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Multan Sultans’ 163 proved too much for Lahore Qalandars, who lost by 28 runs

Danyal Rasool23-Feb-2022Lahore Qalandars might have beaten them in the group stages, but Multan Sultans showed why they won the other nine, squeezing out a gritty 28-run win over the home side to book their place in their second successive final. An unbeaten 42-ball 65 from Rilee Rossouw on a pitch that proved especially tricky to bat on helped the Sultans post 163, which in hindsight was a better total than it appeared at the time. The bowlers picked up the mantle from thereon, a disciplined showing as a unit withstanding an onslaught from Fakhar Zaman that threatened to throw the Sultans at the mercy of Friday’s eliminator. Once the in-form opener was trapped in front by David Willey for 63 off 45, the Qalandars middle and lower order crumbled, and the relentless defending champions closed the game out with comfort.After the Qalandars won the toss and opted to field, Mohammad Rizwan carried his bat, though failed to find his rhythm all innings in a scratchy – albeit unbeaten – 51-ball 53. It might be the surface, but the Qalandars were especially parsimonious, with Hafeez allowing just 16 runs in his four overs, while Shaheen Afridi and Samit Patel kept things tight up top. The dangerous Shan Masood was trapped in front off Hafeez’s first ball, and the surface, combined with a nervy abundance of caution from the defending champions saw them restrained for much of the innings.The Sultans had been dealt a huge blow after Tim David was ruled out with a positive Covid test, and Aamer Azmat was promoted to No. 3 after the early dismissal. His intentions were clear straight away, taking a couple of boundaries off Shaheen Afridi’s second over, taking control while Rizwan took his time to bed in. By the time he fell, looking to take on Samit Patel and finding himself out of his crease, he’d struck a crisp 22-ball 33, and the Sultans had a platform.With Khushdil Shah and Johnson Charles waiting in the dugout, there was perhaps a case for Rizwan throwing caution to the wind, but the decisive moves were made by Rossouw down the other end. Even the South African didn’t quite find his timing early on, managing 28 off his first 22, but pushed through the gears in the final six overs. A key 18th-over onslaught against Haris Rauf, where Rossouw smashed a four and six, brought up a 33-ball half-century, and that the Sultans plundered 83 off the last eight overs was almost solely down to the left-hander.For the last two games on the trot, Qalandars had fallen short chasing what seemed like low totals, and they began extremely cautiously once more. Unlike those occasions, however, Fakhar didn’t give his wicket away early, though on a pitch where bowlers were hard to get away, the rising asking rate remained a perennial concern. Asif Afridi cleaned Abdullah Shafique up and Kamran Ghulam felt chancing his luck on a risky single. Khushdil, who has been a revelation with the ball this season, then trapped Mohammad Hafeez for a three-ball duck the following over. By the halfway stage, the Qalandars had shuffled along to 59 for 3, with the asking rate already in double digits.Fakhar’s presence at the crease provided the most realistic source of hope to a near-capacity crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium, and in the 12th over against the wily old Imran Tahir, the left-hander made his move. Three successive sixes – the third a monstrous strike into the second tier – suddenly reminded the Sultans the game wasn’t over, and from under a run-a-ball, Fakhar was all of a sudden bringing up a 37-ball 50.But Sultans’ varied slew of bowlers know what it takes to chip away, and chip away they did. Shahnawaz Dahani, who’s purple patch last year has been replaced by occasional patches of form this time, struck Harry Brook in front of the stumps and removed the man who’s scored one of this season’s three PSL hundreds. But it was Willey who truly put the nail in the home side’s coffin when he trapped Fakhar lbw. It was one of two key wickets in a three-over spell from the Englishman, and finally broke Qalandars’ back.What followed was a blur of Sultans’ dominance as Shaheen Afridi’s side collapsed in on themselves. They would lose six wickets for 26 runs as the lower order offered no resistance, with Dahani, who finished with three wickets, the pick of the bunch. Lahore may get another bite at the cherry, but the home side are now one game away from watching their dream of an elusive PSL title go up in smoke once again. The embers, this time, were lit by the irrepressible defending champions, who remain on fire, with every side clueless as to how to put it out.

The sentence is of two years, with one year suspended

Mohammad Isam and Nagraj Gollapudi29-Oct-2019Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s Test and T20I captain, has been banned by the ICC from all cricket for two years, with one year of that sentence suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code.

What rule did Shakib violate?

