Record-breaking run-fest provides perfect start

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Four-hundred-and-fifty-five runs, the most ever for a T20 match in England and fourth highest in all T20 cricket, were plundered in just over three hours of ferocious cricket

Freddie Wilde at The Kia Oval15-May-2015
Scorecard11:47

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Four-hundred-and-fifty-five runs, the most ever for a T20 match in England and fourth highest in all T20 cricket, were plundered in just over three hours of ferocious cricket as a typically boisterous Kia Oval crowd of almost 13,000 sang, jeered, drank and cheered their night away as Surrey slid to 25-run defeat in spectacular fashion.A masterful team batting effort in both strategy and execution from Glamorgan saw them record the fourth highest score in the history of domestic T20 in England, 240 for 3, as they began their 2015 campaign with an explosive victory. Even though Surrey recorded their fifth highest T20 score in response, they were never really in contention to chase the runs, losing wickets at regular intervals, eventually bowled out with three balls to spare.After losing the toss and being put into bat, Glamorgan began their innings with cautious, but positive, intent. Mark Wallace struck two fours in the second over of the innings before he was caught at mid-off for 10 off the bowling of Tom Curran. Wallace’s demise brought the South African-born pairing of Jacques Rudolph and Colin Ingram together.Rudolph seemed happy to play second fiddle to his partner, hitting no boundaries in the Powerplay, while Ingram, who was spectacularly caught off a no-ball when on just 9, struck three fours and two sixes to see Glamorgan exit the sixth over nicely positioned at 53 for 1.

Insights

Last season Surrey were particularly successful in the T20 Blast deploying an army of spinners on dry pitches, but spin-duo Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari were thwarted by a wonderful array of sweeps and reverse sweeps from Rudolph and Ingram as they capitalised on a short boundary.
Given the clearly flat pitch and small boundaries it is hard to read too much into the bowling performances. However the batting efforts will obviously give great cause for encouragement for both. Glamorgan highest total last season was 192, that score incidentally coming in the equivalent fixture last year; Surrey’s highest score was 188, also in the same fixture.
Freddie Wilde

It will please Glamorgan that Rudolph and Ingram, both former international players of clear class, but perhaps not particularly attuned to T20, scored at strike-rates of 158 and 193 respectively, well above their career records of 116 and 125. Glamorgan lack real firepower in the lower order following the departure Jim Allenby and Cooke is the only player with a strike-rate of more than 127. Surrey meanwhile, will be encouraged that they scored 215 on a day when Roy failed.Effortlessly moving through the gears in the middle overs, and with both men passing fifty, Batty and Ansari conceded 87 runs from seven overs and neither took a wicket. But it was not only the spinners who were punished by Glamorgan. Seamer Matt Dunn had a day to forget, going wicketless and conceding 54 runs from his four overs.The 141-run partnership was broken in the fifteenth over as Rudolph, clearly looking to accelerate further, mis-timed a heave to mid-on to depart for 62. Two overs later Ingram followed his captain back to the pavilion when he was bowled by a Wahab Riaz, whose figures at the end of his third over were an impressive 1 for 16.That was as good as it got for Wahab and Surrey as Chris Cooke and Ben Wright hammered 58 from the final three overs, including 29 off a single Wahab over in which Cooke hit three sixes in four balls. It may have been the home team on the receiving end of the onslaught but the crowd were in balmy spirits as the innings came to a close. Cooke finished 46 not out off 19 balls, while Wright blitzed 16 from his seven. Glamorgan had scored 138 for 2 from their final 60 deliveries.Colin Ingram plundered 91 off 47 balls•Getty Images

Surrey lost last season’s leading run-scorer Jason Roy after just four balls of the chase, but there was no dampening the sense of occasion nor optimism as Kumar Sangakkara joined Steven Davies at the crease. Sangakkara struck three consecutive fours in the fifth over but Surrey fell behind the rate almost immediately and when they lost Sangakkara just before the end of the Powerplay there was an overwhelming sense that this enormous chase was going to be too many.Davies and Aneesh Kapil then departed in quick succession and when Dean Cosker, who finished with 4 for 30, dismissed Gary Wilson and Vikram Solanki off consecutive balls in the tenth over, the match was as good as lost.The party atmosphere continued deep into the Surrey innings however, as Ansari clubbed an unbeaten 67 off 32 balls. No one stuck with him though and Surrey were eventually bowled out for 215 with three balls remaining.Surrey had lost but you would not have known it looking at sections of the crowd – their loyalty to the home team was at best questionable and at worst non-existent. For many, the cricket was but a sideshow to the fun and games as the match wound to a close.It was T20 as it was designed to be: high-scoring, high-octane, furious, manic, explosive and fun. Better a raucous stadium than an empty one.It is the Blast’s misfortune that just a fraction of its matches are televised because at The Oval the country missed the perfect occasion to kick off the most important season in the tournament’s history. It wasn’t watched by anyone outside of the 12,832 people in the ground. But the match showed what domestic T20 cricket in England can be. And it was brilliant.

