David Miller, while Patriots have brought in Rilee Rossouw and Sikandar Raza

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2024Barbados Royals have retained Maheesh Theekshana for the 2024 edition of the Caribbean Premier League, while St Kitts & Nevis Patriots have signed his Sri Lanka spin partner Wanindu Hasaranga and the slingy fast bowler Nuwan Thushara.Patriots have also signed the South African batting pair of Tristan Stubbs and Rilee Rossouw as well as Zimbabwe allrounder Sikandar Raza.Theekshana, 23, is yet to play a single game in the CPL. Two years ago, he was selected by Trinbago Knight Riders but he was unable to secure a no-objection certificate from Sri Lanka Cricket. Last year, he had to withdraw on account of a schedule clash after being picked to represent the national team at the Asia Cup. Royals have retained him despite this. Theekshana has 150 wickets in 145 T20s and an economy rate of 6.68.Related

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Royals finished second from bottom in 2023 with three wins from ten games. They were without two key players in that time – Quinton de Kock and David Miller, who have both returned to the fold for this year’s tournament which runs from August 30 to October 7. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj is the other South African in the squad. He represented the sister franchise Rajasthan Royals in the IPL earlier this year.Tristan Stubbs has signed for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots•BCCI

West Indies T20 captain and former CPL winner Rovman Powell offers further strength in the middle order with Jason Holder performing all-round duties.Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq is a new signing, returning to the CPL for the first time in three years and looking to add to his 220 T20 wickets. In all, Royals have confirmed 14 players on their roster, leaving them with three spots to fill when they attend the CPL draft in July.The highly-rated Alick Athanaze, the hard-hitting Rahkeem Cornwall and slower-ball specialist Obed McCoy are other notable members of the squad.Patriots’ list of local players, meanwhile, includes batters Evin Lewis, Sherfane Rutherford and Andre Fletcher, who have all been retained, and the seam-bowling allrounder Odean Smith, who has been transferred from Guyana Amazon Warriors.Barbados Royals squad: Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, David Miller, Quinton de Kock, Maheesh Theekshana, Alick Athanaze, Naveen-ul-Haq, Obed McCoy, Kevin Wickham, Keshav Maharaj, Rahkeem Cornwall, Nyeem Young, Rivaldo Clarke, Ramon Simmonds.St Kitts & Nevis Patriots squad: Wanindu Hasaranga, Rilee Rossouw, Evin Lewis, Sherfane Rutherford, Sikandar Raza, Nuwan Thushara, Andre Fletcher, Tristan Stubbs, Dominic Drakes, Odean Smith, Joshua Da Silva, Ashmead Nedd, Johann Layne.

Leyton Hub to provide base for programme aimed at improving prospects for diverse communities

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2023Essex Cricket has announced a new three-year partnership with the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA), with the aim of enhancing the prospects within cricket for diverse communities within East London.The new partnership will be based at the Leyton Hub, which was opened in 2019, and will link up with the East London Development Programme, which oversees boys’ and girls’ cricket in London boroughs including Newham, Redbridge, Havering, Barking & Dagenham and Waltham Forest.SACA, which was launched in 2021, seeks to tackle the lack of British South Asian (BSA) representation in professional cricket, and was developed on the back of a PHD undertaken by Tom Brown in partnership with ECB, Warwickshire and Birmingham City University.The programme is intended to fill a void created by the disbanding of the MCCU and MCC Young Cricketers programmes, which had previously been a means of bringing through players that might otherwise have been lost to the professional game.”We are proud to be partnering with SACA ahead of the upcoming season,” Dan Feist, Essex’s Head of Cricket Operations, said. “They have achieved a huge amount over the last few years, and we are looking forward to helping them develop in the future for the greater good of cricket development in East London.”Working with the next generation of cricketers and coaches in our local communities is important to Essex Cricket and the game, the opportunities SACA are creating for young cricketers will help grow the game and the talent in the region along supporting players on the pathway or just off the pathway.”With 55% of Essex Cricket’s Player Pathway comes from an ethnic background, and the East London region has been a strong breeding ground for professional players in the past, with Nasser Hussain, Ravi Bopara, Varun Chopra and most recently, Feroze Khushi and Robin Das all emanating from the area.Several SACA players are due to link up with the Essex Development team over the next three years, while a T20 fixture between an Essex Cricket XI and a SACA XI is due to take place on May 15 at Chelmsford.

