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Having started off chasing 207, Patriots were left with 53 to get in 4.3 overs following a second rain delay, and they cantered home with five balls to spare

The Report by Peter Della Penna03-Sep-2018Getty Images

Blazing knocks by Chris Gayle and Rassie van der Dussen, complemented by a devastating cameo by Mahmudullah, helped St Kitts & Nevis Patriots clinch the fourth and final playoff spot in CPL 2018 with a dramatic seven-wicket win over Jamaica Tallawahs via the DLS Method at Warner Park. Patriots were cruising at 65 for 1 in 6.3 overs, chasing 207, when rain sent the players off for a 40-minute delay.The match had already been delayed an hour at the start due to early evening rain. With more interruptions anticipated, Patriots captain Gayle’s decision to bowl first was vindicated, when the target was revised to a very manageable 53 off the final 4.3 overs following the restart. Despite a brief stumble, characterised by two wickets in the first four balls after play restarted, Mahmudullah erased any doubt with 28 not out off 11 balls to finish off the match with five balls to spare.Ka-PowHaving not faced a single ball because he was held back – a strategic blunder that cost Patriots a win over Barbados Tridents in Florida – Rovman Powell has made up for lost time in his last three innings with a total of 183 runs. Sunday night featured his career-best knock in T20 cricket, as he smoked the Patriots attack at better than two-runs-a-ball.Powell entered in the seventh over following the loss of Johnson Charles and Kennar Lewis and wasted little time in tearing into the Patriots bowling unit. He ended the eighth over by smashing Fabian Allen’s left-arm spin for six, four and six, and barely slowed down after that.Powell brought up his half-century off 26 balls and got a second life a short while later, when Sheldon Cottrell dropped a straightforward chance at deep midwicket – one of several sloppy efforts in the field for the Patriots. The Jamaican seemed to be in with a good chance of bringing up a maiden T20 century before missing out on a knee high full-toss to Ben Cutting with nine balls to go in the innings. But by that stage, the Tallawahs had a very competitive total.Not standing patGayle got the chase off to a scintillating start by scorching 18 off the opening over from Krishmar Santokie. Tallawahs hit back in the first ball of the second, when Oshane Thomas cleaned up Evin Lewis with an inswinging yorker. But that was a minor speed bump for the Patriots as van der Dussen came in and stroked four boundaries to help take the hosts to 62 for 1 in the Powerplay.A potentially costly miss for the Tallawahs occurred on the last ball before play was stopped, when van der Dussen’s flat drive off Santokie toward Russell at long-off was spilled despite a phenomenal diving effort by Russell. The let-off ensured any recalculations with overs lost would remain favorable to the Patriots.Oh MahmaFollowing the 40-minute delay, Gayle drove the first ball from Santokie for six over long-on, but fell two balls later, skying a catch to the point sweeper. Legspinner Adam Zampa was brought on for the eighth over and struck immediately, going past Cutting’s swipe across the line to bowl him for a golden duck. At the time, the visitors needed 47 off 23 balls.Enter Mahmudullah. The Bangladesh allrounder had only faced nine balls in the previous four matches for the Patriots, and had batted at No. 9 in his most recent innings. After a few singles against Zampa, Mahmudullah showed that he has plenty of firepower to contribute when needed.Van der Dussen also swung momentum back the Patriots’ way, heaving a pair of sixes over the leg side off Thomas, before Mahmudullah took center stage. Two glides behind point – one streaky and one much more deliberate – went away for fours, before a clean wallop over midwicket made it 27 for the over, meaning Patriots had wiped out more than half the required runs in six balls. Another glorious inside-out six over extra cover two balls later, off Zampa, brought the required rate under a run a ball. Mahmudullah then slapped Powell over the infield for a brace, in the first ball of the final over, to seal Patriots’ spot in the playoffs.

