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Crawley makes fluent 41 as rain forces early close at Old Trafford

ECB Reporters Network03-May-2024Kent 203 for 7 (Evison 50* Crawley 41, Balderson 3-62) vs LancashireKent’s Joey Evison made his third fifty of the season but could not prevent Lancashire having the best of the first day of their Vitality County Championship match against Kent at Emirates Old Trafford.Evison was helped by Grant Stewart, with whom he put on 69 for the seventh wicket, a stand in which both batsmen took the attack to Lancashire’s Test spinners, Nathan Lyon and Tom Hartley, on a cloudy afternoon in Manchester.The pair came together with their side poorly placed on 129 for six after George Balderson had taken three prime wickets in 28 balls, but their calculated aggression had enabled the visitors to reach 203 for seven, with Evison unbeaten on 50, when rain arrived five overs into the evening session and prevented any chance of a resumption.But Evison and Lyon’s aggression was in sharp contrast to the watchful opening 75 minutes of the day, in which 45 runs were scored in 17 overs. However, Kent then lost three wickets in four overs. Ben Compton was the first to go when he pushed forward to a delivery from Balderson and was caught by wicketkeeper Matty Hurst for 13.Zak Crawley then stroked a trio of fine fours off successive balls from Balderson but was dismissed for 41 in the next over when his flat-footed cover drive to Will Williams merely nicked another catch to Hurst. And Lancashire’s best period of the morning was completed a few minutes later when Balderson nipped one away from Daniel Bell-Drummond and the Kent skipper was caught by George Bell at third slip for three.But the session also ended well for the home side when Jack Leaning was bowled for four when a ball from Balderson snaked inside his loose off drive and knocked back the leg stump. That meant Kent had lost four wickets for 27 runs and it left the home side poorly placed on 76 for four at lunch.Matters got no better for Kent on the resumption when Harry Finch was pinned on the crease by Williams for three to leave the visitors on 83 for five. However, Evison showed no sign of being overawed and put on 46 with Joe Denly, who then tried to take on Jennings, the long-on fielder, and was caught by the Lancashire skipper off Lyon for 18.By mid-afternoon Lyon was bowling in tandem with Hartley, a tactic to which Evison and Stewart responded with selective attack rather than dull quiescence. Stewart showed a particular keenness to swat Lyon through the off side whenever the Australian pitched short and brought up the pair’s fifty partnership when he thumped Hartley over long-on for six.Only six balls could be bowled after tea before a brief interruption for rain and shortly after the players returned, Evison reached his fifty off 117 balls with a single off Lyon. But joy in the away dressing-room was short-lived as Stewart was caught by Luke Wells off the very next delivery when he pushed forward with uncharacteristic caution and nicked a simple catch to slip.Balderson ended the day with three for 62 and Lyon took two for 42, while Williams, who took two for 28 from 15 overs, needs just one more to bring up his 200 in first-class cricket.

Jonathan Carter’s century put Barbados in control despite only 32.3 overs being bowled on the first two days, but Jamaica avoided their second loss of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2017
ScorecardAFP

Persistent rain in Kingston marred the day-night encounter between Jamaica and Barbados, forcing a draw despite bowling-friendly conditions. Only 32.3 overs were bowled on the first two days. Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican took 3 for 22 to give Barbados hope of an outright win, but Jamaica closed their second innings at 98 for 6 in 48 overs as time ran out.Jonathan Carter had earlier posted his fourth first-class century to bolster Barbados with a 128-run, first-innings lead. Steven Taylor, who was axed as USA captain following his desire to play first-class cricket for Jamaica to pursue a West Indies cap, made his debut, and scored a combined 13 runs in both innings.Having opted to bat first, Jamaica’s opening pair of John Campbell and Garth Garvey struck an 85-run partnership. Barbados’ offspinner Ashley Nurse and seamer Kevin Stoute then combined to reduce Jamaica to 143 for 7. Jamaica declared on 176 for 8 on the third day.Barbados replied strongly after losing opener Anthony Alleyne early. A 68-run stand between Sheyne Mosely and Shamarh Brooks for the second wicket steadied the innings, before Carter’s 186-ball 103 put Barbados in control, as they declared at 304 for 7 in the 94th over.Jamaica were 37 for 3 in their second innings, but resistance from captain Paul Palmer (32 off 115 balls) helped them avoid their second loss of the season. Both the teams are yet to register a win in the competition.

