Kolkata Knight Riders and Rising Pune Supergiant are both enjoying strong runs of form and have their sights set on finishing the league stage in the top two

The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy02-May-2017

Match facts

Kolkata Knight Riders v Rising Pune Supergiant
Kolkata, May 3, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)4:20

Bangar: Pune’s improved bowling effort showing on the points table

Form guide

• Kolkata Knight Riders (second): lost to Sunrisers by 48 runs, defeated Daredevils by seven wickets, defeated Rising Pune by seven wickets.

• Rising Pune Supergiant (fourth): defeated Lions by five wickets, defeated Royal Challengers by 61 runs, lost to Knight Riders by seven wickets.

Head-to-head

This season: Robin Uthappa’s 47-ball 87 helped Knight Riders hunt down a target of 183 with 11 balls remaining at the MCA Stadium in Pune.Overall: Knight Riders have chased and won in each of their three matches against Rising Pune.

In the news

Lynn, who has been out of action since dislocating his left shoulder while fielding against Mumbai Indians on April 9, trained with the Knight Riders squad on Tuesday. He hopes to return before the playoffs, Lynn told , possibly against Kings XI Punjab on May 9 or against Mumbai on May 13.Shakib Al Hasan has only played once for Knight Riders this season, and the match against Rising Pune is likely to be his last chance for game-time: he is set to leave the tournament on Thursday to join Bangladesh’s training camp in Sussex ahead of a triangular ODI series in Ireland, which also involves New Zealand.Knight Riders are on 14 points and Rising Pune on 12. The team that wins this clash will fancy a top-two finish, and two shots at a spot in the final.

The likely XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Sunil Narine, 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Robin Uthappa (wk), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Sheldon Jackson, 7 Colin de Grandhomme/Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Kuldeep Yadav.Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 MS Dhoni (wk), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Daniel Christian, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Shardul Thakur, 11 Imran Tahir.

Strategy punt

Rising Pune have scored quicker against pace (8.97 per over) than spin (7.32) this season, and the gap is particularly exaggerated in the case of MS Dhoni, who has scored at 8.15 against pace and 5.28 against spin. Knight Riders have tended to go with pace-dominated attacks this season, especially at Eden Gardens, which has provided an unusual amount of seam movement and bounce. But given their opposition, and Dhoni in particular, they might think of a spin-for-seam swap in the allrounder department, with Shakib Al Hasan coming in for Colin de Grandhomme.

Stats that matter

• Rising Pune lost three of their first four matches of the tournament, and have won five out of six since then. Their rise has coincided with a marked improvement in their bowling. In their first four games, their bowlers averaged 38.15, gave away 9.41 an over, and conceded a boundary every 4.76 balls. In the period since then, they have topped the tournament in terms of average (21.61) and economy rate (7.69), while only conceding a boundary every 6.68 balls.
• They have become better both in the first six overs – their economy rate has dropped from 10.00 to 7.50 – and in the last five – 13.00 to 8.03.
• The inclusion of Jaydev Unadkat has made a difference to their bowling in both these critical phases. In Pune’s last six matches, the left-arm quick has a Powerplay economy rate of 7.80 and an economy rate of 7.92 in the last five overs. He has been helped by Washington Sundar in the first six overs (6.37) and Daniel Christian in the last five (6.66)
• MS Dhoni has had a difficult time against Sunil Narine in T20s, scoring only 29 off 58 balls, while being dismissed once.
• Chris Woakes has been Knight Riders’ joint-highest wicket-taker this season with 11, but his wickets have come at a price. His economy rate of 9.65 is the second worst among all bowlers who have bowled 20 or more overs this season, with only Lasith Malinga proving more expensive.

