The Brisbane Heat batter is set to arrive in Bangladesh on January 26

Mohammad Isam24-Jan-2024In a major coup for the Bangladesh Premier League, Brisbane Heat batter Josh Brown has signed up with the Chattogram Challengers. The franchise announced that Brown will arrive in Bangladesh on January 26, in time for their matches in Sylhet. Chattogram have won two out of their three outings in the tournament so far, beating Sylhet Strikers and Durdanto Dhaka. Their next match is on Saturday when they take on Fortune Barishal.Related

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Brown shot to the limelight with his 57-ball 140, which included 12 sixes, in the Big Bash League Challenger against the Adelaide Strikers. It took Heat to the final, in which Brown struck another half-century to power his side to the BBL trophy on Wednesday. reported before the BBL final that Brown’s management had fielded offers from franchises in both the BPL and the UAE’s ILT20.”Absolutely, I’d be interested,” Brown said after his record-breaking 140. “If the opportunity came up I’d take it with both hands. I’ve just got to keep scoring runs.”Brown is not the only major signing for the Chattogram franchise. They also announced a few days ago that England batter Phil Salt had signed up for them although he is likely to arrive after stints in the SA20 and ILT20. Brown’s signing comes hot on the heels of Mohammad Haris, another Chattogram player, pulling out of the BPL due to the PCB denying him an NOC.

Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu got together at 57 for 5 and their centuries took Sri Lanka to a position of strength on the first day of the Test

Mohammad Isam22-Mar-2024Five down for not too many. Against a side that has antagonised you at every step on this tour. The fast bowlers were making life uncomfortable. But captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Test newcomer Kamindu Mendis took the bull by the horns and put on a show. They became only the second Sri Lanka pair to add a 200-run stand after having lost five wickets for less than 60. Incidentally, de Silva was involved in the other 200-run stand too, eight years ago.Kamindu and Dhananjaya are from the same school in Galle, though they didn’t play together there. Being in the same Test XI was a proud moment for him, Kamindu said, but when they got together at 57 for 5, nostalgia was far from their minds.”Dhana is someone that I looked up to as my senior. I’m really happy that I get to play with Dhana now that he’s Test captain as well,” Kamindu said. “Being five down for 50-odd is something that can happen in Test cricket sometimes. Their fast bowlers bowled really well, in good areas. The wicket also supported the seamers, as well as the overcast conditions.Related

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“At that time, the goal for us was just to get settled at the crease, and once we did that, to set about playing a long innings. And after that our partnership got settled and we were able to carry on.”They both scored centuries, Kamindu’s first in Tests and Dhananjaya’s first as Test captain.It however didn’t start well for Kamindu. Mahmudul Hasan Joy dropped a sitter from an edge first ball, which, had it been taken, could have finished Sri Lanka off, exposing the lower order.Taking advantage, Kamindu counter-attacked. He started off with plenty of drives on the up, as he peppered the cover and point boundaries. The sixes were all off short balls, as he ramped one and pulled two. Dhananjaya was happy to hang back to use the fast bowlers’ pace and bounce to place the balls. He struck most of his fours in the arc between third and cover point, driving rarely.Kamindu was in the 70s when Dhananjaya entered the 90s. But Kamindu got to his century first, before his captain got there in the same over.”They were bowling a lot of short balls,” Kamindu said of the Bangladesh quicks after lunch. “I thought that the boundary on one side was short. I think if I can hit the short ball, it will be good for us. Their fast bowlers bowled well, but they also bowled some bad balls. Dhananjaya and I stayed positive.”Kamindu replaced Sadeera Samarawickrama in the Sri Lanka XI, and might have done enough to warrant a place for a while.”I’m very happy, this is my second Test match,” Kamindu said. “I know it’s very difficult to get an opportunity [in the Test side] because our Test team is very settled. In the last couple of years I worked tirelessly to get to this point.”More than the runs, it was the way Kamindu carried himself under pressure that would have impressed the Sri Lanka selectors and team management. He took the pressure off Dhananjaya by scoring quickly, and when it looked like Bangladesh bowlers could re-enter the game, he shut it down with his free-flowing stroke play. A maiden century, in his first Test after almost two years, will give him a boost for sure.

