Virat Kohli has said he was involved in a discussion with Cheteshwar Pujara over his strike rate in Test cricket during India’s recent tour of the West Indies

Sidharth Monga in Kanpur26-Sep-20162:59

‘He absorbs pressure well, but the time comes when the team needs a few runs’

Virat Kohli, India’s captain, has said he was involved in a discussion with Cheteshwar Pujara over his strike rate in Test cricket during the recent tour of the West Indies. Sandeep Patil, who recently ended his term as the chairman of selectors, told on Sunday that Kohli and coach Anil Kumble had spoken to Pujara expressing concern over his scoring rate, when he was dropped in the West Indies. Pujara, who scored 16 off 67 balls and 46 off 159 in the first two Tests, was left out for Rohit Sharma in St Lucia. This resulted in Kohli’s promotion to No. 3, from where he scored 3 and 4. Both Pujara and Rohit have featured in the two Tests that India have played since.After the West Indies tour, Pujara played in the Duleep Trophy, scoring 166 off 280 balls, 31 off 35, and 256 off 363. Back in the Test side, Pujara scored at a strike rate of more than 50 in both innings of the Kanpur Test against New Zealand, scoring 62 and 78. His career strike rate before the Test began was 48.2.”Pujara is someone who absorbs the pressure really well but after a certain stage in the innings there comes a time when the team needs runs,” Kohli said at the end of the Kanpur Test. “That’s where we felt that he has the ability to capitalise. It was just about conveying that to him. He has worked hard on his game. He scored at a good strike rate in the Duleep Trophy. Even on this wicket he was scoring at 65, almost 70 strike rate.”Which for me was a revelation, to see Pujara bat that way. Because he used to bat that way initially. Especially at home. If you see his double-hundreds against England and Australia, he will dominate spinners. That’s exactly what we wanted him to do. We didn’t want him to go into a shell. We want Pujara to bat to his potential. Once he starts scoring runs to go with the composure he already has, it becomes very difficult for the opposition to have control of the game. That’s all we wanted to convey to him.”He’s someone who understands what the team wants. He has worked hard on his game. He has come back, and he is playing more positively. Which we appreciate as a team and me personally as a captain. That he has actually gone and worked hard on his game. He has not told us this is my comfort zone and I am not going to get out of it. That is the kind of characters we need to win games and series.”In another context, speaking about handling different characters, Kohli spoke of cricket that didn’t care too much about individual records. “If you have honesty in the change room, if you have an environment that is relaxed, they will be able to express themselves better on the field,” Kohli said. “They will understand, they will listen to you. They will have the trust. They trust you are not saying anything that will harm them. It’s only for the benefit of the whole team. Once you have that environment in the change room, it becomes very easy as a captain to ask anything of any player. And everyone is ready all the time.”One thing we have spoken about is we want to play a certain brand of cricket. Along those lines, personal performances will happen or won’t happen. If they happen, yes you feel good about them, but the eventual target is to win games and win series. We want to be a high-quality team for a long time. It’s just to get them rid of those pressures of individual performances. Once you take pressures of your own performance things can flip very quickly. You will not be able to play the way the team wants you to play. And you will not be able to perform on a personal level as well.”

Imran Tahir has been fined 30% of his match fee and has been given two demerit points following a heated exchange with David Warner during the fifth ODI, the ICC said on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2016South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir has been fined 30% of his match fee, apart from being given two demerit points, following a heated exchange with Australia batsman David Warner during the fifth ODI in Cape Town, the ICC said on Thursday. The hosts have also been fined for maintaining a slow over rate during the match.An ICC release said that Tahir had shown “a lack of respect” towards the on-field umpires by ignoring their requests to stop verbally engaging with Warner around the 38th over of Australia’s chase. Tahir was found to have violated Article 2.1.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which deals with behaviour that is “contrary to the spirit of the game”.Two demerit points were also added to Tahir’s record, in keeping with Article 7.3 of the revised Code. If Tahir gets four or more demerit points within a two-year period, these points could be converted into at least two suspension points, which could end up in a ban from one or two matches. According to the ICC’s rules, two suspension points equate to a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is, whatever comes first.South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was docked 20% of his match fee, while the other players were fined 10%, after they fell one over short of their target once time allowances were taken into consideration.If South Africa commit another over-rate offence within the next 12 months, with du Plessis as captain, it will be deemed as his second offence and he will face a suspension.Both du Plessis and Tahir pleaded guilty to the offences and accepted the sanctions imposed by match referee Chris Broad. The charges were laid by on-field umpires Shaun George and Joel Wilson, third umpire Nigel Llong and fourth official Adrian Holdstock.