Joe Root has warned that David Warner could face a “hostile environment” if he is a member of Australia’s touring squad to England in 2019

George Dobell29-Oct-2018Joe Root has warned that David Warner could face a “hostile environment” if he is a member of Australia’s touring squad to England in 2019.Warner briefly walked off the pitch while playing Grade cricket at the weekend having taken exception to comments made by Jason Hughes, the brother of Warner’s former team-mate Phillip Hughes, who died in a tragic on-field incident in 2014.But Root, the England Test captain, suggested English supporters may prove even more vociferous in their views of Warner if he is a member of either Australia’s World Cup or Ashes touring squads next year. Warner was sent home from England in 2013 after punching Root in a bar, is currently serving a ban for his part in the Cape Town ball-tampering debacle.”I’m sure he will have to accustom himself to what might be a slightly hostile environment from the English public,” Root said. “I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone, but time will tell as to what happens.”While Root said he had never considered walking off the field following a negative comment from an opposition player, he declined to criticise Warner for doing so.”It is something you don’t see very often,” Root said. “But unless you know exactly what went on out there you can’t say if it was a justified thing or not. You don’t know what was said and you don’t know what was involved and what happened out there.”

Jos Buttler braced to step in as No.3, but unchanged XI could be on the cards for second Test

George Dobell in Pallekele13-Nov-2018England have confirmed that Ben Foakes will keep in the second Test in Pallekele with Jos Buttler admitting the standards he set had been “a wake-up call”.Foakes enjoyed what Buttler described as “probably the best debut ever in Test cricket” in Galle. After becoming the first England keeper to score a century in Asia (and only the second from any nation to make one on debut), Foakes equalled the record for the quickest dismissal by a keeper on debut – he claimed a catch from the second delivery of the innings – and soon afterwards completed a stumping, too.It left Buttler accepting that he had been set an “example” of the “level you need to get to” as a keeper.”Ben had a fantastic game in Galle,” Buttler said. “Probably the best debut ever in Test cricket. By the second afternoon, he had a hundred, a stumping and a catch.”He is a fantastic gloveman. It’s a good reminder and a little wake-up call that he’s the level you need to get to. Just looking personally, he’s a great example to someone like myself as to where I need to get to.”While Buttler accepted there were times when his role as keeper helped him relax as a batsman, he also argued that giving up the gloves had allowed him more time to work on his batting.”If I look back to the Ashes in 2015, I didn’t get the balance right between practising my batting and wicketkeeping,” Buttler said. “I was very wicketkeeping-orientated. My batting faltered. I’ve read Matt Prior saying in the past that as a wicketkeeper-batsman, you’re going to train harder and longer than most.”There are days when being an all-rounder is an advantage to you. It makes you more relaxed. If you don’t have a good day with one discipline, you can affect the game with the other. Or if you do one really well in one, you can take that confidence into the other.Jos Buttler bats during training in Pallekele•Getty Images

“But with the summer just gone, I’ve really enjoyed the role in the side [as a specialist batsman]. With more emphasis on my batting, I’ve really enjoyed the improvements there.”Meanwhile Joe Root hinted that Jonny Bairstow might have to sit out the second Test as his ankle injury heals. While Bairstow batted and fielded in training on Monday, England want to ensure there is no chance of a setback.”It’s quite a serious injury,” Root said. “I think he’s still a week or so off being 100 percent.”He’s mad keen to get back out there and play. He is pretty much close to flat out as he can be at the moment in the fielding and with his batting. It’s a good sign.”Root also explained the reasoning behind confirming Foakes as keeper for the second Test.”Ben is going to keep,” he said. “We’ve come to Sri Lanka to win this tour. And in these conditions, I think Ben is the best option behind the stumps.”Jonny is a fine keeper and what he’s done over the last couple of years has been exceptional. He’s pretty much been faultless and, long-term, I see him as a focal part of the Test team.”But this is a great opportunity for Ben to show his ability and I think you’ve got to reward a performance like last week.”

