George Bailey struck his maiden double-ton in first-class cricket but a strong reply from NSW meant the game in Wollongong looked to head for a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – George Bailey reached his first double-ton in first-class cricket moments before running out of partners in Tasmania’s 490•Getty Images

Captain George Bailey soared to a double-century in Tasmania’s first innings of 490 against New South Wales but the Blues top order responded in kind to lessen the chance of an outright result on the final day of the Sheffield Shield match in Wollongong.It was the allrounder Simon Milenko (87) who followed up his four wickets on day one with a staunch innings in support of Bailey, their seventh-wicket stand ultimately worth 185 and frustrating the NSW bowlers.Will Somerville was able to maintain his strong displays while Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon are unavailable due to their India exploits, claiming another five-wicket haul on a surface not as supportive of his art as the SCG had been against Queensland.Bailey finished on 200 not out, leaving NSW with 43 overs to face, and when Nick Larkin edged Sam Rainbird through to Tim Paine the Tigers had opened up an end. However Daniel Hughes and Ed Cowan strode comfortably to the close, cutting the visitors’ lead to 96 runs.

Nathan Lyon took four wickets after tea to prevent India from setting up a substantial first-innings lead, as the hosts finished the second day 52 runs behind with four wickets in hand

The Report by Daniel Brettig26-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:09

Chappell: India lacked proactivity against spin

Bounce giveth, and bounce taketh away. Nathan Lyon took his opportunity to use the extra vertical lift available in Dharamsala and work his way through India’s middle order, but a pair of dropped catches from Matt Renshaw at either end of the day prevented Australia from getting full reward from their toil on the second day of the fourth Test.

Five 50s, no 100s

• 5 Scores of 50-plus for KL Rahul in this series – the joint-most by an India batsman without scoring a century. Before this series, Rahul had converted four of his five fifties into centuries.

• 1316 Runs for Cheteshwar Pujara in Tests in the 2016-17 season – the second-most for any batsman in a season. The highest is Ricky Ponting’s 1483 in 2005-06. Pujara’s 12 50-plus scores in the season are also the joint second-most.

• 54 Runs for Karun Nair in four innings – with scores of 26, 0, 23 and 5 – since his unbeaten triple-century against England.

• 63 Wickets for Nathan Lyon against India – the joint second-most for any spinner. He is equalled with Lance Gibbs and trails Muttiah Muralitharan by 42 wickets.

• 10 India players to achieve the double of 1000-plus runs and 100-plus wickets in Tests. Ravindra Jadeja became the 10th to do so. He also completed 500 runs and 50 wickets in the 2016-17 season.

The pitch offered more bounce to the touring bowlers than at any other time in the series, while Dharamsala’s altitude helped the ball swing more or less all day. Lyon duly adjusted his approach to seek maximum overspin, and in a long spell after tea claimed four wickets to reduce India’s chances of building a substantial lead.It might have been even better for Australia, were it not for Renshaw at first slip failing to react in time to a KL Rahul edge while the ball was still new in the first hour, then making a mess of a more straightforward chance offered up by Wriddhiman Saha in Pat Cummins’ first over with the second new ball. Cummins’ anguished reaction underlined how hard he and Josh Hazlewood had toiled, in defence of a total that has left the game open to either side with three days remaining.Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara played India’s most substantial innings’, while the stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane offered an approach of polar opposites – attacking the pacemen and offering a dead bat to the spinners. Pujara had seemed capable of emulating his Ranchi effort, but fell prey to Lyon’s bounce shortly after tea as Australia’s No. 1 offspinner found lovely rhythm to pose questions to all comers.Hazlewood came exceptionally close to a wicket with his second ball of the day, when M Vijay’s checked drive fell fractionally short of David Warner at mid-off. It was not a moment representative of the rest of the morning, as the ball flew through to Matthew Wade with more venom that at any other time over these four Tests.Amid the occasional verbal barb from bowler to batsman, Vijay edged Hazlewood just short of Wade, before touching another delivery behind that carried rather more comfortably to present Australia with their first wicket. Next over, Renshaw was unable to get more than fingertips to a flying edge from Rahul.Nathan Lyon claimed four wickets after tea•Associated Press