Bangladesh got to 126 for 4 on the back of Nigar Sultana’s 63*, but their bowlers failed to prevent defeat with 42 deliveries to spare

AAP31-Mar-2024Tayla Vlaeminck celebrated her return to international cricket with a wicket with her third ball, as Australia thrashed Bangladesh by ten wickets in their series-opening T20I in Dhaka.Playing her first game for Australia since January 2022, Vlaeminck beat Sobhana Mostary with her speed to hit the batter’s stumps. She finished with 1 for 30 as Australia kept Bangladesh to 126 for 4, before chasing the target down without loss and with seven overs to spare.Vlaeminck, the fastest female bowler in Australia, suffered two anterior cruciate ligament ruptures and a shoulder dislocation before her 21st birthday. That came before her most recent extended break, when stress fractures in her foot and a shoulder dislocation required more than two years of recovery.She admitted before the Bangladesh tour that she at one stage privately questioned why officials had kept faith in her. But on Sunday afternoon, she answered it herself. Vlaeminck bowled with speed in her first match on the subcontinent, piercing through Mostary’s defences as the No. 3 attempted to play back. Vlaeminck’s return helped push her case for selection for the World Cup later this year, also in Bangladesh.Nigar Sultana scored exactly half her team’s 126•Getty Images

Fellow Victorian Sophie Molineux also did her case no harm. After a ruptured ACL destroyed her 2023, she had Dilara Akter caught with the first ball of the match. She also bowled Fahima Khatun in the final over of the innings, finishing with 2 for 25.Bangladesh owed their final total of 126 to captain Nigar Sultana, who scored exactly half the runs, remaining unbeaten on 63 from 64 balls after walking out at No. 4 in the second over.In reply, Alyssa Healy (65 not out in 42 balls) and Beth Mooney (55 not out in 36 balls) made light work of the chase.Healy smashed nine fours and a six in a dominant innings, raising fifty in 34 balls. Mooney also hit nine boundaries as she too brought up a 34-ball fifty, with the pair taking Australia to their fourth ten-wicket win in T20 history.

Essex take grip with ball before Khushi thrashes quick fifty to cut into deficit

ECB Reporters Network19-Apr-2024Shane Snater rediscovered the form with the ball that deserted him last season to drive a massive hole in some fragile Lancashire batting on a rain-shortened day at Chelmsford.The Zimbabwe-born Dutch international blasted out the top three in the Lancashire order at a personal cost of one run before returning to add a fourth for figures of 4 for 42. Snater took just eight expensive wickets in an injury-ravaged campaign last year, having taken a combined 67 in the two previous seasons. He now has 10 wickets in three Vitality County Championship matches this April.He was ably supported by fellow seamer Sam Cook, who managed to marry both hostility and parsimony to finish with 3 for 18 from 14 overs, as Lancashire limped to 146 all out. In 12 overs under the floodlights, Feroze Khushi refused to hang about with nine fours in a whirlwind 53 from 33 balls as Essex knocked 68 off the deficit for the loss of his wicket, caught in the slips off George Balderson.A mid-morning downpour encouraged Essex captain Tom Westley to ask Lancashire to bat on a green-tinged wicket and local knowledge proved decisive inside the 45 minutes possible before lunch once Snater had been introduced. The seamer removed Keaton Jennings to a magnificent flying catch in the gully by Matt Critchley in his first over, and trapped the freewheeling Luke Wells plumb lbw in the next.Wells had plundered 13 runs – including a straight-driven four and a six flicked off his legs – in a Jamie Porter over that led to the bowler’s departure from the attack after conceding 22 runs from three overs.The brief morning session completed, the players had barely reached the pavilion for lunch when the latest April shower lengthened the interval by more than an hour and three-quarters. When they did return in mid-afternoon, Josh Bohannon faced just nine more scoreless balls before he edged Snater and Dean Elgar took a stunning one-handed catch low down at first slip.Cook bowled unchanged for nearly two of the truncated sessions and gained reward in his ninth over when Balderson failed to withdraw his bat in time and was caught behind.George Bell hit two of his four career half-centuries at Chelmsford last season, and added a high of 99 against Hampshire last week, but Snater’s first ball after tea had him bang to rights in front of his stumps for just 4. However, his one scoring stroke in 22 balls had been a sumptuous straight drive that was arguably the most aesthetic shot of the day.The Lancashire slide continued apace when Matty Hurst hung his bat out to Cook and was a second victim for wicketkeeper Michael Pepper. Tom Bruce got a leading edge to chip Porter to mid-on before 19-year-old Noah Thain claimed a wicket on debut with his third ball in first-class cricket when Tom Bailey steered to second slip.However, the ninth-wicket partnership between Jack Blatherwick and Will Williams proved to be the biggest of the innings, helping to repair the damage of 92 for 8 with some lusty hitting.With a six apiece, the pair put on fifty in 36 balls before Blatherwick went for another heave to Simon Harmer’s second ball of the game and holed out on the long-leg boundary. Cook wrapped up the innings when he had Nathan Lyon held at point to leave Williams not out on 32.

