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The PCB has changed the domestic structure of Pakistan cricket once more, but this time really is different

Umar Farooq16-Jul-2019So the domestic structure is being revamped again? Imagine my surprise!Well, yes, but this one might be different? Historically, the PCB has been revamping its domestic circuit every other year. The format of the first-class tournament has been tweaked with regions and departments playing separately one season and together another, like an on-off soap opera relationship. The number of teams participating has been the focus of fierce discussions, with the final number so exotically varied over the years it might as well have been picked randomly; they have ranged from eight in one season to as high as 26 in another.

Domestic cricket structure

• Quaid-e-Azam Trophy first-class for six teams

• Non first-class tournament for six 2nd XI teams

• National T20 Cup for six teams playing first-class cricket

• T20 Cup for six 2nd XI teams playing non first-class cricket

• Pakistan One Day Cup for six teams playing first-class cricket

• One Day Cup for six teams playing non first-class cricket

• Three-day tournament for six provincial U-19 teams

• One-day tournament for six provincial U-19 teams

• National inter-city championship among six champions teams of each champion city of each provincial cricket association

• Intra-city cricket championship within each provincial cricket association

• Club cricket tournaments at each city falling under the domain of each provincial cricket association

But this time – and don’t we always say that? – it might be different. The entire structure – if you could call it a structure – has been effectively dismantled, on the insistence of the current prime minister Imran Khan. With him also being the patron in chief of the PCB, this newer model, which he had passionately championed, looks set to be given a trial run starting this winter.So you’re saying this time there’s an actual change? I’ve been fooled before – anything I should be remotely interested in?Well, at the risk of sounding drastic – and when have we ever been accused of that in Pakistan cricket? – the entire pathway for a player making his way to the national team has been overhauled. Departments like HBL and Sui Gas – mainstays of the domestic scene and dominant forces in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy – which have been operating since 1972 – have been snipped out of domestic cricket altogether, with regions set to take centre stage, much as they do in domestic cricket across several major Full Member nations. Put simply, there will be six provincial teams It’s more simplified than ever. There will be a model of 6 provincial teams playing every form of cricket on the domestic circuit.Six? Like just half a dozen?Yep, that’s about the size of it. Pakistan is divided into four provinces – Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, along with two autonomous territories (Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan) and one federal territory (Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan).The new cricket domestic structure splits the teams along provincial lines. Punjab is the largest province with over three-fifths of the population residing there. The sheer size of it (Punjab’s population alone is twice that of England’s) means the PCB has decided to split the province itself into two, Central Punjab and South Punjab. Sindh, Balochistan and KPK will have one team each while Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad will have one association.There is, in theory anyway, a structured pathway for the players in each region. Players will have to compete and perform at club cricket to get selected for respective city teams in the province. There will be intra-city cricket tournaments in six provincial cricket associations from which six respective provincial teams will be selected by the provincial selection committees based on the performance of players in these tournaments.The intention is to turn provinces into provincial cricket associations. The association will be run by a management committee, with each having its own Chief Executive Officer. All six associations will become legal entities responsible for running all cricket in that province right from the