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South Africa’s head coach admits team needs to be “more desperate on the field” after series defeat

Firdose Moonda07-Apr-2021If Mark Boucher thought the scant trophy cabinet that has so far characterised his tenure – two outright wins and a shared cup in nine series – was his biggest issue as this summer ends, he’s wrong. It’s the mounting list of unavailable players which is set to grow by one ahead of the T20I series against Pakistan.Related

• Heinrich Klaasen, handed the reins of a makeshift side again, hopes to be 'positive' and 'streetwise'

• SA get a glimpse of their (potential) best XI before IPL gutting

• Fakhar, Babar set up Pakistan's second ODI series win in SA

New captain Temba Bavuma’s prospects of leading in his first T20I series are “not good” after he injured his hamstring while batting in the third ODI. Bavuma was in too much pain to navigate the staircase at SuperSport Park for post-match interviews, so Boucher stood in for him.”Temba is a tough guy so when you see him hobbling around and it’s only got worse in the change room, the way he is walking, I think he might have done something fairly bad,” Boucher said. “He seems to be in pain. It doesn’t look good which doesn’t put us in a good position.”Bavuma showed signs of discomfort at the start of the 22nd over, when he had faced 18 balls. He required on-field treatment and appeared to be offered the choice to retire, but chose to continue. He ran awkwardly and only faced another five deliveries before being bowled, leaving an inexperienced middle and lower order to attempt to pull off the highest successful chase in Centurion.South Africa were also without Rassie van der Dussen, who suffered a quad injury, and seems certain to miss out on the T20Is.”Rassie is probably out for 10 days from yesterday. I’d be stupid to push him to try and play in these T20s. He is still staying in the squad and hope he can have a quick turnaround but it doesn’t look likely that he is going to get on the park,” Boucher said.That means a South African team that were already five down – Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi have all left for the IPL – could go into the four-match T20I series without seven first-choice players including the captain, with Heinrich Klaasen most likely to take over.Janneman Malan’s half-century couldn’t quite get South Africa over the line•AFP via Getty Images

While some will question the decision for CSA to have entered into an agreement with the BCCI to release players for the IPL and others will ask about the timing of this series, Boucher refused to use that as an excuse for South Africa’s series defeat.”We knew that the IPL guys were leaving and we made arrangements for that,” he said. “And the guys who came in knew they would be playing the last game and they prepared for that.”For some of them, that was evident. Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne scored half-centuries and Keshav Maharaj took 3 for 54 but South Africa lacked Nortje’s killer instinct, Ngidi’s ability at the death and a left-hander in the top six. “With a short boundary and having a left-hand, right-hand combination puts a bowling side under pressure so not having a left-hander in the top six is something we need to look at,” Boucher said.Similarly, South Africa will aim to address their handling of key moments in close matches. “Where we are not having good pockets in the game, we are having really bad ones,” Boucher said. “Today, in the last few overs, there were over 40 runs scored and in the first match, when we lost, we played 50% cricket and we still had a chance of winning the game.”South Africa conceded 56 runs in the last three overs in the final match and dropped a catch in the penultimate over of the first game. They also put down leading run-scorer Fakhar Zaman in the second match, and he went on to score 193, almost taking the game away from them. Boucher has identified fielding as a third area for South Africa to improve on. “We need to be more desperate in the field. Where usually we are very good, we are not that good at the moment.”That assessment could translate to a downcast camp, who are also confined to a bio-bubble, but Boucher indicated that the mood has not totally soured as South Africa approach their final opportunity to win silverware in the T20s, starting at the wicket.”I don’t think there is any negativity. The guys are desperate for opportunities,” he said. “It’s not ideal having injuries but with injuries, opportunities open. There are some guys who would like to represent their country and see what international cricket is all about. We want to start winning series, especially at home.”

