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The ACB said Younis will join the team in Pakistan for a conditioning camp ahead of the Champions Trophy, and stay on for the duration of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2025Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan will return to the Afghanistan set-up as mentor for the Champions Trophy 2025. Younis had worked with Afghanistan in 2022, at a 15-day training camp in Abu Dhabi with an expanded squad of 25.The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement that Younis will join the team in Pakistan for a conditioning camp ahead of the Champions Trophy, which is set to begin on February 19 in Karachi, and stay with the team till the end of the tournament.This is the third global tournament in a row where the ACB has appointed a mentor for the team from the host country: they had Ajay Jadeja as mentor for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, and Dwayne Bravo as bowling consultant for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA. In the first of those, they finished sixth – with wins against England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and a near-upset of Australia – to seal automatic qualification for the Champions Trophy. In the T20 World Cup, they made it all the way to the semi-finals for their best-ever showing in a global tournament.ACB chief executive Naseeb Khan said of Younis’ appointment: “Since the Champions Trophy is being held in Pakistan, it was required to assign a talented and experienced player as mentor from the hosting country. We already had efficient experience with hosting countries’ mentors in ODI World Cup 2023 and T20I World Cup 2024.”Observing the conditions, therefore, we have appointed Younis Khan as mentor for our national team for the upcoming mega event and wish him best of the luck in his crucial assignment.”Afghanistan are in Group B at the Champions Trophy, with Australia, England and South Africa. The tournament is set to be primarily played in Pakistan, with only games involving India to be held in Dubai.Younis, who retired from international cricket in 2017 with the experience of 118 Tests, 265 ODIs and 25 T20Is to his name, took to coaching thereafter and was involved with the Pakistan senior men’s set-up as batting coach in 2021, albeit briefly due to differences with the PCB.

“Realistically, we’re in bit of trouble, for sure,” says head coach after heavy defeat to Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2023Permutations, combinations and mathematical equations aside, England are all but resigned to the fact that their World Cup defence is over.Their eight-wicket drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka left them with more questions than answers, which does not auger well for a quest to win the next four remaining matches, which is the bare minimum required with other results also needing to go their way, if England are to progress.Matthew Mott, England’s head coach, was realistic about their chances of squeezing into the knockouts immediately after the defeat in Bengaluru which left them with just one win from five games at the tournament so far.”Mathematically, we’d have to have a lot of things go our way,” Mott told Sky Sports. “As I said leading up today, we could control it from there, but it certainly hasn’t done our net run-rate any help at all and, depending on others… we’ll keep fronting, we’ll keep treating each game in isolation and try and salvage some really good stuff out the back end of this. But realistically, we’re in bit of trouble, for sure.”Related

• England's woes weigh heavy on Jos Buttler, the captain

• England's title defence suffers another crushing blow as Sri Lanka coast to victory

• Are defending champions England out of the World Cup?

