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Opener remains unbeaten after Ryan Higgins’ 163 looked to have given the hosts control at Lord’s

ECB Reporters Network24-Jun-2024Derbyshire 308 for 4 (Reece 123*, Madsen 49, Higgins 1-39) trail Middlesex 433 (Higgins 163, du Plooy 57, Roland-Jones 52) by 125 runsDerbyshire opener Luis Reece posted a maiden Lord’s hundred to lead his side’s steady response with the bat in their Vitality County Championship game against Middlesex.The 33-year-old left-hander shook off a patchy start, sharing a third-wicket stand of 111 with Wayne Madsen and bringing up his century from 176 balls to reach stumps unbeaten on 123.The visitors closed at 308 for 4, trailing by 125 after Middlesex had totalled 433 in their first innings, with overnight centurion Ryan Higgins last man out for 163.Higgins, whose partnership of 71 with Ethan Bamber set a county record for the last wicket against Derbyshire, has now overtaken Northamptonshire’s Emilio Gay to become Division Two’s leading run-scorer this season.Handily placed on 342 for 7 overnight, Middlesex lost captain Toby Roland-Jones for 52 in the third over, driving to mid-on where opposite number David Lloyd sprang forward to take the catch.With Henry Brookes soon following, trapped leg before by a ball from Zak Chappell that kept low, it looked as though a fourth batting point might elude the home side – but Higgins and Bamber determined otherwise.Bamber looked accomplished at the crease, compiling an unbeaten 21 as he chopped Daryn Dupavillon to the fence and Higgins raised the tempo, lifting Sam Conners for three leg-side sixes.A rare untidy shot by Higgins, top-edging Conners over slip for four, took him beyond 150 and it was Reece who eventually wrapped up the innings as Madsen – narrowly avoiding a collision with Conners – gathered Higgins’ slog-sweep in front of the rope.That left Derbyshire six pre-lunch overs to negotiate and Lloyd started positively, punching Bamber off the back foot for two boundaries before he was caught at point trying to do it a third time.Brooke Guest looked in good touch after the interval, having just driven Roland-Jones to the cover boundary when he was undone by the next ball, which nipped back down the slope to strike middle and off.By contrast, Reece played and missed several times at the start of his innings, surviving close calls when he edged Roland-Jones and Bamber through the slips before eventually settling into his stride.The left-hander formed a solid alliance with Madsen, whose first six scoring shots all flew to the boundary and ushered the 40-year-old beyond the landmark of 14,000 first-class runs in Derbyshire colours.Although leg-spinner Luke Hollman caused Madsen problems, with one inside edge flying just past the stumps, he looked poised to emulate Reece’s half-century until Brookes broke the partnership with a fearsome rising delivery in the first over after tea.Madsen, on 49, attempted to fend the ball off and could only glove it to wicketkeeper Jack Davies – yet his dismissal did little to slow Derbyshire’s scoring rate as Reece and Matt Lamb began to accelerate.Lamb targeted the short boundary in a breezy 30 before Davies, standing up to the stumps, took a sharp catch off Higgins, but the keeper was unable to hold on to another chance soon afterwards when Bamber found Aneurin Donald’s inside edge.Donald, who had yet to get off the mark at that stage, took advantage to progress to 43 not out as Derbyshire pocketed their second batting bonus point prior to stumps.

Australia face selection squeeze after impressive return of Mitchell Marsh

Andrew McGlashan09-Jul-2023David Warner’s position could come under scrutiny for the Old Trafford Test with Australia facing a selection squeeze after the impressive return to the side of Mitchell Marsh.Cameron Green, who sat out the Headingley match opening the door for Marsh’s comeback, is on track to be fit for the fourth Test after a minor hamstring strain. He bowled and did sprints ahead of the final day’s play in Leeds as well as briefly acting as a substitute fielder.But Marsh’s stunning century on the opening day, in his first Test for four years, has made him very tough to leave out which means someone else will have to make way unless they opt not to bring Green straight back in.The spotlight has again returned to Warner after his twin failures at Headingley where he twice edged Stuart Broad to slip from around the wicket, making it 17 times he has now fallen to Broad.Related

