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A round-up of the action from the fourth day of matches in the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2011West ZoneAn allround performance from Rohit Sharma gave Mumbai a narrow two-wicket win over Saurashtra at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara, and extended their lead at the top of the West Zone points table. Sharma took 4 middle-order wickets for 28 runs, including the key wicket of Ravindra Jadeja, who top scored with 53, as Saurashtra were bowled out for 205 after opting to bat first. Sharma followed up his effort with the ball by making an unbeaten 96 to shepherd Mumbai to their target with six balls to spare. Mumbai were in danger of losing the game after they collapsed to 45 for 5, but Sharma found valuable allies down the order in Siddharth Chitnis, who made a run-a-ball 53, and Dhawal Kulkarni, who made 23, to see his team home.Baroda got their Vijay Hazare campaign up and running with their first victory, a four-wicket win over Gujarat, at the Alembic ground in Vadodara. Gujarat lost opener Avi Barot early, but Parthiv Patel and Bhavik Thaker kept the scoreboard ticking with a 62-run partnership before Patel was run-out for 46. Thaker was bowled shortly after by Swapnil Singh for 54, and none of the other Gujarat batsmen were able to make more than 30, as Gujarat were bowled out for 232. Opener Jaykishan Kolsawala was the foundation on which Baroda’s successful run-chase was built. He made 93 from 100 balls, with nine fours and two sixes, and though no one else went past 30, it was enough to take Baroda to their target with 7 balls to spareSouth ZoneGoa earned their first win of the tournament, beating Kerala by four wickets at the Fort Maidan in Palakkad. Kerala’s total of 222 was built around half-centuries from Robert Fernandez, who made 88, and VA Jagadeesh, who made 51. The pair put on 95 for the second wicket but received little support from the rest of the line-up, with the last 9 wickets falling for 102 runs. Harshad Gadekar was the pick of the bowlers, with 3 for 26. Goa made a solid start to their chase, with Swapnil Asnodkar and Rohit Asnodkar making 60 and 58 respectively, and Shadab Jakati finished the job with a rapid fire from 35 from 26 balls.A century from Robin Uthappa helped Karnataka complete a six-wicket win over Andhra at the Perintalmanna Cricket Stadium in Malappuram. Andhra posted a total of 293 on the back of 75 from Venugopal Rao and 64 from AG Pradeep, who added 135 for the third wicket. Karnataka lost Ganesh Satish for 2, but Uthappa went after the bowling, making 103 from 70 balls, with 11 fours and five sixes. He was supported by Sunil Raju, who made 73 and Manish Pandey, who made 50, as Karnataka cantered home.Central ZoneMadhya Pradesh cantered to a 105-run win over Railways at Green Park in Kanpur. Naman Ojha and Mohnish Mishra laid the platform for MP’s score of 245 with a 123-run partnership for the second wicket, with Ojha top scoring with 85 and Mishra making 66. Railways were never in the game, quickly slipping to 45 for 4, and then 66 for 6, as they struggled against the MP bowlers. The tail provided some resistance but it was never going to be enough, and they were bundled out for 140. Ankit Sharma finished with 3 for 29 and TP Sudhindra 2 for 16.Uttar Pradesh handed Rajasthan their third straight defeat in the tournament at the Kamla Club Sports Ground in Kanpur. Having chosen to bat, Rajasthan opener Dishant Yagnik made a patient 101, and Vaibhav Deshpande chipped in with 53, but no one else made more than 16, as they finished with 222 for 8. Tanmay Srivastava (89) and Parvinder Singh (84) then made sure of the game, adding 174 for the second wicket, as UP coasted home in less than 40 overs.