grassroots level, including Under 13, Under 16, Under 19 and club/school cricket.So no role for the departments at all? I can’t imagine they were too happy with that arrangement.Your scepticism is well-placed. There was much resistance to the idea, but after repeated back and forth and Imran Khan’s unwavering insistence that departments had to go, it appears the necessary legislation has finally been passed. All private departments have been disengaged while eleven government departments – SNGPL, WAPDA, PIA, SSGC, State Bank, National Bank, Pakistan Television, Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Customs, ZTBL, Civil Aviation Authority have been asked to support the provincial set up in the form of sponsorship and administrative support from grassroots level to national level. All players signed up by departments will be released back to their regions and eligible for selection in their provincial teams.But wait, wouldn’t this drastic reduction in teams means lots of players who made careers from cricket lose their jobs now?Correct, and this was by far the strongest objection to these changes. But the new model ensures that young, performing players remain in contention. Their livelihood will likely not be impacted as 32 players from each respective province will possess an annual contract. Mind you, these 32 will not include international players, which for the purposes of this article means anyone with a central contract. That adds up to just under 200 non-international cricketers till being retained by the system. Cricketers close to retirements will be afforded opportunities to return into the system as coaches, match referees and umpires.National centrally contracted players will be made available to represent the six provincial teams but will not be eligible for provincial contracts. They will be considered for selection under a set formula that provincial associations must abide by to ensure one side doesn’t become too disproportionately stronger than the other. There will be financial incentives for the players, who earn domestic provincial contracts by way of having monthly retainer-ships, match fees, enhanced prize money and individual prizes for each tournament. A domestic player playing all the matches can potentially earn up to PKR 2.5 (approx $15,600) million per season.And what about the Quaid-e-Azam trophy? How will that be affected by this?
Thirty-two domestically contracted players will be made available for selection in the first-class team and could participate as and when required for their respective provincial teams. But a squad of only 16 players out of 32 will be chosen for Quaid-e-Azam trophy, while the other 16 will form a second-string team playing non-first class (three-day) cricket. Both tournaments will be run simultaneously across the country. This will provide a bigger pool of players to the respective provincial teams to replace players according to their strategic demands and nature of playing conditions, allowing greater flexibility for teams and potentially improving the standards of competitiveness.There will be 31 first-class and 31 non-first-class matches. Each team gets to play ten matches before the final takes place. Matches will be played on a home and away basis and each team will play one home and one away game to allow them to get the experience of playing at different playing conditions and times. However, exceptions could be made depending on the availability and weather conditions at different venues.Presently, the new structure is being laid down in the constitution to give it legal cover. For the first three years, the PCB will provide support to implement the new structure and try to attract potential sponsors in the hope that long-term, domestic cricket can become financially self-reliant. The PCB will spend Rs 1.1 billion of its own in this time on domestic cricket, while from the fourth season onwards, all provincial associations will be expected to generate enough revenue to be self-sustaining.Will this work?Make no mistake, this is not a tweak but a radical overhaul. Whether you think it’ll work or not might depend on how jaded you’ve become by Pakistan’s attempts to have their domestic system catch up to the rest of the professional world.At least, for once, there might be a reason to tune into the domestic season this time, eh?