Pothas has been elevated from his role as fielding coach following the departure of Stuart Law

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2018Nic Pothas has been appointed West Indies’ interim head coach for the tour of Bangladesh following the end of Stuart Law’s stint.Law was named Middlesex coach in September and the recently concluded India tour was his final assignment having originally joined West Indies in early 2017.West Indies hoped Pothas, who become fielding coach earlier this year, would bring some continuity for the Bangladesh series before a full-time appointment is made.”Having Nic lead the team at this juncture is important for continuity and we look forward to strong and positive performances from the squad under his leadership,” director of cricket Jimmy Adams said.Pothas said: “It is an honour to be asked to be the head coach of the West Indies Cricket team for the immediate future. The Bangladesh series will be a tough challenge which we look forward to embracing.”The first Test begins in Chittagong on November 22.

The Pakistan coach suggested that the legspinner and Faheem Ashraf could return to the side and bolster the batting line-up at the Wanderers

Danyal Rasool07-Jan-2019In the wake of close inspection of Pakistan’s strategy to go into the first two Test matches against South Africa without a fifth-bowling option, head coach Mickey Arthur said the injury to Shadab Khan had prevented the visitors from deploying that strategy.After Pakistan lost the second Test in Cape Town and conceded the series to South Africa, captain Sarfraz Ahmed was excoriating in his criticism of the bowlers, saying their failure to maintain speeds higher than 130 meant “we were not going to take 20 wickets.” It was seen as further validation for the strategy Pakistan spurned: playing five genuine bowling options, with Faheem Ashraf occupying the allrounder role.ALSO READ: Pakistan bowling ‘not up to the mark,’ laments Sarfraz AhmedTalking to ESPNcricinfo, Arthur conceded fatigue had played a part in the reduction of the bowlers’ speeds, but maintained Faheem wasn’t yet a strong enough batsman to occupy the No. 7 spot.”I am a big fan of the five-bowler strategy,” Arthur said. “It gives us the added option of providing our frontline seamers with a rest while still maintaining control of the innings. But to do that, we need a fully fit Shadab Khan, who is a genuine allrounder. With Faheem batting at seven, we feared the tail would be just a bit too long.”Make no mistake, I’m a huge admirer of Faheem Ashraf, and I said so in England. I am confident he will develop into a proper allrounder for Pakistan, but there is a process of natural evolution that needs to take place. In what are very challenging conditions, we need runs on the board, and we weren’t confident that if we played Faheem at 7, followed by four bowlers, we were giving ourselves the best chance of making enough runs.”It has been a dilemma for Pakistan across the tour. Four bowlers would invariably result in the reduced speeds and effectiveness of the attack should South Africa bat long, as they did on day two in Cape Town. Pakistan were eventually reduced to giving the ball to Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq at different stages of the second Test. South Africa took advantage of their part-time bowling to push further into a lead after Pakistan had folded for 177.READ: Why are Pakistan ignoring Faheem AshrafBut with runs already at a premium for Pakistan, Arthur conceded he had “cold feet” about the prospect of depleting the batting stocks further, and said the conditions in South Africa provided a unique challenge.”In England, we did play Faheem Ashraf, but the situation there is different. Over there, we could have the two spinners, Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan, bowling long spells, which provided the rest our fast bowlers needed. Here in South Africa, we can’t go into a game with two spinners, which makes Shadab, a spinner but also a genuine allrounder, so valuable. The bowlers will of course be fatigued if there’s no fifth option.”Arthur would not be drawn into his thoughts on Sarfraz’s criticism of the fast bowlers, although he acknowledged Shaheen Afridi had tired through the match, having played back-to-back Tests for the first time.Faheem Ashraf bowls against Northants•Getty Images

