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Central Zone spinners ran through South Zone on the opening day, restricting them to 149

Ashish Pant11-Sep-2025Saransh Jain bagged his second successive five-wicket haul, while Kumar Kartikeya finished with a four-for as the Central Zone spinners ran through South Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final.Under cloudy skies and on a surface with a greenish tinge, Jain picked 5 for 49 and Kartikeya returned 4 for 53 to bowl out South Zone for 149 in 63 overs at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. In reply, the Central Zone openers Danish Malewar and Akshay Wadkar were steady in their approach before bad light ended the first day early.At stumps, Central Zone were on 50 for 0, trailing South Zone by just 99 runs.South Zone’s new opening pair of Mohit Kale and Tanmay Agarwal weathered the new-ball storm, adding 24 runs in 15 overs. When spin was introduced in the 16th over, Kale’s went for a slog, only to be cleaned up by Kartikeya.Related

• Patience and precision: how Kartikeya turned the Duleep final on its head

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Soon after, R Smaran swiped Kartikeya across the line, but could only manage a top-edge and was caught at square leg 1.There were immediate signs of extra zip and bounce for both Kartikeya and Jain, who operated in tandem. South Zone then lost Tanmay Agarwal through a run-out. Looking for a second run, Tanmay and Ricky Bhui collided in the middle and the former was found well short.Kartikeya struck for a third time when South Zone captain Mohammed Azharuddeen was squared up and bowled for 4 as South Zone went to lunch at 64 for 4. Jain joined in on the wicket-taking fun after lunch, trapping Bhui lbw.Salman Nizar took 13 balls to get off the mark by going on the assertive against Kartikeya, striking for a six and four. C Andre Siddarth also clipped Kartikeya through mid-on for four. But aggression got the better of Siddarth when he waltzed down to Jain, got beaten in the flight and was stumped as South Zone slipped to 97 for 6. That became 116 for 7 when Jain got a length ball to kick off the surface, rapping Nizar’s gloves, with Patidar taking a low catch at slip.Kartikeya then picked his fourth trapping Gurjapneet Singh lbw. Vasuki Koushik and Ankit Sharma tried to delay the end, but Jain picked his fifth wicket with a straight delivery that breached Ankit’s defences and trapped him in front.South Zone started with the spin of Ankit at one end and the left-arm pace of Gurjapneet at the other.Wadkar and Malewar hit Gurjapneet for three fours in an over to kickstart the charge as they reached the 50 mark in 17 overs. There was an appeal for lbw by Ankit against Wadkar but replays suggested that the ball would have clearly missed leg stump.Koushik got the ball to move around late in the day, but the two batters hung on.

ESPNcricinfo understands that the India batter will also take a call on his international future soon

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Mar-2024India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is set to play his final IPL season this year when he appears for Royal Challengers Bangalore over the next two months. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Karthik, who turns 39 in June, will also make a final decision soon on his international future.Karthik, who started his IPL career at Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) is part of a select group of seven players to have featured in every season of the IPL since the BCCI launched the tournament in 2008, along with MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey. Perhaps more impressively, Karthik has missed just two matches in 16 seasons.The first one was in his maiden season, against Kolkata Knight Riders and second was in 2023 when Karthik sat out the league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.Related

• Dinesh Karthik, the survivor who never stood still

• Karthik: 'I'll do everything I can to be on that flight to the T20 World Cup'

• IPL 2024: BCCI clears Rishabh Pant to play as wicketkeeper-batter

• Dhoni links up with CSK in Chennai ahead of IPL 2024

• Pat Cummins named Sunrisers Hyderabad captain

Karthik endured a poor 2023 IPL with the bat, scoring just 140 runs overall with an average of just over 11. It was a total contrast to the stellar season he enjoyed in 2022, the year Royal Challengers bought Karthik at the auction for INR 5.5 crore (US$ 662,000 approx.). Mainly playing the role of the finisher, for which he trained diligently on his power-hitting pre-season, Karthik scored 330 runs in 16 matches at an average of 55 and an explosive strike-rate of 183.33. Karthik was one of the key reasons Royal Challengers reached the play-offs that season, before bowing out in the second qualifier.The scorching IPL form earned Karthik a berth in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. However, he managed just 14 runs in three innings as India lost to eventual champions England in the semi-finals.The current stint with Royal Challengers is Karthik’s second, having played a single season with them before in 2015. Overall, Karthik has represented six IPL teams: starting with Daredevils (2008-14), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings – 2011), Mumbai Indians (2012-13), Gujarat Lions (2016-17), Knight Riders (2018-21) and Royal Challengers (2015, 2022-present). Overall in 240 matches, Karthik has scored 4516 runs at an average of nearly 26, striking at over 132 with 20 half centuries. As a keeper, Karthik is second on list behind Dhoni in overall dismissals (133) as well as stumpings (36).Karthik has overall represented six different teams at the IPL•BCCI