The reverse sweep is the foundation of the left-hand batsman’s strokeplay

Peter Della Penna in Dubai30-Oct-2019The premise of scoring runs in cricket is simple: hit the ball where the fielders are not placed. When there is nobody behind square on the off-side boundary to a spin bowler, the reverse sweep is a very high-percentage one.It can hardly even be called a gamble anymore for George Munsey. It is the foundation of the left-hand batsman’s strokeplay – he won’t hesitate to play it from the very first ball of the match – and it’s one which few teams have found an answer for in the men’s T20 World Cup qualifier. The UAE bowlers were the latest to be reverse swept away on Wednesday afternoon as Munsey used the stroke to eliminate the hosts from the qualifiers and punch Scotland’s fourth trip to the event.”George is obviously a very talented player,” Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer said of his star of the match in the post-match press conference. “He can hit a golf ball a mile, he can hit a cricket ball a mile. He’s not very good at football, unfortunately. But he does have the ability to hit the balls 360 [degrees] on the cricket field. So he’ll use the reverse sweep when he needs to but he’s also capable of hitting the ball to the leg side if he needs to or back over the bowler’s head. “He can probably understand that it’s a challenge for bowlers at times. George is in a great place at the moment with his cricket and he is playing extremely well. He’s going to go a very long way in his game. He keeps his head down and makes sure he gets his performances. We also have a number of guys who can play 360 but George is the one who is at the top of the game at the moment.”UAE captain Ahmed Raza said he was aware of the plan used in the previous match by Netherlands’ Pieter Seelaar to foil Munsey – putting a deep-backward point in place, which resulted in his dismissal on the second ball of spin he faced, from Colin Ackermann. Raza opted to have his bowlers bowl a cramped line to Munsey’s body, not allowing him to free his arms for the shot rather than put in funky fields.It almost worked in the first over bowled by left-arm spinner Sultan Ahmed with several mis-hits and one ball clanging off Munsey’s grill. But by the third over, Munsey had found his timing and sent Sultan twice over the backward-point boundary for sixes. Munsey showed he was equally adept at playing the shot against pace bowling too, audaciously reverse-sweeping Zahoor Khan over third man for six in the 13th over towards the tail-end of his knock.”We had set plans for that and we’ve played enough against him,” Raza said. “A few of my team-mates have played with him in the GT20 as well so we had our plans. If you look at the first over, he got one hit on the helmet, he got one inside-edge, he hit one over the keeper; so he got lucky with that as well.”The two boundaries he hit off Sultan in that [third] over, but he didn’t reverse sweep until the later stages. He hit one over third man but when someone’s hitting that to a fast bowler who is bowling over 135kph then you can be only in awe of that shot at that point.”Coetzer also credited Munsey for providing the scoring options for him at the other end.With the confusion the shot causes in terms of field settings and trying to cover up gaps, it has made for a fruitful partnership at the top of the order, one which may cause further mayhem 12 months on in Australia.”George has the ability to find the boundary, possibly easier than some others, during his innings,” Coetzer said. “It certainly helps me. We’ve got a pretty good record as an opening pair. He’s got skills which I wish I could have and he helps me along. The partnerships we put on often helps us put the foundation, where George tends to be the main guy causing the destruction.”

Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner who played one Test for England during the 2013 Ashes, has been let go by Lancashire

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2018Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner who played one Test for England during the 2013 Ashes, has been released by Lancashire. Kerrigan made the decision earlier this year to put his playing career on hold and help out with coaching at the club.He did not play at all during the 2018 season and has now been allowed to leave Lancashire at the end of his contract, along with two other homegrown players, batsman Karl Brown and allrounder Arron Lilley.It marks a sad decline for Kerrigan, 29, who played a key role in Lancashire’s 2011 title win – his 9 for 51 sealed a last-gasp victory over Hampshire at Aigburth – and was then handed a Test cap two years later. His appearance at The Oval was wrecked by nerves, however, as his eight wicketless overs went for 53 runs, Shane Watson mercilessly cashing in.Kerrigan’s career seemingly never fully recovered. Having taken 58 wickets at 21.98 in 2013, his returns fell away steadily, and he spent the end of the 2017 season on loan at Northamptonshire. In April this year, he decided to take a break from playing.”My form hasn’t been at the level that it needs to be for a while now and after discussions with head coach Glen Chapple and the cricket management team at the club, we have all agreed that I will remain part of the playing squad and assist with coaching across all areas of Lancashire cricket for the time being,” Kerrigan said at the time.Brown was also a member of the 2011 title-winning team – Lancashire’s first outright for 77 years – contributing 997 runs at 35.60, but he was never able to match those returns in first-class cricket. He did continue to feature regularly as a white-ball batsman, and alongside Lilley helped Lancashire to lift the T20 Blast trophy in 2015.Lilley made his debut in 2013 and featured regularly in the T20 side – 70 of his 96 appearances were in the shortest format. This season, he played in all 15 of Lancashire’s Vitality Blast matches, helping them to Finals Day, but only bowled 13 overs, taking one wicket at 105.00.Lancashire’s director of cricket, Paul Allott, said: “Karl, Simon and Arron have given their absolute all for the club over the years, having come through the age-group and Academy system. The club would like to thank them for their contributions both on and off the field, and we wish them all the best for their futures in whatever paths they take.”