Dinesh Karthik, who led South Zone in the finals of the Duleep Trophy, has retained the leadership responsibility the South squad for the Deodhar Trophy

Cricinfo staff23-Feb-2010Dinesh Karthik, who led South Zone in the finals of the Duleep Trophy, has retained the leadership responsibility of the South squad for the Deodhar Trophy. Alfred Absolem and KB Pawan are the most notable absentees from the Duleep Trophy side. The squad includes 15 members and six stand-bys.Squad: Dinesh Karthik (capt and wk), Srikkanth Anirudha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath, Saurabh Bandekar, Arun Karthik, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha, Manish Pandey, Sreesanth, Robin Uthappa, Padmanabhan Prasanth, Ganesh Satish, Murali Vijay and Vinay KumarStand-bys: KP Appanna, Chandrasekar Ganapathy, Muralidharen Gautam (wk), Abhinav Mukund, Udit Patel and Ambati Rayudu

Uneven contest at The Oval as visitors coast home with whopping 30.5 overs to spare

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay18-Aug-2025Excellent bowling from veteran seamer James Fuller, inexperienced slow left-armer Andrew Neal and pacy 16-year-old Manny Lumsden proved too much for Surrey at the Kia Oval in what became an embarrassingly one-sided nine-wicket Hampshire victory.The Hawks dismissed Surrey for 160 in 46.3 overs before skipper Nick Gubbins anchored a buccaneering chase with 87 not out from 60 balls. Hampshire’s fourth win in five Group A matches, clinched with a massive 30.5 overs to spare, boosts their ambitions of qualification for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup knockout stages.Gubbins was initially joined in an opening stand of 54 with Ali Orr before Fletcha Middleton arrived to hit an unbeaten 35 from 24 balls in an unbroken second wicket stand of 108 in just 9.3 overs.Fast bowler Nathan Barnwell was thrashed for 50 from his three overs – Gubbins twice hoicking him for six in an opening over costing 21 – and left-arm spinner Yousuf Majid’s three overs went for 31 as Gubbins and Middleton accelerated brutally towards the finish line. Gubbins hit three sixes and 13 fours in all, while Middleton’s contribution was two sixes and four fours.Earlier 35-year-old Fuller finished with 4 for 34 after polishing off a Surrey innings that never got going and was in danger of complete implosion at 89 for 6 before keeper-batter Josh Blake and bowlers James Taylor, Barnwell and Majid provided at least some lower order resistance in front of a near-5,000 crowd.Blake was Surrey’s joint top-scorer with 22 alongside South Asian Cricket Academy graduate Nikhil Gorantla, who was Fuller’s first victim when he was excellently caught low down by Neal diving forward at mid-on in the 18th over.That left Surrey 68 for 3 and rookie tyro Lumsden had already made his mark by then, first forcing Rory Burns to miscue a pull to his fourth ball – to be caught and bowled for 20 – and then seeing Adam Thomas chop on to his stumps for 12 in his third over.At 16 years and 288 days, Lumsden bowled with genuine pace in just his second List A appearance and although there were a number of wild deliveries, including an intended bouncer that flew for four wides, he impressed across two spells in his 2 for 46 from 10 overs.Even more impressive was 25-year-old spinner Neal, who played two first-class matches for Leeds-Bradford MCCU in 2019 but only made the first of his previous four List A appearances earlier this month at the start of Hampshire’s One-Day Cup campaign.His 3 for 33 from 10 nicely-controlled overs now gives him nine wickets in the competition and here he numbered the Surrey middle-order of Ben Foakes, Ollie Sykes and Cameron Steel as his scalps. Foakes mishit to long on for 5, Sykes was brilliantly held by a diving Felix Organ at long on for 7 and Steel drove tamely to short extra cover to go for 5.Blake’s 22 was ended by a fatal nibble at Fuller, Taylor offered a few meaty blows before skying Scotland allrounder Brandon McMullen to long-on and Barnwell departed for 15 miscuing high to keeper Ben Mayes.Majid was left 13 not out when No. 11 Alex French fenced Fuller to slip to go for a fifth-ball duck and all that remained was to see how quickly Hampshire’s top order could knock off the runs. Thanks to Gubbins, Orr and Middleton the match was over by 4.10pm.