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However, that followed some useful contributions earlier in the series, led by the 66 on the opening day at Lord’s in tricky batting conditions, although he was dropped in the slips on 20. His overall Test average since 2021 remains 28.17 and that includes the double century against South Africa at the SCG.Captain Pat Cummins, who is not a selector, said that Australia would use the break before Old Trafford to take stock of their options as they look to avoid the Ashes going to a decider at The Oval.”You keep all options open,” Cummins said. “We’ve got nine or 10 days now, so we’ll take a deep breath. We’ll go away for a few days.”But everyone comes back into it. Greeny should be fit for Manchester. Josh [Hazlewood] will be back in there as well. So we should have a full roster and we’ll have a look at the wicket and have a chat and work out the best XI.”Marsh’s third Test century, all of which have been against England, came from 102 balls while he also chipped in with a couple of wickets.Cummins conceded he would be difficult to omit. “Yeah, it’s possible but, I mean, it was a pretty impressive week, wasn’t it?” he said.David Warner smiles after being dismissed by Stuart Broad for the 17th time•Getty Images

Warner has mapped out his retirement plan, announcing earlier in the tour that he hoped to finish against Pakistan on his home ground of the SCG in January. Prior to that, the original Ashes squad was only selected up to the end of the Lord’s Test which raised further questions over Warner, but he did enough in the early matches to dampen talk somewhat.The situation Australia now find themselves in is not dissimilar to what happened on the 2019 tour when Marnus Labuschagne performed so well as Steven Smith’s temporary replacement that someone else had to make way for Smith’s return. On that occasion the fall guy was Usman Khawaja.Meanwhile, Cummins indicated that he remained on track to play all six Tests on the tour which he had stated as his aim before the World Test Championship final against India. He is the only Australian quick to play all four matches to date. England have had Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson in all three of their attacks, but the latter is now under an injury cloud after suffering back spasms at Headingley.”I feel great, actually, probably better than I would have hoped,” Cummins said. “I don’t have any niggles or injuries. So fingers crossed, should be sweet.”Elsewhere in the squad, Michael Neser has been released to play the next round of County Championship matches for Glamorgan while Josh Inglis, who flew home after Edgbaston for the birth of his child, will return on Friday. Jimmy Peirson filled in for him as reserve wicketkeeper.Australia’s players will break up for a few days and make use of the longer gap between these two Tests before beginning preparations for Old Trafford – the venue where they were able to retain the Ashes in 2019.Cummins gave a succinct response when asked if he felt England’s win would shift the momentum in the series. “No, not really. It’s 2-1.”

She dismissed Mandhana, Knight and Ghosh before smashing 77* off 38 as Mumbai Indians picked up their second big win in a row

S Sudarshanan06-Mar-20235:27

Matthews punches well above her base price

West Indies’ Hayley Matthews was unsold in the first round of the WPL auction, which was held just at the start of the Women’s T20 World Cup, before Mumbai Indians picked her up in the accelerated round. Surprising as it was, you could attach a logic to it.Matthews was leading a West Indies side that struggled to shrug off their run of losses. They had lost 15 straight T20Is, including one via the Super Over before the win against Pakistan in their last T20 World Cup game. In a bid to revive West Indies’ faltering batting line-up, she also tried moving down the order from her preferred opening spot before coming up to the top again.With a stellar all-round show at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, Matthews gave everybody, not least the noisy stand next to the sightscreen at the commentators’ box end, a polite reminder of the brilliance she can conjure up. One that continues to give West Indies hope as they look to rise from a lowish phase.Related