There were more good deliveries to follow and scoring was slow, but Pujara and Rahul were happy to reach the break without further loss. They accelerated notably on resumption, threatening momentarily to take control of the game.Cummins was recalled to the attack to try to make something happen, and he obliged by getting at Rahul with a combination of short balls and verbal rejoinders. Eventually, Rahul was coaxed into trying a hook shot at a bouncer pitched well outside off stump, and the resulting toe-end miscue lobbed gently to an exultant David Warner.Runs became harder to come by after an initial burst from Rahane, as Lyon and Steve O’Keefe concentrated on economy. But only one chance of any sort was generated – an lbw appeal by Lyon against Rahane that was turned down by the umpire Ian Gould and not reviewed. Ball-tracking showed the delivery would have gone on to strike the top of leg stump but remained umpire’s call.Australia did not have long to wait in the evening session, however, as Lyon’s bite drew an inside edge onto pad from Pujara that was well held by Peter Handscomb diving forward from short leg. Karun Nair, never comfortable at the crease this series, fell in similar fashion albeit on the back foot rather than the front.Lyon’s attack on Rahane was fascinating, as he varied quicker, straighter deliveries threatening the outside edge with loopier stuff devised to spin and catch the inside edge. Ultimately, it was one of the former offerings that found the edge and was exceptionally taken by Smith at slip, just as Rahane and R Ashwin had been threatening to build a partnership of value.Ashwin had played his best innings of the series, but then failed to get forward far enough to avoid being given lbw by Gould. A review showed the ball had struck Ashwin marginally in line with the stumps and was going on to strike middle. Lyon’s first ball to Jadeja then turned and kicked, striking Wade in the shoulder.A pair of meaty blows from Jadeja in the thin Himalayan air were enough for Smith to call upon Cummins to take the second new ball, and an exploratory first five deliveries led to a perfectly-pitched sixth that Saha edged. It sailed at comfortable catching height to Renshaw, but bounced out of his hands. A pensive Australian viewing area were left to hope that this would not be a pivotal moment of the match and the series.

Ireland’s cricketers could be forgiven for feeling a touch over-familiar with their surroundings as they walk through the Long Room at Lord’s for the second ODI

After all, Tim Murtag

Andrew Miller01-May-20173:41

‘If I bowl to him, it’s another wicket’

Ireland may have been waiting a decade for an invite to play England in England, and on the sport’s grandest stage of all, but their cricketers could be forgiven for feeling a touch over-familiar with their surroundings as they walk through the Long Room at Lord’s for the second ODI of an historic maiden series.After all, Tim Murtagh, Ireland’s opening bowler, claimed 43 wickets at 28.53 in Middlesex’s Championship-winning campaign last summer. That haul included five in the title showdown against Yorkshire at Lord’s in September, when he was given special dispensation by Cricket Ireland to arrive late for their tour of South Africa.

Finn has point to prove in Ireland ODIs

Steven Finn says that he will use the two ODIs against Ireland to prove a point to England’s selectors after his omission from England’s squad for the Champions Trophy next month.
“These matches are an opportunity for me to remind England that I am still there and ready to go if they need me at any stage,” Finn said.
“I would rather just be part of an England squad full-time and know that I can focus my attention and energies on that, but at the moment I am in and out and that is something that just happens as you go through your career.
“I was hoping I would make the cut. I knew it would be a marginal call either way but I can’t sulk or be down about it, I just have to make sure that if I do get an opportunity through injury or a chance opens up, I have to make sure I am ready. That is my sole goal.”