England allrounder hits captain Root on helmet as he targets improvement in second Test

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2021Ben Stokes has allayed concerns about the knee injury that hampered his bowling at Brisbane last week, after coming through an energetic nets session at Adelaide ahead of Thursday’s second Ashes Test.Stokes, 30, bowled just 12 overs in England’s nine-wicket defeat in the series opener, and was in obvious discomfort during his latter spells after appearing to jar his knee while chasing a ball to the boundary.However, he was back to full pace in the Adelaide nets on Tuesday, where he bowled for an hour under the supervision of head coach, Chris Silverwood, and also struck England’s captain Joe Root on the helmet and the arm in a lively display.”We will find out over the next couple of days,” Root had said before the net session. “He obviously had a bit of a jar in his knee in the last game. Hopefully it’s something he’s shaken off now, and he can get back to full intensity and all options are on the table. We will have to manage that and see where we are at.”Writing in his column for the Mirror, Stokes confirmed that his knee had affected him at Brisbane, but also that it was not a new issue that had arisen during the match.”People will have seen me rubbing my knee from time to time when I was in the field, but rest assured I’m fine,” he wrote. “It is an old injury that flares up every now and again, but I know how to manage it.”It just gets a little bit uncomfortable every now and again in and around my cartilage. But it just looks worse than it is by the way I try and get off it as soon as I can.”The contest was Stokes’ first Test appearance since the tour of India in February, and his first competitive fixture since taking a lengthy break during the English season to manage his mental health in the wake of a badly broken finger. He made scores of 5 and 14 in his two innings, and also reprieved David Warner with a no-ball, after over-stepping while bowling him in Australia’s first innings.”Having a long break is going to show itself I guess, but there are no excuses from me,” Stokes added. “I didn’t do anything whatsoever except take a catch and bowl a few no-balls, so the one positive is that I probably can’t get much worse than that.”Stokes’ ability to play as a frontline seamer is crucial to England’s hopes of balancing their attack, and may offer a reprieve to the spinner Jack Leach, whose 13 overs were hit for 102 runs in the first Test. His selection for that match was described by the former England left-armer Phil Tufnell as a “hospital pass”.Related

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England’s hopes of squaring the series at Adelaide may also be boosted by the impending recall of James Anderson, who claimed his first five-wicket haul in Australia in the corresponding day-night fixture four years ago, and who bowled for 40 minutes in the nets after sitting out the opening match.England have lost ten of their last 11 Tests in Australia, and have not won in the country since their victorious tour of 2010-11. No England team has bounced back from an opening Test defeat Down Under since Len Hutton’s men in 1954-55, but Stokes remains confident that they can buck the trend.”We have a good track record of bouncing back pretty well after a defeat early in a series,” Stokes added in his column. “We came back against South Africa to win, we came back against the West Indies last year to win, so we’ve done it before and we can do it again.”Now is not the time to panic. It is about keeping a clear head and staying calm and making sure that our cricket is at the level we want it to be.

