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Andre Fletcher and Marlon Samuels blitzed fifties to lead St. Lucia Stars to 173, but couldn’t prevent Jamaica Tallawahs from completing the fourth-highest successful chase in CPL history

The Report by Nikhil Kalro16-Aug-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndre Fletcher struck seven fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 84•Ashley Allen – CPL T20 / Getty

For the first 37 overs of the game, St Lucia Stars were ahead and cruising. Then came that one over everyone talks about in this format. With the Tallawahs requiring 40 off three overs in their chase of 174, Mitchell McClenaghan conceded 20 runs, and the Stars’ hopes of their first win of the tournament faded into their sixth successive loss. It was also the fourth-highest successful chase in tournament history.Andre McCarthy recovered quickly from a run-out that led to Rovman Powell leaving the field like he was ready for a locker showdown, and struck a match-winning unbeaten 61 off 37 balls to lead the Tallawahs to a five-wicket win with two balls to spare. It wouldn’t be much solace for the Stars, but they put on a much-improved performance with the bat. Andre Fletcher and Marlon Samuels blitzed fifties to lead them to 173, their highest score of the tournament.Pace off the ballThe Darren Sammy National Stadium was hit by passing showers just before the start. On a slow surface, that moisture may have just done enough to negate the penetration of seam-up deliveries – a burst of rain will only quicken a pitch up slightly, not change its nature. That should have been an indication for the Tallawahs’ bowlers to take pace off the ball.It took a few heaves and punches for the bowlers to switch to offcutters. It worked right away, an offcutter from Mohammad Sami took the inside edge of Johnson Charles and uprooted leg stump. The mode of operation didn’t change much thereafter.The unmatched utility of boundaries in T20sFletcher isn’t known for his ability to find gaps for singles. He is, however, an efficient boundary-hitter. The value of boundaries in T20s is high, but the utility of boundaries without consuming too many dot balls is significantly higher. In his 53-ball innings, he struck 24 singles and played 13 dots, effectively 24 runs off 37 balls.He also hammered 11 boundaries, seven fours and a six, almost as many as the number of dot balls he faced. That meant he finished with 84 off 53 balls with a strike-rate of 158.49. A T20 masterclass beckoned if he could convert a few more of those dots into singles.Keep calm and bat onWhen McCarthy stabbed a ball towards extra cover, called for two and didn’t respond, the Tallawahs were reeling. They needed 81 runs off 46 balls with six wickets in hand, and Powell was fuming all the way off the field. For McCarthy, that could have been a scarring emotional blow.Instead, he bided his time, found the boundary when he had to and delivered under duress. Imad Wasim also brought his experience and ability to a 45-run sixth-wicket stand that carried Tallawahs home. A few moments later, Powell was leaping onto McCarthy in joy.

Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, representing Dhaka Dynamites, will be the highest paid local player in this year’s Bangladesh Premier League. He is among seven players in the A-plus category

Mohammad Isam28-Sep-2016Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, representing Dhaka Dynamites, will be the highest paid local player in this year’s Bangladesh Premier League. He is among seven players in the A-plus category, which includes top Bangladesh cricketers.Shakib is set to receive at least Tk 55 lakh (approx. $68,750), the cap set for his payment. Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Mashrafe Mortaza and Mahmudullah will get at least Tk 50 lakh each from Barisal Bulls, Chittagong Vikings, Comilla Victorians and Khulna Titans respectively. Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar are also among the A-category players but will get Tk 40 lakh each from Rajshahi.According to the BPL governing council’s secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, these players had made an official request to the board to choose their teams and have their salary cap raised to match the BPL foreign players’ cap.”These senior players had a prayer to us, to match what foreign players will get in this tournament,” Mallick said. “In other franchise-based domestic tournaments, foreign players get the same amount as local players.”They also asked to choose their own team, which they said would enable to earn a little more money than the cap given by the BPL governing council. The board however won’t take responsibility of the extra payment that they get from the franchise. They will only be responsible for the amount that we have put as cap.”Mallick said that Shakib’s higher payment than the other six in the same category is because of his experience having played in various T20 leagues around the world. He added that the BPL governing council had to keep seven players in the same category to distribute them evenly between the teams.”The pricing is merit-based. Shakib is the only Bangladeshi player who plays in the franchise-based T20 leagues around the world. His pricing has to be higher than the others. We have decided after discussing with the selectors. Shakib and Soumya Sarkar won’t get the same rate. Shakib and the rest of the senior players have little difference between them in terms of the money,” Mallick said.The tournament is scheduled to begin on November 4.