In addition, a raft of senior Ireland batsmen have gained vital professional experience on Middlesex’s books. Among them Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie, Ed Joyce and, of course, the one who got away – England’s current ODI captain, Eoin Morgan, whose first proper airing on the world stage came during Ireland’s stunning run to the Super Eights at the 2007 World Cup.Whether such prior knowledge of the visitors has played any part in some impressive ticket sales for the Lord’s match in particular is a moot point – but something close to a 22,000 sell-out is anticipated, and there’s no question that the exploits of a formative generation of players has a lot to do with the interest in what may otherwise have been a slightly low-key opening to the English season.”The chance to play England at Lord’s is pretty special,” Murtagh said during a Royal London event in Belgravia. “I hope it will be an unusual Lord’s crowd, quite boisterous and getting behind us. Any time that ground is full, it is pretty special.”The fact that this is two games and not just one is great,” he added. “It’s recognition of Irish cricket, and the ECB have been supportive of Irish cricket over the last few years. They have spoken up for us at ICC board meetings, they are helping us develop, so it’s been a good relationship.”That bonhomie between boards hasn’t always been quite so apparent, however. In fact, the attitude of the previous ECB regime could be politely described as stand-offish. The two sides’ inaugural ODI encounter came more than a decade ago at Stormont in 2006 (when, as if to typify the prevailing attitude towards their international claims, Joyce was selected to make his debut … for England). But back then, and for the subsequent decade, their one-off biennial fixture was never much more than a sop, even after Ireland’s stunning victory in Bangalore during the 2011 World Cup.Tim Murtagh will be on familiar ground when Ireland play England at Lord’s this week•AFP

Times are, however, just threatening to change. Last week’s ICC board meeting in Dubai nudged Ireland one step closer to the holy grail of Test status, and while Warren Deutrom, their chief executive, hailed that prospect as “transformational”, Murtagh knows enough about cricket’s complex politics not to get his hopes up too soon.”All the noises are very positive and encouraging for us in terms of Test cricket,” he said. “But with the ICC you are never quite sure until everything has been finally agreed. They keep saying it will happen and then it gets put back to another meeting, so you are never quite sure. But it is definitely closer than it has ever been before and, if that happens, it will be a great opportunity to play Test cricket and grow the game in Ireland.”This is something we have worked hard towards in terms of setting up a first-class structure. We feel we are ready – obviously it’s going to be tough and results might not be what you would want initially, but that has happened to every Test nation that first comes into the Test arena. We are ready for it and looking forward to it.”The pity for Ireland, for all that this week is undoubtedly a cause for celebration, is that their England invitation has arrived at a time when they may struggle to match the standards that they have worked so hard to raise. The team that transformed the horizons for Irish cricket is beginning to drift apart, and in the wake of a chastening series loss to Afghanistan in March, Murtagh is realistic about the team’s current status.Steven Finn and Tim Murtagh, Middlesex team-mates, will be on opposing sides this week•Royal London

“There is a slight transitional phase for Irish cricket,” he said. “We lost some big players in the dressing room. Trent Johnson, who captained for a long time, was a very under-rated cricketer and a real driving force behind Irish cricket, and we’ve also lost John Mooney and Alex Cusack in the last few years.”We have some good younger guys – Craig Young, Peter Chase, up-and-coming young bowlers – but they are quite raw at the moment, so it is going to take them a bit of time to get up to speed. There’s definitely some exciting young players in Irish cricket, but the results in the last couple of years haven’t been as good as they were in the few years previously to that.”Nevertheless, the chance to take on England in a full series – not to mention New Zealand and Bangladesh in the forthcoming tri-series on home soil – is one that Ireland’s cricketers will gladly grasp, as they embark on yet another small step along the road to recognition.Steven Finn and Tim Murtagh were speaking on behalf of Royal London, proud sponsors of one-day cricket, ahead of the upcoming ODI matches against Ireland.

Mitchell Starc has said the Australian men’s team has not changed its position on the current MoU standoff, and will continue to back the Australian Cricketers’ Association to represent the players in negotiations with Cricket Australia

