All posts by h716a5.icu

Debutant Liam Norwell produced a superb all-round performance to put Gloucestershire in a commanding position against Derbyshire at Bristol

09-Apr-2011
Scorecard
Debutant Liam Norwell produced a superb all-round performance to put Gloucestershire in a commanding position against Derbyshire at Bristol. Norwell contributed 19 to a last-wicket stand of 76 with David Payne, who made an unbeaten 46, as Gloucestershire were bowled out for 343.The 19-year-old pace bowler then took 6 for 46, including the last four wickets for two runs in 11 balls, as Derbyshire were dismissed for 157. Gloucestershire captain Alex Gidman enforced the follow-on and the visitors reached 30 for no wicket from nine overs by stumps.Gloucestershire had started the day on 224 for 6 and Ian Saxelby departed in the second over when he hooked Jon Clare to long leg, where Tim Groenewald took a fine catch low down. Jon Batty, unbeaten on 61 overnight, advanced to 70 before he gloved a leg-side catch to wicketkeeper Luke Sutton off Groenewald. It was Batty’s best score in 31 innings for Gloucestershire since he joined from Surrey last year.Lewis, who had batted with characteristic freedom in making 29 from 26 deliveries, was dismissed in the next over when Clare ripped out his off stump. But then came the last-wicket heroics from Norwell and Payne, which prolonged the Gloucestershire innings for a further 32 overs.There were few alarms for either batsman, although Derbyshire felt aggrieved not to get any of three confident appeals for catches at the wicket given by umpire Martin Saggers. The first came against Norwell, when he was on 6, and the other two were against Payne, when on 17 and 44.Payne was within sight of a well-deserved half-century when he rightly declined a second run to midwicket and Norwell was beaten by Groenewald’s throw to Sutton behind the stumps. Payne’s 100-ball innings contained eight boundaries, six of which came through the offside and the other two were turned off his legs through midwicket.When Derbyshire batted, Garry Park was first to go when Norwell, with his third ball, had him caught by Will Gidman at gully. Three more wickets fell in quick succession as Wes Durston fell leg before to Lewis, Wayne Madsen was caught behind off Norwell and Chesney Hughes droveSaxelby to Payne at mid-off.Only another 19 runs had been added when Greg Smith mistimed a drive off Norwell to Lewis at mid-off. Then, three balls after the tea interval, Lewis had Dan Redfern caught at the wicket off a thin edge, which made it 92 for 6. Sutton and Clare hinted at a recovery with partnership of 56, but Norwell returned to have Sutton caught behind for 35 and the teenager soon wrapped upthe rest of the innings.He had Groenewald leg before to his second ball. Then, in his next over, Clare was taken at second slip by Chris Dent and Antonio Palladino gave Batty his fourth victim behind the stumps. In Derbyshire’s second innings, Park was dropped on eight when Saxelby spilled a chance at third slip off Lewis. He was on 11 at stumps with Madsen on 17.

Sussex opener Ed Joyce scored his second century in consecutive weeks as his team made full use of a superb batting wicket at the Rose Bowl