Top order a concern for Pakistan as they eye their first-ever Test series win in the Caribbean

The Preview by Danyal Rasool29-Apr-2017

Match facts

April 30, 2017
Start time 10:00 local (14:00 GMT)Misbah-ul-Haq could add yet another chapter in his captaincy book in Bridgetown•AFP

Big picture

Now that the buzz around Younis Khan’s 10,000th run is over, the focus shifts to the dreary business of the Test series unfolding around it. Weather delays and uninspiringly sedate batting at times from both sides give the first Test a dreary, old-fashioned feel. However, there were absorbing periods that left you wanting more, particularly in the last session of the fourth day, when Yasir Shah beat West Indies into submission just as the Test threatened to meander to a forgettable draw.The build-up to the second Test is not so different to the first, particularly for the West Indies, who must go back to the drawing board. It’s all very well working out the opposition’s weaknesses and setting elaborate plans, but all that is unlikely to bear fruit when you then go on to lose five wickets in the first 30 overs of the game, and drop straightforward catches, like they did in Kingston.From Pakistan’s point of view, it was as efficient a Test as they could have hoped for. They were on top right from the start. Mohammad Amir turned in his best performance since his return to cricket, Yasir did what world class second-innings spinners need to do, and their middle order piled on the runs. Their only concerns might centre around the seemingly intractable puzzle of an endlessly misfiring top order, a concern only appeased by the fact that it was well hidden in Jamaica.

Form guide

West Indies LWLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WLLLL

In the spotlight

In a depleted side that suffers from a paucity of genuine quality, West Indies appear to have found, in Shannon Gabriel, the man who comes closest to matching that description. He was the man his captained turned to every time it looked like the West Indies were out of ideas, with the 29-year old providing the breakthrough – or at least creating chances – more often than not. His aggression cost him half his match fee in Kingston, but that sort of passion might be appreciated by the West Indies fans. On a Barbados pitch that has traditionally offered more pace and bounce than the Sabina Park surface, Gabriel is perhaps the likeliest to make the sort of telling contribution that eluded his side last game.Ahmed Shehzad, not for the first time, finds his Test career at a precipitous stage. It is a pattern that has regularly repeated itself: inconsistency at the international level, rich form domestically, rinse, repeat. Apart from a pair of fifties, Shehzad has struggled to get going since his return to the highest level during the limited-overs leg of this tour. With Pakistan’s selectors showing impatience at the top order – Kamran Akmal has already been dropped from the Champions Trophy squad – Shehzad must be feeling the pressure of playing for his place again. Whether that stifles him or spurs him on may well have a significant outcome on the second Test.

Team news

West Indies’ squad is unchanged from the one that fell to a seven-wicket defeat in Kingston. Eyebrows were raised when Shimron Hetmyer and Vishaul Singh were both selected to make their debut in a side that already lacks experience, and one of them could make way for Jermaine Blackwood.West Indies (possible): 1 Kieran Powell, 2 Kraigg Brathwaite, 3 Jermaine Blackwood, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 Roston Chase, 6 Vishaul Singh/Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Shane Dowrich, 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Shannon GabrielPakistan could stick to the side that won the first Test, even though Misbah-ul-Haq did say they would consider the possibility of playing two spinners. That would also give them a fifth bowling option, so necessary in an attack that relies on three fast bowlers.Pakistan (possible): 1 Azhar Ali, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Mohammad Abbas, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Yasir Shah

Pitch and conditions

The forecast for the second Test is better than the it was in Kingston, even though rain is expected on the fourth and fifth days. The surface in Bridgetown is generally hard and fast, and if it is overcast, the toss could assume great importance. Jason Holder, the West Indies captain, felt the pitch looked “unusually” dry on the eve of the Test, so spin could play a fairly significant role as the match goes on.

