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After sealing the T20 series, Pakistan will strive for consistency and a rare series whitewash against the misfiring world champions West Indies

The Preview by Nikhil Kalro26-Sep-2016

Match facts

September 27, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1600 GMT)

Big Picture

Bereft of confidence and 0-4 down, not much was happening for Pakistan’s limited-overs squad in their ODI series against England last month. But, as is the case in sport, one moment of clear thinking can help a team turn around. Pakistan achieved that through a partnership between their best limited-overs batsmen, Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed, in a demanding chase of 303 in Cardiff. Three convincing T20 wins followed, and now, Pakistan have an atypical sense of belief in their own game, and camaraderie under newly-appointed captain Sarfraz has hit a new level. Although this series is done, Pakistan are still striving to find the glue that can hold it all together: consistency.Pakistan’s series win against West Indies has been built around the same modus operandi they’ve used for decades – bat to par and bowl well above that. Reducing the world champions to 48 for 8 and 89 for 7 in the first two T20s showed their discipline with the ball. A youthful side has also shown the ability to save runs on the field. But, how will Pakistan’s new-look outfit hold their own under the duress that this format often brings?As teams master the T20 format, they also sometimes deem a “bad day” acceptable. West Indies’ batsmen suffered two in succession, which has cost the team the series; their six-hitters have hit the wall when unable to find the boundary. “West Indies are known to be a boundary-hitting side. But it’s up to us to find a way around that,” batting coach Toby Radford said after the second T20. If they don’t, a whitewash may be inevitable.

Form guide

Pakistan WWWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies LLWWW

In the spotlight

Shoaib Malik has been one of Pakistan’s most consistent T20 performers. In his last 16 T20I innings, Malik has failed to register a double-digit score just once. Malik’s experience and fielding prowess have also helped Pakistan in their dramatic limited-overs revival.West Indies’ middle order, which includes Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Carlos Brathwaite, is arguably the best in the world. Bravo resurrected West Indies’ innings in the first T20 with a 54-ball 55. But for them to be at their destructive best, West Indies’ top order has to set a base from where the middle order can attack effectively.

Team news

Pakistan have no reason to change their winning combination with a whitewash in sight, although coach Mickey Arthur said on the eve of the game that there might be changes on the fast-bowling front. “We would like to bring in [Mohammad] Amir, and start him bowling before the ODIs,” he said. “I want to know how Rumman Raees goes too, but we will take a final decision tomorrow.”*Pakistan (probable): 1 Sharjeel Khan, 2 Khalid Latif, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Sohail Tanvir, 11 Hasan Ali/Mohammad AmirWith the series gone, captain Carlos Brathwaite said they are likely to hand a debut to one or two players. Rovman Powell may make it into the XI for Nicholas Pooran, who has scores of 5 and 4 in his first two T20Is. West Indies may also rejig their misfiring top order.West Indies (probable): 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Andre Fletcher (wk), 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 8 Rovman Powell/Nicholas Pooran, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Samuel Badree, 11 Jerome Taylor

Pitch and conditions

Abu Dhabi, with its larger dimensions, will provide a different challenge to the batsmen. Pakistan’s batsmen scampered through for plenty of twos in the smaller Dubai outfield, which could continue. West Indies’ six-hitting ability and adaptability will be tested. The nature of the pitch is unlikely to be too dissimilar from the first two T20Is, and temperatures are expected to be in the late 30s again.

Stats and trivia

• Before this series, Pakistan had never won more than one match in a three-match T20I series
• Pakistan’s left-arm bowlers have taken 14 wickets this series, the joint most for any team in a bilateral T20I series
• Pakistan have won only one of the four T20Is they have played in Abu Dhabi

Quotes

“The dot-ball percentage was always far too high [previously in limited-overs cricket], so we had to rotate the strike more and we particulary worked hard to score off good balls. It was pleasing to see us score so many [87] off the last ten the other night.”
“I haven’t lost confidence in anyone as a team”.
*18.00GMT, September 26: The preview was updated after Mickey Arthur’s media interaction