England were bowled out for a paltry 156 with Ben Stokes their highest scorer, reaching 43 before he became one of Lahiru Kumara’s 3 for 35 as England slumped to their fifth straight loss to Sri Lanka at ODI World Cups. In a match lasting just 59 overs all up, Sri Lanka were 23 for 2 in the sixth over of their reply but an unbroken stand worth 137 between Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama saw them past their target with 24.2 overs to spare.”Coming into this match we knew it was do or die,” Mott said. “I thought we started really well with the bat and were looking quite positive, but we kept losing wickets in succession and we were at least 100 to 120 short of what would have been a good score on that wicket.”In terms of working out what had gone wrong, Mott said he and captain Jos Buttler were still scratching their heads after also losing to New Zealand, Afghanistan and South Africa.”I don’t know,” Mott said. “I just had a quick chat with Jos then. It’s really hard to explain. I think we had a good series leading in against New Zealand. We came over here full of confidence with I think world-class players who have won a lot of World Cups and for whatever reason, we seem to have a few players out of form at the wrong time, and it’s hurt us dearly.”It’s going to be a very sombre dressing-room tonight. We came here full of hope and hoping to turn things around and we were well off the mark and it’s going to be a real test of character to get through the next few weeks and make sure that we can salvage something out of this campaign.”England made three changes to their starting XI for a second match in a row, bringing in Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes for Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson and Reece Topley, the latter having returned home after fracturing a finger in the loss to South Africa. But Mott said selections were the least of England’s woes.”We always reserve the right to pick players for different conditions,” he said. “We admitted last time we probably got the balance wrong and so therefore we went back to the same balance that we’ve had before and look, when you when you lose by that margin, I don’t think it’s about a couple of small selections here and there.”I think it’s a collective and we’ve all got to take responsibility for the sub-par effort in this campaign, and everyone’s going to come from the hills to dissect what we’ve done wrong but we’ll make sure we find some positives, we learn from it – I think we can, I think we can we can get better in everything that we do, whether it is selection, whether it is the way we prepare, and make sure that this is not wasted, because it’s going to hurt a lot.”Buttler cut a dejected figure at the post-match presentations and his reflections on the side’s performance aligned with those of the coach, including on team selections.”Selection is obviously it’s something you want to be consistent with, build that sort of trust and longevity, but selection isn’t our problem at the moment,” Buttler said. “The performances as individuals and as a team, whoever’s been on the field so far in this tournament, has been short of the standards we set ourselves.”It’s incredibly tough, an incredibly disappointing tournament. Not just short of our best, but a very long way. So as captain, you feel that a lot and I’m disappointed for myself and all the boys that we’ve not showed a good account of ourselves.”There is no clear answer at the moment. If there was one golden nugget that we were obviously not doing, we’d try and pick that up, but I can’t fault the guys’ efforts, we’re just playing a long way short of our best and it starts from the front. As captain you want to lead from the front and play well and the guys tuck in behind you and I’ve been a long way short of my best and [that’s] now filtered through the rest.”Buttler added that playing for “personal pride” would be the aim going forward.”You don’t become a bad player overnight, you don’t become a bad team overnight and I think that’s probably the biggest frustration. We’ve been so far short of the standards that we set ourselves and for no particular obvious reason,” he said. “I know you probably think there must be something, ‘what is it?’ But I can’t put my finger on it at the moment.”Whatever happens going forward in this tournament, the rest of the matches, we want to get back to playing some really good cricket and what will be will be.”

Foakes fails to recover after positive Covid test, Overton omitted despite debut 97

Vithushan Ehantharajah30-Jun-2022Sam Billings will make his third Test appearance against India on Friday after Ben Foakes was ruled out after having failed to recover from Covid-19. Billings is one of two changes as James Anderson returns after missing the final Test against New Zealand, regaining his spot from his replacement, Jamie Overton.Foakes had to be pulled out on the fourth morning of the previous Test at Headingley after returning a positive test, having complained of back trouble on day three. Kent captain Billings made the late journey up to Leeds on the third evening, arriving at the team hotel at 2am. He became England’s first Covid substitute a matter of hours later, taking a catch off Jack Leach between his knees as England won by seven wickets to seal a 3-0 series win.Billings was subsequently added to the squad for this fifth Test of this 2021 series at Edgbaston, primarily as cover to give Foakes every opportunity to play. Despite training on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Surrey wicketkeeper was unable to prove his fitness.”Unfortunately Foakesy has not recovered as well as we’d have liked to,” Stokes said. “Sam is going to stay in the team and be our keeper.”He [Foakes] just hasn’t really recovered from last week. He doesn’t feel like he could give the best account of himself this week, so we took the decision out of his hands and said, ‘get yourself better’.”It was Bairstow who initially covered for Foakes when he was unable to take the field on day three at Headingley. Stokes, however, said there was no thought given to doing so again.Much has been made of Bairstow’s affinity for the gloves, particularly given that all but one of his six Test centuries scored before the start of 2022 had come as the designated wicketkeeper. Since then, however, he has re-established himself as an engine-room destroyer, with four centuries and 774 runs already this year, at an average of 64.50.Under Brendon McCullum and Stokes, Bairstow has become a totem of their selfless, attacking cricket, and both are keen to keep it that way, with Stokes reiterating Foakes’ position as the first-choice keeper.”At the moment Jonny is in the form of his life. He’s our best middle-order batsman at the moment. Ben Foakes is our keeper going forward and we just want Jonny to concentrate on batting. Because however he is thinking about it at the moment is working, we just want Jonny to keep doing what he is doing with the bat.”The return of Anderson was expected, especially as he said on Wednesday that he could have played the last New Zealand Test had the series still been at stake. Perhaps Overton might count himself unlucky to be the man to make way, however. He bowled quickly and relatively well, but excelled with the bat, striking a remarkable 97 as part of 241-run stand with Bairstow, rescuing England from a precarious 55 for six.”That’s how sport at the top level can work sometimes,” Stokes said. “Obviously Jimmy didn’t feel he recovered as well as we would have liked to last week. So Jamie got his opportunity to show what you can do in a cricket field. He gave the best account possible of himself. And, he’s obviously someone that we see has a bright and long future for him going forward.”So yeah, it obviously must be very disappointing for him, but he can walk away knowing that he’s done everything that he possibly could have done last week to really put his name forward to have a look a good career for England.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

