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From Test match double centuries to a one-day game ahead of its time, Dean Jones was one of the dominant players of his era

Daniel Brettig24-Sep-202010:23

Tom Moody recalls the multiple roles of Dean Jones

In both his cricket and his life, Dean Jones’ departures left a sense of shock and loss for their arrival before so many could say goodbye.At the end of his international career as a wonderfully livewire batsman and limited-overs pioneer, this was because Jones found himself out of Test calculations and on the edge of the one-day team in South Africa in 1994, compelling him to call a summary retirement press conference on what had to that point been the nominal farewell tour of Allan Border.Twenty-six years later, Jones left this world almost in mid-stride, suffering a cardiac arrest while working as an analyst on the latest edition of the IPL for Star in Mumbai. In both cases his departure left a deep, tangible sense of conversations and moments lost, of thank yous unable to be given. Similarly, his induction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame had been done via video link when Jones was occupied by a T20 coaching assignment, and now his death left so many around the world feeling bereft, or perhaps even less articulate than that.ALSO READ: ‘One of a kind you were, Deano’What we are left with is a rich trove of moments and memories, many more than those typically provided by cricketers of longer subsequent careers, and to ponder the jumble of contradictions, frustrations and triumphs of the man known universally as Deano.Two qualities in particular stand out. The first was his sheer energy, a characteristic that helped push him to some of the most extraordinary cricketing heights. If Jones was flagging towards the end of his unforgettable 210 against India in Chennai in 1986, his captain Border knew how to bring on a second wind, suggesting that it was time to get a Queenslander, Greg Ritchie, in to do what a Victorian could not. His civic pride suitably threatened, Jones went on, past 200 and into legend.Jones’ many other brilliant performances, and a few not quite so brilliant, were infused with a similar mix of bravado and courage. Whether it was smiting the West Indies all around Adelaide Oval for his second double century in Tests in early 1989, cuffing a young Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis for twin hundreds at the same venue a year later, or obliterating Sir Richard Hadlee in an Auckland ODI later the same season, Jones could be utterly irresistible. On the 1989 Ashes tour, Mark Taylor led the aggregates and Steve Waugh the headlines, but none batted better or more predatorially than Jones.In one-day matches, Jones’ knack for finding gaps and running with what seemed Olympian speed between the wickets made him the most feared batsman in the world in the realm of limited overs. A technicolour innings of 145 against England at the Gabba in 1990-91, wearing the gold cap then the white floppy hat and cheered on by a packed house, alerted a generation of aspiring schoolchildren that batting need not be all about getting through to stumps: the T20 age was probably born in the imaginative aftermath of a Jones innings.ESPNcricinfo LtdHis precise knowledge of things like how much quicker he could run two if he turned blind than not, was also well ahead of its time. A pair of flicks to the fine leg boundary of Hansie Cronje at the SCG in his final international summer, the second followed by a pointed punch of the fist as the crowd went wild, underlined how infuriating Jones could be to bowl to, or captain against.Of course, the manic enthusiasm for the game and the national team that Jones wore so proudly also led to plenty of occasions where brio outstripped sense.Who but Jones would find himself run out after being bowled by a Courtney Walsh no-ball in the West Indies in 1991? Who but Jones would find the ball trapped between his glove and pads after advancing to Venkatapathy Raju at the MCG later that year, flicking it away and forever denying he could have been out handled the ball? Who but Jones would ever conceive of, let alone act upon, a plot to ask Curtly Ambrose to remove his wrist band under the pretence of losing sight of the white ball in the 1993 World Series finals? And who but Jones would actually write, innocently and truthfully in a column ghosted by Mark Ray, that the absence of the famously litigious coach Bob Simpson from the dressing room during a Gabba one-day game in early 1994 had helped the team to relax? Simpson threatened to sue his own player.None of these moments helped Jones or his career, but they all added richly to cricket’s lore.The second quality, for which Jones was equally famous, is the sense of something incomplete or unjust about his career and its aftermath. There is no more highly ranked Victorian than the state’s Premier, and in Dan Andrews’ social media tribute there came the words “should have been picked for many more than his 52 Tests”. It is a view that has been able to enhance the Melbourne pub trade for most of the past 28 years by generating extra conversation and by extension extra rounds, and it was never discouraged by Jones.ALSO READ: ‘I can’t remember a thing after 120 in that innings’ In his 1997 book, Matters of Choice, the former selector John Benaud gave a very good, reasoned and frank depiction of all the cross currents running through the selection panel’s call to make Jones 12th man for the Gabba Test against the West Indies in 1992. These ranged from Jones’ increasing levels of inconsistency, the need for a fresh approach to tackling the Caribbean side, and his poor record against the West Indies outside the aforementioned Adelaide 200, to the fact that the Sheffield Shield draw for that season had given him precious few hits relative to those afforded to Damien Martyn, who was ultimately to debut instead.