Umpire Lyndon Hannibal not penalising Wafadar Momand’s high full toss to Kamindu Mendis did not go well with Sri Lanka’s captain

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Feb-2024Sri Lanka’s T20I captain Wanindu Hasaranga has said outright that umpire Lyndon Hannibal should find another job, after Hannibal had deemed a high full toss as a legal delivery during a tense final over in the third T20I against Afghanistan in Dambulla.Hasaranga’s scathing comments came after Hannibal, the square-leg umpire, did not call a no-ball when a Wafadar Momand delivery passed batter Kamindu Mendis well above waist height without pitching. Kamindu had shuffled down the pitch, but the delivery nevertheless would have likely arrived higher than his waist had he been standing upright at the popping crease. This would constitute a no-ball as per the ICC’s playing conditions.Still, Hasaranga was extraordinarily critical, though he did not refer to Hannibal by name.”That kind of thing shouldn’t happen in an international match,” Hasaranga said of the incident. “If it had been close [to waist height], that’s not a problem. But a ball that’s going so high… it would have hit the batsman’s head if it had gone a little higher.Related

• Gurbaz, spinners give Afghanistan winning end to tough tour

“If you can’t see that, that umpire isn’t suited to international cricket. It would be much better if he did another job.”Sri Lanka needed 11 runs off the last three balls when this occurred. As the delivery was deemed legal, and Kamindu made no contact with the full toss, they ended up needing 11 off the last two.After the umpires deemed it a fair delivery, Kamindu was seen asking for the no-ball, and is understood to have also requested a review. However, the current ICC playing conditions do not allow player reviews for umpire decisions that do not involve potential dismissals. In fact, umpires themselves cannot initiate third-umpire reviews on no-balls, unless there is a dismissal at stake.”There was a situation where you could review those calls before, but the ICC has got rid of that,” Hasaranga said. “Our batsmen tried to review that. If the third umpire is able to check the front-foot no-ball, he should check this kind of no-ball as well. There’s no reason why they can’t. They didn’t do even that, so I’m not sure what was going on in his (the square-leg umpire’s) mind at the time.”The ICC’s playing conditions define this kind of no-ball as: “Any delivery, which passes or would have passed, without pitching, above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease…”Sri Lanka went on to lose the match by three runs to give Afghanistan their only victory of the tour, although the hosts won the series 2-1.

Batters clinch three-wicket victory in white-knuckled run chase at Headingley

Matt Roller09-Jul-2023The Ashes are still alive. England’s batters clinched a three-wicket win in a white-knuckled run chase at Headingley, led by Harry Brook’s 75 on his home ground before Chris Woakes and Mark Wood took them across the line.Australia, who would have sealed a first away Ashes win since 2001 with victory, struck regularly on the fourth day to leave England in serious trouble at 171 for 6. Mitchell Starc was the spearhead, taking two wickets either side of lunch – including the middle-order engine room of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow.Brook and Woakes added 59 for the seventh wicket, England’s highest partnership of the match, before Starc’s fifth wicket – Brook top-edging to cover – gave Australia another sniff. But Wood, whose five-wicket haul in the first innings set the game up for England, joined Woakes and iced the run chase.Wood hooked Pat Cummins over fine leg for six, then cleared his front leg to blast Starc through cover and take the requirement down to single figures. With four to win, he survived a top-edged swipe off Starc, Alex Carey unable to cling on after scrambling back towards the boundary rope and diving at full stretch onto his front.Then, with scores tied, Woakes opened the face and scythed Starc through point for four, holding his arms aloft in celebration before embracing Wood. The pair’s all-round exploits over the last four days have kept England alive in the series: they are two-one down heading into the fourth Test at Old Trafford on July 19.There is a nine-day break before the start of that Test, one for which both teams will be grateful after another exhausting, exhilarating day which saw both teams let control of the game slip from their grasp. Australia were behind for much of the game but it took until Brook’s partnership with Woakes for England to assert their dominance on the chase. Even then, there was a twist – but it came late enough for them to scrape home.Mitchell Starc made crucial breakthroughs either side of lunch•AFP/Getty Images