At a meeting in Mumbai to gather feedback on the 2017-18 season from captains and coaches, a number of voices called for a return to the three-group Ranji Trophy format, which gives each team a minimum of eight matches in a season

Arun Venugopal13-Mar-2018

Other issues discussed

• Rest days between matches during the Vijay Hazare Trophy

• Increasing and standardising boundary sizes across grounds

• Playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in a league-cum-knockout format

• Use of DRS in domestic cricket

• Scheduling matches with weather conditions in mind

Captains and coaches of India’s domestic sides have called for an increase in the number of round-robin matches in the Ranji Trophy and the use of quality balls in domestic tournaments. At a meeting in Mumbai to gather feedback on the 2017-18 domestic season from the captains and coaches, there were discussions on scheduling, umpiring standards, pitches and pay hikes. Sourav Ganguly, the chairman of the BCCI’s technical committee, Saba Karim, the board’s general manager of cricket operations, and MSK Prasad, the chairman of the senior men’s selection committee, were present at the meeting.ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI had invited teams to offer feedback on the aforementioned issues about a month ago. It is learnt that a number of coaches and captains favoured reverting to the earlier Ranji Trophy format in which the teams, divided into three groups, played a minimum of eight matches each. The new format introduced last season, had 28 teams split into four groups of seven each, meaning each side played six matches in the group stages. Andhra coach Sanath Kumar said an increase in the number of matches played would give players more opportunities to showcase their talent. “After working so hard ahead of the season, almost 80 percent of the teams will only get to play 24 days of first-class cricket [in the existing format],” he told ESPNcricinfo. “They should ideally get to play more cricket.”Mumbai captain Aditya Tare echoed Sanath’s opinion and said the current format made it difficult for teams to come back into the competition after a bad start. “If a team has had a bad game or has missed a game due to the weather, it becomes very difficult for them to get into the groove,” he said. “Take the example of Hyderabad, who missed two games at the start of the last season due to rain, and found it hard to come back into the competition. So going back to the three-group format will be better and players will also have better opportunities.”Both Tare and Sanath said nearly every team welcomed the return to the home-and-away format in the Ranji Trophy after the experiment with neutral venues in 2016-17, and also the concept of neutral curators. The quality of balls used in domestic cricket, however, has been another persistent issue. Balls going out of shape has been a frequent occurrence in the Ranji Trophy over the last few years – there have been instances of balls being changed as many as three or four times in a single session.The players have also urged the BCCI to revisit the use of the SG LE white ball in the shorter formats. The captain of a top state team felt the gulf in the quality between the white Kookaburra ball and the SG Test LE was huge. “I can understand the logic of playing with the SG Test LE if it was used in limited-overs internationals played in India, like the SG Test which is used in Test matches in India and thereby employed in Ranji Trophy cricket as well,” the player said. “When you play with the white Kookaburra in international matches, it would make sense for players to get a hang of it in domestic cricket as well.”Sanath, however, said that while the BCCI had agreed to work on the quality of the balls, it had indicated that the use of the SG Test LE would continue. “The BCCI said it will work with the manufacturers to ensure the quality of the red and white balls get better,” he said. “The board feels the SG Test LE can be used in limited-overs internationals played in India and in the IPL over a period of time, after improvements are made to its quality.”Umpiring was another area that left a lot to be desired, according to Tare, and was a matter of concern for many that attended the meeting. “When players do something wrong they are penalised for that. We are criticised or dropped following a bad performance,” Tare said. “The umpiring has been an issue for many years now and something has to be done to ensure that certain standards are maintained. If someone is consistently having bad games as an umpire, then he could be made to go back to officiating in age-group cricket [to prove his abilities]. That’s what my suggestion was.”A state captain felt it was also time to return to the run-quotient rule instead of net run-rate, which is used as the tie-breaker when teams are level on points. “I have raised this issue several times in the past, but there has been little progress on this front,” he said. “I don’t think the net run-rate is relevant in the longer format. The bowling should also come into play and that’s why the quotient rule works better.”The coaches and captains, though, welcomed the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators’ decision to increase the remuneration of players. The revised pay structure will see a first-class cricketer earn INR 35,000 per day for a four-day match apart from a percentage of the BCCI’s profits. “It is a real boost for the players and will give an incentive to talented cricketers to pursue cricket as a professional option and not drop out in favour of other career options,” Sanath said.

Having signed off his Big Bash League campaign with a match-winning last-ball six, Eoin Morgan looks forward to taking his form to India, where he will lead England’s limited-overs sides