Sophia Dunkley helps seal last-over win after stuttering batting display by reigning champions

ECB Reporters Network20-Apr-2024Tash Farrant made a fairytale return to cricket as South East Stars beat reigning champions Southern Vipers by four wickets in a thriller on the opening day of the 2024 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Beckenham.England star Farrant, after missing almost two years of cricket with stress fractures of the back, struck a career-best 94, sharing a stand of 165 with skipper Bryony Smith – a record for any wicket for Stars – as the hosts got home with three balls to spare.Australian Charli Knott kept Vipers in it until the final over with a tidy spell of 2 for 35, but England batter Sophia Dunkley’s composed unbeaten 48 saw Stars home amid rising tension.Earlier, Freya Kemp, a day short of her 19th birthday made a maiden List A 50 with Georgia Elwiss 44 and Knott 41 propelling the visitors to a competitive total, Ryana MacDonald-Gay returning figures of 3 for 46.Ella McCaughan and Knott survived some early fishing outside off stump to post an 80-run opening stand after Vipers were put in. Knott impressively drove MacDonald-Gay for successive fours, one square of the wicket and another straight. However, Macdonald-Gay would have her revenge, thanks to a stunning catch by Phoebe Franklin, diving full length to grab a ball dropping over her shoulder.McCaughan soon followed, trapped lbw by Danielle Gregory, but it proved the high point for the Stars spinner, later banished from the attack for a second head-high full toss, the first despatched by Vipers’ skipper Georgia Adams for the day’s first six.Adams became the first of two lbw victims for slow left-armer Bethan Miles just as she looked set to dominate but the visitors were well placed at 190 for 3 with 13 overs remaining. Miles though struck again, ending Elwiss’ polished innings after which wickets fell at regular intervals, Dunkley picking up two with her legbreaks.That Vipers posted 273 was down to Kemp, mixing aggression with good running to reach 50 at better than a run a ball. Alice Monaghan also hoisted MacDonald-Gay for a huge six before falling to another wonderful catch from wicketkeeper Chloe Hill.Farrant was promoted to open with skipper Smith and gave the hosts early impetus with five boundaries in the powerplay. Smith then clicked through the gears, taking two fours in an over off Mary Taylor.Farrant won the race to 50 from 56 balls while Smith took 13 balls longer, before upping the pace, drilling Linsey Smith for two fours in an over to take Stars to 131 for 0 at the halfway mark.History was made when the stand reached 156, eclipsing the 154 posted by Dunkley and Alice-Davidson Richards against Western Storm at The Oval in 2021 before the fun ended when Linsey Smith struck Adams into the hands of Monaghan at cover.Knott quickly removed Paige Scholfield, but Farrant responded by lifting Freya Davies for a straight six as she moved into the 90s. But there would though be no maiden hundred as the excellent Knott struck again to pin the allrounder in front for 94 with 78 needed.As the tension mounted, Adam damaged her left hand failing to cling onto a caught-and-bowled chance offered by Alice Davidson-Richards, but the drop wasn’t costly as the England allrounder was castled by Linsey Smith for just 8.Franklin struck three fours in a rapid 19 before being run out with 14 needed from 15 but Stars got home with a scrambled leg bye in the last over.

“He’s one of those rare players that you look across all formats and you can just see him being successful everywhere”

Matt Roller12-Dec-2022Harry Brook’s abundant talent and simple technique mean he could be on track to replicate the worldwide, all-format success enjoyed by Virat Kohli. That is the “massive shout” that Ben Stokes, England’s Test captain, made after Brook’s second-innings hundred set up a 26-run win over Pakistan to seal the series with a game to spare in Multan.Brook is only 23 but has been discussed as one of England’s leading young batters for a number of years and made his Test debut at the end of the English summer after Jonny Bairstow’s ankle injury ruled him out of the third Test against South Africa at The Oval, having been the spare batter for the first six matches of the season.Related

• How Harry Brook aimed big, failed, and took off like a rocket

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• Harry Brook makes hay on the inside track as he takes to Pakistan like a veteran

• Mark Wood feels the ache of satisfaction after providing the speed that England need