Melinda Farrell28-May-2017Mitchell Starc has said the Australian men’s team has not changed its position on the current MoU standoff, and will continue to back the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) to represent the players in negotiations with Cricket Australia (CA).The Australian team was briefed on the current situation by ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson in Birmingham on Sunday, ahead of their final warm-up match, against Pakistan, before the Champions Trophy. The tournament is the final competition the men’s team will play before the current MoU runs out at the end of June, and negotiations are at a stalemate with CA refusing the ACA’s request for independent mediation.Instead, CA High Performance General Manager Pat Howard has, for the second time, sent direct emails to several senior Australian players, including Mitchell Starc, captain Steven Smith and David Warner, in an attempt to circumvent the players’ union and deal directly with the players.But Starc confirmed that, following the meeting with Nicholson, the players remain united in backing the ACA. “Our stance hasn’t changed,” Starc said. “Our full support is still behind the ACA to get the outcome that the players are after, it’s all about getting a fair share, we’re not asking for more.”The men and the women are on the same page, we’re sticking strong together and that was pretty much the conversation we had today.”Starc suggested Howard’s efforts to deal directly with senior players would continue to be unsuccessful in the remaining weeks before the June 30 deadline. “They’ve got four weeks to go on the MoU,” he said. “The players are leaving it all to the ACA from our side of things and it’s up to Cricket Australia to sort that out with the ACA at the moment.”Starc and his team-mates must now attempt to put the dispute to one side as they concentrate on their Champions Trophy campaign, which begins with a highly anticipated match at Edgbaston against New Zealand, the team they defeated to win the 2015 World Cup.Australia won their first warm-up match against Sri Lanka at The Oval and will face a Pakistan side that conjured a remarkable victory over Bangladesh at Edgbaston on Saturday.For Starc, the final warm-up match marks his return to the side since suffering a stress fracture to his right foot during Australia’s Test tour of India and gives him a chance to “blow the cobwebs out” and become reacquainted with English conditions before the tournament begins. “It has all been in the nets for me in the last few weeks,” he said. “I’ve been over here for a week in the nets, being in Brisbane in the lead up to getting over to England, so coming off the foot injury I’m just looking forward to playing a game of cricket out in the middle again.”There’s only so much you can get out of nets sessions and centre-wicket sessions. It’s all about match fitness for me and getting some time in the legs.”I guess I know my role pretty comfortably in this set-up. It’s about bowling with the new ball, trying to swing it – more than likely bowling at the death – and then a few overs in the middle, so just getting out there and performing my role again. Obviously it’s a great chance to do that in a warm-up game, where there’s a little bit less pressure. We still want to win these warm-up games, but come Friday it’s when we hit crunch time.”

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2017
ScorecardRyan ten Doeschate produced the innings of the night•Getty Images

South African spin bowler Simon Harmer led a parsimonious attack in defending a total of 170 to give Essex their first win of the NatWest T20 Blast campaign.Harmer, who has taken the red-ball domestic cricket by storm with 47 Specsavers County Championship wickets to date, added three more white-ball victims to his tally as his 3 for 39 from four overs ended Essex’s two-defeat start to the campaign.It was a fine response by Essex as they recovered from the shock of losing Tamim Iqbal who had abruptly returned to Bangladesh after only one match in unexplained circumstances.Harmer was backed up by a fine spell by Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir, who posted outstanding figures of 1 for 17 from his 24 balls. Paul Walter took two wickets in the final over to finish with 3 for 28.Somerset were undone by two wickets in five balls by Harmer mid-innings and were unable to keep up with the required run rate, falling short by 22 runs.Essex had struggled to penetrate some outstanding Somerset fielding and were indebted to Ryan ten Doeschate’s 37-ball 56 and some lusty late hitting by Ashar Zaidi, who included three sixes in his 35, for setting what turned out to be a matchwinning total.Chasing 171, Somerset lost Johann Myburgh to a top-edge that lobbed to Harmer at backward point to give Jamie Porter his first T20 wicket.

‘I’d like to see top order get going’ – ten Doeschate

Ryan ten Doeschate (Essex captain):
“I’d like to see the top-order get going a little bit. It’s crucially important in T20 cricket. But we’ve relied heavily on the top three in the past – someone like Tom Westley has been leading run-scorer at the club for the last three or four years. It wasn’t a typical Chelmsford pitch – you couldn’t hit through the line easily – and the second half of the game with the ball was our best showing for a long time.”
Matt Maynard (Somerset director of cricket):
“This was probably the hardest game to try and get our batting form back. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about it. If you start doubting yourself then things creep into your game. If you see the ball in the right area you’ve just got to try and hit it out of the park. But, look, we’re two games in, Essex were in the same position as us before this game and there is a long way to go.”