With the Edgbaston Test against India set to complete the five-match series that had to be postponed in 2021 due to a Covid outbreak, England have effectively made seven changes to the team that trails 2-1 in the series after last year’s Oval Test. Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed have since been replaced at the top of the order by Zak Crawley and Alex Lees, with Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson the other absentees.Stokes himself was one of the players who sat out last year’s matches, after taking a mental-health break from the game while recuperating from a badly broken finger. And while he said he had not watched much of the action last time around, he was under no doubt about the threat that India would pose, having also effectively switched captains mid-series, with Virat Kohli stepping down from the role.”We just beat the best team in the world 3-0,” Stokes said, referencing New Zealand’s status as World Test Champions. “India are obviously a completely different opposition, a different dynamic of team, but we are concentrating on ourselves. We understand what we do well, but we have also take into account who we’re playing against. Just because the opposition changes doesn’t mean that we’re going to change.”We still obviously know we need to win this Test to draw the series from a year ago. But as I said last week, at the moment this is bigger than results, bigger then what happens out on the field. There’s more to it than that. We obviously want to win every game that we play, but it’s bigger than that.”Asked if England had it in them to get even more attacking in their approach, after three dynamic displays against New Zealand, Stokes replied: “If there’s a team that can, it’s us.”Crawley is the one regular selection in England’s ranks who hasn’t produced a significant contribution to their run of three wins in a row. But Stokes was adamant that he would receive all the support he needs to rediscover his most imposing form, despite a top score of 43 in six innings.”Before we’d even played a Test match, the squad was picked on the basis that every player in every position is the best player in England to carry us forward in the way that we want to,” Stokes said. “This team, and this squad, is going to be given a lot of time to perform. Zak Crawley is still in my plans, and Brendon’s plans going forward, to make this Test team great again.”

The tournament will be played behind closed doors “to begin with”, and all games will be at neutral venues

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Mar-2021IPL 2021 will be played entirely in India, starting on April 9, with the final set for May 30. The tournament will be played across six cities: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.Chennai will host the tournament opener, in which defending champions Mumbai Indians will face Royal Challengers Bangalore. The playoffs and the final will be held at the Motera in Ahmedabad.In a significant change from previous IPLs played in India, the organisers have decided to conduct all games at neutral venues. The league phase will be played behind closed doors “to begin with”, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media release on Sunday. A final call on if and when spectators will be allowed, Shah said, will be taken at a “later stage” of the tournament.ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI is utilising the IPL, a multi-team event, as a dry run for the men’s T20 World Cup, which is slated to be held in India in October-November this year, and thus wants to ensure all precautions are in place accordingly.Eleven double-headers, less travel

This season, the afternoon games – there are 11 double-headers lined up – will begin at 3.30pm IST, while the evening games start at 7.30pm, both 30 minutes earlier than usual start time for IPL games played in India.Each franchise will play at four out of the six venues during the league phase, which includes 56 games. Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata will host 10 games each, while Delhi and Ahmedabad will host eight each. The first 36 league matches will be split across Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Delhi, while the next 20 will be played in Bengaluru and Kolkata in May – this is because elections in West Bengal will be held late March to late April, while, in Bengaluru, it is understood that the floodlights at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium are being replaced.”The fixtures of the tournament have been mapped in a way that every team will travel only three times during the league stage, thus reducing commute and minimising risk,” Shah said.Venues – the key reason for the delay in announcing the schedule

