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Highlights of the day

Cheteshwar Pujara blasted his highest score in Twenty20 cricket, as Saurashtra thrashed Jammu & Kashmir by 73 runs in Kochi. Pujara slammed five fours and sixes each during a 55-ball 81, and shared a 70-run partnership with Chirag Jani, who stroked 38 off 19 balls. Their efforts lifted Sauarashtra to 157 for 7. J&K failed to string together a single meaningful stand in their chase, and folded for 84 inside 18 overs, with only two batsmen managing double-digit scores. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers, ending with figures of 3.1-0-19-3.Gujarat nearly made a mess of a small chase against Hyderabad in Nagpur, but Parthiv Patel’s 70-run blitz ensured the team had enough gas in the tank to register a three-wicket win. Set 132 for victory, Parthiv drilled eight fours and three sixes during a 40-ball 70, and added 99 for the opening wicket with Priyank Kirit Panchal. Parthiv’s dismissal in the 12th over triggered a slide, as Gujarat lost seven wickets for just 30 runs, but held on to complete the chase with three balls to spare.Domestic heavyweights Karnataka suffered their second defeat of the season, going down to Uttar Pradesh by five wickets in Cuttack. Karnataka, opting to bat, compiled a total of 160 for 6, thanks to a 40-ball 45 from Mohammed Talha, and handy lower-order knocks from CM Gautam and Aniruddha Joshi. UP, though, gunned that total down with relative ease, as their top and middle order all got in among the runs. The opener Prashant Gupta top-scored with 48, while Suresh Raina carried forward the momentum by smoking a 15-ball 28 with three sixes.Biplab Samantray’s maiden T20 ton went in vain, as Odisha failed to defend 183 against Maharashtra. Samantray thumped a 59-ball 102, and put up 155 for the third wicket with Govinda Poddar, but important knocks of 44 and 49 from Prayag Bhati and Ankit Bawne respectively helped Maharashtra to a last-ball win.

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Hampshire’s batsmen grafted their way to within touching distance of Sussex’s 332 to close on 304 for 6 on the second day at The Rose Bowl. It may not have wowed the spectators as much as Shane Bond’s blistering burst did yesterday evening, but the day provided enough entertainment to warm the cockles of a small and hardy Southampton crowd.Michael Lumb remained unbeaten on 77 at stumps, though was dropped on 55 by Michael Yardy at first slip shortly before the close – one of a number of chances Sussex let through. It was a day for gloves and rugs in The Rose Bowl’s acutely exposed stands, certainly not one for holding a screaming slip catch or desperate pluck at short-leg.James Tomlinson, the nightwatchman, frustrated Sussex for nearly an hour and showed mostly impressive judgement, even clumping a stray half volley from Robin Martin-Jenkins for four down the ground. With him out of the way, Sussex could concentrate on making headway into the top-order and Chris Adams, the captain, turned to his banker, Mushtaq Ahmed.It took him just four overs to pick up his first of what will doubtless be another bounty haul of wickets, trapping Michael Brown in his crease for 20. Hampshire were stuttering at 61 for 3, but Mushtaq struggled to contain Hampshire, bowling into bitterly cold northerly gusts which persisted all day, and Sussex were made to toil with James Adams and John Crawley putting on the day’s most assured stand of 92. In what is his 18th season, Crawley remains a batting enigma, albeit one of county cricket’s most attractive enigmas. Against the medium-pace of Martin-Jenkins and Chris Liddle he was circumspect, even nervous. Mushtaq, though – who flummoxes almost every other Englishman – was stroked through extra cover three times with languid ease.Adams, on the other hand, relied on tucks to the leg-side and nudgety flicks off the spinner. After lunch, Martin-Jenkins found enough movement to take Crawley’s edge, the nick flying low to Adams’ right at second slip who couldn’t cling on. However, the very next ball Adams was trapped in front by a lowly grubber for a 121-ball 50 and Sussex had the breakthrough.Crawley followed in the next over, nibbling at Ragheb Aga’s awayswinger to hand him his maiden Championship wicket, and leaving Hampshire struggling on 155 for 5. Nic Pothas joined Lumb and attacked immediately, not always convincingly but his aggression shifted the balance and prompted Lumb into doing the same. It worked, too. Luke Wright, who again bowled swiftly – benefiting from the prevailing northerly from the nursery end – lacked control, offering boundary balls to both left and right hander.Lumb, who reached a slick fifty from 80 balls 30 minutes before the close, lost Pothas to Aga but was assisted to stumps by Greg Lamb as Hampshire trailed by a slender 28. As they shuffled to find warmth, the PA thanked the spectators for “braving the considerable breeze.” Worse, wetter weather is forecast tomorrow and Saturday, potentially curtailing what has bubbled into an intriguing contest.