Two wickets in the eighth over for Harmer knocked the stuffing out of Somerset’s reply after they had reached 47 for 1. He had Jim Allenby caught in the covers by ten Doeschate and Peter Trego pouched on the long-off boundary by Tom Westley.Steven Davies was next to go when he swished at a wide one down legside from Ravi Bopara and was caught behind. Suddenly Somerset were 58 for 4 and nine overs gone.Like Essex, Somerset were struggling to get the ball away on a slow pitch, but Adam Hose and James Hildreth tried the aerial route with straight sixes off Zaidi and Bopara respectively. But when Hildreth attempted to do the same to Harmer he was caught by ten Doeschate diving forward on the long-leg boundary for 27.Hose got a bottom edge to Amir to give James Foster his second catch behind and Lewis Gregory was caught behind for a belligerent 23 off 12 balls. But time and overs were running out for Somerset. They required 36 from 12 balls with Amir restricting them to just eight from the penultimate over.Craig Overton went for broke but was caught at cow corner by Dan Lawrence before Tim Groenewald was held by Zaidi to give Walter two wickets in the final over.Essex had looked in some trouble themselves from the start of their innings and were 36 for 3 in the sixth over after being put in.Lawrence started the rot when he lost his off-stump going for an ungainly heave against Gregory. He was followed swiftly by Varun Chopra who was reprieved by Hose’s dropped catch at deep mid-on, but next ball skied Craig Overton and Groenewald took the catch at short third man. And Westley departed when he played over a slower delivery from Groenewald.Bopara and ten Doeschate set about a repair job, turning singles into twos, with the captain upping the tempo with a straight six and a one-bounce four off successive balls from Roelof van der Merwe.Lewis Gregory celebrates an Essex wicket•Getty Images

But when the partnership had reached 50 inside six overs, Max Waller took a brilliant return catch low to his left to remove Bopara for 24.Essex became bogged down in the middle overs before Zaidi pulled Waller for successive sixes over the short midwicket boundary and out of the ground.Ten Doeschate hooked Overton for four before pushing a two into the on-side to reach fifty off 34 balls that included five fours and a six. But he departed in the penultimate over, caught on the long-off boundary by Overton diving forward.Zaidi launched his third six over midwicket in the same over, but was caught out of his ground for 35 when James Foster hit the ball straight back to van der Merwe who turned and removed the bails. But Essex’s total proved to be enough.

Bowlers dominated on a fluctuating first day at Arundel where Clint McKay’s four wickets gave Leicestershire hope that they can win their first game of the season

ECB Reporters Network05-Jul-2017
ScorecardBowlers dominated on a fluctuating first day at Arundel where Clint McKay’s four wickets gave Leicestershire hope that they can win their first game of the season in the Specsavers County Championship.The wholehearted Australian fast bowler picked up 4 for 59 in searing heat at Arundel as Sussex were bowled out for 262 and appeared to have squandered the advantage of winning the toss.But a two-paced pitch, which is expected to turn, gave seamers assistance all day and Sussex’s new ball pair Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer each picked up one of the Leicestershire openers as they closed on 77 for 2.It was a day to remember for Leicestershire’s 19-year-old debutant William Fazackerley. Guernsey-born but educated just down the road from Arundel at Lancing College, he claimed his maiden Championship wicket when he had Jordan lbw for 34.Jordan was one of several Sussex players who got starts without pushing on. Eight of their batsmen got to 20 but only South African Stiaan van Zyl, who top scored with 49, looked capable of dominating a persevering Leicestershire attack.Van Zyl shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 62 in 12 overs either side of lunch with Luke Wright, whose first scoring shot for the second successive game was a six.But from 138 for 4 Sussex lost three wickets adding 27 runs. Wright played on to Richard Jones for 25, van Zyl was lbw half-forward to McKay after hitting nine boundaries before skipper Ben Brown drove McKay’s slower ball to cover for 19.Jordan and leg-spinner Will Beer, who took 11 wickets at Arundel last month against South Africa A, put on 54 for the seventh wicket but Leicestershire wrapped up the innings with three wickets after tea, two of them to Matt Pillans.Earlier, Luke Wells had passed 700 Championship runs after being restored to the top of the order. The left-hander lost opening partner Chris Nash, who played on to McKay before Harry Finch fell for a golden duck shuffling in front to a ball from Jones which nipped back.Wells and van Zyl briefly prospered together, taking the score to 74 before Wells, who had struck eight fours in a fluent 42, was caught behind off Pillans.By then umpire Martin Saggers was on the pitch, his arrival having been delayed by traffic congestion. Martin Bodenham, who retired from the first-class list last season but lives in nearby Ferring, stood at square leg before Saggers arrived.