Billy Godleman led a Derbyshire fightback after Leicestershire had passed 600 on the second day of the Division Two County Championship match at Derby

ECB Reporters Network26-May-2017
ScorecardNed Eckersley’s 91-ball hundred was part of a rapid double-century stand•Getty Images

Skipper Billy Godleman led a Derbyshire fightback after Leicestershire had passed 600 on the second day of the Division Two County Championship match at Derby.Godleman marked his 50th first-class appearance for the county with an unbeaten 60 as Derbyshire closed on 154 for 1 in reply to Leicestershire’s 619, still 465 behind.Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove top-scored with 188, adding 239 in 38 overs with Ned Eckersley who made a career-best 158 while Sri Lankan allrounder Jeevan Mendis took 6 for 204.It was a question of how many Leicestershire would score at the start of another hot day and the answer was plenty as Cosgrove and Eckersley plundered 100 in the first hour.Cosgrove passed his previous best for the county of 156 at Derby two years ago with a pull for four off Tony Palladino and he launched Mendis for two sixes to bring up the 500 before he was caught at long on.The fourth-wicket stand beat the previous highest for the county against Derbyshire of 207 by Maurice Hallam and Willie Watson in 1959 and there were more records as Leicestershire erased their previous highest score at Derby of 552 for 6 declared 12 years ago.When Eckersley completed his first hundred of the season from only 91 balls, it was only the 13th time in Leicestershire’s history that three batsmen had scored centuries in the same innings and another declaration looked like the only way Derbyshire would get off the field until Eckersley clipped Tom Taylor to deep midwicket.His departure sparked a collapse that saw the last six wickets go down for 38 with Mendis the main beneficiary of Leicestershire’s pursuit of quick runs as he returned the best figures by a Derbyshire legspinner since Kim Barnett, now director of cricket, took 6 for 28 against Glamorgan at Chesterfield in 1991.It was also the most expensive analysis by a Derbyshire bowler in 113 years although he had bowled 52 overs, 24.3 of them in one spell from the Racecourse end broken only be lunch.But the most relevant figure for Derbyshire was 470, the runs required to avoid the follow-on, and Slater and Godleman gave them a solid start although both had some narrow escapes before Slater was caught at short leg off Zak Chappell for 42.Shiv Thakor played and missed several times but hit Chappell for three successive fours although Derbyshire have a lot of batting to do to save the game.

Liverpool and Chelsea are now in pole position to sign Southampton midfielder and Arsenal target Romeo Lavia this summer, according to reports.

Is Romeo Lavia leaving Southampton?

The Belgium international only arrived at St. Mary’s from Premier League rivals Manchester City last summer, but during the 34 appearances he made during his debut season, he was one of the standout stars in a struggling side that eventually suffered relegation to the Championship.

The Saints’ 19-year-old established himself as Ruben Selles’ former side’s second top-performing defensive player which is impressive considering he’s still a teenager, so despite the fact that his contract doesn’t expire for another four years, he’s caught the eye of several managers in the top-flight, including Jurgen Klopp.

Fabrizio Romano recently reported that the Reds and Arsenal have both “asked [for] conditions” of a potential deal for the south coast outfit’s talented prospect, whilst Manchester United and Chelsea are only “monitoring” him and have held no "active talks” at this stage.

Are Liverpool signing Lavia?

According to Football Transfers, Liverpool and Chelsea have “overtaken” Arsenal in the hot pursuit of Lavia ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

The Gunners are claimed to have been favourites due to Mikel Arteta’s personal admiration for the player, but he could now “risk losing out” due to focusing all of his attention on the deal for West Ham’s Declan Rice. Lavia had been picked out as a replacment for Thomas Partey.

Southampton have placed a £40m price tag on their prized asset’s head, and with one of the initial frontrunners having put a swoop on the backburner, the Reds are in a “better” position to secure his services.

FSG will likely believe that Southampton demanding £40m for Lavia is extortionate considering that they were able to secure Alexis Mac Allister for £35m, but the defensive midfielder has got the potential to be a fantastic long-term signing so an opening offer should definitely be considered to test the waters.

The Elite Project Group client, who’s sponsored by Adidas, last season ranked in the 96th percentile for blocks by midfielders and won 35 out of his 60 tackles, which was the second-highest success rate throughout his squad, as per FBRef, so he’s not afraid to get stuck in when it comes to challenges.