Key revitalised on return but Kent slip

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Rob Key hit 89 on his return to County Championship action but Surrey emerged with the opening day honours at a redeveloped Beckenham as Kent’s first innings fell away sharply to 282 all out

ECB/PA24-May-2015
ScorecardRob Key was back in the Kent side and made his best score of the year•Getty Images

Rob Key hit 89 on his return to County Championship action but Surrey emerged with the opening day honours at a redeveloped Beckenham as Kent’s first innings fell away sharply to 282 all out amid a rash of poor strokes. In reply Surrey were 17 for 1 at stumps, having lost Zafar Ansari leg-before to Matt Coles for 3 in eight awkward overs before the close.Key added 133 in 28 overs with Sam Northeast, who made a fluent 73, but from 182 for 2 Kent let things slip badly on a good pitch after three wickets went down for just seven runs in mid-afternoon. Sam Billings, Fabian Cowdrey and Coles did offer some further resistance following the sudden slide to 189 for 5, but too many wickets were gifted to a Surrey bowling attack depleted by the loss of Luke Fletcher to a back spasm after the on-loan seamer had sent down just six overs.Nothing better summed up the nature of Kent’s disappointing decline than the hard-hitting Coles’s departure for 21 when the big left-hander tamely chipped a return catch to Jason Roy when he bowled a single over of his occasional seam just before Surrey took the second new ball.Cowdrey was then leg-before to the deserving Matt Dunn for a grafting 39, and the same bowler soon wrapped up the innings by castling last man Ivan Thomas.Kent club captain Key is playing under Sam Northeast’s leadership in this game, having missed two Championship games after dropping himself following three unproductive four-day matches with the bat at the start of the season. But Key, who hails from Beckenham, has always enjoyed playing on the ground, which has not hosted any senior county cricket since 2012 due to the construction of a new 2000-seater stand, a new indoor school, and the addition of commercial and multi-sports facilities. He also has a magnificent career record against Surrey, against whom he has now scored 2096 first-class runs at an average of 63.51, with eight hundreds and ten further scores of 50 or more.Key was soon at the crease from No 3, after Kent had won the toss but lost Joe Denly in the second over, and initially he featured in a stand of 49 for the second wicket with Daniel Bell-Drummond. Denly was leg-before for 0 to a nip-backer from Fletcher, and it could have been worse for Kent had Bell-Drummond not been dropped by Rory Burns at third slip off the second ball of the match, bowled by Dunn.As it was, Bell-Drummond played nicely for 20 before pushing forward to an arm ball from left-arm spinner Ansari and being given out leg-before when the ball hit his front pad just before the inside edge of his bat.But Northeast came in to hit nine fours and a driven six off Ansari in his 93-ball innings while Key – who has been playing in Kent’s Second XI in order to regain his batting form – looked to gain quickly in confidence after advancing down the pitch to Ansari early in his innings and lofting a cleanly-struck six over long off.There were seven fours besides, including the cover boundary which took him to his half-century, as Key sailed past his previous season’s best of 34, made against Lancashire at Old Trafford in the last week of April. He had made only 86 runs in six innings before taking his self-enforced break from first team action, and last summer scored just 561 Championship runs at 22.44.Just when it looked certain that Key would complete a ninth first-class hundred against Surrey, Key was adjudged lbw to a quicker ball from Ansari – although it seemed as if the batsman might have got some bat on it. He had faced 134 balls.Two balls later Northeast edged Tom Curran to second slip, trying to force into the offside, and Darren Stevens then lifted a simple catch to mid off, driving at Dunn, to depart for a duck.Billings and Cowdrey saw Kent through to tea at 224 for 5, but afterwards Billings was rightly livid with himself when he flashed at a short wide ball from Curran and edged a catch behind. They had added 46 for the sixth wicket but Calum Haggett was soon gone too, for a duck, nicking Curran to first slip as the sun and warmth of earlier in the day turned to cloud cover and plunging temperatures in the final session.

