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The squads of all the PSL franchises after the player draft on November 12 in Lahore

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2017Chris Lynn was the first pick at the PSL draft•IDI/Getty Images

(players in italics were picked today)Multan Sultans: Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Kumar Sangakkara, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Irfan Khan, Kashif Bhatti, , , , , , , . Supplementary players: , , , .Peshawar Zalmi: Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Shakib al Hasan, Kamran Akmal, Darren Sammy, Hasan Ali, Haris Sohail, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Asghar, , , , , , , . Supplementary players: , , , Karachi Kings: Shahid Afridi, Usman Khan, Usama Mir, Khurram Manzoor, Ravi Bopara, Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, , , , , , , . Supplementary players: , , Lahore Qalandars: Umar Akmal, Sunil Narine, Brendon McCullum, Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Cameron Delport, Aamer Yamin, Bilawal Bhatti, Sohail Khan, , , , Raza Hasan, , , . Supplementary players: , , Islamabad United: Mohammad Sami, Andre Russell, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Samuel Badree, Iftikhar Ahmed, Amad Butt, Asif Ali, , , , , , , , Supplementary players: , , , Quetta Gladiators: Sarfraz Ahmed, Kevin Pietersen, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Anwar Ali, Mahmudullah, Umar Amin, Mir Hamza, Asad Shafiq, , , , , , , , Supplementary players: , , ,

Lahore Blues secured victory over Lahore Whites while Umar Akmal’s sensational 148 saw UBL beat Fawad Alam’s SSGC

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2017Delaying the declarationSui Northern may have bossed the game, but an experienced captain like Mohammad Hafeez will regret not declaring earlier for so long. Batting first, they out on 511 in 150.1 overs against Habib Bank before being dismissed. Azhar Ali and Khurram Shehzad scored centuries – 118 and 133 respectively as they ground HBL’s bowlers down. Amad Butt did come away with a six-wicket haul, but not before bowling 38 overs and conceding 106 runs.In response, HBL were dismissed for 202 and asked to follow on. However, with bad light meaning several overs were lost, only 19 overs could be bowled in the second innings, with Ahmed Shehzad’s side at 67 for one when the match was called off. Given the extent of HBL’s dominance, they will be disappointed to kick off the Super Eight stage with a win.The two-day gameHave you ever heard of a contest where 167 runs were enough to secure an innings victory? Well, here’s one. On a pitch that seemed to have laid a particularly potent curse on all who batted upon it, WAPDA beat Khan Research Laboratories by an innings and seven runs in a game that lasted merely 120 overs. KRL were skittled out for 95 in their first innings, 40 of them coming from one man, Junaid Ali. WAPDA’s Waqas Maqsood registered the best figures of the tournament, taking nine wickets for 32.WAPDA appeared to have let KRL back into the contest with a fairly ordinary batting display of their own, getting dismissed for 167. More than half of those runs – 86 – came off the bat of No. 8 Khalid Usman as they opened up a 72-run lead. As it turned out, KRL’s second innings was even more listless than the first as they meekly surrendered for 65. Mohammad Asif took six wickets as WAPDA wrapped up a comfortable win.The Lahore DerbyLahore Whites and Lahore Blues played in the final of the recently concluded National T20 Cup, with the Blues coming out on top. They played each other again in the QeA’s Super 8 round, with the same outcome, the Blues sealing a 9-wicket win.They began sharply, bowling out Lahore Whites for 141, Aizaz Cheema and Bilawal Iqbal sharing 8 wickets between them. Their batsmen followed that up with a solid 281, with opener Tayyab Tahir and captain Saad Nasim scoring 83 runs each. Having opened up a 140 run lead, they proceed to clean up the Whites for 207, Cheema’s 7 wickets securing him an 11-wicket haul for the match. That left the Blues with the straightforward task of chasing 68 runs for a win, which they did in under 10 overs for the loss of just one wicket.Fawad watchFawad Alam stormed back to form, scoring 124 for Sui Southern. It was, albeit, an innings in vain as a second-innings collapse saw them slump to 149 runs.United Bank captained by Younis Khan, scored 252 in the first innings, with Shan Masood top scoring with 75. Saad Ali, who has been far and away the highest scorer in the tournament, also scored 52, while Ahmed Jamal’s 6 for 52 ensured UBL weren’t allowed to bat SSGC out of the game.While Alam’s century secured his side a 27-run lead, the innings of the round belonged to Umar Akmal, who once again demonstrated his seemingly boundless ability with the bat – if he is motivated enough. He smashed 148 in 166 deliveries, effectively batting SSGC out of the game as they declared at 328, setting SSGC a target of 302. SSGC never looked like escaping with a draw, let alone clinching victory, with no batsman scoring more than 27 (Alam managed 26) as they were bundled out for 152.