Southampton’s “monster”, as dubbed by journalist Benjy Nurick, also has the ability to operate slightly higher up in central midfield alongside his usual role sitting just in front of the backline, so he would provide the boss with a little bit of extra versatility, making him an option to seriously think about should the opportunity to strike a deal present itself.

Old Trafford was silenced on Sunday when Marc Skinner's side were beaten by Man City, a result which highlighted several of the Red Devils' issues

Sunday was a huge day for Manchester United’s women’s team. The Red Devils welcomed bitter rivals Manchester City to Old Trafford and a club-record crowd of 43,615 fans streamed in to watch. Most of them were hoping to see a home win, one that would move United to within a point of Arsenal in second place in the Women's Super League, and four behind leaders Chelsea, while also leaving City nine points off the pace with only seven games played. But although it was an historic day at the 'Theatre of Dreams', the match was a nightmare for the hosts.

Despite home advantage, despite going 1-0 up after 21 minutes and despite playing against 10 players for almost half an hour, United came away empty-handed. They were sloppy, wasteful and uncomfortable in what turned into a 3-1 win for City.

Marc Skinner admitted after the match that his United team probably now need to go unbeaten for the rest of the season to stand any chance of winning the title. But based on what we saw on Sunday, that looks highly unlikely.

The 2022-23 campaign was an incredible one for Skinner's side. They were the only team to battle Chelsea for the WSL title until the final day, they secured a spot in the Women’s Champions League for the first time and they reached a maiden Women’s FA Cup final, too.

But the outlook is quite different with almost a third of this 2023-24 season gone. United couldn’t reach the UWCL group stages after landing a very tough tie in qualifying with Paris Saint-Germain, they’re seven points behind league leaders Chelsea and a defeat at Old Trafford to City has only intensified dissatisfaction among the fans. So, what is going wrong?

Getty ImagesKey exits

As well as losing highly-rated assistant manager Martin Ho, who has since guided Norwegian side Brann into the Women’s Champions League group stages, there were 13 first-team departures during the summer, two of which were hugely significant: Ona Batlle and Alessia Russo.

Batlle is the best right-back in the women’s game and her return to Barcelona, the club she came through as a youngster, felt inevitable for some time. She was always going to be extremely difficult to replace as there is no one quite like the Spaniard, who excelled as an inverted full-back during her time in Manchester.

Russo didn’t light the league up in her final season with United, scoring just 10 goals, but her move to Arsenal was an issue because of the way Skinner opted to tackle the task of replacing her. A flurry of new attackers have arrived, none of whom are providing the same kind of focal point as Russo.

AdvertisementGettyLife after Russo

Geyse – a tricky, direct and energetic forward who joined from reigning European champions Barcelona this past summer – is now playing the No.9 role on a regular basis. She is a wonderful talent and has shown flashes of her brilliance already. She is also a very different player to Russo.

On her Man Utd debut in October, in a dramatically late win at Aston Villa, Geyse was a constant nuisance for the opposition but she drifted out wide so often that it left no one in the box to put chances away. That has been the case for most of her time in United red, too.

"If the forward goes into the wide channel, then the other one has to come in and we have to flood the box because of the way that we play. That will come, I've no doubt about that," Skinner said after that win on the WSL’s opening weekend.

“Geyse is different to Alessia. Alessia is a pin player and spins and switches. Geyse can hold it and turn you and go. That's a different type of forward. I think when we watch it back, we can be more positionally ruthless and I think that will come.”

It was Rachel Williams who saved the day at Villa Park, the experienced forward coming off the bench to win the game in stoppage time. As a classic No.9, it was she who brought that penalty-box presence United had been lacking – and it wasn’t the only instance of that happening this season. The 35-year-old, the team’s top goal-scorer in the WSL this season, also came to the rescue away at Brighton earlier this month.

It's fantastic when you have players on the bench who can make a difference but Williams’ goals have often shown that United simply lack a starter who can be in the right place at the right time to get on the end of the chances being created – and finish them ruthlessly.