“Shaheen was a bit fatigued on the back of the first Test, which is normal; he’s still only 18,” Arthur said. “It could have gone either way with Hasan Ali or him. But he had bowled well in Centurion and we wanted to keep the momentum going here in Cape Town.”Arthur’s comments suggested Shadab, who will be fit for the third Test, could play at the Wanderers. Such a move would allow the side to slot in Ashraf at No. 8, preventing the tail from becoming as elongated as the coach had feared. Where that would leave Yasir Shah is still uncertain, but Arthur made clear the esteem he held Pakistan’s premier spinner in.”In Yasir, we have a genuinely world-class bowler, and a real match-winner,” he said. “I said it before and I’ll say it again, if we had taken these two matches into the fourth and fifth days, Yasir would have become a huge factor. I’m confident of that. For now, the problem for us is getting there, and we have got to look at ways of doing that.”With much of the criticism levelled at the selection of Fakhar Zaman, who had looked the least comfortable in the top six across both matches, Arthur said he was pushed down the order in the second innings in Cape Town in a bid to get a good start, with Shan Masood in fine form.Arthur also revealed he had been massively encouraged by Pakistan’s display in the second innings, where fifties from Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam took the side to 294, and made South Africa bat again.”Fakhar struggled with the short ball here, as we feared since he’s played none of his cricket on these surfaces,” Arthur said. “But he earned his chance to be in the side with what he did on debut and how he had performed recently.”I also must stress, the team environment is absolutely fine. The way the guys batted on the third day is testament to that. The old Pakistan would have come out and been rolled over for 170-something again, and that would have been that on the third day. But we played to the end, and I draw great encouragement from that.”

The BBL season could start as late as around Boxing Day following complaints about the current structure

Daniel Brettig28-Jan-2019A reconfigured Australian domestic one-day tournament will return to major venues and be used as the bridge between the end of the Big Bash League and the start of a three-round sprint to the pointy end of the Sheffield Shield under scheduling proposals currently being considered by Cricket Australia for next summer.ESPNcricinfo understands that, following a range of complaints about the structure of the Australian season, the likely structure for next season would feature seven rounds of the Sheffield Shield interspersed with a portion of the 50-over competition in the lead-up to Christmas, before the BBL begins as late as Boxing Day.The T20 tournament would then be squeezed into a shorter timeframe than this season, albeit still concluding in mid-February, comfortably beyond the end of the school holidays at the end of January. Immediately following the BBL, the one-day tournament’s final rounds and finals would be scheduled and played where possible on Australia’s major grounds such as the MCG, SCG and Adelaide Oval – a common complaint about the recent pre-season carnival format being that most matches are held on club grounds and pitches lacking relevance to the international level.At the same time, this kind of schedule is expected to allow for the management of an increasing workload for fast bowlers, so they are not asked to jump straight from the BBL to the back-end of the Shield, which would feature the closing three rounds of the first-class competition and the final played, as usual, at the end of March.Draft schedules for the Australian season, whether domestic or international, commonly go through numerous iterations, with the next meeting of the joint scheduling advisory group, involving representatives from CA and the Australian Cricketers’ Association – set up as part of the MoU struck after the 2017 pay dispute – slated to take place in February.Increasing workload for fast bowlers is a major point of concern•Getty Images

