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Half-centuries from the duo lead Essex’s reply to India’s 395, even as Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma stood out with two wickets each on a blistering day in Chelmsford

The Report by Nagraj Gollapudi26-Jul-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmesh Yadav bowls•BCCI

A flat wicket, another scorching day with “abnormal” temperatures, and some stodgy batting from Essex made India’s bowlers work hard on the second day of their warm-up match in Chelmsford. India wouldn’t mind a day like this today rather than in the middle of a Test match, their fast bowlers having been put through a good test of both character and skills.Thursday was hot, with temperatures hovering around the mid-30 degrees centigrade, which the MCC called “abnormally high”, and led to them relaxing the imposition on members to wear jackets in the Pavilion. Having experienced much higher mercury back home, the Indians did not wilt easily.Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma were the pick of the five-man pace contingent, which also had Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya. Umesh bowled his first spell form the Hayes’ End and attacked the bat relentlessly. He got the ball to swing and seam away consistently, and trapped Nick Browne with a ball that skidded into the pads.No other fast bowler in this Indian line-up has more overs clocked over the past few months than Umesh. Little wonder that he hardly took a ball to catch his rhythm. A first spell of 7-4-9-1 showed both his accuracy and steadfastness to stick to the plan.Ishant came in after the first hour in the afternoon. His first ball, fuller in length, seamed straight away into the other Essex opener, Varun Chopra, who was beaten by pace and movement. Chopra tried to slog the next ball and was lucky not to be bowled, getting a bottom edge that raced to fine leg. Having played for Sussex recently in the county championships, Ishant understood the lengths that work on England pitches.Off the first ball of his second over, Ishant opened up Chopra, who shuffled across to his off stump but was beaten by the delivery moving in to hit his pads. Ishant appealed strongly and the umpire raised his finger promptly. Chopra might have felt a little hard done by as the ball might have moved down leg.No such luck was in store for Shami, returning to the Indian fold after the South Africa tour. The team management was concerned about Shami’s readiness, considering he had not played much cricket in the last six months. He was injured during the IPL and failed a fitness test that ruled him out of the one-off Test against Afghanistan. He was also entangled in domestic issues as he faced various allegations from his wife.Still, Shami would be optimistic. He struggled with the right length and line with the new ball and gave away 26 runs in his first spell of 7 overs. However, when he returned late afternoon, he could reverse the ball while maintaining a fuller length. Also scratchy was Hardik Pandya, who gave a lot of width and room for the batsmen to take advantage of.There were only two overs of spin from the Indians, both by Ravindra Jadeja, who retreated to the dressing room around tea time and never came back. R Ashwin was hit on the index finger of the bowling hand while batting in the morning and did not take the field through the day. The team management confirmed that it was just a precautionary step. Ashwin did bowl in the nets during the lunch break.That explained why Ashwin had not come out to bat in the morning even as India tried all the available specialist batsmen, most of whom fumbled barring Rishabh Pant. Karun Nair, despite having played for over the past month in England while touring with the India A team, attempted a drive far from his body only to see a bottom edge roll on to knock off the bails.Pandya’s overnight struggles continued before he hit straight to cover, which exposed his impatience in addition to a false stroke. Dinesh Karthik, 18 short of a century overnight, was the first to depart, playing an upper cut into hands of deep point.

The ICC’s code of conduct has come under scathing criticism from former South Africa captain Graeme Smith after Kagiso Rabada’s swearing at Ben Stokes