Immediately after successfully hosting IPL 2020 in the UAE, the BCCI had said it would be hosting the 2021 edition in India subject to the state of the pandemic. The UAE remained a back-up, but having conducted the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in India in January, the BCCI was confident of playing the IPL in the country.However, the franchises were concerned as the IPL had not disclosed the final venues with roughly a month to go for the tournament. The reason behind the franchises’ concerns was they had to book hotels, secure visas for overseas players, figure out logistics, all within the framework of the Standard Operations Procedures required to maintain the tournament’s biosecure bubble.With Covid-19 infections on the rise in several places in India, both the franchises as well as the IPL were sceptical about going with the usual routine of eight venues. As per the original plan, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad were meant to host the entire tournament. However, the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, the most severely affected state in India, forced the IPL to rethink. Then, in the second plan, Mumbai was set to be left out as a venue.This week the IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel and the IPL chief operating officer Hemang Amin met former BCCI president Sharad Pawar, who is head of the Nationalist Congress Party that shares power in Maharashtra government.The meeting, which was also attended by representatives of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, was called to get the nod from the Maharashtra government for the IPL to run in the state, which has imposed a cap on gatherings even for outdoor sport. The IPL wanted Pawar to allow Mumbai to host, and also to discuss the whether the grounds could be filled to a certain capacity.Why no crowds?

The BCCI wanted to play it safe. This, despite the fact that it had opened the final three Tests of the four-match series against England to 50% capacity. The key reason behind this decision was that the IPL is an eight-team event, as opposed to a bilateral series where two teams can be more easily managed in a biosecure environment.Also, with many of the IPL venues listed, crowds can be in the vicinity of the dressing room and there is always a danger of safety protocols being breached, which could endanger the entire bubble.There is also the upcoming T20 World Cup, which the BCCI will be hosting, to keep in mind. The abrupt suspension of the Pakistan Super League due to Covid-19 cases within the bubble will offer “learnings”, ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney had said, as the global governing body readies for the World Cup that will feature 16 teams. The final schedule for that tournament, including the venues, could be shaped by how the IPL goes.Chennai Super Kings’ full schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s full schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rajasthan Royals’ full schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Kolkata Knight Riders’ full schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Punjab Kings’ full schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s full schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mumbai Indians’ full schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Delhi Capitals’ full schedule•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

One year out from the T20 World Cup at home, Australia seem like they have the building blocks of a strong team

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Oct-2019

Big Picture

An upbeat Sri Lanka went to Australia threatening to continue their outstanding Pakistan form, but like a skyrocket that veers off and flies through the neighbour’s open window, they only managed to wreak the most alarming – though spectacular – type of damage. It is difficult to imagine how the Adelaide match could have gone any worse. Kasun Rajitha’s record 0 for 75 made headlines, but the spinners also went at more than 10 an over, and Lasith Malinga went wicketless. On the batting front, no one made 20. Sri Lanka have had some limp limited-overs performances in the past two years, but this was among the very worst.ALSO READ – Maxwell interview: ‘You can’t play cricket bitter, you stop concentrating’
Australia don’t exactly have the record of an ace T20 side, having won only two of their seven most-recent series, but may have reason to consider themselves one of the best outfits in the world, with the return of David Warner and Steve Smith. Plenty is known about the explosive top three – Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell rounding it out – but there is a cohesive attack there too. On Sunday, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins essentially ended what slim chances Sri Lanka had of chasing down a gargantuan target, by blasting out the top three inside four overs. Sri Lanka could then barely get the Australian spinners off the square, and surrendered a clump of wickets to the wristspinner Adam Zampa, as they often do.One year out from the T20 World Cup at home, Australia seem like they have the building blocks of a strong team at their disposal. When they arrived in Australia, Sri Lanka thought they had building blocks too. They have the galling challenge of winning in Brisbane if they are to avoid not only a series loss, but also talk of the Pakistan series having been a false dawn.ALSO READ – Starc to miss second T20I against Sri Lanka

Form guide

Australia WWWLW (completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LWWWW

