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England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell were unable to provide a suitable
celebration of a major date in Warwickshire’s history as they went down to
Northamptonshire by five wickets in their final Clydesdale Bank 40 fixture at
Edgbaston

29-Aug-2011
Scorecard
England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell were unable to provide a suitable
celebration of a major date in Warwickshire’s history as they went down to
Northamptonshire by five wickets in their final Clydesdale Bank 40 fixture at
Edgbaston.One hundred years to the day since clinching their first County Championship –
with a win against Northants – they slumped to their fifth defeat in the last
six matches in a limp defence of last year’s title.Trott was out second ball, leg-before for nought, in the opening over from Dave
Burton and the 26-year-old London-born paceman also dismissed Bell for 26 as
Warwickshire were bowled out for 145. Even this lightweight target was no gift for Northamptonshire on the pitch that was used for the Friends Life t20 finals day at the weekend, but their much-changed side got home with 52 balls to spare.Alex Wakely (34) and David Willey (23) gave the visitors a strong start but
loan signing Chris Wright split the openers before Rikki Clarke drove a hole in
the top order.His fourth ball took the inside edge of Wakely’s bat for a catch behind the
wicket and his second over began with an lbw decision against David Sales and a
comfortable chance to point from Niall O’Brien.At 65 for four, and with Rob Newton unable to bat after injuring an arm while
fielding, Northamptonshire could easily have caved in but new signing Kyle
Coetzer and captain Andrew Hall responded with a stand of 58.Although Clarke completed a one-day best return of four for 28 by bowling Hall
for 24, Coetzer finished the job with the highest score of the match, an
unbeaten 54 from 64 balls, completed by the winning six off Neil Carter.The entire Warwickshire innings contained only nine fours and one six, which
was hit over mid-wicket by Ateeq Javid in making a top score of 34. Burton, a journeyman now with his third first-class county, made a spectacular start when Trott and Carter missed straight balls.Bell initially looked a class apart but after picking off four boundaries, he
also fell to Burton. His lofted drive looped high over mid-off where Sam Sweeney
ran back and held the catch as the ball dropped over his shoulder.Burton had three wickets for 12 runs from his first 26 balls and
Northamptonshire were able to shackle the middle order as the spin pair, Tom
Brett and Wakely, combined for three wickets and got through their 16 overs for
51 runs. Brett, a 21-year-old slow left-armer, had William Porterfield taken at extra
cover for 30 and all-rounder Hall (two for 14) wrapped up the innings in the
39th over by bowling Javid.

A preview to USA’s next major assignment as they gear up for the WCL Division Four and tougher challenges ahead

Peter Della Penna11-Aug-2010On Saturday USA will begin the next chapter in their journey to rise from the lower levels of the game as they try to advance through World Cricket League Division Four in Italy and on to Division Three next January in Hong Kong.Six years have passed since USA played against Australia and New Zealand in the Champions Trophy. It will be five more before they can dream of visiting both countries for the 2015 ICC World Cup. Reaching that goal would be heaven for USA as they continue to make progress on the field since returning from the netherworld of ICC suspension, which was lifted in 2008.One step in the right direction was a runner-up finish in February’s WCL Division Five in Nepal. In a must-win game against Nepal in the final round-robin match of the event, USA’s fast bowlers came through in the clutch on a flat track to lay the foundation for victory by five wickets, clinching a berth in Division Four. It was a huge psychological hurdle to clear after stumbling at the same event in Jersey two years earlier.Much of the squad believed that the competition in Division Five was much stiffer than what they would potentially face in Division Four. Considering the fact that two of their opponents in this tournament, Argentina and Cayman Islands, have routinely been whipping boys for USA in ICC Americas competitions, it’s easy to see why. True to form, USA pasted Argentina by 119 runs in May behind tons from Orlando Baker and Aditya Thyagarajan. Six days later against Cayman Islands, they notched a 10-wicket win with Sushil Nadkarni scoring an unbeaten 54-ball century.Taking into account that USA defeated Jersey in Nepal by 66 runs, and Jersey finished unbeaten at the ICC European Championship Division One last month in which Italy finished last, USA aren’t exactly quaking in their boots thinking about facing the hosts. Tanzania lost twice to Italy at home in the WCL Division Four in 2008. All things considered USA should see themselves as clear favorites to dominate in Bologna.The first match against Nepal will be the biggest challenge. Nepal has the talent to defeat USA and did so in a rematch for the title at Division Five on the back of left-arm spinner Rahul Vishwakarma’s seven-wicket haul. However, much of Nepal’s spin-friendly attack will be neutralized on the artificial wickets that this tournament will be played on.

