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Flower’s tenure with the IPL franchise has ended after his contract was not renewed at the end of two years

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Jul-2023Lucknow Super Giants have appointed Justin Langer as their new head coach.Langer replaced Andy Flower, who served as the head coach at Super Giants since the franchise became a part of the IPL in 2022. LSG did not renew Flower’s contract after the end of the two-year term, during which they finished in the top four on both occasions.”Lucknow Super Giants are on the journey of building a great story in the IPL,” Langer said in a statement released by the franchise. “We all have a role to play in that journey and I am excited to be a part of the team moving forward.”

Selectors keep faith with group that squared series in style at Old Trafford

Vithushan Ehantharajah31-Aug-2022England men have named an unchanged squad for the third Test against South Africa that begins next Thursday (8 September) at the Kia Oval.Following an innings-and-85-run victory at Emirates Old Trafford, squaring the series at one apiece after the Proteas triumphed by an innings and 12 runs in the first Test at Lord’s, the selection panel, made up of captain Ben Stokes, head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key, have decided to keep faith with their 14-man group.Having originally named the squad for the first two games, the only likelihood of a change would have come in the event of a defeat. Even then, McCullum is of a mind to allow players as many opportunities as possible to come good, especially with this group of players, whom he and Stokes believe are the best available in the country right now for their respective roles.Zak Crawley, who had endured a torrid run of form this summer, was the player under the most pressure to come good. But a dogged 38 from 101 deliveries in England’s only innings in Manchester was lauded as the platform from which the hosts were able to post an insurmountable total of 415 for nine declared.Related

• Dean Elgar promises 'honesty' as South Africa look to regroup after crushing loss

• Ben Stokes hails 'benchmark' performance as England learn to adapt their aggression

• New bowler, new ball: Fitter, more focused Ollie Robinson shows he's worthy of key promotion

• South Africa lie low to lick wounds in wake of Old Trafford defeat

Now, his opening partner Alex Lees is the focus of external deliberation, averaging 25 across the six Tests so far this summer, albeit with two half-centuries (Crawley has none). Both have been backed by the management, with Key voicing his support of the duo during a lunch segment on Sky Sports during the second Test”There are not many people queuing up to bat at the top of the order, they all want to bat four, five or six,” he said.”We just want to make sure we’re going to give people opportunity. If there is ever a time when we have new opening batters or new players, they will know they will get the same amount of opportunity as these guys have done.”We have spent 10 years since Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, trying to find an opening partnership and it is the toughest part of batting at the moment. We’re going to give them a proper go.”With the limited-overs squad (to be announced on Friday) due to fly out to Pakistan upon the completion of the Test match, it is understood there may be some members of that group also around at the Kia Oval for their preparation. One of those will be Mark Wood, the Durham quick, who is returning from a second elbow surgery and back bowling at full pace in training.England squad: Ben Stokes (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (wk), Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Matthew Potts, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root

Leading Australian players have opted out of both the men’s and women’s competitions

Matt Roller28-Feb-2023Mitchell Starc, Harmanpreet Kaur, Robin Uthappa and Jemimah Rodrigues are among the notable inclusions in the longlist of players registered for the 2023 draft for the Hundred, which will take place on March 23.The eight teams announced which players they had retained ahead of the draft earlier this month. Their squads for this summer’s 100-ball tournament – which runs from August 1-27 – will be fleshed out at the draft next month, which will be televised live on Sky Sports for the first time since 2019.In the women’s competition, each team could only retain four players, though will be able to use one Right-To-Match (RTM) card at the draft in order to keep hold of one extra player: Danni Wyatt (Southern Brave), Kate Cross (Manchester Originals) and Sophie Devine (Birmingham Phoenix) are all expected to return to their 2022 teams.