In the spotlight

There seems to be no team Glenn Maxwell enjoys playing more. He walloped 62 at a strike rate of 221 on Sunday, but going by his overall record against Sri Lanka, he might have actually underperformed. In four innings against them, he averages an astounding 140.5 (there are two not outs in there), with a strike rate 225. Particularly on tracks that do not offer drastic turn, Maxwell appears to have a psychological hold over the Sri Lanka attack – their bowlers seemingly incapable of out-manoeuvring or out-thinking him. More than a fifth of Maxwell’s career boundaries have come against Sri Lanka.Glenn Maxwell brought out all the shots•AFP

Sri Lanka made a litany of mistakes in the first match, but the first might have been to put Australia in to bat on what seemed an excellent batting surface. The decision seems especially strange when you account for Sri Lanka’s four previous T20s, which they had won batting first. Captain Lasith Malinga, who finds himself in the odd position of having to reimpose his leadership after the team did well without him in Pakistan. A victory at the Gabba could ease the pressure on him a little.

Team news

Mitchell Starc will miss the second T20 to attend his high-jump champion brother’s wedding. Billy Stanlake will likely play in his stead.Australia (possible): 1 David Warne, 2 Aaron Finch (capt.), 3 Glenn Maxwell, 4 Steve Smith, 5 Ashton Turner, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Kane Richardson, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Billy StanlakeSri Lanka will likely leave Rajitha out and get Isuru Udana into the XI. They may also consider dropping the out-of-form Kusal Perera for Niroshan Dickwella.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Kusal Mendis, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Oshada Fernando, 5 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Lakshan Sandakan, 10 Lasith Malinga (capt.), 11 Nuwan Pradeep

Pitch and conditions

There is no rain expected, but cloud cover is forecast, which could aid swing with the new ball. Otherwise, expect your standard fast, bouncy Gabba surface.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have lost seven out of the eight-most recent T20s that Malinga has captained. Their only victory came against New Zealand, when Malinga took four wickets in four balls.
  
• Maxwell’s three most-recent T20I scores are 62 off 28, 113* off 55, and 56 off 43. The 113 and 56 had come in February, in India.
  
• Sri Lanka have won each of their three previous T20 series in Australia.

Birmingham allrounder Alex Thomson took four wickets on debut but he was unable to stop Lancashire strengthening their top-four grip

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2018
ScorecardExciting young legspinner Matt Parkinson claimed 3 for 23 as Lancashire beat Birmingham Bears by 37 runs to make it back-to-back Vitality Blast wins and strengthen their grip on a quarter-final place.The Lightning comfortably defended their total of 185 for 5, given to them by Karl Brown’s half-century and late-order firepower from Jordan Clark.Another victory only 24 hours after their Roses triumph at Headingley kept Lancashire third in the North Group table while Birmingham’s knockout hopes suffered a blow as they slipped to sixth.Jim Troughton, Birmingham’s coach, too solace in the debut of offspinning allrounder Alex Thomson, who took a wicket in each of his four overs to finish with 4 for 35Troughton said: “We knew what we would come up against, stack their team with spinners on a used wicket. So we had a personnel change and special mention to Alex for his four-fer on debut. Alex is an impressive young man, he’s worked very hard over the winter. He turns the ball and can get bounce.”Getting a first crack on that wicket was probably important to get. I think the big difference was boundary count between the two teams. They hit eight sixes and we only hit one. The spell from Parkinson pretty much killed us – getting three quick wickets there and ripping the middle order out.”Lancashire won the toss and chose to bat, but Birmingham made a strong start in restricting the opening pair in the Powerplay and the first five overs were all bowled by spin.Thomson certainly didn’t disappoint. He struck in his first over to remove Lancashire’s in-form opener Alex Davies for 17. In fact, Thomson took a wicket in each of his four overs to finish with fantastic debut figures of 4 for 35Lancashire’s standout performer was once again opener Brown. 24 hours on from his match-winning half-century against Yorkshire, he delivered another scintillating fifty having been given a life on 32 when Josh Poysden couldn’t hold a caught and bowled chance. The fifty from just 32 balls including three 4s and three 6s.Brown shared a half-century stand with Dane Vilas to take Lancashire to a solid position of 82 for 2 at halfway. But Brown, like Vilas and Arron Lilley, was a victim of Thomson as the Lightning stuttered to 134-4 with five overs remaining.Their late-order acceleration from Clark and James Faulkner, who came together after Steven Croft holed out in the deep, was pivotal for the hosts.Clark blasted 41 from 25 balls and together they put on 45 in 23 balls as the Lightning took 51 from the final five overs of the innings to kick their total to 185 for 5.Lancashire got their defence of to a great start, claiming three wickets inside the Powerplay. James Faulkner got the crucial wicket of the Vitality Blast’s top run-scorer Ian Bell in the second over, bowling him for two.Aaron Thomason and Ed Pollock also departed inside the first five overs, bowled by Steven Croft and run out by Alex Davies respectively. That left the Bears 26 for 3 and struggling in pursuit of Lancashire’s total.Hope was given to them by a nice innings from Sam Hain. He raced to 34 from 22 balls with a lovely array of strokes and good running in partnership with Adam Hose.But his dismissal triggered the beginning of the end for Birmingham as Parkinson all-but sealed the win for Lancashire with three wickets in four balls.Hain was stumped by a smart bit of work by Dane Vilas and Colin de Grandhomme was bowled next ball. Parkinson had his hattrick attempt at the start of the next over and was denied one as his lbw appeal against Grant Elliot was turned down.But the New Zealand international was stumped with the next delivery as Birmingham slipped to 75-6 in the 12th over, still needing another 111 to win.They never looked likely to get there, despite Adam Hose’s 45 from 39, ultimately being bowled out for 149.Lancashire face a trip to Durham then face Birmingham again at Edgbaston, before which the Bears take on Worcestershire.