Will Macpherson in Sydney04-Jan-2017As he leaves for India to captain England in three ODIs and three T20Is, Eoin Morgan could hardly have signed off his five-match spell with the Sydney Thunder in sweeter style. By smoking a straight six off Ben Hilfenhaus, he provided the Thunder with their first win of the defence of their maiden title.Given Morgan missed England’s tour to Bangladesh due to security concerns, the BBL was his first cricket since the English summer and he feels it has set him up well for the tour of India, especially since the pitch at the Spotless Stadium for his final game was slow and low, favouring spin.”I feel in pretty good touch,” Morgan said. “We played on a slow wicket tonight which prepares you well for subcontinental conditions. It hasn’t been too flat, so my preparation has been really good out here.”Morgan, having been 15 off 28, ended unbeaten on 71 off 50, his second half-century of a tournament in which he scored 159 runs at 39.75 to sign off as his team’s top-scorer. He explained that, as he bided his time building his innings, he was waiting to attack the Stars’ seamers.”Predominantly I was looking at the seamers. I thought [Adam] Zampa bowled really well. After watching Fawad Ahmed bowl, I thought pace off would be difficult. That was in the back of our minds. Zampa did pick up a wicket but it we were grateful it was towards the back end of his spell.”It’s an extraordinary feeling when you get one out of the middle like that. It’s a bit like standing on the tee and smashing one straight down the middle. When you hit it, you’re the only person who knows how well you’ve hit it. A very special feeling.”Morgan said he was sad to leave Sydney and reflected on his BBL experience as a whole.”We’ve always known it was happening [leaving early],” he said. “I would have loved to have stayed for the whole tournament, coming over for such a short space of time you never know how much impact you’re going to have. It’s a credit to [Thunder General Manager] Nick Cummins and [Head Coach] Paddy Upton who brought me in and trusted me with their confidence, so it’s unfortunate to go, but England beckons.”This is an unbelievable competition. I haven’t played for two years, and then played the three years before that. If I was to compare it to the first year I was here, it’s just completely different. It has grown three or four times. The fan base, the popularity, the public’s reaction to the tournament as a whole, it’s exceptional. There are people coming up who don’t necessarily watch cricket, and they’re engaging the whole time. That’s a huge strong point. I would love to come back.”

England Under-19s captain Brad Taylor’s four-wicket haul was in vain as his side lost to Sri Lanka Under-19s by 52 runs in their second match of the tri-nation series in Colombo on Monday.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2015
ScorecardEngland Under-19s captain Brad Taylor’s four-wicket haul was in vain as his side lost to Sri Lanka Under-19s by 52 runs in their second match of the tri-nation series in Colombo on Monday. It is England’s second successive defeat in the tournament and leaves them at the bottom of the table behind India and Sri Lanka.Taylor took 4 for 34, striking with key top and middle order wickets to restrict Sri Lanka to 191 after the hosts had opted to bat. Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka top-scored with 48 and shared a 51-run partnership for the third wicket with Shammu Ashan (38). Taylor struck quickly to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 150 for 7 in the 41st over and England’s bowlers wrapped up the innings for 191 in the final over.England’s chase was rocked by a collapse that saw them stumble from 64 for 1 in the 12th over to 94 for 7 in the 24th over. Taylor and wicketkeeper Ryan Davies resisted with a 43-run partnership for the eighth wicket but once Taylor was out, England’s chase folded within three overs. Left-arm spinner Damitha Silva and legspinner Wanidu Hasaranga ran through England’s middle and lower order, picking two wickets each.

Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming was frank in admitting his side was under extra pressure with the controversy surrounding the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2013Just like the administrators, big India players stayed away from making any contact with the media. On the eve of the IPL final, both sides sent out their coaches, and Michael Hussey, to address the delegation, a task traditionally handled by the teams’ captains. Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings coach, was quite frank in admitting the side was under extra pressure with the controversy engulfing the IPL.This press conference was a day after Super Kings’ former team principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, was arrested by the Mumbai Police for investigations into alleged betting. Fleming started by reading a prepared statement, insisting the players were not aware of any wrongdoings, and were playing to the best of their ability.”The players and support staff are distressed by the allegations and news reports against the CSK franchise, the IPL and Indian cricket,” Fleming read out. “We have played every match to the best of our ability, and we are very proud of our record of having appeared in the playoff stage of all six seasons of the IPL.”The players and support staff have no knowledge of either the betting, or the separate spot-fixing allegations. As difficult as it is, all our focus is on appearing in the final tomorrow.”Fleming didn’t deny the existence of the crisis. “It is a great record so far but we are up against a very good side in Mumbai,” Fleming said. “We have had some great battles against them this year.”I guess one of the other issues is what was involved in the statement. That puts more pressure on the side, but we welcome that. Chennai are a side that has risen through a lot of challenges. We are very proud to have come this far. We are very much looking forward to a big final.”Hussey, the leading run-getter this IPL season, was asked what role he played as a senior player in this situation. “We are just trying to focus on the game,” he said. “There is a lot of stuff going on in the periphery, and there can be distractions, but from a player’s point of view it is important we focus on our game and come out and give our best performance. If we can do that, we give ourselves a good chance to win.”The boys will be very excited to get on the ground tomorrow and put all the controversies behind us. I think it is going to be a fantastic match. It is a fitting finale for a great tournament.”