An established captain at Tamil Nadu, Karthik has also led in the IPL – on six occasions as an stand-in skipper at Daredevils, and 37 matches between 2018-20 at Knight Riders before he stepped down. Overall, his captaincy record reads: 21 wins, 21 losses and one tied match.Even as he gets ready to say farewell to cricket as a player, Karthik has already settled into what is deemed to be a second career. In 2021, while he continued playing, Karthik simultaneously got his feet wet in broadcasting, working as a pundit for the inaugural World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand and then at the Hundred. Karthik is now well established as a broadcaster, currently doing commentary in the India-England Test series.Royal Challengers will play the tournament opener against defending champions Chennai Super Kings on March 23 at his home ground in Chepauk.

Fast bowler is hoping his experience playing for Melbourne Stars in the BBL helps him when Pakistan take on India at the T20 World Cup

PTI29-Sep-2022Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf is banking on knowledge gained from the Big Bash League to outsmart India’s batters in the T20 World Cup match between the two at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.”If I give my best, they won’t be able to play me easily. For the upcoming World Cup match, I’m very happy because it is at the Melbourne Cricket Ground,” Rauf, who plays for Melbourne Stars in the BBL, said after at the post-match interaction following Pakistan’s six-run win over England in Lahore on Wednesday.”It is my home ground because I play for the Melbourne Stars, and I have an idea of how the conditions play out there. I’ve already started planning on how I would bowl against India.”The win in Lahore gave Pakistan a 3-2 series lead in the seven-match T20I series, with Rauf playing a key role so far, topping the wickets charts with eight scalps.India and Pakistan, who only meet in multi-team tournaments these days, faced each other twice at the Asia Cup in the UAE in August. There, Rauf did not have the biggest impact, going wicketless when India beat Pakistan by five wickets in the first round, and taking one wicket – that of Rohit Sharma to break a half-century opening stand – when Pakistan turned the tables on India in the Super 4s. He was relatively expensive in both games too, going at 8.75 and 9.50 respectively, but finished as runners-up Pakistan’s joint-leading wicket-taker.Playing India twice in the Asia Cup, Rauf said, could take the edge off the nerves that come with the territory. “The match between India and Pakistan is always a high-pressure game. In the World Cup last year, I was feeling so much pressure. But in the past two matches in the Asia Cup, I didn’t feel much of it because I knew I just had to give my best.”

“The idea is for them to get exposure in England,” BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal says

Reuters12-Jun-2021The BCCI has said the participation of its top women players in The Hundred in England will give them much needed experience and exposure to elite opposition ahead of the 50-overs World Cup in New Zealand next year.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not allow its male players to participate in overseas T20 leagues, though some of the Test specialists play county cricket in England.The inaugural edition of the 100-ball competition, which features eight clubs with separate men’s and women’s teams, begins at The Oval on July 21 and will feature five India players: T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur, her deputy Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and explosive opener Shafali Verma.Related

• India Women to assemble for training camp ahead of Australia tour in September

• The Hundred: India Women players formalising deals

• India Women to play their first day-night Test during Australia tour

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Kaur and Mandhana have also previously played in Australia’s Big Bash League.”The idea is for them to get exposure in England,” BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal told Reuters by telephone. “Some of our boys have played county cricket, and that has given them a great opportunity and exposure. We want to take women cricket forward similarly.”This experience will definitely come in handy in the World Cup next year.”After a year without international cricket due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the India women’s team hosted South Africa for a limited-overs series in March and the calendar suddenly looks a lot busier.The team, under captain Mithali Raj, will play their first Test in seven years next week when they face England in Bristol, with the tour also including three ODIs and three T20Is.India will play their maiden pink-ball Test in Australia later this year and there could be more action in September-October if the BCCI can organise the Women’s T20 Challenge in the UAE. The Challenge would run alongside the remainder of the men’s Indian Premier League, which was suspended last month because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”We’re trying to figure out if that can be played with the UAE leg of the IPL,” Dhumal said. “Hopefully we’ll get a window. We’ll have to see venue availability as well.”

