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A century on debut for the Australian meant Warwickshire have a stiff chase on the final day if they are to continue their winning run

Jon Culley at Edgbaston11-Jun-20181:52

Surrey set the pace in Division One

ScorecardUntil he turned up in Cardiff last week to be introduced as a Glamorgan player, Usman Khawaja’s knowledge of Wales did not extend much beyond the sitcom Gavin and Stacey. It has become one of his favourite TV shows, so much so that top of the list of places he wants to see while in the principality is not Cardiff Castle or the Snowdonia National Park but Barry Island.It is quite likely Wales will take to him, too, after he marked his Glamorgan debut with a century that has given them a chance of achieving their first Championship win at Edgbaston since 1988, when the sometime England fast bowler Greg Thomas took six wickets and Warwickshire, needing 194 to win on the final afternoon, were bowled out five runs short.In doing so Khawaja emulated his compatriot, Shaun Marsh, whose place in the side he has taken, who also made a hundred on his county debut in April. They will play together in the Vitality T20 Blast later in the summer.For now, Marsh is preparing for Australia’s ODI joust with England, which begins on Wednesday. It was Marsh’s call-up that led Glamorgan to ask Khawaja if he wouldn’t mind playing in two or three Championship matches ahead of the T20, an arrangement he is more than happy with, given there is an Ashes tour looming in 2019.Not that he is unfamiliar with English conditions. Indeed, he has made centuries here before, two for Derbyshire – Glamorgan’s opponents in Swansea next week – and one for Lancashire. But he does not have one in a Test match in England, which is another thing on his to-do list following his 171 against Joe Root’s hapless boys at Sydney in January.His 125 here, spanning almost three-and-a-half hours on a slow, used pitch now effectively four days old, ensured that the good work of openers Nick Selman and Jack Murphy against the new ball on the second evening was not wasted, even after Selman had clipped Keith Barker straight to short midwicket in only the fifth over of the morning.It might have been. Murphy added only eight to his overnight score and both Connor Brown and Owen Morgan went cheaply but Khawaja found an ally at last in Chris Cooke, his captain in this game in the absence of an injured Michael Hogan. They shared a partnership of 115 that ended with his own dismissal, lbw playing back to Jeetan Patel, whose offspin to that point he had countered pretty well.There has not been much turn so far and Josh Poysden, who did so well to take five wickets in the first innings, was wicketless this time. Yet it is a surface that needs to be treated with respect, nonetheless, one on which a batsman can become tentative. Not so Khawaja, who paced his innings evenly, scoring his first fifty off 58 balls with seven fours, his second off 63 with another seven.Once he had gone and Cooke followed, gloving a catch as he tried to withdraw the bat against the impressive 18-year-old quick Henry Brookes, the innings did fall away yet Warwickshire, needing precisely 100 more runs than were required 30 years ago, were left with a tall task to extend their winning run and those padded up in the dressing room will have been pleased to see Will Rhodes and Dom Sibley negotiate 13 overs to stumps unscathed.

The last time Australia successfully batted out the final day of a Test to secure a draw was in 2011, and Steven Smith and Darren Lehmann were hopeful the wait would end in Ranchi

Daniel Brettig19-Mar-2017Australia haven’t played in a drawn Test since a rain-blighted meeting with West Indies in January 2016. But to find the last time they managed to successfully bat themselves out of trouble on the final day, it is necessary to go further into the past. All the way to the 2011 Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.Michael Clarke, on his maiden Test tour as captain, made a hundred back then to keep out Rangana Herath and make the series safe. The loss of David Warner and Nathan Lyon in the eight overs before stumps in Ranchi meant that his successor Steven Smith needed a similar performance to prevent Australia from falling behind in the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Head coach Darren Lehmann said the team’s Dubai preparations had included discussion and training for exactly the scenario they found themselves in. “Obviously we’ve got to save the game. Tough to lose those two wickets tonight, there were some good balls from them. Good challenge for the group to put it into practice tomorrow and we’ve got to do that and deliver on the big stage. Once the ball gets a little bit softer it plays pretty well so there’s no real demons in the track. It’s obviously a case of applying ourselves.Lehmann also emphasised the importance of combating Ravindra Jadeja as a key part of emerging with the 1-1 series ledger intact. The left-arm spinner was responsible for taking both wickets to fall so far, and was able to make balls explode off the pitch.”Going to have to come up with a plan to combat Jadeja but we’ve worked on that and you’ll probably see it tomorrow, I would think,” Lehmann said. “They’ve got to believe in what they’re doing as a group and a couple of good balls like tonight, that can happen in a game of cricket. For us it’s a great challenge. The challenge for our group is to put on a couple of partnerships and really get ahead of the game.”You’ve got to prepare for all scenarios here in India. As you’ve seen the wickets start to wear on day four, day five, [but] this has been a really traditional Indian wicket, a good wicket. It’s quite a challenge. Preparing in Dubai, that’s what we did and now it’s putting it into practice.”A possibly tired Australian team – Steve O’Keefe bowled 77 overs and Steven Smith had to deal with 210 overs of setting the field – was up against a seriously difficult task to save the Ranchi Test•Associated Press