The India captain didn’t explain why, but outlined it had to do with conditions and early morning starts

Shashank Kishore02-May-20244:45

Rohit: Dube will be bowling a few overs

India’s selectors picked four spinners in their 15-man squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup because Rohit Sharma wanted them, though he did not want to reveal his reasons for doing so just yet.”I don’t want to go too much into detail on it, I’m sure opposition captains are listening to this,” Rohit said in Mumbai. “I definitely wanted four spinners. We’ve played a lot of cricket there [Caribbean]. We know what the conditions are like. With morning starts at 10-10.30am, there’s a little bit of technical aspect involved in this.”India picked left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav, legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal and left-arm spin allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in their provisional 15, which left space for only three specialist fast bowlers and no slot for Rinku Singh. Chahal was not a part of India’s T20I squads for their two most recent series – in South Africa in December and against Afghanistan at home in January – and was selected after his impressive form in IPL 2024.”Maybe when I do the first press conference [upon landing], I’ll give more details,” Rohit said about picking four spinners. “The reason for four spinners is this, which I’m not going to say in public. But I wanted four spinners for sure. With two of the spinners being allrounders who can bat, Axar and Jadeja, and two attacking spinners – Kuldeep and Chahal – it gives you the balance in the spin department. Based on the team composition of the opposition we can decide what we want to play with.”Related

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Dube selected for middle-order power

While Rohit wouldn’t be drawn into discussing whether Virat Kohli could be his opening partner instead of Yashasvi Jaiswal, he emphasised the need for more power in the middle order, which led to Shivam Dube’s selection.”The one thing we really looked at was middle-overs hitting,” Rohit said. “The top-order hitting has been alright, hasn’t been bad, but there are options there as well. In the middle overs we wanted someone to come and play that role where he can play freely without worrying about who is bowling and who is not. We picked Shivam Dube based on the IPL and a few games before the IPL as well.”Dube has been in explosive form for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024, his 350 runs coming at a strike rate of 171.56, and he is third on the six-hitting charts this season. He was also the highest run-scorer in the T20I series against Afghanistan in January, with 124 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 158.97. Rohit also expected Dube to contribute with the ball, if needed, though he has bowled only one over in his first ten games in IPL 2024.”I know Shivam has not bowled a single over, but he’s a seasoned cricketer who bowls a lot of overs in red-ball cricket,” Rohit said. “Honestly if we need Shivam to bowl a few overs, he will bowl a few overs. Hardik as well, he has been bowling regularly in the IPL. Whenever it’s been required, he has come and bowled. Like Ajit [Agarkar] said, he’s come and played all the games, fitness wise, there are no issues.”Allrounder Shivam Dube was selected for his hitting ability but he has bowled only one over in 11 innings in IPL 2024•BCCI

Why KL Rahul missed out

India’s decision to pick Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson as the two wicketkeepers ahead of KL Rahul was to do with their ability to bat in the middle order.”KL is a terrific player, we all know that” chairman of selectors Agarkar said. “The thing is we were looking at guys batting in the middle order, and at the moment KL is batting at the top.”When it was pointed out that Samson is batting at No. 3 for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024, Agarkar said: “We feel Sanju has the ability to come down the order, if need be, Rishabh has been batting at five-six. That was more the thinking, about the slots we needed. These two were better at this point. Guys who spend a bit more time in the later part of the innings at the World Cup, that was the thinking.”After suffering a severe car accident in December 2022, Pant made a successful comeback in IPL 2024, scoring 398 runs in his first 11 innings for Delhi Capitals at a strike rate of 158.56, and proving his wicket-keeping skills were back to their best. Samson has 385 runs in nine innings for Royals, at a strike rate of 161.08.2:01

Samson over Rahul – the right call?

