A maiden first-class century from Rob Jones left Middlesex with work still to do if they are to seal the victory that would all but seal the Championship

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford14-Sep-2016
ScorecardRob Jones celebrates his maiden first-class hundred•Getty Images

On the day when a group of probably well-intentioned executives pondered changes which might push the County Championship to the back of domestic cricket’s broom cupboard, a 20-year-old batsman with a sound technique and guts to share showed why it should occupy a precious place on the game’s mantelpiece.It is doubtful whether many of those meeting at Lord’s this dreamily perfect Wednesday had a clue who Rob Jones was when they commenced their discussions. However, by the time they broke up in early afternoon at least four chief execs were surely keen to discover more about the 20-year-old makeshift opener whose maiden first-class century had frustrated Middlesex’s title ambitions and given a major fillip to Lancashire’s hopes of avoiding yet another demotion to the Second Division.Those hopes may yet be smashed. Having conceded a first-innings lead of 68, Middlesex’s curiously dozy batting in the evening session left them with a lead of just 140 and only six wickets in hand. Their best chance of winning the game – we can forget about a challenging declaration – may rest in their being bowled out for a modest score and Lancashire messing up a run chase when trapped between boldness and restraint. Such an outcome would leave James Franklin’s side at least 20 points clear of their two rivals.

Jones reflects on his maiden hundred

“Words can’t describe it, it’s so special. I can’t believe it, it’s a bit of a blur. My job now is to go again tomorrow! I’ll savour this, because it’s pretty special. The moment meant so much. I love playing for Lancashire, I really do. It’s a boyhood dream.
“This morning we spoke about trying to bat the whole day and grind it down. It was a tough ask to rebuild from 6 for 4 but I just stayed in my bubble, it didn’t matter how many balls I faced, just soak up the pressure.
“Dot balls are fine at that stage of the game and you have to keep soaking it up. I don’t know what I was thinking! You have to have a good attitude, a positive mindset, block but also put the bad ball away.”

Faced with vague threats, the blessed County Championship is producing a climax to cherish, one which illustrates both its complexity and fascination. If Middlesex lose, the top three teams in Division One would be covered by five points going into a final week of the season when two of them meet and the other wonders if this might be the best September anyone in Somerset can remember. We may find that we can place a value on a city franchise but you cannot put a price on the Championship.And as if to demonstrate cricket’s gloriously different tempi, a day which reached its climax with Jones’s six over long-on and a century celebration which would not shame an Oscar winner began as something of a slow burner.The morning’s cricket was very careful and quite marvellous. Needing 76 runs to avoid the follow-on when play began, Lancashire’s batsmen had scored all but ten of them in 33 overs before spectators were allowed to amble on the outfield in the lunch interval. Some people seemed to do nothing more purposeful at this time than stroll around, perhaps pondering that they would be granted this gentle privilege on only one more day this summer.But if Lancashire’s progress had been stately, its pace was unresented. Saving the follow-on is a serious business, even at times like these when it is unfashionable to enforce it. Yet there seemed little doubt that Franklin would have done so had his seamers enjoyed early success. Instead of that, though, they were met with bats both broad and straight as Jones and Liam Livingstone took the score to 138 – and their sixth-wicket partnership to 102 – before Livingstone’s unusually crooked stroke edged Steven Finn to Ollie Rayner’s safety-deposit hands.That wicket fell after an hour’s play and the very ball after Livingstone had reached his fifty off 117 balls. His was a fine innings because it was played under pressure and against type; moreover it helped Jones set a Lancastrian pattern characterised by stern resistance rather than supine decline.That theme was followed either side of lunch by Tom Bailey, who made 53 in 148 minutes during and put forward a fair case that his maiden first-class fifty might justify his being reclassified as a bowling allrounder. It was Bailey’s edge off Murtagh which saved the follow-on 11 overs after lunch, although by then he and Jones were batting so securely that Lancastrian goals were becoming more ambitious.Once the score reached 178, a brisk rate of scoring was added to simple crease occupation. Both Jones and Bailey looked to chip away at Middlesex’s lead and it came as a surprise when Finn had Bailey caught at slip before inflicting the same fate on Kyle Jarvis next ball. That threw Jones’s century into doubt but, on 94, the 20-year-old cast such doubts to the four winds in gloriously assertive fashion by whacking Rayner over long on. He had opted not to reach his goal in ones and twos.Jones’s haste was understandable. He had just lost Bailey and Jarvis and a few overs later he watched as Simon Kerrigan and Toby Lester fell in successive overs to Finn and Rayner. This left him as the youngest Lancastrian to carry his bat since Cyril Washbrook managed the feat against Worcestershire in 1935 – and on that occasion, Washbrook made just 49. But batting through an innings is all the sweeter when you have three figures against your name and Jones milked the moment for all it was worth. He watched as the ball cleared the fielder and then brandished his bat about six times. This is a cricketer who is so proud to represent his county that he walks round the dressing room wearing his Lancashire cap. It showed.Middlesex’s cricketers also showed what sort of people they are when Jones reached his century. A few minutes before that six Finn told him that he hoped he got to three figures because he deserved to do so; then when the brouhaha had died down, Rayner and his colleagues congratulated him. And all this respect was shown to a batsman whose innings may have denied Middlesex the Championship. This is still a lovely game.All the same, Middlesex’s frustrations on this last day were expressed in their batting during the evening session. Nick Gubbins edged Jarvis to Livingstone without scoring before Sam Robson, Nick Compton and Stevie Eskinazi all fell leg before to Kerrigan in the space of ten overs. If Middlesex are to win this title, they may need to regroup quickly.