Before this series, Smith had said one of the qualities he wanted to see in his team was the ability to scrounge a draw from a difficult situation. “Obviously you want to win first and foremost, but a draw’s a much better result than a loss. If the game’s dead and buried and we can’t win, you want to see the fight and the willingness to put your natural game away and do everything you can to stay out there and get a draw.”That’s something we haven’t done overly well in the past. When we’re a long way behind the game and chasing 500 or something in the last innings, guys have still just gone out and played, rather than do what Faf [du Plessis] did in Adelaide a few years ago and just block it until the game’s gone, and give yourself a chance to survive.”Some observers, including Clarke, have wondered whether the allrounder Glenn Maxwell could have bowled more overs, but Lehmann defended Smith’s judgment in relying heavily on the frontliners Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon. O’Keefe equalled the 18th longest spell in all of Test cricket, bowling 77 overs for three wickets, and at times the Australians appeared somewhat limited in their plans and tactics.”I think [it’s the] captain’s call obviously,” Lehmann said. “We did speak about it, chopping and changing a little bit. The game was always on a knife’s edge so you always want your best spinners going. And we chopped and changed a little bit, probably could have bowled a few more overs [of part-timers] but I thought the spinners toiled really hard as well so that’s a call the captain makes out there and really happy with that.”The physical toll on the pacemen Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood also had Lehmann pondering whether it would be possible to pick them for the final Test in Dharamsala next week. “When you bowl 210 overs, I don’t think that’s happened too often, and India do that well, they bat long periods of time here in India.”If anything it heightens our first innings where we needed to bat a little bit longer. But the bowlers worked really hard and I thought they were fantastic. Chopped and changed as best as they could in the conditions. We’ll see how they pull up and make a decision. But we’ll worry about tomorrow first.”

Peter Siddle has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch due to back pain

Brydon Coverdale17-Feb-2016Peter Siddle has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch due to back pain. Siddle bowled only eight overs during New Zealand’s second innings in Wellington before back spasms forced him from the field after tea on day three; he returned on the fourth morning but did not bowl again.”Peter experienced some discomfort in his back during the first Test in Wellington and has not recovered sufficiently enough to play the Test,” Cricket Australia’s physio David Beakley said. “At this stage the plan is for him to stay with the squad in Christchurch for the remainder of the tour before returning to Melbourne for further investigation.”Siddle’s absence in Christchurch will likely mean a recall for James Pattinson, who played all three Tests against West Indies before shin soreness prevented him from playing later in January. Pattinson was ruled out of the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington as the selectors were unsure whether his fitness would stand up to five days of cricket.However, captain Steven Smith said after the Wellington Test that Pattinson had been bowling well in the nets and appeared to be on track to be available for the second Test, which starts on Saturday. The only other bowling option in Australia’s squad is the uncapped swing bowler Chadd Sayers, whose style is similar to that of Jackson Bird, who played in Wellington.

Jesse Ryder has been banned for six months after testing positive for a banned substance. He will, however, be able to play again after October 19 once the retrospective ban ends