RIP you magnificent cricketer

Finally got the elusive 100 at his home ground, just happened to be against Australia pic.twitter.com/Sjv8CFp0cJ

— Rob Moody (@robelinda2) September 24, 2020

Martyn’s own tale is one of rejection and recrimination before his own summary decision to retire, and it was a burden that Jones carried through the next two years and, arguably, for the rest of his time around the game. Steve Waugh’s diary reflection on Jones’ international retirement, in South Africa in 1994, bears repeating: “I know how he desperately wanted to wear the baggy green cap again and when he thought that was an impossibility, he didn’t want to keep torturing himself.” Waugh was not alone in being far more calculating in later years when it came to the rules of engagement with selectors in particular, and the Jones precedent doubtless helped.The selectors came close to recalling Jones one final time, for the 1996 World Cup, but stopped short at the very last moment. Jones’ riposte was to make a hundred for a World XI against the Australians in an MCG match to mark the centenary of the Victorian Cricket Association on their return from the cup. Though a vaudevillian Dean Jones tribute match had been played at the ground the season before, this was as close as he got to a true farewell: for parochial Victorians, Jones versus Australia was almost better than Australia with Jones.It should not be forgotten, either, that both Jones and Border were the primary losers in the graduation of Australian cricketers from solid contracts to eye-popping ones. When they retired, neither commanded ACB deals of more than five figures, yet within a couple of years the likes of Waugh, Shane Warne and Mark Taylor were raking in earnings before endorsements much closer to half a million apiece. If there was ever a perception of selfishness or opportunism about Jones, his unfortunate place in cricket’s money trail is worth remembering.As it was, Jones spent the rest of his days jumping between coaching, commentary and other assignments, including a brief and hotly debated stint on the Australia senior PGA golf tour in 2012-13. He was rightly castigated for a couple of heedless commentary moments, one a reference to not caring about the state of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe while there to cover a series, and the other a reference to Hashim Amla as “the terrorist” picking up a wicket. He was never likely to fit the cloth of a Cricket Australia coaching job, although he did consult briefly in 2012.

I normally wouldn’t share screenshots of any convos but I think ppl should know the kind of man #DeanJones was off the field. One of the most compassionate ppl. This he sent to me when Asif was going through a tough time, he believed in Asif & Asif delivered that season. pic.twitter.com/xbhjsNVosc

— Rehan Ulhaq (@Rehan_ulhaq) September 24, 2020

A third attribute, undersold by many, must be Jones’ generosity. Not always defined in the ways that cricketers or administrators might have wanted it to be, it was largely in the sharing and developing of ideas about the game of cricket and sport more broadly. Apart from One Day Magic in 1991 and My Call in 1994, which both carried strong instructional or counselling elements, Jones’ final book was a collection of cricket tips gleaned from his many and varied travels as a commentator and coach.Its launch at the MCG in 2016 saw Jones in his very best form, holding court and discussing concepts he had picked up to share from the likes of VVS Laxman, Waqar Younis and Ricky Ponting, offering up photo opportunities and autographs as though he was still Australia’s No. 4 batsman instead of Steven Smith.More recently, and in a more personal tale, Jones thought nothing of responding to a brief request of his memory with a long, jovial phone call and a bevy of advice about how best my partner and I might move out of a Covid-19 Melbourne into country Victoria should we so choose to. There was a warmth in this Jones that contrasted with the coolness others had experienced, just as his batting days could so swiftly veer between the sublime and the ridiculous. Either way, they were always memorable. So goodbye Deano, and thank you. You are gone much too soon.