Broadcasters, as ever, will be central to discussions, with Fox Sports holding the rights to the domestic limited-overs tournament and the Sheffield Shield final, while the Seven Network serves as host broadcaster for the majority of the BBL and Women’s Big Bash League, which will move to a standalone October time slot from next season onwards.Chris Lynn, the Brisbane Heat batsman, spoke out against the length of the BBL in its current model following his side’s loss to Melbourne Stars.”I think 14 games is too many,” Lynn was quoted as saying. “You do get a few breaks in between, here and there, but it just drags out.”It’s a bit of a rollercoaster, you can go in and out of form so quickly. Yeah, we’re down the bottom end, but talking to the players around the other squads, there are some tired boys. And I don’t want to be too soft or anything like that, but it’s just the vibe I’m getting.”Obviously the season goes a bit longer when you’re not winning much, but even talking to the Stars boys before the game, they said exactly the same. It’s something that Cricket Australia will review at the end of the year. In saying that, it’s an amazing product.”Intriguingly, his comments were picked up and pushed on social media by Seven.Other ideas for the season have included an idea proposed by the former national team coach Darren Lehmann, to play one round of the Shield in mid-January opposite the ODIs customarily played by Australia at that time, while the BBL goes on a week’s hiatus.”Somehow they have to find a way to squeeze a Shield round in,” Lehmann said on Macquarie Sports Radio earlier this month. “They could do it between the fourth Test in Sydney and the first Test against Sri Lanka.”That might be the best time to do it – plonking a Shield round – because you don’t play BBL matches normally while the one-day internationals are on. If you had two one-day internationals in three or four days you could do it then. It’s very hard for anyone trying to push into the Australian Test team to get any cricket.”

India captain questions accuracy of the review system after losing appeal against Ashton Turner in Mohali ODI

Deivarayan Muthu11-Mar-2019Question marks on the accuracy of the Decision Review System (DRS) have now come up in two successive matches in the ongoing India-Australia series, with Virat Kohli making his displeasure public, saying “it’s just not consistent at all” following an overturned review for caught-behind of Ashton Turner during a crucial passage of play in the fourth ODI in Mohali on Sunday.The incident took place in the 44th over of Australia’s pursuit of India’s 358 for 9, when Turner tried to slash a slow, wide legbreak from Yuzvendra Chahal. Turner lunged to cut a ball from inside the crease to one that spun way. The ball seemed to have connected with the toe-end of Turner’s bat. Having collected the ball, Rishabh Pant whipped off the bails and appealed for what initially felt like a stumping. However, he then urged Kohli to take the review even as umpire Anil Chaudhary called it not out, and the decision was referred to third umpire Joel Wilson.Ultra Edge picked some murmurs even before the ball had passed the bat and once again flickered just after the ball went passed the swinging blade. Wilson duly turned down India’s review, something Kohli disagreed with, displaying his displeasure by shaking his head and saying a few words.ALSO READ: Turner fulfills Scorchers finisher role to burn IndiaAt that point, Turner was on 41 with Australia needing a further 66 from 39 balls with five wickets in hand. He went on to hurt India by helping Australia to their highest chase in ODIs, Kohli describing his innings as the “game-changer”.Without any prompting at the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli called the DRS decision contentious, saying it “was a bit of a surprise”. “It’s becoming more of a talking point every game. It’s just not consistent at all, and that was a game-changer moment as well,” he said.”But yeah, that’s more of an uncontrollable, but the controllable we had to do right, and we didn’t do it right, and the opportunity slipped away,” he added, pointing to the many chances the Indians missed on the field.Kohli’s mention of DRS becoming ‘a talking point’ was likely a reference to the third ODI in Ranchi, where a glaring error in ball-tracking projection came into the spotlight when Australian captain Aaron Finch was given out lbw off left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav.Kuldeep got a stock ball to straighten and rap the Australia captain on the back pad in the 32nd over, and C Shamshuddin, the on-field umpire, ruled the batsman out lbw. Finch asked for a review, and replays showed the ball pitching on leg stump, when it had actually bounced on middle stump.While the ball might have still gone on to hit the stumps even if it had pitched on leg stump, it was a noticeable mistake on the part of the ball-tracking technology in use.ESPNcricinfo understands that the technology might have suffered a technical glitch during the Ranchi game, which resulted in it missing the line. Australia’s management has not lodged any official complaint with the match officials following the incident.