He made 12 in his only innings on debut but blitzed his way to scores of 153 and 87 in the first Test of the series in Rawalpindi, threatening Gilbert Jessop’s 120-year record for the fastest England hundred in both innings. And after being dismissed cheaply playing what he described as “a shocking shot” in the first innings in Multan, Brook responded with a well-paced 109 in the second – the only century of the match – to pick up the Player-of-the-Match award.Brook has also played 20 T20Is, finishing September’s tour of Pakistan as England’s leading run-scorer before a quiet run of form in the T20 World Cup triumph. Currently uncapped in ODIs, he will also come into contention to bat in the middle order for the 50-over side ahead of their title defence in India next October.”After the summer he had last year, getting all the big-ups before he made his debut at the back end of the summer, to come here and put in that kind of performance again was just phenomenal,” Stokes told Sky Sports.”He’s one of those rare players that you look across all formats and you can just see him being successful everywhere. It’s a massive shout, but Virat Kohli is one of those guys where his technique is just so simple and works everywhere. The pressure that he puts back onto opposition is exactly what we’re about.”Stokes added in his post-match press conference that Brook’s form was “not a surprise” to him. “The expectation on his shoulders coming into this team, because of how good he’s been for Yorkshire, was obviously huge,” he said. “But I think that just shows that kind of stuff doesn’t really affect him.”He’s a player whose technique is suited to all three formats, he wants to always look to be putting pressure back onto the opposition, and he’s won another game for England. [He made a] huge contribution last week, and the hundred he scored here was obviously massive for us in getting that big lead.Ben Stokes said Harry Brook is “a pretty simple lad to captain”•Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

“He’s a pretty simple lad to captain: he just gets about his business, loves his batting, wants to constantly improve, constantly work on it. He’s a pretty easy bloke to have in your dressing room.”Brook was caught at mid-off for nine in the first innings, looking to hit debutant spinner Abrar Ahmed back over his head for six, but tempered his attacking instincts in the early stages of England’s second innings. After facing 41 balls, he had only scored 13 runs, but he gradually went through the gears to bring up a 137-ball century on the third morning.”I was pretty disappointed with my first-innings dismissal,” Brook told the BBC’s . “It was a shocking shot, to be quite honest. I wanted to learn from that. I went out there and tried to play the ball on its merit as much as possible. Obviously, I defended a few more balls than I have done in the last couple of weeks.”I felt good out there: long may it continue. I don’t like to look too far ahead. I like to stay in the moment and just play in the next game. All I’m focused on now is enjoying this win and then concentrating on next week.”His form since coming into the side means that England will face a middle-order logjam when Bairstow returns to fitness, which could come in time for their two-match series in New Zealand in February. With Ben Foakes left out of the second Test for Ollie Pope, who took the keeping gloves, it could be that Bairstow keeps wicket on his return after a significant period as a specialist batter.”We’re very, very lucky with the way in which we can replace Jonny, to have Harry coming in, because those two, batting No. 5, they both go about it in exactly the same way,” Stokes said. “They bring so much to the team and obviously Harry playing the way he has done at the moment with Jonny not being in the team, unfortunately, it’s the best thing you want.”You want competition for places, you want a strong squad to be able to pick from, and you want those headaches when it comes to the final XI every week, rather than saying ‘I’m not sure who we’re going to pick, let’s pick a name out of the hat.’ We’re definitely not in that situation, and we feel like we’ve got all bases covered at the moment.”

Asadullah Khan claims squad for ODI series against Pakistan was selected without his knowledge

Umar Farooq31-Jul-2021Asadullah Khan has resigned from his position as the head in the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) selection committee, claiming that the squad for the upcoming “home” ODI series against Pakistan, to be played in Sri Lanka, was finalised without his nod. Khan, in letters written to the board – seen by ESPNcricinfo – cited “too much interruption” and interference from “non-cricketers” in the board, who have “no knowledge about the players and selection” as the main reasons for his decision to step down.Khan sent across his resignation letter (accepted on July 27) to ACB chairman Farhan Yusefzai on July 24, the day after the squad of 17 for the historic series – it’s the first bilateral ODI series between the two sides – was named, with Hashmatullah Shahidi as the captain and five uncapped players in the mix: Sediqullah Atal, Shahidullah Kamal, Abdul Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Noor Ahmad.Related

• Asadullah Khan back as Afghanistan chief selector

• Plan B for Afghanistan: Travel to Sri Lanka via Pakistan and Dubai

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In his letter to Yusefzai, Khan mentioned six primary reasons for his step.