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2013New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has been banned for six months after failing a drug test in March. He will be available to play again after October 19, once the retrospective penalty ends.Ryder underwent a routine drug test while playing a Ford Trophy match for Wellington on March 24. He tested positive for 1-Phenylbutan-2-amine (PBA) and N, alpha-diethyl-benzeneethanamine (DEBEA), which are banned in sports.Ryder was informed of the result on April 12 and attended a hearing before the New Zealand Sports Tribunal earlier this month, where the ban was handed down. The batsman will not contest the decision of the tribunal.According to the Tribunal, Ryder “‘may not during the period of ineligibility participate in any capacity in a competition or activity authorised or organised by New Zealand Cricket or a cricket club or other member organisation”.The mandatory punishment for a drug violation is a two-year ban, but Ryder was given a lighter sentence because he could establish that he did not use drugs to improve his performance. He was also able to attribute the source of the drugs to a dietary supplement that he was taking as part of a weight-loss programme.According to news reports, Ryder made some enquiries about the supplement on his own and decided to take it after concluding that it did not contain any banned substances. However, he did not contact Drug Free Sport, an anti-doping organisation, to check whether the product was on its list of banned substances. After he tested positive, he commissioned an independent forensic analysis, which confirmed the presence of the substances and traced them to the dietary supplement.In a statement released by the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association, Ryder said: “I’m devastated by this situation. I’ve never taken drugs and to be in this situation distresses me greatly. I simply took the supplement alongside a training programme I was completing to help me lose weight. I have attended anti-doping education seminars during my time in cricket and am a strong supporter of Drug Free Sport New Zealand. I’m aware of the precautions you need to take; I did take steps to check the supplement but ultimately it was my responsibility and I accept that. Whilst everyone is aware of my well-documented battles with alcohol, it’s important for me to state that I abhor drug use of any kind, both recreational and performance-enhancing in sport.”Ryder, who has played 18 Tests and 39 ODIs for New Zealand so far, took a sabbatical from international cricket in 2012, choosing to focus on his fitness and domestic cricket. Earlier this year, Ryder was assaulted outside a bar in Christchurch and spent two days in a medically induced coma before making a recovery. In July, Ryder announced his decision to leave Wellington and represent Otago in the forthcoming domestic season.

Kent dismissed Surrey for 88 – their lowest total in Twenty20 – to keep alive hopes of reaching the quarter-finals and send the hosts out

Alex Winter at The Oval05-Jul-2012
ScorecardRob Key’s 35 helped guide Kent to a defendable total at The Oval•Getty Images

This was much more like the Twenty20 the ECB invented. A balmy evening, a five-figure crowd and a decent match to boot. Kent won it to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals.There were 14,990 in the ground – the largest T20 crowd this season anywhere – a good section of them Men of Kent, or indeed Kentish Men, who created a lively beer-fuelled atmosphere, complete with pint glass snakes and (albeit clothed) streakers, as Kent continued Surrey’s disastrous run in the competition and put them, now mathematically, out. After winning their first two matches, Surrey have lost six on the spin and this was a shocker, fired out for their lowest all out total in T20s.This latest defeat was a great surprise. Surrey decided to bowl on a surface that went on to turn quite significantly and restricted Kent with their four spinners, three of whom took wickets and the fourth, stand-in skipper Gareth Batty, went for only 27 in his four overs.The pick of the spinners was Murali Kartik. He opened the bowling and went on to claim 1 for 19. It was fine stuff and it turned. Little did Kent try to hit him and when Darren Stevens did, he only ballooned a catch up to Kevin Pietersen – his second of three.Pietersen’s first victim was a fine effort, tumbling in from mid-on to take Sam Northeast’s back-foot drive that spooned off the toe of the bat. The sunglasses-wearing Pietersen also took Rob Key’s in-to-out drive off Zafar Ansari – the last spinner to be introduced and who proved the most expensive despite picking up two key wickets, the other being the dangerous Azhar Mahmood, stumped as he drove outside off stump and left his ground.Key was the man to glue things together for Kent. He played carefully in testing circumstances – wickets falling and Dirk Nannes racing in to bowl at 90mph – but his ending was unsatisfactory. Key’s dismissal exposed a weak lower order shorn of West Indies batsman Brendan Nash, attending the birth of his child, and James Tredwell, called up to the England squad for Saturday’s ODI.It was left to Alex Blake, a 23-year-old Kent academy product, to push Kent to some sort of score. He played the reverse sweep very well, first off Ansari and then two overs later off Batty for boundaries backward of point. But the latter 20 runs of his 26-ball 35 would not have been made had Nannes held him on the midwicket boundary before skipping over the rope. Blake hadn’t caught a slog-sweep off Ansari correctly but struck the only six of the match.It was another Kent academy product – there were five in this team – that sent their side to victory. Adam Riley proved a fine replacement for Tredwell. He is a tall lad, 6ft 2in, bowled with control and was prepared to flight the ball. The spinning wicket gave him encouragement and he proved very difficult to score off, sending down four overs for 17 runs, removing Matthew Spriegel, lbw playing across a straight one, and Zander de Bruyn, effectively the match-winning wicket. Advancing down the pitch, De Bruyn didn’t get to a length ball that turned down the leg side and was easily stumped.It was de Bruyn and Ansari that tried to work Surrey back into the chase with a stand of 45 in 8.5 overs – it was not a stand to light up Surrey hopes but moved them from out of the game at 18 for 4 to needing 73 from 8 overs, a more amicable target. But Ansari was bowled by Stevens and Murali Kartik run out without facing a ball to kill the chase. The remainder of the order petered out and Surrey were dismissed with 2.3 overs to spare.It was a scenario not thought possible with a low target and the power of Surrey’s top order. But they crumbled in the first four overs: Pietersen driving outside a Mark Davies in-ducker, Jason Roy walking across his stumps, Rory Burns chipping to midwicket and Steven Davies edging Mahmood behind trying to cut.