Former Redback going home as head coach, but with sights set far and wide in the sport

Valkerie Baynes02-Oct-2020Jason Gillespie doesn’t believe he’s done with county cricket, having made his coaching home there for the best part of a decade.Gillespie flies out of the UK on Sunday, bound for his true home of South Australia after adding the role of Redbacks head coach to his existing job at the helm of the state’s BBL side, Adelaide Strikers. And while he is relishing the prospect of leading the team where his playing career began, there is a sense that his coaching career path has more twists and turns ahead.”I don’t think county cricket has seen the absolute last of me because I still feel somewhere down the track there’s going to be another little stint for me,” Gillespie told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s a great game, it’s a great system and it’s something I’d love to have another go at at some point in the future.”But for me for now I’m pretty excited and pretty energised about the opportunity to coach South Australia in conjunction with the Adelaide Strikers.”Off-field, the opportunity to be at home full-time was a little bit of a carrot, but ultimately the opportunity to work in my home state and help South Australia perform better and help individual players at South Australia improve was too big a carrot to resist.”Gillespie’s introduction to coaching back in 2010 was an eye-opener. Travelling to Kwekwe in Zimbabwe to coach MidWest Rhinos, he has told of seeing players who would risk missing training because they were stuck in bank queues waiting to take out their pay, and of his wife making the team sandwiches because there was no food prepared for them at lunch.He had a stint as bowling coach with Kings XI Punjab in the 2011 IPL before heading to Yorkshire, leading them to promotion from Division Two of the County Championship in 2012 and then to back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015. Gillespie left Yorkshire at the end of the 2016 season, after narrowly missing out on a third title in a row, and was appointed head coach of Sussex in 2018.Gillespie said he would have loved to have coached Zimbabwe had an opportunity arisen while he was there, but acknowledged that, given the political climate, he would be far more uncertain about going there now.He has also had his appetite whetted for coaching in franchise cricket but, having signed with South Australia for the next three years, he hopes his latest tenure will be extended.ALSO READ: Spinners sink Sussex as Jason Gillespie reign ends meekly“That’s where I see myself in the next little period,” he said. “But I certainly do see myself at some point either coaching internationally or coaching in the franchise systems throughout the world.”Gillespie was one year into a fresh deal intended to keep him at Sussex until 2022, when he decided to return to South Australia.He can have a slightly less rushed journey to the airport after Sussex were eliminated from Saturday’s Blast Finals Day – or Sunday’s reserve day, as is looking increasingly likely due to the weather forecast – when they lost their quarter-final to Lancashire on Thursday.His appointment with South Australia comes after a high-performance review recommended that the Redbacks and Strikers be brought under the guidance of one head coach.The Strikers have reached the BBL finals three times, including winning the title in 2018, since Gillespie became coach in 2015. During the same period, the Redbacks have fallen from Sheffield Shield finalists in 2016 and 2017 to the bottom of the table.Gillespie must serve a 14-day isolation period upon returning to Australia under Covid-19 travel rules, meaning he will miss the Redbacks’ first Sheffield Shield match of the season against Western Australia, starting October 10.Tasked with mirroring the success of the T20 team in the four-day competition, Gillespie can take some lessons away from Sussex. They reached the Blast finals in the first three years that he was head coach and improved from eighth to fifth in the One-Day Cup South Group. But they dropped from third in 2018 to sixth the following year in Division Two of the Championship and finished bottom of the Bob Willis Trophy South Group with just one win in five matches.Gillespie highlighted the captaincy, batting and glovework of Ben Brown and the development of quick Ollie Robinson and teenage off-spinner Jack Carson as high points of a disappointing team performance in the four-day game.”I’ve loved my time at Sussex,” Gillespie said. “We’ve had some challenges, there’s no doubt about that. The one-day and T20 sides, we progressed really nicely.”Four-day cricket, it has been a bit of a disappointment. I saw promise in 2018, I thought in my first year we made some strides, but last year it was quite a disappointing year for various reasons and if I had my time again I might have done one or two things a bit differently. But the positives out of the four-day stuff has been more certain individuals stepping up and performing well.”

