ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2016Yasir Shah removed Miguel Cummins to complete a five-wicket haul and 100 Test wickets•Getty ImagesDevendra Bishoo resisted for 41 balls and scored 17 before becoming the last man to be dismissed; West Indies were bowled out for 357•Getty ImagesShannon Gabriel removed Azhar Ali early, before Bishoo trapped Asad Shafiq lbw for his first wicket•AFPBabar Azam was troubled by a few short deliveries before he inside-edged Bishoo on to the stumps•Getty ImagesSami Aslam countered with a brisk 44, before edging a late cut off Bishoo to slip•Getty ImagesAslam’s dismissal triggered a collapse as Pakistan’s batsmen had a tough time against Bishoo•Getty ImagesBishoo cut through Pakistan with career-best figures of 8 for 49; Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 30 runs to be bowled out for 123•AFPBishoo cut through Pakistan with career-best figures of 8 for 49; Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 30 runs to be bowled out for 123•AFPMohammad Amir got rid of Kraigg Brathwaite early in West Indies’ chase of 346•Getty ImagesBut the other opener Leon Johnson kept his end going, scoring 47 before eventually falling to Amir as well•AFPDarren Bravo, with Marlon Samuels, saw West Indies to stumps without further damage, setting up an intriguing final day: West Indies needed 251 runs more, while Pakistan needed eight wickets•Getty Images

Variations in pace and a combination of a balls that spun and a few that didn’t helped New Zealand find some success on another day dominated by India

Aakash Chopra25-Sep-2016We’ve all been talking about the importance of bowling quicker on a slow Indian pitch like Kanpur. The importance of bowling quicker in the air can’t be overstated because once the pitch gets slower, it’s considerably easier for the batsman to negate deviation off the surface. So much so that even if you misread the length and go forward to a short ball or go back to the full ball, there’s time to change your shot and offer a defensive stroke. But how easy or tough is it to bowl quicker? Also, how quick must you bowl without compromising the guile in the air and accuracy on the pitch? Talking to Ashwin at the end of third day, he said while it’s critical to bowl quicker, it’s more important to know your optimum pace and how quick is not too quick for you. For Jadeja, bowling quicker isn’t an issue because his action and body are tuned to bowling at a much faster pace. That’s not the case with Sodhi or Craig and therefore their attempt to bowl quicker leads to bowling either too full or too short too often.56.1 and 56.2 – Santner v VijayWe witnessed a new tactic from Williamson on day four. He had always placed a midwicket for Mitchell Santner but on the fourth day, he chose to leave the area vacant. There’s enough turn available on the pitch to challenge the batsmen to go against spin but for this plan to work, the line must stay within the stumps. In fact, it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to pitch a little outside leg occasionally but keeping it on a good-length area – too short or too full would make it easier for the batsman to work it in that area. In the first 30 balls that Santner bowled, India’s batsmen left alone 11 deliveries, which shows that the line was a little outside off. But two balls changed it all: first ball of the 57th over pitched on the leg stump and spun viciously. Vijay defended the ball well but the doubts arose. Next ball was a little outside off but the turn off the previous ball prompted Vijay to plant the front foot slightly across. This one didn’t spin. The ball that didn’t take Vijay’s wicket was more important than the one that did, and it happens very often in Tests.Mitchell Santner executed the 1-2 to remove M Vijay•BCCI70.3 – Pujara’s dismissal On the fourth day, Sodhi went around the stumps for the first time and immediately got the scalp of Pujara. The ball pitched outside leg stump – in the footmarks of the bowlers, spun and found the outside edge of Pujara’s defensive bat. The dismissal brought to the fore another interesting aspect of modern day batting. The law states that if the ball pitches outside the leg stump, you can’t be given out irrespective of the fact if you’ve offered a shot or not. Kicking balls pitching outside leg is also a habit, which gets developed if you do it quite often. Since Pujara’s defensive shot wouldn’t have produced a run, there wasn’t any harm in just offering the pad. Incidentally, Pujara isn’t alone – no one has employed this tactic in this match thus far. In the first three and a half days, spinners from both sides have bowled a fair amount of deliveries in the rough outside the batsman’s leg stump but only three of those were offered the pad.88.4 and 88.5 – Santner to RahaneThe same sequence that happened with Vijay repeated itself but in the opposite order: straight ball followed by the one that spun. The straighter one hit the pads that led to a vociferous appeal, almost forcing Rahane to plant the leg straighter and push with hands off the following ball. Once again, the ball that led to the wicket was more important than the one that fetched the wicket. Just that it’s really difficult to stitch such deliveries together.One that didn’t spin created the doubt, one that did created the wicket•BCCIThe futility of yorkers without paceSince reverse swing has been missing, yorkers have been rare too. There’s been 93 overs from seamers in this match so far but we’ve seen only three yorkers. Wagner has bowled all three. The batsman in me was wondering the futility of such a tactic. After all, a yorker will take the pitch out of the equation completely. That’s when a chat with Zaheer cleared my doubts. He was of the opinion that unless there’s reverse swing available, most medium-pacers are likely to stay away from yorkers. Only the fast bowlers – who bowl in the high 140s – are expected to use their extra pace as a weapon in spite of the lack of swing in the air.
Verdict: For a yorker to be effective, you either need the extra pace or some lateral movement in the air.Guptill’s mental skepticismThe way a batsman approaches the innings on a turning pitch is a good indicator of his mindset. While it’s advisable to have a positive outlook, it’s imperative to give yourself some time. Guptill had played only four balls before attempting a heave off R Ashwin, a shot that suggested that he was a little too concerned about the impending turn and bounce. When you walk into bat on a rapidly deteriorating pitch, you tend to feel that it’s unlikely to get easier and therefore you try to force the pace yourself. And it happens more often on a dust bowl than on a green top, even though both pitches pose the same threat. It’s a little tough to remind yourself that it does get easier if you manage to stick around (you’d need some luck to do so) for a few overs. Since homegrown Asian batsmen don’t react in the same hasty manner, it’s fair to assume that it has something to do with the confidence you have in your own game against spinners.