Key players

• Aditya Thyagarajan: A middle-order batsman who thrives under pressure, he is skilled at taking USA to safety after a top-order collapse. Score a career-high 159 vs. Argentina in May.

• Lennox Cush: An attacking offspinner, he returns to play for USA after leading the wicket-takers list in the Caribbean T20 for his native Guyana.

• Sushil Nadkarni: USA’s destroyer at the top of the order, the vice-captain is 100% fit after recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

• Steven Taylor: The 16-year-old is the only American-born player in the squad. He captained USA’s U-15 team last year and is viewed as a player for the future.

• Rashard Marshall: Absolutely electric at the crease and in the field, he has the ability to clear the ropes as soon as he takes guard.

USA’s players have vast experience playing on artificial wickets which are standard fare at most clubs throughout America. If USA lose that first game, the pressure will be on to run the table for the rest of the tournament in order to book a ticket to Hong Kong.Another reason Nepal won that second match against USA in February was because they had fresh legs. USA’s average age at that tournament was pushing 32. They seemed to have learnt the lesson by blooding younger players at the ICC Americas Division One in Bermuda and two of those debutants have retained their places for Italy: 23 year-old fast bowler Adrian Gordon and 20 year-old offspinner Muhammad Ghous, who was also a member of USA’s Under-19 World Cup campaign in New Zealand. They have helped bring USA’s average age down to 30 for this tournament. Meanwhile, Nepal’s squad will enter with an average age of 23. It will be intriguing to see who wins the battle of youth vs. experience in the opening match.The player with the most experience for USA is leg-spinner Nasir “Charlie” Javed. His controversial selection was met with scorn by many fans last month due to his position as a South East Region representative on the USACA Board of Directors in addition to the fact that he is 44. At the ICC Trophy in Canada in 2001, Javed tied for 12th in the wickets column with 14 in nine games at 22.21. The last time he played for USA, he collected three wickets in five games at an average of 32.66 in the 2008 ICC Americas Division One in Florida. Much attention will be paid to his contribution to USA’s cause in Italy.Javed and captain Steve Massiah are the only two players remaining from the Champions Trophy back in 2004. Massiah is dedicated to making sure it won’t be his last competition against Full Member teams before his career is through. The journey for him and the rest of the squad, to qualify for the 2015 ICC World Cup, continues this weekend.

Webster posted his fifth century in his last 22 Shield innings to put his name up in lights

Alex Malcolm10-Oct-2024The Sheffield Shield’s leading allrounder Beau Webster has produced a timely century while Brad Hope posted his second Shield ton as Tasmania batted the entire third day against Victoria at the Junction Oval.Tasmania piled up 527 for 9 on a turgid surface to take a 99-run lead into the final day with Jordan Silk making 84 and No. 9 Kieran Elliott also making his highest first-class score of 63. But the surface is offering very little for the bowlers and it will be difficult for either side to produce a result.On a day when news emerged that Australia’s Test allrounder Cameron Green is facing a grim diagnosis on his injured back, Webster put his name up in lights scoring 113 to start the new Shield season as he finished the last. It was his 12th first-class century and his fifth in his last 22 Shield innings. He has averaged 69.94 in that time and made six other half-centuries including an unbeaten 97. Last summer he became only the second player behind Garry Sobers to score more than 900 runs and take more than 30 wickets in a single Shield season.But these runs came in a game where both sides have piled up more than 428 in their first innings and only 18 wickets have fallen in three days. Webster wasn’t getting too carried away given how placid the pitch is.”It’s a nice one to cash in on,” Webster said post play. “I’m batting well. I feel like I’ve been batting really well for 18 months now, and I’ve got a routine down pat. Whatever the conditions offer, I feel like I’ve got a game plan that can have some success.”He did note, however, that the media speculation surrounding Green was hard to shut out.”It’s hard to ignore,” Webster said. “It sits everywhere, all through the media, whether he’s going to bowl or not, or bat or not, or surgery and things like that. But there’s a lot of other good allrounders around the country, and lot of allrounders that have had good performances in the last 12 months. Hopefully I can just keep doing what I’m doing and if they see something they like, and I get an opportunity, I’ll jump at it and grab it with both hands hopefully. But not reading too much into it though.”Silk played with typical class and composure in a 149-run stand with Webster before Hope then cashed in.Hope made an unbeaten century as Victoria tried everything to find a wicket. Having removed Silk and Webster with two excellent deliveries from Sam Elliott and Fergus O’Neill respectively there was precious little support from the surface otherwise. At one stage late in the day, O’Neill bowled with the keeper up and eight catchers in front of square on either side of the pitch with a sole fine leg.Hope and Tasmania No. 9 Kieran Elliott shared a 127-run stand in the afternoon to take the score beyond 500 as Victoria took a third new ball. The partnership was finally broken by the new ball as Hope edged behind for 111. Elliott fell shortly after for 63.