Harmanpreet, Rodrigues set top reserve price

As ESPNcricinfo revealed, several leading Australian women’s player are skipping the Hundred this year to give themselves a break after the Ashes. Forty-three Australian women have entered the draft including Megan Schutt, Amanda-Jade Wellington and Grace Harris, but Meg Lanning, Tahlia McGrath, Ash Gardner and Beth Mooney have opted out.Related

• The Hundred 2023 – Men's draft picks

• The Hundred 2023 – Women's draft picks

• Duckett, Stone, Topley, Willey on the move ahead of Hundred draft

• The Hundred 2023 retentions – full squad lists

• Leading Australians opt for rest as Hundred feels WPL's squeeze

Six Indian women have registered, with Harmanpreet and Rodrigues setting themselves the top reserve price of £31,250 (INR 31 lakh approx). Shikha Pandey, Deepti Sharma, Disha Kasat and Kiran Navgire have entered the draft without a reserve price.Laura Wolvaardt, Diana Baig, Lizelle Lee and Dane van Nierkerk have also entered. In total, 148 overseas players are competing for 15 spots, including players from Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Sweden, Afghanistan, Kuwait, France, Bhutan and Vanuatu.Each women’s team will pick four players at the draft, except Welsh Fire who will sign five after opting to retain only three players. After the draft, each team will have filled their eight best-paid slots, three of which will go to overseas players; an open-market window will follow for teams to complete their squads.

Starc leading Australian entrant

Most of Australia’s multi-format players have opted out of the men’s Hundred, with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith and David Warner’s names all absent from the longlist. The Hundred starts the day after the scheduled fifth day of the fifth men’s Ashes Test.But Starc has opted to put himself forward, and could appear in the competition for the first time if selected in one of the five vacant £125,000 slots that is available for an overseas player. His availability may depend on the dates for Australia’s white-ball tour to South Africa, which is due to start in the last week of August.ESPNcricinfo understands he considered playing in the competition last year and had been lined up as a top draft pick by Northern Superchargers – where his wife Alyssa Healy plays – only to withdraw shortly before the registration deadline.Steven Smith and Pat Cummins’ names are absent from the longlist•BCCI

Superchargers are unable to sign him this year, since they do not have a vacant £125,000 slot. His most likely destinations are Mike Hussey’s Welsh Fire – who signed him in the 2019 draft, before he opted to withdraw – and Trevor Bayliss’ London Spirit.Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis have also set £125,000 reserves. Other notable Australian registrations include Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson (both £100,000), Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja (both £60,000). Tim David (£75,000) is expected to return to Southern Brave while Ashton Turner (no reserve) could be a contender for the Northern Superchargers captaincy.

Availability rules the roost

A number of leading Pakistan players have signed up for the draft including Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi. But their availability will depend on the dates for a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, due to be played in the third week of August according to the Future Tours Programme.Pakistan are also due to play a two-Test series in Sri Lanka towards the end of July which could run into August and further limit availability. Shadab Khan (Birmingham Phoenix) was the only Pakistan player retained.Devon Conway could return to Southern Brave•AP

New Zealand’s players are expected to be in high demand at the draft, with a clear window in their schedule in August ahead of a white-ball tour to England in September. Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson have both registered with £100,000 reserves, while Southern Brave are understood to be lining up Devon Conway (£50,000) with an early pick.A number of West Indian players including Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer and Jason Holder have registered but are unlikely to be signed due to a clash with the Caribbean Premier League. Sunil Narine was retained by Oval Invincibles, but they are expected to replace him after four or five games.

Uthappa signs up

Uthappa could become the first Indian man to appear in the Hundred, though seems unlikely to be picked up at the draft. The BCCI does not permit active Indian men’s players to appear in overseas short-form leagues, but Uthappa retired from international cricket and the IPL in September.He has entered the draft with a reserve price of £40,000. Harbhajan Singh is the only previous Indian player to register for the Hundred draft, but he withdrew from the longlist after ESPNcricinfo revealed his interest in 2019, fearing his involvement could jeopardise his IPL contract.Harbhajan Singh is the only previous Indian man to sign up for the men’s Hundred•BCCI

No reserve for Duckett, Topley

Only seven domestic players have entered the men’s draft with a reserve price – including Lancashire’s Tom Bailey, who has demanded £125,000 for his services. David Willey, who was not offered a deal by Northern Superchargers, has a reserve price of £60,000.Tom Abell, who has been lined up as a potential captain by Welsh Fire, has a £40,000 reserve, along with Chris Dent, Graeme van Buuren, and England seamers Ollie Robinson and Olly Stone.Ben Duckett, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Reece Topley and Tom Banton, who are expected to be among the most lucrative England-qualified signings have all entered without a reserve price.The full list of players who have registered for the draft is available on the Hundred’s website.

