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Loss of revenue during pandemic plus historic pensions error leaves reserves precarious

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2023Chief executive Andrew Cornish says “there is no hiding away” from Middlesex’s financial difficulties, after acknowledging that the club may require an ECB bail-out after racking up a loss of £952,000 in their most recently published accounts.In an open letter to Middlesex’s members, Cornish acknowledged that a recent report in the Daily Telegraph had been an “accurate depiction” of the club’s financial status, following a hit to their revenue from the Covid pandemic in 2020-21, plus a historic pensions miscalculation that has cost the club a further £500,000 to rectify.However, Cornish also insisted that none of this was “new news”, and that with Middlesex forecast to return a profit in 2023, any involvement of the ECB in the club’s management was merely a case of putting contingency plans in place, in the event of a “rainy day”. At present the club’s reserves have been reduced to £179,000, from more than £2 million prior to the pandemic.”Losses have been significant, the accounts are filed publicly for all to see, as well as being sent to all members and discussed at the AGM, so there is no hiding away from the fact that the last two years have been an extremely challenging time for Middlesex Cricket,” Cornish wrote.”As I have said, none of this is news to Middlesex members … we have made every effort to ensure that this has been conveyed to you in as transparent and open manner as possible.”Unlike the other 17 first-class counties, Middlesex is in the unique position of renting its home ground, Lord’s, from MCC – a situation that has both exacerbated their current exposure, given that their sole revenue stream is from county cricket activities, but also ensures that they are debt-free, with their landlords for example footing the bill for last year’s £53 million redevelopment of the Compton and Edrich Stands.For that reason, however, the income that Middlesex receives from the ECB makes up more than 70 percent of their overall figure – £4.733 million out of £6.589 million, according to their latest accounts, including their long-standing county partnership agreement, plus a further £1.3 million in return for agreeing to the staging of the Hundred.”We are much more reliant on the revenue that the ECB provides through its broadcast deals than our counterparts at other venues,” Cornish added. “This difference comes about due to us not owning our own ground and therefore being unable to stage profitable non-cricket events, which some might view as a blessing.Related

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“With such a vested interest in protecting the future wellbeing of the English game, and the counties that are the stakeholders in it, it is only right that open and honest discussions are being had between both organisations to ensure that there is an understanding of our position.”In 2016, Durham was punished for receiving a £3.8 million ECB bail-out, with relegation from Division One, a 48-point deduction for the following season, and a loss of Test status. However, the new ECB leadership of Richard Gould and Richard Thompson, formerly of Surrey, are unlikely to take such a hard line as they seek to make the case that their regime is more supportive of the counties than their forebears.”We are grateful for the assistance and help the ECB are providing to the Club throughout this process and will continue to liaise with them closely on this matter moving forwards,” Cornish added. “They are assured and encouraged that the financial position of the Club at this point is far more encouraging than previously.”However, whilst unlike many other counties we have no debt, we also have minimal assets and that leaves our cashflow potentially exposed to the seasonality of cricket, hence our need as responsible Directors to ensure the Club has contingency plans in the event of a ‘rainy day’ – if you’ll forgive the pun.”

The opener got there in 215 balls and put on a double-century stand with Rohit Sharma