World Cup postponement offers fringe players chance to gain valuable experience

Andrew Miller27-Aug-2020Eoin Morgan says that the extra months of preparation ahead of next year’s postponed T20 World Cup could be crucial in getting the younger players in the England squad up to speed at international level.However, he also warned that it would be difficult for England to be considered among the favourites in Australia next year if they continue to take the field with a “half-strength” team.England’s white-ball squad was already lacking four key members of that World Cup squad in Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jofra Archer, before the experience in their ranks was further eroded by the loss of Jason Roy to a side strain.And speaking on the eve of the first T20I at Emirates Old Trafford – England’s first outing since it was confirmed that the World Cup, originally scheduled for October and November, would be pushed back to 2021 – Morgan challenged the team’s fringe players to seize their chance in the absence of those more established names.”Given the circumstances surrounding Covid at the moment and the restrictions selection-wise, and having a priority on players’ wellbeing, this is another opportunity for guys who potentially would sit outside that 15, to try and present their best case, moving forward, for winter tours and the World Cup next year,” Morgan said.”I also think that opportunities like this don’t come around very often when we have our squad at full strength.”ALSO READ: Jason Roy out of series with side strainEngland’s triumph in last summer’s 50-over World Cup was made possible by a settled squad with clearly defined roles. However, Morgan recognised that this year’s unique circumstances – with England running concurrent Test and white-ball squads in a bid to fulfil their broadcast commitments after four months of lockdown – had left the development of their new-look team in a state of flux.”One of the challenges between now and the World Cup next year is going to be getting our strongest team on the park as often as we can to define those roles,” he said. “We will only know our strongest positions after we have guys achieving in those roles.”In the wake of a draining 2019 summer, England took an experimental T20 squad to New Zealand in November last year, where three of the current squad members, Tom Banton, Lewis Gregory and Saqib Mahmood, all made their debuts in a 3-2 series win, while a more experienced line-up came from behind in South Africa in February to win their three-match series 2-1.”It was a good exercise in the winter at different stages, particularly in South Africa, when we had the majority of people available – all bar Jofra, who was injured,” Morgan said. “But I don’t think we can have a scenario where we can play the majority of our games with a half-strength team and then expect to go into a World Cup as contenders.”Nevertheless, Morgan was torn as to whether the postponement of the T20 World Cup was actually an advantage to England, given that they would have been one of the only teams in the world to have had any meaningful match practice in the wake of the global sporting shutdown.”If the tournament went ahead, we would have been at an advantage over a lot of other nations given that we were already playing together,” he said. “But I think a lot of sides might have been up against it and it might have added a level of unpredictability to the World Cup.”Everybody’s favoured [by the postponement], simply because they haven’t been playing cricket. In a perfect-case scenario you lead into the World Cup playing good competitive cricket against sides in the conditions that you’re going to play, and the side has been together for a lot of the time.”Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow head to the nets•Getty Images

Instead, England may need their younger players to find their feet at the highest level as quickly as possible, particularly a player such as Banton, who has found himself playing out of his comfort zone in the middle order in ODI cricket, due to the wealth of top-order talent at England’s disposal.”The messaging from myself or the coach is to feel as comfortable in an England shirt as you do in a county shirt,” Morgan said, “and to actually feel free enough to play the expansive game that you would at your county within international cricket.”Our job is to get the best out of the guys who are in our squad. So, in order to achieve that, guys need to feel comfortable and free enough to take the risks that international T20 cricket demands.”Instead of the T20 World Cup, the main focus for many of England’s white-ball players will be the IPL, which will be held in Dubai during the same window after being postponed from the spring, and Morgan hoped that the lessons available in that tournament, as well as Australia’s Big Bash, will help to fast-track the development of players such as Banton, whom he will be playing alongside at Kolkata Knight Riders.”A lot of the guys we have in the squad at the moment are young guys coming through, and when you’re at that stage of development in your career, six to eight to 12 months is actually quite a considerable amount of time,” Morgan said.”I think the challenge for those guys is actually getting the opportunity to go away and play,” he added. “The IPL is going ahead, and we have a long tour to India which actually frees up guys to play a full Big Bash and then potentially put their case forward to be selected in an IPL in the new year.”So, trying to expose them to a lot more white-ball cricket can accelerate their development as opposed to just sitting at home, not playing anything and wondering about what next summer will look like for us.”