New Zealand looked formidable in the first ODI in Wellington, and Pakistan need to turn things around quickly to push out fears of their recent unbeaten run being a flash in the pan

The Preview by Umar Farooq08-Jan-2018

Big picture

Until the previous game, Pakistan enjoyed a nine-game winning ODI streak stretching all the way back to the Champions Trophy last June. So clinically were they beaten in the first ODI in Wellington, that it felt like Pakistan fans’ fears about it being a flash in the pan look to have re-emerged. It wasn’t entirely surprising, however; New Zealand at home pose a very unique challenge, and have been one of the form sides off late. But the loss in the opening game brought Pakistan back down to earth sharply, and it is crucial that they respond as soon as they can. The Saxton Oval on Tuesday would do just fine.New Zealand are bursting with confidence, their powerful bowling unit and explosive batsmen looking to capitalise on the run of good form. Everything looks to be going according to plan; the captain is in form, the openers have clicked, the middle order has done its job, and the fast bowlers have hit the deck exceptionally well. At the same time, New Zealand will be cerebral enough to appreciate the unpredictability of their visitors, and look to guard against complacency on their part. After all, Pakistan lost to India in their opening game in the Champions Trophy, before turning their form around to end up with the title.Pakistan would have been banking on their bowlers, but they were off colour in Wellington, with Mohammad Amir and Rumman Raees conceding 57 and 68 runs respectively. Hasan Ali did manage to take three wickets, but leaked too many runs, and the fearsome pace unit was comfortably outdone by New Zealand’s fast bowlers. While Pakistan will also look for their senior batsmen to stand up, supporting the younger lot is important, too. Fakhar Zaman was their only plus in a dispiriting first game, while Faheem Ashraf looked sharp in his little cameo before rain put paid to the game. The bowlers, meanwhile, need to shake off the rust to carry their weight.

Form guide

New Zealand WWWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LWWWW

In the spotlight

Zaman proved dangerous, but the onus is on Pakistan’s two senior-most campaigners, Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, to take their share of responsibility with bat in hand. Both bring a lot of experience in the side together, and while Malik has historically struggled in New Zealand, Hafeez averages 37.10 in the country, nearly five runs higher than his career average. Both may also feel the pressure to justify their inclusion, as they are effectively playing as specialist batsmen instead of as allrounders. Hafeez was banned from bowling last year, while Sarfraz Ahmed seemed extremely reluctant to give Malik the ball in Wellington, preferring the more innocuous Zaman to make up the overs.Lockie Fergusonbowled at consistently over 145 kph, with his fastest delivery bowled at 153.4 kph. He remained wicketless in a rain-interrupted game, but hugely impressed nonetheless, and the batsmen’s discomfort at playing him, particularly in his first spell, was evident. Besides, from a purely aesthetic perspective, watching a fast bowler steaming in, given the licence to operate at those kinds of speeds is a rare treat these days. If he can keep it up for the rest of the series, there’s no question that wickets column should begin to tick over rapidly.