Firdose Moonda at Lord's08-Jul-20171:07

Rabada aggression part of cricket – Bavuma

Kagiso Rabada, the South Africa fast bowler who will miss next week’s second Test at Trent Bridge, is said to be “heartbroken” to have let down his team, according to his team-mate Temba Bavuma, after he was served with an automatic suspension by the ICC for accumulating four demerit points.Rabada earned one demerit point for swearing at Ben Stokes after dismissing him for 56 in England’s first innings, on top of three he already had for a shove on Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella in an ODI in January.”KG is quite an emotional character,” said Bavuma. “The way he acted – he didn’t act like that on purpose. He was aware of the consequences. It was just in the heat of the moment. He is quite heartbroken as he feels he has let down the team.”On the thorny issue of sledging, Bavuma added: “It’s something I have had to endure from schoolboy cricket days. I see it as part and parcel of cricket.”There’s a fine balance that needs to be achieved. You don’t want it to be completely taken away but you still want the respect of the game to be there. A balance needs to be achieved.”The ICC’s code of conduct has come under scathing criticism from former South Africa captain Graeme Smith who disagreed strongly with the decision.Though Smith understood the sanction was based on collective, not isolated incidents, he did not think the expletive uttered by Rabada, which was picked up on the stump mic, should have been punished that harshly.”It’s ridiculous,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo. “No-one wrote about it, no-one spoke about it. It was only because it was on the stump mic that it’s become a thing.”The incident occurred on the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s when Rabada dismissed Stokes and told him to “f*** off”, something Smith thought was not serious enough to earn Rabada another demerit point.”It could have been handled better. I don’t think it was aimed at Ben Stokes. I just think it was out of frustration. If it wasn’t picked up by the stump mics he wouldn’t have been done,” Smith said on .”There is obviously a line that the ICC have drawn and we need to stay on the right side of it,” said England’s James Anderson.”When I watch games, I like having the stump mic there. It’s the players’ duty to be aware that is there and they turn it up quite loud sometimes.”

Colin Ingram blasted 64 off 30 balls as Glamorgan continued their impressive start to the NatWest T20 Blast with a six-wicket win over Gloucestershire at Bristol

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2016
ScorecardColin Ingram’s power kept Glamorgan’s chase on course•Getty Images

Colin Ingram blasted 64 off 30 balls as Glamorgan continued their impressive start to the NatWest T20 Blast with a six-wicket win over Gloucestershire at Bristol.The experienced South African hammered five sixes and four fours as his side comfortably chased down a target of 169 with seven balls to spare.After rain delayed the start until 7pm, Gloucestershire posted 168 for 8, Ian Cockbain and Kieran Noema-Barnett both scoring 37.Dale Steyn was the pick of the Glamorgan bowlers with 2 for 21 from his four overs, while Graham Wagg claimed 2 for 28.It didn’t look enough on a good pitch with a fast outfield. Ingram was well supported by Anuerin Donald as Glamorgan made it three wins from four group games.Gloucestershire’s innings got off to a poor start as they lost their two best T20 batsmen Michael Klinger and Hamish Marshall in less than three overs.Klinger had made only five when loosely driving a catch to extra cover off Timm van der Gugten and it was 11 for 2 when Marshall, on 3, played an equally poor shot to be be caught at mid-off, Steyn the successful bowler.It was 30 for 3 when Chris Dent lofted Wagg to long-on where van der Gugten took a good catch in the final Powerplay over.Cockbain launched a counter-attack, hitting two sixes off Meschede before the bowler took revenge by having him caught behind. By that time Benny Howell had gone too and at 79 for 5, the hosts were in a hole.Noema-Barnett played a powerful cameo, hitting sixes off Dean Cosker and van der Gugten in making his runs off 22 balls and Jack Taylor steered Gloucestershire towards a respectable total, helped by an enormous scooped six by Gareth Roderick off Steyn.Andrew Tye’s two sixes in the final over gave the home side hope, but proved in vain.Jacques Rudolph and David Lloyd gave the visitors a solid start with a stand of 29 before Tye struck with the last ball of his first over, the fifth of the innings, Lloyd getting a thick edge off a quicker ball to Liam Norwell at third man.Ingram picked up two sixes over deep backward square in the same Norwell over as Glamorgan moved to 45 for one at the end of the powerplay.The next over from Howell saw Rudolph bowled for 16. But Ingram pulled a Noema-Barnett full-toss for his third six and at the halfway stage in their innings Glamorgan were well placed at 86 for 2.Tye, who had bowled his first two overs for ten runs, was ordered out of the Gloucestershire attack after being no-balled twice for high full-tosses in the 15th over.It was a blow the hosts could not afford. Ingram had reached a 24-ball half-century and by the time he fell to Chris Dent, who had replaced Tye, after hitting the left-arm spinner’s first two balls for six, only 29 were needed from 32 balls.Chris Cooke fell for 16, but Donald was still there at the end, having hit four fours and a six in his 39-ball innings.