Corbin Bosch is set to make his Test debut on what promises to be a seamer-friendly Centurion pitch

Firdose Moonda25-Dec-2024

Big picture – Can Pakistan bring ODI momentum into Test series?There’s one other Boxing Day Test, but this one is big too. If South Africa win at SuperSport Park, they will guarantee a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. If Pakistan win, they will keep outside hopes (so outside that they also require an over-rate penalty for South Africa) of getting to Lord’s alive, but more pressingly they will keep a nation on edge for another week.In reality, South Africa have some breathing room because they only need to win one of the next two Tests to get to the WTC final. Even with rain hanging around the Highveld, they’ll fancy their chances against a team that has not recorded a Test win in this country in nearly 18 years and not won a Test outside Asia since beating West Indies in August 2021. But pressure does strange things to players, especially South African players, and Pakistan, despite all the drama surrounding them, are a team who could exploit that.Related

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They went through a rotating door of coaches, selectors and administrators before coming to South Africa and were already in the country when their Test coach resigned, two weeks before the start of the series. Still, the build-up to this Boxing Day Test has had none of the shenanigans of Melbourne, mostly because the two sides were preoccupied with an ODI contest that serves as build-up to the Champions Trophy. Ten South Africa and seven Pakistan players from their respective Test squads were involved in that contest, which Pakistan won 3-0. If momentum is a factor, it is surely with them.South Africa’s batting, in particular, was undone, and worryingly for them three of their top four (Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs) all fell to the offspin of Salman Agha in the first ODI. Conditions are unlikely to suit him at SuperSport Park but the mental scars might be there and Temba Bavuma hopes it will be simple to get over them. “Whether it’s easy, whether it’s hard, we’ve got to find a way to do it,” he said. “Whatever, I don’t know, trauma that was there, you know, guys will have to deal with it.”Bavuma was also quick to remind that the Test space is different as it is where South Africa have more stability and focus with an immediate goal of the WTC final. The opposite might be said of Pakistan, who have won three ODI series in succession and are building towards a home Champions Trophy where they are defending the title.That may mean the teams head into this match with slightly different priorities in terms of their current form but that won’t minimise the sense of the occasion. A Boxing Day Test with plenty at stake, taking place at the same time as another Boxing Day Test, with even more on the line. It doesn’t get bigger than this.Form guideSouth Africa: WWWWW (last five Tests, most recent first)
Pakistan: WWLLLMohammad Abbas last played a Test match in August 2021•AFP