Team news

New Zealand are expected to field an unchanged side. Pakistan, while disappointing on Saturday, will look to recreate the spark that saw them perform to their potential in Nelson – the venue for this ODI – in a tour game last week. They, too, are expected to field the same eleven.New Zealand (probable): Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Todd Astle, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
Pakistan (probable): Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt/wk), Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rumman Raees

Pitch and conditions

The forecast in Nelson isn’t ideal, with rain expected throughout the week. Clouds may clear early enough for the game to begin on time, though stoppages would not be a surprise.As for the pitch, it has historically been slower than most New Zealand surfaces, and so the spinners may find themselves more in the game than they did in Wellington.

Stats and trivia

• Zaman made his ODI debut in the second game of the Champions Trophy, and had won all nine of the ODIS he had played until the loss in Wellington. His average didn’t suffer for it, however, going up nearly ten runs to 53.55.
• Of the eight completed ODIs played at the Saxton Oval, six have been won by the chasing side. New Zealand have won four and lost just one of the five ODIs they’ve played at this ground.

Quotes

‘We have a young side but have the potential to beat anyone. We have skill and it won’t be an easy task for New Zealand to win the series.’

‘They do have a good attack all round, they complement each other well and they’re a well balanced side, much like ourselves. It is a tough series and it’s important we’re good again in the next [ODI].”

Afghanistan were cruising in their chase of 197 but then they collapsed, before their last wicket took them within touching distance of victory. But it wasn’t to be.

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2018
0:40

WATCH – Bulawayo goes wild as Zimbabwe win thriller

A match that swung one way and then the other several times boiled down to an incredibly tense finish in Bulawayo, where Afghanistan’s last wicket slowly whittled away at the target set by Zimbabwe. The Zadrans – Dawlat and Shapoor – had added 17 in 8.1 overs for the final wicket, bringing the equation down to three needed off four balls. But the half hour of unbearable tension finally ended in joy for Zimbabwe, as Brian Vitori drew the edge from Shapoor and wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor took the catch to seal a two-run victory.The result left Zimbabwe well placed to progress from Group B, having won two out of two matches along with Scotland. Afghanistan, on the other hand, suffered their second defeat in as many games, and can afford no slip-ups against Nepal and Hong Kong if they are to make the Super Sixes.
The possibility of a Zimbabwe victory seemed remote after they had been dismissed for 196 in 43 overs. And more so after Rahmat Shah and Mohammad Nabi steered Afghanistan to 156 for 3 in the chase with a 98-run partnership.Blessing Muzarabani gave Zimbabwe a small opening, trapping Shah for 69, and then Sikandar Raza turned the game on its head by striking three times in the 37th over. His dismissals of Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Rashid Khan reduced Afghanistan to 169 for 7. And when two more wickets fell cheaply, the visitors had lost 6 for 21 and all seemed lost.Dawlat and Shapoor came together for the tenth wicket with Afghanistan needing 20 off 53 balls. They went about their task slowly, playing out plenty of dots as they eked out run after run, and victory – once so improbable – now was within sight. They stumbled eventually, only three runs from victory. Muzarabani’s four-wicket haul was his career-best performance.Before the Afghanistan collapse, Zimbabwe had been on the back foot for most part of the match. Electing to bat, they were set back immediately, losing their top three for just 17 in seven overs. Brendan Taylor and Raza revived the innings with counter attacking half-centuries and a 98-run stand.Taylor smashed seven fours and three sixes in his 88-ball 89 before being the fifth wicket to fall. Then Rashid, Afghanistan’s stand-in captain, dismissed the in-form Raza – he was coming off a century against Nepal – for a 68-ball 60. That triggered the innings’ second collapse.Barring Graeme Cremer, who stuck around to make an unbeaten 19, the other four lower-order batsmen quickly fell prey to Rashid and mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Both these spinners finished with three wickets apiece. In total, Zimbabwe lost 7 for 118 to spin, while fast bowler Dawlat Zadran took two wickets.As many as four Zimbabwe batsmen, including opener Cephas Zhuwao, who had made a belligerent 23-ball 41 against Nepal, were out without scoring. Their total of 196 seemed inadequate, until Afghanistan suffered a spectacular collapse of their own.