Australia win inside three days

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On Wednesday morning Australia began their defence of the Frank Worrell Trophy. By Friday evening they had retained it

The Report by Brydon Coverdale05-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMitchell Starc claimed 4 for 28 to ensure Australia faced only a small chase•Getty Images

On Wednesday morning Australia began their defence of the Frank Worrell Trophy. By Friday evening they had retained it. Such is the nature of modern scheduling that a two-Test series was all Australia and West Indies could arrange. Such was the nature of the Roseau conditions that this abbreviated campaign began with an abridged match, won by Australia within three days.The third and final day began with West Indies on 25 for 2 and in danger of capitulating. They needed 145 more to make Australia bat again. Australia’s morning began perfectly when Darren Bravo was taken at mid-off by a diving David Warner off Josh Hazlewood for 5. But then came the complication: Marlon Samuels and debutant Shane Dowrich ground out the highest partnership of the Test.Their 144-run union threatened not only to take the match into a fourth day but to pull it out of Australia’s grasp and back into competitive territory. Only one wicket fell in each of the first two sessions. But then came the collapse. After tea West Indies lost their last six wickets for 27, set Australia a target of 47, and provided the rain and light held out, a three-day finish was on again.David Warner had no intention of coming back on Saturday. He thumped a four and a six off Jerome Taylor’s first over, then another six off Shannon Gabriel in the second over. Warner edged Taylor to slip for 28 with five runs still needed, but Steven Smith joined Shaun Marsh and finished the job within the first five overs of the innings, a nine-wicket win satisfying the Australians ahead of the second Test in Jamaica.In the end it looked clinical, but there were times throughout the match that West Indies were in the contest. When they reduced Australia to 126 for 6 on the second day, they sent some nervous moments through the Australian camp. But the unbeaten 130 from debutant Adam Voges was the big difference, his work with the tail giving Australia a comfortable first-innings buffer.While Dowrich and Samuels were together there were also slivers of hope for West Indies. Both men were steady in the morning session before becoming more expansive after lunch. Within the space of three balls, Samuels lifted Nathan Lyon over mid-on for a four and a six, and his half-century came from his 115th delivery.Dowrich also cleared mid-on for a six off Lyon and brought up his fifty from his 153rd delivery with a pull for four off Mitchell Johnson. Soon, West Indies were back into the lead. If Dowrich and Samuels could bat on, if they could set up a chase of 150 or 200 runs, who knows what might have happened. But it was not to be. Dowrich drove Hazlewood to a catching short mid-on for 70, and it signalled the beginning of the end.After tea, the wickets began to tumble. Jermaine Blackwood advanced, missed a low full toss from Lyon and was stumped by Brad Haddin, who failed to take the ball cleanly but kept his head well enough to complete the job. In the next over, Samuels top-edged a pull off Johnson to Hazlewood at fine leg for 74, and it was all down to the wicketkeeper and bowlers.Denesh Ramdin chopped on off Lyon, Jerome Taylor was lbw for a golden duck to a Mitchell Starc inswinger, and a few overs later Starc finished the job by bowling Devendra Bishoo and Gabriel from consecutive deliveries. Jason Holder was left not out on 12, and Australia were left with the task of beating the cloud and bad light if they wanted an extra day off between matches.Warner made sure they did just that. All that was left was a Man-of-the-Match presentation for Voges on debut, and a reworking of weekend plans for the Dominican fans, who reasonably would have expected cricket in their country on Saturday and Sunday. By collapsing before tea on the first day having chosen to bat, West Indies set themselves behind from the start of this game. And it was an advantage Australia were never likely to give up.

Ryder hundred brings Hampshire to their knees

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Jesse Ryder’s first century in the competition paved the way a 78-run victory for Essex over Hampshire in their NatWest Twenty20 Blast at Chelmsford

ECB/PA26-Jun-2015
ScorecardJesse Ryder struck his first T20 hundred in the NatWest Blast [file picture]•Getty Images

Jesse Ryder’s first century in the competition paved the way a 78-run victory for Essex over Hampshire in their NatWest Twenty20 Blast at Chelmsford.The New Zealander destroyed the visiting attack with an unbeaten 107 from just 55 deliveries, eight of which he smashed for six. The last of those carried him into three figures and he also scored eight fours in an exhibition that earned him a standing ovation as Essex finished on 212 for 5.