Angelo Mathews has confirmed Upul Tharanga will take Kumar Sangakkara’s place, but said the team management was ‘giving the batting order a bit more thought’

Andrew Fidel Fernando at SSC27-Aug-20152:46

‘Still haven’t found the best combination’ – Mathews

For the past week, Sri Lanka has reflected on Kumar Sangakkara’s legacy. On the eve of the deciding Test match, the team has found he has also left behind a slew of dilemmas. Sri Lanka know there is no possible substitute for Sangakkara’s experience, but they do hope to scavenge together the runs he used to score. They hope to tickle the top order in just the right way, to collectively squeeze out those few additional runs.The team has confirmed Upul Tharanga will replace Sangakkara in the XI. Though both are left-handers from Nondescripts Cricket Club, that is about where the similarities end. Where Sangakkara was Sri Lanka’s sure thing, Tharanga is a man of glorious uncertainties, transitioning through lean trots and purple patches in a single over, the way most others do over long careers.Tharanga is among the more polarising figures in Sri Lanka cricket, but recently he has made a good Test-match case for himself. He top-scored at the SSC against Pakistan last year, but was then dropped. He then made 46 and 48 on a demanding Pallekele surface upon his return to the team.Sri Lanka’s problem now is where to fit him in the order. Tharanga is an opener by trade, but Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva have those slots sealed up. The team batted Tharanga at No. 3 in the last series against Pakistan, but Lahiru Thirimanne has long been groomed to take over Sangakkara’s spot, and his ODI returns suggest the top three is where Thirimanne is most productive.”At the moment we’ve got so many questions hanging around,” captain Angelo Mathews said of the batting order. “Tharanga has to come in definitely. In the last match he played, he hit a couple of 45s. He went out only because Sangakkara came back for the India series.”We are giving the batting order a bit more thought. We’ve got different characters in the team – some are quite slow, some are very attacking. You’ve got to slot them out in those positions where the team is benefiting at the end. You need to give it a bit more thought and we’ll try and find the best position for those individuals. “Sri Lanka have more decisions to make lower down the order. Jehan Mubarak has played decent supporting hands in three of his six innings since his recall, but for all that is no closer to cementing his position in the side. Sri Lanka will be tempted to replace him with the dynamic Kusal Perera, who was seen practicing his wicket keeping in the approach to this Test. If Kusal does take the gloves, Dinesh Chandimal may be free to move further up the order, though that option is not itself without risk. Chandimal is scoring runs at no. 6 and 7, and has been effective in partnerships with tail-enders.Kusal’s Test debut has been seen as overdue by some, especially as the batsman had had an exceptional series against Pakistan A in May, then made two match-winning ODI contributions against the senior Pakistan side last month.”You can’t really find a perfect time to bring a player into the team,” Mathews said of the decision to keep Kusal out of the XI so far. “There are seniors, there are guys who have played and you can’t just chop and change them in one or two games. Sometimes you may not get the chance when you’re in form. Sometimes you might have to play when you’re rusty. You’ve got to test your character. Whenever he gets the opportunity I’m pretty sure that he’ll come good. He’s a young, exciting player. We’re not afraid to take chances with that kind of player.”Whoever plays, all Sri Lanka’s batsmen will aim to decipher India’s spinners, who have so far left the entire top order groping at the ball, and at excuses. Mathews has said that his team would seek to attack R Ashwin. Amit Mishra, who has 12 wickets at 12.75 in the series, will be approached the same way, he suggested.”No matter who is bowling, our aim to score runs. Even yesterday we had a discussion as a batting group. We always trust that no matter who the bowler is, and however well he’s bowling, if he gives us a chance to get runs, we should do that. We know Ashwin bowled well in the last two matches. Mishra and the seamers were also bowling well. Whoever it is, we’ll play them positively.”Batsmen from both teams have been embarrassed by spin so far in the series, but if they have arrived at the SSC expecting to have an easier time, they may be surprised. The club is the home of Sri Lanka cricket’s bourgeoisie, and for so long the SSC pitch was class warfare – pampered batsmen lording it over the bowling proletariat. Recently though, the bowlers’ union has had a breakthrough. The pitch was relaid in 2013, and the bowlers have since had more luck at the venue.Spotting some live grass on the track a day before the match, Mathews said his team “can’t predict the pitch 100%” so would have to “play it by ear”. Now that all the greats have taken their leave, he may be doing a lot of that while his new team comes together.