GettyThe right combination

Why is that the case? Well, Geyse has a lot of talent but her final product and decision-making aren't always convincing. She’s also not that orthodox centre-forward that will lurk in the box, waiting to sniff out a goal. Melvine Malard, however, appears to be a little more like that.

The France international joined Man Utd on loan from Lyon this past summer but has largely operated in a wide role despite it feeling like a switch of positions between her and Geyse would be beneficial. When she gets in the box, she is deadly, as her four goals for the club already have shown. Yet, she is often stuck on the wing struggling to make an impact. Even Nikita Parris, who excelled in a central role against Everton, appears to be a better option as a starting No.9 than Geyse, whose talents could be maximised out wide.

Skinner has tinkered a little with that front three this season but has yet to really nail down those killer combinations that can make United a more clinical side. He’s also stressed that the players are still adapting to life in England and learning the language to communicate with their new team-mates.

“There are still barriers,” he said on Sunday, speaking about the glimpses of that relationship between Geyse and Malard. “It’s just the little details. For example, if we're going to play more direct, then we can play underneath, so maybe Geyse is the highest player but then Melvine drops underneath so if Man City see get the first contact, we're in the second space and once we're in that second space, I don't think Man City would live with us. But we end up being in a flat line because they can't quite communicate quickly as the ball is travelling. There are all those little details that they don't yet have the language skill to do.”

But until Geyse and Malard are able to work in tandem in their current roles, can Skinner change things so that their abilities can be fully exploited while the relationship is still growing? After all, those partnerships take time to grow and there just isn’t a lot to spare in the WSL.

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GettyIssues aplenty

There are only 12 teams in the WSL. Each side only plays 22 games in the division. So, when you’re seven points off the top of the table after as many matches, it’s quite a lot of ground to make up if you want to be a factor in the title race.

Skinner has spoken about time, about how these players will gel and they will work together beautifully on the pitch, but nearly a third of the league season is now gone and he is still speaking about it. How long will it take?

Let’s also not forget that Malard is a loan player. You don’t want to be waiting four months for someone on a temporary deal to make an impact. You need to make the most of their presence as soon as possible, especially if Skinner wants Man Utd to compete for the title and to have another go in Europe next season.

The problems don’t just surround the forward areas and how this attack looks without Russo, either. Batlle’s departure has made United weaker at the back both in and out of possession. Errors when playing out from the defence are creeping in more and more frequently, with captain Katie Zelem caught on the ball in her own half in the build-up to City’s second goal on Sunday and Maya Le Tissier playing a short backpass to Mary Earps that proved costly for the third.

There are also questions around the midfield, namely why so much of United’s play seems to completely bypass it, and why the balance does not seem right a lot of the time in the combinations of three that Skinner picks. Rectifying the latter could go a long way to putting a stop to Ella Toone’s poor form in 2023, too.

Manchester United are reportedly lining up a £16m move to sign Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri amid Rasmus Hojlund's struggles in front of goal.

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• Man Utd tracking Moroccan striker En-Nasyri
• Could pay upto £16m as transfer fee
• Ten Hag wants cover for struggling Hojlund

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  According to the Red Devils are actively pursuing a move for the Moroccan striker in a bid to strengthen its squad in the January transfer window.

  Amid a challenging season, with seven losses in their first 17 Premier League games and struggles with injuries and underperforming signings, United are ready to dip into their market to revive their fortunes. Their Danish frontman, Hojlund, is yet to score in the English top-flight and Marcus Rashford's declining output has compounded the troubles for Erik ten Hag.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  United were earlier linked to Bundesliga sensation Serhou Guirassy, but it is believed that the striker prefers a move to United's league rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Scouts from United have been deployed to observe En-Nesyri's performances and will also be present in the upcoming La Liga clash against Atletico Madrid.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  En-Nesyri has been one of the few bright spots for Sevilla this season with his eight goals and four assists as the Andalusian side find themselves reeling in the 14th spot in La Liga.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Sevilla should be willing to offload the En-Nesyri as they are in the midst of a financial crisis and are looking to reduce expenses by offloading players which can help them fill their coffers. The striker could be a potent addition to United as he has proven himself on the international stage as well by playing a crucial role in Morocco's impressive run to the World Cup semi-final last year.