Which of these lines did the India allrounder actually say? Guess and click to know the answer

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2016

Here’s how our ball-by-ball commentary recorded Zimbabwe’s slew of fielding lapses in the Harare Test

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-20161.1 Mumba to Karunaratne, no run, very full, pitches on middle, 134ks, snakes away and rears up. Karunaratne is opened up completely. He hurriedly looks to work the ball to leg, falls over, and it takes the outside edge near the shoulder of the bat, then flies over gully. Williams runs back, stretches his left hand up, well over his head, but he was on the move. Didn’t have a stable base, and the ball pops out. Mumba could have become the first Zim player to take a wicket on his first ball in Test cricket. Difficult chance for Williams, though.49.2 Masakadza to MDKJ Perera, no run, dropped by Moor. Zim aren’t hanging onto their chances. Good length and angled away outside off, Kusal was looking to biff it over mid-on with no footwork. The ball grazes the outside edge, hits the top of the keeper’s left glove, brushes the chest, and then bobbles out. Moor, standing up to the stumps, couldn’t react quickly.52.4 Williams to Silva, no run, spilled by Moor again. His second drop in four overs. Shorter skiddy ball outside off, hint of turn away from Silva. He looks to cut and there’s a thick edge. The ball bobbles out of his right glove now, the keeper is having a hard day. A bit late to react again.55.4 Masakadza to MDKJ Perera, FOUR, and Kusal goes for the big hit. This cat-and-mouse game is fun. Waller makes a mess of it at long-on. Cremer pushed him back and threw a challenge to Kusal. These missed chances will come back to bite Zim. Good length and outside off, Kusal swings across the line, and hits in the air. Waller lumbers in from the deep, seemingly bails out at the last moment? He tentatively dives forward, instead of attacking the ball, as it bursts through his hands and trickles to the straight boundary.57.6 Waller to Silva, 1 run, low full-toss on off, whipped to mid-on for a scampered single. A direct hit could have had Kusal despite that full-length dive. Another chance goes abegging. Sums up Zimbabwe’s day in the field.99.5 Cremer to de Silva, no run, short legbreak outside off, fizzes off the surface, Dhananjaya aims a cut and edges it, Moor is late to react again. The ball hits his hip and goes down. Third drop from Moor. Zim aren’t learning from their mistakes. This is the sixth chance they have fluffed in this Test.129.1 Tiripano to Tharanga, no run, dropped by big Mawoyo at short extra cover. Tiripano has his hands on his head. Nice and full on middle, Tharanga attempts a front-foot drive. But the ball stops on him and forces him to check his shot. He simply chips it in the air to short extra cover. Mawoyo dives forward, goes with both hands, but the ball bobbles out140.6 Williams to MDK Perera, 4 byes, Moor fluffs a stumping chance. It wasn’t an easy one. Dilruwan runs at Williams and yorks himself. The ball hurries off the surface, narrowly misses the off stump, and beats the keeper. Moor did not even move as the ball runs away behind him for four byes