Abhimanyu Mithun, the India fast bowler, hopes the tour of the West Indies will give him the chance to establish himself

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jun-2011Abhimanyu Mithun, the India fast bowler, is back in the Test squad after injuries ruled Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth out of the tour of the West Indies, and is hoping that this latest opportunity will give him the chance to establish himself in the squad. Mithun made his Test debut against Sri Lanka last July – he replaced Zaheer who missed that series with an injury as well – but was then overlooked in favour of Jaidev Unadkat for India’s tour of South Africa at end of 2010.”It feels good to be picked again,” the 21-year-old Mithun told the after a practice stint on Saturday. “I did expect to go to South Africa but … I am hoping to get a chance and prove myself again, like I did on my debut in Sri Lanka.”Mithun took six wickets at an average of 62 in three Tests against Sri Lanka, similar figures to Ishant Sharma, who took seven wickets at 61.71. He was initially disappointed about not going to South Africa, but said he was lucky to have received good advice from a number of people who told him to concentrate on playing for the love of the game rather than obsess over not playing for India. In particular, he gave credit to Sanath Kumar, the Karnataka coach over the past two seasons, according to the newspaper.”Initially I felt sad and at the net sessions that followed I did lose some concentration, focus and so on. Fortunately for me, a lot of people spoke to me and advised me well. Everyone encouraged me, told me I am a good bowler.”But the best advice I got was when I was told that when I started playing cricket I did so as I loved the game. At that point I wasn’t thinking of playing for India and so why think about it now, I was asked. That set me thinking and slowly I regained my confidence and got back to normal.”When asked whether Test cricket was too much pressure to handle, Mithun said he actually found it easier than playing domestic cricket as it wasn’t his job to lead the attack. “I found it easier in the Tests. There I was a rookie, I only had to look after my bowling, for which to the seniors were very much around to help. I was freer in a way. But when I got back to first class cricket, it was very different. The expectations had gone up and I was looked upon as someone who will get wickets whenever I bowled.”That was something I found it tough to deal with initially but slowly got used to that as well and started to enjoy my bowling once again.”

Kumar Sangakkara said the target of 269 was achievable but his batsmen lost the advantage when five wickets fell in the first 15 overs

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Dambulla24-Jun-2010Following Sri Lanka’s comprehensive 81-run defeat in the Asia Cup final, the captain Kumar Sangakkara said the target of 269 was achievable but his batsmen lost the advantage when five wickets fell in the first 15 overs. He added that the fielding was not up to the mark especially in an important game like this.”Unfortunately, our batting style wasn’t probably apt for the conditions. Maybe it would have been a bit tighter and we should have been a bit more positive in executing our strokes,” Sangakkara said. “If we had got through that difficult period, it may have been a couple of wickets down for 60 on the board in the first 15 overs and it would have been a great run chase.”We weren’t the greatest on the field. We had a lot of missed goals that cost us boundaries, 19 extras really doesn’t help the cause especially when you know that you are facing the tougher conditions batting second. We dragged it back in the last 12 overs which cost us only 60 runs but unfortunately, India had a great start, a couple of good partnerships in the middle and 268 was always a very good score on a track like this. We probably gave India about 15-20 runs extra but it wouldn’t have mattered in the end because we got only 187.”Although his team could not make it three Asia Cup wins-in-a-row, Sangakkara said the entire squad showed a lot of character and ability.”What you’ve got to learn is when you get to a final that’s probably where you should play your best cricket, just lift your standards up as high as you can and really go for the blow,” he said. “Unfortunately we had three great games where we outplayed the opposition.”Under Sangakkara’s leadership, this defeat was third in a tournament final, twice to India (first at the Compaq Cup last year) and once to Pakistan (ICC World T20).”We always manage to get into the final unbeaten, then not really perform in the final. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to lift our standards,” Sangakkara said. “You can always talk about the toss at R Premadasa Stadium (Colombo) and at Dambulla but it’s always the mentality that really counts in the end.”The defeatist attitude once the toss goes up and doesn’t come our way is not the right way to go playing cricket. You’ve got to work a lot harder, especially in the first 15 overs.”Commenting on the conditions at Dambulla, Sangakkara said: “We were expecting the ball to move anyway under lights in Dambulla. Both sides played three seamers, unfortunately for us we couldn’t deal with the movement. They bowled good lines and lengths that were tight and hitting the right areas more often than we did at the start. We can talk about swing and seam and all of that, but at the end of the day technically we could have dealt with it a lot better. Getting through difficult periods is the key, not everything goes your way every day. When it doesn’t that’s when the character shows.However, Sangakkara said the fielding was a big disappointment. “We had three great games fielding wise but in the final again we probably saw a big lax in really stopping the ball and converting half chances,” he said. “Especially in a final the margin for error is very little. Conditions or form don’t affect fielding, it is the one thing that you are totally in control of.”