Several England players have moved teams ahead of the 2018 Kia Super League

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2018Several England players have moved teams ahead of the 2018 Kia Super League (KSL). Sarah Taylor has left Lancashire Lightning for Surrey Stars, with Alex Hartley going the other way, while Tammy Beaumont moves to Southern Vipers from Surrey.There has also been a straight swap between Loughborough Lightning and Yorkshire Diamonds of Jenny Gunn for Beth Langston.The changes are overseen by the ECB and aimed at keeping a balance between the six sides, ahead of the third edition of the T20 competition. Each of the teams will still be able to recruit their own overseas players.”The latest player movements are to ensure the best balance between the six sides and to maintain a fair and competitive competition with the over-arching principle of trying to ensure a best versus best competition,” KSL general manager Jo Kirk said.”We want the KSL to continue to go from strength to strength in its third year. Attendances rose by 44% last year and we’re looking forward to even more fans attending games this summer, hopefully culminating in a sold-out Finals Day down in Hove.”This year’s KSL begins on July 22 and features an expanded group stage, with the teams now playing each other twice. The top three will then go on to Finals Day at Hove on Bank Holiday Monday, August 27.

Wrecker-in-chief Trent Boult, meanwhile, especially pleased with inswinger that accounted for Ben Stokes during epic collapse

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland22-Mar-2018England coach Trevor Bayliss admitted to being embarrassed by his side’s technical failings against a slightly swinging ball, which resulted in a collapse of such momentum that the team was unable to stop it.When the scoreboard read 23 for 8, the lowest total in Test history of 26 was under threat, until Craig Overton hauled them over that figure and beyond their own previous lowest in Tests of 45. England were skittled before lunch in 20.4 overs, in scenes reminiscent of their own dismantling of Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015.Trent Boult, who could barely keep the smile off his face in the post-day press conference, claimed career-best figures of 6 for 32 while Tim Southee bagged four – they were the only two bowlers needed to clean up a feeble England.”I thought we made a lot of mistakes today with our footwork,” Bayliss said. “The ball was swinging a little bit but when the ball’s full, it’s as simple as it gets, you’ve got to play forward. A lot of our guys were out today from behind the crease to fairly full balls.”We’ve been on the other side of scores like that and it’s euphoria. This is the opposite. Someone sneezes and the rest of the guys catch a cold don’t they? Everyone was making the same type of mistakes – feet not moving properly, decision making not as it normally is.”Someone makes a mistake at the top of the order and under pressure sometimes that happens. Unfortunately, today it was our turn. It wasn’t good enough.”Asked specifically if he was embarrassed by the capitulation, he said: “Certainly, and I probably wasn’t the only one in the England change-room either.”The slump started in the fifth over when Boult found Alastair Cook’s outside edge, and it didn’t stop. The last-wicket stand of 31 between Overton and James Anderson added more than the other nine combined.”Not in our wildest dreams did we think we’d win the toss and get them out in the first session. It was good fun,” Boult said. “To not let the foot off the throat and not let the pressure off them. I saw the scoreboard of 23 for 8 at one point, was pretty surreal.”While Bayliss had pinpointed failings against the swinging ball, the movement had been far from extravagant: for example, analysis by CricViz showed it was less than half the average amount of swing than had been on display during that 2015 Trent Bridge Test.”We just tried to pitch the ball up,” Boult said. “In all honesty, I don’t think it swung that much. The cliche of it just doing enough is what happened. It was nice to see a couple of nicks carry through but to disturb the woodwork, always a nice feeling as well.”Boult, who admitted to initially struggling to push the ball as full as he wanted due to the volume of white-ball cricket he has been playing, collected three of wickets by bowling batsmen, with the scalps of Joe Root and Ben Stokes, both beaten by inswingers, providing special satisfaction.”The ones when you are working towards a plan and it literally happens in front of your eyes is probably the best feeling,” he said. “Very good fun. To see the zinger [bails] light up put a smile on my face and it’s very satisfying.”But I don’t want to sit here and sound like I’m a magician of any sort. That one [Stokes] probably felt a bit better than the Joe Root one. One of those feelings, one of those days, one of those mornings… Just very cool to be out there.”