Australia’s missing pace-bowling allrounder, and an apparent underuse of Nathan Lyon, have left Josh Hazlewood & Co doing a lion share of the work in the field

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG27-Dec-2016A century eluded Josh Hazlewood on the second day at the MCG, where he went to stumps on 99 Test wickets. But he did raise a double-hundred of a different kind: 200 overs bowled during this home Test summer. At the close of play, he was being joined by Mitchell Starc, who was midway through his 200th Test over of the season when rain forced the players off the field for the final time on a wet day.It is a milestone that in past summers might have seemed trifling. In 1978-79, when eight home Tests were scheduled and eight-ball overs were in use, Rodney Hogg and Alan Hurst each sent down the equivalent of nearly 400 six-ball overs for the summer. As recently as 2007-08, Brett Lee delivered 281.3 Test overs, Mitchell Johnson 250.1 and Stuart Clark 224.2.But bowling workloads are now monitored far more closely. And with three-and-a-bit innings left this home summer, Hazlewood and Starc can expect plenty more toil, unless the weather continues to intervene. It is precisely the kind of scenario that could renew Australia’s search for an allrounder, with Mitchell Marsh having been axed early in the summer and Hilton Cartwright made 12th man on Boxing Day.”There is, there’s no doubt about that,” Australia’s bowling coach David Saker said when asked if there were concerns about the workload of the fast men. “But we go in with four bowlers, you’re going to always overload someone if the opposition is good enough to bat for long periods of time. Also, today, because the ball was wet, at times it was hard to bowl the spinner as well. That’s another little bit of a dilemma as well.”Yes it’s a concern, but you can’t do much about it when you go in with four bowlers; someone is going to get some overload. It’s not always great, but that’s where we are in Australian cricket at the moment. We’re desperately looking for that allrounder who can bowl some overs for us.”For two years, Australia believed that Marsh was that man, but the flipside of being a fifth bowler is that you’re also the sixth batsman, and on that front Marsh has so far been a clear under-performer at Test level. In 19 Tests, Marsh has averaged 23.18 with the bat and scored just two half-centuries. Unless he could raise those numbers, his hold on the No. 6 position was always going to be precarious.Not that either of his replacements has yet added value. Callum Ferguson made 3 and 1 in the Hobart Test against South Africa before being unceremoniously dumped, and his successor, Nic Maddinson, is likewise yet to reach double figures in a Test innings. Australia’s selectors wanted to give Maddinson a decent run at the No. 6 position, but decent runs are now what Maddinson must deliver in response.”I’d like six or seven bowlers in a team if I could, but I’m just the bowling coach,” Saker joked. “My job is to try to get 20 wickets, so the more bowlers in the team, the more likely that’s going to happen. But right at the moment, the selectors have gone the way they’ve gone. It’s a good sign of faith in Maddinson, saying we’re going to give you another go.”I don’t mind that, but they have to realise, and as an Australian team we have to realise, that that sometimes overloads your strike bowlers, which could have a detrimental effect down the road. But that’s not my decision to make. They make the best decisions in the best interests of the team.”Adding to the workload of the fast men both in the second innings at the Gabba and this first innings in Melbourne has been the seeming reluctance of captain Steven Smith to use Nathan Lyon. Last summer, Lyon sent down more Test deliveries than any other Australian but so far this season he is lagging behind Hazlewood and Starc by roughly 50 overs.He has also been the most expensive of Australia’s frontline overs this summer, and, at stumps on the second day at the MCG, Lyon had bowled 17 overs for the innings and picked up 1 for 69. It was notable that, for a period shortly before lunch as the Australians waited for the new ball, part-time spinners Smith and Nic Maddinson worked in tandem.”The wet ball played a big part in it,” Saker said when asked why Lyon had bowled only six overs for the day. “He probably would have got a bit more of a go in that last session if we didn’t come off. But they’ve also played him quite well, especially their right-handers – and they’ve got mainly right-handers.”They’ve played him quite well, particularly Azhar Ali plays him extremely well. So there’s different reasons for that. Also we think on that wicket right now, our seamers look more likely to get a wicket. But again, we’d like to get more overs out of our spinners for sure.”Australia picked up 2 for 168 on the second day, with Jackson Bird adding a third victim to his tally from day one and Hazlewood claiming the other. It was reward for Hazlewood’s miserly bowling – the only boundary scored off him in this innings was an edge that should have been caught at third slip. However, Mitchell Starc has struggled for impact with the ball barely swinging.”He lacked a little bit of rhythm today, mainly because his front foot was slipping and if you bowl fast and your front foot is slipping, it’s one of the more scary things because you think you’re going to break down every ball you bowl,” Saker said. “That’s always playing a part in your mind. It’s no excuse, but that’s quite hard to deal with when your front foot is slipping.”