Karthik Krishnaswamy13-Jul-2023Yashasvi Jaiswal has become the 17th India batter to score a century on Test debut, and the first to do so outside Asia in more than 21 years. The 21-year-old reached the milestone on the second afternoon of the Dominica Test, bringing it up with a standing sweep for a single off the part-time bowling of fellow debutant Alick Athanaze.Jaiswal opened the batting alongside captain Rohit Sharma, with Shubman Gill moving down to the No. 3 spot vacated by Cheteshwar Pujara’s axing. When he reached his hundred, off 215 balls, India were 205 for no loss after they had bowled West Indies out for 150 on day one.”It was an emotional moment for me,” Jaiswal said after the day’s play. “I enjoyed it quite a bit. I am still batting so I will try to play for as long as possible. This is just the start of my career, so now it will be about how focused and disciplined I can be going forward.”My effort [on the third day] will just be on how I can give a good start to the team. I will just focus on my process and trust on what I have practiced. I just have to go and keep playing.”Jaiswal has shown a remarkable appetite for runs in every format he has played. When he was called up for this West Indies tour as part of an India side picked with an eye on the future, he had scored 1845 first-class runs at an average of 80.21, with nine hundreds in just 26 innings. His List A career of 32 games already includes a double-hundred. And he was the fifth highest run-getter in IPL 2023, with his 625 runs coming at a strike rate of 163.61. Jaiswal has now brought that appetite to Test cricket.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I thinks it’s about how I prepare mentally,” Jaiswal said when asked about his preparations. “Of course, fitness is very important. I try to follow my diet and discipline and try to stay in good shape. And I practice the way I need to prepare. I keep trying to bat according to possible scenarios and how I can do well on the team. The effort is to just try and play match-winning knocks.”I spoke to Rohit quite a bit while batting. He kept telling me how we can play on this wicket and where the runs can come from. And even before the game, the way he told me ‘you have to do it, you are the only person’, I kept thinking about that and how I can get my runs.”West Indies tested both openers even as they struggled to separate them, on a slow pitch that offered the spinners both turn and bounce. Right through his innings, Jaiswal was happy to show the patience he required to earn his run-scoring opportunities. He took 16 balls to get off the mark on the first evening, and began the second morning by shouldering arms five times in a row to Jason Holder. By the time he reached his hundred, he had left or defended 56 of the 104 balls he faced from West Indies’ fast bowlers.At the same time, he was also prepared to exploit gaps in the field with unorthodox shots. He got off the mark in Test cricket with an uppercut for four, and he reverse-swept Jomel Warrican against the turn for a boundary in the last over of day one.When required to, Jaiswal was able to shift a gear down and see out difficult periods. Having hit seven fours while scoring his first 51 runs off 104 balls, he hit no boundaries and scored just 19 runs off his next 80 balls, a period during which spinners Rahkeem Cornwall and Jomel Warrican beat both openers multiple times with sharp turn.Having got through that testing spell, though, and with Cornwall off the field with a chest infection, Jaiswal opened up after lunch: he rushed from 70 to 100 in just 31 balls, hitting four fours in that period including a dancing, inside-out drive off Warrican.Of the 16 previous India batters to score centuries on Test debut, only two – Shikhar Dhawan in 2013 and Prithvi Shaw in 2018 – opened the batting. And only five scored their debut hundreds outside Asia, with Virender Sehwag the last to do so, in Bloemfontein back in November 2001.Jaiswal’s innings also extended a proud run for players representing his Ranji Trophy team: the last four Test-debut centurions for India have all been Mumbai batters, with Rohit, Shaw and Shreyas Iyer the three before Jaiswal.

Oval Invincibles captain excited by new format and opportunities for young players to learn

Matt Roller21-Jul-2021Sam Billings has challenged Jason Roy and Will Jacks to emulate Brendon McCullum’s famous 158 not out on the opening night of the IPL when they open the batting for Oval Invincibles together in the first men’s fixture of the Hundred on Thursday night.McCullum’s innings against Royal Challengers Bangalore set the tone for the tournament’s success as he hit 10 fours and 13 sixes to launch it into mainstream attention back in 2008, and Billings – who will captain the Invincibles against Manchester Originals – said that the occasion would provide Roy and Jacks, their likely opening partnership, with an opportunity to do the same for the Hundred.”I would definitely like to be the guy but I think we’ve got quite a few guys in the dressing room who will want to be that main man,” Billings said. “We’ve seen what Jason can obviously in the T20Is [against Pakistan]. He’s done it for a long time and he does enjoy being the main guy. As an opening batter, like McCullum, he provides the fireworks.”Will Jacks has been in the form of his life for Surrey. It could really be that launchpad for him: first men’s game, showcased at The Oval. It’ll be really exciting to see what he can do and catapult himself to another level. That’s what we’ll see throughout the tournament, these young guys, against the best players in the world. Anyone can make a name for themselves, and how good is that?”Billings’ own preparation for the tournament has hardly been ideal – he was one of the England limited-overs players to test positive for Covid-19 after the third ODI against Sri Lanka, sending the whole squad into self-isolation – but the time he has spent away from the game has given him the opportunity to make some plans for the Invincibles’ campaign.He caught up with Tom Moody, the Invincibles’ head coach and Sri Lanka’s director of cricket, during the international series at the start of the month, and the pair have been in regular contact for a number of weeks to discuss tactics and selection – as well as finding a last-minute replacement for Sandeep Lamichhane, in the form of Tabraiz Shamsi.
“Over the next couple of days it’ll be interesting to get the thoughts of the other guys and how the team view the new format,” he said. “We’re the first men’s game to give it a go and the teams that will progress are the ones that will learn quickly. It’s still cricket, isn’t it? The fundamentals of the game don’t change.”It’s incredibly exciting because we’ve had to wait for so long, really. We were talking in the changing room just now and saying it’s a really cool new environment. It’s a franchise competition essentially, where you have a real mix of people you don’t normally play with and normally play against. Guys like Sunil Narine. Colin Ingram… it’s been brilliant.Related