The most basic form of offence for failing the report an approach is covered under 2.4.4 of the ACU code. It says: “Failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.”
The reason behind reporting any approach promptly and quickly is because any delay can hamper investigations.
“It is acknowledged that the assessment of whether there had been ‘unnecessary delay’ in each case will depend on its own circumstances, but it is always unacceptable (and will therefore constitute ‘unnecessary delay’) for a Participant to wait until after the match in respect of which he/she was invited to engage in Corrupt Conduct before reporting that approach to the ACU,” the ICC code says.
What is the sanction?
A minimum of six months and a maximum of five years.

His offences related to two tournaments in 2018: an ODI tri-series in January, also involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and one match in the IPL, where he was a player with Sunrisers Hyderabad.Shakib, 32, is Bangladesh’s leading current cricketer and among their all-time greats. He is currently at No. 3, No. 1 and No. 2 in the ICC allrounders’ rankings for Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively, and is also a valuable member of the various T20 franchises he is part of across the world.He will be free to resume international cricket on October 29, 2020, subject to his satisfying the conditions in respect of the suspended part of the sanction. He is likely to miss most – or all – of next year’s headline event, the World T20 in Australia, which runs from October 18 to November 15.ALSO READ – ‘Do we work in this or I wait til the IPL’ – Bookie to Shakib
The ICC charged Shakib under Article 2.4.4, for failure to report two approaches to engage in corrupt conduct during the tri-series and for failure to disclose full details of any approaches or invitations he received to engage in corrupt conduct in relation to the Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab match in IPL 2018 on April 26, 2018.In order to avoid the one-year suspended sentence coming into effect, Shakib must not commit any offence under the ACU code during the initial one-year suspension, and participate regularly in anti-corruption education and/or rehabilitation programmes.The ICC’s case revolved around a series of messages exchanged between Shakib and the alleged corruptor Deepak Aggarwal, and Shakib’s failure to report “not one but three approaches” – as the ICC put it – by him. Those approaches, and Shakib’s failures to report, occurred over a period of several months.The approaches made to Shakib were “clear in their content and intent”, the ICC said; it was clear to Shakib that Aggarwal’s intention was to obtain inside information to use for betting purposes. It also noted that Shakib was an experienced international cricketer fully aware of his responsibilities under the ICC’s code of conduct and, additionally, he was captain of his national side.The ICC said that Shakib had accepted the charges and agreed to the sanction in lieu of an anti-corruption tribunal hearing.”I am obviously extremely sad to have been banned from the game I love, but I completely accept my sanction for not reporting the approaches,” an ICC statement quoted him as saying. “The ICC ACU is reliant on players to play a central part in the fight against corruption and I didn’t do my duty in this instance.”Alex Marshall, ICC’s general manager – integrity, said, “Shakib Al Hasan is a highly experienced international cricketer. He has attended many education sessions and knows his obligations under the Code. He should have reported each of these approaches. Shakib has accepted his errors and cooperated fully with the investigation.”BCB President Nazmul Hassan said Shakib first told him about the case two or three days ago, after the players’ strike was withdrawn, and informed the board about the punishment this evening.The board, he said, was “shocked and extremely disappointed that an experienced player like Shakib” had failed to report corrupt approach on three occasions. “We hope he will come back as a better and wiser cricketer and serve Bangladesh for many more years” when his sanction ends.”I also want to make it clear that BCB had nothing to do with it, neither did any of us know. The ACSU, which did this investigation since January, was done independently of the ICC. We only knew that they contacted Shakib, so we just heard the verdict.”The Shakib development has come at a time of huge upheaval in the BCB. Only a week ago, Shakib had led a players’ strike in Bangladesh, which came to an end last Wednesday after the BCB ceded to all the demands.The news also comes on the eve of Bangladesh’s tour of India, which starts on November 3. Shakib was meant to leave with the Bangladesh T20I squad on Wednesday for the tour, which comprises three T20Is and two Test matches.

Brisbane will again host the first Test of the Australian summer, but the ground will need to pull good crowds and have further investment to be assured of that position in the future