Insights

Although Hampshire have still been winning matches their seam bowling has been a concern this season. Apart from Fidel Edwards, who is now playing in the CPL, none of their seamers have an economy rate of less than 8.73. In fact other than Yasir Arafat none of them have an economy rate of lower than 9.28. Spinners Danny Briggs and Will Smith have been carrying the attack. It was not until this match that they ran into an opposition batting order who punished the weakness – although Chris Wood did keep his figures intact. With Sean Ervine still out injured Hampshire should consider an emergency signing.

Sharing the limelight with Ryder was Mark Pettini as they put together an opening partnership of 126 in 14 overs. Pettini’s share of that was 74 in 45 balls as he helped himself to three sixes among his dozen boundaries before he was brilliantly caught at deep mid-wicket by a diving Gareth Berg to give spinner Will Smith his only wicket.No other batsman managed to reach double figures but that was of little consolation for Hampshire as Essex collected their sixth success in the competition to move level with Kent at the top of the South Group table.The only visiting bowler to escape the carnage was Chris Wood, his four overs costing 29 runs and earning him the wicket of James Foster.Hampshire began their reply needing to get off to a flying start to mount any sort of challenge but it was not to be.In the first three overs, they lost as many wickets, Reece Topley bowling James Vince and then having Michael Carberry caught on the square leg boundary for eight. In between, David Masters sent back Joe Gatting as Ryan ten
Doeschate accepted a catch at deep mid-off.One-time Essex batsman Owais Shah did his best to repair the damage but having struck three fours and a six in making 26 from 20 balls, he was magnificently caught by ten Doeschate at wide mid-on after he dived to his right to pluck the ball an inch or so off the ground.After that, and with the score now 57 for 4, Hampshire were left with the task of trying to bring some sense of respectability to their challenge.When medium-pace man Ravi Bopara came into the attack he soon put Hampshire into even deeper trouble with three wickets in an over, those of Jimmy Adams, Smith and Berg to leave the scoreboard looking a sorry 66
for 7.Bopara, who was appearing in his 100th domestic T20 match finished with 3 for 23 while Topley claimed 3 for 25 as Essex ended a sequence of six successive defeats against Hampshire, dismissed for only 134, in this competition

Couldn't have asked for better – Clarke

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Quite how England respond to their Lord’s thrashing remains to be seen, but for Michael Clarke there was no screaming and shouting after Australia’s opening defeat in Cardiff as he instead trusted his players to answer their own questions

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2015Quite how England respond to their Lord’s thrashing remains to be seen, but for Michael Clarke there was no screaming and shouting after Australia’s opening defeat in Cardiff as he instead trusted his players to answer their own questions: he could not have hoped for a more emphatic outcome.When Josh Hazlewood bowled James Anderson well before the Lord’s clock had struck 5pm on Sunday afternoon, Australia completed an overwhelming 405-run victory to level the Investec Ashes at 1-1. Given the way Australia themselves were out-performed in Cardiff it was a remarkable turnaround – not just a victory but an evisceration.”We didn’t talk too much about Cardiff, once we left that changing room our focus was turning up here and making sure we played some of our best cricket,” Clarke told . “We knew we didn’t play our best, but today the boys up there can look themselves in the mirror and know they played some pretty good cricket”Couldn’t have asked for a better performance from every single player, the way the boys batted – Smith, Rogers, Davey Warner – and the intent through the second innings was outstanding then the execution from the bowlers.”Australia made two changes for this Test. They were forced to hand Peter Nevill a debut after Brad Haddin withdrew for personal reasons and the gloveman responded with seven catches and a jaunty maiden innings. The selectors also decided to ditch Shane Watson for Mitchell Marsh and the allrounder claimed three top-order wickets to help the frontline bowlers dismantle England.”Marshy played really well, his intent shows how much of a team player he is,” Clarke said. “He got two crucial wickets in the first innings, didn’t get a long bowl in the second dig but did a great job as well. Credit to the selectors for going with their gut, it was hard on Watto who has been a fantastic player for us but that’s the advantage we’ve got with the squad.”The eye-catching bowling on the fourth day came from Mitchell Johnson who rattled England with his pace – reviving memories of what happened in Australia – but Clarke devolved questions about any reopening of scars.”That’s probably a question for Mitchell Johnson or the England batsmen. He’s such a great athlete that he can bowl long spells or I can ask him to bowl short spells – it’s about assessing the wicket and the game. Credit to the rest of the attack, too, because the way they operated allowed Mitch to do that.”