Curran set to return to the UK for rehab; Sixers will also miss the services of Manenti and O’Keefe for the next fixture

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2021Sydney Sixers fast bowler Tom Curran has been ruled out of the remainder of the BBL 2021-22 after suffering a troublesome hotspot in his back and is set to return to the UK immediately for his rehabilitation. The defending champions will also miss the services of spinners Ben Manenti and Steve O’Keefe due to injuries.Curran, who has taken six wickets in four matches this edition, was expected to play a crucial role in the Sixers’ pace attack alongside his English team-mate Chris Jordan. He was the team’s leading wicket-taker in the 2019-2020 title-winning campaign and chipped in with the bat in the middle order before missing last season’s BBL because of the difficulty in travel and the need to quarantine.Related

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Meanwhile, Manenti, who suffered neck stress fractures, will continue to undergo treatment in Hobart, where he plays Premier Cricket, and Sydney. O’Keefe, who has scalped seven this BBL, is ruled out of action in the “short term” after straining his calf in Sixers’ seven-wicket win over Melbourne Stars at the MCG on Wednesday. Sixers said in a statement that the veteran spinner is unlikely to feature in their next home fixture against Adelaide Strikers on Tuesday, and “a return to play to be assessed in due course.”Despite losing three key players to injuries, captain Moises Henriques believes the team, who are the table-toppers currently, has a strong bench strength to overcome these challenges.”We pride ourselves on being a club and a team that embraces challenges but to lose players of the calibre of Tom and Ben, and to have SOK on the sidelines, would be a challenge for any team and those guys aren’t simply replaced,” Henriques said.”On and off the field, all three of those guys play a massive role for us and their presence around the team and skills on the field will be missed by everybody in the group. But for us, we always look to have 18-match ready players in our squad, and we see it as an opportunity for others within our group.Henriques said there is “no need to panic” as he believes this series of injuries has only opened the doors for the likes of leg spinner Lloyd Pope and fast bowler Mickey Edwards and to step up.”There are guys like Lloyd Pope and Mickey Edwards who really deserve an opportunity, but due to the strength of our list haven’t been able to get as many chances as they deserve,” Henriques said. “So, it will be a great little period for those guys to have a run of games.”We also saw Ben Dwarshuis return from injury this week, Jackson Bird isn’t too far away, and Sean Abbott is back after the birth of his daughter, so there is no need to panic.”The Sixers have won three of their four matches and have accumulated 11 points so far.

Australia batter also spent first half of 2018 season with the county, replacing Cameron Bancroft after ball-tampering scandal

Matt Roller18-Jan-2022Matt Renshaw has signed a contract to play for Somerset as an overseas player in 2022. Renshaw, the 25-year-old batter who played 11 Tests for Australia from 2016 until 2018, will be available for most of the season in both the County Championship as well as the Royal London Cup.The club said in a statement that he would be available “until at least the end of August”. Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, said: “There is no doubt that Matt is a quality performer, and he has proved that on the biggest stage. He burst on to the scene and caught the eye at a young age, and through hard work and determination, he is once again on the cusp of international recognition.”We wanted to bolster our ability to put opposition bowlers under real pressure, and this will be a great opportunity for him to contribute to our success and to put himself right back in the frame for selection for the national team.”Renshaw previously spent the first half of the 2018 season with Somerset, replacing Cameron Bancroft in the aftermath of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal. He scored three hundreds in his six Championship games – including one before lunch against Yorkshire – and proved a popular signing at the time.He has also been pressing his case for a Test recall in the Sheffield Shield this season, capped by a call-up for Australia A against the England Lions.”I really enjoyed my time at Somerset in 2018, and I can’t wait to go back,” Renshaw said. “It’s a special place, and there’s a great atmosphere around the whole club. I’ve kept in touch with a lot of the guys there, and when I got the opportunity to go back, I jumped at the chance.”Although I was only there for a short time, the members and supporters really got behind me and made me feel extremely welcome. I’ve never forgotten that, and hopefully I can help give them something to cheer about in 2022. I know they’ve always wanted that Championship trophy, so let’s see what we can do.”Renshaw is the second overseas signing that Somerset have confirmed for 2022, with Marchant de Lange, the South Africa fast bowler, also returning for the second year of a two-year contract across formats.