Australia coach wants all Test series to have a minimum of three games to “show the importance of Test cricket to every nation”

Andrew McGlashan02-Aug-2023Australia coach Andrew McDonald has called for all Test series to be a minimum of three matches in order to show a commitment to the format.His comments came in the aftermath of the gripping 2-2 Ashes draw, which saw Australia retain the urn but England bounce back from defeats in the opening two matches.McDonald is not a fan of the two-match series, which is the minimum requirement for those played under the World Test Championship, and is usually the maximum length for a series outside of those involving at least one of Australia, England and India.Related

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• Ball change had 'a significant bearing' on Oval result, says McDonald

• Is this Ashes up there with 2005?

• Australia take home the mace and the urn, but no gold star

Ashes series remain over five matches while the Border-Gavaskar contest will expand to that number when India tour Australia in 2024-25, and McDonald would like to see an additional game added to other series too.”I’d encourage that the minimum number of Tests against a nation should be three,” he said. “I think two-Test-match series should be put on the back burner and that would show the importance of Test cricket to every nation if it was a minimum of three Test matches.”Australia’s next home season will feature a three-match series against Pakistan and two matches against West Indies before a tour of New Zealand that also features two Tests.McDonald was also asked about the potential for Ashes series to be played over six Tests, as they have been at previous times in history, given that Australia and England had both played that number of games over the last two months, with respective matches against India and Ireland.He quipped at whether England had been asked their views, referencing their stances on various issues about how the game might be played, but acknowledged scheduling would be a challenge.”Did you ask that question to England, because they’re usually the ones that are I suppose forecasting what the rules should be going forward in the laws of the game,” he said. “I think a six-Test-match series, now that we’ve had a drawn series, it’s like the two-Test series against certain nations when it ends up one-all you walk away from that thinking ‘geez, what about another one’.”I don’t know where it fits, though. I think that’s probably a question for [ICC’s] Geoff Allardice and Wasim Khan.”1:43

McGlashan: Bazball puts oppositions under such pressure

When pushed to reflect on the drawn Ashes and the gripping nature of the series, McDonald acknowledged it had been fantastic viewing even though Australia had been unable to turn their 2-0 lead into a first series win in England since 2001.”There was two contrasting styles coming in and it just shows you that you don’t have to play one way in Test-match cricket. And I think that was captivating for most people on the outside,” he said. “Even if it was 3-1 and we’d won that, or it was 3-1 to England, the whole way that both teams went about it – Pat [Cummins] leading our side, Ben [Stokes] leading England, the way the teams prepared and went about their work – [they] had some key decision to make in selection, it all meshed into this weird and wonderful series. It was fascinating.”The series was played to full houses throughout and though those crowds were, as would be expected, massively in favour of England, McDonald understood that the support for Test cricket could only be a good thing.”You love seeing people line up the gates, and you get to the ground in the morning and there’s just a murmur, there’s a buzz,” he said. “And they’re keen to go and watch a Test match. To me, that’s really important for the landscape of Test-match cricket.”It was exciting, and there were a lot of English supporters who said well done and congratulations, so I think it captivated a nation. I think it captivated our nation as well, and I think that’s a real positive thing for Test cricket.”