• Not being given the “selection committee members” he has been asking for since his appointment
• “Too much interruption” in his work as the chief selector
• The involvement of “non-cricketers” who have “no knowledge of players and selection”
• Not being allowed to “talk and have my says” in selection matters
• Not being granted an appointment with the chairman, Yusefzai, despite asking for one for the past three months
• Being left in the dark about the final squad for the Pakistan ODIs

Khan was appointed as the chief selector in March this year after a lengthy process where a number of candidates were interviewed. He made the cut because of his experience in the Afghanistan domestic set-up – a former cricketer, he has worked extensively as a coach and a video analyst. He had also served as the ACB’s acting chief executive for a brief period in 2019.The ACB had revamped the selection plan earlier this year, doing away with the conventional selection committee and forming instead a selection department with Khan at its helm. He was to be assisted by advisors and data analysts, but it is learnt that no-one was recruited, as he has mentioned in the letter.

Kevin Roberts also said there remains a possibility the men’s team could tour England

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2020Kevin Roberts, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has given India’s tour a “nine out of 10” chance of happening later this year as the game grapples with how to resume amid the Covid-19 pandemic.He also indicated there was a chance Australia could still undertake their limited-overs trip to England which was originally schedule for July but could happen in September.The visit of India is vital to Cricket Australia’s financial future with a figure of A$ 300 million attached to it. There have been some positive noises from the BCCI around making the trip that would include four Tests and three ODIs – with a suggestion more one-dayers could be added – even if India are required to quarantine on arrival.ALSO READ: Cricket’s comeback from Covid-19: the state of the gameThe expectation remains that there will not be crowds at matches during the Australia summer and there could yet be a restricted number of venues used for internationals to aid bio-security measures.”I guess there’s no such thing as certainty in today’s world so I can’t say 10 [out of 10], but I’m going to say nine out of 10,” Roberts told . “With the variable being, who would know whether we can have crowds … I’d be really surprised if we can’t get the Indian tour away. But I wouldn’t, hand on heart suggest we’ll have full crowds from the start. We’ll just have to see how that goes.”Virat Kohli and Tim Paine shake hands after the series•Mark Evans/Stringer

It could yet be that the Australia men’s team resumes action overseas with Roberts not ruling out that the tour of England can proceed. CA is in regular conversations with the ECB as they plan for bio-secure series against West Indies and Pakistan in July and August.”I think there’s some chance we could send a team over,” Roberts said. “Obviously we won’t jeopardise the safety of the players, but the best test of that is that the West Indian and Pakistan tours of England before we’re due to tour. We hope they go off without a hitch.”The T20 World Cup, which was scheduled at the start of the Australian season in October and November, is unlikely to take place. Further ICC discussions will happen later this month with the expectation it will be moved to some point in 2021 – perhaps a 12-month delay.Afghanistan are due to visit Australia for a one-off Test in November but it remains to be seen whether that will stay in the schedule. There was also set to be a limited-overs series against Zimbabwe in August, staged in the northern parts of the country, and while that has not yet been officially canned it is not expected to take place although Darwin in the Northern Territory will be the first place in Australia to see cricket resume next month.

The 21-year-old made a late move to Sydney for this year’s BBL on a one-year contract and now the Sixers are desperate to keep him