Riddled by injuries and poor form of key personnel, Mumbai have derived inspiration from their glorious past, new faces and picnics

Arun Venugopal in Rajkot31-Dec-2016A few days after a hard-fought quarter-final win against Hyderabad, Mumbai captain Aditya Tare’s mind went back to the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy season. Back then, Mumbai had a disastrous start to their campaign with no points from their first three games. However, under the leadership of captain Amol Muzumdar and coach Pravin Amre, they rebounded spectacularly to win five matches in a row and claim their 37th title.’Pitch similar to the one used for England Test’

BCCI’s West Zone curator Dhiraj Parsana has said the Rajkot pitch for the Mumbai-Tamil Nadu semi-final will be similar to the one used during the first Test between India and England recently. The Test match was a high-scoring affair with both teams scoring in excess of 450 in their first innings.
“There is a little bit of live grass, of about 2-3 mm. It will seam initially and have good carry for the duration of the game,” he said. “The BCCI wants the game to last five days. As the game progresses, all the three – seamers, batsmen and spinners – will be involved. We reduced the height of the grass because we don’t want excessive everything [assistance for the seamers].”
On the eve of the match, there was a fair distribution of grass along the middle of the pitch, but there was hardly any on the good-length area. Tamil Nadu captain Abhinav Mukund and coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar felt the pitch would last the distance. “It looks quite a flat wicket. I don’t think it will seam too much but I think it is a good wicket that will last five days,” Abhinav said.