Sabbir Rahman and Shahriar Nafees batted out of their skin to take Barisal Bulls to the BPL final, where they will face Comilla Victorians

The Report by Mohammad Isam13-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLendl Simmons’ 73 was in vain•BCB

Sabbir Rahman and Shahriar Nafees batted out of their skins to take Barisal Bulls to the BPL final, where they will face Comilla Victorians. The five-wicket win over Rangpur Riders came with three balls to spare, and it was sweeter as they won without the big-hitting Chris Gayle.The match was going smoothly in Barisal’s favour when Sabbir and Nafees were adding their 124-run, third-wicket stand, but it started to swing and turn in the last three overs. Sabbir was dropped on 77 in the 18th over by Darren Sammy at long-on off Thisara Perera’s bowling. Two balls later, however, when the batsman tried to hoick over midwicket again, Sammy managed to balance himself on his left foot for about three seconds, nearly leaning into the rope but hanging on brilliantly.One more run came from that over, leaving Barisal to score 19 from the last two overs. The first three balls of the 19th over went for five runs before Mahmudullah skied Sammy’s slower ball straight to long-off where Perera took an easy catch. Rayad Emrit calmly slog-swept the next ball, also a slower one, for a six over deep midwicket before he was beaten off the last ball.Barisal needed eight off the last over when Shakib handed the ball to Perera. He gifted a full-toss down the leg side first ball and Cooper’s thin touch beat the diving wicketkeeper for four. Cooper squeezed one almost to the boundary next ball, but had to settle for two before he hammered a four off another full-toss to seal the win. The players and officials poured out of the Barisal dressing-room, rejoicing a tough climb to the final.Barisal’s start to the chase had been disastrous as they slipped to 10 for 2 in the third over. From such a tough position, with a place in the final on the line, Sabbir and Nafees put together the sixth hundred-plus stand in this year’s competition. The third-wicket partnership started with a charge off Shakib, who gave away three fours in the fifth over. Mohammad Nabi was struck for a four and six through the leg side, before Nafees’ thick outside edge took the ball past the wicketkeeper off Sammy.Sabbir brought out the sweep in the eighth over, going for a fast four, before Nafees swung a boundary away off Abu Jayed in the tenth over. The pair picked up two fours off both Perera and Sammy in the next two overs.Sabbir brought up his first half-century of this season’s BPL in the 14th over, before sweeping past the deep midwicket and backward square leg fielders, again off Nabi. He didn’t get to the pitch of a Saqlain Sajib delivery but the ball sailed over long-off, taking the partnership past the 100-run mark. With Barisal needing 43 off the remaining 30 balls, Nafees blasted Arafat Sunny through midwicket before Sabbir struck his third six, over midwicket. Nafees was run out in the next over, which was also Shakib’s last, for 44 off 40 balls with six fours.When Rangpur chose to bat, there were expectations from Lendl Simmons, who had only scored a single fifty in the tournament. He struck the first boundary for the side in the third over, tucking Mohammad Sami past short fine leg. His new opening partner, Abdullah Al Mamun, making his BPL debut, lofted Al-Amin Hossain over midwicket for a six, before Simmons, too, got his first six with a pull off Taijul Islam over midwicket.The left-arm spinner was struck for two more fours in the same over before Seekkuge Prasanna clean-bowled Mamun for 20; the opening pair had added 52 in 8.3 overs. Soumya Sarkar continued his lean run, falling for only 6, though Sami took a good catch at long-off in the 11th over.Simmons and Shakib added a quickfire 44 for the third wicket, though it was the Rangpur opener who took Al-Amin for a six over long-off, and hit fours down the leg side and past point off Emrit and Prasanna. Simmons was bowled by Sami for 73 off 57 balls, with nine fours and two sixes. He had laid enough of a platform for Rangpur’s allrounders to go for broke in the last few overs.Rangpur lost four wickets in the helter-skelter last over – two of them run-outs, while Cooper took the other two to complete his second four-for in the competition. Rangpur’s good score of 160, however, was eclipsed by a valiant Barisal effort.

Ebrahim played a key hand for Canterbury in their run to the title in the women’s Super Smash competition

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2021Kate Ebrahim and Thamsyn Newton have been recalled to the New Zealand women’s T20I squad for the series against England at home in March following strong performances in the domestic Super Smash competition. The T20Is, to be played after the ODI leg as a series of double-headers alongside the men’s games against Australia, will not feature Suzie Bates, who is still recovering from a right shoulder injury.Ebrahim, whose last international appearance came in a T20I against Australia in Canberra in October 2018, hit 292 runs in nine innings at an average of 73.00 for Canterbury in the Super Smash, while also picking up a wicket in the eight overs she bowled in the competition. She has played a total of 31 ODIs and 37 T20Is over the years. Wellington’s Newton, meanwhile, scored some handy runs but impressed with her medium-pace bowling, picking up seven wickets with an economy rate of 7.05 for Wellington women. She played the last of her 19 international matches in November 2017 against Pakistan in Sharjah.Related