Adam Gilchrist, the Kings XI Punjab captain, believed the team had a defendable total on a sluggish pitch, but credited Eoin Morgan for turning the match in Kolkata Knight Riders’ favour

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2013Adam Gilchrist, the Kings XI Punjab captain, believed the team had a defendable total on a sluggish pitch, but credited Eoin Morgan for turning the match in Kolkata Knight Riders’ favour. Kings XI picked up the wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan early in the innings, but Manvider Bisla and Jacques Kallis built a 66-run stand, before Morgan smashed a quickfire 42 off 26 balls to help Knight Riders complete the chase with 10 balls to spare.”Great breakthroughs early and we were right in the hunt all the way through,” Gilchrist said. “Jacques and Manvinder Bisla did very well to steady the ship. Bisla took his early let-off and played a nice and controlled innings. Morgan was the difference in the end in their batting and obviously Jacques had a great game with both bat and ball. I must say if I were to believe you guys [media], Jacques wasn’t even turning up today.””I thought 150 was pretty competitive,” he added. “If you get greedy, you might get 10 more. In the end, it wouldn’t have mattered with the way Morgan played.”Kings XI got an ideal start when Azhar Mahmood struck twice off consecutive balls in his first over, but the bowlers struggled to pick up wickets after that. Harmeet Singh, who had picked up three wickets against Delhi Daredevils, was introduced in the 11th over and immediately picked up Kallis’ wicket, but made no impact after that.”He bowled beautifully in Delhi the other night,” Gilchrist said. “He started well early today, but he would be disappointed with how he executed a couple of deliveries. But it was very sweaty and moist out there. He relies on those variations, the back spinners, the leg spinners. It was, in his defense, difficult to grip. But he is a welcome addition.”Gilchrist said he was satisfied with his form too after scoring 27, his best innings this year, and hoped to continue improvement in his game.”I did more practice leading into this tournament than any other ones. Nice to get some from the middle of the bat. Obviously, the trouble is you fail fail fail, then you get 20-odd, and start to feel good, then you get disappointed and frustrated that you get out. So you are never really happy as a batsman. I have got to keep trying to lift my game and contributing.”Eveything felt really good today up until I played that shot (the one that got him out). It was just slow off the wicket a little bit. I am not hitting the balls that I used to hit in the prime of my career. I understand that and I am not shattered by that. I am thrilled to be playing and enjoying it. It is not life and death. The great thing about knowledge and maturity is that there are more serious things going out there.”Kings XI are placed fifth in the table after four wins in eight matches.

Left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny took seven wickets to help Dhaka Metropolis defeat Barisal Division before the end of the third day in Chittagong

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2012Left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny took seven wickets to help Dhaka Metropolis defeat Barisal Division before the end of the third day in their National Cricket League (NCL) match in Chittagong. Barisal were pegged back in the contest after they were bowled out for 138 runs in the second innings. Sunny took three wickets, adding to his four in the first innings, while Mohammad Ashraful took three wickets with his off-spin.Barisal’s innings had spun out of control in the afternoon on the second day, after they were reduced to 28 for 5. Salman Hossain, who scored 42, led their recovery briefly in the morning of the next day. No. 8 Fariduddin’s 36 was the next best score in the innings.In the first innings, Fariduddin had shepherded the tail in his 107-ball knock, taking Barisal past the 200-run mark. Dhaka Metropolis replied with 241, mainly through a 105-run seventh wicket stand between Mehrab Hossain jnr and Suleman Khan, both of whom scored half-centuries. Barisal’s left-arm swing bowler Syed Rasel took four wickets, but with Dhaka Metropolis facing only 140 to win, even the wily international bowler couldn’t do much.Shamsur Rahman slammed an unbeaten 71 off 60 balls to enable Dhaka Metropolis to gain seven points from the game. They are now at the top of the table with 15 points.