Their batting slumped after Kane Williamson’s half-century, but 151 was plenty for the best attack in the IPL

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu29-Apr-2018
5:47

Agarkar: Rahane’s lack of desperation proved costly

After Rajasthan Royals limited Sunrisers Hyderabad to 151 for 7 on a two-paced pitch in Jaipur, their debutant legspinner Ish Sodhi said the total was “a little under par”. Having successfully defended 118 and 132 in their previous two matches, however, Sunrisers had plenty to play with and strangled another chase after Royals had made a sound start. Their sixth win in eight games took Sunrisers to the top of the points table.The Sunrisers batsmen could have made their bowlers’ task a lot easier had they not collapsed after Kane Williamson’s masterful 63 off 43 balls, on a pitch where every other batsman struggled. Williamson had a control % of 100 against every Royals bowler except K Gowtham and Jofra Archer, who had combined figures of 8-0-44-5. Sunrisers lost 5 for 44 in the last seven overs of their innings.The Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane batted through the chase, but he never looked comfortable during his half-century. Royals needed 80 runs off 60 balls, and 50 from 30, but the acceleration never came. Basil Thampi recovered from an expensive first over to successfully defend 20 in the 20th.Old-school Williamson, all-new Hales?
With their attack performing so impressively, Sunrisers decided to forego a sixth regular bowling option – Mohammed Nabi – and bring in firepower at the top of the batting order: Alex Hales. But with the ball not coming on to the bat and Gowtham finding slow turn, Hales chose to bide his time.Dhawan looked to force the pace, though, and played-on to a non-turning ball from Gowtham for his third successive sub-15 score since returning from an elbow injury. Enter Williamson: the bad-pitch batsman. Some balls bounced chest high while others fizzed through around the knees. Williamson was reprieved on 11, when Archer found extra bounce and the outside edge, but Rahul Tripathi dropped another straightforward catch at slip. Williamson was ultimately dismissed on 63 by a shooter from Sodhi.In between, Williamson sussed out the conditions expertly. He swatted Sodhi’s googly to the midwicket boundary and then dismantled Jaydev Unadkat in the 12th over. Anticipating slower cutters from Unadkat, Williamson bent his back knee and laced a brace of boundaries over extra cover. The 21-run over also contained a dinky paddle and a streaky outside edge. The last ball – nurdled through midwicket – brought up a 32-ball fifty.Archer, Gowtham at it, again
Hales’ dismissal, however, sparked a collapse. Gowtham had Hales holing out to backward point for 45 off 39 balls, and in the next over, Sodhi had his New Zealand captain caught behind with a googly that kept low outside off. Archer then took care of the lower-middle order to dash Sunrisers’ hope of a recovery. He bowled Shakib Al Hasan with a pinpoint yorker before removing Yusuf Pathan and Rashid Khan with short balls. Sunrisers had looked good to push towards 180 at one stage, but fell well short.The awesome Sunrisers attack does it again
Bhuvneshwar Kumar not available? No problem. Sandeep Sharma found swing with the new ball to pin down the Royals openers Rahane and Rahul Tripathi, who was bowled for 4 by a skiddy delivery. The in-form Sanju Samson, however, lined up his Kerala team-mate Thampi and took 17 runs off the fourth over. Just when it looked like Samson could turn tables on the Sunrisers attack, Siddarth Kaul bowled a knuckle ball to have the batsman splicing a catch to short midwicket for 40 off 30 balls.With Thampi proving expensive, and with no Nabi or Deepak Hooda to go to, Williamson needed to find a couple of overs from somewhere, and so he gave Yusuf his first over of the season. With his second ball, Yusuf bowled Ben Stokes, and then Rashid Khan dismissed Jos Buttler for the third time in three T20s to leave Royals needing 56 off 36 balls with six wickets in hand.Sandeep, Rashid, and Kaul did not concede a boundary in the next three overs and the asking rate rose to 12. Rahane slog swept Rashid for a massive six over square leg, but that was the extent of acceleration from the Royals captain.The equation came down to 27 off 12 balls, and Kaul conceded only six in the 19th over because of some incredible catching and fielding. Manish Pandey leapt on the edge of the long-off boundary to catch the ball and drop it back into play before going over the rope, saving four runs. Then Wriddhiman Saha leapt high and to his left to catch an edge from Mahipal Lomror that otherwise might have gone for four. And then Shakib saved two runs on the sweeper boundary with some nifty footwork.With 20 to defend in the last over, Thampi conceded only nine, and while Rahane could not be dismissed he did not find a gear high enough to hurt Sunrisers.