• NZ Women pick Brooke Halliday and Fran Jonas for England ODIs

• Big runs on order for England as focus moves to World Cup defence

Both of them were in action in the Super Smash final, where Ebrahim’s 40-ball 45* helped Canterbury pull off a four-wicket win with two balls remaining.”Kate and Thamsyn have worked hard and proven their ability in the Dream11 Super Smash this season,” selector Jason Wells said in a statement. “Kate has been excellent with the bat for the [Canterbury] Magicians and yesterday’s match-winning knock in the Grand Final capped off a superb Super Smash campaign for her.”Thamsyn is an athletic cricketer whose all-round skills have served the [Wellington] Blaze well in their T20 campaign.”Apart from the missing Bates, the squad wears a familiar look, with Sophie Devine continuing to lead, and the likes of Amy Satterthwaite, Amelia Kerr, Lea Tahuhu, Leigh Kasperek and others all in the mix. “We have shown faith in this group of cricketers and believe they have the skills and talent to compete against a strong English side,” Wells said.Squad: Sophie Devine (capt), Kate Ebrahim, Maddy Green, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Amela Kerr, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin (wk), Thamsyn Newton, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite (vice-capt), Lea Tahuhu

On Monday, he became only the second Bengal batsman to score a first class triple-hundred

Shashank Kishore21-Jan-2020On Monday, Manoj Tiwary became only the second Bengal batsman, after Devang Gandhi’s 323 in 1998-99, to make a first class triple-hundred, against Hyderabad. It allowed his side to charge to a bonus-point victory that puts them in a good position five games into the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season.Three times previously this season, Tiwary failed to convert his starts into substantial scores. He started the season with 51 against Kerala on a rank turner in Thiruvananthapuram. Then, on a green-top at Eden Gardens against Andhra, he made 46 – a knock he felt needed him to work as hard as he would to make 150 elsewhere.Last week, in a game that barely lasted two days, Tiwary made 48 as Bengal were handed a thrashing by defending champions Vidarbha on a dusty track. Coming back to home comforts, in Kalyani, he knew while the form hadn’t deserted him, he had to make a big one for the team’s sake to put them back in a good position building towards the knockouts.On the first morning, he walked in to bat at 32 for 2. It soon became 60 for 3 when he joined hands with Anustup Majumdar to rebuild the innings. “Initially I counterattacked to just throw them off their plans,” Tiwary told ESPNcricinfo after Bengal’s innings and 303-run victory. “After I raced past a half-century, I knew I had to slow down just a bit. But as the day progressed the pitch eased out, so run-scoring became easy.”The team needed it badly. In the game against Kerala, I kind of felt some pain in my back while evading a short-ball, and lost my focus after getting to a half-century. I could have come off, but I didn’t want a new batsman to come in. So I carried on, but somehow couldn’t get a big one. So I was determined to make this one count once set. In the other two games, as a batsman, you were never in because the conditions were really challenging. So when I saw this wicket, I knew if you spend time, the first hour or so, it will get easier and I was able to make it count.”Tiwary’s return to big run-making mode bodes well for the team heading into the second half of the tournament. They will soon be without Abhimanyu Easwaran, the designated captain, who is set to fly out to New Zealand for the India A tour early next month. There are murmurs that Tiwary could once again be handed the captaincy. For the moment, Tiwary has only a simple request: “Those judging us need to watch our matches before looking at stats, else numbers won’t give you a true picture.”The way I’ve been batting, I would say the season has gone well. Some of the scores have come in challenging conditions, so I’m happy deep down. It’s not always about the big knocks, you have to appreciate and value scores on rank turners or green tops. Every team is looking to maximise their home advantage because the competition in Groups A and B combined is stifling, and I see nothing wrong with that.”Playing on tough wickets adds to the charm of the Ranji Trophy and when you make tough runs, it’s pleasing. But my only request is for the selectors to actually start factoring in surfaces on which runs have come before forming their opinion, instead of just looking at score-books.”On the team front, he is particularly pleased to see Bengal back to winning ways, reserving special praise for Akash Deep, the 23-year old fast bowler, who has so far picked up 16 wickets in four matches. With Ishan Porel away with India A in New Zealand, Akash Deep and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, who picked up a hat-trick in the first innings and ended with match figures of 6 for 77, have become key components of their bowling attack.”Akash Deep is someone who should be looked after immediately. If India want another genuine quick who has promise, they should give him a try,” he said. “He bowls 140 and above, has an excellent bouncer, bowls consistently. He should be taken into the fast bowling talent pool at the NCA immediately and given chances. I think he’s India A material already. He deserves a proper road map, he could go great things going forward.”Tiwary had told ESPNcricinfo prior to the season that his aim was to play as long as possible, even maybe for another 10 years. He has had time to reflect on those words, but the commitment still remains.”Oh yes, without doubt. I’m ready to do what it takes,” he said. “I’m working hard on my fitness, I know I have to keep scoring runs consistently. I’ve always had to work hard, so that is nothing new. I want my son to see what his dad does on the cricket field, so that remains a motivating factor.”He’s just two, I’ve just started under-arming rubber balls to him at the park. When he’s seven or eight, hopefully he can watch his dad still playing.”