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“We were weighing up our options and thought we didn’t have enough money, but we certainly did [eventually],” Mumbai head coach Charlotte Edwards told the host broadcasters as Matthews was helping them coast against Royal Challengers Bangalore. “This tournament, like franchise cricket, is really good for Hayley and it’s good to see her do that in the last couple of days. [During the strategic break] I told her these are the days you need to cash in and on such grounds.”Royal Challengers were done in almost single-handedly by Matthews. After an 11-run opening over, in which Smriti Mandhana and Sophie Devine hit a four and a six respectively, she came back in the last over of the powerplay to dismiss Mandhana. She tossed one up outside off, enticing Mandhana to give her the charge before the dip and turn meant that the batter sliced it to point. On the very next ball, she slipped in a full one that went under Heather Knight’s flick to dismiss her for a first-ball duck.Matthews had helped Mumbai win the first bit of the arm-wrestle against Royal Challengers.With the help of two young guns Richa Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja, Royal Challengers managed to move past 100 inside 12 overs from 71 for 5. Ghosh was happy to punish the bad balls while Ahuja took the attack onto the seamers. An over after Pooja Vastrakar got rid of Ahuja, Matthews was summoned again and she duly delivered by having Ghosh slog one straight to deep midwicket. Only a brilliant counterattack from Karnataka’s Shreyanka Patil helped Royal Challengers cross 150 to have some hopes.Hayley Matthews: ‘Now that I am being forced with responsibility at the international level is helped me realise how to plan my T20 innings’•BCCI

“Looking at match-ups, we figured that today was one that really suited me well,” Matthews said after her player-of-the-match outing. “After that first over I was a bit under the pump. But [captain Harmanpreet Kaur] had faith in me to toss the ball back at me and it worked out very well.”Matthews dashed any semblance of those hopes. She used the width provided by Renuka Singh to steer one past slip in the opening over before flicking one through square leg in the third. She then heaved left-arm spinner Preeti Bose over deep square leg before going back to a half-tracker and punching it over covers.Megan Schutt, who earlier scored a 14-ball 20, was next in Matthews’ firing line. Matthews first punched one through the covers before timing the straight drive past the bowler as Mumbai cruised to 54 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, with Bose trapping Bhatia for the only wicket in the phase.Even after the fielding restrictions were lifted, Matthews hit Renuka for two fours in an over and eventually brought up her half-century – after narrowly missing out in the opening encounter – off just 26 balls with Mumbai on 95 for 1 at the ten-over mark. Nat Sciver-Brunt’s canter was reduced to a postscript.Thereon, Mumbai knocked off the remaining 61 runs in 26 balls to register a second thumping win. Matthews was walking back with a huge smile and an unbeaten 77 off just 38 balls with Nat contributing 55 not out off 29.In her last 11 T20I innings, Matthews crossed the 30-run mark six times and made a fifty-plus score in only one of those. While she admitted to thinking about this when she was in her thirties and forties, she also said that being the responsible batter for West Indies helped her tone down her aggression when needed and become a better T20 player.”Funnily enough, when I got into the 40s, I was thinking that in my last ten to twenty innings I have had about seven 30s and 40s,” she said. “I sadly wasn’t able to get past the mark in more than one game. For me, it comes down to [the] concentration thing sometimes. I told myself to stay focused and it worked out.”Probably being a bit more responsible at the crease is something I had to pull on a lot more with WI and I think that’s naturally helped me in my T20 game as a whole and it has helped me here as well. Probably [I] wasn’t getting the amount of runs I would have wanted in the past due to probably giving away my hand quite a bit. Now that I am being forced with responsibility at the international level it’s helped me realise how to plan my T20 innings.”After those exploits, only two words explain Matthews finding no picks in the first round of the WPL auction – “auction dynamics”.Saika Ishaque is pumped up after claiming two wickets in an over•BCCI

Turning point

Opting to bat, Royal Challengers were off to a perfect start. Mandhana slapped Matthews for four through covers before Devine launched the slog sweep deep into the midwicket stands. Mandhana was picking up lengths early and heaved Sciver-Brunt through midwicket. Issy Wong’s first over then saw Mandhana pick three fours – one through covers, one via an edge through the vacant slip region and one through mid-on.Bengal’s left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque turned the tables to apply the brakes. Devine hit her for a first-ball four in Ishaque’s first over and repeated the drill in her second over, too. Ishaque then slowed it down and bowled it on the stumps, once again having Devine play the slog sweep. The shot connected but went straight to Harmanpreet at deep midwicket.A couple of balls later, Disha Kasat looked to charge down and push the ball down the ground, only for her to be beaten and be bowled. In a space of three balls, 27-year-old Ishaque had managed to stall Royal Challengers’ flying start and made the sparse Brabourne crowd seem humongous with its roar.The seeds of trouble were sown.