04-May-2011Sussex 321 for 3 v Hampshire
ScorecardSussex opener Ed Joyce scored his second century in consecutive weeks as his team made full use of a superb batting wicket at the Rose Bowl. The Ireland player recorded his 26th first-class century as Sussex finished the first day on 321 for 3 from 97 overs.Joyce also scored a century last week at Hove against Lancashire and continued his fine form at the expense of a toiling Hampshire attack, making 103.Sussex captain Murray Goodwin had no hesitation in choosing to bat first after winning the toss and was justified as Somerset raced to 100 without loss in the 30th over. Chris Nash also profited from the conditions in helping lay the foundations for a big first-innings total. Nash and Joyce put on 191 before Hampshire made their first breakthrough in the 55th over.Nash was the first to go, leg before wicket to Sean Ervine after making 78 in an innings which included 12 fours and came off 167 balls. Nash had one piece of luck, surviving a strong appeal for a catch at the wicket when he had made only 28.Joyce went on to complete his century before Hampshire removed him soon afterwards. He faced 221 balls and hit 18 fours before Friedel de Wet got a leg before wicket verdict at the end of the 70th over.The only other Sussex wicket to fall came at 263 at the start of the 75th over when Luke Wells failed to get to the pitch of the ball from spinner Danny Briggs and gave Johann Myburgh a simple catch at slip. Left-hander Wells made 37 and helped establish Sussex in a commanding position.Goodwin was then joined by Ben Brown and they added a further 58 runs in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand to see Sussex through to the close. Hampshire did themselves no favours, conceding 16 runs in no-balls but promising Briggs was not responsible for any of those.Briggs got through 28 overs and had the wicket of Wells to show in conceding 83 runs but there was little in the surface to help the Hampshire attack.Goodwin, leading the side in the absence of Michael Yardy, has so far hit boundaries while for Hampshire, their captain Dominic Cork, was economic, conceding only 55 from 22 overs.

Shaun Tait has been forced to pull out of his Twenty20 deal with Surrey after suffering another elbow injury during the IPL with Rajasthan Royals

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2011Shaun Tait, the Australia fast bowler, has been forced to pull out of his Twenty20 deal with Surrey after suffering another elbow injury during the IPL with Rajasthan Royals.Tait was due to be Surrey’s second overseas player alongside Yasir Arafat for the Friends Life t20 which starts next month but the club will now search for a replacement recruit.”On behalf of Surrey I would like to thank Shaun Tait for the integrity he has shown in personally contacting us about his current situation,” Chris Adams, the Surrey cricket manager, said. “A player having concerns about his ability to physically withstand a competition is never a good starting point, particularly with an overseas player.”We will now take the chance to assess our other options for filling this role and we are confident we will have a replacement on board before we start the competition.”Tait now only plays Twenty20 cricket due to a string of injuries that have meant he’s unable to stand the strains of first-class or even 50-over matches. He was part of Australia’s World Cup squad but announced his retirement from ODIs after the tournament.

The ICC is investigating claims that Pakistan seamer Mohammad Amir, one of the three cricketers punished following the spot-fixing investigation, has defied his ban by playing for Addington in the Surrey Cricket League Division One

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-2011The ICC is investigating claims that Pakistan seamer Mohammad Amir has defied his ICC ban by playing for Addington in the Surrey Cricket League Division One, according to a report in the . The sanction – imposed on Amir and two other Pakistani cricketers following the spot-fixing investigation – bars him from participating in the game at any recognised level, and he could be in breach of the ICC ruling if he played for Addington.”We are investigating and awaiting the details,” ICC spokesman Colin Gibson told the paper. “If true, it is clearly a breach of the sanction imposed in February. The ban is absolutely worldwide covering all levels and any activities connected with cricket. What might happen next is a hypothetical question at this stage.”Amir was central to Addington’s 81-run victory in the game, against St Luke’s CC. He surprisingly opened the innings and scored 60 before returning figures of 4 for 9 in seven overs.St Luke’s batsman Karl Quinn was surprised by Amir’s unexpected inclusion. “No one could quite believe it was him,” Quinn was quoted in . “There was no attempt to disguise who he was, he even posed for a picture with me. One of our Pakistani players was rubbing his eyes in disbelief and asking: ‘Is that who I think it is?’ He didn’t stay till the end but it was blatantly him.”When asked over telephone about Amir’s participation, Addington captain Ijaz Raja’s response was cryptic. “You tell me,” he is reported to have said, before hanging up.Amir was handed a five-year ban from the game after being found guilty of bowling no-balls on demand during the Lord’s Test against England last summer. Amir’s team-mates Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were also handed bans, and all three players are awaiting trial at Southwark Crown Court over allegations of cheating and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.This is not the first time Amir has appeared in a game which has had to be investigated by cricket authorities. Earlier this year in January, when he was under provisional suspension and still awaiting punishment for the Lord’s scandal, he turned out for a Rawalpindi club to play a friendly game. That prompted the ICC and PCB to investigate the nature of the game before the former eventually concluded that it was an unofficial game and the club wasn’t registered with the Rawalpindi cricket association; Amir was thus found to have not broken the ICC’s anti-corruption code of conduct.