In the spotlight – Aiden Markram and Mohammad AbbasIt feels like Aiden Markram has had a difficult time of it across formats this year but his main difficulties have come in the format he captains in. He only has one score over 30 from 18 T20Is in 2024, and one fifty from six ODIs hasn’t helped his cause either, but his Test form has shown signs of improving. After a century in the New Year’s Test, Markram made fifties in Providence and Gqeberha and is also someone Bavuma says he “leans a lot on” when it comes to tactics and inspiring younger players. Most of all, Markram enjoys the continued support of his team-mates and Bavuma, in particular, who says he “empathises” with what Markram is going through but “that’s what makes elite sport tough. You’ve got to find a way to go through those challenges. And generally, when you get over to the other side, that’s where the satisfaction is.”It’s now or never for Mohammad Abbas who, at 34, is set to make his comeback after three years out of the national side seemingly without explanation. Abbas played 25 Tests between April 2017 and August 2021 and took 90 wickets at 23.02, but was discarded in favour of younger quicks despite excellent numbers on the county circuit. He has enjoyed four fruitful seasons at Hampshire where he has taken 180 wickets at 19.26 and finished among the top 10 wicket-takers in 2022 and 2023, and just outside in 2024. This season, he is the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and has deservedly earned a recall and will hope to make it count. Abbas is 10 wickets away from 100 in Test cricket and if he gets there, will be the 20th bowler from Pakistan to reach the landmark.Team newsBoth Keshav Maharaj (groin strain) and Wiaan Mulder (broken finger) passed fitness tests ahead of the match but are not deemed match-fit yet. South Africa have chosen to go in without a frontline spinner – and without spin-bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy – and opted for a 7-4 split. Corbin Bosch, who bowls above 140kph regularly, will debut at his home ground and share bowling duties with Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson and Marco Jansen. Ryan Rickelton has been retained at No.3 with Tristan Stubbs moving to No.4.South Africa (probable): 1 Tony de Zorzi, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Ryan Rickelton, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Temba Bavuma (capt), 6 David Bedingham, 7 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Dane Paterson, 11 Corbin Bosch.Pakistan could follow South Africa’s lead and go all-pace, which would mean no space for Noman Ali, though they would still have Salman Agha at their disposal. In the seam department, then, Abbas, Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad are likely to partner the 21-year old attack leader, Naseem Shah.Pakistan (probable): 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Ali Agha, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Khurram Shahzad, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Mohammad AbbasIt has been nearly 18 years since Pakistan won a Test match in South Africa•Getty Images

Pitch and conditionsThere has been significant rainfall on the Highveld in the lead-up to this Test match, which has made pitch preparation at SuperSport Park “difficult” in the words of one source. Two days out, the surface was fairly green which is in keeping with its reputation. Centurion is the most seamer-friendly wicket in the country, which also makes it the most difficult for batters. While Bavuma said he has “never played on a flat Centurion wicket”, days two and three are usually good for run-scoring, but with overhead cloud batters will “know that your work is going to be cut out for you and you’re going to have to work hard for your runs.” The match may also be interrupted with thunderstorms forecast for the first morning and afternoon and the second and third afternoon.Stats and Trivia Eight batters have scored Test centuries for South Africa in 2024. It’s their joint-most in a calendar year, and their most in 12 years. They have previously had eight centurions in 2004, 2008 and 2012. Pakistan have won two of the 15 Tests they’ve played in South Africa, none since 2007, and none of their three at SuperSport Park. Their two wins have come at St George’s Park and Kingsmead, the grounds that hosted the recent Sri Lanka series. Kagiso Rabada is three wickets away from going past Dale Steyn and becoming the leading wicket-taker at SuperSport Park. Rabada has played just eight Tests at the venue and has only taken fewer than five wickets here on one occasion, against India in 2018. He averages just over seven wickets per Test in Centurion. Since January 2018, there have been seven Tests at SuperSport Park and a clear advantage for seam bowlers. They have taken 227 wickets at 23.22, compared with 16 wickets at 60.62 by spinners. Quotes”We accept and acknowledge the fact that many expectations would have risen on the team. There’ll be pressure that comes with that. But to be honest with you, we’re coming into the series to win the series 2-0. We understand that for us to do that, there’s certain things that we need to do as a team: keep things simple, keep doing the small things right, and allow the results to take care of itself. Obviously, one of those results is qualifying for the WTC final and obviously would like to see ourselves there. But, we’re here now.”
“When I went to Australia, I didn’t get the time to prepare properly. It was my first overseas tour there, and I made mistakes, but also learned what I could change. Here, in similar conditions, I have had the time to prepare and get into a positive frame of mind.”