Northamptonshire seamers keep it tight at start of Warwickshire reply

ECB Reporters Network27-Jun-2022Oliver Hannon-Dalby celebrated 250 career first-class wickets as he ran through Northamptonshire’s lower order on day two of this LV= Insurance County Championship game at Northampton.In a miserly four-over spell, Hannon-Dalby claimed four victims for just five runs as Northamptonshire added 31 runs to their overnight total to close on 451 all out. The 33-year-old-seamer is now the second leading wicket-taker in Division One with 29 scalps, just behind Keith Barker’s 32.But despite his efforts Warwickshire still face a tough task in this game after some highly disciplined Northamptonshire bowling restricted scoring to just 1.8 an over with only two boundaries coming in the first 25 overs of the visitors’ reply.Alex Davies looked to regain the initiative with some lusty blows but Jack White soon ended the resistance when he trapped him leg before for 31. Dom Sibley was still there at the close unbeaten on 30 as Warwickshire ended the day on 71 for 1, still a mammoth 380 behind.Play did not start until 3.10pm after heavy rain but Hannon-Dalby struck immediately with the second ball of the day. Tom Taylor became his 250th victim when he was caught behind playing an expansive shot.In his next over Hannon-Dalby picked up Lewis McManus in similar fashion, to give Warwickshire keeper Michael Burgess his 100th career dismissal.Ben Sanderson was greeted with some short stuff from Nathan McAndrew but responded by hooking him twice to the boundary and then punching him through the covers for four more before he edged Hannon-Dalby to Sibley at first slip.Simon Kerrigan, who was struck on the helmet trying to take evasive action to a short ball from McAndrew, hit the same bowler through midwicket and cover to take Northamptonshire past 450. But Hannon-Dalby ended proceedings soon afterwards by knocking White’s stumps out of the ground.Northamptonshire’s seamers Sanderson, White, Taylor and Luke Procter found plenty of movement on offer to beat the bat and keep openers Davies and Sibley contained. There were few signs of aggression and any attempts to find the boundary were hampered by some ill-timed shots. Just two balls crossed the ropes in the first 25 overs with Northamptonshire turning the screw further with four consecutive maidens.Davies had a reprieve when he offered a sharp return catch but Taylor could not quite hold on in his follow-through. Davies started to find his groove against Procter, dispatching him for three boundaries in two overs including an imperious drive down the ground, before White trapped him lbw for 31 with Warwickshire on 53 for 1 in the 28th over.Chris Benjamin nicked his first ball from White but the ball bounced just in front of first slip. He remained 8 not out with Sibley as the day ended in bright sunshine.

After historic victory, West Indies coach says he’s “tired of these one wins and then struggling for the next three or four games”

Mohammad Isam08-Feb-2021West Indies coach Phil Simmons says he wants his side to keep up the intensity after a win so that it doesn’t become a solitary highlight in the Test series against Bangladesh. West Indies took a 1-0 lead after their historic three-wicket victory in Chattogram, with the second and final Test to be played in Dhaka from Thursday.”I am tired of these one wins and then struggling for the next three or four games,” Simmons said. “We need to improve on some things and continue the intensity in our preparation. We have to make sure we don’t go backwards again. We are trying hard to put things in place so that we don’t go in that direction.”West Indies have won just 12 Tests in the last five years, which includes just two Test series wins: 2-0 against Bangladesh in 2018 and 2-1 against England in 2019 – both at home. In as many as six series, they ended up winning only a solitary Test against teams like Pakistan, England, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The most recent such occurrence came in England in 2020, where despite taking a 1-0 lead in Southampton, they lost the series 2-1.Related

• West Indies stretch lead despite wobble after Rahkeem Cornwall five-for

• Nkrumah Bonner's 74* leads West Indies' fightback on a slow day

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• Mayers' knock brings father Shirley Clarke to tears