One game, though, stands out in Tare’s memory:  Mumbai’s 63-run win against Baroda in the semi-finals after being reduced to 0 for 5 by Irfan Pathan in their second innings. It’s a game Tare and his team often talk about in the dressing room; to him, such matches re-inforce Mumbai’s ability to find a way to win no matter how dire the situation. Although Mumbai haven’t endured the sort of crisis Muzumdar & Co. were confronted with a decade ago, they could use the inspiration given their patchy performance this year.While it’s easy to look at the standings -Mumbai finished on top in the group stage for the second year in succession – and picture a Mumbai juggernaut, in reality they have had to scrap hard to make the semi-finals. The points chart tells you Mumbai have secured three wins – the highest in their group – but it doesn’t reveal a flimsy batting line-up that has produced an average score of 253 runs, a drop of 87 from last season’s tally. It also shows Mumbai haven’t lost a game yet, but doesn’t tell you they dropped first-innings points in two of their last three group-stage games.It isn’t as if Mumbai’s road to their 41st title last season was paved with flowers, but then they had the luxury of big batting performances and a fired-up Shardul Thakur. On neutral surfaces this year, a malfunctioning top order and a rash of injuries has meant Mumbai have often been unable to exert the dominance they are wont to. That they have used 22 players – the most for any team playing in the knockouts – and have now called-up teenager Prithvi Shaw tells the story.None of their gun batsmen, including Shreyas Iyer, whose breakout season last year produced 1321 runs, has managed to reach 600 runs this season. They have used six openers opposed to five last year, but while Akhil Herwadkar’s assurance at the top helped shore up one slot in 2015-16, his injury midway through this season meant both the positions needed to be filled. With Kaustubh Pawar and Jay Bista not making their opportunities count, the opening slots have continued to resemble revolving doors.On the bowling front, Thakur has had to do most of the heavy-lifting after Dhawal Kulkarni (19 wickets from three games) injured his knee. Thakur, though, has managed only 17 wickets from eight games, a far cry from last season’s tally of 41 scalps from 11 games. Pleasingly for Mumbai, their bowling has largely been kept afloat by a pair of 21-year-olds in their maiden first-class seasons: left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil (24 wickets) and seamer Tushar Deshpande (21 wickets) have emerged as Mumbai’s leading wicket-takers so far.An injury meant Dhawal Kulkarni has played only three matches this season•PTI Tare is chuffed about the emergence of such fresh talent, and believes there is no point complaining about the number of injuries. “The left-arm spinner’s place was here and there with Vishal [Dabholkar] being up and down. But, Vijay Gohil has been bowling well and looks a terrific find, and Tushar has been exceptional,” he tells ESPNcricinfo. “He is coming in and hitting the deck hard, and bowls with a lot of heart.”It’s just the pool of players we are fortunate to have in Mumbai and it [the injuries] creates an exposure for such bench strength. Honestly, not every season you will have purple patches for five-six batters; there are going to be seasons you will have a struggling batting or bowling unit. That’s the challenge that teams with strong characters overcome.”Allrounder Abhishek Nayar, who has been Mumbai’s ballast as the third seamer and in the lower middle order, believes Mumbai have benefited from investing in a wider squad of 30-35 players. As a result, he says, younger players coming into the team don’t feel daunted by the challenge of first-class cricket. “We try and keep everyone in the loop, so at any given point if anyone is brought in they are ready and don’t feel out of place,” he says.”I think that helps because when someone feels he is a part of the team all he has to do is come and play the same kind of cricket he’s being playing somewhere else. The big problem is when he has to come in and try and fit in. But, most guys who enter our team are pretty comfortable, and they feel like they are playing for their club or company.”Central to creating such an environment is to ensure the players are in a happy space off the field. Bonding sessions, therefore, are a constant throughout the season regardless of the team’s on-field performances. After the last league game against Punjab where Mumbai were made to follow-on, about 20-22 players, who have been part of the team this season, took off to Lonavala for a picnic. Then, ahead of their semi-final against Tamil Nadu, the team got together to watch the latest Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal.”I feel it is important we spend more time off the field to get to know each other,” Tare says. “When you are good friends off the field, the camaraderie shows on the field as well. Nayar is the captain of team activities and entertainment. He always comes up with new things to get the team going. Even the coach (Chandrakant Pandit) gives a lot of freedom to do our off-field stuff.”The atmosphere in the team is quite chilled out. Everyone sort of opens up and enjoys these sessions. That eases the atmosphere.”But, things aren’t always this gooey. Nayar says the team is always open to criticism and doesn’t hold back on frank talk. “The team-talk sometimes becomes a little harsh, but we understand the pressure that comes with playing for Mumbai,” he says. “I think everyone reacts pretty well [to such harsh talk]. Everyone has enormous respect for the coach, senior players and Adu [Tare].Shardul Thakur has also not fired this season the way he did in 2015-16•PTI “We know what expectations we have from ourselves. Sometimes when it doesn’t go well, we understand everybody is under a lot of pressure – the coach and everybody else – so we are okay with getting a firing from our coaches.”Both Nayar and Tare, however, are aware that the onus is on the seniors to deflect pressure off the younger players. “We don’t expect a Tushar to bowl a match-winning five or seven-wicket haul spell, but we hope he does,” Nayar says. “But, we also understand that it means Shardul or me or whoever has the experience has to step up their game a bit and cover up for others. All 11 players will not click at once, but it’s about those four-five players who do it well so that the team is out of trouble.”Someone like Adu and me have a good heart-to-heart discussion after most games and talk about what went wrong or what can be done going forward. We don’t wait for things to happen. The fact that we are winning is because we understand we aren’t playing our best cricket, so to win games we have to put in a lot of effort.”So how do Mumbai gear up for a marquee last-four clash? “I don’t think we need to keep the semi-final tag in mind,” Tare says. “It’s important we don’t put too much pressure on ourselves first and also on the youngsters.” What Tare wants to remember, however, is Mumbai’s glorious history over the years, not least his team’s thrilling wins over Tamil Nadu in Lahli and Mumbai in the last two seasons.”It’s such a great contest between two powerhouses of Indian cricket, so naturally the intensity of the game is going to be up there,” he says. “Sometimes it is required that we draw inspiration from our earlier games against a particular team.”If you have a great history, you are always inspired by it. Every now and then, there is talk about how we have won from difficult situations or how our previous captains and coaches have inspired. These things remind us that we were in such tough situations where any other team would have given up and lost, but Mumbai never give up and always fight.”