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“Especially for guys who haven’t necessarily had that exposure around the world in those competitions, it’s going to be so good for them and everyone will learn so much. I’ve benefited from being in those environments hugely over the last few years. Someone like Jordan Cox, an exciting talent I’ve spent a lot of time with at Kent, he could really fly on the back of being around this experience.”The best thing about it is the whole competition is being launched by the women’s game – that’s on Wednesday and we’ll all be tuning into that. There are definitely things we can pick up from that, certain tactical decisions that will or won’t work. It’s an advantage to have a sneak preview – it can only be a good thing for us. We are one team, two squads, but one team. Being aligned with the women’s game is huge for the sport and what we want to do moving forward.”Billings also suggested that the Invincibles might have picked up the bargain signing of the whole competition: Saqib Mahmood, who was snapped up for £60,000 in February’s re-draft after failing to agree personal terms with Manchester Originals. Mahmood starred in England’s ODI series win against Pakistan last week, and Billings expects him to continue his form in the Hundred.”Saq and I did a Lions trip together to Dubai about three years ago against Pakistan A,” Billings said. “[Mohammad] Rizwan was playing and Saqi was the best bowler. He bowls with genuine heat, very very skilful and it’s great to see him showcasing what he can do. It’s just been a matter of opportunity and having a run of games.”Everyone knows international cricket is really tough, particularly when you’re playing sporadic games, so for him to get a run of games and dominate the way he has is great. He’s mentioned the PSL and how he’s benefited from playing as an overseas player and how it’s helped his development. Why can’t a lot of our young guys over here benefit in the same way?”

ESPNcricinfo has learned that the tournament is waiting to be greenlit by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi

Danyal Rasool19-Oct-2024There is no clarity on when the 2024-25 season of the Quaid-e-Azam (QeA) Trophy will start despite Pakistan’s bumper international Test season being well underway. A schedule tentatively put out by the PCB in August had Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament beginning on October 20, but the day before that date, the fate of the tournament remains uncertain.While the dates for all domestic competitions announced by the PCB in August were tentative and subject to change, a PCB official told ESPNcricinfo as recently as last month that the QeA was set to keep to its October 20 plan. ESPNcricinfo understands that no one, even those in charge of domestic affairs at the PCB, knows when the tournament schedule will eventually be announced.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the tournament is waiting to be greenlit by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi.The PCB declined to comment on what holds the approval back at this stage, though budgetary approval operationally comes from the chairman, and is understood to be one of the factors in the delay. Even so, the lack of information about the QeA is in stark contrast to the fanfare with which the Champions One-Day Cup, which was held in September, was marked by the board.The decision to host that one-day tournament in September, in Pakistan’s only meaningfully free window until May, was significant because it meant players wouldn’t be able to get domestic red-ball cricket under their belts ahead of England’s ongoing three-Test tour in October. Members of the national Test set-up were understood to have privately expressed frustration with the situation, though there was an acceptance that the schedule was out of their control.The QeA has never quite managed to keep to a schedule or format, but no information about its start this late into a season is unprecedented of late. In each but two of the last 15 years has the tournament started later than October 26, with the schedule usually out well before October. Each of the last two seasons saw it begin in September; the tournament last year began on September 10, and was wrapped up by October 26.The situation is even more jarring in a season where Pakistan are scheduled to play more Test matches than any other this century. They are already more than halfway into the seven home Test matches they play between August 2024 and January 2025, with two Test matches in South Africa at the turn of the year.