A washed out first day in Christchurch is unlikely to prompt wholesale changes in strategy, because there is still “plenty of time left in the game”, New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan said

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Christchurch17-Nov-2016A washed out first day in Christchurch is unlikely to prompt wholesale changes in strategy, because there is still “plenty of time left in the game”, New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan said. Not even the toss was possible on Thursday, which means neither team has yet named their XI.Play is now set to begin half an hour early, for the following four days, as long as weather permits. A minimum of 98 overs is scheduled for each of these days, when usually, only 90 are expected to be bowled.”There’s not a lot of overs lost even though we lost the whole day today,” McMillan said. “We haven’t named our XI, and there are probably discussions on that tonight, but I don’t think too much has changed.”Though a day of rain may make an already green Hagley Oval surface even more conducive to seam movement, McMillan hoped the recent proliferation of greentops in New Zealand will have equipped his batsmen with the means to cope.”I think it’s fair to say looking at that surface that the toss will be important,” he said. “I think with the pitch being under cover today with the rain about, that first session tomorrow (Friday) is certainly going to be challenging. Hopefully, though, there’s enough movement for a couple of days, so that the team that wins the toss doesn’t have so big an advantage. I think there’s going to be enough for both teams in the first innings.”These are conditions that we’ve been in quite a lot over the last few years. We’ve batted first on a number of pitches that looked very similar to the one out there, and we’ve done it well. It’s nothing new to us but we still know that we have to get things right against a very good Pakistan attack.”McMillan had been charged with helping New Zealand’s batsmen – who were battered in India – regain some confidence ahead of the long home season. He said the top order had prepared specifically for the Pakistan attack, with special attention given to combating the left-arm angle that Mohammad Amir, and perhaps Rahat Ali, will provide.”I want to see the batsmen commit to their own personal game plan,” McMillan said. “We’ve done some good work over the last two days in the nets. Both sets of fast bowlers are licking their lips and are pretty excited I think by what’s on offer. I think they have to commit to the style and game plan that they want to follow through with and they have to make good decisions. They have to be nice and precise the way they go about it. If they do that, there’s a reasonable chance they can come out with some success.”

Australia have dropped batsman Nic Maddinson for next week’s Sydney Test, while left-arm spinners Steve O’Keefe and Ashton Agar have been included in a 13-man squad

Daniel Brettig30-Dec-20163:36

Coverdale: Cartwright, Agar could contest allrounder slot

Australia squad for Sydney

David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (capt), Peter Handscomb, Hilton Cartwright, Ashton Agar, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird
In: Steve O’Keefe, Ashton Agar
Out: Nic Maddinson, Chadd Sayers

Australia have dropped Nic Maddinson for next week’s Sydney Test, while left-arm spinners Steve O’Keefe and Ashton Agar have been included in a 13-man squad.Agar, the wunderkind of the 2013 Ashes tour, merited a place on the strength of 16 well-priced Sheffield Shield wickets in the first half of the season, including 10 against New South Wales at the SCG. O’Keefe has been the favoured left-arm option for some time, but must now prove his ability to stay fit for the lengths of time required following a string of calf issues.”We wanted a left-armer to go away from all their right-handers as well to give us options,” Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann said of Agar. “He got 10 in Sydney [Sheffield Shield game]. He has improved, we get feedback from JL [Justin Langer] and the guys have been watching him, they’ve been impressed with him. The hardest thing we’ve got at the moment is no Shield cricket, so you go with a bit of BBL form as well. So they’re not bowling as much as we’d like, but before that he was doing really well.”[O’Keefe’s] got to be fit and he’s playing now, so that’s the main thing. He wouldn’t want too many more injuries, he’d want to make sure he’s playing cricket. That’s the greatest thing we have now, young players coming through that are fit and ready to go. He did a really good job in Sri Lanka for us before he got injured. He knows he has got to be fit and ready to play each and every game.”Lehmann spoke warmly of Nathan Lyon following his strong display on the final day of the MCG Test, particularly the greater consistency shown by Australia’s most prolific offspin bowler. “I thought he was outstanding,” Lehmann said. “He bowled consistent line and length, which was up and down in the previous few Test matches, and he got through the middle order, so pleased for him.”I was just pleased the way he bowled today, more so than fourth innings winning the game, bowling that consistent line and length we’ve been after all summer. Three or four balls an over had been there, but today was a lot better.”Allrounder Hilton Cartwright has been retained in the squad, but there was no room for swing bowler Chadd Sayers, who had been part of the squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan. Lehmann said that Cartwright and Agar would both be under consideration in an all-round role.”If you play two spinners you normally need an allrounder, so that’s what we’re looking at,” he said. “Agar’s a genuine [allrounder], yeah. He has made Shield hundreds, and batted well in that Test match at 11, and has certainly got the talent to be a batting allrounder or a spinning allrounder, either way.”Maddinson was axed after struggling for impact in the first three Tests of his career, with scores of 0, 1, 4 and 22 in his four Test innings so far. “He has still got a bright future,” Lehmann said. “I thought he batted really well this game, he would’ve liked a bigger score. I thought he played well, got a start and could have gone on big and put pressure on the selectors.”Rather than recalling Shaun Marsh, Lehmann said the selectors had chosen to keep him playing T20 matches while retaining the services of the young Queensland opening batsman Matt Renshaw. “We decided to keep [Marsh] playing BBL,” Lehmann said. “Matt has done a reasonable job for us in the Test matches, so we’re going to go with that same opening combination for the last one.”

Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav has replaced the lespinner Amit Mishra for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, which begins in Hyderabad on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-20170:53

Quick Facts: Kuldeep Yadav

Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav has replaced the legspinner Amit Mishra for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, which begins in Hyderabad on Thursday. Mishra, who was part of India’s last Test XI, did not train with the team on Tuesday after having injured his knee. This was the maiden Test call-up for Kuldeep.Mishra sustained the injury while fielding in the last T20 international against England on February 1. He has been advised rest by the India medical team, and will undergo further assessment in due time.Kuldeep played the practice match against the Bangladeshis, returning figures of 1 for 32 and 2 for 2. He has also been named for the three-day tour game against the Australians on February 16. He was part of the Rest of India squad in the Irani Cup match but failed to take a wicket. He has played 22 first-class games for 81 wickets at an average of 33.11.India’s Test squad has three other spinners: R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav. Jayant, who was injured for India’s last Test, has proved his fitness by turning out for Haryana in the domestic T20 competitions and in the tour match against Bangladeshis.

The Supreme Court is likely to appoint a committee of administrators to run the BCCI on Tuesday and amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium wants them to be empowered

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Jan-2017The Supreme Court is likely to finalise a committee of administrators to run the BCCI on Tuesday, and amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium has asked for this committee to be given the power to run the IPL, appoint the board’s representative to ICC meetings and take over non-compliant state associations.There has been a leadership vacuum in the BCCI since January 2, when the court removed Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke as president and secretary. The court said that it would appoint a committee of administrators to oversee the board’s operations until fresh elections are conducted and its constitution amended as per the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.Subramanium filed an intervention application in the court last Wednesday, in which he said it was important and urgent to empower the committee “to allay any misgivings that cricketing activities will be affected due to transition in the administrative structure” of BCCI and the state associations.”The reliefs are emergent and necessary to assist and empower the Committee of Administrators to carry out the mandate of this Hon’ble Court and effectively discharge the onerous responsibility placed on them to ensure that the reforms are implemented in its letter and spirit.”Subramanium asked the court to issue “a direction that the Committee of Administrators shall also be in charge of IPL and may appoint advisors as they deem necessary; an injunction restricting any person, groups of persons, association(s), State Cricket Association(s) from interfering in the functions of the Committee of Administrators; a direction empowering the Committee of Administrators to nominate any member to represent BCCI in the forthcoming ICC Conferences.”Additionally, Subramanium wanted the committee of administrators to take control of all state associations that have not complied with the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. Some of them are still holding out despite the court’s orders in October limiting their financial freedom. Subramanium added more pressure by asking, “upon the office bearers of State Cricket Associations not filing an undertaking in accordance with the orders dated 7.10.2016 and 21.10.2016, the Committee of the Administrators shall be in charge of such State Cricket Association(s) including its properties until freshly elected bodies are in place.”Another significant plea from Subramanium concerned the reinstatement of the Lodha Committee’s authority.In its January 2 order, the court had agreed to a request by the Lodha Committee to limit their purview to “overall policy and direction”. But a week later, the Lodha Committee answered a list of frequently asked questions on who could become a BCCI office bearer. Kapil Sibal, the senior legal counsel who has been representing BCCI and some of the state associations, asked the court on January 20 whether the Lodha Committee was eligible to reply to those FAQs. The court told Sibal it would address the matter in due course.To counter such doubts, Subramanium wanted the court to restore the Lodha Committee’s powers: “…A direction that the mandate of the Justice Lodha Committee to complete oversight, implementation and issuing directions if necessary in terms of the judgement dated 18.7.2016 shall continue in addition to the administration of BCCI and implementation of the reforms by the Committee of Administrators and, liberty be granted to the Committee of Administrators to seek guidance and directions from the Justice Lodha Committee and if necessary to apply to the Hon’ble Supreme Court for directions through the Amicus Curiae.”