Karunaratne says they have drawn up several plans to Root but have been forced to go back to square one

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Sep-2024Joe Root has scores of 42, 62 not out, 143, and 103 so far in this series. In general, he averages 67.55 against Sri Lanka, having hit 186 and a 228 in his last series against this opposition as well, those mammoth scores coming in Galle.He sweeps and reverse-sweeps well, tends to be proactive against the seamers, and on the occasions in which he chooses to defend, has one of the best techniques in the game.It is no surprise, that in the approach to the third Test, much of Sri Lanka’s team discussion has centred around this question: “How do we get Root out?”Related

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According to senior batter and former captain Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka have rifled through several plans to Root already, but have been forced to go back to square one by Root’s consistent excellence in this series. They are brainstorming again.”We’ve tried a few things against Joe but they were always unsuccessful,” Karunaratne said. “I think the turning points in the matches have been those Joe Root innings. Even when we’ve played at Galle, he’s hit big runs, but the batters around him haven’t scored as heavily. We really need to minimise the runs he’s scoring.”Homework for Sri Lanka’s bowlers is likely to have been dominated by watching replays of Root bat, with analysis of the likeliest strategies that will bring about his dismissal.”We need to look at his past performances more closely, see where he’s got out, and what kinds of things we can do on these pitches. We need to make a new plan based on that.”Counterintuitively, Karunaratne thinks perhaps this can come about by attacking him less.”Maybe sometimes we attack him too much and he takes advantage of that. Some players don’t like it when we ask them to be less aggressive. Sometimes boring batters out can also be a tactic.”Sri Lanka’s other major problem, however, has been the failure of their senior batters, who between them have produced six fifties in 16 combined innings. Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dhananjaya de Silva – have all had a fifty-plus score, and yet have not made significant impressions.”The seniors have talked a lot about how to perform and ease the pressure on the juniors. The juniors have been doing well, especially Kamindu Mendis. Some people adapt very fast to conditions and some struggle. That’s the way the game is. Every game is quite tough.”For Karunaratne, the fact that Root has scored 153 more runs than the next-best England batter, is proof that batting has been difficult.”In England the conditions are tough for batters, and we saw that even their openers struggled, as well as their No. 3. Apart from Joe Root the others also struggled despite this being home conditions for them. We’re playing after a very long time here.”