He was seen facing throwdowns as he resumed training after hurting both his hamstrings in the IPL

PTI18-Nov-2020India’s Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha was back at the team’s nets in Sydney on Wednesday. Saha showed signs of recovery from his hamstring injury with four weeks still left for the much-anticipated December 17-21 Test series opener against Australia in Adelaide.Saha had injured both his hamstrings during a short but successful IPL campaign for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which he scored two match-winning half-centuries that took them to the playoffs.ALSO READ: Ishant Sharma ‘looking good’ after long spells in front of Rahul Dravid, Sunil JoshiBecause of the injury, the 36-year-old wicketkeeper missed the eliminator as well as the second qualifier of the IPL.On Wednesday, Saha was seen facing throwdowns at the nets from the Sri Lankan left-arm specialist Nuwan Seneviratne and Indian right-arm bowler Dayananda Garani for a considerable period of time. He didn’t keep wickets though and the extent of recovery couldn’t be ascertained from the video uploaded by the BCCI media.There wasn’t any pronounced forward press or footwork involved while driving the half-volleys. However, Saha, who has so far played 37 Tests and scored 1238 runs, didn’t look uncomfortable during his time at the nets. From the video it seemed that both the throwdown specialists didn’t go full tilt at the batsman, who is trying to gradually get into the groove after the injury.BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had recently expressed confidence that Saha would be fully fit before the first Test with physio Nitin Patel and strength and conditioning coach Nick Webb working on his injury management.During the last Test series in New Zealand, Saha was confined to the sidelines with Rishabh Pant getting an opportunity for his superior batting skills. However, this time Pant’s patchy batting form in the IPL has not helped his cause. Pant was left out of the ODI and T20I squads – with Sanju Samson preferred over him – but was picked in the Test squad along with Saha.

The five-match series will provide more valuable planning ahead of the T20 World Cup later in the year

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2020New Zealand’s depth will be tested in the T20I series against India, but Ross Taylor sees it as a good chance for fringe players to stake a claim for spots in the World Cup squad later this year.The five-match series, part of a full tour by India, which also includes three ODIs and two Tests, begins in Auckland on Friday with New Zealand shorn of two key bowlers – Trent Boult (hand injury) and Lockie Ferguson (calf injury) – who will certainly be part of the T20 World Cup if fit.A number of other seamers who could have been in the frame – Matt Henry, Seth Rance, Doug Bracewell and Adam Milne – are also nursing injuries, meaning the T20I squad will lean heavily on the experience of Tim Southee along with spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi.New Zealand’s most recent T20I series saw them lose 3-2 against England at the beginning of the season – with the deciding match going down to a Super Over – and after the visit by India they will finish the summer with three more matches at home against Australia.ALSO READ: Virat Kohli stresses on intensity and clarity in New Zealand“Probably right from the Sri Lanka series and England the focus has been on the World Cup,” Taylor said. “It will be different conditions in Australia but getting those combinations, trying a few different guys out, obviously a few injuries as well which changes the dynamic of the side, but tests the depth out and gives guys opportunities which bodes well for competition for spots.”While the upcoming series on home soil are a key part of New Zealand’s preparations for the tournament later this year – an event where they have never gone deeper than the semi-finals – Taylor believes there will have to be adjustments made for the conditions across the Tasman in October.”It’s the first time a T20 World Cup is there and you watch the Big Bash, there are big boundaries so you are going to have to skin the cat differently than how you play in New Zealand and other parts of the world,” he said.Kane Williamson, who missed the series against England with a hip problem, has returned to captain the team. New Zealand have won four out of the five T20Is they have played at home against India, including a 2-1 series win last year.Taylor is also confident that New Zealand will be able to put up a better showing in the two Tests that conclude the tour than they managed in Australia, were they were beaten 3-0 with heavy margins in all the games.”It didn’t go as we would have liked, we were completely outplayed in all three facets of the game,” he said. “Now we are back on home soil, India will be totally different opposition, No. 1 team in the world but in conditions we know.”