The Curran brothers shared six wickets as England Lions completed a comprehensive 195-run victory in the opening four-day match against Sri Lanka A

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2017
ScorecardSam Curran cleaned up Sri Lanka A’s lower order•Getty Images

The Curran brothers followed their important second-innings runs by sharing six wickets as England Lions completed a comprehensive 195-run victory in the opening four-day match against Sri Lanka A.The contest was over shortly after lunch on the final day as Tom Curran ended with 3 for 35 and Sam Curran 3 for 21. The previous day they had added 62 to stretch the Lions lead. There were also two wickets for Middlesex offspinner Ollie Rayner.Sri Lanka A offered minimal resistance, expect for opener Udara Jayasundera who carried his bat with 64 off 166 deliveries, although a final-wicket stand of 54 delayed the end a little.”Everyone has chipped in,” Keaton Jennings, the England Lions captain, said. “As a whole team performance it was absolutely brilliant. It’s a good bowling attack to captain, with a lot of variety, and a really good bunch of guys to captain as well. Those runs we got lower down the order in the first innings were very important in setting up the game.”When Sri Lanka resumed on 41 for 2, Tom Curran gave the Lions an ideal start to the final day when had Roshen Silva caught behind in the first over. Tom Helm also produced a first-over trick, for the second time in the match, by surprising Charith Asalanka with extra bounce.Rayner removed the key wicket of captain Dhananjaya de Silva and also claimed Dilruwan Perera as the Sri Lanka slide continued before the Currans almost finished things off in double-quick time. Sam Curran was on a hat-trick with the No. 11, Asitha Fernando, on strike but he survived and alongside Jayasundera played out the extra half hour the Lions claimed to try and wrap up the victory before lunch.However, it did not take long after the break until Fernando picked out Nick Gubbins at mid-on to give Sam Curran his third.Despite the convincing margin of victory, Jennings pinpointed the top-order batting as an area for improvement ahead of the second four-day game in Dambulla. In the first innings the Lions’ last two wickets added 106 and in the second the last four provided 130.”We all know our roles and responsibilities, and as a top order batter you want to score runs,” he said. “Not everybody can score runs all the time. But you’ve got to make sure you try and take care of that role, show the grit to get through those tough periods and get runs.”From a bowling point of view as well, there’s a few plans we can come up with now we’ve seen a few of their guys. That’s the exciting thing, the room for improvement in the second game in Dambulla. But this was a very good team performance – very enjoyable.”

Delhi Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid has said missing a batsman of Quinton de Kock’s calibre as well as the experience of JP Duminy will affect the balance and composition of the team going into tenth edition of the IPL

PTI30-Mar-20170:54

Quick Facts – JP Duminy

Delhi Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid has said missing a batsman of Quinton de Kock’s calibre as well as the experience of JP Duminy will affect the balance and composition of the team going into tenth edition of the IPL.Duminy has cited personal reasons for pulling out while de Kock has a finger injury, sustained during the Test series against New Zealand.”It is obviously a big blow when you lose big players like JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock,” Dravid told PTI during an interaction at Delhi Daredevils’ academy ground. “If these things happen before the auction, then it is easier because you can plan better. But then this is how it goes and you cannot help it.”Dravid is banking on experienced international allrounders like New Zealand’s Corey Anderson and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews to fill Duminy’s void but admitted that de Kock is a bigger loss, considering he was a player who could give the team momentum at the top of the order. He was also Daredevils’ top scorer during the last IPL.”We do have talented players like Sam Billings and hopefully they can go up and perform,” he said. “We have allrounders like Corey Anderson and Angelo Mathews, so we hope that these boys can stand up and perform and in some way replace JP. But yes, Quinton is a big loss because he played so many games for us and was one of our main batsmen. We had built him up for this season, but this is how life is and you cannot do much about it.”Quinton de Kock was Delhi Daredevils’ top scorer in IPL 2016 with 445 runs•BCCI