Yorkshire’s Friends Life t20 woes continued at Headingley, as they lost by 18 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system to Leicestershire

06-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Yorkshire’s Friends Life t20 woes continued at Headingley, as they lost by 18 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system to Leicestershire who made sure of making it through to the quarter-finals from the North Group alongside Nottinghamshire. A slightly revised target of 193 in a match reduced to 19 overs a side by rain proved just out of the reach of a spirited Yorkshire, who slid to their seventh defeat of the season in the competition.Most of their batsmen made cameo contributions to the chase. But the best stand of the chase came courtesy a sixth-wicket assault of 42 in 3.5 overs by Gary Ballance and Jonny Bairstow, which was abruptly ended by Jigar Naik who took three wickets in four legitimate balls. The offspinner came on for the 16th over with 48 required and had Ballance stumped first ball by Paul Nixon for 25. He then bowled a wide before getting Richard Pyrah caught by Joshua Cobb. Two balls later Adil Rashid holed out to Andrew McDonald.Naik was withdrawn from the attack after his solitary over had brought him three wickets for three runs and Bairstow was dismissed by Abdul Razzak, also for 25, as Yorkshire closed on 174 for 9.Leicestershire, sent in to bat, maintained a healthy run-rate through their innings, thanks to a splendid unbeaten 96 from their Australian opener McDonald, who cracked nine fours and three sixes off the 57 balls he received on his way to his highest Twenty20 score. Rashid suffered most from the visitors’ positive approach, the legspinner taking the new ball and finishing with no wicket for 58 runs off his four overs.Cobb and McDonald got Leicestershire off to an explosive start with a six apiece off Rashid’s first over, which cost 18, and the pair repeated the pattern in the following over from Ryan Sidebottom that also leaked 18 runs. The openers rushed to 50 off 23 balls, but at 58 in the sixth over, Cobb skied Pyrah to mid-off where he was held by Sidebottom for 26 from 15 deliveries.A heavy burst of rain caused a 45-minute interruption at 88 for 1 in 9.3 overs, but on resumption Will Jefferson drove Pyrah for six and four before falling to another well-judged catch by Sidebottom off David Wainwright. The left-arm spinner, who would have been on a month’s loan to Derbyshire but for a hamstring injury to Azeem Rafiq, was easily the pick of the Yorkshire attack with 1 for 24 from his four overs.McDonald lost partners in Razzaq and Jacques du Toit, but was assisted in a late flourish by Wayne White, the pair adding 28 in the final two overs. McDonald would almost certainly have completed his century, but for the over lost to rain.

Half-centuries from Alviro Petersen and Will Bragg ensured Glamorgan took their County Championship match into the final day at Swansea