Warner said he wants to take a call after taking part in the back-to-back T20 World Cups

Daniel Brettig11-Feb-2020David Warner has flagged his likely retirement from T20Is following the two T20 World Cups to be played in consecutive years, and also explained why he has chosen to skip the Big Bash League for much of his international career.On an emotional Australian Cricket Awards night for Warner, he took out the Allan Border Medal as the national team’s best player across all three formats despite an abominable Ashes series in which Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne scored the runs that allowed Tim Paine’s team to retain the urn in England for the first time since 2001. He fared far better on home soil after adopting the belligerent, aggressive batting approach that Australian cricket followers have grown used to, and also made runs on the brief India ODI tour last month that was the last series that featured in the medal’s voting period.At 33, Warner is starting to consider how to approach the remainder of his career, and the dropping of T20Is from his schedule appears the next step he will take to prolong it – albeit only after the T20 World Cups in Australia later this year and in India in 2021.ALSO READ: David Warner, Ellyse Perry win top honours at Australian Cricket Awards“I don’t have a BBL team; I took a break during this period, and that was about my body and my mind, making sure I’m getting ready for the next series that comes up,” Warner said. “If you look at T20 internationals, we’ve got back-to-back World Cups as well, that’s probably a format that could be one I’d probably drop in a few years.”I have to look at the schedule; it’s going to be very difficult [for me] to play all three forms, and good luck to all the guys who want to keep playing that. You talk to guys like AB de Villiers and Virender Sehwag, these guys who’ve done it for a long time, it does become challenging. Having three young kids and my wife at home all the time, the constant travelling becomes very difficult. If it was to come down to [leaving out] one format, it would probably be the international T20s.”As for the BBL, Warner denied that its rapid growth to a 61-game tournament, after starting as a 20-game, state-based event in 2005 and then growing to 31, 35, 43 and 59 games under the BBL banner from 2011 onwards, was a factor in him avoiding it. Warner’s manager had said last year that his client would consider playing in the BBL but that it would need to be financially “worth his while” to do so, but the opener also indicated that some CA-contracted players were uneasy about taking the spots of cricketers who had represented their clubs for the whole event.Ellyse Perry, winner of the Belinda Clark medal poses with David Warner, winner of the Allan Border medal•Getty Images

“For me it’s about working out timeframes with different series, identify when you need a bit of a rest,” Warner sad. “Generally, we play a Test series and go into a one-day series. We went to India and then generally you have a one-day series at home, back-to-back games and then you go away. So, it was a bit different this year; I was able to have that opportunity to have that break which I’m grateful for.”A lot of the guys try to go back and play as much as they can. Sometimes, you look at the finals as an example, they come back and play the final, you’re taking someone’s spot as well, which is always tough as a player, you don’t want to come back and just take someone’s spot for one game. So, this opportunity was great for these guys to go out and play, and to see Smithy and Gazza (Nathan Lyon) and them take part in it and win the title is fantastic.”There had been plenty of tears from Warner as he accepted the medal, after not even being invited to last year’s ceremony, which predated CA’s lengthy reintegration process for him, Smith and Cameron Bancroft after their Newlands bans.”I had no doubt that I had the capability of being back here again. It was obviously a lot of hard work and commitment to be able to put my hand back up for selection for one, and go away and just do what I know best and that’s to try and score as many runs as I can in any competition I was playing in,” Warner said. “There was obviously a lot of work behind the scenes to reintegrate the three of us and I really appreciate the way that unfolded and the way we were reintegrated back into the team and into the fold, and that was by having net sessions as well at the Test matches, keeping our sharpness up against quality bowling, and I’m extremely grateful for that.”There were tough times there with me and, my wife having two miscarriages, there were a lot of things going on in my life away from cricket that I had to work on, and I was able to do that and that was the thing about not having cricket there. I had to work out what was going to be best for me. I had to work on my fitness, me and my wife are a great team, we have three beautiful daughters, and we really enjoy each other’s company.”Australia’s next assignment is a tour of South Africa for three T20Is and three ODIs, taking Warner and Smith back to the scene of their transgressions for the first time in nearly two years. Warner said his experiences in England last year, where he was able to shrug off a constant stream of abuse from crowds while never once retaliating, would be helpful memories.”I knew what I was walking into in England and I know exactly what I’m walking into in South Africa,” Warner said. “You just look at the recent series against England; it doesn’t matter where you go in the world, you’re probably going to cop something of some sort. You’ve got to try and get that out of your head and not let that affect you. I’ve well and truly learned my lessons from last time. It’s going to be great to go back over there, and I’m just really excited to get out there against South Africa and hopefully come home with a win.”