Andrew McGlashan07-May-2019The influence of Australia’s players has helped the Gabba reclaim the opening Test of the Australia season, but the ground is under pressure to deliver strong crowds against Pakistan and will need further significant investment if it wants to keep its slot for the marquee fixture.Australia have not lost a Test at the Gabba since 1988 and the two times since that the opening Test of the season has not been scheduled in Brisbane are the only occasions Australia have been beaten – 2016 against South Africa in Perth and last season against India. Players and coaches were privately fuming at not getting the chance to start the India series at the Gabba, instead opening in Adelaide on a surface with less threatening pace and carry.After extensive negotiations between Cricket Australia and the Queensland Government, Brisbane will host the opening match of the two-Test series against Pakistan in late November and there will be much focus on how many people come through the turnstiles with another tour by India in 2020-2021 and an Ashes series the following year.ALSO READ: Australia Day fixture goes missing in new schedule“We listen to what the players are after, that’s something with how the schedule is put together,” Belinda Clark, CA’s interim high-performance director, said. “There’s a lot of complex relationships that need to managed and the players are one of those. The players are thrilled that this result has eventuated for this season.”Max Walters, the Queensland Cricket CEO, said: “It’s wonderful news that not only is the international schedule packed to rafters but the spiritual home of the first Test has got the first Test back. A fortress for the Australia, the Gabba is back in November. It’s an outstanding result and fingers crossed in years to come with India coming back and also the Ashes.”Clark was confident of having India return to the Gabba. “There’s a lot of work that goes on in the background to make sure those relationships are strong, but India have played here previously and will play here again, that’s not a problem.”Brisbane’s Test last season was a day-night encounter against Sri Lanka, in the midst of the Big Bash, which was over on the third day and did not really capture the imagination of the public. It is understood that the venue is unlikely to pitch for day-night Tests in the future with Adelaide seen as the natural home for those matches and Perth now also making a strong push having earned a floodlight Test against New Zealand next season.However, while there will be pressure on the Gabba to get healthy crowds for the visit of Pakistan – what figure would class as a pass mark remains to be seen, but it could be around 20,000 per day – it is accepted that the spectator experience also needs to be improved following work to upgrade the player facilities.”We’ve got an expectation that this place is great for fans, great for the team and the endeavor is there to make sure that’s the case,” Clark said. “When you have a stadium in this city and state that people come to watch sport we just need to make sure it’s at the right standard, everything is being done to make sure that’s the case. Front and center is the experience for the fans.”Discussions are well advanced for the sale of the naming rights for the ground and the revenue generated from that will be put back into the stadium. The big long-term project which Queensland Cricket hopes will make a major difference is the construction of a train station opposite the ground and associated work outside the stadium, but that remains a number of years away from completion.”When tickets go on sale I want to encourage every Australian cricket fan to book your ticket to see the return of the first Test at its rightful home of the Gabba,” Queensland sports minister Mick de Brenni said. “Queenslanders and Australians were bitterly disappointed that the first test of last year’s season wasn’t here at the Gabba. Keeping it back here, though, will rely on us continuing to invest at the Gabba to make sure facilities are up to standard, for both players and spectators.”

England captain aces the chase with 75* to level the multi-format series

Vithushan Ehantharajah12-Jul-2023England 267 for 8 (Knight 75*, Beaumont 47, Gardner 3-42) beat Australia 263 for 8 (Mooney 81*, Sciver-Brunt 2-38) by two wickets England have squared the women’s Ashes at six-all with victory in the first ODI in Bristol by two wickets. And they did it by securing their highest-ever 50-over chase, inflicting a third consecutive defeat upon Australia, something they have not experienced since February 2017.Australia led 6-0 after winning the Test match and first T20I, but three successive victories have England back on par with two to play. And you only needed to look at the reaction of a usually calm Heather Knight, tossing her bat away after punching the final boundary through cover point and embracing her partner Kate Cross, to understand just how much this meant, and how much England have achieved to keep the Ashes alive.Knight’s unbeaten 75 was indicative of what needed to be a one-woman show in pursuit of their target of 264. But just as she was running out of partners at the other hand to simply exist with her, Cross strode out to pull, drive and even scoop her way to 19 not out as victory was secured with 11 deliveries to spare.As ever with nervy affairs, mistakes came in abundance. And most of them from the hosts. Australia’s innings was littered with seven missed chances. Beth Mooney was the recipient of two such gifts on her way to 81 not out that allowed Alyssa Healy’s side to post 263 for 8.It looked above-par, and when England threw away a brisk start of 103 for 1 in the 13th over, a retention of the Ashes trophy looked on the cards, as did some introspection from Knight’s charges as to how they let it slip away. But thanks to her – and Cross – all that can wait.The England captain overcame a run of four failures since 57 in the first innings of the Trent Bridge Test at the perfect time with her 28th 50-plus score in ODIs. Similarly Alice Capsey, who refound her touch with 46 not out at Lord’s, carried her form over in a turbo-charged second-wicket stand of 74 from 56 deliveries with Tammy Beaumont.The pair came together in the fourth over upon the wicket of Sophia Dunkley, by which point Australia’s opening quicks Darcie Brown and Ellyse Perry had provided England with 18 of their 29 runs to that point through extras. By the 10-over mark, the hosts had a new record powerplay score of 84. They went past Australia’s equivalent total of 63 for 1 midway through the eighth over – which Capsey took for 16 on her own with four boundaries, including three in a row at the start to knock Perry out of the attack.When Beaumont struck the first delivery of the 12th over down the ground for the first six of the match to take England to 100, before Capsey registered the second over long-on with a fielder stationed back, a squared series with two to play looked like a foregone outcome.But Beaumont’s dismissal in between those strikes and Capsey’s inability to clear long-on for a second time gave Australia a whiff. And when a stalwart stand between captain and vice-captain ended on 42 with the latter – Nat Sciver-Brunt – reverse-sweeping Jess Jonassen to Georgia Wareham around the corner, a familiar tension set in.Ellyse Perry celebrates the dismissal of Sophia Dunkley•Getty Images