With questions on the make-up of Bangladesh’s bowling, Mushfiqur Rahim said that things could have been different had Shahadat Hossain not picked up an injury

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur09-May-2015The second Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan was wrapped up at 2:04 pm on the fourth afternoon. But thoughts remained on what happened 30 minutes before the start of the game on Wednesday.Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, had opted to bowl on a pitch that did more for fast bowlers in the first two hours of the first day, than it did in the last couple of years. Still, Bangladesh went in the Test with just two pace bowlers. Mushfiqur, however, insisted the team had three seamers.”It wasn’t just the two pace bowlers,” Mushfiqur said. “We took three pace bowlers if you consider Soumya (Sarkar). It was a unanimous decision of the team management. The outcome is showing it was a wrong decision. If it was a correct decision, there wouldn’t be much talk.”Everyone has a say. It is not my team or the coach’s team. This is the Bangladesh team. Everyone has an input. We decide what everything things is good for the team. The selectors, coaches, myself are all there,” he said.Sarkar had to bowl in place of the injured Shahadat Hossain after two balls into the game but he did not have the numbers to back himself as a third seamer in a Test. He had only been used for seven overs in two ODIs while he only bowled one over in Khulna where Rubel Hossain and Mohammad Shahid were the pace bowlers.  In first-class cricket, Sarkar has 19 wickets in 34 matches with a five-for taken in November 2012.Mushfiqur said that had Shahadat been fit, things could have been different. On the first day, Bangladesh took three wickets, two of which came in the first session.”Many of you have said that we should have batted first after winning the toss,” Mushfiqur said. “But it was the team management’s decision; the wicket had a lot of help for the bowlers in the first two hours. We could have taken three-four wickets if (Shahadat Hossain) Rajib didn’t get injured. If we could have bowled them out for a low score and taken a lead, this Test would have been different. But it didn’t happen. The blame is on us.””We decided the playing XI after seeing the wicket,” he said. “We pick a 12-man squad and then decide the XI on the morning of the first day. We decide early whether we want to bat or bowl first. We speak to the curator about what sort of wicket it will be. All of us, including the senior cricketers, read the wicket. It is not a singular decision ultimately.The other issue was in the spin department but Mushfiqur said that had Jubair Hossain not picked up an injury (heel), he would have been picked. Pakistan’s Yasir Shah, the legspinner, found considerable grip on the Mirpur pitch to pick up seven wickets in the game.”We needed to replace (Jubair Hossain) Likhon who got injured on the morning of the first day,” he said. “Otherwise he would have played the game. We thought Shuvagata was the better option. Yasir Shah bowled well so Jubair could have had some benefit from this wicket.”Interestingly, Mushfiqur said the decision to prepare a sporting wicket in Mirpur was a result of criticism of the Khulna wicket. There was discussion about the wicket in talk shows in Bangladeshi TV channels and in the Pakistan media.”There was a lot of talk about how the Khulna wicket was too flat where the bowlers weren’t able to take 20 wickets,” he said. “We wanted to create an opportunity to take 20 wickets while at the same time let the batsmen play freely too. This is what the team management decided.”Mushfiqur, however, said that rather than talking about the pitch, the focus should be on the Bangladesh players’ failure in this game to score runs and take wickets.

The BCCI’s working committee will meet on September 4 to decide on the future of the beleaguered Deccan Chargers IPL franchise

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Sep-2012The BCCI’s working committee will meet on September 4 to decide on the future of the beleaguered Deccan Chargers IPL franchise. The meeting comes after the franchise owners sought the board’s help in finding a new buyer, conceding they could not carry on running the franchise given their financial problems.At the meeting, board president N Srinivasan – who met the franchise owners recently – is likely to explain the BCCI’s future stand. “They have thrown up their hands. They met the BCCI president directly and said that they cannot get their house in order,” a BCCI working committee member, told ESPNcricinfo.On August 14, the IPL governing council had asked the Chargers management to explain why the franchise had been mortgaged to two leading Indian banks when the BCCI held the ownership rights for the franchise. Granting a month to Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), the board asked the Chargers’ owners to come back with a reassurance that they were in a strong position to continue owning the franchise. T Venkatram Reddy, DCHL chairman, who was present at that meeting was confident the crisis would be resolved soon.But earlier this week, Reddy revealed to that DCHL were in advanced talks with potential buyers and the franchise was in safe hands. However, according to the board official, the issue had become “complicated” with the investors in the franchise having asked the board to get involved.”The lenders do not want the team to die. Nine lenders have written to the board saying they do not mind the team being sold and the board should try and help. The BCCI just wants now to facilitate in finding a buyer. We want to see if there is an amicable sale of the franchise,” the official said.In June DCHL had appointed Religare Capital Markets to look for potential investors who might be interested in buying a part or the entire stake in the franchise. But the board official pointed out any sale could not be a straightforward process. “It is not an easy task because there are some legal proceedings against the Deccan Chargers owners. There are also a number of lenders, number of people who have a stake in the team. One of the lenders has even filed a company winding-up petition,” the official said.Asked if the IPL could be in the danger of being reduced to eight teams, the official said that would be the final step. “We are trying to see and find out an amicable way out. If not, there is no other option. It is a complicated issue and is likely to be discussed during the working committee meeting,” he said.However not all board members are impressed at the sudden “soft approach” being thought about by the BCCI top brass. “Less than a month ago we had stated and issued a notice to the Deccan Chargers owners that in case they would not settle their dispute the board would auction for a new team. Now apparently we have to take a softer route. How are we concerned? The lenders are knocking at the BCCI doors because they are in trouble,” a working committee member said.