Having cut salaries last year, a now-financially stable SLC has announced a raise of 34%, after posting profits of about USD 13.5 million last year

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-May-2018Having cut salaries last year, a now-financially stable SLC will return player payments to just above their previous levels. Some national players had had their earnings trimmed by as much as 30%, when SLC moved to a performance-based model of remuneration in 2017. But the board has now announced a raise of 34%, after posting profits of about USD 13.5 million last year. Match fees would also be increased for the 2018-19 season, an SLC release said.”Since SLC has made good financial gains during the concluded financial year, we thought it is appropriate to give a pay raise for the players,
as they are making a major contribution towards the growth of Sri Lanka cricket,” board president Thilanga Sumathipala said.Thirty-three top players have received contracts under the new pay scheme, with those players split into five tiers. The highest per-match earners will be ODI captain Angelo Mathews, Test captain Dinesh Chandimal, and seniors Rangana Herath, Dimuth Karunaratne and Suranga Lakmal, having received ‘Category A’ contracts. T20 captain Thisara Perera, meanwhile, has been awarded a third-tier ‘Category C’ contract.The notable exception from previous years’ contract list is Lasith Malinga, who has not been picked to play for Sri Lanka since September last year. Although he has repeatedly stated his availability for Sri Lanka, and has also played in domestic T20 competitions, the selectors, and now the board, have ignored him.Sixteen players, many of whom are either on the fringe of the national team, or even those being strongly considered for selection (such as Lahiru Thirimanne), have been included on the fifth tier of the list. Somewhat confusingly, this is called the “Premier Category”.

Contracts list

Category A: Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Rangana Herath, Dimuth Karunaratne, Suranga LakmalCategory B: Upul Tharanga, Dilruwan PereraCategory C: Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Dananjaya De Silva; Kusal Perera, Thisara
PereraCategory D: Akila Danajaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Asela Gunaratne, Danushka Gunathilaka, Nuwan PradeepPremier Category: Sadeera Samarawickrama, Roshen Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lahiru Gamage, Vishwa Fernando, Lakshan Sadakan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dasun Shanaka, Kaushal Silva, Shehan Madushanka, Lahiru Kumara, Malinda Pushpakumara, Amila Aponso, Wanidu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Dilshan Munaweera.