In the aftermath of the terror attack, NZC will review arrangements for international teams while Canterbury have pulled out of the final round of the Plunket Shield

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-20190:24

Bangladesh team escape to Hagley Oval after shots fired at mosque

David White, the CEO of New Zealand Cricket, has said “everything changes now” in terms of security around sports teams coming to the country in the wake of the terror attack in Christchurch which killed 49 people and saw the Bangladesh squad come very close to being caught up in the mosque shooting near Hagley Oval.The aftermath of the attack has also seen Canterbury pull out of the final round of the Plunket Shield while Martin Guptill and Lockie Ferguson have made themselves unavailable for Auckland’s match against Otago in Dunedin.On Friday, the majority of the Bangladesh team were heading to the Al Noor Mosque which is situated less than a mile from the ground on the edge of Hagley Park when they witnessed the unfolding attack. After waiting inside the team bus and making frantic phone calls, including to ESPNcricinfo correspondent Mohammad Isam, they then hurried back across the park after making their own decision to leave the bus before being put into lockdown at the ground.ALSO READ: ‘There’s shooting here, please save us’As is the case for cricket teams that do not travel with their own dedicated security personnel – unlike England and Australia – the Bangladesh squad did not have security with them during their New Zealand tour. White said the events in Christchurch will now be a game-changer for all sports teams visiting the country.”This is shocking. This will change the entire fabric of international sports hosting. I think everything changes now,” he said. “We’ll certainly be having to look at our security in depth. I think the idea of New Zealand being a safe haven is gone now.”Bangladesh flew out of Christchurch on Saturday lunchtime following the swift decision to cancel the third Test. The team manager, Khaled Mashud, said a few minutes made the difference from the team being inside the mosque.”We were very close to the mosque, and we could see from the bus. We must have been about 50 yards from the mosque. I would say we were really lucky. Had we reached even three or four minutes earlier, we probably would have been inside the mosque.”
The ongoing Australia Women Under-19 tour based in Christchurch was also cancelled after the attack. The next major tour New Zealand are set to host is when England visit for Tests and T20Is from late October with Christchurch expected to be one of the venues for the two Tests.Canterbury, the only team that could challenge the Central Stags for the Plunket Shield title, were due to playing Wellington at the Basin Reserve from Sunday which means the title is now decided but that was of little consideration in the decision to withdraw.”The team showed a united front in terms of the decision,” Jeremy Curwin, the Canterbury Cricket CEO, said. “It is clear that this tragedy will affect people in different ways, and Canterbury Cricket is here to support our players however we can. We fully respect their decision, and I am incredibly proud of how they conducted themselves throughout this process.”Guptill and Ferguson were due to be part of the Auckland side to face Otago in Dunedin but have stepped down.”Both Martin and Lockie felt personally uncomfortable making the trip to Dunedin given the events in Christchurch, and also, the feelings and concerns of their partners and families,” Simon Isley, the Auckland high-performance manager, said. “Auckland Cricket and New Zealand Cricket completely respect and support their decision. We understand that at times like this, families come first.”White said: “This isn’t about cricket; it’s about something much bigger and much more important than that. It’s about life, it’s about respect; it’s about family and community. Cricket and sport take a back-seat to personal welfare.”The match in Dunedin, which has witnessed police activity in the aftermath of the attack in Christchurch, will take place as planned along with the Stags contest against Northern Districts in Hamilton but to a very sombre backdrop.”Our players fully respect the Canterbury team’s decision,” Central Districts CEO Pete de Wet said. “We are all so saddened by the terrible tragedy in Christchurch, and out of respect, neither our players nor team management will comment further on the Plunket Shield championship until the completion of the final round.”Leading New Zealand players voiced their shock at what took place with captain Kane Williamson posting in Instagram: “Like the rest of New Zealand, I am struggling to understand what has happened today. The need for love in our country has never been higher and I send all of mine to the victims, their family and friends, the Muslim community and every other heartbroken New Zealander. Let’s come together.”