England needed a further 224 runs to win at the start of the fourth day but lost a wicket in the fifth over of the morning: Ben Duckett was smashed on the shin by Starc, falling over to the off side. His review could not save him, with ball-tracking projecting that the ball would have crashed into his leg stump.Unexpectedly, it was Moeen Ali who walked out at No. 3, after Brook had deputised for the injured Ollie Pope in that role in the first innings. The experiment did not last long – Starc ripped out Moeen’s leg stump with a 90mph/144kph rocket – but gave the illusion of extending England’s batting line-up and crucially, allowed Brook to return to No. 5.Related

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• Crazy things do happen at Headingley and sometimes crazy is good

Joe Root traded boundaries with Zak Crawley either side of drinks but never settled, and a change of ball in the 19th over brought a wicket in the 20th. Crawley crunched Mitchell Marsh through the off side with a trademark cover drive, but Marsh’s next ball was a fraction shorter and drew the outside edge.Brook played positively from the outset, spanking Scott Boland through cover-point for consecutive boundaries, but his stand with Root was a brief one. Cummins dug one in short, angling down the leg side, which Root attempted to pull but gloved through to Alex Carey. It was not Cummins’ best ball but extended his remarkable dominance in his head-to-head battle with Root.Stokes, no stranger to a Headingley run chase, calmly worked his first ball away through the leg side for four but was strangled down the leg side in the second over after lunch, flicking Starc through to Carey to fall for just 13. Starc smiled wryly, exerting his considerable influence on a second successive Test.Bairstow joined Brook, who had reached 42 after a handful of false shots early in his innings, but did not last long. He inside-edged his sixth ball for four, past his leg stump, then chopped his eighth onto his middle stump, beaten by Starc’s movement back into him; after 78 on the opening day of the series, Bairstow has added 63 runs across his next five innings.Jonny Bairstow looks back after dragging a drive onto his stumps•AFP/Getty Images

Australia sensed an opening. They were four wickets away and Woakes hardly exuded calm early on, regularly playing and missing and picking up boundaries via both edges of the bat. But with Cummins reluctant to introduce Todd Murphy – who bowled only two overs on the last day – Australia were reliant on their three main seamers.Brook brought up a 67-ball half-century, his second in successive Tests, but both batters continued to keep Australia’s fielders interested, particularly when facing the short ball. Top-edges looped up tantalisingly without going to hand, and ball regularly beat bat before the drinks break.Brook crunched boundaries away through point off Cummins and the lesser-spotted Murphy, but was rushed by Starc’s short ball and spooned a catch to cover via the top edge, trudging off with 21 runs still required. But It took England only 14 balls to knock them off.Murphy’s brilliant parry on the midwicket boundary denied Woakes a certain boundary, but Wood – fuelled by adrenaline – took on Cummins’ bouncer and swiped him into the Football Stand for six. When Wood crunched Starc through cover, England were close; when Woakes slashed him through point, they had their first Ashes win in four years.