Lawrence hundred helps level series

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England U-19s overcame a significant batting collapse to secure a three-wicket victory and level the one-day series against Australia U-19s

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2015
ScorecardDan Lawrence’s hundred dominated England’s chase•Getty Images

England U-19s overcame a significant batting collapse to secure a three-wicket victory and level the one-day series against Australia U-19s. It meant an outstanding hundred from Dan Lawrence, which followed an impressive bowling and fielding display, did not go waste but it needed a cool head from Brad Taylor to complete the win.Taylor, the Hampshire offspinner, completed a fine all-round day as he added an unbeaten 23 to his earlier 3 for 50 which helped ensure Australia struggled for late momentum. When he was joined by Jared Warner, England still required 27 having lost 6 for 45 against a combination of Jonte Pattison and David Grant. It was hard work for the pair, but two boundaries for Taylor off Arjun Nair helped ease the pressure and he struck the winning blow off the first ball of the penultimate over.It should have been far easier for England as Lawrence, the Essex batsman, compiled a stylish 90-ball hundred as he dominated a second-wicket stand of 108 in 22 overs with debutant Jack Burnham. He struck 18 boundaries – including six in the first nine overs – and a six, although he was given a life on 31.England had bowled their overs so quickly that they were required to bat before the interval and Lawrence gave them a brisk start before Adam Hickey fell to the last ball before the break. England were never under run-rate pressure, but Pattison broke the second-wicket stand when he removed Burnham and next ball captain Aneurin Donald watched the ball dribble onto his stumps.Pattison claimed his third when he trapped Lawrence lbw sweeping and the nerves really started the jangle for England when Grant, spearing in his yorkers after a wayward first spell, claimed three wickets in consecutive overs. Aaron Thomason lofted into the covers, Callum Taylor was pinned by a toe-crusher and Ryan Davies swung to midwicket.Earlier, Australia and chosen to bat but were made to struggle by impressive new-ball bowling from Saqib Mahmood and Hugh Bernard. The innings was revived by a stand of 137 between Caleb Jewell and captain Jake Doran, but England managed to keep a handle on the scoring rate to such an extent that when Jewell fell for 80 in the 40th over Australia were still under four an over.Spin was to the fore. Lawrence played his part with the ball, slipping in five overs of offspin for 16, while Hickey bowled his ten for 38 and Taylor removed both Jewell and Doran among his three scalps.

Leipus appointed chief physiotherapist of NCA

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Andrew Leipus, a former physio with the India team, has been appointed the chief physiotherapist of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Oct-2015Andrew Leipus, a former physio with the India team, has been appointed as the chief physiotherapist of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Leipus has already started working at the NCA, with his contract running for one year.Leipus takes over from Nitin Patel, who decided to step down in May this year, citing personal reasons.Leipus was the Indian team’s physio between 1999 and 2004, when John Wright was the head coach. In 2004, he turned down a three-year contract extension with the BCCI to spend more time with his family.Along with the South African trainer Adrian Le Roux, Leipus was instrumental in the transformation of the Indian players’ attitude towards fitness and proved a catalyst in India climbing up the international rankings’ ladder in the early noughties, a run that including reaching the 2003 World Cup final.”We wanted to kick-start things at the NCA and hence we decided to recruit him,” a BCCI official said on Leipus’ appointment.Leipus has been a frequent visitor to India as he has been the physio at Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL for many years. He also is a consultant at Pro Sport, the fitness initiative of India fast bowler Zaheer Khan that operates out of Mumbai.

SA adjusting well to intensity of India tour

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While this T20 series victory will be savoured it is still just the beginning. The bulk of the tour’s cricket is yet to be played and the challenges will only get bigger.