The 24-year-old has already returned to club cricket, and will work with Victoria to see if he can play Sheffield Shield next week

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2022Will Pucovski could make a return to domestic cricket this season, with the opening batter working with Victoria on a process that could see him available to return to Sheffield Shield this summer.Pucovski returned to Victoria premier cricket for his club team Melbourne last Saturday in his first match since a bizarre concussion in the warm-up ruled him out of a Shield clash against South Australia on February 12.His latest concussion, the 11th of his career, raised serious concerns about his future in the game. But the 24-year-old remains keen to keep playing, and was able to make 28 off 51 balls in a 50-over match against Geelong last Saturday.Pucovski is also set to play for Melbourne against Camberwell in another 50-over match this weekend. He trained on Tuesday at the Junction Oval, facing Shield bowlers Mitch Perry, Zak Evans and Will Sutherland, while Victoria’s 50-over side played against Western Australia. Pucovski also faced sidearm, delivered by a team-mate and a coach.Victoria has a Shield game against Tasmania starting on March 15 at the Junction Oval and another starting on March 23 in Perth against Western Australia at the WACA. Pucovski and Victoria’s high-performance team, including medical staff, are set to work through a process over the coming week to see if he is all right to play in either of those matches.

Hosts handed first home defeat of season as promotion race begins to hot up

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2022Worcestershire 191 (Barnard 69, Roland-Jones 4-60) and 238 for 3 (Pollock 113) beat Middlesex 188 (Hollman 62, Helm 50, Leach 3-58) and 240 (Hollman 46, Yadav 44*, Pennington 3-54, Baker 3-62) by seven wicketsEd Pollock annihilated Middlesex’s bowling attack with a brilliant century as Worcestershire coasted to a resounding seven-wicket LV= Insurance County Championship success at Merchant Taylors’ School.Pollock was in ruthless mood, slamming 113 from just 77 balls to register his highest first-class score and ensure the visitors chased down what had appeared a tricky fourth-innings target of 238 with ease.The left-hander’s performance – which included seven sixes and 11 fours – ensured Worcestershire became the first visiting team to taste victory in a red-ball fixture at the Northwood venue.The result strengthened the Pears’ promotion chances, lifting them to within 11 points of Middlesex, who remain second in Division Two for now despite their first home defeat of the campaign.Charlie Morris made early inroads in the morning, uprooting Toby Roland-Jones’ off stump before Tom Helm squirted him into the hands of mid-on to leave Middlesex eight down and 185 ahead.But Umesh Yadav’s pugnacious approach quickly propelled his new side past 200, thrashing Dillon Pennington over long-off for six and handing out the same treatment to Josh Baker when Worcestershire turned to spin.The India international dominated a partnership of 41 with Luke Hollman, who fell just four short of his second half-century of the match when Baker persuaded him to reverse-sweep and find the point fielder.Yadav was left unbeaten on 44 from 41 balls when Middlesex’s innings finally came to a close at 240, with Tim Murtagh caught behind swishing at Joe Leach.If the target appeared awkward, Worcestershire’s openers looked completely unflustered by it, with Roland-Jones’ first two overs disappearing for 22 as Pollock and Jake Libby raced to 50 inside the first seven.Hollman and Yadav succeeded in stemming the flow of runs before lunch – but the batting side resumed the onslaught after the interval, with Pollock hooking Roland-Jones for six and slamming another boundary in the same over to reach his half-century.Helm eventually achieved the breakthrough, having Libby (31) caught behind attempting to cut, but the wicket failed to disrupt Pollock’s rhythm and he ruthlessly pulled the first ball of Murtagh’s second spell over the fence.The opener’s hundred arrived from just 67 deliveries, with Taylor Cornall – who contributed 12 to the second-wicket stand of 82 – required to do little more than stand and applaud his partner’s efforts.Pollock eventually perished, pulling Yadav down the throat of deep square leg with 71 still needed, but his job was long since done and it was left to Cornall (31 not out) and captain Brett D’Oliveira (33 not out) to steer Worcestershire over the line.