Ahead of India’s home ODIs against New Zealand, captain MS Dhoni has said it is difficult to find players to slot into a finisher’s role

Arun Venugopal in Dharamsala15-Oct-20162:19

‘I can bat up the order in this team’ – Dhoni

Ahead of India’s home ODIs against New Zealand, captain MS Dhoni has said it is difficult to find players to slot into a finisher’s role. The nature of cricket in the subcontinent, he said, meant lower-order batsmen had few opportunities to get used to the pressure of finishing games.”You talked about [the examples of Jos] Buttler and [Glenn] Maxwell. You have to see consistent performances,” he said. “It [finishing] is one of the most difficult things to do in cricket. It’s not about six months or one year. You have to be used to that role and responsibility, and you have to have that self confidence to keep on doing what is required of you, usually over a period. Once you find a good finisher, they are the ones that will keep batting at that slot for 8-10 years.”I think one of the biggest challenge is that the cricket that we play in the subcontinent, more often than not, a finisher is someone who bats at 5, 6 7, to some extent, maybe No. 4. A lot of times in India, the lower order doesn’t get a chance to bat.Dhoni himself had made his reputation as a finisher but, with his striking power having dimmed over the last few years, he has indicated a preference for batting higher up the order; his reasoning is he can hold the innings together before hitting out in the end, while the batsman coming in at numbers 7 or 8 could go for the big hits from the start. He said the team management had identified a few players for the finisher’s spot, but refused to divulge their names so as to not put pressure on them.”It becomes more and more difficult for a youngster to come in and fill in that place. The reason being he may not get an opportunity, but you start counting opportunities – say if we are four or five down for 40 runs, it’ll be counted as a big opportunity by you. In 15-20 games, [the youngster] gets an opportunity like that and you expect the youngster to do well, score a 100-150; you say” ‘That was a perfect opportunity in front of you.'”Dhoni is averse to using the word “experimentation”, but with India having only eight ODIs to play before the 2017 Champions Trophy in England, he admitted to there being pressure to identify the best combination of players in a short span of time. When it was pointed out India had played 31 different players in ODIs since the World Cup 2015, Dhoni said that was a necessary exercise to look at new talent as well as rest key players.”Quite a few of them would have gone to Zimbabwe. All of a sudden, 14 or 15 were there and then a few injuries here and there… It’s not a realistic number but at the same time, there are a few individuals who we are very keen to see what they have on offer.”With the Indian team, it’s difficult to give chances, let’s be fair about it, because we have to win games while also looking at the process. So we try our best to do what is in favour of the result and the team at the same time. Now there’s slightly more pressure because we only have eight games. This is a season when we’ll play a lot of Test matches. It’s a different challenge, but we’re open [to experimenting] and we’ll use games in the best possible manner.”