A spicy, green-tinged MCG pitch came under significant scrutiny after a 20-wicket Boxing Day blockbuster in which both Australia and England were bowled out cheaply.Matt Page, the MCG curator, said ahead of the fourth Ashes Test that he hoped to replicate the pitch he had prepared for last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy fixture, which Australia won in the final session of day five. But this Test looks highly unlikely to last into a fourth day, let alone a fifth, after ball dominated bat in front of a record crowd.Page left 10mm of grass on the surface, 3mm more than he had last year, and fast bowlers on both sides found substantial seam movement throughout the day. England have not picked a frontline spinner all series, but Australia’s decision to play an all-seam attack was a reflection of conditions and both captains wanted to bowl first at the toss in unseasonably cool weather.Related

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Ex-players from both sides blamed the pitch – more so than the attacking approach or technical shortcoming of both sets of batters – for the fact that 20 wickets fell on the opening day, with Stuart Broad and Glenn McGrath leading the criticism.”The pitch is doing too much, if I’m brutally honest. Test match bowlers don’t need this amount of movement to look threatening,” Broad said, commentating on SEN Radio. “Great Test matches pitches, generally, they bounce, but they don’t jag all over the place.”Glenn McGrath told the BBC: “This pitch has got far too much grass on it… That pitch has got too much life in it for Test cricket… The Australians bowled well [but] it’s hard to apply yourself on a pitch that’s doing plenty because if you’re looking to defend, one’s got your name on it. You’ve got to find that balance between somehow keeping balls out while still looking to score.”MCG pitches have been far more sporting in recent years after the batter-friendly surface was heavily criticised during the 2017-18 Ashes Test, which saw 24 wickets fall across five days. Alastair Cook, who scored 244 not out in that match, said that the balance had tipped too far the other way.”The bowlers didn’t have to work hard for their wickets,” Cook said on TNT Sports. “It was an unfair contest. I don’t know how you hit it [the ball]. If this flattens out tomorrow then fine, it’s an even contest over three or four days. But I don’t think this is particularly even.”Brett Lee, another former fast bowler, joked on Fox Cricket that Pat Cummins “was almost going to go back to the hotel to pick up his spikes” after seeing the pitch, having ruled himself out of the rest of the series as he continues his rehabilitation from a back injury.Scott Boland claimed the big wicket of Harry Brook•AFP/Getty Images

“I think there’s a bit too much in it,” Lee said. “I wouldn’t be complaining at the end of the day if I was a [current] fast bowler. It’s a different surface: it’s that furry feeling. I rubbed my hand on the side of the wicket this morning, and you can feel the grass lift up.”This is the second time in the series that all 22 players have batted on the opening day of a Test match, after 19 wickets fell in Perth on a pitch that was ultimately rated “very good” by the ICC – though was described as a “piece of s***” by Australia’s Usman Khawaja.The ball appeared to deviate more off the seam at the MCG than in Perth, with several balls moving sharply after pitching – including Josh Tongue’s delivery to clean up Steven Smith, and Scott Boland’s nip-backers to Harry Brook (pinned lbw) and Jamie Smith (bowled through the gate).Michael Neser was Australia’s outstanding performer on the opening day, top-scoring with a counter-attacking 35 from No. 8 before taking 4 for 45 to help bowl England out inside 30 overs. He suggested that the pitch might yet flatten out, and defended the attacking approach that both sets of batters took.”The ball definitely nipped around a bit there with the new rock, so it was just a matter of trying to find ways to put pressure back on their bowlers – and knowing that, when we bowled, we had to just be patient and let the wicket do the work,” Neser said.”Going into it, you knew it was going to nip around with the amount of grass there, but traditionally it can flatten out here, so we’ll see how it pans out… I don’t want to go into tomorrow with the preconception of ‘the wicket’s going to be doing a lot’ because it can flatten, and we’ve just got to stick to our processes.”I think you have to change the way you approach it because bowlers are so good at just holding their length nowadays, so you have to actually put pressure back on them as a batter. I know it can look streaky at times, but at times that’s the only way to score: be brave and come at them.”