‘Rinku’s exclusion one of the toughest calls’

Rinku Singh’s exclusion was the “toughest” decision India’s selectors had to make while picking the squad.”He [Rinku] has done nothing wrong, nor has Shubman Gill. It’s just the combinations,” Agarkar said. “We’re not sure of the conditions we’ll get [in USA] and we wanted to have enough [bowling] options.”We had a couple of wristspinners to give Rohit more options, I don’t think it’s anything to do with Rinku. It’s not his fault that he missed out, it’s more the 15 we felt we needed, with two keepers who are both terrific batters, we will have an extra batter sitting out. We got to have another bowling option, but he’s still one of the traveling substitutes. That’s how close he was, but we can only take 15.”Rinku has played 15 T20Is for India, scoring 356 runs at a strike rate of 176.23. However, he’s had a quiet IPL 2024: 123 runs off 82 balls in eight innings at a strike rate of 150.

Pakistan were in trouble in their chase of 107 but Babar Azam remained unbeaten to take them home

Danyal Rasool16-Jun-20241:23

Mumtaz: ‘Phenomenal display of left-arm swing bowling’ from Shaheen

Pakistan made it more complicated than it needed to be, but Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi led them to a nervy three-wicket win to sign off their T20 World Cup campaign. Shaheen led the way with the ball with three early wickets and finished the contest off with two sixes, while Babar shepherded a chase that he watched fall apart with an unbeaten 32.Mohammad Amir and Haris Rauf joined Shaheen among the wickets as Ireland were reduced to 32 for 6. At that stage, an early-afternoon finish appeared likely, but Gareth Delany and Mark Adair gritted their way through a 44-run partnership off 30 balls. Imad Wasim took care of the lower order with figures of 3 for 8 in four overs, in what is likely his last game for Pakistan, but a cameo of 22 from Josh Little took Ireland to 106.Pakistan were cruising through the chase after eight overs with Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar doing their bit to take any sting out of Ireland’s bowling attack. But a frenetic phase in the middle overs, when Curtis Campher and Barry McCarthy took four wickets for 10 runs, left Babar alone with a relatively long tail.But Abbas Afridi swung his way through a happy-go-lucky 17 to bring the target down to 12, while a calf injury for Little meant Ireland had to bowl spin at Shaheen. He finished with two heaved sixes to seal a win that gave Pakistan relief rather than satisfaction.

Shaheen back in love with first overs

After going eight successive T20Is without a first-over wicket – his longest dry spell in his T20I career – Shaheen finally snapped the streak today, his third ball a perfect illustration of why he has historically been so effective up front. The new ball swung and seamed back in to pierce Andrew Balbirnie’s defences and crash into the stumps. Two balls later, Shaheen got one to shape the other way, kissing Lorcan Tucker’s outside edge on the way to Rizwan. There was nearly a third when Pakistan reviewed one that clipped Harry Tector’s pad, and though that wasn’t given, Shaheen trapped Tector in front in his next over.Pakistan fans with a message for their team in Lauderhill•ICC/Getty Images

Ireland’s recovery

When Pakistan had Ireland at 32 for 6, any prospect of recovery was distant. But Ireland understood that continuing to attack was the most direct route to runs. In the tenth over, Gareth Delany hit Shadab’s first ball for six and Mark Adair pulled the last one for four. They attacked Abbas Afridi, who had not played a competitive game since his inclusion in Pakistan’s World Cup squad, for 16 runs in the 11th.It kept Ireland on track three figures, and when another slump came – from 76 for 6 to 80 for 9 – Little and Ben White batted the remaining six overs, adding an unbeaten 26 for the last wicket. An hour later, they were almost rewarded for it.