Dravid is hopeful that the core group of Indian batsmen, including Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant, will have a good season. Asked how he expects Pant’s second season to be after an impressive opening season, Dravid said: “I hope it is better than last season from our perspective. I won’t say Rishabh is our only X-factor. We have guys like Karun, Sanju, Shreyas and [Aditya] Tare.”We will also look to strategise better and give the [younger] players a good opportunity. In a format like the IPL, it is also important to rest the players and keep them fresh and we will also look at that and give it our best.”Dardevils were in contention last season for a top-four berth till the last match, in which Royal Challengers Bangalore outplayed them. Dravid is hopeful things doing better this time around.”We needed to win that one game and qualify for the knockout stages but unfortunately we did not qualify. But this time, we will look to start from where we left last season and try and improve further.”Dravid also feels that Zaheer Khan’s decision to play from IPL to IPL will not hurt the team as the former India fast bowler is an inspiration. “We have a lot of youngsters in the team and that is where we needed Zaheer, as he brings in that knowledge and sense of calm in the dressing room. You need that when you are playing a tournament like the IPL. Also a lot of the youngsters look up to Zaheer as he is an inspiration.”

An unbeaten 132-run stand for the seventh wicket between Roston Chase (131) and Jason Holder (58) helped West Indies end day one on 286 for 6

The Report by Danyal Rasool30-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:07

Roston Chase, the Caribbean’s Crisis Man

A day that started with ominous familiarity for the West Indies ended in unexpected success as the hosts recovered from a middle order meltdown to post 286 for 6 at stumps. Roston Chase was primarily responsible for the turnaround, an unbeaten 131 – just his second century – dominating the day, while Jason Holder’s unbeaten fifty helped run Pakistan ragged in a final session off which they scored 120.Chase’s awareness around the crease was excellent, knowing exactly when to leave the ball. He was equally effective at adjusting his feet when facing the spinners, and was in position to take advantage when they dropped the ball either short or bowled full. The stroke that brought up his century was a fitting snapshot of how he had played: a delightful cover drive off an overpitched delivery from legpinner Shadab Khan, who had a particularly harsh introduction to the longest format. In the absence of Yasir Shah for most parts of the final session, he was summoned but failed to ring in any sort of consistency.The evening session began, somewhat familiarly, with Holder joining Chase to play his part in yet another rearguard. With the West Indies top and middle order disappointing so regularly, Holder’s runs in the lower order have become essential to his side, rather than just an added bonus. To his credit, he delivers more often than not, and he gave Chase stellar support.With Yasir clearly hampered by a back niggle and unable to bowl at full tilt, Pakistan were at times reduced to being a three-man attack. Chase and Holder were wise to the situation, ensuring they didn’t give a wicket away easily and waited for the bowlers to tire. As they did, their intensity invariably dropped and for the first time all day, Pakistan looked like they were waiting for a wicket to fall instead of actively hunting for one.West Indies had perhaps expected an easier ride after winning the toss and choosing to bat in favourable conditions, but a splendid new ball spell from both Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Abbas put them on the back foot straightaway. The wicket of Kraigg Brathwaite, when it came, had a sense of inevitability to it, the right-hander edging an Amir delivery that held its line. When Shimron Hetmyer fell flashing at a ball outside off stump soon after, the lack of experience was telling.With the pitch seen as conducive to spin bowling, Misbah-ul-Haq turned to Yasir as early as the eleventh over. There was sharp turn on offer for the legspinner right away, hardly a ringing endorsement of the wicket, what with this being the first morning of the Test. But with the under-fire Shai Hope having gone into his shell, Yasir pitched one on a length around middle stump. Hope failed to get on the front foot in time, and the ball took the edge through to Sarfraz Ahmed as West Indies slumped to 37 for 3.Amir provided Pakistan the next breakthrough, ripping a yorker into Powell’s toes that tailed in at serious pace, taking the slow pitch out of the equation. The umpire turned down the appeal, but Amir was sure, and Hawk-Eye agreed with him. Wickets continued to fall as West Indies threatened to fold for a sub-200 total, as the hosts were reduced to 154 for 6. The players went in for tea soon after; the fans will probably have needed something stronger.What they couldn’t have known was Chase and Holder would concoct the perfect tonic to soothe their disappointment in the final session, as the West Indies improbably finished the day on even terms. With the partnership standing at 132, and still unbeaten, the fans had better turn up tomorrow, too. They certainly haven’t seen this before.

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.