Clarke batted for over five hours to defy a Notts attack that was missing Stuart Broad, who didn’t return to the field for the last two sessions

ECB Reporters Network28-Jun-2018
ScorecardJoe Clarke’s third century of the season heroically salvaged a draw for Worcestershire on the final day of their pink ball County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.Clarke batted for over five hours to defy a Notts attack that was missing Stuart Broad, who didn’t return to the field for the last two sessions.Clarke finished with an unbeaten 177, made from 214 balls with 23 fours. He was supported in partnerships of over an hour by Ben Cox, Ross Whiteley and Ben Twohig, who made a career-best 35.Kevin Sharp, Worcestershire’s coach, said: “I spoke to Joe Root three years ago and told him he’d bat with a guy called Joe Clarke one day and I think that will happen. He’s a high class performer, you’ve seen that today.”Luke Fletcher, 3 for 54, and Harry Gurney, with 3 for 91, were the mainstays of the home attack.The visitors, who had been set the challenge of chasing down a victory target of 462 or, more realistically, batting through a minimum of 113 overs, resumed on 43 without loss at the start of the day.They added 17 runs from the first two overs but then lost Daryl Mitchell, tickling Gurney down the leg side to Tom Moores for 33.Martin Guptill fell into Nottinghamshire’s trap, when on 29, punching into the hands of silly mid-off to give young pace bowler Matt Milnes a maiden wicket on the ground.Moores left the field after being struck by a delivery from Luke Fletcher and handed over the gloves to Riki Wessels, who immediately pouched an edge off Tom Fell, from the bowling of Chris Nash.The fortunes of the game were never more closely magnified than in the early overs of the second session. Jake Libby, who scored a century in Nottinghamshire’s second innings, experienced the highs and lows of life within the space of a few minutes.Libby pulled off one of the most outstanding catches you could ever wish to see when he dived horizontally to take Brett D’Oliveira one-handed at backward point, off Gurney.The same bowler then thought he’d conjured up a repeat when the new arrival, Ben Cox, tamely chipped to the same fielder, who grassed a simple dolly.Like Nash on the first day, Clarke went into the tea break unbeaten on 99 but reached his 12th career hundred from 157 balls, soon afterwards.Whiteley’s rear-guard effort – 10 from 60 deliveries – came to an end when he nicked the new ball behind but Twohig, in only his third first-class match, came of age in the testing twilight conditions of the final hour.When he fell to Fletcher, with four overs remaining, hope briefly returned to home ranks but Charlie Morris flat-batted his way to the end.Although there was obvious disappointment in the home camp, Nottinghamshire reaped 12 points from the contest and remain second in the Division One table, 22 points behind leaders Surrey, having played a game more.Worcestershire remain bottom, with their nine points bringing them within 14 points of seventh-placed Yorkshire.

Adam Griffith will now serve in a dual capacity as head coach of Tasmania and Hurricanes

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2018Gary Kirsten has resigned as the coach of Hobart Hurricanes due to personal reasons after just one season with the Big Bash League club. Kirsten, who was appointed last year on a two-season contract, will be replaced by former fast bowler and current Tasmania coach Adam Griffith.”I have made a decision for a specific personal reason to resign from my role as head coach of the Hobart Hurricanes,” Kirsten said. “It is an unfortunate circumstance as I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the club.”Kirsten, who took over the role from Damien Wright, had a promising first season with the Hurricanes, taking them to the final after they had finished in the bottom half of table in the previous three seasons. Griffith was also a part of the Hurricanes side last season, as Kirsten’s assistant.”I have no doubt the team will once again be extremely competitive, and under Adam Griffith and George Bailey they will enjoy strong leadership,” Kirsten said. “I want to thank everyone involved on the Hurricanes Program for their support and hard work, and I wish the players well for the upcoming season.”Griffith, who is now the head coach of both the Tasmania-based men’s teams, said he would try to assume a balanced approach to keep both sides in sync.”It’s a big honour – even if a somewhat surprising one – to now become the BBL Hurricanes head coach, and caps off a pretty exciting last 14 months for me since joining the Tigers as their head coach in April last year,” Griffith said.”Now that I’m head coaching the bulk of both male squads year-round in Hobart, we can really grow some effective long-term plans and ‘mix and match’ our training for all T20, limited-overs and Shield four-day formats. We don’t just want to go one better than last season’s BBL final and Sheffield Shield final – we want to be finals bound every year with the Hurricanes and Tigers.”