Twitter reactions to Nathan Lyon’s record-breaking performance in Bengaluru

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2017

What a performance from @NathLyon421 8-50… class, class, class and one of the great guys of our sport.

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) March 4, 2017

Awesome by Australia to bowl India out for 189-Lyon just brilliant.
Very much Advantage Australia! Big total coming up!#INDvAUS

— Jason Gillespie (@dizzy259) March 4, 2017

Massive congratulations @NathLyon421 you beauty!!! One of the great blokes and very deserving #IndvAus @CricketAus

— Chris Rogers (@BuckRogers55) March 4, 2017

Yes @NathLyon421

— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) March 4, 2017

Fantastic day Australia! Well done @NathLyon421, the #cmonaussie

— Ryan Harris (@r_harris413) March 4, 2017

Niiice Gary, yes! @NathLyon421#AUSvIND

— Peter Siddle (@petersiddle403) March 4, 2017

The Goat @NathLyon421 great bowling Gaz/Gary #AUSvIND #NiceGary

— Fawad Ahmed (@bachaji23) March 4, 2017

Hoping our bowlers 2 create th same magic tom.Nathan Lyon bowled like a real lion @ banglore on 1st day of test cricket respect #IndvAus

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) March 4, 2017

Cricket historian and current member of the Committee of Administrators running the BCCI Ramachandra Guha was also hugely impressed with Lyon.

Nathan Lyon gave a master class in classical off spin bowling at the KSCA today. I hope the great Erapalli Prasanna was at the stadium too.

— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) March 4, 2017

Several chances have been spilled in the field by Bangladesh on the New Zealand tour, especially in the slip cordon, compounding their batting and bowling woes