Manchester United will be desperate to build on their solid debut campaign under Erik ten Hag and as Champions League football is set to grace the Old Trafford pitch once again following a hiatus last term, the Dutchman will be keen to strengthen.

Not only that, but he will also be looking at moving some of the deadwood out of United that has dragged them down, with Harry Maguire being a player who must be banished from the Red Devils.

Tottenham Hotspur were linked with a move for the player last month and despite claims that he wants to remain at the club and fight for his place, the Dutchman looks certain to improve his defensive options.

Maguire started just 16 games last season, with only half of those coming in the Premier League and his current earnings of £190k-per-week were not rewarded with regular game time – hence why he should be moved on.

United have shown interest in Bayern Munich defender Benjamin Pavard according to Football Transfers and he could be the perfect replacement for the club's struggling skipper.

Could Benjamin Pavard sign for Manchester United?

The Bundesliga giants are reportedly allowing the Frenchman to leave should they receive offers of around €30m (£26m) this summer and Ten Hag could see this as a deal which represents excellent value.

The World Cup winner has tended to play more as a right-back during his career, but last season for Bayern, he featured heavily at centre-back and this adaptability could be a big plus in terms of Ten Hag launching a potential move.

Pavard could give United an unlikely goal threat, as he ranks in the top 1% across Europe’s big five leagues for non-penalty goals per 90 (0.18) and top 3% for shot-creating actions per 90 (1.58) however, it is his ability to bring the ball out of defence that could entice the United boss into signing him.

The 27-year-old ranks in the top 1% for progressive passes per 90 (7.59) and the top 9% for progressive carries per 90 (1.31) across the big five leagues in Europe among those in his position, suggesting that he’d be a perfect fit for Ten Hag’s tactical system which relies heavily on defenders playing out from the back.

In contrast, Maguire makes only 3.09 progressive passes per 90 and 0.95 progressive carries per 90 across Europe's big five leagues, and these are much lower totals than the Bayern star, thus rendering his role as obsolete should he arrive.

The former Stuttgart defender was lauded as being a “real talent” by former Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger and for a paltry £26m, Ten Hag might not make a better signing in terms of value for money all summer.

Arsenal are among the sides willing to pay Fenerbache star Arda Guler's release clause and he wants a transfer away immediately, according to reports.

Who will join Arsenal this summer?

As widely reported, the Gunners have agreed a £105 million total fee for the transfer of West Ham United star Declan Rice, who is now expected to make the move to north London.

Arsenal, though, don't appear to be done there after also sealing a £65 million deal to sign Kai Havertz from Chelsea. Indeed, Southampton's Romeo Lavia is firmly on manager Mikel Arteta's radar this summer, with Ajax defender Jurrien Timber coming as another who Arsenal are currently in talks for.

This could end up being one of Arsenal's busiest transfer windows in recent memory, with reports suggesting they may spend north of £200 million on fresh faces.

New targets are appearing on a consistent basis too, as Emirates transfer chief Edu is credited with an interest in signing Fenerbache's Guler.

The in-demand Turkish wonderkid, who is already capped at international level, has attracted a plethora of suitors both abroad and domestically.

Spanish outlet Diario AS expand on this, claiming Guler is wanted by "half of Europe", with Newcastle United, Manchester United, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, Milan, Sevilla, Barcelona and even Real Madrid chasing his signature.

It is believed that the 18-year-old wants to leave Fenerbache "right away", which is where Arsenal come in, as AS state that the north Londoners are "willing to pay" his €17.5million (£15m) alongside the aforementioned sides.

If Arsenal are to make a move for Guler, they will need to hurry, as both Barca and Real will soon make attempts to convince the player.

Who is Arda Guler?

Branded the "Turkish Messi", Guler is amassing quite the reputation, having stood out as one of Fenerbache's best-performing players per 90 as a teenager last campaign (WhoScored).

The talent racked up seven goal contributions in 20 league appearances over 22/23, all while averaging making more key passes per 90 than any Fenerbache player (WhoScored).