29-Jul-2011
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Alviro Petersen and Will Bragg ensured Glamorgan took their County Championship match into the final day at Swansea. Division Two leaders Northamptonshire are still firm favourites to secure a sixth win of the season after declaring their first innings on 552 for 9, leaving the home side needing 300 to avoid a second consecutive innings defeatagainst the East Midlanders.But thanks to skipper Petersen (75) and Bragg (69) Glamorgan were able to fight another day after a much-improved batting display second time around. By the close Glamorgan had reached 181 for 3, still needing a further 119 to make Northants bat again.Northamptonshire’s 552 was the biggest score by a county side at the ground, beating Leicestershire’s 536 in 1996. They had resumed on 434 for 4 and, although they eventually amassed a record score, lost four wickets before lunch.Andrew Hall was dismissed in the third over of the day when he was trapped lbw by Jim Allenby for 64 offering no stroke. And Stephen Peters’ 492 minutes in the middle was ended when he cut a short, wide James Harris ball straight to Stewart Walters at point. Peters was dismissed for a career-best 222 from 390 balls – the seventh-highest score at St Helen’s.Robert Croft claimed his second wicket when he trapped Niall O’Brien lbw for 10 and Dean Cosker dismissed James Middlebrook in his first over the morning when he was caught at cover by Petersen. After lunch, Graham Wagg dismissed Chaminda Vaas before Paul Best struck a six to bring about the declaration.Glamorgan made a terrible start in the second innings when Gareth Rees was trapped lbw by David Lucas with the 10th ball of the innings. Petersen and Bragg then went on the offensive. Bragg especially took a liking to the medium-pace of Hall and struck him for three successive fours.Dismissed for a duck in the first innings, Bragg this time brought up his 50 in 61 balls with 11 fours just before tea as the pair reached their 100 partnership for the second wicket. Petersen went to his half-century from 70 balls with nine fours and looked well set for a century until he was adjudged leg before attempting to sweep Best, the slow left-armer. It was the fifth time in six innings the South African had been out lbw.Bragg seemed to get bogged down after Petersen’s departure and became the thirdbatsman to be dismissed leg before, this time by off-spinner Middlebrook.

Joe Denly missed out on a maiden double century by one run as Kent fought backagainst Derbyshire to set up an intriguing final day to the CountyChampionship match at Derby

09-Sep-2011
ScorecardJoe Denly missed out on a maiden double century by one run as Kent fought backagainst Derbyshire to set up an intriguing final day to the CountyChampionship match at Derby.Denly’s 199 in 415 minutes saved the visitors from following on despite anotherfive-wicket haul from paceman Tony Palladino, who bagged his 50th championshipvictim of the summer. Azhar Mahmood also contributed 97 as Kent were dismissed for 419 to trail Derbyshire by 116, before David Balcombe grabbed three quick wickets to reducethe hosts to 29 for 4.Wayne Madsen’s first championship half-century since May eventually sawDerbyshire to 181 all out in their second innings, and left Kent needing 298 forvictory. They lost nightwatchman Adam Riley before stumps to close on 0 for one.Kent went into the third morning trailing by 256, but Denly and Mahmood tooktheir fifth-wicket stand to 151 in 39 overs before Derbyshire broke through withthe second new ball.Mahmood was in sight of his first century for three years when he fell acrossthe crease at Palladino and was lbw, but he had played a big part in keeping histeam in the game. Palladino celebrated his 50th wicket when he knocked Geraint Jones’ off-stump out with Kent still 24 away from the follow-on of 386, but Denly took them pastthat target just before lunch.The opener had played with authority since he was dropped behind on 33 theprevious day and a double hundred looked his for the taking when he tried tosteer Mark Footitt to backward point and was caught at first slip.Denly had batted for six minutes short of seven hours and, although Palladinostruck again to finish with five for 84, an injury depleted Kent team had shownreal character to fight back. Derbyshire still had a healthy lead but Balcombe made sure the momentum stayed with Kent by taking a wicket in each of his first three overs.Matt Lineker was caught behind carving, Paul Borrington edged a drive to gullyand first-innings centurion Wes Durston was snared low down at first slip togive Balcombe figures of three for seven in 14 balls. Matt Coles then had Dan Redfern caught at third slip but Madsen played his first major innings in the competition since scoring a century and a fifty against Kent at Canterbury to keep the game in the balance.Madsen shared half-century stands with Ross Whiteley and Tim Groenewald beforehe was caught behind cutting at Darren Stevens, who polished off the inningswith a burst of three for two in six balls. After a rain delay of 48 minutes, the umpires took the players out for one over at 6.30pm and Riley survived one ball before Palladino had him caught behind down the legside.

