Cricket Banter

^Only thr third player in Test history to do so after Jim Laker & Anil Kumble - a very exclusive list I'd say

IND v NZ 2nd Test Mumbai Day 3 Close
IND 325 & 276-7 dec Mayank 62 Pujara 47 Gill 47 Axar 41 no Kohli 36 Ajaz 4-106
NZ 62 & 140-5 (45 overs)
NZ target 540mitchell 60 Nicholls 36 no Ashwin 3-27
New Zealand trail India by 400 runs

^^ New Zealand didn't put up much resistance on day 4, Nicholls (44) & Ravindra (18) extended the overnight score to 162, but then lost their last 5 wickets for 5 runs. Jayant Yadav took 4-49 & Ashwin chipped in with the other wicket (4-34), giving India a 372 run win.

The Abu Dhabi T10 was won by Deccan Gladiators (159-0) by 56 runs over Dehli Bulls (103-7) , Andre Russell (90 no)dominated an unbroken 1st wicket stand with TKC (59 no), Dre Russ made his runs from 32 balls.
Earlier on Saturday, the 3rd place Playoff was a much closer affair, with a tied match between Team Abu Dhabi (98-5) & Bangla Tiger (98-6).
With 3 required from the final ball, Qais Ahmed was run out going for the 3rd. His team, the Bangla Tigers finished below Team Abu Dhabi in the group stages, so the 3rd place was awarded to them. Given this fact, you could say it was a waste of time playing this decider, but at least it was an exciting match.
Surprisingly there has been a number of close matches in this League. The players involved are a mixed bunch. Don't laugh at this observation, but I get the impression that there are a few that are getting too old to manage a T20 game, but 2 overs of bowling & 10 overs of batting or fielding is doablle at 40+ so Gayle & Tahir can extend their careers a little longer. Ex-England stars Luke Wright & Bopara also featured, the bowlers had mixed fortunes with pace generally fairing better than spin. Rashid had his moments of brilliance, & got slogged on other occasions. The under-rated Benny Howells was effective at times with his variations, but the pace Tymal Mills provided a real threat.
As you would expect in this format, our batsmen had more success. Phil Salt continued to impress, as did Livingstone, along with Tom Kohler-Cadmore & Moen Ali.
The worse aspect of this comp was the fielding, & in particular the catching. But the floodlights seem inadequate by todays standards. & we saw similar issues at this venue in the T20 World Cup. It's not as if the region is short of money.
Next year a new UAE T20 League will be launched,, with Man U owners Glazer family acquiring one of the six franchises, after an unsuccessful attempt to bid for an IPL team as it is set to expand from 8 to 10 teams.

Bangladesh v Pakistan 2nd Test Dhaka Day 4
Pakistan 300-4 dec (98.3 overs) Babar 76 Axhar Ali 56 Rizwan 53 no Fawad Alam 50 no Taijul Islam 2-73
Bangladesh 87 (32 overs) Shakib 33 Shanto 30 Sajid Khan 8-42 & f/o 205 (84.4 overs) Shakib 63 Rahim 48 Das 45 Sajid Khan 4-86 Afridi 2-31 Hasan Ali 2-37
Pakistan won by an innings & 6 runs

Pakistan V West Indies 1st T20I Karachi
WI won the toss & elected to field
Pakistan 144-3 (16 overs) Rizwan 78 Haider 52 no Shepherd 2-23

Pakistan v West Indies 1st T20I Karachi
WI won the toss & elected to field
Pakistan 200-6 (20 overs) Rizwan 78 Haider 68 Nawaz 30 no Shepherd 2-43
WI 137 all out (19 overs) Hope 31 Mohammad Wasim 4-40 Shadab Khan 3-17
Pakistan won by 63 runs

The 2nd edition of the Lanka Premier League, T20 comp has live coverage on Sky channel 422 - FreeSports. todays fixture is the Dambulla Giants, with Phil Salt, vs Jaffna Kings, with Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
Samit Patel has been playing for the Galle gladiators, & Tom Banton is in the Columbo Stars squad.
Interestingly, Banton withdrew from the current Big Bash in Australia, due to concerns over bubble-fatigue, & quarantine rules, but has also been in the Abu Dhabi T10 as well as Sri Lanka.

There have been reports of 2 Sri Lanka Cricket groundstaff at Hambantota, being killed in an elephant attack, close to the stadium.

Pakistan V West Indies 2nd T20I Karachi
Pakistan won the toss & elected to bat
Pakistan 172-8 Rizwan 38 Iftikhar Ahmed 32 Haider Ali 31 Shadab Khan 28 no Smith 2-24
West Indies 163 King 67 Shepherd 35 no Pooran 26 Mohammad Wasim 2-39 Mohammad Nawaz 2-36 Afridi 3- 26 Rauf 2-42
Pakistan won by 9 runs

3rd T20! Karachi
West Indies won the toss & elected to bat
WI 207-3 Pooran 64 Brooks 49 King 43 Darren Bravo 34 no Mohammad Wasim 2-44
Pakistan 208-3 (18.5 overs) Rizwan 87 Babar 79
Pakistan won by 7 wickets