Conor McKerr became the youngest Derbyshire player to take 10 wickets in the match, but it was all futile as they collapsed to defeat against Northants

ECB Reporters Network11-Jun-2017
ScorecardBen Sanderson spearheaded Northants’ victory•Getty Images

Ben Sanderson took four second-innings wickets to push Northamptonshire back into contention for promotion from Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship with a 128-run win over Derbyshire at Wantage Road.Sanderson’s 4 for 31 on day three followed up 5 for 52 in the first innings and saw Northants comfortably defend 319 for a fourth win in six matches this season.It looked like Derbyshire were rolling over, having slipped to 58 for 6 shortly after lunch but Tom Taylor made a bright half-century in a stand of 106 with Daryn Smit that avoided humiliation. It merely delayed Northants’ victory until after tea, with Derbyshire eventually bowled out for 191.

Reece discharged after heart scare

Derbyshire batsman Luis Reece was unable to bat having been taken to hospital earlier in the game with an inflammation of the heart caused by a viral infection.
He was discharged from Kettering General Hospital on the third morning of this game.

It was another remarkable day where 16 wickets fell – as they did on day one. Nine of them came in the morning session where Derbyshire’s hopes of a first victory in two years was raised, only to be dashed before lunch.Northants resumed four down with a lead of 289 and sights on setting a target towards 400. But such ambitions were destroyed as Conor McKerr took a second five-wicket haul in the game and became the youngest bowler to take ten in a match for Derbyshire, beating FE Bracey, whose ten came back in 1907 in this very fixture at Derby.McKerr swung a full ball into the pads of Ben Duckett to trap him lbw for just 8 and took out the leg stump of Josh Cobb who recorded a pair. And when Rory Kleinveldt was cleaned up looking for runs with only the No. 11 for company, McKerr had 10 for 141.It completed an outrageous Northants collapse from 225 for 1 and from four overs before the close on the second evening, Northants lost 8 for 33 in 18 overs.It meant Derbyshire were right back in the game but with still a testing 320 to chase. But 20 overs in and their were shattered.Before lunch, they lost three cheap wickets to Sanderson. Billy Godleman miscued a pull that came off a top-edge to square leg, Jeevan Mendis was trapped lbw to an inswinger and Shiv Tahkor also fell pulling, his a full-blooded shot that was very well held by Cobb at square-leg.After lunch, Sanderson’s fourth came when Wayne Madsen chopped into his middle stump and Gary Wilson was run out from a direct hit running to his right from point. Nathan Buck also removed Alex Hughes lbw trying to pull.Derbyshire were in desperate need of a resistance if only to save face and Taylor counterattacked to good effect, driving Buck down the ground, Rob Keogh past extra-cover and sweeping the same bowler. He should have gone for 28 when he was caught at deep square off a Buck no-ball but survived to go through to a second first-class fifty in 44 balls with a clip through midwicket – his ninth four.Together with Smit – bravely resisting with an injured right hand – the pair added 106 for the seventh wicket at over five-an-over to bring to target down to 156 and make Northants sweat a little. But Taylor fell playing in the manner that had brought him his fine fifty – trying to hook Buck and getting a faint edge through to wicketkeeper Duckett.When the same bowler had Tony Palladino held at second slip for 2 it looked as if the game would be over before tea but Smit’s resistance continued and he and McKerr got Derbyshire through to the break, only for McKerr to be bowled by Keogh two overs in the final session.