The league, however, could potentially clash with the women’s IPL

Danyal Rasool06-Oct-2022The PCB has announced the launch of women’s T20 league, with the inaugural edition set to run alongside next year’s PSL. There will be 12 games played, all of them in Rawalpindi, with the final due to take place on March 18 2023, the day before the Pakistan Super League final. The league will comprise four teams, with 18 players per side, including six foreign players.”I am delighted to announce the women’s league,” PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said. “This league will attract young women cricketers to this great sport and help our current players further enhance their skills when they will get to share dug-outs with the overseas players. To amplify the coverage and promotion of this initiative, some of the matches will precede the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 matches.”This event is aligned to our strategy of making Pakistan a stronger cricket playing nation across all formats and genders. We are not only creating attractive brands to strengthen our cricket economy, but through this tournament are also providing career opportunities to our women cricketers. The more our women cricketers will participate in high-pressure events, the more they will learn.”Related

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Ramiz has been a proponent of a women’s T20 league ever since ascending to the chairmanship, with the lure of pipping India to hosting the first women’s T20 league in Asia a consistent theme among his stated goals. India has held the Women’s T20 challenge since 2018, but is yet to host a franchise-based women’s league similar to the Indian Premier League. The inaugural edition of the women’s IPL is also scheduled for March 2023, with the dates yet to be announced.That means there could theoretically be a clash between the women’s IPL and the women’s T20 league in Pakistan, potentially impacting Pakistan’s foreign options for the league.Ramiz had told ESPNcricinfo earlier this year that the PCB was looking to host a women’s PSL in the January-February window. At the time, Pakistan had just 12 centrally contracted women’s cricketers, though that has since increased to 20. Pakistan still need to have a further 28 local players for the league, meaning they will need to dig deep among their reserves for local talent, and likely turn to players that featured in the national Under-19 tournament in August to make up the shortfall.”There’s a lot of traction and a lot of takers for it,” Ramiz had said at the time. “Pakistan women’s cricket needs to improve a lot, and that will only happen when we give them an environment where they can make money and share the dugout with world-class players. We are also thinking of making first-class women’s teams and attaching them with provincial teams.”

Spinner is stand-out name in 15-player squad for event in Malaysia in January-February