Lanning makes the shock decision to retire at age 31 having missed Australia last three series due to a medical issue

Alex Malcolm08-Nov-2023Meg Lanning has made the shock decision to retire from international cricket effective immediately, aged 31.Australia’s captain had not played for her country since lifting the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February. She missed Australia’s tour of the UK due to an undisclosed medical issue and did not play in the recent T20I and ODI series against West Indies despite being fit, having returned to play WNCL cricket for Victoria.Lanning is currently captaining the Melbourne Stars in the WBBL and appears set to continue to play domestic cricket.Related

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• 'Thank you for what you've done for women's cricket' – The cricketing world reacts to Meg Lanning's retirement

• Lanning makes a successful return to cricket with a brisk half-century in WNCL

• Lanning 'relieved' to have retired after thinking about it for 'quite some time'

“The decision to step away from international cricket was a difficult one to make, but I feel now is the right time for me,” Lanning said. “I’ve been incredibly fortunate to enjoy a 13-year international career, but I know now is the right time for me to move on to something new.”Team success is why you play the game, I’m proud of what I have been able to achieve and will cherish the moments shared with team-mates along the way.”I’d like to thank my family, my teammates, Cricket Victoria, Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association for their support to allow me to play the game I love at the highest level. I also want to say a huge thank you to all the fans who have supported me throughout my international career.”Lanning has taken several breaks from cricket in recent seasons for a variety of issues. In 2022, following Australia’s Commonwealth Games triumph, she took a leave of absence from the game and worked as a barista at a local coffee shop in Melbourne. She missed Australia’s tour in India in December of that year before returning for the build-up to the 2023 T20 World Cup.Lanning made her international debut as an 18-year-old in 2010 and has played 241 matches for Australia including six Tests, 103 ODIs and 132 T20Is. She will go down as one of the most successful captains in cricket history having captained Australia to four T20 World Cup titles, an ODI World Cup title and a Commonwealth Games title. She led her country in 182 matches across her career having been handed the role as a 21-year-old in 2014.Meg Lanning with the ODI World Cup trophy•Getty Images

She became the youngest Australian female to score a century, aged 18, when she made 104 not out against England in just her second ODI. She went on to become arguably the greatest female ODI batter of all time. She has scored 15 ODI centuries, with New Zealand’s Suzie Bates (12) the only other player with more than nine.Of the 11 women with more than 4000 ODI runs, Lanning has the highest average of 53.51, with India’s Mithali Raj the only other player to average over 50. She also had a staggering strike rate of 92.20.Lanning is the second-highest run-scorer in women’s T20I history behind Bates. She made 3405 runs at 36.61, striking at 116.37, with two centuries.The only thing missing from her glittering personal resume was a Test century. She played just six Tests in a 13-year career and only made two half-centuries with a highest score of 93 against England in 2022.Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley paid tribute to Lanning after her announcement.”One of the finest cricketers Australia has produced, Meg’s supreme achievements with the bat have been matched by her inspiring leadership,” Hockley said.”As one of the best players in the world over a long period of time, Meg has made an immeasurable impact and led a generation which has helped revolutionise the game.”Under Meg’s leadership, the Australian women’s cricket team has built a legacy of global dominance and has been at the forefront of growing the game and inspiring the next generation of cricketers all around the world.”A seven-time World Cup winner and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Meg retires from international cricket having achieved everything there is to achieve and we thank her for the immense contribution she has made.”We look forward to celebrating Meg’s distinguished international career at an appropriate time.”

No play possible on final day with Glamorgan on back foot

ECB Reporters Network22-Apr-2024Northamptonshire’s hopes of pressing home their sizeable advantage to complete victory against Glamorgan were dashed by the weather on the final day of this Vitality County Championship match at Wantage Road.Northamptonshire needed to take seven wickets on Monday after reducing Glamorgan to 104 for 3 on Sunday night, the visitors still trailing by 230 runs. Northants had posted a mammoth 605 for 6 in their first innings before declaring.But heavy overnight rain and constant drizzle throughout the morning prevented play from resuming and umpires Sue Redfern and Graham Lloyd finally called the game off shortly after 4pm.Related