• Five reasons WI's Chattogram win is one of their greatest

Simmons, who is in his second spell as West Indies coach, said he was looking forward to seeing a better opening partnership and more consistency from the spinners. “I think one of the areas [of concern] is we haven’t had an opening partnership of note. It would be nice to get a big opening partnership to set up how things go with the other batsmen,” he added.”I don’t think our spinners were as consistent as they can be. They bowled well but there’s room for improvement in our bowling. I think we 90% nailed down how our field placing will be for different batters but we have to be consistent. More than likely, Dhaka is going to spin more than Chattogram.”Simmons said West Indies’ improved self-belief came to the fore during the two critical partnerships in the game. During the first innings, Jermaine Blackwood and Joshua Da Silva put on 99 runs for the sixth wicket that took them past the follow-on mark. The second innings then featured a 216-run stand between debutants Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner, the pair taking West Indies to the doorstep of an unlikely victory while chasing 395.”The main thing is trusting our ability,” Simmons stressed. “I will highlight the partnerships in the first innings between Blackwood and Da Silva. A lot of pressure was put on us in that partnership, and they trusted themselves to come out of it.”In the second innings, there was a lot of pressure on Mayers and Bonner. They also trusted their ability and believed in themselves. It is the biggest takeaway from this [game]. In the time of challenges during the innings, they trusted their ability and fought through it.”Simmons hailed Mayers for his double-century, but also reminded him that come the Dhaka Test, he would have to make a fresh start. “I think the last time [a West Indies batsman made a double-century on debut] was Lawrence Rowe. It is an amazing feat,” he said. “It is all right to do it in the first innings, but to have the temperament in taking us to winning the game made it extra special.”It is in the history books. You don’t start from 210, you start from zero,” Simmons cautioned. “I know people will forget his double-hundred by the time the next Test is finished. You have to start from zero and do everything you did two days before the game. Most cricketers will know to start over. Sometimes we get into this hype when we have done well. Over the next few days, we have to get back down to earth and know that the game starts from zero again.”Simmons also said that Bonner’s 86 was crucial to setting up the West Indies win, but he would have liked to see him get the extra 14 runs.
“I think he played a special innings too. I am disappointed he didn’t get a hundred,” Simmons said. “The way he batted, he deserved one. I am sure that will come if he continues to play this way. The partnership is what matters.”Kyle may have scored a double-hundred but Bonner’s partnership with him is what set things up. The fact that we didn’t lose a wicket in the first two sessions gave us that push. We were the only team that could win the game.”

Out-going England coach questions ‘whether the county game is producing the players we need’

George Dobell18-Sep-2019Trevor Bayliss believes a reduction in the number of first-class counties could help England bridge the “huge gap” between county and international cricket.Victory at The Oval ensured England maintained their unbeaten home series record in Test cricket under Bayliss’ five seasons as head coach, though he will probably be remembered best for coaching the side to their maiden World Cup victory earlier in the year.But in a wide-ranging exit interview with ESPNcricinfo, Bayliss has questioned “whether the county game is producing the players we need” and suggested a reduction in the number of teams from 18 to ten in a bid to improve the quality of competition. He also feels the quality of county pitches must improve if developing players are going to be given the best opportunity to prepare for the higher level.”You have to ask whether the county game is producing the players we need,” Bayliss said. “Is the competition underneath [the England team] doing the job it should be? There’s a huge gap between county and international cricket. Huge.”Again and again, we’ve picked the best players in the county game. And again and again, they’ve found the gap too large to bridge. Our top players come back from county cricket and they’re not complimentary about the standard. They don’t think it helps prepare them for international cricket.”The pitches are soft and damp. So bowlers get far too much assistance and batsmen don’t get into the habit of building long innings. Those same bowlers then come into Test cricket and they find the pitches do almost nothing and the ball won’t swing round corners. And the batsmen find the pace of the Test bowlers a shock.”If you had better pitches – pitches that offered less to bowlers – you might start to see some fast bowlers developing. You might see more spinners developing. You might even see some better slip catchers because I think the big problem in English cricket is concentration. Players have forgotten how to concentrate for long periods of time. They just don’t have to do it at county level.”I’m not criticising groundsmen. They have a tough job, because there’s too much cricket and the Championship starts in early April.”But no one seems to want to get their head down and guts out a score. The attitude seems to be, ‘I’d best get on with it before an impossible ball comes along.’ But maybe that’s partly because society has changed. Everything is quicker now.”The ECB and the counties have to pull in the same direction. There has to be a collaborative approach ensuring that England is at the heart of it. Ultimately, a successful England team, across all formats, will naturally benefit the game at county level and even have a positive impact on grassroots.”I think there are too many teams. If you had fewer – maybe ten – the best players would be in competition against each other more often and the standard would rise. I think you’d see tougher cricketers develop. Cricketers who are better prepared for the Test game.Bayliss also expressed his incredulity over counties offering stints to overseas players who will, later in the same season, use that experience in Test series against England. Marnus Labuschagne, for example, prepared for the Ashes by representing Glamorgan and adapted to conditions so well that he finished the series as Australia’s second-highest run scorer.”I find it incredible that Marnus Labuschagne, Peter Siddle, Cameron Bancroft, James Pattinson and the like are invited over to play county cricket ahead of an Ashes series,” he says. “There’s no way Australia would allow England players to acclimatise in the Shield ahead of an Ashes series. And quite right, too. I think the ECB should have a look at that.Bayliss he suggested there should be more knockout cricket at age-group level to help prepare players for high-intensity moments in the professional game. “Australian cricketers are tough and robust. They come up through a system which prepared them for Test cricket. From age-group cricket into club and Grade cricket, they play semi-finals and finals. So they get used to played knock-out cricket. They get used to playing under pressure. I think England could do with more of that.Read the full interview here