While Patrick Cummins has the pace, he needs to work on his variety to be more effective in the game’s shorter formats, Herschelle Gibbs has said

Nitin Sundar at the MA Chidambaram Stadium24-Sep-2011Herschelle Gibbs looked spent but pleased with his work as he strode into the post match press conference, and then he stumbled. His smiling visage broke into a wince as cramps gave him a mini-Rafael Nadal moment even before he reached his seat. His captain Justin Kemp saw the funny side of things. “Signs of ageing,” he quipped. Gibbs’ response was spontaneous: “You’ll get there one day.”One of the undeniable joys of franchise-based Twenty20 is that it renders age a tad irrelevant. Retired freelancers like Matthew Hayden have a splash, as do youngsters who are yet to cut their teeth in the longer formats. At 37, Gibbs is one of the older players in this tournament. Patrick Cummins, the one New South Wales player to make an impression in their defeat, is less than half his age.Cummins was one of the architects of New South Wales’ Big Bash win. Coming in to fill the void left by Brett Lee’s absence, Cummins ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, picking up 11 sticks in six games. Armed with a young constitution and the limitless ambition to bowl “as fast as I can”, the 18-year-old Cummins screams in and lets the white ball go whang.There was no let-up in that pace and bounce on his Champions League debut. The Chepauk track is slow at the best of times, but today it was at its somnolent best. That didn’t deter Cummins from charging in with his free-spirited action and getting a bouncer to take off past Gibbs, and almost over the wicket-keeper’s head. That didn’t stop him from hustling Gibbs with another bouncer that had enough wings to fly over fine-leg for six off a top edge. Chennai has not seen pace of this kind in a long while. Ah, the joys of youth!But youth is a double-edged sword for a fast bowler. At 18, Cummins is yet to develop the musculature that can sustain a bowler of his ambition. It is a point Greg Chappell made recently when he said Cummins was still “two or three” years away from maturity as a bowler.New South Wales were too generous at the other end for Cummins’ inspired burst to turn the game, and Gibbs easily took control of the chase. Gibbs liked what he saw of the fast bowler, but believed he was too one-dimensional. “I think you feel that he’s got enough pace,” Gibbs said. “But in Twenty20 cricket especially, it is not always about pace. You have got to be able to play wisely and use your change-ups.””I think that he used the same theory ball after ball and didn’t vary it enough, which takes his effectiveness away. In saying that, he’s still got enough wheels, he’s young, he’s strong and he hits the deck quite hard. But this is not Australia, where you can actually bang it in. It’s not actually going to get through. You have got to keep being clever and trying to be better than the batter, rather than trying to bang it in ball after ball.”Cummins is not bothering about variations just yet. He is not too concerned about over-reaching and breaking down either, but is prepared to do the hard yards off the field. “I want to bowl as fast as I can, and leave the strength training for the gym,” he said ahead of the game. “I have had a very good pre-season where I did a lot of weight training and am getting stronger. If you try to fiddle around too much with the pace, you might end up with a completely different action.”Cummins’ biggest lesson came earlier in the day, when his batting mates were meandering aimlessly through the latter stages of the innings. The Cobras had sussed out the pitch after conceding New South Wales a quick start, and their seamers chose to take the pace off completely in the end overs. That included a two-over spell that featured nine slower balls, from the best fast bowler currently in the game, Dale Steyn. It is too early to predict whether Cummins might get there one day, but he stands a chance only if he can make variety the spice of his life.