Italian football legend Andrea Pirlo, commenting on Guler recently, even said he has the potential to play anywhere in the world.

"Arda Guler is a very talented player,” Pirlo said.

“He has the potential to play anywhere in the world. He has quality, he can read the game well, and he has great technique. If he keeps developing his game, there is no limit to his potential.”

Sri Lanka’s selectors are confident that the fast bowler will be fit enough to bowl 10 overs and field for 50 overs by the time of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2017Lasith Malinga, who last played an ODI in November 2015, has been named in Sri Lanka’s 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy in June. Long-standing injuries had put his availability in doubt, but Sri Lanka’s selectors have been satisfied he can be fit enough to deliver 10 overs and field for 50 by the time the tournament starts on June 1.Also in the squad are batsman Chamara Kapugedera, who has not played ODIs since January 2016, and fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep, who has been only a sporadic presence in Sri Lanka’s ODI squads over the past year. Omitted, however, are batsman Danushka Gunathilaka, allrounders Dhananjaya de Silva and Milinda Siriwardana, and quicks Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera.The team will be led by Angelo Mathews, who returns after a hamstring injury kept him out of ODI series against South Africa and Bangladesh.Malinga made his return to T20 internationals in February, following a 12-month layoff from all competitive cricket due to a knee injury. Though his form has been somewhat indifferent in the IPL, he has been largely impressive in his international matches this year, even picking up a first T20I hat-trick in his most recent game, against Bangladesh.”Malinga has got his medical clearance to bowl 10 overs, since about two weeks ago,” SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said. “We need to build him up to bowl 10 overs now. He’s playing in the IPL, which is to our advantage, because he’s in a top-class cricketing environment and he’s practising. Right now we are getting reports that he’s going into eight overs in a spell. We have to make sure he’s fit to bowl 10 by about the 10th of May.”This is the third successive ICC tournament in which Sri Lanka are sweating over Malinga’s fitness, however. He had missed last year’s World T20, from which he withdrew in the week before Sri Lanka departed for the tournament. He had also been injured in the approach to the 2015 World Cup.”Match fitness is what he’s lacking now – his physical fitness is superb,” Sumathipala said of Malinga. “We are looking for Malinga to be fit to play the practice games before the tournament – it’s very important for him to play those games.”Elsewhere on the seam-bowling front, Mathews himself is expected to be fit to bowl at the Champions Trophy – he has begun bowling in the IPL. Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera and Pradeep are the other seam options in the squad. Peculiarly, Sri Lanka have not picked a specialist finger spinner – legbreak bowler Seekkuge Prasanna, and left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan have been chosen instead.Upul Tharanga – who led the team in Mathews’ absence – is one of three potential openers in the squad, with Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Perera there as well. Kapugedera’s inclusion is likely thanks to good performances in the ongoing provincial one-day tournament, in which he has scored two hundreds in four innings.Among the standby players for the tournament are Gunathilaka and offspinner Dilruwan Perera – both of whom will be traveling with the squad – and Siriwardana, Kumara and seam bowler Vikum Sanjaya, who SLC said would be undergoing “continuous training” in Colombo.The Sri Lanka squad – including Malinga – is expected to assemble in Sri Lanka on around the 10th of May, before they leave to Kandy for a six-day training camp. Sumathipala said the board chose the Pallekele Stadium for the camp, in order to better replicate conditions Sri Lanka may face in England. The team leaves the island on May 18, and has two ODIs against Scotland scheduled before they are due to play further practice matches – against Australia and New Zealand.On-tour standbys: Dilruwan Perera, Dhanushka Gunathilaka; Standbys on training in Colombo: Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Kumara, Sachith Pathirana, Milinda Siriwardana, Akila Dananjaya

As Alastair Cook reached 64 not out to complete a day of Essex supremacy, for Essex supporters finding their county top of the Championship, the twilight came close to heaven