Fast bowler Peter Siddle is set to make his return from an eight-month lay-off after being called into Victoria’s Matador Cup squad

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2016Fast bowler Peter Siddle is set to make his return from an eight-month lay-off after being called into Victoria’s Matador Cup squad. Siddle was originally not part of the Bushrangers’ 14-man group for the tournament but has now replaced fast bowler Matt Doric, and is expected to play in Thursday’s match against Tasmania at North Sydney Oval.Following Australia’s Test tour of New Zealand in February, Siddle was diagnosed with stress fractures in his back, and faced an indefinite period on the sidelines. He also had surgery on his ankle during the off-season, but has now been deemed fit to play in the remainder of the Matador Cup, having trained with Victoria for the past two months.”It’s really good to have someone of Peter’s experience and talent available to come into the squad at this important time of the tournament,” Victoria coach Andrew McDonald said. “He’s been travelling with the team so far this tournament and hasn’t missed a beat in training.”His progress in the nets has been impressive, and we’re happy to have him fit and firing. From Peter’s perspective, it’s obviously been a lengthy recovery period and he’s very keen to get back out there with his team-mates and he’s itching to play.”

Offspinner Sohag Gazi’s three-for and batsman Mohammad Mithun’s half-century were crucial to Rangpur Riders’ third win in BPL 2016-17

The Report by Mohammad Isam17-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Mithun’s 44-ball 62 contained six fours and two sixes•Raton Gomes

Offspinner Sohag Gazi struck twice with the new ball, and defended 19 off a frenetic last over, which included two run-outs and a wicket, to give Rangpur Riders their third win in BPL 2016-17. The result took Rangpur to six points, and helped them draw level with Barisal Bulls and Khulna Titans.The match swung from one end to another, before Gazi sealed the deal. Chasing 176, Barisal lost Dilshan Munaweera off the first ball, and soon became 48 for 3. But Jeevan Mendis and Nadif Chowdhury brought their team back into the game with a 74-run stand for the fourth wicket. Just as they threatened to cut loose, Nadif holed out to deep cover in the 16th over off Shahid Afridi.Mendis, having made 57 in his first BPL appearance this season, fell to the scoreboard pressure in the 18th over. The caught-behind decision was a dubious one, with replays showing no signs of an edge. Thisara Perera, however, gave Barisal hope by blasting Afridi for a huge six over long-on, where he was dropped the previous ball by Rubel Hossain. The equation was reduced to 29 off the last two overs.Rubel’s first ball of the 19th over – a full toss – was dispatched over square leg for a six, but he fought back with the wickets of Rayad Emrit and Abu Hider off successive balls. He ultimately gave away ten runs in that over, leaving Thisara and Kamrul Islam Rabbi needing 20 off the final over.Rabbi was run-out off the first ball, before Taijul Isam slammed Gazi over long-on for a six. But the bowler had him stumped off the next ball, Mohammad Shahzad completing his fifth dismissal, the most by a wicketkeeper in an innings in the BPL. Barisal’s innings ended in the next ball when Arafat Sunny did a Jonty Rhodes, running in and diving into the stumps to run Al-Amin out.Earlier, Gazi had impressed with the new ball too. He took a wicket in his first over for the third match in a row, this time Munaweera getting caught down the leg side for a duck. Gazi then dismissed Shahriar Nafees for 12. When Mushfiqur Rahim was undone by Liam Dawson, Barisal stumbled to 48 for 3. Then Mendis and Nadif joined forces to revive the chase.Nadif, playing his first innings in this season’s BPL, slammed Sachitra Senanayake for three sixes in the 14th over, which eventually yielded 24 runs. Mendis, who was reprieved on 42 by Arafat Sunny at deep square leg, went onto make his second T20 fifty, but it wasn’t enough.Having opted to bowl, Barisal dismissed Rangpur’s openers in five overs. Soumya Sarkar was the first to go, when Mushfiqur effected a cunning stumping, after he had hit Al-Amin Hossain for three consecutive fours. Shahzad did not last too long either, falling to a catch to short third man.Mohammad Mithun, though, hit rhythm with three boundaries in four balls, including a cover drive and a slog sweep. He dominated a 78-run stand for the third wicket with Dawson, who scored 46 off 36 balls, including three fours and a six.Mithun’s sixes came when he whipped Rabi over square leg and then blasted Mendis over cover. His knock ended when he was bowled by Thisara’s slower delivery for 62 in the 15th over. Afridi then smacked two sixes and a four in his 10-ball 22. Once he holed out to point off Thisara at the start of the 18th over, Rangpur added only 16 runs in 2.5 overs, but it didn’t cost them in the end.