Chelmsford is the birthplace of artists and magicians. Simon Harmer, making a home for himself there, could be both after another extraordinary display stretched Essex’s lead to 29 points

Paul Edwards at Chelmsford29-Jun-2017
ScorecardChelmsford is the birthplace of the artist Grayson Perry and was also the town where the 16th century magician, John Dee, was educated. It is therefore well-used to astonishing transformations. However, whether credulous or sceptical, residents will have seen little to compare with the latter stages of this match, when Simon Harmer engraved his name in folk memory of Essex cricket-lovers on one the greatest day’s sport seen on this ground.In November 2015 Harmer was playing for South Africa in a Test match at Nagpur. Since then he has seen his stock fall in his home country and in the winter he committed himself to a career as a county cricketer with Essex.Last week he took 14 wickets against Warwickshire and on this wonderful last day against the champions he collected a career-best 9 for 95 finishing the match with figures of 14-172. By doing so he sent a thousand or so hardy souls at the County Ground into floodlit ecstasy, for they had seen their side complete their third victory in succession and this with a maximum of eight balls remaining in the game.When they descend from their rare euphoria, Essex supporters may realise that their team is now 29 points clear at the top of the Division One table. What they will also understand is that they have witnessed a victory the unlikelihood of which made it all the more worthy of celebration.With six overs left to be bowled Essex still needed four wickets and doubts began to creep in among spectators, even if the hesitancy of the later Middlesex batsmen encouraged hope among Ryan ten Doeschate’s players. That belief was fuelled by the fact that the pink Duke’s ball was retaining its bounce more than the red variety, a fact which the 6ft 2ins Harmer had been able to exploit throughout the match. And the problems of the Middlesex batsmen were increased by Harmer’s ability to use the footholes left by Mohammed Amir and Paul Walter. For all that time was running out, one never felt that Dawid Malan’s batsmen were comfortable. Certainly they never looked like clearing the 296-run deficit established by Essex’s dynamic batting on the third day of this game.In the 108th over of the innings Ryan Higgins played inside what looked like an arm ball and was caught at slip by Alastair Cook, for whom this match was the pleasantest of temporary farewells before the Test series. Three balls later Ollie Rayner collected a pair when he was leg before on the front foot. Harmer had now taken all eight wickets to fall in the innings but his chances of taking all ten disappeared three overs later when Dan Lawrence trapped Toby Roland-Jones lbw for a single although there was a case the ball pitched outside leg. Nobody minded, least of all Harmer who brushed away Lawrence apologies in the joy of shared achievement. Three balls of Harmer’s subsequent over passed and it seemed clear that Lawrence or possibly Amir would be bowling the last over of the game.Simon Harmer wheels away with his Essex team-mates after his match-sealing wicket•Getty Images