Stats and trivia

• If Pakistan win this Test, it will mark their first ever Test series win in the Caribbean.
• The first Test marked the sixth time two Pakistan bowlers took six or more wickets in a Test. The last time this happened was in 2002.

Quotes

“It’s interesting. I’ve been out there a few times since I’ve been back here, and it looks pretty dry – unusually so. Normally you would expect a little bit more in terms of the surface but it looks quite dry, it’ll be interesting to see if it’ll last all five days or if it deteriorates quickly. Not quite sure, so it’s just a matter for us, especially, to make use of our first innings when we bat.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has launched a ‘Super Under-19 Provincial Tournament’ to function as a sturdy link between schools cricket and senior cricket

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Apr-2016Sri Lanka Cricket has launched a ‘Super Under-19 Provincial Tournament’ to function as a sturdy link between schools cricket and senior cricket. The tournament will be contested between ten teams over three weeks, starting from April 19. Each side will play four two-day matches in the group stage, before the leaders in each group progress to a three-day final, to be played at Khettarama from 10-12 May.”We have to invest into youth cricket, which we haven’t done enough,” SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said. “We used to see a lot of schoolboy cricketers knocking at the door of the national team, at the age of 18 or 19, but now we don’t see that. We have a huge quantity of schools cricket, but we haven’t focused on the quality. So we have concentrated the best players from that system here, in order to consolidate our cricket at that age group.”The Western (Basnahira) province will produce three Super U-19 teams, as the “density of cricket in the Western province is more”, while Sabaragamuwa does not get a team, because SLC believes there is not enough cricket there to support a side. Players from the Sabaragamuwa province will instead be split between the Uva and Central Province sides.Sumathipala said there was also scope for the weaker provincial sides to absorb the reserve players from stronger provinces, in order to bolster their outfits. The tournament is expected to cost 26 million rupees (approx. USD $180,000).

The Supreme Court’s strictures on N Srinivasan and the BCCI elections don’t seem to have affected preparations within the board for Sunday’s annual general meeting, of which the elections are a part

Amol Karhadkar27-Sep-2013The Supreme Court’s strictures on N Srinivasan and the BCCI elections don’t seem to have affected preparations within the board for Sunday’s annual general meeting, of which the elections are a part. Srinivasan’s own confident statement that he would attend the meeting and stand for re-election is mirrored in the business-as-usual attitude of his colleagues on the board, making any discussion on whether he should or should not contest irrelevant.Right now, there is serious business to be concluded: The distribution of the various board posts and similar rewards. The deadline to file nominations for all the nine posts – president, secretary, treasurer, joint secretary and five vice-presidents – ends at 4pm on Saturday, enabling all sorts of possible compromises for all the top posts. The corollary – the prospect of losing out on staging matches or landing plum tour assignments – is what is keeping the opposition in check.All the five incumbent vice-presidents, one from each zone, are set to be replaced, the final decisions regarding their replacements to be taken in the zonal unit meetings on Saturday morning. At the same time, once the likes of Jagmohan Dalmiya, Arun Jaitley, Rajiv Shukla and Anurag Thakur – key figures in the BCCI – check in to their hotel, the candidates for other key positions, including that of the IPL governing council chairman, will be zeroed in on.Despite the board seemingly divided in the aftermath of the IPL corruption scandal, it is unlikely that there will be an election for any of the top posts. Traditionally, once a president is elected unopposed in the BCCI, even the other office-bearers emerge as consensus candidates from his group of supporters. It would be interesting to see whether Sanjay Patel and Ravi Savant, who were appointed secretary and treasurer in June following the resignations of Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke, end up retaining their positions.With Srinivasan’s re-election in little doubt, the sole question concerns who will preside over the AGM. Similar to most of the AGMs, where the members usually request the senior-most member attending the meeting to preside, it is likely that Dalmiya, who has been running the board’s day-to-day affairs during Srinivasan’s “exile”, may chair the AGM.In a way, BCCI officials appear relieved that Srinivasan’s decision to step aside, in the wake of the IPL spot-fixing scandal that saw his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan arrested, has been vindicated. While questions were raised over whether the BCCI constitution allowed for the president to “step aside”, the Supreme Court’s directive will most probably mean the arrangement will prevail till the BCCI’s legal tussle with Cricket Association of Bihar ends.In any case, officials believe it will only be a matter of days before the case is resolved. The Supreme Court’s next hearing is on Monday, the day after the meeting.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said a phalanx of allrounders will be his side’s biggest strength in the upcoming World Twenty20, because of the balance and flexibility they afford the team