Martin Guptill struck an assured, unbeaten half-century to guide Derbyshire to their first County Championship away victory this season with a six-wicket success over Glamorgan at Cardiff

30-Jun-2011
ScorecardMartin Guptill struck an assured, unbeaten half-century to guide Derbyshire to their first County Championship away victory this season with a six-wicket success over Glamorgan at Cardiff.
The New Zealand opener was the pick of the batsmen as Derbyshire chased down 130 to win in 27 overs. Derbyshire took 23 points to Glamorgan’s four. It was Glamorgan’s fourth defeat of the season.Despite Guptill’s efforts Derbyshire, who go up to fifth place in Division Two with their second win, did not have it all their own way. James Harris broke through with the second ball of the innings to have Wayne Madsen well caught for a duck at second slip by Ben Wright, and in the eighth over Chesney Hughes gave a simple catch to Glamorgan captain Alviro Petersen at
mid-on off Graham Wagg.At that stage Glamorgan might have fancied causing an upset. But Guptill looked in fine touch, dealing mainly in boundaries. He particularly took a liking to Harris, striking six fours off his bowling – three in one over. Harris was withdrawn from the attack after conceding 41 runs in his first six overs.Derbyshire had reached the halfway point in their run chase when Guptill planted Jim Allenby over long-on for six to bring up his half-century out of 71 for 2 in 43 balls. There was some respite for Glamorgan when Will Owen, in his opening over, trapped first-innings centurion Wes Durston lbw on the back foot to leave Derbyshire 75 for 3. It ended a third-wicket partnership worth 56 in 6.3 overs.On the stroke of lunch Dan Redfern chipped Owen to mid-off as Derbyshire reached 85 for 4. After the interval Ross Whiteley proved to be the more productive half of the fifth-wicket partnership, striking 30 off 34 balls, but it was left to Guptill to seal the win with a six off Dean Cosker. Guptill finished 70 not out from 72 balls with 52 of his runs coming in boundaries.Victory was sealed 32 minutes after lunch with 61 overs of the day still remaining.Glamorgan’s second innings had lasted only 25 minutes on the final morning after they had resumed on 250 for seven – a lead of 96. Tim Groenewald, armed with the second new ball, struck with the fourth ball of the day to trap Wagg lbw.And from 253 for 8 the home side found themselves 262 for 9 in Groenewald’s next over when Mark Wallace was caught behind for 70. The final pair of Cosker and Owen did their best to hang around, but the end of the innings came when Cosker was bowled shouldering arms to Tony Palladino.

Kent wrapped up their Friends Provident t20 home fixtures and moved off the foot of the South Group table with a comfortable six-wicket win over Glamorgan in Canterbury with five balls to spare

11-Jul-2010

ScorecardKent wrapped up their Friends Provident t20 home fixtures and moved off the foot of the South Group table with a comfortable six-wicket win over Glamorgan in Canterbury with five balls to spare.The Spitfires posted a fifth win of the campaign courtesy of an unbeaten stand of 43 between Geraint Jones (22) and top-scorer Azhar Mahmood, who hit 30 from 29 balls to take the man-of-the-match honours.Pursuing the Dragons’ modest total of 126 at an asking rate of 6.4 an over, Kent made a poor start when James Hockley (nought) dabbed at a Robert Croft arm-ball to edge to the keeper.Joe Denly and Martin van Jaarsveld both enjoyed a life in adding 43 for the second wicket but Van Jaarsveld’s good fortune expired two balls after giving his first chance when he top-edged a sweep to short fine-leg. Denly, who was dropped on 18, went on to reach 36 from 38 balls with four boundaries, before he too fell to the wiles of Croft.Beaten in the flight as he advanced to drive, Croft turned one through the gate to peg back off-stump and finish with 3 for 19. Left-arm spinner Dean Cosker, having seen two catches go down, deservedly picked up the scalp of in-form Darren Stevens (10) who missed an attempted lofted drive to be stumped by Mark Wallace.Kent promoted Mahmood to bat at number four and though he might have gone for two when James Harris downed a difficult diving chance at deep cover, the ploy ultimately worked as the former Pakistan Test all-rounder teamed up with Jones to see Kent home.With 20 needed off 18 balls, the duo crucially took 12 off Jamie Dalrymple’s third over, the 18th of the innings, seven came off the next from Shaun Tait leaving Jones to win it with a crisp off-driven boundary un the final over from Jim Allenby.Glamorgan’s low-key total of 126 for 6 contained only 10 fours and one six as their top order struggled for timing on a tinder dry pitch being used for the third time which helped both Kent spinners Malinga Bandara and Van Jaarsveld.The Dragons posted 48 for the first wicket through Mark Cosgrove, their top-scorer with 36 from 33 balls and with half their boundaries, and Allenby, who went for 17 in the eighth over after clipping a full toss from Ashley Shaw straight to deep mid-wicket.Bandara’s introduction at The Pavilion End swung the balance Kent’s way with an excellent four-over stint of three for 15. The Sri Lankan had Wallace (nought) caught off a top-edged reverse sweep then Tom Maynard (nought) off a miscued slog sweep at long-on.In his next over Cosgrove, who got under way with two edged boundaries to third man, eventually ran out of luck when his lofted off-drive was superbly held on the run by a diving Denly. Kent’s sharp fielding also led to a couple of run outs in the final two overs as Ben Wright (27) and Gareth Rees (nought) were undone by direct hits from Mahmood, following through, and Alex Blake from long-off.