Edgbaston is due to lose the 2019 T20 final to Trent Bridge but they are eager for horse trading to retain the competition for good

George Dobell at Edgbaston02-Sep-2017Warwickshire hope to persuade the ECB to let them become the permanent home of T20 Finals Day.While Edgbaston has become the regular home of the event – it has been the scene for the last six finals day – in 2019 Trent Bridge is scheduled to be host.Edgbaston is already scheduled to host an Ashes Test and several World Cup games (including a semi-final) in 2019. Trent Bridge missed out on an Ashes Test and is scheduled to host only group games in the World Cup. The loss of Finals Day would undoubtedly dent their financial
plans.But Warwickshire argue that, if Edgbaston is to remain the ‘home’ of T20 Finals Day when the allocation for major matches from 2020 to 2024 is announced in early 2018, it might be considered unhelpful to divert the event for one year. It might also be relevant that, while a record
crowd of 24,432 attended Finals Day at Edgbaston on Saturday, Trent Bridge’s capacity is around 17,500.”As things stand, Trent Bridge will be staging T20 Finals Day in 2019,” Neil Snowball, the Warwickshire CEO, told ESPNcricinfo. “And there’s no doubt at all they would make a fine job of it.”But we have opened discussions with the ECB and Nottinghamshire making our case for the day to be reallocated.”If we are going to remain the home of T20 Finals day after 2020 – and we very much hope that is the case – then it might make sense to keep it at the same ground. People are used to coming here and we have a really good record of selling the event out.”Clearly Nottinghamshire aren’t going to be giving up the games without getting something else in return. And we don’t see any appropriate games we could swap with them. But our understanding is
that it may be possible they could be allocated something else by the ECB instead. Clearly if that is not the case then Notts will retain the allocation but we felt it was worth making our case.”The move may well reflect an ever more competitive climate in the market for the allocation of major matches. It is anticipated that, from 2020, there will be fewer Tests – it is likely there will be six
Tests, six ODIs and six IT20s per season – meaning Lord’s is unlikely to retain two Tests a year and the others will face a fight for regular Tests. The allocation for the 2023 Ashes might prove
particularly intriguing.

Star India’s strong presence in both television and digital spaces, as well as global markets, prompted the company to make a record-breaking bid for the IPL broadcast rights for the period 2018 to 2022

Arun Venugopal04-Sep-20172:19

‘India, cricket and IPL have changed dramatically in the last 10 years’ – Shankar