That over was never delivered. Perhaps scared of commitment, Steven Finn plunged forward but played no shot to Harmer’s third last ball of the game. An appeal followed that could be heard in either of the Baddows. There was a raised finger from David Millns. Harmer began the first Essex bowler since Mark Ilott in 1995 to take nine wickets in an innings and ten Doeschate’s men are hot favourites for the title now. This will be Harmer’s match but so was last week’s.”It’s not going to get too much better than this,” said Harmer. “You just need to ride the wave – they don’t come around that often. We will enjoy tonight and have a few beers. It’s an incredible win for the club. It puts us in phenomenal position going into the last six games of the season. We’ve done a lot of hard work, a lot of hard graft and been on top of our game. We’ve come out on top in the last 10 minutes of the day today. These are the moments you play cricket for. It makes all the hard graft worth it.”And yet it takes two teams to make a contest as noble as this one and in the joy of Harmer’s achievement, even the Essex supporters spared applause for Nick Compton, whose innings of 120 looked likely to frustrate Essex. And the Middlesex opener’s tale shares a very rough parallel with that of Harmer.Just over a year ago Compton’s name was blazoned in headlines. He was an England batsman. Yet within a few weeks some who had advocated his selection were vehement that he should never have been picked in the first place. No one, of course, has mentioned his name in connection with the England side for next week’s Test at Lord’s. Yet as we watched Compton make his century and bat in vain to save the game it was plain that he still retains the skill to play this game at a high level and the temperament to defy opponents in full cry.Harmer v Compton. Given a couple of different turns on the wheels of fortune and circumstance, it was a battle which might have been seen in next week’s Test match. And on the evidence of this quite wonderful last day at Chelmsford it would not have disgraced the stage at St John’s Wood.Compton arrived at New Writtle Street having scored 81 championship runs in four innings; injury and indifferent form have kept him out of the Middlesex team. Those factors by themselves were enough to make his effort at Chelmsford admirable. Yet the virtues of his batting were magnified by the intensity of the contest and the fact that his principal adversary, Harmer, is in the form of his life.So much was proved in the first half hour of play when Harmer dismissed Nick Gubbins, Stevie Eskinazi and Dawid Malan in five overs from the River End, reducing Middlesex to 51 for 3 and encouraging the hopes of home supporters that they were about to see ten Doeschate’s team achieve a facile innings victory and their fifth Division One triumph of the season.Yet this early clatter was misleading; instead of offering a strong clue to the narrative of the day, it merely set up the terrific duel of Thursday’s cricket: Both our principals had considerable help, of course. The main assistance to Harmer probably came from Dan Lawrence, whose high action gave his off-spinners every chance to bounce uncomfortably.Nick Compton dug in to defy the home attack•Getty Images

Compton was assisted deep into the heart of the day and beyond by Paul Stirling, who batted with commendable coolness and against his attacking instincts to make 55 in 202 minutes. While Compton and Stirling were adding 153 in 55 overs the five points for a draw were plainly secure. Then, five minutes before tea, Stirling, who had been dropped three times, was safely caught by Ravi Bopara at backward short leg. John Simpson resisted for 50 minutes but was beaten by Harmer’s turn and taken by Cook. Then Compton having faced 303 balls, 59 more than in his entire season before this innings, was leg before playing no shot to Harmer. The door was open and the Essex cricketers plunged through it. “Harmer’s a proper bowler,” said Essex’s Keith Fletcher, who faced a few and has seen countless more. No one anywhere in Essex doubts that judgement this glorious June evening.

South Australia’s Peter George bowled himself into history with the best figures ever recorded at Bellerive Oval but the Redbacks still face a challenge to take first-innings points against Tasmania

Cricinfo staff25-Nov-2009
ScorecardPeter George collected 8 for 84•South Australian Cricket Association

South Australia’s Peter George bowled himself into history with the best figures ever recorded at Bellerive Oval but the Redbacks still face a challenge to take first-innings points against Tasmania. George finished with 8 for 84 in Tasmania’s innings of 389 and shared the star billing with the Tigers batsman Ed Cowan, who scored 225.George’s figures beat the previous best at Bellerive Oval, the 7 for 38 collected by Tom Moody for Western Australia during the 1995-96 season. It was the best analysis in the Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup competition since Stuart Clark grabbed 8 for 58 against Western Australia three summers ago.Adding to the impressive nature of the performance, it was the first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket for George, who was playing his tenth match. His victims included Cowan, who added 21 to his overnight score and finished with 57% of Tasmania’s total.In reply, South Australia had reached 4 for 220 at stumps with Cameron Borgas unbeaten on 34 and Graham Manou on 7. They had been well set up by the opener Daniel Harris, who scored 77, and Mark Cosgrove (49) but will need to rely on their lower middle-order to help them overtake Tasmania.