Captain bags four-for with only Ben Foakes marshalling resistance for Surrey, giving hosts a 105-run lead

Jon Culley at Edgbaston28-May-2019After scaling impressive heights last year, Surrey’s 2019 season is still at base camp. Like Somerset, who at this stage look favourites to take their title, they have yet to suffer a defeat, but neither have they registered a win. Warwickshire have tasted only defeat yet at the halfway point are the team in control.Their most potent weapon, as it has been so many times in the last eight seasons here, in only one of which he has not snared at least 51 first-class wickets, has been Jeetan Patel. The New Zealand offspinner and club captain turned 39 earlier this month, yet has a contract until the end of next season.It is not difficult to appreciate why Warwickshire value him so highly. On a slow surface from which Gareth Batty had been able to extract some turn on the first day, Patel introduced himself in the ninth over of Surrey’s innings and bowled beautifully for 31 overs unchanged.The heavy weight of left-handers in Surrey’s line-up doubtless came into his thinking and he troubled Scott Borthwick and Rory Burns from the outset, while simultaneously blocking off one end. Five of his first nine overs were maidens.Repeatedly, he turned the ball past the bat or found the edge only for the ball to fall safe. He had three or four men in a claustrophobic cluster round the batsman. There were stifled appeals, oohs and aahs from spectators, but no wickets for 15 overs until, suddenly, three came at once, in the space of five balls.Dean Elgar, another left-hander, frustrated for almost an hour, ran out of patience and smacked one straight to extra cover. It was a wicket well earned and there were two more right behind it. Patel’s namesake Ryan survived his first two balls but nicked the third to Dominic Sibley at second slip. Will Jacks lasted only one, Will Rhodes snatching the ball almost off the floor at first slip.It meant that Surrey, who had been 73 for 1 barely 40 minutes earlier, were in something of a spot at 92 for 6. Back in the pavilion, Burns was regretting still more keenly that he had played so loosely after working hard to get to 40 that a wide long-hop from Olly Hannon-Dalby had ended up in the hands of backward point.Liam Norwell, whose free-scoring 64 at No. 10 was now growing in value, had followed up his early dismissal of Mark Stoneman with a fine delivery that clipped the top of off, claimed a second success when Scott Borthwick, trying to work to leg, was pinned in front. Surrey could now think only of damage limitation, still more than 200 behind.They managed at least to avoid the follow-on. Rikki Clarke, who spent eight-and-a-half seasons pulling on a Warwickshire shirt before returning to Surrey during the 2017 season, launched a counter-attack, beginning with 14 runs from three balls off Norwell, prompting the former Gloucestershire bowler’s temporary removal from the attack.Clarke and Ben Foakes added 58 but the charge ended when a brilliant throw from cover point by Sibley ran out Clarke with a direct hit. Sibley, of course, is the ex-Surrey man who moved to Edgbaston as part of the agreement that allowed Clarke to travel in the other direction.Surrey immediately lost Morne Morkel, who lasted only four deliveries before Patel bagged him as his fourth success. With Batty at the other end, Foakes completed his half-century, but two wickets in two balls by Henry Brookes left the champions with a deficit of 105, to which Sibley and Rhodes added 26, coming through a testing 12 overs unscathed at the close.Patel was as pleased with the collective effort as much as his own performance. “To win three sessions today was huge,” he said. “To perform as we did all day was tremendous.”It is only halfway and we have to keep it going session after session. We have a young team but we have showed signs in the last two matches that the younger players are learning about playing Division One cricket and that is very positive for us.”

Rumaan Raees’ knee injury adds to Islamabad United’s woes as they slump to their second loss in three matches