Back at the team hotel, Bangladesh’s shocked players tried to make sense of the awful events in Christchurch

Mohammad Isam in Christchurch15-Mar-20197:16

‘We would have been inside the mosque had we reached 3-4 mins earlier’ – Khaled Mashud

“If we had arrived there even five minutes earlier, we would all be killed.”Almost every Bangladesh player who had been on the fateful bus to the Christchurch mosque had these words on their lips, from the moment they got out on Deans Avenue to escape from the scene of the shooting, and then back at the team hotel later that evening.The seventeen Bangladesh team members had been planning to perform their Friday prayers and then return to training at the Hagley Oval when all hell broke loose. The wild swing from their calm surroundings at Hagley Park to a near-death experience was too much to take for all the players.Some cried, and were inconsolable. One player said that he saw a dead body lying on the street.”He was just in front of me. How can people be this cruel?” he said.ALSO READ: ‘We were really lucky’ – Khaled MashudIn the 20 minutes it took for them to walk, as briskly but calmly as possible, from the location of the mosque to Hagley Oval, many of them had tears in their eyes. You couldn’t tell them to be calm. It was unfair on them.Hours afterwards, back at the team hotel in central Christchurch, everyone was still shaken to their core. The TV was constantly showing live coverage of the attack, and with the death toll rising and new details emerging, the Bangladesh team room and the surrounding areas, normally bustling with activities, became sombre.Tamim Iqbal, the player who had phoned this reporter when it first became apparent what was unfolding, tried to lighten the mood.ALSO READ: ‘There’s shooting here, please save us’“What were you telling me on the phone?” he said. “I was telling you from a bus, while being near such an attack, and you thought I was pranking you? Come on!”Soumya Sarkar tried to pull the leg of his manager, Khaled Mashud, by asking him what he had been thinking while sitting in the front of the bus. Mashud, always ready with his wit, had said that he was trying to decide whether he should video it, or see it with his own eyes.But the jokes died quickly. The topic changed back to what had happened earlier in the day, and how incredibly close they had come to the shooter in the mosque. The players ate in silence mostly, none of them really talking a lot.Mohammad Sohel, the team masseur, had been sitting on the right side of the bus, and saw almost everything unfold in those 20 minutes, including the sight of two passers-by trying to stop the bus from proceeding any further.”When the first lady stopped us, we all thought she didn’t know what she was doing. When the second lady stopped us, we knew something had happened because apparently her car was shot at. That’s when we were panicking,” he said.Mashud, the manager, recalled how he had been sitting in the front of the bus, trying to make sense of what was going on. A usually bubbly character, he looked at his grimmest when he was heading back to Hagley Oval. Later though, he was back to joking around, making sure the mood wasn’t too bad around the team.By late evening, with confirmation that the tour had been cancelled in the wake of the attack, the focus had shifted to the team’s flight back home, and the players were anxious to know about it.There were calls from all over the world on Tamim’s phone. He was talking to his son and wife, but after that, he also didn’t want to go to his room alone, so he was planning to be with Mahmudullah for a while. It wasn’t a night to be alone.

Family reasons will prevent the former South Africa batsman from adding to his two years with the Strikers

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2019Colin Ingram will not be returning to Adelaide Strikers for next season’s Big Bash having said he can’t commit to a new contract for family reasons.Ingram, the former South Africa batsman, completed a two-year deal with the 2018-19 tournament where he took his tally of runs for the Strikers to 610 at 30.50 and a strike-rate of 138.95 in 25 matches. He captained the team on 14 occasions when Travis Head was on international duty.”We are disappointed to lose Colin but we were aware that it was a strong possibility that for family reasons he could not commit to a new contract,” Tim Nielsen, the SACA general manager of high performance, said. “He is a quality player and leader and was one of the key players behind our first BBL title win last year. We wish Colin, Megan and family all the best.”Losing Ingram means the Strikers will have an overseas spot to fill but it’s understood they have not made a bid for AB de Villiers as he isn’t available for the whole season.The Strikers finished second bottom of the table last season with Ingram their second-leading run-scorer behind Jonathan Wells.