Ireland’s woes in the T20 format continued as they were no match for the top-ranked Associate side, meandering to a total of 125 for 6 before Afghanistan coasted to victory

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi14-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:38

‘We didn’t feel like we were under pressure at any point’ – Rajput

Ireland’s woes in the T20 format continued as they were no match for the top-ranked Associate side, meandering to a total of 125 for 6 before Afghanistan coasted to victory with eight balls to spare.After electing to bat, Ireland got off to a promising start thanks to a typically belligerent Paul Stirling and a travel-weary Stuart Poynter, who arrived at 2am as an injury replacement after Stuart Thompson had a mishap at training on Friday afternoon. As was the case in the early match at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, the wind blowing southeast acted as a temptress which sucked Stirling into giving away his wicket, failing to get enough lift into a heave towards the midwicket rope.Once Stirling fell, Ireland’s middle-order struggled against the three-headed spin attack. The most potent threat among them was legspinner Rashid Khan, who had Kevin O’Brien playing down the wrong line before beating Gary Wilson’s attempted sweep for a pair of lbws. It left a long Ireland tail exposed with more than three overs to bat out and they barely managed to finish with a target of more than a run a ball.Afghanistan cruised through their Powerplay behind Mohammad Shahzad and Najeeb Tarakai but Ireland’s own new legspinning hope Jacob Mulder caused some problems by beating Shahzad in flight after a charge down the pitch before claiming Asghar Stanikzai with a slider two overs later. Tarakai was run out off Mulder’s bowling as pressure built slightly. But Mohammad Nabi ensured the match was never in doubt.Nemesis Nabi
The star allrounder made his impact felt with bat and ball in this contest to give Afghanistan a winning start to the tournament with a man-of-the-match display. With Ireland desperate to build confidence after entering this game, having lost 8 of their last 11 completed T20Is, Nabi broke the ominous opening stand with his second ball, teasing Poynter into playing across the line to a straight ball in the sixth over. He ended the 16th over by ending Greg Thompson’s laborious stay for 3 off 9 balls.With the bat, Nabi entered after Mulder had spooked the top order back into the pavilion at 81 for 3 in the 12th. Afghanistan remained ahead of the run-rate for most of his innings but, just when the slightest bit of pressure built with the rate climbing back over a run a ball in the 17th during Mulder’s last over, Nabi provided a release with a deflating heave over midwicket into the southeast stand for six. He clobbered Boyd Rankin for good measure in the following over for another six over midwicket, before tapping the winning single in the 19th over.Home away from home Afghanistan supporters began filing into the stadium during the second innings of Scotland’s victory over Hong Kong, more than two and a half hours before the first ball had been bowled by Fareed Ahmad to Stirling. By that stage, there were about 1500 inside the ground and, when the first wicket fell, that number had swelled to 4000. By the end of the first innings, almost the entire pavilion stand on the south side was filled.Though the atmosphere wasn’t quite as intense as the three finals played between these two sides at the World T20 Qualifiers in 2010, 2012 or 2013, it was still lively nonetheless. In the field, Rashid showed himself to be a fast-rising crowd favorite, getting arguably the loudest reaction when he first came on to bowl. But Nabi is especially beloved among the Afghan faithful and when he cranked sixes in back-to-back overs off Mulder and Rankin late in the chase, the south stand turned delirious.After the teams exchanged handshakes, the Afghanistan players walked from the east to the west, waving back to the crowd to show their appreciation, setting off a volley of mobile-phone camera flashes. UAE may be the official host side, but there is no disputing who has the true home advantage in this event.

Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, has pondered whether day-night Tests may need to be classified as a different format

Firdose Moonda08-Mar-2017Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, has suggested day-night Tests may need to be viewed as a different format if conditions vary significantly from the day game as New Zealand prepare to host their first pink-ball international next summer against England at Eden Park.In preparation, New Zealand’s domestic teams are playing the current round of Plunket Shield matches under lights this week – the first floodlit first-class cricket in the country – although poor weather is having a significant impact. Williamson, who was part of the inaugural day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide, is a fan of the concept but remains unsure if the red and pink ball behave too differently.”You can’t help but enjoy day-night Tests. Having played in the first one – it was a very cool thing to be a part of,” Williamson said ahead of the first Test against South Africa in Dunedin. “At the same time, it’s a fine balance with trying to keep the purity and tradition of Test cricket, which I think is very important”And if you are introducing another dynamic to a format that has relatively been untouched then it’s very important that it remains very similar in terms of the day game and the night game within the format. If you are making comparisons and there are ranking systems and a bunch of stats that people enjoy, then if the night format is harder or easier or whatever than the day one then it can be very difficult to make those comparisons with any real substance.”It’s important that they get that right. It’s an exciting space to pursue and they are doing it, which I think is great for the game and a lot of people are watching it, but it is important that they get it very closely linked.”In October, when Australia were preparing to play their second day-night Test against Pakistan, Usman Khawaja suggested day-night Tests should be categorised differently.”I would almost like to make pink-ball, day-night cricket a different sort of format on its own,” he said. “That way the players will start accepting it a bit more too, but right now we mix them together. It sort of blurs the lines for bowlers and batsmen because we really haven’t worked it out yet. But it’s a concept that I believe is really good for the game.”Khawaja went on to score 145 in the Adelaide Test and made no mention of whether he stood by his earlier statements in the aftermath. Now, Williamson has raised the subject again although it is unlikely to have any impact on the status of day-night Tests.Williamson is hopeful the format will continue to improve particularly with regards to the ball, which was first criticised for visibility issues with the seam and the speed at which it deteriorated but has since held up well in Tests in the Dubai, Adelaide and Brisbane. Although there are some concerns at domestic level, Williamson is confident the issues will continue to be addressed.”It will be interesting to hear back, what some of the feedback is from the Plunket Shield. Playing in that first pink-ball Test match, we knew there were a few things that needed to be improved on and one of those being the ball. I think they have made a few adjustments on that,” he said. “It was a great spectacle to be part of and it was a great crowd every day. There’s a lot of room for that innovation in the game.”

A round-up of the Group C games on the opening day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2017Fifties from Aditya Tare and Siddhesh Lad helped Mumbai recover from 85 for 4 and post 273, a total that proved 98 too many for Gujarat at Chepauk. Asked to bat, Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals before a 117-run fifth-wicket stand between Tare and Lad put them back on course. Tare’s 83 came off 81 balls and included 13 fours, and Lad struck 64 off 60 balls with two fours and five sixes. Chirag Parmar, on List A debut, took 4 for 42. In reply, Gujarat slid after an opening stand of 30 as they were bowled out for 175 in the 42nd over. Shivam Malhotra took three wickets.Shreevats Goswami anchored Bengal‘s successful chase of 226 with a 110-ball 66 against Andhra. Bengal won by four wickets with seven balls remaining. When Goswami was dismissed, Bengal still required 74 off 15 overs. They knocked off the runs with valuable contributions from Anustup Majumdar (46) and captain Monoj Tiwary (38). Bengal’s win, though, was set up by a strong bowling performance, as they restricted Andhra to 225 for 8. Dwaraka Ravi Teja top-scored with 43 off 69. Ashoke Dinda, Pragyan Ojha and Majumdar chipped in with two wickets each.Harpreet Singh’s unbeaten 45 steered Madhya Pradesh’s chase of 213 against Rajasthan. MP chased down the target with three wickets in hand and 60 balls to spare. After being asked to bat, Rajasthan slid to 212 all out as their batsmen could not convert their starts. Opening batsman Ashok Bhudania top-scored with 38, but ate up 87 balls in doing so. Pacers Puneet Datey and Chandrakant Sakure picked up three wickets each, with the former giving away just 25 runs in his 10 overs for his career-best returns. MP lost Mukul Raghav early in the chase, but partnerships of 89 between Rajat Patidar (38) and Naman Ojha (33) for the second wicket, and Harpreet and Anand Bais (20) for the fourth revived them. They lost wickets frequently after the two partnerships, but Harpreet held up his end, and in the company of Datey, saw the team through.