Mickey Arthur has said that he has been impressed with his first look of the local talent assembled by Dhaka Dynamites. The team’s head coach believes that hunger within the young Bangladeshi cricketers will help his side.Dynamites’ icon pick had to be Nasir Hossain as they were the last team to be drawn in the lottery in the draft last month. But they picked the sensational Mustafizur Rahman with their first pick and also took Mosharraf Hossain (Man of the Match in 2013 BPL final), Mosaddek Hossain Saikat (who made three first-class double-centuries this year), Shamsur Rahman, Shykat Ali, Farhad Reza, Nabil Samad, Abul Hasan and Irfan Sukkur.Shamsur, Farhad and Abul have played international cricket for Bangladesh while Shykat and Sukkur are impressive young domestic batsmen.This is Arthur’s first stint coaching in Bangladesh although he last toured as coach of the South Africa team in 2008. He was also impressed by how the Dhaka franchise contacted him and has so far run the team.”We have a good bunch of talented young players but T20 is all about one performance,” Arthur said. “Their work ethic has been outstanding, they work incredibly hard. It has been a pleasure. They are looking to make a name for themselves in Bangladesh cricket. If you have guys who are willed to learn and play, you have a recipe of some success.”What interested me are the good talented youngsters out here. The Dhaka Dynamites is very well organised, which also interested me. The communication with everyone was brilliant. They seemed like a professional outfit. I haven’t been let down, it has been a fantastic experience so far.”Arthur said that the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Yasir Shah and Ryan ten Doeschate will add experience to the Dynamites squad. Apart from these three, they have Mohammad Irfan, Nasir Jamshed, Sohail Khan and Shahzaib Hasan and it is understood that Zimbabwe batsman Malcolm Waller, who scored 68 and 40 in T20s against Bangladesh last week, could soon join them.”I have been really impressed by the local talent. I don’t want to single out anybody. We have Sanga, Yasir Shah and Ryan ten Doeschate; those guys just add the little bit of international experience to the squad. The young players have been trained extremely well and are hungry for success,” Arthur said.Arthur said that while coaching in the Caribbean Premier League he saw how the T20 tournament helped local cricketers learn more from the international players, and hoped the same would happen for the uncapped Bangladeshi cricketers.”It gives international exposure to all the young players that are playing with international superstars. The experience rubs off on them. It just provides them with such a good base to work from.”I coached in the CPL and just seeing what that does for West Indian cricket, I suspect the BPL is going to do exactly the same for Bangladesh cricket.”

Goa ended the rain affected second day at 100 for 6 in the second innings,still requiring 106 runs to avoid an innings defeat against Andhra in theCooch Behar Trophy (Under-19) tournament match at the Rajendra PrasadStadium in Margao on Saturday.Play started only at 12.50 and Goa, resuming at the overnight score of 43for 2, were skittled out for 94 in their first innings in reply to Andhra’s300 for three declared. Gautham Narvekar was the first to be dismissed whenhe was run out. The new batsman Sagun departed soon to become Shankar Rao’sfirst victim of the innings. Thereafter wickets kept falling at regularintervals as the Goan batsmen could not tackle the Andhra attack. Beforelong Mohd Faiq (4 for 24) and G Shankar Rao (5 for 17) ran through the side.Following on, Goa started off with openers Robin D’souza (23) and GauthamNarvekar (18) putting on 28 runs off 6.3 overs. Then with the score at 31,Goa lost Sahil Dhuri caught behind off Venugopal Rao. Following this, a43-run third wicket stand ensued between Gautham and Adithya Angle (29)which took the score to 73. At this stage, Adithya was caught by AS Varmaoff Shankar Rao. Gautham departed five balls later off the bowling of MohdFaiq. Wickets kept falling thereafter and Goa were in a hopeless positionwhen stumps were drawn.