• Nair doubles up as Northamptonshire sniff final day victory

• Vasconcelos punishes Glamorgan again as Northants take charge

• Sanderson leads the charge as Northants make most of new Dukes

“If we’d have got maybe two sessions in today, I think we’d have won the game,” John Sadler, Northants’ head coach, said. “But the weather’s beaten us. We can’t get too down about it. It probably saved us in Sussex and we’ve lost one here, so we’re probably level par.”I thought the lads were great. I think we’ve played some brilliant cricket. We’ve just said there in the dressing room, if we apply ourselves like that, and play cricket like that consistently throughout the year, we’ll be in positions to win games as we were today. So, it was frustrating, but of the three days we’ve controlled the game, we’ve played a brilliant game of cricket, so we’re pretty pleased.”Sadler hailed the impact of Karun Nair, the Indian batter who hit 202 not out. “He’s absolutely world-class. He’s one of the best I’ve seen. Obviously his skillset, but his calmness, his composure. We saw it last year particularly at Surrey, when we were under a bit of pressure, and Warwickshire where it was nipping everywhere. And his hunger for runs.”Sam Northeast, Glamorgan’s captain, said: “Any time a team puts 600 on you, you can do things a lot better. We’ll be looking at that for sure. We need to improve in that area and in the field as well… it was the first run-out again with a Dukes ball, so we’ve taken a lot from that.”Glamorgan travel to Yorkshire for their next game. “We know it’s going to be a good contest at Headingley,” Northeast said. “They’ve got their England players around, so it will be a good test and we’ll probably have to go up a few levels if we want to go up there and win.”

The coach pointed to two losses in particular within the first fortnight of this IPL, which affected Royal Challengers’ whole season

Saurabh Somani in Bengaluru03-May-2019It’s been a familiar story for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2019. Start the season full of promise and fire, stumble from one defeat to the next, end it to avoid finishing at the bottom.In the auctions before IPL 2019, the franchise spent most of its purse on Shimron Hetymyer and Shivam Dube – a combined INR 9.20 crore (USD 1,330,000 approx.). They’ve both played only four games each out of 13 so far, and their purchase for big sums followed by limited opportunities is symptomatic of what, from the outside, seems another season without clear direction.It’s not been an easy ship to steer for Gary Kirsten, one of the two designated coaches for the franchise, with Ashish Nehra. Kirsten had come on board as a batting consultant in IPL 2018, in which Royal Challengers finished sixth. The year before that, they finished at the bottom. Given the run of poor performances – they have won a combined 13 out of 41 games in three seasons – Kirsten acknowledged that fundamental changes might be needed.”There are some structural changes that need to be made that have maybe been around for quite a long time,” Kirsten said in Bengaluru on Friday. “This is my first year as the head coach, so I’ve got a better understanding of what those are. We’ll certainly discuss with our owners and look into that for next year.”It’s been a disappointing season. Obviously we would have liked to have had better results. I’ve been very encouraged with the second half of the season, since we only got two points in the first half. But we’ve won four of our last seven games, and one of them was a rained-out game. So that’s kind of back to the kind of consistency you need. We started to really get things going in the second half, but unfortunately, in IPL if you have a bad start you’re always going to be struggling.”Kirsten pointed to two losses in particular within the first fortnight of the tournament, which affected Royal Challengers’ whole season.”Two big games that cost us that we should have won at the beginning of the season was [against] Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders here,” Kirsten said. “We lost both those games having played really good cricket for 95% of the game. Literally in 12 balls the game changed… in six balls. Those kind of games, if you’re not winning them, they start to affect you big time during the season, because we know that IPL is incredibly unpredictable and games that you should be winning, you need to win.”If you are on the back foot early and you have lost most of your games in the first half, you get into trouble in the second half. We have tried to pull it back. I thought we did a reasonably good job in pulling it back in the second half, but it is always going to be tough winning seven out of seven.”Even as he foresaw operational changes in the franchise, Kirsten hoped the playing core would be exempt, though he admitted Royal Challengers were still searching for a group of players they could come back to, year after year.”I’ve always been a fan – as I’m sure all the coaches are in this IPL – of continuity. You want to try and build your core of players and build a culture where you can keep coming back to the same players,” Kirsten explained. “I think the most successful franchises in IPL have done that. We’re searching for that in RCB. While there might be some structural change next year, I’m hopeful and confident we’ll have some continuity in our players.”Because we need to really start building a core of players that we believe in, and back them. I think the franchises that do a lot of chopping and changing every year run into problems. Because IPL is not about an individual performing every IPL, that’s just not going to happen. But if you keep backing guys they are going to come good for you in one season.”The last league game for the team, against Sunrisers Hyderabad at home on Saturday, will be one that Royal Challengers will play without even the mathematical possibility of a playoff spot. The practical possibility had disappeared some time back, and Virat Kohli has reiterated before every game that the team is just looking to enjoy playing the game. However, that enjoyment is tough to channel amid losses.”My view is you are only having fun when you are winning,” Kirsten said with a smile. “I understand the point he (Kohli) is making but it is always tough when you are not winning games. The IPL is an incredibly intense competition. In my view, in domestic T20 cricket around the world, there is nothing even remotely like it and I think all the players feel the pressure, especially guys who are new to the IPL, they come here with their eyes wide open. They cannot believe how intense the games are. Senior players feel that pressure as well.”