Pakistan’s jitters

Pakistan securing a straightforward win would have been an inauthentic end to the campaign they have had, and duly, the collapse came. If Pakistan felt they were sitting pretty halfway through the chase against India, it was nothing compared to the impregnability of their position against Ireland. Pakistan needed 55 in 12 overs with eight wickets in hand, with Babar and Fakhar Zaman batting, when Zaman drilled one to mid-off. It was the catalyst for flutters through the whole of the Pakistan camp as Usman Khan was deceived by McCarthy’s extra bounce in the tenth over.The memories of the chase that fell apart last Sunday were fresh as Shadab, to whom cricket is offering no hiding place at the moment, flicked his second ball to the wicketkeeper. Imad finally connected with the cut shot he’s been trying since Ravindra Jadeja bowled against him, but straight to the man at point. An unassertive top order and a non-existent middle order won’t get you out of the first round at many World Cups, and this game was the perfect illustration of the point.

India and South Africa have history of knock-out heartbreak, but short turnaround prevents introspection

Sidharth Monga28-Jun-20243:20

Markram: ‘Feel like we can win from any position’

While history looms large over the T20 World Cup 2024 final, neither side thinks it will play much part on the day of the final. This is South Africa’s maiden final in World Cup cricket, while India have lost in the knockouts of all World Cups bar one since 2014.It was said India lost to a mentally tougher side when they came up against Australia in last year’s 50-over final, but India don’t feel that is an advantage they take into the match against South Africa who, going by the trophy cabinet at least, are the team with the least experience of the circumstances they now find themselves.”I mean it’s not that the same players have been playing since 1991,” India’s coach Rahul Dravid said. “Many players have come and gone. I don’t think that really matters. I can’t speak for any of them. I don’t think players go on keeping the baggage of the past and what has happened in the past. Every day is a fresh day.Related

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“Players are very good at moving on from things. I think just as we will move on from Ahmedabad, I’m sure they will not be thinking about history, and it will be a fresh day. Two good teams, two teams I think that everyone will agree are the top two teams in this tournament, two teams that have played the best cricket in this tournament, both South Africa and India.”While Dravid said he couldn’t speak on behalf of South Africa, Aiden Markram didn’t quite echo the sentiment, especially when asked if his team ran the risk of being overwhelmed after crossing a major hurdle.”We were obviously a happy bunch the other night after qualifying for the final, but it’s amazing…” Markram said. “I’m sure all teams do it, but straight after that game in the changing-room, you still reflect and you say, guys, we’ve still got one more step to go. So, it’s not driven by coach or by captain. The whole unit sort of feels that and is driven by that.3:46

Dravid: South Africa will move on from their history like we will from Ahmedabad

“As general, sportsmen are highly competitive people and nobody would want to lose, and especially not lose in a final. So, I think there’s no sense that the guys are satisfied regardless of the result tomorrow. I think there’s still a massive hunger for us to go out and win tomorrow’s game.”It does help both sides that there is hardly any time between matches, and so little time to build the occasion up too much in their minds. Having qualified before India, South Africa had an extra day in hand but it was spent at an airport because of a long delay in flights. The enormity of the final is the last thing on your mind when you are killing time sitting in a corner, whether you’re travelling alone or looking after your family. You are likely more worried about your luggage than history.By the time India checked in at Georgetown Airport to fly to Barbados, the date had either ticked over or was pretty closing to ticking over to the day before the final. The preparation for both the teams has centred on getting their individual plans right and looking after their bodies.”It’s just about all the guys getting into ensuring that physically, mentally, tactically we are ready for the game,” Dravid said. “Those are the things that we can control: that we are fresh, that we have looked after all our niggles if there are any, we have done all our tactical preparation and we are mentally relaxed and excited and looking forward to the game. Those are the things we can control.”Having not played in Barbados before, South Africa did have an optional training session unlike India, but the sentiment is the same. Their preparation is centred on the small things rather than reflecting on the bigger picture.”You get in a competition like this and things move pretty quickly,” Markram said. “You play a game, you get on a plane, you fly, you check in at a new hotel and play your next game of cricket the next day. So, I don’t think there’s too much reflecting that happens. But it’s more the opportunity that we have of being in a final that excites me quite a bit.”