Alex Malcolm16-Feb-2019Young Sydney Sixers batsman Josh Philippe is set to become one of the hottest properties in the Big Bash League as a bidding war for his long-term services looks likely to take place between the Sixers and Perth Scorchers.Philippe, 21, produced another stunning innings in the BBL semi-final clubbing 52 from just 31 balls to get the Sixers away to a flyer against the Melbourne Renegades.The Sixers were beaten in the end thanks to some Dan Christian heroics, but Philippe’s second half-century of the season only furthered the Sixers desire to sign him long-term.”That’s in the works and that’s obviously up to Josh,” Sixers captain Moises Henriques.”But definitely after the season he’s had, we’d be stupid not to entertain that.”Philippe’s case is complicated in that he plays his 50-over and four-day domestic cricket for Western Australia and lives in Perth most of the year. He made his T20 debut for Perth Scorchers last season and was set to start BBL08 as a replacement player for the Scorchers while Shaun Marsh was away on Test match duty and Cameron Bancroft out suspended.The Scorchers could not contract him as they had exhausted their 18-man roster but were confident right up until early December that Philippe would play for them. But the Sixers, with help from suspended former Australian captain Steven Smith who contacted Philippe personally, convinced the keeper-batsman to join them on a one-year contract just prior to the BBL starting.It left the Scorchers seething while the Sixers knew they had a special talent on their hands. He delivered with 304 runs at a strike-rate of 158.33, the best of all players with 100 runs or more in the tournament. He was also the stand-out batsmen according to ESPNcricinfo’s smart strike-rate measurement*.”From the day that he came on board I was really excited about the potential he had,” Henriques said. “We started him batting at No.6. Although he didn’t score a mountain of runs at No.6 he was coming and making really significant impacts on the game, [20 off 13, 14 not off 7], which sometimes in that role can be more important than a 30 off 20 from someone in the top four. He was always putting the bowlers under pressure.”And he’d always batted at the top. For him to adapt to that middle order like he did I thought that this kid is a pretty special talent. I think personally, No.5, 6, 7 are the hardest to bat in T20 cricket. The later you have to come in, all the bowlers know exactly what the wicket is doing, they know the fields they’re using and any mishits are usually caught by the guys out on the boundary so you’ve got to be able to manipulate the ball. Right from the first or second game that he played of professional domestic T20 cricket, he took to it like a duck to water.”It took the Sixers nine games to move him to the top of the order where he had done so much damage for WA in the JLT Cup, and against South Africa in the Prime Minister’s XI game in Canberra. But it paid dividends with 86 not out from 49 balls against the Hobart Hurricanes and then 52 off 31 against the Renegades.”If we take him away from that middle order position then we take away some of our power there but at the same time we felt like he was batting so well that we wanted to give him as many balls as possible to face during a game,” Henriques said. “Once he moved to the top he played two outstanding innings and you could just tell the opposition bowlers don’t enjoy bowling to him. I think he’s going to be a pretty special player. Enough has been said about him. But he was a huge positive.”Philippe will now head back to WA for the remainder of the season. He found himself out of their Sheffield Shield side prior to the BBL having made a century against Victoria batting at No.6 in the first game of the season. But he was rushed to the top of the order for the next three matches and returned scores of 4, 2, 12, 2 and 6 before being dropped.However, it is understood WA and the Scorchers are desperate to sign him long-term across all formats leaving Philippe with a choice to make.

Elsewhere, Haryana were reduced to 119 for 7 on their home ground by Jammu & Kashmir while a Jadeja helped Saurashtra claim the upper hand against Kerala

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-20173:05

Priyank Panchal: Gujarat’s batting mainstay

Gujarat seamer Chintan Gaja’s 8 for 40 destroyed Rajasthan as they crumbled to 153 all out after opting to bat in Surat. The defending champions then went to stumps on 90 for 1, after they lost Samit Gohel (46) in what turned out to be the last delivery of the day.In the morning, Rajasthan never really recovered after Gaja cleaned up opener Amitkumar Gautam off the third ball of the day. Thereon, the visitors went from 32 for 3 to 62 for 6, with the dismissal of Siddharth Dobal giving Gaja his second five-wicket haul. The 23-year old was playing his ninth first-class game.Rajasthan’s only partnership of substance was between Rajesh Bishnoi (43*) and Tajinder Singh (45) – 70 runs for the seventh wicket. But, things unraveled quickly once Tajinder was dismissed by Gaja.Seven wickets between seamers Mohammed Mudhasir (4 for 34) and Ram Dayal (3 for 35) helped Jammu & Kashmir reduce Haryana to 119 for 7 in Lahli.On a day when only 45 overs were possible before bad light stopped play, Haryana were put in and lost their top three within 11 overs, Mudhasir taking all of them out to leave the score at 23 for 3. Then they slumped to 88 for 7 until an unbroken 31-run stand between captain Amit Mishra and Harshal Patel helped them see off the day without any further casualty.Left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja’s 6 for 112, his eighth first-class five-for, was instrumental in Saurashtra bowling Kerala out for 225 in Thiruvananthapuram after the latter opted to bat first. Sanju Samson (68) was the only Kerala batsman to pass fifty before he was removed by left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who finished with two wickets.Kerala lost openers Mohammed Azharuddeen and Jalaj Saxena early on before Samson and Rohan Prem carried out the repair job with an 82-run stand. But Jadeja had Prem lbw and Samson followed 10 overs later. Their dismissals triggered a collapse as Kerala lost their last seven wickets for 77 runs. Offspinner Vandit Jivrajani finished with two wickets as well. In reply, Saurashtra’s openers Snell Patel and Robin Uthappa began solidly to finish the day on 37 for 0.