Ajay Maken, the Indian sports minister, has slammed the BCCI for refusing to come under the Right to Information act

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2011Ajay Maken, the Indian sports minister, has slammed the BCCI for its stand against the transparency-enhancing Right to Information (RTI) Act and the proposed bill to regulate Indian sports bodies. The bill, which could cover the BCCI too, was discussed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday but failed to gain approval and will now be re-worked.One of the main reasons the Indian board has given for staying out of the ambit of the RTI, which opens up to public questioning the institutions covered by it, is that the BCCI doesn’t rely on government money. “The BCCI is a non-governmental organisation, which has its own constitution and generates its own funds,” the BCCI president Shashank Manohar told the . “In fact, there are two orders passed by the country’s Chief Information Commissioner wherein it has been clearly stated that the RTI Act doesn’t apply to the BCCI.”Maken, though, countered by saying that the BCCI indirectly received government funds. “How about the tax exemptions?” Maken asked. “How about the land they get? How much did they pay for the Feroz Shah Kotla? We are not asking them to reveal anything to the government. We are asking them to be accountable to the people. “Another recommendation in the bill is that people over 70 years of age should be barred from heading sporting federations. “I wonder why the proposed age-cap is 70, not 65 or 60?” Manohar said. “And what has age got to do with administration as long as the person concerned is in good health?”Maken defended the introduction of an age limit. “What is their problem with age limit? Doesn’t the judiciary, the bureacracy have age limits? Why can’t a good example be followed? If someone remains a federation chief for ever why will vested interests not develop.”The proposed bill also called for the inclusion of former players in cricket administration. “I can only speak for the BCCI which has its own constitution and office-bearers are elected democratically by state associations and other affiliated units,” Manohar said.”We have former players like Anil Kumble, Shivlal Yadav and Mohinder Pandove holding key positions in their respective associations as well as in the BCCI after they were duly elected to their respective posts. In BCCI, we only involve former players to deal with cricket-specific issues like selection, technical matters, coaching, mentoring etc, leaving the administrative issues to elected representatives.”All said and done, cricket is the best administered sport in the country. It is not as if the BCCI is a closed-door body. It submits its annual audited accounts to the Registrar of Societies after the same is duly circulated and vetted by its member associations.”At the ICC annual conference in Hong Kong earlier this year, the ICC gave its member boards a two-year deadline to democratise in an effort to reduce government interference in cricket administration. Manohar cautioned against the possibility of government involvement in this matter as well. “The ICC has recently amended its constitution and empowered itself to take action against Member boards in case of undue government interference in functional matters.”

Ireland have made two changes to their squad for the two-match RSA series against Netherlands that begins on Monday

Cricinfo staff15-Aug-2010Ireland have made two changes to their squad for the two-match RSA series against Netherlands that begins on Monday after they comprehensively beat the same opposition in the Intercontinental Cup.Following Allan Eastwood’s successful debut in the win against Netherlands, where he took 4 for 62 in the second innings, he retained his place in the squad ahead of Craig Young who hasn’t recovered from a side strain. Elsewhere Andrew Poynter returns to the squad following the shoulder injury he picked up in the final of the World Cricket League last month in place of James Hall who will instead play for Ireland A in a three-day game against Hampshire which begins on Wednesday at the Rose Bowl.Ireland Squad: Trent Johnston (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Andrew Poynter, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson (wk), Allan Eastwood, Nigel Jones.