Redmayne’s anchoring 34 take low-scoring final out of Welsh Fire’s grasp

Vithushan Ehantharajah18-Aug-2024Two years on from Deepti Sharma sending Charlie Dean into despair by running her out at the non-striker’s end, the pair were jumping into each other’s arms on the same side of the pitch. Deepti had just struck the winning runs in the 2024 women’s Hundred final, a six launched high rather than far, but far enough to send Shabnim Ismail over the sponge with it.And with that, London Spirit were champions for the first time, and whatever diplomatic chaos that England-India ODI conclusion wrought back in 2022 had well and truly been blown out of the water. Foes were now friends. Spirit now champions. Heather Knight’s charges, having grown into this tournament just in the nick of time, scraped into third place and then turned over the top two in the space of a weekend to secure championship status.Victory over Welsh Fire by four wickets, with just two balls to spare, was perhaps closer than it should have been after restricting the league-leaders to 115, a score which relied heavily on Jess Jonassen’s 54. But it was Ismail’s 3 for 24 that sprinkled doubt into Spirit minds with the prime cuts of Meg Lanning, Knight and Danielle Gibson falling to some exceptional pace and movement from the South African quick. It was cruel the final moment had the ball slipping through her grasp.Ultimately, Spirit dug deep, courtesy of a measured 34 from Georgia Redmayne, coming off the back of an unbeaten 53 south of the river 24 hours earlier in the Eliminator. Redmayne did to Fire as she had done to Oval Invincibles; pacing out the chase with a level of calm that this time was broken when Freya Davies nipped one down the slop from around the wicket to pin the left-hander in front. By the time Redmayne had departed, the ask was 12 from 11, but the nerves were evident when Abigail Freeborn was finally run out after a couple of close shaves. Thankfully for Spirit, that brought Dean’s “Future England Captain” calm to the crease, which she used to charge and find a single off her only ball, handing matters back to Deepti, who finished it off in style.Ultimately, Fire will rue a stuttering start after being asked to bat first, that was only salvaged by Jonassen’s maiden half-century in this competition. Three wickets were lost in the first 29 balls. Sarah Glenn’s two in three deliveries – the first accounting for Tammy Beaumont; the second sending Sarah Bryce back to the dugout with a two-ball duck – allowed Spirit to maintain control for most of the first innings.Georgia Redmayne played another vital hand in the chase•ECB/Getty Images

The 52-run stand between Jonassen and Hayley Matthews was slow to begin with, particularly as Matthews struggled for timing. But she persisted through the scratchiness, taking the score to 84 before departing for the fourth wicket, hitting the only boundary off Glenn in the process. Had Knight held on to a tough chance at cover – diving, full length, to her right, getting a hand to the ball without clutching – Matthews would have been out on nine and Fire in a host of trouble at 55 for 4.It was at that point Jonassen stepped up a gear, lacing four boundaries in six deliveries – the first three off Gibson, the fourth off Dean – finally giving Spirit something to think about. It did not last long; just 10 runs came off the final 10 deliveries, with four wickets – two of them run-outs.But it did at least lead to a sense of jeopardy when Ismail nipped one down the slope to bowl Knight, and then again to end Gibson’s breezy, momentum-shifting cameo. Five boundaries in her first six deliveries – a couple of neat guides down to third sandwiching clubs to midwicket and through the covers – took the required runs below balls faced for the first time in the second innings, pushing Welsh Fire into a Strategic Timeout with 33 needed from 34.Gibson’s dismissal at the start of Ismail’s final set ended the torrent of boundaries, but it did introduce Deepti to the crease. And though the allrounder was far from fluent upon arrival, missing out on a host of loose deliveries as she tried to manufacture sweep shots that were not quite there, there was a sense that something outlandish was in the offing as we entered the final set of the 2024 competition with six needed. Her bowling may be steady – as it was again on Sunday with 1 for 23 – but Deepti’s batting is often about the devil on her shoulder.The match-up with Matthews for the final set made sense from Fire’s perspective, even if the West Indian had been expensive with 25 off her first 15 deliveries. The lack of pace meant batters had to do something different. And Deepti, charging down to just get to the pitch of the ball and contorting her wrists to heave over wide long on for the only six of the match, did just that.