Fast bowler left out of table-toppers’ opening two T20 fixtures after fallow recent form

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2024Issy Wong, the England fast bowler, has joined Western Storm on loan for the Charlotte Edwards Cup after she was left out of the Central Sparks team for their first two matches of their T20 campaign.Wong, who turned 22 last week, played for England as recently as September and featured for Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League in March. But after a quiet start to the season in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, she was not selected by the Sparks for their opening T20 fixtures and has pursued a move away.The ECB – who are Wong’s primary employer, as a centrally-contracted player – have approved her loan move to ensure she will be playing competitive cricket. Storm said in a statement: “The ECB have sanctioned the move to ensure fast bowler Wong is able to maximise her playing time over the coming weeks.”Wong played all three formats for England in the 2022 summer at the age of 20 and was one of the stars of the inaugural season of the WPL, taking 15 wickets to help Mumbai Indians to the title – including a hat-trick in the eliminator. But she has struggled for consistency since and has lost her place in England’s squads.This season, she has taken three wickets at 56.33 in five Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixtures and has also featured for an ECB Development XI against the touring Pakistan squad. She was a surprise omission from the Sparks’ T20 side, though they have won their opening two fixtures.Wong is likely to play a more prominent role for a Storm side who have lost their opening two matches and are currently without Lauren Filer, who is on England duty. She will also target more opportunities with the bat, having spent most of this season batting at No. 8 in 50-over cricket.

Quinton de Kock opts out, replaced as Kites captain by Temba Bavuma

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-2020On the eve of the 3TC tournament in Centurion, Reeza Hendricks has replaced Heinrich Klaasen as the Kingfishers’ captain after the organisers lent their support to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Kagiso Rabada was originally named captain of the side, but had to pull out following the death of a family member.”The decision came after organisers recognised and acknowledged the importance to walk the talk in matters of transformation and taking the lead from Cricket South Africa’s own policies and firm stance and support of the Black Lives Matter movement,” a CSA statement said.ALSO READ – FAQs: What to expect as 3TC makes its debut“It is important to stand by our convictions and to set the right example in everything we do,” CSA acting CEO Dr Jacques Faul said. “Cricket South Africa stands for equal opportunity and showcasing our country’s talent and its diversity.”On the morning of the match*, it was also announced that Quinton de Kock, captain of the Kites squad, would not be taking part in the game because of “unforeseen personal circumstances”. He was replaced in the team by 24-year-old batsman Ryan Rickelton, and Temba Bavuma was appointed team captain.After Lungi Ngidi threw his weight behind the anti-racism cause, Rudi Steyn, Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar took issue with his statement on social media, sparking a big debate. Several prominent current and former South African players of colour have since backed the BLM movement. On Friday, Faf du Plessis also joined the movement, indicating that he, along with Dwaine Pretorius, will take a knee during the 3TC game on Saturday.Rassie van der Dussen, Anrich Nortje and Marizanne Kapp were other members of the white Afrikaans cricket community in South Africa to publicly support the anti-racism cause.Squads:
Kingfishers: Reeza Hendricks (captain), Heinrich Klaasen, Janneman Malan, Faf du Plessis, Thando Ntini, Gerald Coetzee, Glenton Stuurman, Tabraiz Shamsi. Coach: Mignon du PreezKites: Temba Bavuma (captain), Jon-Jon Smuts, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, Ryan Rickleton. Coach: Wandile GwavuEagles: AB de Villiers (captain), Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Junior Dala, Lungi Ngidi. Coach: Geoffrey Toyana

West Indies’ Shai Hope agrees the track was a tricky one, but wants his side to “find ways to score”

Hemant Brar27-Jul-20231:14

Wasim Jaffer: ‘West Indies didn’t show up today’

On a Kensington Oval pitch that offered bounce and carry for seamers, and turn for spinners, 15 wickets fell in less than 46 overs in the first ODI between West Indies and India. After being sent in, West Indies were all out for 114 in 23 overs. India, who promoted their white-ball specialists up the order, lost five wickets in the chase before Rohit Sharma, batting at No. 7, hit the winning runs.”To be honest, I never thought the pitch was going to play like that,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation. “It had everything for seamers and spinners, and the run-scoring was quite difficult. But to restrict them to that score was a superb effort from our bowling unit.Related