The 21-year-old quick became the 12th Queenslander to take a five-wicket haul on debut and first since 1986-87

AAP21-Oct-2024Young quick Tom Whitney wrote himself in Queensland’s Sheffield Shield record books, before helping bat the Bulls back into their match against South Australia.Whitney created history on Monday, becoming the first Queenslander in 38 years to claim a five-wicket haul on debut with his 5 for 60.Related

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And after the visitors were all out for 314 early on day two in Brisbane, Whitney produced a late cameo with the bat to help Queensland to 308 in reply.South Australia then lost first-innings century maker Henry Hunt caught behind first ball of their second innings to Michael Neser.But it was a day for Whitney, as Queensland also benefitted from Jimmy Peirson’s counter-punching 94 with the bat at Allan Border Oval.Arriving at the crease at 271 for 9 late in the day, Whitney blasted five boundaries on his way to an unbeaten 24 from 11 balls to help Queensland reach close to parity.After taking three wickets on Sunday, Whitney had both Nathan McAndrew and Wes Agar caught early on Monday morning.The wickets made the 21-year-old just the 12th Queenslander in history to take a five-wicket haul on debut, and the first since former police officer Mick Polzin in 1986-87.Jimmy Peirson led Queensland’s fightback•Getty Images

Neser also finished with 3 for 61, getting the key wicket of Hunt on 136 as the opener fell just short of carrying his bat.In reply, Queensland’s big names struggled. Test opener Usman Khawaja was lbw to McAndrew for a duck, as Queensland fell to 16 for 3 early with the ball swinging around.Matt Renshaw was also lbw to Jordan Buckingham for 2, denting his slim chances of joining Khawaja at the top of the order for the first Test in Perth.Marnus Labuschagne also failed to make any real impact, caught at forward square-leg flicking a ball off his toes.But from 80 for 5, Queensland were able to launch something of a counteract. Ben McDermott hit 52, while Neser and Peirson combined for a 97-run seventh-wicket partnership.Still Peirson pushed through, hitting 14 boundaries in his knock and driving with ease whenever South Australia’s quicks went too full.The wicketkeeper-batter looked set for his century, before he hesitated in coming back for a second with Mitchell Swepson and being run out by Jake Lehmann.

Champions survive a Matthew Revis hat-trick at soggy Scarborough

ECB Reporters Network01-Aug-2023Superb centuries for Joey Evison and Ben Compton helped champions Kent recover from early strife and later survive a Matthew Revis hat-trick to get their Metro Bank One-Day Cup title defence off to a winning start against Yorkshire at soggy Scarborough.The Spitfires, having slipped to 49 for 4 after 15 overs after being inserted, posted 282 for 9 before a trio of rain delays revised the home target to 261 in 43 overs, 235 in 35 and finally 181 in 24.Kent only won this one by two runs on Duckworth Lewis Stern, owing to late drama. After the third delay, Yorkshire resumed on 53 for 2 after 11 overs and raced to 117 for four after 17, only for more rain to leave them three runs short of a winning target.Ben Coad struck three times with the new ball in helpful conditions for Yorkshire, bowling his 10 overs straight through for 3 for 16.But Evison and opener Compton played contrasting innings – 136 off 106 balls and 103 off 137 – to share Kent’s List A record 219 inside 33 overs for the fifth wicket. All-rounder Revis then claimed a hat-trick as five wickets fell in the last 15 balls of the visiting innings.Evison, 21, was the player of the match in last season’s final win over Lancashire at Trent Bridge with 97 and two wickets, and he counter-attacked here to push on from 84 for 4 after 25 overs.Having offered a tough chance to diving Dom Bess at midwicket on nought off Dom Leech, he hit three of seven sixes to leg, including one over wide long-leg off Ben Mike to reach his hundred.Excellent Coad had opener Marcus O’Riordan caught at first slip and former team-mate Jack Leaning and then Harry Finch both caught behind on a nibbling pitch. George Hill, who also bowled his 10 overs straight, claimed the other early wicket.Left-hander Compton clipped the only boundary which Coad conceded but was in rebuild mode.Evison then whipped a six off Coad to begin the counter-attack. And by the time they both reached fifties, Kent were 143 for 4 in the 34th over.Having regained a foothold in the innings, Compton then increased his tempo and was strong through the off-side en-route to his third career century off 135 balls.But Evison had overtaken him in the early eighties and raced through the nineties to reach his second career ton first – reached off 84 balls (216 for four in the 42nd over).But, with 300 on the cards, Revis limited the damage by getting James Bazley and Grant Stewart caught at deep square-leg and Hami Qadri bowled in the penultimate over.Five wickets fell in the last 15 balls, including Evison and Compton, as Yorkshire’s director of cricket Darren Gough watched on. He had taken two of the previous four List A hat-tricks for the county.After mid-innings rain, Gough saw Yorkshire lose Fin Bean to Australian debutant Bazley’s seam to the fifth ball of their chase, Qadri taking a smart catch at point.But the Vikings, after a further brief stoppage, were recovering through wicketkeeper opener Harry Duke and his captain Shan Masood, who put on 49 to take the score to 52 for one after 10 overs.Masood, back from Pakistan duty, was playing confidently for 31, however he was run out by an Evison direct hit at the non-striker’s end from mid-on with the first ball of the 11th over.More rain came almost immediately at 53 for 2, leaving Yorkshire needing 10 an over upon the resumption.With the threat of more rain to come, Hill crashed the lion’s share of 21 off a Matthew Parkinson over, only to fall caught behind for 35 off Bazley to leave Yorkshire narrowly short.