Healy preyed on that anxiety, cycling through her options to frustrate and, eventually, draw a false shot from Danni Wyatt, who could not get enough on her shot to beat backward point, as Jonassen took a sharp low catch.Even at that stage, the ask was a manageable 70 off the final 16 overs. Knight found a four in each of the next two overs, meaning the wicket maiden Wareham sent down – accounting for Amy Jones – did not affect the required rate. A single to keep the strike with 11 overs to go took her to a half-century from 69 deliveries, with England still 47 away from victory.It was clear she would have to get the majority of them when Sophie Ecclestone, having been dropped on four, inexplicably went for a slog-sweep straight to the fielder at deep midwicket for five, and then Sarah Glenn punched straight to cover.But out came Cross, striking consecutive boundaries off Jonassen, who had only conceded a single four from her previous 38 deliveries. Knight slog-swept Ash Gardner over the fence at midwicket to shift matters England’s way, before Cross deftly guided one over the keeper and flayed the experienced Schutt through cover to level the scores. In a way, Cross leaving Knight to strike the winning runs off a full toss at the start of the next over encapsulated how considerate she had been to her captain at the death.Kate Cross nailed a lap-sweep to relieve the tension•PA Images/Getty

For England to have held their nerve was remarkable given they could not hold onto anything in the field. That they were not made to pay by a usually ruthless Australia is damning for the tourists’ stock in this series.A tacky pitch after heavy morning rains suited England’s spin-heavy attack, who made Australia work for their big shots. Cross’ removal of Healy in the first over – after the Australia captain had won the toss, opted to bat and hit two fours from the first three deliveries – ranked as a huge plus given this is the keeper-batter’s strongest format.But a litany of spurned chances, of varying difficulties, encouraged Australia to make England pay throughout. There were seven in total, though Cross’ full-length dive that just missed Perry’s shuffle-and-swat down the ground when the allrounder had 19, and Beaumont’s athleticism at backward point to stop a hard cut from Tahlia McGrath on seven were at the top end of the scale.Then again, so were some of those taken; Ecclestone leaping to pluck Phoebe Litchfield out of the sky at mid off with one hand, and Sciver-Brunt judging one over her shoulder running back from midwicket to eventually remove Perry on 41, after she had been missed again five runs earlier.Beth Mooney pulls one away•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

The costliest drops also happened to be the easiest ones. The first of Perry’s three lives came when Ecclestone put her down at first slip on six. But Mooney’s lives on 19 (dropped off a Glenn full toss by Cross at mid-off) and 39 (Jones missing a stumping after the left-hander ran past a delivery from Ecclestone) allowed her to see things through the 50 overs. From first miss to eventual dismissal, those two batters alone come to 97 extra runs together.The left-hander arrived at the crease at the start of the 13th over, and had to really work to squeeze every muscle and sinue to get what she got. Healy’s decision to bat first upon winning the toss was sound: the data backed up going first and getting a good total on the board, and without Mooney providing the backbone, the innings could have fallen away.That there were just six fours from her 99 deliveries spoke of the toil. Litchfield and Perry gave her a platform with a stand of 61 – the highest of the match – before Mooney ticked over with cameo innings from McGrath and Gardner.A minor blip of two wickets in three deliveries, as Gardner and Annabel Sutherland fell to Lauren Bell, was then negated by 55 runs between Mooney and Jonassen. And while they were kept under wraps for the final 10 overs, a burst of 29 from the final three, which included a brisk 12 off 6 from Wareham, pushed the total to 263.The women’s Ashes are not just alive, but all square. As we move to the Ageas Bowl for the second ODI on Sunday, there is one clear form team – and it is not the best team in the world.