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2024Tilly Corteen-Coleman, the 17-year-old spinner who made a strong impression in this year’s Women’s Hundred, has been named in a 15-player squad for the Women’s Under-19 World Cup, which is due to take place in Malaysia early next year.Corteen-Coleman was still 16 when she made an instant impression on her Hundred debut for Southern Brave in July, catching Australia’s Meg Lanning off her own bowling for a notable maiden wicket. Domestically, she also impressed for South East Stars, claiming 5 for 19 against Northern Diamonds in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, including four wickets in five balls, before helping her team reach the final of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Davina Perrin is also included, having been a part of the England squad that lost to India in the inaugural Under-19 tournament in South Africa in January 2023. A captain is set to be named nearer the time.Sixteen teams will feature in the 41-match event, across 15 days of competition from January 18 to February 2, 2025, including the hosts Malaysia who will be making their maiden tournament appearance, as will Samoa.England have been drawn in Group B, alongside Ireland, Pakistan and USA, with all their group-stage matches set to take place in Johor.Chris Guest, who was last week appointed as Performance Lead for the women’s Under-19 set-up, oversaw that 2023 campaign as head coach, and looked forward to guiding another group of young players through their maiden global event.”What excites me most about working with the under-19 age group is the constant cycle of new talent and new groups coming through,” Guest said. “We’ve named a squad which features some players who have been involved at this age group before and some who haven’t.”This World Cup is a part of these players’ journey, not the end or the start and our message to them is to embrace the challenge, evolve ourselves and enjoy the ride. Naturally we want to do well but the programme is about developing these players in the future and for the long-term.”It was really exciting to see Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Hannah Baker, Seren Smale and Charis Pavely feature for the senior team in Ireland after representing the U19s in the first edition of this World Cup in 2023 and this acts as real inspiration for this group and demonstrates how important this tournament can be for a player’s development.”Guest will be joined by two assistant coaches, Dan Helesfay and Beth Morgan, the former batter who played a key role in England’s two World Cup wins in 2009, across the 50- and 20-over formats respectively. Morgan currently works as a Regional Talent Manager for Southern Vipers, while Helesfay is an assistant coach at South East Stars and Welsh FireRichard Bedbrook, Head of England Women Performance Pathways, said: “It is always an exciting time to be able to name an U19 World Cup squad and all those chosen, including the non-travelling reserve group, can be very proud of this achievement.”The quality in the group highlights the work of each of the regional teams across both their senior and Academy environments and I, plus colleagues, are indebted to them on the development work they continue to put in.”We hope each individual takes a huge amount from the experience they are about to have and uses it to continue developing themselves as a person and player.”This also goes for the staff group, a number of whom across various roles are also employees of the Regional teams and who will hopefully take huge amounts of experience and enjoyment from being a part of the programme.”Five non-travelling reserves have also been selected. The reserves won’t travel but will take a full part throughout the preparation phase and act as stand-by players should a replacement player be required:England Women U19 squad: Phoebe Brett (Central Sparks), Olivia Brinsden (Thunder), Tilly Corteen-Coleman (South East Stars), Trudy Johnson (Northern Diamonds), Katie Jones (Western Storm), Charlotte Lambert (South East Stars), Abi Norgrove (Southern Vipers), Eve O’Neill (Southern Vipers), Davina Perrin (Central Sparks), Jemima Spence (South East Stars), Charlotte Stubbs (South East Stars), Amuruthaa Surenkumar (Sunrisers), Prisha Thanawala (The Blaze), Erin Thomas (Northern Diamonds), Grace Thompson (Northern Diamonds)Non-travelling reserves: Maria Andrews (The Blaze), Sophie Beech (Central Sparks), Daisy Gibb (Southern Vipers), Poppy Tulloch (Southern Vipers), Annie Williams (The Blaze).

In-form opener will face Surrey in upcoming round after injury to Scott Borthwick

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2024Emilio Gay will join Durham on loan for their County Championship clash with table-topping Surrey at the Kia Oval on Tuesday, after the club captain Scott Borthwick was ruled out for the rest of the season with an elbow injury.Gay, 24, has enjoyed a prolific season at the top of Northamptonshire’s order, scoring 919 runs at 57.43 in ten matches, including a career-best 261 against Middlesex in April.However, he was out of contract at the end of the season, and having agreed to join Durham on a two-year deal from 2025, he has now brought forward his time at the club to include their final two Championship matches, against Surrey and Kent.Alex Lees will take over as Durham’s captain for the remainder of the season.Gay’s arrival is a boost for Durham, who are currently fifth in Division One in their first season back in the top flight for eight years, and who will face a Surrey side still smarting from their shock defeat against title challengers Somerset at Taunton last week. Surrey currently lead Somerset by eight points, and have still to face Essex in their final match at Chelmsford, starting September 26.Surrey’s morale took a further dent on Saturday when Somerset also ended their hopes of a domestic double in the T20 Blast semi-final at Edgbaston.With England’s ongoing white-ball series against Australia limiting player availability, Surrey were shorn of four key players in that contest. They now face missing more personnel for the last rounds of the Championship, with Gus Atkinson already ruled out with injury, and Ollie Pope rested for the final two rounds with England due to fly out for their Test series against Pakistan in just over two weeks’ time.