Axar Patel took four wickets in five balls, including the first hat-trick of the season, to pave the way for Kings XI Punjab’s -run win against table-toppers Gujarat Lions in Rajkot

The Report by Nikhil Kalro01-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAxar Patel took four wickets in five balls to propel Kings XI Punjab to their second win of the season•AFP

Axar Patel took four wickets in five balls, including the first hat-trick of the season, to pave the way for Kings XI Punjab’s 23-run win against table-toppers Gujarat Lions in Rajkot. Axar’s burst reduced Lions to 57 for 6 in their chase of 155, setting up the side’s second win of the season. Both sides suffered batting collapses but Lions were poorer as they stuttered to their second loss of the season.Kings XI’s defence of 154 got off to an ideal start with the early wickets of Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina, as both batsmen missed straight balls from Mohit Sharma. After a slow Powerplay, Axar was brought on in the seventh over, his second of the innings. Off the third ball, Dwayne Smith muscled a lofted drive and found Gurkeerat Singh at long-off. Two balls later, the left-arm spinner got one to skid through and Dinesh Karthik’s inside edge clattered into leg stump. Dwayne Bravo chopped the first ball he faced onto his stumps and the over ended with Lions at a shaky 39 for 5.Brought back in the 11th over, Axar then got his first ball to dart past Ravindra Jadeja’s outside edge. It seemed like bat had hit pad, but the umpire raised his finger. This was Axar’s first T20 hat-trick, and the 14th of the tournament.Thereafter, Lions were always behind the climbing asking rate. Kings XI’s new captain M Vijay rotated his bowlers continuously. Ishan Kishan and James Faulkner added to Lions’ score but the slide had taken much of the game out of their hands.At the halfway stage, however, it did not seem like Kings XI had enough. Despite a flying start from Vijay and Marcus Stoinis, Kings XI collapsed to 154. Vijay’s sweetly timed drives and flicks off Lions’ seamers, Dhawal Kulkarni and Praveen Kumar, helped the side score 34 off the first four overs. Vijay contributed 31 of those. Stoinis, then, cut loose and Kings XI plundered 59 off the Powerplay, their highest this season.In the seventh over, Stoinis ran past a slider from Jadeja and the wicket sparked another Kings XI collapse. Chinaman bowler Shivil Kaushik’s whippy action forced Kings XI to look for pushes and nudges. Shaun Marsh could not keep one of those flicks down and found midwicket. On a pitch with a bit of grass, Kaushik found no turn, but his quick-arm action caused the ball to skid off the surface. One ball after Marsh was dismissed, Glenn Maxwell missed an attempted a cut off Kaushik and the ball snuck under his bat. Dinesh Karthik belted out an appeal and the umpire raised his finger, much to Maxwell’s bewilderment.Kings XI’s situation worsened when Gurkeerat Singh, one of four changes for Kings XI, was run out after an acrobatic effort from James Faulkner at point. Kings XI stuttered from 65 for 0 in the seventh over to 73 for 4 in the ninth.David Miller and Wriddhiman Saha, though, found the boundary regularly in their 39-run stand for the sixth wicket. They tried to build a platform for a late surge but that did not come as Dwayne Bravo and Praveen Kumar brought out their slower balls to flummox Kings XI’s lower order. Lions conceded one four off the last three overs and picked up five wickets to bowl Kings XI out.