Pakistan have been dismal against the top ODI sides lately, but a 3-0 sweep in the T20Is, and a proud past ODI record against New Zealand should give them the ideal opportunity to set that right

The Preview by Danyal Rasool06-Nov-2018

Big Picture

The curious case of the disparity between Pakistan’s T20I and ODI form would have Benjamin Button perplexed. While Pakistan’s T20I form over the last two years has defied logic, their ODI record against the stronger teams is almost the other side of that coin. Against Australia, South Africa, India, New Zealand and England over that same period, Pakistan have lost 17 out of 21 ODIs. Three of the four wins came in that mind-boggling run to the Champions Trophy final, which, as far as 50-over cricket is concerned, is beginning to look like the exception to the rule.Against New Zealand, a side traditionally considered whipping boys for them, Pakistan have now lost 11 ODIs on the bounce, stretching back to when Kane Williamson’s men were last on these shores. New Zealand are worlds removed from the side Pakistan were so successful against through much of the 90s and 2000s, but such a lengthy unbroken streak is bound to leave psychological scars. Coming off the back of an ordinary Asia Cup, this is an especially difficult series to begin building towards the 2019 World Cup, even if Pakistan do so off the back of a perfect T20I scoreline against the same opposition.Pakistan have controlled the middle overs superbly in T20Is of late, but they will have to demonstrate the same mastery in the longer format to start seeing more success. While Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan can asphyxiate a side in T20Is due to the pressure for quick runs, New Zealand will be far more content with rotating the strike in the ODIs and keeping wickets in tact for a big finish. How the spinners can adapt to that may shape the direction of the upcoming three games in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.New Zealand’s backroom staff will be drumming these numbers into their head to wash away the T20I memories. In a squad that seems to be just the right mix of experience and youth, there are plenty of players whose games would translate very well to Abu Dhabi’s surface.New Zealand have won both the ODI series they’ve played against Pakistan since the latter relocated permanently to the Emirates. They will also be bolstered by the return of Trent Boult, who was away on paternity leave for the T20I series.With Williamson, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor and Tom Latham at the top of the order, they have both destructors and constructors, and should Tim Southee and Boult struggle to get much swing or seam movement, Lockie Ferguson can try his luck with sheer pace. Ish Sodhi and Ajaz Patel will have slightly more time to settle on their lines and lengths. They are a well-balanced side, and will be confident of making it a dozen in a row against Sarfraz Ahmed’s men.

Form guide

New Zealand LWLLW
Pakistan LLWLW

In the spotlight

Sarfraz Ahmed’s status as Pakistan captain has received a fair bit of attention in the past week, with newly appointed committee chairman Mohsin Khan suggesting Sarfraz be relieved of his duties in at least one format. It provoked mass media coverage and speculation about his role intensified. And while there’s no imminent danger of him losing the armband, the scrutiny around his personal performances will be significant. Sarfraz has rarely been called upon in pressure situations while Pakistan beat weaker teams like Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka over the past year, and when he has been required – as was the case in the Asia Cup – he hasn’t quite got his side over the line. The last time he scored over 15 runs in a match that Pakistan won came all the way back in the Champions Trophy against Sri Lanka. In a series against a fiercely competitive New Zealand side, Pakistan cannot afford to be carrying any passengers, least of all their captain.In his short international career so far, nearly all of Colin de Grandhomme’s highlights have come against Pakistan. It is a fact most Pakistanis haven’t missed, and there has been much self-deprecating humour surrounding it. One meme depicted de Grandhomme transforming into Gary Sobers when facing Pakistan. The history behind that is he has turned in astonishing performances with both bat and ball against Sarfraz’s men. On debut, he took 6 for 41 on the first day in Christchurch in 2016 to help his side beat Pakistan. Earlier this year, he dug New Zealand out of a hole in a tricky ODI chase against the same side, smashing an unbeaten 74 off 40 balls to take New Zealand home comfortably. Whatever it is, he seems to like playing against Pakistan, and Sarfraz Ahmed will be uniquely aware of the threat he poses.