In a low scorer on a black-soil pitch, RCB reduced the hosts to 38 for 5 and then 66 for 7 with Rahul injured

Hemant Brar01-May-20232:33

Moody: Lucknow suffocated their own strength

In the previous meeting between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants, 425 runs were scored in 40 overs on the batting paradise at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. On Monday night, LSG served a black-soil pitch on their home ground where the ball gripped and held into the surface. The result: 234 runs in 39.5 overs with RCB coming out on top by 18 runs.After Faf du Plessis opted to bat, he and Virat Kohli set the platform by adding 62 in nine overs. But the innings never really came out of the first gear. Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra and K Gowtham combined to bowl 13 overs of spin and picked up 5 for 73 between them. Naveen-ul-Haq, too, reaped the rewards of bowling his cutters into the pitch and picked up three wickets at the death to restrict RCB to a modest 126 for 9.Related

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In response, LSG had a nightmarish start. They were 38 for 5 after seven overs, and when Marcus Stoinis and Gowtham too fell in back-to-back overs, they were soon 77 for 8. LSG’s only hope at that point was KL Rahul. He had hobbled off the field after hurting his right leg in the second over of the game. But by the time he came out at No. 11, LSG needed 24 off eight balls.It was clear Rahul was not going to run between the wickets. He played three dots, one of which was a free hit, and then saw Mishra trying and failing to score the required 23 in the final over. A post-match altercation between Kohli and LSG’s mentor Gautam Gambhir, though, took the shine off RCB’s win.

RCB’s slow start

After RCB scored only 20 runs in the first three overs, du Plessis and Kohli tried to break the shackles. In the fourth over, du Plessis hit Naveen for a straight six and Kohli followed it with a four. However, Krunal and Bishnoi conceded only ten in the next two, and RCB finished the powerplay on 42 for no loss.

Bishnoi gets Kohli and Maxwell

Du Plessis and Kohli had put on 62 when Kohli decided to skip down the track against Bishnoi but reached nowhere near the ball. it also turned it to be a googly and beat him on the inside edge for Nicholas Pooran to effect an easy stumping.No. 3 Anuj Rawat managed only 9 before being dismissed by Gowtham. That brought Glenn Maxwell, arguably RCB’s best batter against spin, in the middle. On his fifth ball, he tried to reverse-sweep a Bishnoi legbreak only to get hit on the thigh and be given out lbw.In the 15th over, Mishra had Suyash Prabhudessai caught at long-off, courtesy an excellent diving catch by Gowtham, to leave RCB 90 for 4.2:24

Moody unhappy with the pitch in Lucknow

Rain but no runs

After a brief spell of rain that halted play for around 25 minutes, Dinesh Karthik resumed by hitting Naveen over midwicket for four. In the next over, the 17th, he pulled a half-tracker from Mishra for a six and du Plessis also tried to take Mishra on but ended up miscuing his attempt. Krunal ran to his right from point and completed the tumbling catch near extra cover.RCB were relying on Karthik for some late blows but Yash Thakur dashed their hopes. In the 19th over, Wanindu Hasaranga hit one back towards Thakur who fielded the ball and nailed the direct hit at the non-striker’s end to find Karthik well short after he had taken off a long way.

RCB bounce back

Mohammed Siraj has been lethal with the new ball this season, and he once again struck early, having Kyle Mayers caught at mid-on with the second ball of the chase. After two overs, LSG were 2 for 1.Krunal hit Siraj for three successive fours in the third to move the needle, but LSG lost four wickets in the next four overs. Krunal was the first to go, chipping Maxwell to long-off. From the other end, Josh Hazlewood removed Ayush Badoni, who had come in as Impact Player for Thakur and opened the innings.Wanindu Hasaranga dealt a blow with his first ball, drawing Deepak Hooda out of the crease with a googly and having him stumped. Pooran started with a first-ball six but when he tried to go for another big hit against Karn Sharma, he holed out to deep square leg.

LSG slip further

LSG still looked to attack their way to the target. Gowtham hit Karn for a six and four, and followed it with another six off Hasaranga. That reduced the equation to 64 needed from the last ten overs. But when Stoinis tried to go big against Karn, he sliced it to long-off. In the next over, Gowtham too perished, his casual running while returning for a second run leading to him being run-out.

Rahul leaves it too late

LSG needed 49 in the last five overs with two wickets in hand. Mishra and Naveen were in the middle; Rahul was still padded up in the dugout. The required rate kept ballooning, and when Rahul finally walked in, it was too late because he couldn’t run and Mishra couldn’t get the boundaries.