Firdose Moonda08-Oct-20151:32

‘I still have much to contribute’ – Duminy

In a strange way, perhaps there is something positive that can be taken out of the wash-out at Kolkata for South Africa. Although they are disappointed that they did not have the opportunity to play at the iconic venue, South Africa had plenty of time to process their position heading into the game and don’t want to get ahead of themselves despite the early success on tour.”We have only played two days of cricket and there’s 25 days of cricket left. We shouldn’t get too cocky and confident on what has happened as we India are a very quality side,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said.While this T20 series victory will be savoured – because as Faf du Plessis explained in his post-match press conference, “It is really important to acknowledge how hard it is to come to India and to win any series,” – it is still just the beginning. The bulk of the tour’s cricket is yet to be played and the challenges will only get bigger. Already, Domingo, who is on his first trip to India, has found some elements overwhelming.”There’s lots of media, lots of questions,” he said when asked what makes India a particularly difficult place to tour. “The crowd support is immense, the passion for the game, the constant scrutiny from the media and public. So dealing with the all the noise, I’m not talking about the crowd noise alone but even the media noise. I put on the TV and the only thing I’m watching is the highlights of the game and constant analysis. Keeping our focus amidst all this noise is what is main goal.”South Africa have a mixed record on the field when it comes to dealing with such intensity. In limited-overs cricket, too much pressure has often undone them, especially in major tournaments. In Test cricket, it has brought out the best in them, especially recently. Slowly, they are starting to move away from the former, with more solid showings under stress in shorter formats as they set themselves them up for what they hope will be an eventual shedding of the chokers’ tag.Their performances so far will give them reason to believe they can, especially after the first game. South Africa came back from what seemed a lost cause in the chase to complete it successfully with some of their lesser lights – JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien – finishing the job. “The first one was a big one for us… 200 was a stiff target and chasing that gave us a lot of confidence going into the second T20,” Duminy said.In the second match, South Africa put right what they did wrong in the first. “We knew going into the second game that we needed to improve as a bowling unit. That was a big plus for us, the way we bowled, the discipline we showed within our bowling department,” Duminy said. “That is going to be a big tick for us in the T20 format. With the results that we have got here now, will give us a lot of confidence going into the T20 series against England and Australia and obviously the World T20 coming in a few months.”Before that, South Africa have this tour to concentrate on and they still have nine more matches to play. That equals 25 days of cricket and almost double that number traveling, practicing and being together. That’s a lot of time to rack up more good results or to drive each other mad but on the evidence of their first few days, there could be more of the former and almost none of the latter.”We enjoy each other’s company. It doesn’t matter which part of the world we are in. There are not too many arguments going on in the team room. We find ways of enjoying ourselves in a long tour,” Duminy said. “That is important for us especially when you are coming to a place where there is not a lot to do outside the hotel and you are coming to a place for such a long period of time. It can get you down at times so it is important that we gel as a unit and gel as a team.”We have got a great camaraderie within the team and everybody plays for one another. Everybody wants each other to do well and we enjoy each others’ successes. That is an important component for a successful team.” So far, so good.

Johnson takes five in consolation win

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Mitchell Johnson ran through Queensland and collected five wickets as Western Australia finished their Matador Cup campaign with a comfortable consolation victory

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2015
ScorecardMitchell Johnson picked up 5 for 31•Getty Images

Mitchell Johnson ran through Queensland and collected five wickets as Western Australia finished their Matador Cup campaign with a comfortable consolation victory. Adam Voges was also in fine touch in the 39-run win, scoring 81 and picking up three wickets with his part-time spin, but the match was effectively a dead rubber with neither side having any chance of progressing.Queensland’s young new-ball pair of Billy Stanlake (4 for 37) and Mark Steketee (3 for 45) were impressive Voges steered the Warriors to a solid total of 9 for 240 after he won the toss and chose to bat. Contributions also came from Michael Klinger (48) and Mitchell Marsh (46), and Ashton Agar struck two sixes in a late cameo of 21 not out from 10 balls.The quality of Johnson made it an extra tough chase for the Bulls; Johnson had openers Charlie Hemphrey and Usman Khawaja both caught behind cheaply, before Joe Burns and Nathan Reardon steadied with a partnership of 94 runs. Both men scored 54 but both also fell to the spin of Voges, who also trapped Michael Neser lbw and finished with 3 for 20.Voges outbowled the specialist Agar, who struggled to contain Queensland and went for 46 off his nine overs, and did not claim a wicket. But the Warriors had enough firepower in their attack as Johnson got rid of Peter Forrest and Chris Hartley, and then claimed the final wicket to finish with 5 for 31 and secure the 39-run victory.Western Australia were without fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile due to a minor injury to his left shoulder. The fast bowler Jhye Richardson, 19, debuted in place of Coulter-Nile and bowled six overs for 0 for 34.