Team news

It’s a bit of a toss-up to see who Pakistan leave out, given how well both T20I series went, and the successful reintroduction of both Mohammad Hafeez and Imad Wasim since the Asia Cup. An abundance of options can sometimes befuddle a team’s thought process, but it’s hardly the worst problem to have.Pakistan (probable XI): 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5, Mohammad Hafeez 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Shaheen Afridi/Usman Shinwari/Junaid KhanNew Zealand have come into this ODI series with several all-round options of their own. They also have no less than four out-and-out seamers to choose from, and therefore aren’t short of decisions to make either.New Zealand (probable XI): 1 Colin Munro 2 Tom Latham 3 Kane Williamson 4 Colin de Grandhomme 5 Ross Taylor 6 Henry Nicholls 7 Todd Astle 8 Tim Southee/Trent Boult 9 Lockie Ferguson 10 Ajaz Patel 11 Ish Sodhi

Pitch and conditions

The afternoon start means dew could be a factor in the second innings, but since it remains uncomfortably hot during the day, teams may find it easier to field at night, as several of them did during the Asia Cup.

Stats and trivia

• Tom Latham has a significantly better record playing away from home as compared to when he bats in New Zealand. In 29 ODIs away from home, he averages 45, with three hundreds. At home, that drops down to 23, with just one three-figure score.
• In 42 matches at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, only two have seen scores in excess of 300. Both were scored by Pakistan, once against Sri Lanka in 2007, and against West Indies in 2016.

Tamim aggravated the injury he suffered during the second Test, forcing him to miss the rest of the South Africa tour and at least two weeks of Bangladesh’s premier domestic T20 tournament

Mohammad Isam20-Oct-2017Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out of the rest of Bangladesh’s tour to South Africa after aggravating the injury on his left thigh muscle for the second time in two weeks. He will return home on October 22, and is set to miss at least the first two weeks of the Bangladesh Premier League, which is scheduled to begin on November 4.Tamim had first injured his left thigh during the practice match at the start of the tour in Benoni and in the first Test in Potchefstroom, which he played carrying the injury. Both instances occurred when he was fielding.Despite not being 100% fit, he played the second ODI in Paarl. Before the game however, he had said that he was risking another injury.At the time, Tamim said: “If I get injured again [in the same spot], then I will be out for two months which I hope the team management doesn’t want and neither do I.”When he played in Paarl, there were many who were dismayed by the team management’s decision to risk an in-form batsman, like Tamim, who had already aggravated the injury during the first ODI. Bangladesh, meanwhile, have also lost Mustafizur Rahman due to an ankle injury.Chief selector Minhajul Abedin, on the South Africa tour as manager, has said that Mominul Haque, who is in the ODI squad, will remain with the team for the T20Is as Tamim’s replacement.

Two days after scoring his maiden CPL half-century, Darren Sammy did a star turn with the ball, his three-wicket haul setting up a seven-wicket win for St Lucia Zouks against Barbados Tridents

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Sammy rattled Barbados Tridents’ top order•CPL/Sportsfile

Two days after scoring his maiden CPL half-century at the stadium renamed in his honour, in Gros Islet, Darren Sammy did the star turn with the ball, his three-wicket haul setting up a seven-wicket win that kept St Lucia Zouks in the hunt for a top-four berth.Barbados Tridents, who opted to bat, were restricted to 137 for 8, with Kyle Hope, the opener, making his first T20 half-century. Only three other batsmen moved to double digits, with captain Kieron Pollard’s 20 being the second-highest score of the innings. In reply, Zouks chased down a revised target of 131 in 19 overs, with 15 balls to spare.Tridents started positively, Hope and Ahmed Shehzad raising a 50-run partnership, before Sammy struck in his first over to remove Shehzad. Sammy then sent Shoaib Malik back in his next over to reduce Tridents to 60 for 2 in the tenth over. Sammy coaxed a mistimed pull from Hope in his final over and ended with figures of 3 for 18.The dismissal of Pollard and the in-form Nicholas Pooran off the next two overs, to Derlon Johnson, the left-arm fast bowler, and Shane Watson, further threw Tridents back. David Wiese’s 17-run cameo, however, helped them score 28 off the last three overs.Zouks were driven by 88-run opening stand in the chase, between Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher, which helped them steer clear of the asking rate. Fletcher hit two fours and three sixes in his 41-ball 45 before Pollard struck in consecutive overs to dismiss the openers either side of a rain interval that reduced the contest by an over.By then, Zouks needed only 33 off 36 balls. While Shane Watson, who made 19, was dismissed by Ravi Rampaul, David Miller struck two fours and a six in an unbeaten 19 to seal the winning runs along with Sammy, the captain. This meant that Tridents were consigned to their fourth loss in eight matches.