Abu Dhabi, for so long one of Pakistan’s “home” venues during their decade-long exile, has been discussed as a potential alternative if required

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2024Ongoing work at stadiums in Pakistan has forced the PCB to consider the possibility of moving one Test of the series against England offshore. Abu Dhabi, for so long one of Pakistan’s “home” venues during their decade-long exile, has been discussed as a potential alternative if required.Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and the National Stadium in Karachi are undergoing major overhauls. Rawalpindi Stadium, which hosted the two Bangladesh Tests, is also having renovation work done, all in an attempt to be ready in time to host the Champions Trophy in February next year, the first ICC event Pakistan is scheduled to host since 1996.Lahore is not hosting a game until the Champions Trophy and Karachi, which was supposed to host one Test in each of the Bangladesh and England series, is not expected to see action until the first Test against the West Indies in January next year.That has left Pakistan with Multan and Rawalpindi as the only two venues which can stage Tests. It is still likely that these two grounds host all three Tests but there could be concern that hosting two Tests in Rawalpindi could slow down work underway there, potentially impacting on the Champions Trophy.Faisalabad’s Iqbal Cricket Stadium will host the Champions Cup from September 12 to 29, and has seen its prominence as a viable international venue rise of late, but has not hosted a Test since 2006 and is not currently a likely venue for a Test in that series.Another complicating factor concerns a Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) meeting Pakistan is scheduled to host from October 15-16. The heads of several participating nations are slated to arrive in Islamabad for the event, and the security and accommodation demands that entails rules out Rawalpindi as an option for the second Test, which will be played from October 15 to 19.If the series is to be played in Pakistan in its entirety, that realistically means Pindi can, at most, play host to the first and third Tests, with the second taking place in Multan. Multan hosting two Tests has not been ruled out as an option, and because it is the only realistic venue in Pakistan for the second Test, that would necessitate consecutive games in the city: either the first two or the last two.That has left the PCB considering their options, one of which is Abu Dhabi. Dubai and Sharjah will be hosting the T20 Women’s World Cup during that period, itself moved from Bangladesh. Abu Dhabi is hosting an Ireland white-ball series against South Africa that ends on October 7 – the date the first Test is slated to begin. Barring a change of date for the start of the series, that effectively rules out the first Test in the UAE.Whatever option the PCB finally settles upon, the pressure to do so urgently is considerable. Substantial numbers of England fans will arrive for the series, but any logistical arrangements cannot be made until venues are finalised. England head coach Brendon McCullum also pointed out his side needed to know the venues in advance to be able to pick a squad.”We don’t really know [what the final venues],” McCullum said at the press conference on the eve of the third Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval. “But we can’t pick a team until we know where we’re going to play. It would be nice if over the next couple of days, we found out. And then we’ll sit down and make sure we’ve got the right team for the right conditions and the right opposition.”The stadium upgrades coincide with Pakistan’s busiest season at home in decades, with seven Tests, four white-ball internationals, the Champions Trophy and an expanded domestic calendar all vying for space between now and deep into next year. The upgrades, long overdue at several venues, became impossible to put off any more as Pakistan prepare to host next year’s Champions Trophy.

The stats and milestones as Smith breaks yet more Ashes records at Edgbaston

Bharath Seervi04-Aug-20195 Number of Australia batsmen to score centuries in both innings of a Test in The Ashes. Steven Smith joins Warren Bardsley, Arthur Morris, Steve Waugh and Matthew Hayden in doing so. For England, Herbert Sutcliffe, Wally Hammond, and Denis Compton have achieved the feat.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2002 The last time any batsman scored twins tons in an Ashes Test. It was Hayden in Brisbane in the 2002-03 Ashes. Before Smith, only two of the seven instances of twins tons in Ashes had come in England – Bardsley (The Oval) and Waugh (Old Trafford). Overall, Smith is only the second to do so at Edgbaston; the first was Marcus Trescothick against West Indies in 2004.6 Number of centuries for Smith in his last 10 Ashes innings. He has scored 1116 runs in these 10 innings. Bradman is the only batsman to have better numbers in any span of 10 successive Ashes innings. He scored 1236 runs and 7 hundreds between 1937 and 1946 in 10 innings.10 Centuries in Ashes for Smith now – five in Australia and five in England. Only Bradman (19) and Jack Hobbs (12) have hit more Ashes centuries than Smith, although Waugh also hit 10. Bradman, Waugh, Allan Border and Mark Taylor are the only other Australia batsmen to score five or more centuries in England.ESPNcricinfo Ltd3 Smith is only the third visiting batsman to score two centuries in the first Test of a series in England and none has done it in the last 70 years. George Headley did so at Lord’s in 1939 and Alan Melville in 1947. Usually the batsmen don’t find English conditions easy and scoring hundreds at the start of the series is not easy. Smith is also coming back into Test cricket after more than a year, following his ban for ball-tampering. Overall, Smith is only the tenth batsman to score two hundreds in the first Test of an away series and last was Virat Kohli in Australia in 2014-15.25 Centuries for Smith in his Test career, in 119 innings. Only Bradman, in 68 innings, had achieved it in fewer innings. Smith has followed Kohli (127 innings), Sachin Tendulkar (130) and Sunil Gavaskar (138) in terms of fewest innings to 25 Test 100s. He is now tied with Kohli on 25 Test centuries.4 Number of batsmen to score 140 or more in both innings of a Test, including Smith with scores of 144 and 142 in this match. Allan Border, Andy Flower, and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the others to have achieved the double.