Glamorgan offer minimal resistance as hosts end Derby drought with 10-wicket victory

ECB Reporters Network25-Aug-2024Derbyshire finally celebrated a red-ball victory at their County Ground headquarters when they beat Glamorgan by 10 wickets in the Vitality County Championship Division Two match at Derby.They bowled the visitors out for 287 on the fourth morning, leaving them to score 27 for a first Championship win at Derby in five years.Luis Reece, who claimed the last two wickets, and Harry Came took less than seven overs to secure Derbyshire’s first Championship victory anywhere since they beat Worcestershire away in July 2022.Glamorgan made them wait with Mason Crane and Dan Douthwaite adding 47 from 136 balls for the eighth wicket before their former captain David Lloyd broke the stand.With rain in the forecast, Derbyshire went into the final day knowing they needed to take the last three Glamorgan wickets as quickly as possible. The visitors still trailed by 25 when play began under cloudy skies and Crane took a chunk out of that in the second over of the morning with two fours off Zak Chappell.Derbyshire took the new ball straight away with left-arm spinner Jack Morley operating in tandem with Chappell who should have had the wicket of Crane with Glamorgan still behind.Crane had scored 12 when he pulled a short ball to the deep midwicket region where Nick Potts dived and got both hands on the ball but could not hold on.Morley was getting the odd ball to turn sharply but the pair continued to frustrate Derbyshire and when Reece replaced Chappell, Crane drove him to the cover boundary to put the visitors into credit.Crane cut Morley for another four but the breakthrough finally came when former Lloyd took over with his offspin at the Racecourse End. His first ball kept very low and scuttled into the pads of Crane who was trapped on the crease after facing 66 balls for his 28.Douthwaite continued to bat defiantly but the hosts wrapped up the innings in the space of five balls. Reece had Fraser Sheat lbw before Douthwaite was bowled by another one that kept low to take Derbyshire to the brink of a long-awaited victory.It arrived when Reece swept Sam Northeast for two consecutive fours to seal a first Championship win at Derby since they beat Sussex in August 2019.

Division Two challengers wrap up win, need ten more points for return to top flight

ECB Reporters Network20-Sep-2024Yorkshire bowled Glamorgan out for 209 to win by 186 runs and put themselves on the verge of a return to Division One with one round of matches to go.A draw and a couple of bonus points in their final game at home to Northamptonshire would clinch promotion, as they lead third-placed Middlesex by 15 points, 20 behind leaders Sussex, after taking the final three Glamorgan wickets in an hour.They were relegated by a single point two years ago and were handicapped by a points deduction last season, so there is an air of determination about Yorkshire as they target a return to the top level.”We played well, we have played well for a number of weeks now,” Yorkshire head coach, Ottis Gibson, said. “This week was important for us the way Sussex keep playing, keep winning, so to lose the toss and get put in meant the way we have played in the last three-and-a-half days we fully deserved our win.”Glamorgan’s focus turns to the One-Day Cup final against Somerset at Trent Bridge on Sunday as they try to bring silverware back to Sophia Gardens this season despite their Championship form, which has seen them drop to second from bottom in the table.”That was disappointing, really gutting,” Glamorgan coach, Grant Bradburn, said. “We take the loss on the chin up against very good teams in the last couple of weeks and we have not quite been sharp enough in all aspects. We don’t want to lose, of course, but we don’t mind losing if we are putting ourselves in a position to win.”James Harris and Asa Tribe started the morning knowing they had a mountain to climb, even if the target was to survive until forecast bad weather later in the day.Yorkshire opening bowlers Ben Coad and Matthew Fisher started the day with 13 wickets between them, so it was no surprise that they continued their partnership looking for the breakthrough.They had to be patient for half an hour before Fisher was able to get one to cut away and bowl Tribe for a patient 58, a significant step forward for the 20-year-old opener as he tries to establish a place in the Glamorgan line-up.Fisher was buoyed by his success and pinned Andy Gorvin lbw a few balls later to put his team close to the finish.”I have been begging for Fish and Coad to be fit together for a period of time and to have those two taking the new ball then you know they will challenge the opposition and take wickets,” Gibson said.Harris kept plugging away at the other end as he did his best to delay the inevitable, getting more aggressive in the final wicket partnership with Ben Morris which put on 41. Inevitably the fun came to an end as Harris was clean bowled by Jordan Thompson one short of a half-century.