India legspinner displaces Rashid Khan at the top on the back of a Player-of-the-Series show against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2023Ravi Bishnoi is the new No. 1 bowler in T20I cricket, on the back of his Player-of-the-Series show against Australia. He had claimed nine wickets in five games in that series at 18.22. That capped a meteoric rise in T20I cricket for the 23-year-old legspinner: since debuting in February 2022, he has 34 T20I wickets at 17.38, with a strike rate of 14.5 and an economy just over 7.Bishnoi displaces Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan at the top, and also pushes Wanindu Hasaranga, Adil Rashid and Maheesh Theekshana down a spot to complete the all-spin top five. There were no other significant changes in the rankings.In the series against Australia, India gave Bishnoi a fair amount of bowling the powerplay, and it paid off – both in terms of wickets and controlling runs. They will hope Bishnoi, who bowls more googlies than legbreaks, can keep his form going as they prepare for the T20 World Cup which will be played in the West Indies – where spinners can come in particularly handy – and the USA in June next year. India have only six T20Is scheduled from now till that showpiece event, so there’s not much room for experimentation, but they will take confidence from the 4-1 result over Australia.

Virat Kohli thinks it was a clear case of RCB losing rather than Pune winning, after they slumped to a 61-run loss to see their Playoff hopes take another massive hit