Century on debut powers new team to record-equalling 334 for 5 and 131-run win

ECB Reporters Network22-Apr-2023South East Stars 334 for 5 (Scholfield 111, Davidson-Richards 73, Chathli 48) beat Thunder 203 (Dottin 51, Davies 3-27) by 131 runsA debut century by Paige Scholfield propelled South East Stars to a record-equalling 334 for five in a convincing 131-run victory against Thunder in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy opener at Emirates Old Trafford.Scholfield, playing her first game for the Stars after signing from Southern Vipers, blasted 111 from just 90 balls, hitting five sixes and 11 fours, as she helped add 143 off 115 balls for the fourth wicket with Alice Davidson-Richards who contributed a classy 73.The Stars’ total equalled the highest score made in just over three seasons of regional cricket and the Thunder never threatened to chase down the required runs as they were bowled out for 203 in 42 overs.The first half of the Stars’ innings had been a fairly even contest on a good wicket with wicketkeeper-batter Kira Chathli and Ryana Macdonald-Gay steadily compiling an opening partnership of 52 until the latter was bowled for 18 by a big inswinging delivery from Deandra Dottin, the former West Indies all-rounder who has returned to Thunder for a second season.Chathli perished for 48 after driving left arm spinner Alex Hartley to Kate Cross at mid-on, and when Stars’ skipper Bryony Smith swept leg spinner Liv Thomas into the hands of Fi Morris on the midwicket boundary for a hard-hitting 35 off 31 balls, the game was finely poised with Stars 130 for three in the 27th over.Scholfield injected immediate impetus into the visitors innings hitting three of her first six deliveries to the boundary and she received great support from Davidson-Richards who paced her innings expertly as their alliance blossomed.The pair pounced on anything bowled short or wide to reach a 56-ball fifty partnership while their century stand arrived from only 92 balls with the under-pressure Thunder not helping their cause by dropping Scholfield on 63 and Davidson-Richards on 48 as the runs flowed.Davidson-Richards had struck two sixes and eight fours before eventually departing for 73 to a fine catch at long leg by Thomas off Tara Norris in the 46th over but Schofield went on to reach a fabulous century from 85 balls and was undefeated on 111 when the innings ended.Thunder used eight bowlers in an attempt to stem the flood of runs as the Stars hammered 132 from the final 10 overs, with Cross the pick of the home attack conceding 45 off her 10.Thunder needed a positive start to their challenging run chase but instead lost England opener Emma Lamb caught behind by Chathli off Phoebe Franklin for six and Scholfield then added to her great day by nipping one back to bowl Morris for 18.Not to be outdone, Davidson-Richards produced a seaming delivery of her own to bowl Ellie Threlkeld for 14 to leave Thunder 68 for three in the 19th over.Naomi Dattani made a steady 33 until trapped lbw by Dani Gregory before the afternoon was enlivened by some big hitting from Dottin who reached her maiden Thunder fifty off 37 balls before skying a steepling catch that was well judged by Scholfield – who else? – off Gregory for 51.From 143 for five the Thunder innings fell away quickly from that point with Freya Davies (three for 27) picking up a trio of wickets and MacDonald-Gay two, as the Stars clinched victory with eight overs to spare.

Returning from maternity leave, the captain says their aim at the World Cup is to reach the semi-finals

PTI16-Feb-2022She is well aware of the pressure of playing against arch-rivals India in the Women’s ODI World Cup opener next month but Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof hopes that the marquee match will inspire girls across the border to make a career in the sport.India are set to face Pakistan in their opener of the World Cup on March 6 in Mount Maunganui. The tournament will be held from March 4 to April 3 across six cities in New Zealand.”Pakistan vs India is indeed a great stage for any player to establish her credentials, but at the end of the day, it is a cricket match that has to be won by executing the basics right and keeping thing simple,” Maroof, who is making a comeback after motherhood, told PTI from Queenstown.Related

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“This match is a great opportunity to inspire millions of girls in Pakistan and India to take up this sport as a profession. It is the biggest rivalry, and attracts innumerable eyeballs.”I hope girls in the two countries will watch this match and will be inspired to take up the game.”She praised the Indian team led by Mithali Raj, but she was very optimistic about Pakistan’s chances against them.”The Indian team is a good unit and has done well recently. They also have had some very good youngsters coming in of late,” she said. “Our aim is to make it to the semi-finals, something which we have never done before. I strongly believe that this side has all the ingredients to achieve that.Being the senior-most player and the captain of the team, Maroof felt it was her duty to lead from from the front.”Being the senior player and the captain of the side you have to inspire your team and lead by example. If you are not doing the right things, you cannot demand them from girls. I have a very clear vision with this team that we need to be in top four.”When asked about the team composition, she said that conditions in New Zealand will determine the playing XI.Maroof has played 108 ODIs and equal number of T20I matches and has scored 2602 and 2225 runs, respectively.Having seen many ups and downs in her journey so far, she had once decided to quit cricket to embrace motherhood.”It has been an incredible journey and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Being a cricketer has designed my life and played a very important role in the person I am today. There have been ups and downs, which have made me learn,” she said.”I am very excited to be back. It feels like I am making my debut again for Pakistan. I am grateful to my family, especially my husband who has supported me immensely throughout this phase. I also want to mention the support that the Pakistan Cricket Board has provided me through the parental policy.”To make a successful comeback after motherhood is not easy and Maroof has worked very hard to regain that level of form and fitness.”The journey from childbirth to getting here had its fair share of difficulties, as I had to start from scratch to regain my fitness,” she said. “Women don’t often return to sports or continue their professional careers after getting married or childbirth.”I spent a lot of time doing strength and conditioning sessions at the National High Performance Centre in Lahore.”