Waqar Younis, the former Pakistan fast bowler and bowling coach, would be open to the prospect of taking on a broader coaching role with the Pakistan side if he were approached

Osman Samiuddin19-Feb-2010Waqar Younis, the former Pakistan fast bowler and bowling coach, would be open to the prospect of taking on a broader coaching role with the Pakistan side if he were approached. Waqar was bowling and fielding coach with Pakistan during the disastrous trip to Australia, but was appointed for that series only. His immediate future options are open for now, but he has said he would love to coach the senior side on a longer-term basis.Though the Pakistan board has not said so openly, it is acknowledged that they are looking for a new coach to replace Intikhab Alam. Nothing will be officially announced until the inquiry committee set up to look into the Australian tour reaches a conclusion and that has been delayed till after Pakistan returns from a short trip to Dubai, where they play England in two Twenty20s.The PCB has already contacted -and been turned down by – Greg Chappell and senior officials have said they are willing to look abroad as well as locally. The Pakistan post is not a particularly attractive one for a foreigner: an unstable administration and security concerns decree as much, so a local option may well have to be the way forward. Ijaz Ahmed is with the senior side in Dubai as a batting and fielding trainer and his name has also come up, after taking the Under-19 team to a World Cup final.”If offered I would love to take on the role of coach,” Waqar told Cricinfo. “Pakistan cricket remains my absolute passion and number one priority. I don’t want to do it on an appointment or short-term basis though. I’d like to have time to work with the boys, to really be able to plan ahead.”Waqar’s first stint as bowling coach was between March 2006 and January 2007 and though it didn’t end well, his role and contribution was widely acknowledged, especially by bowlers such as Umar Gul and Naved-ul-Hasan. “I enjoyed that stint when I was with [Bob] Woolmer, though I worked with limited resources then and in a limited role,” he said. “It would make more sense to have a broader role and greater authority if I do work with the side again.”Even as the inevitable finger-pointing and blame game swiftly followed the whitewash in Australia Waqar has remained silent, instead quietly handing in his own report of the tour to the inquiry committee. Surprisingly, he wasn’t asked to appear before it, though Intikhab, Aaqib Javed [assistant coach] and Abdur Raquib [team manager] have all been summoned by the committee.”I said what I wanted to say in the report and gave it in” Waqar said. “I just want to help make things better and not point fingers at anyone in particular. We lost the series and my report says why I think we lost. I have given some suggestions as well.”Pakistan plays best when they do with passion, like we used to when we were playing, that aggression and that Pakistani-ness. There was a lot of stuff happening off the field as well in those days, but when it came to matters on the field, we always had that hunger to just go out and play as well as we could for Pakistan.”It is believed Waqar met Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, during a short trip to Pakistan though it is unclear whether possible roles have been discussed. Butt refused to confirm whether a meeting had taken place, saying only that he “meet[s] any number of ex-Test players to take their inputs. I don’t want to comment on something that will only be decided once the committee’s work is concluded.”