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-2012Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said a phalanx of allrounders will be his side’s biggest strength in the upcoming World Twenty20, because of the balance and flexibility they afford the team. Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis are in Sri Lanka’s squad as batting allrounders, while Thisara Perera’s forte is with the ball. Nuwan Kulasekara has also batted well in the last eight months in addition to opening the bowling, and opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan has contributed reliable offspin as well.”[The allrounders] give us a lot of options in our team combination, so we can pick more batsmen or more bowlers to suit conditions and opposition, and still have a balanced team,” Jayawardene said. “They give me options, because if you have some guys who aren’t hitting their stride, I can keep rotating the bowlers and one bowler having an off day won’t hurt us. Likewise, if someone who wouldn’t be a first-choice bowler is going really well and getting wickets, you can get four really good overs out of him. If your bowlers can bat as well, that gives you the depth in your line-up.”Mathews and Dilshan scored heavily during the recently concluded SLPL, while Perera also struck form with the bat. Mathews’ average of 70.33 was the highest in the league among batsmen who had scored more than 100 runs, and his aggregate of 211 put him at second in the top run-scorers’ list. Dilshan finished two places behind, having made 195 in one fewer innings.Jayawardene said the progress of Mathews and Perera had been particularly encouraging, given their performances over the last 18 months. “[Perera] has worked on his bowling and he has seen the results of that in the last year, where he picked up a lot of wickets for us, and there’s a lot to like about how he goes about his game. We’ve all seen what [Mathews] can do as well. He played an amazing knock in the SLPL final, and he’s been playing those back-against-the-wall kinds of innings for Sri Lanka in the past, so those two look very promising for us. “Jayawardene said that despite several players being called upon to contribute in both disciplines, they are each aware of not neglecting their primary skill. “I don’t think there will be a problem with that, because everyone knows what they have to do and what their focus is,” he said. “We have a unit that has been together for a while, and everyone knows their role in the team.”Sri Lanka made the final in three of the last four limited-overs World Cups, but Jayawardene said his side’s inability to convert those chances into titles was not the result of a lack of mental fortitude. “Getting ourselves into the semi-finals and final means that we are doing most of the things right, but perhaps we need to push a little bit more in a big game, like a final, to win it,” he said. “I’ve always said that playing in big tournaments and playing well is a big plus. Yes, we’ve stumbled in a few finals in the last five years, but I look at it in a positive way and say, ‘We’re getting there and doing the right thing’.”Sri Lanka have picked 18-year-old spin bowler Akila Dananjaya in their World Twenty20 squad, despite him having played only six professional games in his career, all during the SLPL in August. Jayawardene said the team management was mindful about exposing Dananjaya to international cricket too early, but will not hesitate to play him, should he respond well to being in the international side. “We have to see how he reacts and handles himself around the squad. From what I’ve seen in the provincial tournament, he doesn’t look scared at all. We’ve got two senior spinners [Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis] in the squad who can do the job, but if Akila is up to the task, we will use him.”