Star India’s strong presence in both television and digital spaces, as well as global markets, prompted the company to make a record-breaking bid for the IPL broadcast rights for the period 2018 to 2022. Star’s bid of INR 16,347.5 crore (US $2.55 billion) was the only global bid made on Monday in Mumbai and was nearly INR 528 crore (US $82.45 million) more than the combined value of the highest bids in each individual category.Star already owned both broadcast and digital rights for international cricket in India until March 2018, and broadcast rights to ICC’s global cricket tournaments till 2023, for which it paid about $ 1.9 billion.With the IPL deal – the biggest for cricket – Star, according to its CEO Uday Shankar, was equipped to create a “complete experience” for cricket fans.”As you can see from our bidding numbers, we made a conscious call that we will bid for the global rights,” Shankar said after the bids were disclosed by the BCCI. “We have significant presence in each of these three universes. We have a television presence in India, we have a very robust, very exciting digital platform in India, which we are rolling out across the world. And, our channels are globally distributed, so it made sense for us to make an attempt to win it for all the markets.”Star’s bids in the individual categories for Indian television and digital rights were much lower than those of its competitors. Star had bid INR 6196.94 crore for TV rights in India, and INR 1443 crore for digital. When asked for an explanation, Shankar said Star’s aim was to bag both categories.”Look, it is a matter of bidding strategy. It is also a matter of how each company evaluates each segment of the rights,” Shankar said. “Our view was that we will be able to create a complete experience for cricket fans if we had TV and digital both. And that is why we felt that we were going to make an attempt to get TV and digital both. Otherwise, we have lived without IPL and we were happy to live without IPL.”Star had already established its IPL presence through Hotstar, its online streaming platform, having paid INR 303 crore for digital rights from 2015-17. Shankar said Indian consumers had taken the world by surprise by warming up to the digital platform. While Facebook was the highest individual bidder – INR 3900 crore – for this cycle of digital rights in India, Airtel (INR 3280 crore), Jio (INR 3075.72) and Star (INR 1443) also put up sizeable bids.”Till a few years ago, India was characteristically dismissed as a country that was not broadband-ready,” Shankar said. “People said there was not enough broadband, the data was too expensive, there were not enough phones. It was still only a voice-only market. And then, in less than two years, it has emerged as one of the world’s most exciting markets for video consumption.”You should see the number of people who bid for digital rights and the number of people who took interest by buying the tender document. So, that should tell you the story. I think it can become a lot more exciting depending on how the data prices behave and how the availability and access to broadband and wifi continues to grow in this country. But if that happens, it will be one of the world’s most exciting digital markets.”Over the last three IPL seasons, Hotstar broadcast the matches with a five-minute delay. However, with Star now owning both television and digital rights, Shankar was asked if Hotstar would broadcast matches in real time. Shankar was non-committal and said Star would think about it in due course.

England made the most of the opportunity to bat first and set a target that was beyond Australia’s reach in a rain-affected match

The Report by Daniel Brettig29-Oct-2017
ScorecardGetty Images

Led firmly by the captain Heather Knight, England outmanoeuvred Australia in the third match of the women’s Ashes at Coffs Harbour to close the gap between the sides to just two points ahead of the Test match leg of the contest in North Sydney next week.Much as Australia had done in game two, England made the most of the opportunity to bat first and set the hosts a target beyond their reach, aided by a rain delay that reduced the pursuit by two overs and upset the momentum of the opener Alyssa Healy and Nicole Bolton when they were motoring along at better than a-run-a-ball.It was Knight who provided the spinal contribution of England’s innings, gliding to 88 from a mere 80 deliveries, aided by strong top-order contributions from Sarah Taylor and Tammy Beaumont, who lasted until the 36th over after losing her opening partner Lauren Winfield for a duck to Ellyse Perry with the new ball.Australia’s response began briskly through Healy and Bolton, but while they made it as far as the 22nd over in a stand of 118, England’s bowlers were able to peg back the run rate gradually after the rain delay, which then added pressure to the home side’s middle order once wickets began to fall. Alex Blackwell, playing a record 250th match for Australia, was left to try to mount a late pursuit but the requirement proved to be beyond her and the tail.On a sunny morning, Perry had given Australia the ideal start by pinning Lauren Winfield lbw with the last ball of the second over. But any hopes the captain Rachael Haynes had of inducing a rush of wickets were to be denied by Taylor and Beaumont, who set a terrific platform for the England middle order by adding 122.Their efforts ensured Knight could play with plenty of freedom by the time she made it to the middle, as Australia struggled to contain the scoring rate. Most of Knight’s runs came through deft placement and plenty of hustle between the wickets, but she also smote the only six of the innings. Beaumont’s equally important contribution was ended when a brilliant back-handed flick by Healy found her overbalancing out of the crease by a matter of centimetres.Australia needed a rapid start to their response, and were handed it by a proactive Healy in particular. But at 0 for 39 after 37 deliveries, heavy rain stopped play and revised Australia’s target to 278 from 48 overs via Duckworth Lewis Stern. While Healy and Bolton carried on strongly, they were unable to get ahead of the required rate. This meant that once Healy was taken in the outfield, when trying to loft Alex Hartley, there was immediate pressure to keep momentum ticking.Bolton was unable to bat through the innings as had seemed her intention, Perry made a start but could not go on to a truly influential score. Elyse Villani and then Haynes were both dismissed when trying to lift the rate by taking the aerial route to the boundary. Blackwell and the fit-again Ashleigh Gardner were left with primary responsibility to chase down the target, but the latter was unable to repeat her heroics from the first match as the asking rate continued to climb.While determined to take the game as deep as possible, Blackwell could not summon the big hits she needed, and Australia reached the final over needing no fewer than 31 to win. The vastly experienced Jenny Gunn was never likely to concede anywhere near that many, and after Blackwell’s exit there was time for a quicksilver Taylor stumping of Amanda-Jade Wellington before England were able to celebrate closing the gap on Australia.