Mohammad Isam at Hagley Oval23-Jan-2017Mashrafe Mortaza had sounded an early warning when he talked about the body-language problem with Bangladesh’s fielders during the first ODI of this tour in Christchurch. Seeing how they have dropped catches so regularly through the rest of the tour, though, that warning seems to have gone unheeded.The 20 dropped catches on tour have affected Bangladesh adversely both in that particular moment and over the larger passage of play. This sloppiness in the field has compounded their woes, which have included batting collapses, the lack of big runs from senior batsmen and the inexperience of the Test pace attack.Mashrafe had tagged Bangladesh’s fielders “lethargic” after the ODI in Christchurch, where they allowed 27 twos and 111 singles. Back at the same venue for the second Test, their last game on tour, Bangladesh dropped seven genuine chances.In the fourth over of New Zealand’s first innings, Mahmudullah didn’t stay down for long enough when a Jeet Raval catch came his way at second slip off Mehedi Hasan. A little while later, his dive to his left at square leg couldn’t intercept a Ross Taylor flick. In between, Sabbir Rahman dropped a sitter at second slip offering Raval another life. Later Kamrul Islam Rabbi dropped Taylor at deep midwicket, and then Mehedi Hasan put Southee down at second slip. Nazmul Hossain Shanto also dropped a straightforward chance at gully; he had already shown poor technique at silly mid-off when Henry Nicholls had struck him on the body twice in the 44th over. Both would count as chances – albeit very tough ones – as it hit him on the full, but the bigger point was why was Nazmul ducking into the ball instead of jumping over it, as close-in fielding technique would demand in such cases.What was also confusing was the choice of slip cordon, where most of their catches have gone down. Mehedi Hasan continued to be there despite dropping two in Wellington Test as well. Sabbir dropped a catch in the first Test at third slip too, but continued in the same position in Christchurch where he dropped that sitter off Taskin Ahmed.Slip catching is considered a specialist’s job and Bangladesh haven’t really found their specialists. The reason for posting Sabbir and Mehedi Hasan in the slips was the absence of the injured Imrul Kayes, a recent regular in the spot. But he too had dropped one, that too one of the easiest chances on the tour, when Neil Broom had edged-behind in the third ODI in Nelson.That is not to say that catches have not been dropped elsewhere during both the ODIs and Tests. Some of these catches going down could be explained as a matter of pure luck – as Tamim Iqbal said after the loss in Christchurch, “it just happens”.* But several of these missed opportunities have translated into New Zealand batsmen going on to make a big score.Clearly, given the despair the matter has caused to some of the bowlers, it has been discussed in team meetings, and efforts must be underway to eliminate the problem. Tamim agreed that specialists need to be found. “We can definitely work on our catching, especially in our slip cordon. We will have more chances going to slips now that we will play more overseas. We have to look for specialists in that position.”The home side dropped catches too, and the issue has been brought up with their players in media conferences. Bangladesh’s extensive catalogue of problems on tour, though, has meant that their dropped catches have not really been questioned much. When he was asked about it, Tamim said the team just could not afford to fluff chances in conditions overseas. “We can somehow manage this thing at home. Conditions are such that chances are created quite regularly,” he said. “Here they [New Zealand] can drop five catches but we cannot afford to.”It takes a lot of effort for our bowlers to create one chance. I think our pace bowlers did very well here. But these things make a difference. It would have been so much better had we taken even 70% of the catches.”The easiest way to react to drops is to blame the fielder first, and then the fielding coach. But that is too simplistic a view. Fielding is about involvement and enjoyment out in the middle. If that’s missing when Bangladesh goes out to field, it might suggest deeper issues to look into. The faster the problem is pinpointed and sorted out, the better it will be for the team.*10.15 GMT, January 23: Tamim Iqbal’s quotes were added to this article at the end of day four of the Christchurch Test.

A second title in a row proved beyond Sunrisers Hyderabad but, with a well-assembled squad, missing only an elite lower-order hitter, they ended their season with far more positives than negatives

Karthik Krishnaswamy18-May-20174:33

Agarkar: Relying too much on Warner hurt Sunrisers

Where they finished

Lost the Eliminator to Kolkata Knight Riders after finishing third in the league stage.

The good

Sunrisers won the 2016 IPL title primarily on the back of their bowlers; Mustafizur Rahman, in particular. He only played one match this season, but they hardly missed him, as Rashid Khan took over the role of the go-to overseas bowler, undoing the opposition frequently with deadly variations. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who won the Purple Cap last season, has an excellent chance of doing so again – he ended his tournament with 26 wickets – and, at the time of writing, his nearest active challenger, Jaydev Unadkat, has 22.While Sunrisers’ batting was exaggeratedly top-heavy in 2016, responsibilities were distributed far better this season, with Kane Williamson (256 runs at a strike rate of 151.47), Yuvraj Singh (252 runs at 142.37) and Moises Henriques (277 at 136.45) complementing the efforts of David Warner (641 at 141.81) and Shikhar Dhawan (479 at 127.39).Warner, as always, was phenomenal, scoring four fifties and a brutal 59-ball 126 against Kolkata Knight Riders, and ended the tournament with a 155-run gap from his nearest rival, Gautam Gambhir, in the race to the Orange Cap.