A floodlight malfunction meant a 13-minute delay in Kolkata, with the hosts in need of a miracle. Up stepped Andre Russell from the darkness to pull off the impossible.

Sreshth Shah in Kolkata24-Mar-20193:15

Surprised to see Sunrisers bowl a spinner at the end – Rana

At 7.18pm, the floodlight tower on the High Court End at Eden Gardens lost power.It was not the first time that happened.Remember Kolkata Knight Riders’ very first IPL match at home in 2008? Or the World Twenty20 match between Bangladesh and New Zealand in 2016? On both occasions, it took nearly 15 minutes for the lights to regain full brightness.So, it was not too worrying when the umpires and players walked off in the 16th over, with Knight Riders needing 64 runs from 28 deliveries, because play was always expected to resume. But what happened during that 13-minute delay between 7.18pm and 7.31pm summed up how the game eventually panned out.The Sunrisers Hyderabad players, ahead by eight runs on DLS, and in the midst of strangling the Knight Riders chase, looked the calmer of the two sides. The men in orange headed to the dugout for a breather, with a light mood in the Sunrisers camp. Nitish Rana, then unbeaten on 68, also picked his feet up for a breather in the Knight Riders camp. But one man who was not letting his intensity drop was Andre Russell.Over at the practice pitches, under the floodlight tower that was still coming back to life, Russell – bat in hand – took stance. He called Simon Katich, the team batting coach, to hand him some throwdowns. While the other 12 cricketers involved in the game at that stage took a moment to catch their breath, Russell was ensuring that his focus did not waver. It’s not that he was walloping Katich’s throwdowns – he could’ve, with ease, had he wished – but was instead prodding forward every delivery to check-drive back to his coach.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhen play resumed just after 7.30pm, Russell – then on 3* – stood at the non-striker’s end. He witnessed Rashid Khan trap the set Rana lbw, first ball after the break. Russell, though, was not perturbed. He had other plans.Off the 16th over’s final delivery – Rashid’s last of the evening – Russell clobbered a length ball outside off stump to the extra-cover fence. Most batsmen in world cricket would happily see off Rashid’s final ball of the spell and take their chances in the last four overs, but Russell isn’t like most batsmen. That four off Rashid’s final delivery brought the equation to 59 off 24 balls, but a fantastic third over from stand-in captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar once again widened the gap between runs and balls.With 53 needed off 18, Knight Riders and Russell were in uncharted territory. Never before had a team chased more than 52 runs in the final three overs to win an IPL game. In fact, in all T20 cricket, this had been achieved only twice. But Russell didn’t know that, and so he believed.From nine off seven balls, Russell soared to 27 off 12 by the end of the 18th over, bowled by Siddarth Kaul. By the time Bhuvneshwar finished his final over – the game’s 19th – Russell had moved on to 48 off 18. Knight Riders had collected 40 runs in 12 deliveries, and with 13 needed off the final over, a win for the hosts was a mere formality. They finished the game with two balls to spare, and Russell was stranded on 49 – one short of a well-deserved fifty – but one doubts he cares. When captain Dinesh Karthik ran across the ground after Shubman Gill struck the winning runs, he first jumped on Russell. The improbable had happened, and Knight Riders became the first side to make 53 runs in the final three overs of an IPL game to win.”I cannot describe Russell’s batting, even if I wanted to. I’m absolutely lost for words,” Rana said later. “The way he hit the sixes, and made us win with two balls to spare, I’m speechless.”We know Russell is capable [to chase a difficult total], and we don’t know this from today. We’ve known Russell’s ability for a long time now, and we trust him to win games for us from improbable situations.”Russell received praise from the other camp as well, with Rashid describing the innings as a ‘special knock’.Andre Russell and Shubman Gill gave KKR a come-from-behind victory•BCCI”In the death overs, we needed to bat the way Russell did,” Rashid said. “Getting Rana’s wicket after the floodlight-break, gave us momentum. At Eden Gardens, getting 170-180 is defendable. We put up a good total on the board, but we couldn’t finish well in the final three overs, and that happens.”Russell’s innings made the difference. When you make special knocks like Russell, you totally change the game. Knocks like that from the lower-order can take scores from 150 to 180, and from 180 to 210. So we’ll have this in the back of our mind moving forward to have someone with that ability in our team. We were in the game till the 17th over, but Russell just took it away from us.”Russell’s innings was one to remember, coming at such a difficult stage of the game, that some fans even opened their shirts, Ganguly-at-Lord’s style, to celebrate the home side’s victory.Such was the impact of Russell’s innings that it relegated Rana’s 47-ball 68 and David Warner’s 53-ball 85 into mere footnotes.That doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, it makes for an evening to remember for the home fans.