Andre Adams took a career-best 7 for 32 before Nottinghamshire’s openers helped built a solid lead over Lancashire

Jon Culley at Old Trafford03-May-2012
ScorecardAndre Adams recorded career-best first-class figures to help skittle Lancashire•PA Photos

You cannot help but conclude that there is something odd going on when Glen Chapple and Andre Adams, quite probably the two finest bowlers on the county circuit, can reach the combined age of 74 and have only one Test cap between them.Chapple’s extraordinary overlooking by the England selectors has been noted with incredulity on several occasions during an exemplary first-class career and there is bemusement, too, that Adams stepped out for a five-day game only once, against England in Auckland, his home town, a decade ago.No one now bowls with greater consistency, both in terms of economy and strike rate, than the 36-year-old Adams, who hit another peak with career-best figures of 7-32 to give Nottinghamshire an unlikely first-innings lead on which they have so far built solidly enough to suggest that Lancashire, the defending champions, will struggle to avoid a third defeat in a season only four matches old.He was the chief architect of a post-lunch implosion that saw Lancashire’s last six wickets fall for 15 runs inside 12 overs, conceding a lead of 23 that Nottinghamshire did not envisage when they were bowled out for 169 on Wednesday, their downfall in no small part down to Chapple’s impressive support for a luckless James Anderson.Adams dismissed Steven Croft and Gareth Cross with consecutive deliveries to add another five-for to an impressive tally that now stands at 28 in his career, 13 of which have come in the last three seasons. He had set the ball rolling by bowling Karl Brown with the third delivery of the day and ended what was shaping up as a potentially threatening innings by Stephen Moore when he produced the ball he seems able to summon at will, drawing the batsman forward but not allowing him to drive and moving it away just enough to take the edge.His maturing years have been his best, yet he has no regrets that they did not come sooner and has never considered trying to force his way back into the New Zealand team.”I shut the door on international cricket when I came to Nottinghamshire as a Kolpak and to be honest my last few games for New Zealand were not an enjoyable experience,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to go back.”When I was in New Zealand I was always fighting for a place and in those circumstances you sometimes forget about getting better as a cricketer. At Nottinghamshire I have been able to work in an honest environment, where I’m responsible for what I do and I’m not fighting for my place. To be here enjoying my cricket is a big deal for me.”I know what I have to do, which is essentially to be as annoying as I can be with the ball, by which I mean trying to put the ball in the right place as often as possible. It is what makes Chapple so good. He is a fine bowler and he is very annoying in that he hardly misses.”Adams’s miserly economy, backed up by similarly tight bowling from Ben Phillips and Graeme Swann, tended to show up Stuart Broad’s less-than-economical figures more perhaps than they otherwise might. On an essentially slow pitch that afforded few chances for fluent strokeplay, the England strike bowler went for 60 runs from 14 overs.In his defence, it was his first competitive bowl since his calf injury in Sri Lanka and his natural pace probably worked against him as the only bowler who offered speed off the bat.”He has a great record for us and it is good to have him here,” Adams said, offering some sympathy. “He had not bowled for a while and maybe he bowled a bit too short at times but having not been able to make a contribution so far he will be really up for it when he bowls again.”Fortunately for Nottinghamshire, Adams more than compensated, as did Swann, who took perhaps the most important wicket of the day when he had Ashwell Prince caught at bat-pad and wrapped up the innings on a hat-trick after bowling his friend and England team-mate Anderson first ball.Anderson remains in the wars. Having damaged his thumb on Wednesday, he bowled only one over on Thursday, although not because of the pain but because of a flu-like virus which affected him overnight. He signalled to Chapple, his captain, that he was feeling unwell and left the field immediately and was not seen again for an hour and 40 minutes, reappearing only because he thought he would have to be in the field for as much time as he had been off it in order to bowl on the third morning. As it happened, the umpires were able to tell him to return to his impromptu sick bed in the dressing room because the slate would be wiped clean overnight.Nottinghamshire will resume with a lead of 145 and eight wickets in hand and the opportunity to build a lead of 200-plus that could be as much as they need if Broad clicks and Adams merely continues where he left off. Against a depleted attack they have batted with respect for the pitch, in particular Neil Edwards and Michael Lumb, the latter revealing the kind of diligent approach for which he wants to be appreciated more.