The bad

Having begun the tournament as its best-performing bowling team by some distance, they ended up looking over-reliant on Bhuvneshwar and Rashid through its second half. Siddarth Kaul and Mohammed Siraj showed flashes of potential, but couldn’t entirely make up for Ashish Nehra missing large chunks of the tournament due to injury. The biggest disappointment, though, was Henriques. Last season, he had struggled with the bat while proving to be a valuable bowling asset – he took 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.98. This season, he flipped that performance around, excelling with the bat while only taking one wicket in 12 matches and conceding 10.33 runs per over.

The missing ingredient

• Sunrisers’ Powerplay run rate, 7.73, was the second-lowest in the league, above only Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 6.53. This wasn’t so much owing to a lack of form or hitting ability in Sunrisers’ top order, as it was due to an unusually cautious approach: Sunrisers only lost 11 wickets in 14 Powerplays – the least among all teams.
• It is quite possible that they adopted this approach due to a lack of faith in the lower-middle order. The numbers seem to bear this out: Sunrisers’ top five had, by far, the best average, 42.32, in the tournament, with Knight Riders a distant second with 34.96. But Sunrisers’ strike rate, 139.39, was only the fifth-best.
• As a result, Sunrisers’ Nos. 6 and 7, only faced 88 balls in the tournament. By contrast, the batsmen occupying those positions for Knight Riders, who faced the second-fewest balls among all the teams, faced nearly twice as many balls – 170. Naman Ojha, Sunrisers’ wicketkeeper, only batted five times in 14 matches.
• Sunrisers may have structured their innings differently had they possessed a proper lower-order hitter – ideally an Indian batsman – since the presence of so many other quality overseas players had already restricted Ben Cutting to playing only four matches.
• Being able to take more risks during the Powerplay may have swung a couple of tight matches Sunrisers’ way. This is lent some credence by their performance in their away game against Rising Pune – Warner and Dhawan made 73 off 69 between them, and Sunrisers only lost three wickets while scoring 176. Pune chased it down in an MS Dhoni-inspired last-ball finish.

Out of their control

The rain in Bengaluru, twice. The first time, it washed out their match against a Royal Challengers Bangalore team low on form and morale. It was a contest they may have expected to win but, due to the one-point sharing rule, they eventually finished a point behind second-placed Rising Pune Supergiant in the league stage, despite boasting a better net run rate.The second time rain hit the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, it arrived halfway through their Eliminator on Wednesday. They had only made 128, but conditions were challenging to bat in. Their bowling attack could have made a decent fist of defending 128 in 20 overs; instead, they had to defend 47 in six. With early strikes, they still managed to cause some flutters in the Knight Riders camp, reducing them to three down in 1.1 overs.

Twenty20 Vision brings you the chat that matters from the NatWest Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2017Do the big fellas still have the appetite?
Three Finals Days in four years is a remarkable achievement for Northants, who have put Big Fellas at the centre of English T20. We fanbcy another one. Tuck into a burger and chips and watch them biff it out of the park.

Will specialist coaches come of age?
Two counties have taken advantage of the fact that the NatWest Blast is in a block by employing specialist coaches with bags of IPL street-cred. John Wright seems to have his work cut out at Derbyshire, but Dan Vettori might be just the man to inspire Middlesex to glory.

What will become of KP?
He will be a little late on parade admittedly, but as we first told you, KP will be treading the boards again for Surrey. Is he still awash with gold dust or has he sprinkled it by now on a series of outside interests and social gatherings with Piers Morgan?

Will the Blast hit a million spectators?Advance sales are up yet again for the competition that one suspects some in the ECB heirachy would rather kept a sense of modesty as they concentrate on a new think-out-of-the-box eight-team marketing extravaganza in 2020. Sod’s Law will probably mean that it packs in the crowds like never before.

Will Middlesex really win it?Yes, we think they will. Remember where you read it first