A final chance for England to avoid a whitewash and the omens don’t look good

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan24-Oct-2011Match factsOctober 25, Kolkata
Start time 14.30 (0900 GMT)Varun Aaron’s debut was another exciting part of the series for India•AFPBig PictureEngland have a final chance to avoid a whitewash but the omens don’t look good. India have overpowered them in all areas, relishing home conditions again after a difficult few months overseas. After the problems they faced in England this series has shown that India’s 50-over game is in pretty reasonable health and it has given Duncan Fletcher another chance to look at a number of young players.He’ll have been impressed by what he has seen, too. R Ashwin has caused England no end of problems, Varun Aaron made an exciting debut, Ravindra Jadeja is a talented allrounder and Ajinkya Rahane has been a solid presence. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni has led his stand superbly – out-captaining Alastair Cook by a street – and continues to defy his enormous workload.For England it’s a less rosy picture. The batting, apart from once in Mohali, has failed to adapt to conditions and having started the tour on a crest of a wave this has been a sudden jolt back down to earth. The management won’t panic, they are wiser than that, but the last two weeks has gone to reinforce that some of England’s one-day game is still lagging behind.Form guideIndia WWWWL (completed games, most recent first)
England LLLLWIn the spotlightAfter a year where almost everything has gone right for Alastair Cook he’s again a man under pressure. Not that his place is under threat but he has come in for some criticism on this short tour, both for his own tactics and the behaviour of his team. After making a promising 60 in the opening game the runs haven’t flowed, either, which has meant England have struggled for solid starts, but it doesn’t yet count as a slump. Cook isn’t part of the Twenty20 side so this will be his final England outing until January and he’ll be desperate to leave with something positive.The crowds for this series have been disappointing with vast numbers of empty seats in traditional hot-beds such as Mumbai. Even in India, where one-day cricket is king, the signs are emerging of overkill. This is Eden Gardens’ biggest match since early 2010 – they staged World Cup fixtures but their marquee game between these two teams was moved to Bangalore – and history shows that a full house here is one of cricket’s most compelling sights. That, though, appears an unlikely prospect.Team newsThere aren’t many parts of India’s game that haven’t gone to plan, but Parthiv Patel hasn’t had a productive series opening the batting and it could be a chance to give Manoj Tiwary an outing. Elsewhere, it would only be a question of whether anyone needs a rest.India (possible): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Manoj Tiwary, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Vinay Kumar, 11 Varun AaronEngland shook up the bowling attack in Mumbai but it was the batting that let them down again. Ian Bell remains sat on the sidelines and must be wondering what he has to do to get a game. Ravi Bopara and Jonny Bairstow have both struggled in the series so Bell could replace either of them, or Craig Kieswetter if Bairstow was given the gloves. After a game off, Graeme Swann may replace Scott Borthwick before leading the T20 side at the weekend.England (possible): 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Stuart Meaker, 11 Steven Finn.Pitch and conditionsWarm and sunny during the day, although perhaps not as hot as Mumbai, while dew hasn’t been the major factor that it might have been during the series. For IPL matches the surface has tended to be slow and low. India would be quite happy with more of the same.Stats and trivia This is England’s first game in Kolkata since 2002 when India won by 22 runs despite Marcus Trescothick’s 121 England have only suffered two 5-0 series scorelines in ODIs; against Sri Lanka in 2006 and India in 2008Quotes”There is always that balance, as we know, and part of our responsibility as a side is to get that. Sometimes on this tour, we might not have always got that balance – but I didn’t see too much wrong this time.”
“We wanted to win 5-0 in England, but we couldn’t. It’s not always just what you want – you have to play well. We’ll try to win it 5-0. But the main motivation is just to go out there and play good cricket.”
MS Dhoni isn’t getting to wrapped up in the scoreline

Steadfast centuries from Abhishek Nayar and Rohit Sharma and a belligerent knock from Suryakumar Yadav brought Mumbai within 91 of Rajasthan’s first innings score