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2017After Royal Challengers Bangalore ambled to their second sub-hundred total and lost by 61 runs, a visibly disconsolate captain Virat Kohli conceded that his team lost the game rather than Rising Pune Supergiant winning it.”I think it is everyone for see. We lost that game. It is hard for a captain to stand here and speak after performances like these,” Kohli said after the side’s third successive loss. “But, [I have] got to embrace it, got to take it in the journey, take it in my stride and move forward and learn from these kind of games, these kind of days.”We are just not getting good performances together. It is lack of intent, guys fearful of getting out and failing and that’s never a good feeling. So, that’s all it boils down to. We lost the game rather than them winning it.Royal Challengers barely escaped being bowled out for the third game in a row after totals of 49 and 134 in their last two completed games. With the exception of Kohli – he made 55 of the team’s total of 96 for 9 – the other batsmen finished with single digits. Royal Challengers were on 49 for 5 at one stage and didn’t strike a single six until the 17th over. Kohli couldn’t point to any specific reason as to how how a batting line-up consisting of himself, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle could fail continuously.”Could be a few reasons, could be expectations, could be even looking at our side,” Kohli said. “We made the playoffs last year, good batting line-up, so all kinds of things play in your head. You can’t really pinpoint something unless you know as an individual. It could be hesitation to get out, hesitation to get runs, all those sort of things as batsmen, you know, they can creep in very quickly.”Mathematically, Royal Challengers could still make the playoffs, but Kohli didn’t rate their chances too highly. “We are almost not in the race for the playoffs now, pretty much All we can do now is just enjoy the four games,” he said. “Not worry about failing, not worry about not getting runs and just go out there and express ourselves.”Coach Daniel Vettori reiterated Kohli’s statements on staying focused for the next four games. “There are still four more games to go and they are really important for the pride of the franchise,” Vettori said. “We travel to Mumbai tomorrow. We need to play well there.”Vettori was pleased that Royal Challengers’ bowlers had restricted Rising Pune to 157. He was particularly appreciative of Pawan Negi, who conceded only 18 runs in his four overs and picked up Rahul Tripathi’s wicket. “Our bowling performances throughout the season have been exceptional. A real improvement from where we were last year and some of that is down to the wickets we have played on,” Vettori said.When asked about the batting failures, Vettori admitted that they had a different batting line-up in mind at the start of the season, but injuries to KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan forced a rethink in strategy. “A number of guys I suppose, aren’t in the form expected of them,” Vettori said. “Virat has led us exceptionally well, not only with the captaincy but with his batting. The group knows where we haven’t performed, that’s what we need to rectify.”Rising Pune, on the other, had no problems with either fear of failure or expressing themselves, as they completed their fourth win in five games. While lauding his team’s “complete” performance, captain Steve Smith singled out pacer Lockie Ferguson for doing everything asked of him.Ferguson, playing only his second game, finished with figures of 2 for 7 in four overs, including the wicket of de Villiers. “That’s a magnificent effort, isn’t it?” Smith said. “Three overs of dot balls from Lockie, hit good lengths and bowled good bouncers as well. He is an exciting player for the future.”Smith, however, admitted Rising Pune didn’t get the runs they were looking for. “We didn’t know what was enough at the halfway point, to be fair. The wicket was a little bit slow and obviously Bangalore players have some quality plyers in their line-up. I thought we came out and bowled really well. We executed our plans really well tonight.”

ECB Reporters Network19-May-2017
ScorecardJoe Leach made an early breakthrough for Worcestershire•Getty Images

Australian Test star Nathan Lyon was overshadowed on his County Championship debut by the Worcestershire seamers on a rain-shortened opening day of the Division Two match against Derbyshire at Derby.The offspinner bowled overs seven without reward as Joe Leach, Jack Shantry and Josh Tongue each took a wicket with Luis Reece scoring an unbeaten 53 for Derbyshire who closed on 111 for 3.Rain prevented any play until 4pm with Derbyshire going into the game without South African fast bowler Hardus Viljoen who will be out until the end of June with a hip injury.Derbyshire’s director of cricket Kim Barnett said: “It’s typical of cricket that things come to test you and this is a test of our guys and the resilience of the squad.”We had a meeting yesterday when it was decided he wasn’t fully fit and I think he knew that. We just want him to do himself justice, it’s no use him going out at 70% fit and not bowling to his standards so we must get him fully fit and healthy to do what he can do when he comes back.”It was no surprise given the damp, cloudy conditions that Worcestershire chose to bowl and Leach struck with the sixth ball of the game by bringing one back to knock out Ben Slater’s off stump.Leach found enough movement to beat the bat numerous times and was unlucky not to pick up two or three wickets during his seven over opening spell from the City End.Reece and Shiv Thakor needed some luck to survive but they also showed good judgement to add 55 in 21 overs before Shantry made the breakthrough.Thakor could do nothing with a ball that lifted sharply to take the shoulder of the bat and Shantry was close to having Reece lbw with one that swung back in his next over.Tongue produced another fine delivery to remove Wayne Madsen who edged a ball that moved away late and was caught behind in the 30th over but Reece and Billy Godleman batted through 10 overs to stumps.