G Vivekanand has been elected president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, taking over from former offspinner Arshad Ayub; the results of the election were declared on Friday night

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2017G Vivekanand has been elected president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), taking over from former offspinner Arshad Ayub; the results of the election were declared on Friday night. The HCA is the one of the first state associations to conduct its elections as per the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.*

HCA’s newly-elected office bearers

President: G Vivekanand, secretary: T Seshnarayan, vice-president: Anil Kumar, joint-secretary: Ajmal Asad, treasurer: P Mahender, apex-council member: Hanumanth Reddy

Vivekanand, an industrialist and a former member of parliament, secured 136 votes to defeat his opponent Vidyut Jaisimha, who managed 69. T Seshnarayan was elected secretary unanimously.The elections were held on January 17, but the results were withheld following petitions that challenged the polls. According to the , the Hyderabad High Court dismissed the petitions and upheld the order of a civil court that had directed that the elections be held.The HCA has been under the scanner for a number of irregularities during the organisation of the one-off Test between India and Bangladesh in Hyderabad in February. The absence of transparent tender processes and issues with vendor contracts were among the problems highlighted by the BCCI observer Ratnakar Shetty. The state body was also rapped by the Deloitte audit report on Project Transformation, instituted by former BCCI president Shashank Manohar, for serious financial discrepancies.*13.45GMT, April 1: The article had erroneously stated that the HCA was the first state association to conduct elections as per the Lodha recommendations. This has been changed.

Dale Steyn will miss South Africa’s tour of England, which starts next week and ends in August, as he continues to recover from a shoulder surgery

Firdose Moonda14-May-2017Dale Steyn will miss South Africa’s tour of England, which starts next week and ends in August, as he continues to recover from a shoulder surgery. Steyn, who has been out of action since the Perth Test against Australia last November with a broken bone, was due to play in two four-day games for the South Africa A side in the UK, to put himself in line for Test selection. However, considering he is still undergoing rehabilitation, he has opted to withdraw from those matches.”My recovery is going well but it is taking a little longer than I expected it to,” Steyn said at the CSA Annual Awards Dinner on Saturday. “I am able to do a lot of things, like running, hiking and gym work, but bowling is not one of them, and I won’t be ready in time.”When Steyn was initially diagnosed, it was expected he would need at least six months on the sidelines, which could have put him in contention for the UK tour. Instead, he is now targeting the home series against Bangladesh in September-October to make an international comeback, but understands he will need game time before that if he is to make the squad.”Obviously, one of the reasons for me playing with the A side was so that I could get some match fitness before the Tests. So, before that Bangladesh series, I will need to play a bit,” Steyn said.South Africa A will play in a limited-overs tournament against India A and Australia A late in the winter, which could give Steyn his much-needed game time, but he has also not ruled out the possibility of a short county stint in order to get some overs in. “In a way it could be quite funny – South Africa will be playing a Test series in England and maybe at some ground down the road, Dale Steyn will be playing for another team,” he joked.Steyn could not put a timeline on when he will return to bowling but stated that he was not experiencing any pain in the shoulder when “doing normal things.” He is on an extensive rehabilitation program which runs five days a week and includes activities to strengthen the smaller muscles around the shoulder joint. His plan is to gradually work his way up to being able to return to bowling.”We have to understand that fast bowling is not something normal people do, so it’s going to take time. Normal people do things mostly below the shoulder line; it’s unusual to have something above the line except for things like bowling and tennis. I just have to be patient,” Steyn said.Despite Steyn’s absence, South Africa will still have what he considers a “very strong attack,” which will include the fit-again Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier and, possibly, Chris Morris or Wayne Parnell – or both, as they had in New Zealand. Philander is the only other injury concern – he sustained a groin injury while playing for Sussex earlier this month – but South Africa are hopeful he will be able to play a full part in the Test series.