Pair smash 95 from 50 balls to take Falcons to fifth straight victory, Saif Zaib’s 92 not enough for Northants

ECB Reporters Network21-Jun-2022Brilliant batting from Wayne Madsen and Shan Masood kept Derbyshire Falcons on course for the Vitality Blast quarter-finals with a six-wicket victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Derby.The pair smashed 95 from 50 balls to take the Falcons to a fifth straight victory for the first time in T20 cricket as they chased down a 187 target with six balls to spare.Masood scored 57 from 43 balls and Madsen a destructive 73 with 10 fours and two sixes from only 37 balls as the Falcons cruised home on 192 for 4.Saif Zaib scored a T20 career-best 92 from 58 balls to take the Steelbacks to 186 for 7 but it was not enough as the Falcons moved to within one point of North Group leaders Lancashire Lightning who they play on Friday.Zaib revived the Steelbacks after two of their key batters fell in the first four overs of the powerplay.Chris Lynn skied a swing at Sam Conners and Madsen held a steepling catch at cover before Hayden Kerr removed Josh Cobb.The Steelbacks skipper drove and pulled Conners for four consecutive fours but then lost his off stump making room to cut Kerr.That followed Ben Curran’s miscued clip at Mark Watts into the hands of mid on and at the end of six overs, the Steelbacks were 58 for 3.Rob Keogh was caught off a George Scrimshaw no-ball but after hitting the free hit to the boundary, top edged a pull to third man.Related

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Jimmy Neesham drove Conners over long off for the first six of the innings in the 10th over and Zaib added a second when he cut Scrimshaw over wide third man in the 12th.Zaib mixed improvisation with placement to reach 50 off 36 balls but the introduction of Matt McKiernanan in the 15th over removed the dangerous Neesham who was stumped charging the leg spinner.The Steelbacks plundered 22 from the 17th over when Zaib swept and drove McKiernan for two sixes but Scrimshaw and Watt conceded only 10 off the next two.Zaib pulled Kerr for his fourth six before he was run out but Lewis McManus drove the last ball for six to take his side to a competitive total.The Falcons lost Luis Reece in the first over when he chipped a return catch to Cobb but Kerr pulled Tom Taylor for six and repeated the shot against Ben Sanderson as 16 came from the last over of the powerplay.Kerr swung the first ball from Freddie Heidreich into the hands of deep midwicket but Masood took two boundaries from the wrist spinner’s next over to keep the Falcons on track.Madsen drove and pulled Neesham for two fours to leave the Falcons needing 97 off the last 10 overs and he reverse swept Graeme White for six as 14 came from the 11th over.The Steelbacks were struggling to contain the pair with Masood steering Sanderson to the third man boundary on his way to a 36 ball 50.Cobb returned but Madsen ramped him for two fours as the Falcons accelerated towards their target with 46 coming from three overs.A reverse-swept six took Madsen to a 24-ball 50 and although Masood holed out to long on, only 36 were needed off the last five overs.Madsen was caught behind off Neesham in the 19th over but the game was over as a contest and Leus du Plooy finished in style with a big six over deep midwicket.