Liam Livingstone’s 49-ball hundred lifted Lancashire;s mood after defeat against Worcestershire 24 hours earlier

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2018
ScorecardLiam Livingstone demolished the Derbyshire Falcons with a brilliant century off 49 balls as Lancashire Lightning bounced back in style with a nine wicket victory in the Vitality T20 Blast at Derby.After Thursday’s defeat to Worcestershire Rapids, the Lightning needed to respond and they delivered by restricting the Falcons to 161 for 4 before Livingstone and Alex Davies surged towards the finishing line on a tide of boundaries.Wayne Madsen made an unbeaten 76 from 49 balls and Calum Macleod 44 on his debut but the Lightning bowled well with Toby Lester taking 1 for 10 in his first T20 appearance as the visitors won with 33 balls to spare.The Falcons struggled from the start, losing a wicket after being put in to the fourth ball of the innings when Ben Slater was run out by a direct hit from Steven Croft at point and Matt Critchley went three overs later when he drove Lester to extra cover.

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Lester showed good control and although MacLeod marked his first appearance for the Falcons by driving Jordan Clark into the seats at the City End, the home side were in need of acceleration at 62 for 2 after 10 overs.Madsen scored four 50’s in last season’s Blast and he twice drove Matt Parkinson down the ground for boundaries before pulling James Faulkner just past a fielder at deep backward square for another four.MacLeod swept Livingstone to the fine leg boundary and the Lightning’s ground fielding was starting to look ragged as the third wicket pair moved through the gears.But when Macleod tried to cut Jordan Clark and was caught behind in the 15th over, the Lightning reeled the Falcons back in with only 27 runs coming from four overs.Madsen broke free by cutting Clark over the wicketkeeper for six and Alex Hughes pulled his first ball from Faulkner for six as 30 came from the last two overs.Livingstone launched the chase by driving Wahib Riaz into the sightscreen and Davies pulled Lockie Ferguson for four before driving Wayne Madsen over long off for six.The Lightning’s skipper cut and pulled Ravi Rampaul for boundaries and the game was running away from the Falcons as Livingstone and Davies plundered 17 from Hardus Viljoen’s first over.Livingstone reached 50 off 28 balls and celebrated by driving and pulling Critchley for consecutive sixes as the Lightning passed 100 in only the ninth over.Davies reached 50 off 35 balls before Livingstone smashed Viljoen for three sixes to complete a superb century and although he was caught at slip in the 15th over after smashing nine fours and seven sixes, the game had long been over as a contest

They have a squad studded with the biggest names, but they will need to do much more than they did last year if they are to declare their season a success

Deivarayan Muthu04-Apr-20175:02

Agarkar: Pune need Stokes’ bowling to fire

Likely first XI

Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Faf du Plessis, Steven Smith (capt), Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Shardul Thakur, Ankit Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Imran Tahir

Reserves

Batsmen – Usman Khawaja, B Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Manoj TiwaryBowlers – Ishwar Pandey, Saurabh Kumar, Adam Zampa, Jaskaran Singh, Deepak Chahar, Jaydev Unadkat, Lockie Ferguson, Rahul ChaharAllrounders – Dan Christian, Rahul Tripathi, Milind Tandon

Strengths

They have arguably the best batsman in the world, the best finisher, and the best allrounder. Smith, Dhoni and Stokes form the crux of a robust middle order that is capable of blitzing targets as well as accumulating scores. Then there is the legspinner Tahir, the current No. 1 bowler in T20 cricket, who was rather surprisingly overlooked at the auction in February. Zampa was the surprise package in IPL 2016, peeling off 12 wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 6.76, and he enters this season with an enhanced reputation after productive stints with the Australian team and Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL. He could even jostle Tahir out of the playing XI should Supergiant opt to play just one spinner.