Considering Afghanistan’s reputation as a formidable T20I unit, Carlos Brathwaite’s men will look to bring on their A-game to contend with the tourists

The Preview by Danyal Rasool01-Jun-2017

Match facts

June 2, 2017
Start time 19:30 local (23:30 GMT)Afghanistan will hope to extend their 11-match winning streak in T20Is•Associated Press

Big picture

For the West Indies, this series stacks up as Plan B, a convenient arrangement facilitated by their board considering they failed to make the cut for the ongoing Champions Trophy, a tournament to which only the top eight ODI teams were invited. A side that won the tournament when it was held in England 13 years ago, and reached the final of the following edition, West Indies found themselves locked out of the competition altogether, the first time one of the traditional top eight teams failed to qualify for an ICC world event.For Afghanistan, however, series don’t come much bigger than this. This is the first bilateral series they are playing against a Full Member that isn’t Pakistan, Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. They get the opportunity to tour a part of the world that will always be remembered for producing a cricketing generation that could stand up to the greatest sides in history. And, anyway, never mind nostalgia, for Afghanistan are playing a T20I series against the reigning world champions in the shortest format of the game.A sombre backdrop marks the beginning of the series for Afghanistan. The players will still be recovering emotionally from the horrific news of a bomb blast in Kabul that killed nearly 100 people and injured almost 500 more. This series might feel much less important back home than it did just a couple of days ago. However, cricket has been a welcome distraction for the Afghan fans ever since their side burst on to the scene, and in that role, this unique tale still has a role to play, and a void to fill.

Form guide

West Indies LWLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan WWWWW

In the spotlight

Carlos Brathwaite and Kieron Pollard might view this series as an opportunity to play themselves back into form. Considering how imposing the Afghanistan outfit can be in this format, both Brathwaite and Pollard will look to bring on their A-game. Furthermore, with the fifth edition of the Caribbean Premier League coming up, they hardly need extra motivation.Rashid Khan is arguably Afghanistan’s most valuable long-term asset. Still only 18, he has already played 50 limited-overs internationals, and his consistency earned him a contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, where he played all his side’s matches and picked up 17 wickets from 14 games. He was also instrumental in Afghanistan’s most famous win, a victory over West Indies in the World T20 in 2016, taking 2 for 26 in four overs. Off the only ball he faced, he smashed a six, and how many runs did Afghanistan win by? Six, of course. Given the enormity of his credentials in the shortest format, he could squeeze into most T20 sides in the world.

Team news

West Indies have included the 24-year old uncapped fast bowler from Guyana, Ronsford Beaton, in their 13-man squad. Beaton, who has scalped 31 wickets in 36 T20s, could be expected to feature in the playing XI at some stage in the series. Jason Holder, the ODI captain, has been rested.West Indies (possible) 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Chadwick Walton (wk), 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Keiron Pollard, 6 Jason Mohammed, 7 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Rovman Powell, 10 Samuel Badree, 11 Kesrick WilliamsAfghanistan’s squad is a mix of experience and youth, and one of their key objectives in this series will be to gauge the performance of the younger crop of players as pioneers like Mohammad Nabi and Asghar Stanikzai begin to transition into the latter stages of their careers.Afghanistan squad 1 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 2 Amir Hamza, 3 Dawlat Zadran, 4 Fareed Ahmad, 5 Gulbadin Naib, 6 Javed Ahmadi, 7 Karim Janat, 8 Mohammad Nabi, 9 Najibullah Zadran, 10 Noor Ali Zadran, 11 Rashid Khan, 12 Samiullah Shenwari, 13 Shafiqullah (wk), 14 Shapoor Zadran, 15 Usman Ghani, 16 Afsar Zazai, 17 Naveen-ul-Haq, 18 Sharafuddin Ashraf

Pitch and conditions

Warner Park has been used sparingly for international cricket since it was inaugurated in 2006; it has hosted only 22 men’s international games. The pitch is expected to take turn, which should play to both sides’ strengths. There is a small chance of rain, but a full game is expected.

Stats and trivia

• Afghanistan were the only side to beat West Indies at the 2016 World T20 in India, where Darren Sammy’s team went on to win the tournament.
• Warner Park has hosted only one completed T20 international, with West Indies beating Bangladesh by five wickets in 2009. Another T20I, between the same sides five years later, was washed out after 4.4 overs.