Murray Goodwin narrowly missed out on a century as Sussex struggled to pull out of their slide towards defeat against Warwickshire on the third day of the County Championship meeting at Edgbaston

22-Jul-2011
ScorecardMurray Goodwin narrowly missed out on a century as Sussex struggled to pull out of their slide towards defeat against Warwickshire on the third day of the County Championship meeting at Edgbaston.After being propped up for more than four-and-a-half hours by Goodwin’s defiant knock of 94, the south coast side were dismissed for 259 in their first innings and then made 71 for 2 after following on still 262 behind’s the home side’s total of 521. They will go into the final day trailing by 191 but with Ed Joyce perhaps offering some hope of an escape route if he can build on his unbeaten 42 so far.Although without injured strike bowler Boyd Rankin, title-chasing Warwickshire still had sufficient resources to work their way through a brittle middle order when Sussex resumed their first innings on 103 for 3. Nightwatchman James Anyon departed after a loose drive to cover off Chris Woakes and Michael Yardy’s search for form only led to disappointment with a mistimed pull which was comfortably held by the bowler, Rikki Clarke.After the early breakthrough by the seamers, New Zealand offspinner Jeetan Patel provided a successful alternative in his unexpected appearance while Warwickshire await of the arrival of West Indian batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Patel, originally signed for the Friends Life t20 competition, bowled Andrew Hodd when the Sussex wicketkeeper shaped to cut but offered no shot, and next he had Olly Rayner neatly taken by Ian Porterfield at backward short leg.Goodwin, meanwhile, played well within himself, cruising to his half-century with only five fours, and with seven wickets down for 183 he was able to build a worthwhile partnership with 21-year-old Will Adkin. One of the tallest players on the county circuit at 6ft 9in, Adkin was selected for this match as the third seamer, although it was as a batsman that he made an impact by scoring 45 against Surrey on his championship debut last summer.An unflappable left hander with a sound technique, he put on 54 with Goodwin and made an unbeaten 29 in just over two hours before Sussex folded in mid-afternoon. A rash moment brought about Goodwin’s downfall when he pulled Woakes (4 for 67) to deep midwicket and the last two wickets quickly fell to Andrew Miller and Patel (4 for 52).Joyce slipped into Goodwin’s role in the second innings but Warwickshire made some progress before bad light and rain ended the day. Patel took his fifth wicket of the match when Chris Nash (20) swept to deep square leg and Luke Wells was caught in the gully off Clarke.

Scotland may have entered this match ahead of Afghanistan in the Intercontinental Cup table but for each of the three days at Ayr it has been the tourists who have played like leaders

Cricinfo staff13-Aug-2010
ScorecardMohammad Shahzad’s swift century set up the declaration•International Cricket Council

Scotland may have entered this match on top of the Intercontinental Cup table but for each of the three days at Ayr it has been the tourists who have played like leaders. Sitting on a 296-run lead coming into the day, Afghanistan, led by an unbeaten 105 from Mohammad Shahzad, remorselessly marched into a position of utter dominance. Scotland now face the tough task of batting out the final day with just eight wickets in hand against an attack that has already proved hostile in this match.The home side’s best hopes of slowing Afghanistan’s progress on day three lay with taking early wickets but a cautious opening stand between Noor Ali and Karim Sadiq ensured no alarms. Instead both were happy to work the ball around and pick up what boundaries were on offer during a patient 64-run partnership that took the best part of 19 overs. The loss of Ali, quickly followed by Sadiq four overs later, left Shahzad to boss the show.After starting quietly he worked his way to fifty from 75 deliveries. By that stage Afghanistan were well ahead but were unwilling to declare and instead let Shahzad progress serenely through the gears on the way to his second first-class century. He reached the mark in style, launching Moneeb Iqbal into the gardens over deep midwicket to finish undefeated on 105 and signal the declaration.With the weather set fair, Scotland’s task was either an unlikely 546-run chase, or an almost-as-difficult survival task. The openers started well enough, resisting the new-ball onslaught to reach 31 before Hamid Hasan intervened. The chief destroyer in the first innings struck again to remove Fraser Watts for 8, uprooting his off stump with a vicious delivery. Watts had battled hard, taking 44 balls for his eight runs but could not prevent the effervescence of Hasan from taking hold.At the other end, Mohammad Nabi was weaving a noose around Scotland. He did not concede a single run in 49 deliveries and had Ryan Flannigan out bowled through the gate for a fighting 32 off 97 deliveries. Ewan Chalmers stood firm to finish unbeaten on 37, using the attacking field to collect eight boundaries along the way, but he will have to score plenty more if Scotland are to avoid anything but defeat on the final day.