Sri Lanka Cricket have confirmed the dates for the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will be from July 19 to August 4, 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff12-May-2011Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have confirmed the dates for the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will be from July 19 to August 4, 2011. The seven provinces will play 24 matches over the 18 days, all of which will be telecast live globally. That suggests a format in which all the teams will play each other once in a league stage, before two semi-finals and a final.Each team will only be allowed five overseas players in their squad, of which only four can be named in the XI. Several foreign players including Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs have already been signed for the tournament.SLC also unveiled the team names for the provinces. The seven teams will be: Basnahira Bears, Kandurata Kites, Nagenahira Nagas, Ruhuna Rhinos, Uthura Oryxes, Uva Unicorns and Wayamba Wolves. The board plans to add two more provinces to the tournament within three years.

Lalit Modi has promised a show tomorrow at the Cricket Centre, the BCCI headquarters, but it is likely to end up as a silent affair, barring the media noise

Nagraj Gollapudi09-May-2010Lalit Modi is expected to reply in in person on Monday to the show-cause notice served by the Indian board, comprising five charges, on April 26. However, his appearance at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai is unlikely to produce the dramatic denouement the saga has promised.On Saturday, after sending an emissary with the documents asked by the board last month post his suspension, Modi said that he had nothing to hide and he would “personally reply” to the show-cause slapped on him.BCCI sources said Modi’s reply, once it comes in, will be taken up by the board’s three-man disciplinary committee, comprising Shashank Manohar (BCCI president) and two vice-presidents – Arun Jaitley and Chirayu Amin, who was appointed the interim IPL chairman after Modi’s suspension. “The disciplinary committee is likely to meet in mid-June,” a BCCI official said.Immediately after his suspension, Modi had threatened to come out with various revelations that would expose many names. “Wait for the IPL to finish – I will reveal the men who have tried to bring disrepute to the game and how we stopped them from doing it,” he’d said. It is clear, though, that Modi’s reply is going to be detailed and voluminous – some estimates put it at 5000 pages.But for now, Modi will need to remain patient to hear from the disciplinary committee, which might even ask him to depose before it if need be; otherwise the panel would pass its conclusions to the board. The special general body will then sit to take a vote on the decisions and ratify. Meanwhile, Modi will have the opportunity to challenge the board’s decision.

Leicestershire establish 133-run lead despite being skittled before tea in first innings