The stand-in head coach also explained the thinking about omitting Jason Behrendorff

Hemant Brar27-Nov-2023Andre Borovec, Australia’s stand-in head coach, rued losing too many wickets in the first ten overs after his side’s 44-run defeat in the second T20I in Thiruvananthapuram. But at the same time, he lauded the intent shown by the batters throughout the chase.Batting first, India scored a mammoth 235 for 4. In response, Australia were on 104 after ten overs but had lost four wickets. Marcus Stoinis and Tim David kept the fight on by adding 81 off just 38 balls for the fifth wicket, but Australia eventually fell short and are now trailing 2-0 in the five-match series.”It’s just that we were behind a couple more wickets at the halfway mark there, four to one,” Borovec said. “It’s always ifs, buts and maybes, isn’t it? But we just fell behind the game a little bit. We knew we probably didn’t have the breathing space that India had going into those last ten overs.Related

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“One of the key pillars of our game is intent. And you couldn’t fault that throughout the innings. Will there be mistakes made? Of course. But if we’re making mistakes with good intent, good decisions, good plans, and if the execution doesn’t go quite right, well, we’re quite happy to accept that.”Another difference was that India scored 20 or more in an over on four occasions. Australia did so on two. Borovec acknowledged that the bowlers found it difficult to close out the over after they had conceded boundaries on the first two balls.”The first two balls in an over can be quite important in T20 cricket,” he said. “If you’re conceding boundaries on those two balls, it can be difficult to get back. You’ve got less resources at your disposal as you’ve shown a couple of deliveries… if you’ve bowled a bouncer.”What we saw tonight was that at those moments, the Indian players were getting ahead in the count and almost getting a good read on what potential ball might come down at them. I think zeroing in on those first two balls and how we can structure those better – that’s usually a good starting point.”On Sunday, Australia left out Jason Behrendorff, their best bowler in Visakhapatnam, where he picked up 1 for 25 from his four overs even as India chased down 209. It raised questions as to whether he was unfit, but Borovec clarified it was because they wanted to play two spinners keeping in mind the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be played in the West Indies and the USA where the pitches are expected to be on the slower side.”We’ve got a few things to consider that we need to see different players in different conditions and one of the considerations today was to have a look at two spinners,” he said. “We thought that was going to be a good attacking option for us, so we decided to structure our bowling around that.Australia’s seamers came in for some punishment•Associated Press

“We had a great conversation with Jase about how good his bowling was. Also, when you look back at it, it was probably one of his better bowling performances for Australia. So it was a really tough decision but one we built around the fact that these conditions, we thought, were going to help spin a little bit more than perhaps Vizag.”Given it had rained on Saturday, there wasn’t much help on offer for spinners. And despite dew starting to settle in as early as the seventh over in the first innings, Tanveer Sangha and Adam Zampa helped Australia pull things back. India had raced away to 77 for 1 in the powerplay but could add only 29 in the next five overs.”The irony was when the dew came, we had some nice overs there around about the seventh to the 11th over,” Borovec said. “It just shows that in T20 cricket sometimes things like that happen that go against the grain. We are probably a little bit disappointed with our execution in the first six. And that’s where we thought the sweet spot was for taking wickets and giving our spinners a chance to bowl at some new batters.”I was really proud of that fightback in that early middle-overs period. Then of course the dew came in and it just made it so difficult to execute, but you can’t fault the endeavour and the plans with the bowlers.”Australia are trying out one more thing in this series: Steven Smith at the top of the order. Opening the batting in the first T20I, he was on 24 off as many balls at one point before finishing on 52 off 41. Here, he scored 19 off 16. Borovec, however, was happy with Smith’s approach.”We have got a number of things we’re looking at,” he said. “We’ve got ten games to fit some of that stuff in. Not all of it is possible. One of the things we had in our planning coming into this series was to have a look at Steve up the top. And we’ve had a chance to do that now and again. We’ve been extremely happy with that intent that he’s shown with the bat.”

Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings have proved experts wrong, and 2023 season begins with new rules

Deivarayan Muthu30-Mar-20233:17

Is death bowling a concern for CSK?

Match details

Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings, Ahmedabad: 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture

Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, two teams that have specialised in proving haters – and experts – wrong, kick off the new IPL season in front of what is expected to be a capacity crowd in Ahmedabad. MS Dhoni in the bright yellow corner; Hardik Pandya, who has seemingly taken the Dhoni route to captaincy and his batting, in the navy blue one.You never know with Dhoni, but this could well be his farewell IPL season, while for Hardik, a successful title defence could potentially lead to his coronation as India’s future full-time white-ball captain. An intra-squad practice session that was thrown open to the public just an hour before the start at Chepauk is a portent of things to come at home, but Super Kings will have to deal with playing five of their first eight games away from home. They had the second-worst economy rate at the death last season with 11.29, but they didn’t quite remedy that at the auction.As for Titans, their major issue last season was the absence of a reliable anchor – they had trialled Vijay Shankar and B Sai Sudharsan in that role – but now they have brought in Kane Williamson, whose elbow is in much better shape than it was last year. Williamson’s presence could allow Hardik to float down the order as opposed to float up, something he did often last IPL. Titans’ bowling attack too ticks most boxes, with the arrivals of Shivam Mavi and Josh Little – the first Ireland player to be picked in the IPL – strengthening them even further.Related