Weaknesses

No less than six Supergiant players – du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Smith, Mitchell Marsh, M Ashwin and Deepak Chahar – suffered injuries in 2016 with all four overseas names pulling out midway through the last season. They have now lost R Ashwin and Marsh even before the start of this season. Sports hernia has stripped Supergiant of their only frontline offspinner while their two left-arm fingerspinners, Ankit and Saurabh, lack T20 experience – the latter is yet to play an IPL match. Supergiant’s worries extend to their seam attack too. Thakur, who was acquired from Kings XI Punjab, might feel the aftereffects of a long domestic season as the IPL wears on: he bowled 417.3 overs across formats – the second-most by a seamer. Unadkat and Pandey are similar bowlers to RP Singh and Ishant Sharma, who were released from the squad.Dan Christian was on fire at the BBL but will he be able to overturn an otherwise lacklustre IPL career with a new franchise?•Getty Images

Where they finished in 2016, and what’s different this year?

Seventh. They were the first side to be knocked out last season.For starters, the management has changed the team’s name from Rising Pune Supergiants to Rising Pune Supergiant, and made Smith captain in place of Dhoni on the eve of the auction. Having released Thisara Perera, Albie Morkel and Irfan Pathan from the squad, Supergiant then splurged INR 14.5 crore (approximately USD 2.16 million) on Stokes, making him the most expensive overseas player ever bought at an IPL auction. They also spent a crore on Victoria and Hobart Hurricanes allrounder Dan Christian, who might be thrust into the spotlight when Stokes takes up national duty. That Supergiant shelled out millions for just two players meant they could not bid more aggressively for fast bowlers like T Natarajan and Basil Thampi. As a result, the seam attack remains largely unchanged. The top order, though, has been bolstered by the acquisition of Agarwal from Delhi Daredevils.

What have their players been up to?

• Stokes was distraught after being hit for four successive sixes in final in Kolkata last year, but a brutal fifty and the wicket of Virat Kohli, which helped England sew up a high-scoring thriller this year, came as a soothing balm. His hit-the-deck bustle challenged India in the limited-overs series before he showed innings-building skills while scoring a fifty against West Indies in Antigua.
• Christian had a fruitful BBL season with the Hurricanes, performing the dual role of taking wickets and curbing the run rate. He claimed nine wickets, including 5 for 14, the third-best figures in the history of the BBL. His batting wasn’t as sparkly in the tournament, but when Christian hits the ball, it stays hit. Case in point: this 117m monster at – or – the Gabba in 2015. On the flip side, Christian has struggled in the IPL, managing only 341 runs in 22 innings for Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore at a strike rate of 116.78.
• Dhoni smashed a half-century in his most recent T20I, then led Jharkhand to the semi-final of the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. He finished as his state’s second-highest scorer with 330 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of nearly 100.

Overseas-player availability

Stokes will be available to the franchise for the entire group stage, before returning to England on May 14 to prepare for three ODIs against South Africa in late May that serve as a warm-up for the Champions Trophy. Tearaway quick Lockie Ferguson will be with Supergiant until May 10, before linking up with New Zealand for a tri-series against hosts Ireland and Bangladesh.

Home and away record in 2016

Supergiant fared equally badly both at home and on the road. They were swept clean at the MCA Stadium in Pune, before they won two out of three games in their second home in Visakhapatnam and avoided a bottom-place finish. They also won three away matches, all while chasing.

Poll

India Women have retained the squad that won a historic T20 series against Australia recently for the Women’s World Twenty20 which starts in India from March 15

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2016India Women have retained the squad that won a historic T20I series against Australia recently for the Women’s World Twenty20 which starts in India from March 15. The team will be captained by Mithali Raj.In January, the 15-member squad, led by Raj, had achieved their first bilateral series win over Australia Women in any format, claiming the three-match series 2-1. This included a record chase of 141 – their highest ever in a T20 international – in the first match of the series in Adelaide.India are in Group B of the 10-team Women’s World T20, along with England, West Indies, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The hosts will kick off their tournament against Bangladesh Women on March 15 in Bangalore.India Women’s squad for World T20: Mithali Raj (capt), Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy, Harmanpreet Kaur, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sushma Verma, Poonam Yadav, Vellaswamy Vanitha, Anuja Patil, Ekta Bisht, Thirush Kamini, Deepti Sharma, Niranjana Nagarajan.