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“We never thought we would lose five wickets but it was good to give some game time to a lot of those ODI guys who have just come in. But firstly, it was important for us to get into a good position. Restricting them to 115 [114] was a great effort, and I thought we had that commanding position that we needed, which is why we thought okay, we could try some of those guys who haven’t played a lot of cricket in a while and give them a go.”I don’t know when they will get time moving forward, so whenever we get an opportunity like that, we will try to accommodate all these guys.”Rohit also praised Mukesh Kumar who, having made his Test debut earlier on the tour, was playing his first ODI. The seamer started with a maiden and bowled a tight line and length, although his first wicket in the format came off a delivery that was short and wide – Alick Athanaze failed to clear a leaping Ravindra Jadeja at backward point.”Mukesh has been brilliant,” Rohit said. “Even in the Test series we saw he can swing the new ball, has got a bit of pace and is quite consistent as well. So we want to see what he has to offer. I haven’t seen much of him in domestic cricket either, so it was good to see him playing with the white ball as well.”West Indies captain Shai Hope, meanwhile, lamented the lack of application by his batters. Despite losing three wickets inside nine overs, West Indies had reached 88 for 3 with Hope looking in full control. Jadeja then triggered a collapse by sending back Shimron Hetmyer, and West Indies lost their last seven wickets for 26 runs.”Too many words come to mind but let’s just say we didn’t play the way we needed to,” Hope said. “On a challenging surface like that, as a batting group, we need to find ways to score.”Anyone who was watching can see what happened there. Any 9.30am start in the Caribbean will be difficult [for batting] and the Indian bowlers bowled pretty well on this surface, but again we didn’t score enough runs.”

Duo fall in the 70s but England secure victory by six wickets with 29 balls to spare

Valkerie Baynes19-Jun-2022It wasn’t exactly “Fireworks Friday” but half-centuries to Phil Salt and Jason Roy saw England to victory by six wickets and an unassailable 2-0 series lead against Netherlands at Amstelveen.Set 236 to win a match reduced to 41 overs per side after a wet outfield delayed the start by nearly three hours, England overhauled the target with 29 balls to spare ahead of the final fixture on Wednesday.Scott Edwards, standing in as captain for Pieter Seelaar – who announced his retirement while sitting out the match with a persistent back injury – led Netherlands to 235 for 7 with an excellent 78 off 73 balls.England’s response wasn’t without its hiccups, losing captain Eoin Morgan and Liam Livingstone cheaply and with Jos Buttler, the star of their world record-breaking victory in Friday’s series opener, sitting out for the chase.Roy, playing his 100th ODI after he had missed out on England’s charge when he was dismissed in the second over of the first match, helped himself to 13 runs off the first over of their reply on Sunday, including three fours off Logan van Beek, and he smashed two more off Vivian Kingma in the next.After the eight-over powerplay, the visitors were 47 without loss, compared to 33 for 1 for Netherlands, and by early in the 11th over England had already surpassed the 11 fours Netherlands scored for their entire innings.Roy brought up the team hundred with a deft cut off Aryan Dutt through backward point for four and two balls later he crunched Dutt for six over the longest boundary at deep midwicket.Two fours in three balls off Bas de Leede brought Salt to his fifty and he drove and swept three consecutive fours off Dutt before Roy chimed in, advancing and crashing Dutt over mid-off to the boundary. Having shared a 139-run opening stand with Salt, Roy got carried away next ball however, and gifted a catch to Shane Snater at short third man, clearly angry with himself to be gone for 73 off 60.Salt, too, left with a sense of promise unfulfilled but that was only by the lofty measure of his century in the first match. Eyeing back-to-back tons, he followed Roy out a short time later for a still-admirable 77 off just 54 balls, beautifully bowled by Dutt as he tried to step down to the spinner.Related