Afghanistan Cricket Board chief executive Shafiq Stanikzai has presented an argument in favor of the proposal for two-tier Test cricket, saying the side is deserves the opportunity to play Tests through their solid performances in the ICC’s Intercontinent

Peter Della Penna04-Sep-2016Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Shafiq Stanikzai has presented an argument in favor of the proposal for two-tier Test cricket, saying the side deserves the opportunity to play Tests through their solid performances in the ICC’s Intercontinental Cup first-class multi-day competition for Associates.”We think that we are ready to play Test cricket and we have proven that,” Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo in a recent interview. “Since we entered into the Intercontinental Cup arena, we were beaten only once. That was in the [2013] Intercontinental Cup final where we got beaten by Ireland but that’s the only loss we have in a four-day game or multi-day game.”Afghanistan are currently in second place behind Ireland on the 2015-17 Intercontinental Cup table after four rounds, with three wins and a rain-marred draw against Scotland. Afghanistan’s overall record in the first-class competition is outstanding with 14 wins, one loss and four draws. Right from their debut in the competition – a high-scoring draw in which they claimed first-innings points against a Zimbabwe XI in 2009 – they have made an effort to demonstrate their versatility rather than be pigeonholed as a limited-overs specialist outfit.Nowhere was that more evident than in their victory against a then elite Canada outfit in 2010, who at the time were preparing to play their third successive ICC World Cup. Set a target of 494 to win in the fourth innings, Afghanistan recorded the ninth-best successful chase in first-class cricket history spearheaded by Mohammad Shahzad’s unbeaten 214. That win propelled them to a maiden Intercontinental Cup title later that year with a win over Scotland in the final. That victory also broke Ireland’s streak of three successive titles.Overall, Afghanistan have scored 400 or more in an innings six times and batted for more than 100 overs in an innings on 11 occasions in the Intercontinental Cup, showing their versatility. They have also shown adaptability to foreign conditions, notching victories in Scotland, Kenya, Canada, Namibia and twice in the Netherlands.Three of Afghanistan’s last six Intercontinental Cup wins have come by an innings margin, while the other three were by margins of ten wickets, eight wickets and 201 runs. Stanikzai says there is not much more for them to prove against Associate-level competition in multi-day cricket and they are eager for a chance to show their skills in a Test scenario.”We have a real good package for every single format of the game,” he said. “If you have a look at the Afghanistan cricket team, we have almost a different squad for every single format. We have T20 specialists, we have ODI specialists, we have multi-day players, specialists not just in batting but in bowling as well. So we are carrying a different bunch of players in every single format we are playing.”Stanikzai’s point is backed up by the fact that core players from their limited-overs squad – bowlers Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran and Rashid Khan, and batsmen Noor Ali Zadran, Javed Ahmadi, Najibullah Zadran and Gulbadin Naib – were all absent from Afghanistan’s starting XI in their most recent Intercontinental Cup win over Netherlands. Afghanistan also has a domestic four-day competition since 2014, which features teams from five regions, although this has not yet been assigned first-class status.”It means the talent is huge in Afghanistan and things have shaped up quite nicely and we have improved quite rapidly in the cricketing world,” Stanikzai said. “Afghanistan is a team that is ready to play Test cricket. We are just looking forward for this [two-tier] proposal to get passed by the ICC board. My stance and Afghanistan Cricket Board’s stance is quite clear that we need more opportunities.”