Scotland fast bowler Charlie Cassell has broken the record for the best figures on ODI debut by taking 7 for 21 in 5.4 overs against Oman in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match in Dundee.The record was held by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, who had taken 6 for 16 on his ODI debut against Bangladesh in July 2015.Cassell was added to the Scotland squad for the matches against Oman on July 15, as a replacement for fast bowler Chris Sole who was unavailable for personal reasons.

تعرض فريق برشلونة لهزيمة ثقيلة على يد خصمه إشبيلية، في مباراتهما عصر يوم الأحد في بطولة الدوري الإسباني لكرة القدم، موسم 2025/26.

وحل برشلونة ضيفًا على إشبيلية، في الجولة الثامنة من بطولة الدوري الإسباني، حيث تلقى هزيمة مذلة أمام الفريق الأندلسي بأربعة أهداف مقابل هدف.

وسجل إشبيلية هدفه الأول من ضربة جزاء في الدقيقة 13 من عمر الشوط الأول، حيث نفذها أليكسيس سانشيز بنجاح.

اقرأ أيضًا.. إصابة لاعب برشلونة بعد الهزيمة برباعية أمام إشبيلية

وتحصل إشبيلية على ضربة جزاء بداعِ تدخل من رونالد أراوخو على لاعب إشبيلية إسحاق روميرو، بعد تدخل تقنية الفيديو.

ولكن الخبير التحكيمي بيريز بورول، رأى أن قرار احتساب ضربة جزاء لصالح إشبيلية في ذلك الموقف يُعد قرارًا خاطئًا، حسبما صرّح لراديو “ماركا” الإسبانية.

وقال بورول: “لم يكن ذلك الموقف يستدعي استخدام تقنية الفيديو في صراع على الكرة بين إسحاق روميرو وأراوخو، أشار الحكم في البداية إلى كونها ليست ضربة جزاء على أرض الملعب”.

وأضاف: “لم يكن هناك حاجة إلى قيام حكم تقنية الفيديو في تلك المباراة، ديل سيرو، بالتدخل في ذلك الموقف”. ضربة جزاء إشبيلية أمام برشلونة في الدوري الإسباني