ECB Reporters Network30-Jun-2024Career-best bowling from Ben Mike and loan signing Ben Green enabled Leicestershire to dismiss Middlesex for 86 as the opening day of their Vitality County Championship match saw 21 wickets fall in bowler-friendly conditions.Earlier, Ryan Higgins and Toby Roland-Jones led the way for Middlesex as Leicestershire were bowled out for 179. Lewis Goldsworthy and Lewis Hill shared a 65-run partnership for the third wicket before a collapse from 82 for 2 to 126 for 8 was rescued by fast bowler Scott Currie’s unbeaten 34.Leicestershire had extended their lead to 133 by reaching the close at 40 for 1 after Sol Budinger, caught off a top-edged pull, was out for the second time in the day.Green, the 26-year-old allrounder, is Somerset’s leading wicket-taker in the Blast this season but has not figured in their red-ball side. He played three Championship matches for Leicestershire earlier in the season and is back at Grace Road as emergency cover for the latest round with seven senior members of the Foxes’ first-team squad either injured or unavailable.Leicestershire had surprised some onlookers by opting to bat first, yet on a green pitch and with heavy cloud cover, it was hardly a surprise that the Middlesex seam attack should find plenty of encouragement.They removed both Leicestershire openers within the first seven overs. A rare failure from Rishi Patel, leg before half-forward to Roland-Jones for his first single-figure score of the season, preceded the departure of Budinger, who marked his first appearance of the season with two boundaries before edging Higgins to give Leus du Plooy the first of three catches at second slip.Middlesex could not immediately press home their advantage, with Henry Brookes and Ethan Bamber struggling to bowl the right lines at first. As they added 65 over the course of the next hour or so, it might have appeared that Goldsworthy and Hill were getting the upper hand.But then Bamber found some late swing from a ball that squared up Hill to have the Leicestershire skipper caught at first slip. Harry Swindells, like Budinger making his seasonal debut, chopped on to Higgins two overs before lunch, leaving the home side 94 for 4.Worse was to follow at the start of the afternoon, four more wickets tumbling in the first seven overs of the middle session as more edges flew to hand. Higgins had Goldsworthy snaffled by du Plooy before Roland-Jones struck three times in as many overs.Louis Kimber followed his epic, record-breaking 243 against Sussex last week with a 15-ball duck, caught at backward point off a leading edge, before Green edged to second slip and Ben Cox feathered one behind.Middlesex were batting 12 overs before tea but were three down by the interval and 53 for 6 half an hour after the resumption, which made the 53 runs Leicestershire were able to add for their last two wickets look potentially invaluable.Higgins dismissed Mike leg before and Brookes had Matt Salisbury caught at third slip, but Currie’s six boundaries gave their bowlers something to work with.Indeed, after Mike found the edge to have Mark Stoneman caught at second slip in his first over and produced an inswinger missed by Sam Robson, Green’s spell at the pavilion end soon had Middlesex in trouble.Max Holden was given out caught behind off an inside edge from the Devonian’s second ball before his first two overs after the tea interval included a near-unplayable delivery to bowl Higgins and one that took the edge of Josh De Caires’s bat to give Currie a catch at third slip.An airy drive saw Jack Davies caught behind to give Green his fourth at 70 for 7 before Mike returned with three wickets in five overs, bowling Luke Hollman with a full delivery, trapping Roland-Jones leg before with a full toss, notching his second career five-for as du Plooy fell for 28, bowled between bat and pad.Matt Salisbury completed the rout by bowling Bamber before the home side, batting positively, added 40 in nine overs with Budinger, who hit a six and two fours in his 18, the one casualty.

Royals had their moments with ball and bat, but they ended up with too much to do in Harshal Patel’s final over

Sidharth Monga23-Apr-20233:00

What’s making Maxwell click at RCB?

Royal Challengers Bangalore overcame a 50-for-7 collapse at the end of their innings and defended a total for the third time in IPL 2023 to go level on points with table leaders Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants.It was a weird match with arhythmic twists and turns. However, the centrepiece of RCB’s win was a lightning 127-run partnership between Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis in just 11.1 overs after they came together at 12 for 2, which perhaps made the pitch look easier than it was.The pitch itself was an enigma. RCB were in doubt that it was a dry pitch that would slow down and wanted to bat first, and Royals wanted to chase. Even though they were bowling first, Royals didn’t name a single batter in their substitutes’ list, and continued to not use Jason Holder’s batting. RCB continued to benefit from the Impact Player rule as they managed to play two players who wouldn’t have featured but for the rule: du Plessis with his rib issue, and Harshal Patel with a finger injury that made batting difficult for him. Eventually both made crucial contributions.