A half-century from Vijay Shankar and an all-round performance from R Sathish propelled Tamil Nadu to a 37-run win against Andhra at the MRF Pachayappas ground. Having chosen to bat, Tamil Nadu moved to 101 for 4 courtesy useful contributions from their top order before Shankar (69 off 49 balls) and Sathish (32 not out off 14) combined to add 76 in just 41 balls to power Tamil Nadu to a total of 179 for 5.Sathish then dismissed both Andhra openers over the course of a tight four-over quota in which he only conceded 18 runs. Hanuma Vihari (37 off 34) and Ricky Bhui (61 off 44) revived Andhra with a 75-run third-wicket stand, but the asking rate was climbing steadily, and they needed 79 off 32 balls when Vihari fell. Andhra couldn’t keep up, and eventually finished on 142 for 6, with two of their last three wickets falling to run-outs.A stifling bowling display helped Karnataka defend 148 and hand Hyderabad their first defeat of the tournament at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. A 66-run opening stand between Tanmay Agarwal (22) and Akshath Reddy (42 off 32 balls) gave Hyderabad an excellent start to their chase, but they struggled to keep up with the required rate thereafter as the left-arm seamer S Aravind (3 for 25) and left-arm spinner J Suchith (2 for 18) struck regular blows. S Badrinath remained unbeaten on 37, but wickets fell steadily around him and he himself only managed three fours in a 31-ball innings as Hyderabad finished on 134 for 6.After they chose to bat, Karnataka’s innings was built around two significant contributions. Opener Mayank Agarwal made 65 off 55 balls, while their No. 5 Pavan Deshpande scored 32 off 24. The two added 63 for the fourth wicket after Karnataka had slipped to 49 for 3, and eventually set them up for a total of 148 for 7. Left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan was Hyderabad’s most successful bowler with figures of 3 for 16.A three-wicket haul from the medium-pacer Basil Thampi and two wickets each from Jalaj Saxena and Raiphi Gomez helped Kerala bowl Goa out for 86 and beat them by nine wickets. Choosing to bat, Goa’s innings never got going, with only Swapnil Asnodkar (23) and Keenan Vaz (22) getting past 20. Their innings lasted only 18.4 overs.Kerala’s chase was even shorter, lasting only 7.5 overs. Vishnu Vinod plundered 35 off 13 balls in a 40-run opening stand with Mohammed Azharudeen (22*), who then finished the match in the company of Rohan Prem (24*).

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Railways extended their overnight lead of 113 to 211 before their bowlers ran through Jammu & Kashmir in just under 46 overs, completing a comprehensive win on day three in Delhi. J&K could only muster 123 in their second innings as Sanjay Bangar picked up the last four wickets in 8.5 overs.Resuming on 307 for 7, Railways reached 405 with No. 7 Karan Sharma, unbeaten overnight on 68, going on to score a century on first-class debut. Sharma was involved in a 103-run stand for the eighth wicket with Harvinder Singh (38). Sharma was the last to fall, but the 211-run deficit was too much for J&K, handing Railways a well-earned victory and six points.
ScorecardAfter having conceded a first-innings lead to Goa, Haryana were left with a chance for victory, needing another 241 runs with nine wickets in hand.Starting the third day 67 runs behind Goa’s first-innings 271, Haryana were bowled out for 246, Shadab Jakati finishing with 6 for 52 from 29.2 overs. Goa got off to a shaky start, losing three wickets with only 30 on the board as Joginder Sharma struck twice.Opener Sagun Kamat made 60, but it was a fighting 86 by Ajay Ratra, the former Indian wicketkeeper, that enabled the home team to reach 221. Ratra was involved in a 32-run last-wicket partnership with Harshad Gadekar as Amit Mishra, Haryana’s strike bowler, took 6 for 75. Haryana, set a target of 247 – one more than their first-innings total, lost a wicket before stumps, Jakati making the breakthrough.
ScorecardGujarat looked well-placed for a win in Ahmedabad, having reduced Assam to 15 to 2 after having set them a target 407.Nilesh Modi and Niraj Patel amassed 215 runs for the third wicket as Gujarat more than consolidated on the 39-run lead they had gained after bowling out Assam for 189. Niraj hit 15 boundaries in his 192-ball stint for his 124, while Modi was more circumspect, his unbeaten 152 coming at less than a run every two balls. Niraj fell with the score on 333, and his side declared once the lead was extended beyond 400. The hosts had the added bonus of two wickets in the 15 overs they bowled, with Siddharth Trivedi and Nehal Raval bagging one apiece.
ScorecardMadhya Pradesh skittled out Jharkhand for 139, gaining a first-innings lead of 84, and then scored 165 for the loss of five wickets at stumps on the third day in Jamshedpur.Jharkhand, resuming at 83 for 5, managed a further 56 as the last five wickets fell within the first 24 overs of the day. Anand Rajan bagged 4 for 51, adding two scalps to the couple he picked up on Sunday. MP lost wickets at regular intervals as they looked to build on their lead, but ended on 165 for 5, with a more than handy advantage of 249. Shankar Rao was the pick of the bowlers for Jharkhand, with three wickets in his 16 overs.
ScorecardServices, who conceded the first-innings lead against Tripura, looked poised to set the home team a challenging target on the final day of the match in Agartala. Yashpal Sharma scored an unbeaten 94 as Services, overnight on 112 for 2, reached 308 for 7, an overall lead of 222 runs. For Tripura, Vineet Jain took 3 for 66.

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