The Report by Danyal Rasool28-Feb-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
In a nutshell
The first PSL game in Sharjah began with a crushing six-wicket win for Quetta Gladiators. They first stifled Islamabad United and restricted them to 134 despite some terrific top-order hitting from Luke Ronchi, whose 26-ball 43 accounted for a bulk of the runs. After his dismissal, however, Misbah-ul-Haq and JP Duminy, both playing their first games of the season, managed 36 off 51 balls between them. That Islamabad crossed 130 was courtesy a late charge from Faheem Ashraf. For Quetta, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Nawaz and Hasan Khan enjoyed successful spells.Quetta’s response was spearheaded by Kevin Pietersen, who rode his luck initially before settling into ominous touch. When he did, he squashed any plans Misbah might have been harbouring to beat an unlikely path to victory, smashing three huge sixes en route to a 34-ball 48. Peripheral contributions from Mohammad Nawaz and Asad Shafiq and Shane Watson were more than enough to seal what was, in truth, a cakewalk for the two-time runners-up.Where the match was won
If someone told Islamabad United that their two biggest overs with the bat would fetch 24 and 18, they might have been quite pleased. Tell them that those two would account for nearly a third of their total runs, and you’d wipe that smile off their faces. They managed just 92 off the other 18. Anwar Ali provided a good start, while left-arm spinners Mohammad Nawaz and Hasan Khan kept Islamabad on a leash in the middle overs. The precocious Hasan was responsible for the most crucial moment in the game, bowling Luke Ronchi with his first ball. The New Zealand opener was the only Islamabad player who looked in any touch, and in his absence, Quetta’s bowlers outclassed a listless batting side.The men that won it
The PSL has seen a few close low-scoring games, and without Pietersen’s cavalier self-confidence, this could easily have turned into one of them. After surviving several early jitters, he found himself in good touch and immediately set his mind to putting the game out of Islamabad’s reach while he was finding the middle of the bat. No bowler was safe from his onslaught with Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf coming in for particular punishment. By the time he sliced one off Steven Finn, the required rate was around 3.5, and the outcome of the game was academic.Benching the superstars?
The team sheets prompted a fair bit of reactions because two of the most explosive T20 cricketers were left to warm the bench. Quetta began without Jofra Archer – although it later emerged he was nursing a bruised heel – but it was Islamabad’s decision to leave out Andre Russell that baffled many. It didn’t look any better tactically as the game went on as Islamabad limped along for much of their innings, crying out for a power hitter who sat warming the bench.Moment of the match
Chadwick Walton may walk away with the award for the best catch in the tournament, a diving left-handed grab catch at mid-on off a Shane Watson biff. It’s pretty harsh, then, that it wasn’t even enough to dismiss the batsman as it was off a free hit. It didn’t matter who you supported, but seeing that sort of brilliance go unrewarded felt like a massive waste, more so because Watson had also been dismissed off the previous delivery, only for him to be reprieved because Rumman Raees had overstepped. It was a rough day for the left-arm fast bowler anyway; he was led off on a stretcher after a diving effort on the boundary resulted in his ankle landing awkwardly on the ball.Where they stand
Quetta move up to third with four points. Misbah’s Islamabad, meanwhile, are stuck on two points, and are placed fifth.

Ed Cowan’s unbeaten 134 off 267 balls enabled New South Wales to end the second day of their Sheffield Shield match against Victoria with a 42-run advantage

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2017
ScorecardEd Cowan made his first first-class century in 23 innings•Getty Images

Ed Cowan’s 23rd first-class century gave New South Wales a healthy lead at stumps on the second day against Victoria at the MCG, where the Blues finished at 4 for 300. Replying to Victoria’s first-day score of 258, New South Wales had a 42-run advantage at stumps and plenty of opportunity to extend that lead further yet, with Cowan at the crease on 134 and Peter Nevill on 18.Victoria’s new-ball bowlers, Jake Reed and Scott Boland, dismissed the New South Wales openers Daniel Hughes and Nick Larkin within the first 10 overs of the innings. But Cowan, batting at No. 3, settled in for a series of partnerships that frustrated the Victorians, first a 141-run combination with Kurtis Patterson, who made 61.Moises Henriques then put on a 92-run stand with Cowan which ended when Henriques was lbw to Reed for 51, and by the close of play the Cowan-Nevill partnership had reached 50. It was Cowan’s first hundred at first-class level since October 2015, ending a drought of 23 innings without reaching triple-figures.