'Immense' Taylor 200 forged out of adversity

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Ross Taylor’s monumental innings was described as “immense” by New Zealand’s batting coach Craig McMillan and “one of the best innings I have seen” by his batting partner Kane Williamson

Daniel Brettig at the WACA15-Nov-2015Had the DeLorean from been available to Australia’s pace bowlers in Brisbane, they’d have been about as disoriented by the sight of Ross Taylor’s double century as Marty McFly was by news the Chicago Cubs had supposedly won the 2015 World Series.Taylor’s monumental innings, described as “immense” by New Zealand’s batting coach Craig McMillan and “one of the best innings I have seen” by his batting partner Kane Williamson, was an achievement made all the more admirable by the fact he had started this tour in truly grim touch.In Brisbane, Taylor had battled through a truly tortured first innings, and looked only marginally more sure of himself in the second. A duck and 16 in his two warm-up innings were likewise scant indicators that Taylor had it in him to construct the highest ever score by a New Zealand batsman against Australia, and the only double hundred ever made by a visiting Test batsman at the WACA Ground.There is no doubt Williamson played a key role in showing Taylor the way forward, playing so fluently and assuredly both at the Gabba and here that others were shown how Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon could be successfully tackled on their home turf. But Taylor also showed his own development by scoring in zones his previously dominant bottom hand might once have cancelled out.Unbeaten on 235 at day’s end, Taylor will hope to take New Zealand into the lead and a position to pressure Australia – certainly Williamson and McMillan are hoping he can.”I think it would be one of the best innings that I have seen,” Williamson said. “The tempo that he batted and the length of time that he has been at the crease has been outstanding and moving our team’s position forward. I know it is a tough ask but hopefully he can keep going a little bit tomorrow, build a couple of partnerships would certainly help us a lot, but certainly an absolutely fantastic innings so far.”I thought he was really calm out there. He just went about his work in a reasonably aggressive way and that’s when he bats at his best I think. To get that momentum in his innings from pretty much the word go – there were certainly some tough periods but he was playing so well. It was such a nice thing.”McMillan was part of the New Zealand side that so nearly forced a match and series win over Steve Waugh’s powerful team at this ground in 2001, a performance built largely on a record stand between Nathan Astle and Adam Parore. Taylor’s union with Williamson eclipsed their record, before the former went on to heights McMillan said he had always been capable of reaching.”I think it was an immense innings and it had been brewing for some time,” McMillan said. “He’d been a little bit short of time in the middle and runs, but what do they say? Form’s temporary and class is permanent. That got shown today. His concentration in the first two or three overs of the day really set the tone for the way he was going to bat.”His tempo was superb, hitting straight down the ground was something he’s worked really hard on in recent times just to open up that area that probably hasn’t always been a strength of his, but some of those straight cover drives were some of the best you’ll see from any player in the world.”You’d have to rank it right up there as one of New Zealand’s best Test knocks, with the conditions, with the match situation, you throw all that into the mix and it’s one of the best. There’s still a lot more batting to be done. He can go as long as the concentration stays strong. We want more partnerships from that lower order, guys to hang in with him, bat as long as possible and see what happens from there.”Williamson and Taylor were both highly successful in picking off more or less every bad ball the Australians bowled, an efficiency that allowed them to dictate terms all day and prevent the hosts from gaining momentum. McMillan said he had encouraged his men to stay positive throughout, ensuring that the bowlers knew they would be hurt if they strayed from all but the most disciplined of lines.”They’re attacking bowlers who come after you, but the upside of that is there’s scoring opportunities,” he said. “One of the impressive things from our guys over the last two days is how efficient they’ve been when they’ve been offered a scoring opportunity. They’ve hit gaps well and they’ve really put anything loose away, which has put that pressure back on the Australian bowling attack.”That’s a key when you’re facing a good attack that’s got extra pace is that when they miss, you’ve got to make sure you hurt them, you’re not looking just to defend and survive, you’re actually looking to score, and obviously Kane and Ross in that partnership did that beautifully today but it flowed right through the partnerships in the order throughout the day, and that’s something we’ll continue to be looking for.”