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England were 168 for 2 before Morgan made his second duck in as many innings, top-edging Tom Cooper to Snater at backward point. It extended a lean run for Morgan who has been troubled by injuries this year and managed just one international half-century in 18 months.Livingstone, who had shrugged off the calf muscle tightness which took him from the field during Netherlands’ futile chase in the first game, came in ahead of Buttler.His quick-fire 66 in the previous match suggested England were still on track to romp to victory but his stay was brief on this occasion when he provided Tim Pringle with his maiden wicket on international debut. Left-arm spinner Pringle, the son of former New Zealand and Netherlands medium-pacer Chris Pringle, sent down a gem that enticed Livingstone forward, beat the outside edge and pinged to top of off stump.There was still no sign of Buttler when Moeen Ali came to the crease and there were hearts in mouths when Dawid Malan, another centurion from the first fixture, was given out lbw to Dutt but he survived on review with Hawk-Eye showing the ball was headed over the stumps.Moeen levelled the scores with six then four off Pringle and after a plucky maiden from van Beek, Moeen clubbed the winning runs with a four off Snater through square leg.Earlier, David Willey had dismissed Vikramjit Singh cheaply for the second time in the series before Adil Rashid entered the attack in the ninth over and struck almost immediately, tempting Max O’Dowd into a slog-sweep with Malan leaping a long way to his left at square leg to pouch a sharp catch.Brydon Carse, in the England side for Sam Curran who is managing his return from a back stress fracture, then struck with his second ball to remove Cooper, pinned lbw by a nip-backer that struck in line with middle and leg stumps and looked to be clipping the top of leg.With just one run to his name, Edwards overturned his lbw dismissal to a Rashid delivery which was shown on review to be spinning past off stump by just enough to earn him a reprieve. He shared a 61-run stand with de Leede, whose enterprising 34 included whacking Rashid over cow corner into commentary box window.Edwards moved to 47 by slogging Livingstone over the fence – the ball dropped short of the commentators’ perch this time – and he brought up his fifty with a mow down the ground for six off Carse.With the crowd finding their voices following a subdued start given the earlier delay to proceedings, they roared to life when Willey beat Teja Nidamanuru’s attempted straight drive with one that shaped in a little to peg back his middle and off stumps, ending a 73-run stand with Edwards.Edwards prompted more cheers as he reverse-scooped Willey over third man for six to move past his unbeaten 72 scored in the first match. He was eventually run out by an excellent direct hit by Willey running in from deep midwicket and throwing down the stumps at the striker’s end as Edwards, returning for a second, dived in vain.Pringle was out for a second-ball duck, outdone by an excellent googly from Rashid, and it fell to Snater and van Beek to bump up the Netherlands’ total, Snater snatching 17 off 10 while van Beek managed 30 off 36.

Moeen Ali returns to team hotel after aborted attempt to relocate him to Galle after Covid result

George Dobell06-Jan-2021England’s tour of Sri Lanka will continue – for now, at least – after the latest round of Covid-19 tests showed no new positive results.The squad will hold their first training session of the tour in Hambantota on Wednesday afternoon, where Moeen Ali has now returned to stay in separate accommodation, after an aborted plan to relocate him to Galle following his positive Covid test.There had been anxiety over the future of the tour after Ali’s test result upon arrival in Sri Lanka. Chris Woakes, who travelled from Birmingham to Heathrow airport in the same car as Ali, was also put in quarantine as he was considered a close contact and there were concerns that the virus may have spread through more of the tour party.News that the rest of the squad – including Woakes – tested negative after a new round of testing on Tuesday will be a significant relief both to the England camp and Sri Lankan authorities nervous over the prevalence of the virus in the UK.While it would be wrong to think the threat to the tour has passed completely – the entire tour party will be tested again on Thursday in the understanding that the virus sometimes takes several days to manifest itself – the news revives the prospect of the series getting underway as scheduled in Galle on January 14.Not all has gone smoothly, however. Although Ali was on Tuesday transferred to a hotel in Galle booked for just such an eventuality, upon arrival it was concluded by the ECB’s chief medical officer, Nick Peirce, that building work rendered it unsuitable.Related

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• Moeen Ali tests positive for Covid-19 as England arrive in Sri Lanka

• England touring party in Sri Lanka faces anxious wait on Covid-19 test results

As a result, he was transferred back to Hambantota – a round trip of over 250 kilometres – and, after an alternative option in the town was also rejected as “not up to standard as per the protocols” in the words of a team spokesperson, is now isolating in a separate wing of the team hotel. Woakes, too, remains in isolation but should be able to join the tour party next week if he continues to return negative tests.To round off a tough day for Ali, he is now experiencing mild symptoms of Covid-19. While nothing is confirmed at this stage, it is increasingly hard to see him playing in either of the Tests on the Sri Lankan leg of this tour, with some doubt as to his availability for the start of the series in India.