Paul Edwards at Chelmsford26-Jun-2017
Scorecard”WAIT ON!” The loud bellow echoed around the County Ground just as similar cries of caution have done over the decades. Yet the rich Belfast accent suggested that the Middlesex batsman uttering the warning did not hail from Stanmore or Staines. But Paul Stirling is hardly your normal county cricketer; he is somewhat unconventional in shape and appeared unusual in his response to being dropped at slip: he took 26 off the next nine balls. And perhaps it was fitting that Stirling should be the batsman loudly advising caution, for he was doing so at just gone six o’clock this Monday evening. We were just over halfway through our ration of overs. Normality did not seem the order of the day.And then one looked more closely at the architecture of the opening exchanges in this afternoon/evening game – surely ‘day-night’ sacrifices accuracy to monosyllabic convenience – and one noticed a tall off-spinner whose accuracy and flight paid due honour to the Essex tradition personified in some of the county’s greatest years by David Acfield. If the trailblazing nature of this day’s cricket was captured by Stirling’s 77 off 50 balls, the game’s steadier virtues were personified by Simon Harmer, who took 5 for 77, his third five-for in a week at Chelmsford. The off-spinner is now the leading bowler in Division One and his ability to exploit a pitch offering bounce but little turn is the main reason Essex are in control of this game.The subsidiary explanation for Essex’s dominance – they trail Middlesex by only 140 runs and have all their wickets in hand – was the batting of a tall Test cricketer who was practising against a pink ball in the Essex nets when some of his colleagues and opponents were still going through their lunchtime stretches. Perhaps more than any other cricketer, Alastair Cook exhausts the thesaurus and enervates metaphor. So yes, there was a pull and three cuts in Cook’s first 26 runs; an off-driven reply to a Toby Roland-Jones half-volley was his only break with a routine England supporters would recognise. Clinical, methodical, ruthless. Again.

Pink ball blues

Simon Harmer, Essex spinner:“”The seam is a little bit different. It didn’t spin or turn as consistently as I thought it would, which may be played to my advantage. There was a lot of bounce with the pink ball and it comes off the bat a lot better. All the bowlers felt there was extra bounce with it. We could have done better with the new ball, but it’s going to take time to adjust.”
Paul Stirling, Middlesex batsman: “We expected it to swing for a lot longer than it did and from what we’ve practised with and what the lads have experienced in the Abu Dhabi pink ball games. We thought it would have done a lot more towards the end of the day as well, but it’s done less than we thought.”

Every other county in the land would wish their openers possessed Cook’s qualities; Middlesex’s batsmen clearly needed them as they wasted the winning of the toss, although this profligacy was not the fault of their openers. Nick Gubbins, beaten all ends up by Mohammed Amir’s fourth ball in an Essex shirt was leg before to the sixth, which speared wickedly into him. Next over Nick Compton was caught behind off a Jamie Porter delivery which pitched just outside off stump and held its own. 2 for 2 and we readied ourselves for pink-ball pandemonium.But our preparations were unnecessary. Instead of a steady relay of glum batsmen there was a fine partnership of 120 runs for the third wicket between Middlesex’s stand-in skipper Dawid Malan, who played a most cultured innings of 60, and Stevie Eskinazi, whose 66 off 111 balls lost little by comparison. Malan’s driving through the covers and on the on-side was a delight and, to a degree, it made the ECB look a trifle silly. For the stated rationale behind the reorganisation of the English season into blocks of Championship, 50-over and T20 cricket was that players should not be asked to move from one format to another in the space of a couple of days. So how might we explain Malan’s stylish innings against a pink-ball attack less than 24 hours after he had dispatched South Africa’s T20 bowlers all around Cathedral Road on his international debut? Might we call it talent, versatility, composure? Middlesex took afternoon tea – Darjeeling and patum peperium perhaps – with the scoreboard reading 106 for 2. It was probably as well they could not glimpse what lay ahead.Middlesex’s decline in the pre-prandial session began when a blameless Malan was superbly caught behind the wicket by James Foster off a ball from Harmer which turned a fair bit and bounced a lot more. Then Eskinazi pushed forward at Porter but only nicked a catch to Cook at slip. John Simpson’s valuable wicket was taken by Amir who arrowed a ball into the wicketkeeper-batsman and almost induced him to walk without waiting for David Millns to don the black cap. John Lever may have watched approvingly from the plush tent where the former players were chewing the fat on President’s Day. JK did as much as anyone to win four titles for Essex and in September he might see them win another.The rest of the session belonged to Harmer, although he had to share some of the headlines with Stirling, who bullocked Paul Walter over the square leg boundary twice in an over and hit five uncomplicated sixes in addition to eight fours. But the off-spinner had both Stirling and Ollie Rayner caught at cover by Ryan ten Doeschate in the same over and Middlesex’s formidable tail could not dam the flow of wickets.Left with 36 overs to bat, the Essex openers exposed the inadequacy of their opponents’ total. When Cook was 48 Gubbins committed the fatal mistake of dropping a two-handed chance at cover off Steven Finn. Such indiscretions generally meet with condign punishment. Cook’s last shot in cool anger was a square cut off Roland-Jones. The light failed a little and we finally noticed the floodlights.Essex ended a close-to-perfect day on 106 for no wicket, Cook 64 not out. It is not a bad time to sport the seaxes on one’s shirt. At dinner time they had named the pavilion in a tribute to that remarkable nonagenarian, Doug Insole. To the honorand’s undoubted delight, Essex are already well placed to win the game and to land their first County Championship since 1992. No wonder, then, that there were precipitate roars of triumph from the popular side in the supper session.Bliss it was this twilight to be alive and to be an Essex supporter was very heaven.