Boult strikes like lightning

With five first-over wickets to his name this season already, Trent Boult’s starts have become unmissable. This one was as good as any: full inswinger, past Virat Kohli’s inside edge, plumb lbw first ball. With the first ball of his second over, Boult had Shahbaz Ahmed caught at short midwicket. Some even joked that RCB’s last batting pair was at the wicket when Maxwell walked out.Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis added 127 in just 11.1 overs•Associated Press

Maxwell, du Plessis put on a show

If it was the last pair, they were not going to hold back. Maxwell square-drove the first ball he faced for four, and repeated the same shot for the same result in the same over. Du Plessis got stuck into Sandeep Sharma, hitting two sixes and a four in the fourth over. Maxwell kept manipulating the field, and lofted R Ashwin for a six to make it 62 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.Unlike the typical RCB innings, there was no slowdown immediately after the powerplay. Maxwell reverse-swept Yuzvendra Chahal in his first over for a six, and two overs later he and du Plessis took 16 off a Jason Holder over.

Royal Challengers Bangalore fined for slow over rate

Royal Challengers Bangalore have been fined after they maintained a slow over rate in the game against Rajasthan Royals. As it was the team’s second offence of the season, Virat Kohli, the stand-in captain for the match, has been fined Rs 24 lakh while all other members of the playing XI, including the Impact Substitute, have been fined either Rs 6 lakh or 25% of their match fee, depending on whichever is lesser. The team also had to face the on-field penalty and could field only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle in the 20th over

While du Plessis kept going down the ground, Maxwell mixed both straight hits and innovative ones behind square.

The collapse

Neither of the batters looked like getting out even when going at such high strike-rate, and eventually it had to be a run-out to send du Plessis back. A slight slowdown ensued, and Maxwell found backward point with a reverse-sweep to the last ball of R Ashwin’s quota.With both danger men gone, Royals snuck back into the match. The wily Chahal bowled the 17th and the 19th overs for just 11 runs and the wicket of Mahipal Lomror. Suddenly the pitch began to look like aiding slower balls again, and RCB huffed and puffed to 189.

Jaiswal, Padikkal fuel the chase

After an incutter from Mohammed Siraj bowled Jos Buttler for his second duck this IPL, Padikkal and Jaiswal set the chase up beautifully. Like Chahal and Shivam Dube before him, Jaiswal, too, made a big contribution against the team that had released him, RCB. Padikkal and Jaiswal managed to hit at least one boundary an over from overs 2 through 10. It left Royals needing 98 off the last 10. In the over after that, Padikkal brought up his fifty.Harshal Patel took the key wicket of Sanju Samson•BCCI

The Hasaranga-Willey slowdown

If it was the death overs during which the RCB slide began, Wanindu Hasaranga and David Willey started it around the 11th over for Royals. Hasaranga conceded just five in the 11th. Three more deliveries went without a boundary in the 12th, and Padikkal became the first one to hole out, off Willey.Sanju Samson was watchful against Hasaranga, who enjoys a great match-up against him, in the 13th. Jaiswal, who tends to struggle once the field spreads, holed out off Harshal in the 14th having scored seven off the last 10 balls he faced.

The endgame

The equation was still within touch especially with Samson and Shimron Hetmyer still there. Samson managed to get the better of Hasaranga in the 15th but just like Maxwell’s dissmisal earlier in the day, a well-timed late cut found short third in the 16th.Royals needed 65 off 28 then, which is not unheard of, but Hetmyer got stuck, failing to connect cleanly with even a single shot. Mohammed Siraj later said the ball was reversing in the end, which might explain Hetmyer failing to hit even one of the nine balls he faced cleanly.It was Dhruv Jorel who kept RR alive with 34 off 16, but he didn’t assume the leadership role in the partnership with Ashwin. Off the last ball of the 19th over, he took a suicidal second, which handed the strike over to Ashwin for the last over.Ashwin got lucky with two boundaries in the last over, but with 10 required off the last three, he too holed out to a slower ball. RR still didn’t send out Holder, who has faced only two balls in this IPL, and there was too much left for debutant Abdul Basith to do.