Toby Lester was not the most famous left-arm bowler on show, not with Ryan Sidebottom’s 11 for 76 leading Yorkshire to victory and messrs Starc and Johnson on hand for Australia but Lancashire valued his debut all the same

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford08-Jul-2015
ScorecardNick Browne stood firm as Essex’s middle order collapsed•Getty Images

Toby Lester was not the most famous left-arm new-ball bowler playing first-class cricket in England on Wednesday afternoon. At Cardiff the Mitchells, Starc and Johnson, were firing the opening shots in an Ashes battle which will be waged for six weeks; at Edgbaston Ryan Sidebottom was collecting match figures of 11-76 as Yorkshire took another stride towards retaining the County Championship.By contrast, unless you were a cricket fan from Blackpool or followed Second XI games closely, you may not have been too sure who Lester was until Monday morning. It was then that he was named in Lancashire’s side to play Essex at Emirates Old Trafford. And by the third evening of the game both Jaik Mickleburgh and Liam Dawson were acquainted with him. For he had castled them both with his swing to give Lancashire a strong sniff of victory in a Division Two game which had been cursed by rain for its first seven sessions.By close of play that sniff had been encouraged by, what for Lancashire followers, had been the delicious aroma of collapse after James Faulkner, a cricketer as well known in Brisbane as Bispham, had removed three key members of Essex’s middle order as the visitors displayed all the carelessness Lancashire’s batsmen had most diligently eschewed.Ravi Bopara edged a flat-footed slash to wicketkeeper Alex Davies; Jesse Ryder’s irresponsible cut found only the safe hands of Arron Lilley at backward point; and Ryan ten Doeschate was lbw on the back foot to his second ball when Faulkner brought one back off the seam. None of the trio reached double figures.Ten Doeschate’s wicket left Essex perilously placed on 81 for five with over 22 overs left in what was a remarkable day’s cricket, and had it not been for the good sense of James Foster and opener Nick Browne, whose unbroken sixth-wicket stand was worth 58 by close of play Essex would have been in very deep trouble indeed. Browne ended the day unbeaten on 78 and he and Foster will be key men again on the final morning, especially since the pitch is offering assistance to Lilley’s off-spin.Even on the third evening, though, it still seems more likely that the game will end in a draw but the outcome is nothing like as certain as it appeared when Lancashire declared on 402 for 8 in mid-afternoon. Croft’s players can go into the last day very encouraged by the way in which they have approached a match which will be remembered, in part, for its grey skies and frequent showers.”Manchester on a rainy day,” wrote RC Robertson-Glasgow, “is the nearest thing I know to an academic speech on Free Trade.” Perhaps so, but Croft’s batsmen never let the gloom infect their approach to matters. Instead, they played with resolution and enterprise, no one more so than the skipper himself, who reached his second century of the championship season off 210 balls and added 144 with Faulkner, who put a tricky few days behind him to concentrate on his cricket skills.Reece Topley accounted for Croft, Faukner and Jordan Clark during a penetrative spell with the second new ball early in the afternoon session but the skipper’s 122 and the all-rounder’s 68 had changed the temper of the contest. Lancashire’s dominance was reinforced when Lilley’s breezy 40 off 31 balls helped the home side to their fifth bonus point and Croft beckoned his men off the field as soon as it was reached.

New Zealand Cricket chairman Chris Moller has apologised to Ross Taylor for the manner in which the team’s captaincy changeover played out, but he said there was no need for heads to roll over the saga

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2012New Zealand Cricket chairman Chris Moller has apologised to Ross Taylor for the manner in which the team’s captaincy changeover played out, but he said there was no need for heads to roll over the saga.Brendon McCullum replaced Taylor as captain in all formats last week after Taylor declined an offer to stay on as leader in Tests only, and the way the captaincy issue was handled left Taylor feeling disaffected enough to sit out of the upcoming tour of South Africa. Much of the tension surrounded the relationship between Taylor and the coach Mike Hesson, who recommended changes in the limited-overs leadership.”The board has reviewed all aspects of the captaincy issue and wishes to publicly place on record its apologies to Ross Taylor and his family for the manner in which events have unfolded,” Moller told a press conference in Wellington on Wednesday.Moller also said that “additional material” on the captaincy saga had come to light and would be reviewed by NZC. However, he said there was no need for any sackings over the messy way the changeover was played out in the public.”No heads are going to roll,” Moller said. “here were no hanging offences in all of this. Yeah, the ball’s been dropped, absolutely. Could we have done things better? Absolutely. Are we going to learn from those mistakes? Well we hope so. Is there any reason for anybody to have their heads taken off? No, and that is a decision the board has made.”