The Reoprt by Nagraj Gollapudi in Mumbai12-Nov-2011
Scorecard
Abhishek Nayar holds the key on the final day•FotocorpSteadfast centuries from Abhishek Nayar and Rohit Sharma and a belligerent knock from Suryakumar Yadav brought Mumbai within 91 of Rajasthan’s first innings score on the penultimate day of an interesting contest at the Brabourne Stadium.With the pair of Iqbal Abdulla and Ramesh Powar, specialists in lower-order rescue acts, and Nayar – who did not return from the tea interval due to severe body cramps, but was confident about batting tomorrow – remaining, Mumbai are on an equal footing with their opponents to gain the three points for the first-innings lead.Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar had put in a sweeper cover from the first over since Rohit had scored freely in front of point on the second day. Rohit displayed the required patience, even though Pankaj Singh, the best bowler in the match, tested him to the hilt. Pankaj consistently attacked Rohit’s off stump, bowling lengths that the batsman was not entirely comfortable with. The first hour in the morning was littered with spirited appeals from Pankaj and Co. but Rohit managed to survive. He also attacked the bowlers at the other end, to make sure the scoring-rate was inching forward.As Rohit entered the 90s, Kanitkar played another interesting card by replacing Pankaj, who had bowled a six-over spell, with Gajendra Singh, the left-arm spinner. On 94, Rohit lunged too far forward against a delivery that spun away before taking an edge. Aakash Chopra, at first slip, dived to his right but could only get his fingertips to the ball before it sailed past.Eventually, a steer to deep point fetched Rohit the two runs required to get to his second century in the first two Ranji matches of the season. Three balls later, he tried to hit over mid-off and ended up watching Vineet Saxena complete a fine catch.Suryakumar was within touching distance of his maiden first-class century when he hit the self-destruct button. This is his third Ranji Trophy match, having made his debut last season, and he has a fifty in each one. Today was his best chance to reach three figures.He started with a hard cut for two before consecutive straight fours over the bowler’s head got him into double figures, and then finished the over by slog-sweeping Gajendra. Off his 17th delivery, he charged Gajendra again to hit his first six, a powerful drive high over the sight screen. In one Chahar over, he collected three consecutive boundaries in the arc between third man and deep point, expertly beating the fielders.In just 20 minutes, Yadav was on 49 as he paddle-swept legspinner Vivek Yadav for an easy four. His half-century had come off 31 balls and included nine fours and one six. Rajasthan’s bowling was in a mess, there were plenty of misfields too, and the 100-odd crowd, mostly kids, enjoyed themselves.Mumbai piled on 187 in the first session off 37 overs. The way Suryakumar was dominating the opposition, Mumbai fancied their chances of taking a lead by stumps. However, Suryakumar’s my-way-is-the-only-way approach came back to haunt him eventually.Kanitkar asked his spinners to bowl wide outside off stump, hoping the inexperienced Suryakumar would go for the slog. Which is what Suryakumar did, living dangerously on a few occasions before another attempted paddle-sweep took the top edge and sailed into the hands of Robin Bist at short fine-leg. In the first round, Suryakumar had missed his maiden century by 12 runs. Today, by 13.Mumbai seemed to have lost the momentum but Nayar played Mr Sensible to revive them. Nayar had missed the first-round clash against Railways due to a wrist injury but came in here for Prashant Naik, who picked up an injury last week. The selectors wanted Nayar to bat at No. 3 but he was understandably reluctant, having usually batted lower in the order.Nayar’s new job could have lasted only a few minutes on Saturday. When on ten, both he and Rohit found themselves stranded mid-pitch after Rohit had called for a run, but Nayar survived. There were more goof-ups like that late on Saturday, but as the minutes ticked by Nayar found his voice and his poise. He scored most of his runs in cuts and sweeps that found empty pockets in the field as the bowlers decided to attack Rohit.The biggest difference between Nayar and the pair of Rohit and Yadav was that the southpaw played more responsibly. He did not fancy hitting every ball. He left many balls alone, churned out singles and did not show any unnecessary urge to go broke like his two team-mates.An easy pull got him to 98 and then he flicked Chahar off his hips and screamed desperately “two, two, two, two” to Suryakumar. As soon as he finished the second, he looked heavenwards for a few seconds, then acknowledged the few faithful at Brabourne. He even thumped his heart with his helmet. It was a moment to be proud and Nayar was not shy. Except, the job still remains half done.