An increase in the hitting ability of the Sri Lanka women players should help them pose a greater threat in the upcoming Women’s World Cup, said their coach Hemantha Devapriya.”Since I took over six months ago, I’ve found out that our run-rate has not been that great and our batters’ strike-rate was not so efficient,” Devapriya said. “Other than Eshani Lokusuriyage and Chamari Atapattu who had strike-rates of a little over 60, others were below that, some under 40, which indicated that if Atapattu and Lokusuriyage scored we managed over 200 runs.”What they were lacking was creative shots and use of the feet. They were averaging only 41 singles per match. We worked on it and they improved it to 100 singles. We increased their shot range also, like using the pace of the ball. They were very negative on back-of-the-length balls and not creating a shot off that delivery. We practised with hard plastic balls on granite surfaces to overcome that issue. We also played a lot of practice games with Under-17 boys and in the last two games we managed to get over 200 runs.”It was also identified that improving skills alone will not be enough to stay competitive in the world of modern-day cricket. “Fitness was a big problem I had, especially with ageing players,” Devapriya said. “When you are not fit, it affects the fielding. Gradually, we increased their fitness workload coupled with fielding. At gym sessions, we introduced new exercises to develop the technique to generate power when batting. Overall, I had only six months and I never expected them to reach this standard. They developed very fast and their confidence has gone up.”Another thing in Sri Lanka’s favour is former captain Shashikala Siriwardene coming back from injury. “Her return has strengthened the team a lot,” Devapriya said. “She will make a big impact because she is an allrounder and she has the experience also. Her experience will be very useful in the middle.”Our aim is to try and finish in the top four [and] we have a fair chance of doing that. When you compare us with other teams, they are well ahead of us, but you never know in a tournament of this nature.”That left Sri Lanka’s traditional strength, their spin bowling. Devapriya was wary that conditions in England might not offer much turn, but given warm weather and a dry pitch, he backed his team to pull off a surprise or two.”At the moment, its cold 17 degrees hopefully if the Sun comes out it will be helpful. Those are things we can’t control. Our success will depend on getting a good score on the board and our key is spin. We select batters up to No. 6 and we have two spinners coming in Ama Kanchana and Shashikala,” said Devapriya.”You can swing the ball in the first 10 overs or so and once the swing goes our bowlers are not going to be that effective to get the batsmen out. We have two left-arm spinners as well and sometimes if the fast bowlers fail we may have to go with spin. We are going with a positive frame of mind to score runs and get wickets.”Sri Lanka will play three practice games against India, England and a county side before their first World Cup match against New Zealand on June 24.