B Indrajith and Washington Sundar led Tamil Nadu’s fightback against Mumbai, while Rajat Patidar and Harpreet Singh Bhatia shored up Madhya Pradesh against Tripura

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2017Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari (302*) slammed his maiden triple-hundred and propelled his team to 584 for 5, before declaring the innings against Odisha in Vizianagaram. Resuming on 278 for 2, Vihari put on a 208-run stand with Ricky Bhui (100) and deflated Odisha, who had to wait 43.3 overs for their first wicket of the day. During the course of his 456-ball knock, Vihari smashed 29 fours and two sixes and added 159 to his overnight score. This was Vihari’s 13th first-class ton and second consecutive score of 150 or more.Bhui, meanwhile, brought up his fourth first-class hundred before Odisha captain Govinda Poddar trapped him lbw in the 134th over. In the next over, seamer Suryakant Pradhan dismissed D Ravi Teja to pick up his second wicket, but nothing was going to stop Vihari’s march. Odisha suffered an early jolt in their first innings when left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt had opener Natraj Behera lbw in the fourth over. Sandeep Pattanaik and Poddar, however, ensured there was no further damage as Odisha went to stumps at 32 for 1.B Indrajith (105*) and Washington Sundar (69) mounted a rescue effort with a fifth-wicket partnership of 157 runs to lift Tamil Nadu from 69 for 4 to 239 for 5 by stumps against Mumbai. Indrajith’s sixth first-class hundred, which included 12 fours, stood out as much for its elegance as its risk-free nature. While he mostly preferred to hit down the ground, he wasn’t averse to playing the horizontal shots on either side. Giving him useful company was Sundar, who drove and cut confidently, and responded swiftly to his partner’s calls for tight singles. Sundar, however, fell with 6.2 overs left in the day, after a half-hearted pull off Dhawal Kulkarni found deep square leg.Mumbai had hit the ground running in the morning with some quick wickets after being bowled out for 374. Seamer Akash Parkar cleaned up captain Abhinav Mukund in the fourth over before M Vijay (11) was caught behind by left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil in the 11th over. Mumbai captain Aditya Tare juggled the ball on a few occasions before snaffling it.After Kaushik Gandhi fell three overs later, Vijay Shankar, who had recovered from an injury scare to pick up his fourth wicket in the morning, looked to have settled down in the company of Indrajith. However, he gave Gohil the charge in the 25th over and was stumped. Indrajith, though, remained steady and took Tamil Nadu to safety in the company of R Ashwin.A 62-run partnership between opener Bishal Ghosh (65) and Gurinder Singh, who smashed a 55-ball 57, helped Tripura finish on 220 against Madhya Pradesh in Agartala after tottering on 88 for 6 at one stage.Tripura’s bowlers then reduced Madhya Pradesh to 200 for 7 to set up an interesting battle for the first-innings lead. Ishwar Pandey and Ankit Sharma finished with three wickets each for Madhya Pradesh. In their reply, Madhya Pradesh got off to a shaky start, as they lost opener Wasim Ahmed and Shubham Sharma inside the first 10 overs. With Naman Ojha (8) and captain Devendra Bundela (3), too, falling cheaply, it was left to opener Rajat Patidar (79) and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (70) to resuscitate the innings with a 104-run alliance for the fifth wicket.However, Gurinder trapped Patidar in front with his left-arm spin in the 52nd over before Ankit Sharma and Bhatia were dismissed in quick succession.