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Team news

The Sri Lanka pair of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana will not be available for Super Kings’ first three games since they are currently participating in a six-match white-ball series in New Zealand. NZC, though, has released both Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner, who is likely to start for Super Kings not only in the absence of Theekshana, but also for the rest of the IPL. Left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary has been sidelined from the entire season with a back injury and replaced by Akash Singh.There were reports on Thursday that Dhoni could miss the IPL opener with an injury, but their CEO told ESPNcricinfo that Dhoni was fit.4:00

How crucial is Miller’s form for Gujarat Titans?

Fast bowler Sisanda Magala will also be unavailable for the early exchanges as he will be in action for South Africa against Netherlands. Similarly, Titans will miss their finisher David Miller, who will only link up with the franchise after the Netherlands ODIs end on April 2.

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Gujarat Titans
Possible bat-first XI: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Matthew Wade, 5 Hardik Pandya, (capt) 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Shivam Mavi, 9 Jayant Yadav/R Sai Kishore 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Mohammed ShamiA resoruce-maximising option for Titans is to bring in another batter, Abhinav Manohar, for instance, in place of one of the dismissed batters who is not athletic in the field. In this scenario, they can have seven bowling options, including Hardik and Tewatia, for their defence.Possible bowl-first XI: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Matthew Wade, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Shivam Mavi, 9 Jayant Yadav/R Sai Kishore 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Mohammed ShamiThis XI is no different to the bat-first XI, but in this case, Titans could use the Impact Player rule to bring in either Sai Sudharsan, if they need to stabilise the innings, or Manohar for a finishing kick, in place of Mohammed Shami.Chennai Super Kings
Possible bat-first XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Ben Stokes, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Ambati Rayudu, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 9 Mitchell Santner, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Simarjeet Singh/Tushar DeshpandeIf Santner starts for Super Kings, they will have batting depth all the way down to No. 10, as well as six bowling options, discounting Ben Stokes. Ajinkya Rahane could be a failsafe at Chepauk, but it’s hard to see him slot in as an impact player away from Chennai. Plus, the other reserve batters Shaik Rasheed and Subhranshu Senapati are yet to make their IPL debuts. Don’t be surprised if Dhoni uses no Impact Player.Simarjeet Singh is a swing bowler, whereas Rajvardhan Hangargekar can dig the ball into the pitch•BCCI

Possible bowl-first XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Ben Stokes, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Ravindra Jadeja, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Rajvardhan Hangargekar, 8 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 9 Mitchell Santner, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Simarjeet Singh/Tushar DeshpandeSuper Kings opted against rushing seam-bowling allrounder Rajvardhan Hangargekar into action last season. But following a good domestic season for Maharashtra, he could break into the starting XI if they need some hit-the-deck hustle. The 20-year-old can dig the ball into the pitch and offer something different to Super Kings’ seam attack, as both Deepak Chahar and Simarjeet Singh are both swing bowlers. When they bat, Super Kings could yank Ambati Rayudu out of the bench and use him in the middle order to counter Rashid Khan. He could potentially come in for Simarjeet as an Impact Player.

Stats that matter

• Rayudu has had the wood over Rashid, scoring 79 runs off 65 balls off him being dismissed in the IPL.
• Despite having missed the entire IPL 2022, Chahar remains the top wicket-taker in the powerplay in the past five seasons, with 42 strikes in 58 innings at an economy rate of 7.61.
• In the past year, Alzarri Joseph has conceded only 7.51 runs an over at the death in T20s. It is the second-best economy rate among right-arm seamers who have bowled at least 100 balls in that phase. Only Anrich Nortje has fared better than Joseph on this front with an economy rate of 7.39, but Nortje’s 16 wickets are two fewer than Joseph’s.

Pitch and conditions

The Motera has six red-soil pitches and five black-soil pitches. The ones used for the last IPL final and the recent T20I against New Zealand aided seamers, with dew not being much of a factor later in the evening. It rained on the eve of the IPL opener, disrupting the practice sessions of both teams, but the weather is expected to be clear for the duration of the game.