England big-hitter reminisces about his new IPL franchise: ‘When I was watching IPL years ago, if they were playing, I’d turn the TV on’

Matt Roller26-Nov-20246:59

Moody: ‘RCB’s top seven looks formidable with Tim David at No.7’

It is a situation that only the vagaries of the IPL auction can explain. Eleven months after attracting no interest from the 10 franchises, Phil Salt attracted a winning bid of INR 11.50 crore – around GBP 1.08 million or USD 1.37 million – from Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday night, and will spend next spring opening the batting with Virat Kohli at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.Despite his snub at last year’s auction, Salt became an integral part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning side in IPL 2024. Having signed as a replacement player, he scored 435 runs – at a strike rate of 182 – and formed a dynamic opening partnership with Sunil Narine. KKR bid aggressively to get him back on Sunday, but ended up running out of funds.KKR had retention rights on Salt before the auction, but opted to keep hold of six other players instead. “There wasn’t a whole heap of chat around retention,” Salt told ESPNcricinfo. “I feel like, having just won the IPL, they probably had the hardest job of all the franchises, figuring out which direction they were trying to go in with their retentions, so I just sort of left them to it.”Related

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• Bethell to debut for England in first Test against New Zealand

They entered a bidding war with RCB, but after spending INR 23.75 crore to bring Venkatesh Iyer back, found themselves pulling out. “As you saw, they went hard to try and bring me back,” Salt said. “But with the way the auction went for the different teams up to that point, maybe there wasn’t enough money in the room.”The result is that Salt will form part of a characteristically formidable RCB batting line-up, with head coach Andy Flower confirming he will open with Kohli. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Virat,” Salt said. “I’ve always had a bit of chat with him – and a laugh and a joke – when I’ve played against him in the past, so I’m looking forward to playing alongside him.”He looks like a natural fit for a franchise associated with fearless batting, and recalls watching Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers playing for them as a teenager. “They’ve got a very clear way of playing the game which is to go out and attack,” Salt said. “They’ve always had the fiery personalities and their batting line-ups have been world-class.”They’re one of a few teams who, when I was watching IPL years ago, if they were playing, I’d turn the TV on. Obviously they’ve got Andy there and Mo Bobat [as director of cricket], and I’m really looking forward to playing under them. Having been around them a little bit, I know that we’re quite similar thinkers on the game in some ways – and their track record speaks for itself.”Phil Salt made quite a mark at KKR at IPL 2024•BCCI

Salt followed the auction from the United Arab Emirates, where he is playing for – and captaining – Team Abu Dhabi in the Abu Dhabi T10. “It was pretty cool,” he said. “Obviously it feels like a long way away at the minute, but I’m very, very excited for it.”He will have two England team-mates for company in Bengaluru: Liam Livingstone, who has spent the last three seasons at Punjab Kings, and IPL newcomer Jacob Bethell. “He’s very committed, and there’s not many people out there that have the skill that he’s got,” Salt said of Bethell. “Hopefully, he does well in his Test debut coming up.”Salt revealed his own ambitions to play Test cricket earlier this year, but his chance to press his case for selection in the County Championship was thwarted by his IPL deal and he has not played a first-class game in over a year. He was mentioned as a contender when Jordan Cox went down injured in New Zealand this week, but Ollie Robinson is the preferred replacement.Salt recently signed his first central contract with England, but has not yet sought talks with either Rob Key or Brendon McCullum to discuss a potential route into the Test side. In any case, there is unlikely to be a vacancy after the New Zealand tour when Jamie Smith returns from paternity leave.”It’s been said before that you don’t have to play a load of red-ball cricket to make a case,” Salt said. “But I’m pretty content with where I’m at, at the minute… It is tricky. I’d have liked to play more. I’d like to play all formats, but the way that the schedule is at the minute for me, that’s not the easiest thing to do.”