The full-strength South African outfit includes all the players who missed the Bangladesh Test after opting to go to the IPL instead

Firdose Moonda17-May-2022Tristan Stubbs, the second-highest run-scorer in South Africa’s domestic T20 challenge, has received his maiden call-up to the national side after being included in the squad to play five T20Is in India in June. Stubbs joins a full-strength South African outfit that includes all the players who missed the Bangladesh Test after opting to go to the IPL instead.Anrich Nortje, who has not played for South Africa since the T20 World Cup last November, has returned to fitness at the IPL and is part of the squad. Nortje travelled to the IPL in the final stages of his rehabilitation from a persistent hip and back injury which he completed while at the Delhi Capitals. He has since played five matches and taken seven wickets at an average of 25.71.He will join a six-seam contingent for the India T20Is, which includes left-armer Marco Jansen, who made his debut in Nortje’s injury-enforced absence last summer. Jansen has played five Tests and two ODIs for South Africa, but no T20Is. He is also in action at the IPL, has played eight matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad and claimed seven wickets at an average of 39.14. The best performing South African quick at the IPL is Kagiso Rabada, who is third on the wicket-takers’ list with 22 wickets at 16.72, while Lungi Ngidi has not played a game.Kagiso Rabada is third on the IPL wicket-takers’ list this season•BCCI

“This is the Proteas like we have not seen them in a long time,” Victor Mpitsang, South Africa’s selection convener said. “The injection of the IPL players means that we will have a team that’s ready to fire on all cylinders immediately and has vast experience of the conditions that we will be playing in. The country can also join us in a collective sigh of relief at the return of Anrich Nortje, who has been working hard to recover from a frustrating injury. The National Selection Panel and I are really excited to watch our full strength Proteas take on the world’s number one T20 team.”With another T20 World Cup on the horizon, South Africa’s first-choice group of players is starting to emerge. Wayne Parnell, who has not played a T20I for South Africa since 2017 but made his ODI comeback last season, and Dwaine Pretorius are part of that contingent and will compete for the allrounder role, leaving no room for Wiaan Mulder. Left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin is the only other player from the T20 World Cup squad who has not been retained. Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi are the two frontline spinners in the squad, with Stubbs and Aiden Markram both offering part-time offspin.Stubbs made it impossible for the national selectors to ignore him after an outstanding run for the Warriors in the domestic T20 competition. He scored 293 runs in seven matches at an average of 48.83 and a strike rate of 183.12, including three fifties. Notably, he smashed 80 off 31 balls in pursuit of a target of 212, which the Warriors eventually fell 20 runs short of, and 65 off 35 balls in a match against the Knights. He was selected as part of the South Africa A squad to tour Zimbabwe earlier this month and was then called up to replace Tymal Mills at the IPL. He played one match for Mumbai Indians where he was out for a duck.Only two other South Africans at the IPL, Faf du Plessis and Dewald Brevis, have not been considered for the T20I squad. du Plessis retired from Test cricket last year but remains available for national selection in white-ball formats. However, he has not been considered since. He is currently the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and seventh on the IPL run-scorers’ list. Brevis shot to stardom at the Under-19 World Cup, where he was the leading run-scorer and was contracted to the Mumbai Indians before he’d even played a first-class match. He has played six matches at the IPL and impressed with 49 off 25 against Punjab Kings but will have to bide his time before a national call-up.South Africa’s batting line-up features familiar names including captain Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Markram, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen. They will travel with coach Mark Boucher, who reaffirmed his commitment to taking the team through to the end of the 2023 World Cup, in line with his contract, after Cricket South Africa dropped disciplinary charges against him last week.The five-match series will be played from June 9 to 19 in Delhi, Cuttack, Vizag, Rajkot and Bengaluru.Squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen

Calls time at age of 38 to take up coaching role in Women’s Hundred

Peter Della Penna22-Mar-2023Kyle Coetzer, the former Scotland captain who led his side to famous victories over No. 1-ranked England in 2018 and into the Super 12 stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup, has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 38.Coetzer, who was born and raised in Aberdeen, had stepped down from the captaincy in May 2022 at the end of Scotland’s ODI tour of the USA and also retired from T20Is, but he has now called time in all formats to take up a role as assistant coach with Northern Diamonds for the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup.”I don’t ever think there’s a perfect time for a decision like this, but I’ve been considering my options for some time, and an opportunity came up which was too good to turn down,” Coetzer said in a retirement announcement through Cricket Scotland. “The balance that the Scotland team need at this time was outweighed by the opportunity for me to move into coaching, and I’m extremely excited about the chance to work with such a high-profile team.”Having come up through Scotland’s Under-15 and Under-19 pathway, Coetzer made his initial appearance for Scotland as a 19-year-old in an unofficial UK tour warm-up match for Pakistan at Glasgow in 2003. A year later, he made a full-fledged international debut against Kenya in the Intercontinental Cup, the ICC’s first-class competition for Associates, in which he made an unbeaten 133 in the second innings to help claim enough points in a draw that put Scotland into the final, where they beat Canada a week later to claim the title.Though the Intercontinental Cup is no more, his performance in that match was a harbinger of things to come in a far more illustrious ODI and T20I career. Coetzer leaves the game as Scotland’s all-time leading scorer in ODIs with 3192 runs in 89 matches at an average of 38.92 as well as ending up second overall in T20I runs for Scotland with 1495 runs in 70 matches.Coetzer’s individual ODI zenith came during the 2015 World Cup in Australia when he made 156 against Bangladesh, one of five ODI centuries during his career. However, it was another century he made in 2017 in a win against Zimbabwe during his second stint as captain that left a far bigger imprint on his Scottish cricketing legacy and paved the way for the team to reach even greater heights.It was their first-ever win over a Full Member and came a year after Scotland had finally broken their World Cup curse by defeating Hong Kong at the 2016 T20 World Cup to register their first win at a major ICC global event.Scotland memorably beat England at the Grange in 2018•Peter Della Penna

With Coetzer as captain during the coaching tenure of Grant Bradburn, the belief was instilled that those would not be Scotland’s last major achievements either. That same summer of 2017, he produced a century in an unofficial one-day win over Sri Lanka ahead of the Champions Trophy. A year later, his 58 off 49 balls as part of a century partnership with Matthew Cross laid the platform for Scotland to defeat England by six runs in an epic match at the Grange in Edinburgh.”I’ve been so lucky throughout my Scotland career that it’s tricky to pick out a highlight,” Coetzer said. “Getting our first win in the ICC T20 World Cup against Hong Kong in 2016 was special… but then so was the whole of 2018. The victory against England at The Grange was just amazing. That whole year – Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, England – just felt like a change of momentum and belief amongst the players about competing against the best teams in the world.”Another feather in Coetzer’s cap came in 2021 when he captained Scotland to three wins from three in the opening round of the T20 World Cup in the UAE. That included a win over group favourites Bangladesh and helped propel them into the Super 12 stage for the first time.”Reaching the ICC T20 Super 12s in 2021, having never achieved it before, and being the captain of that squad, will always stay with me,” Coetzer added.His last ODI century came in his penultimate match as captain against the UAE on Scotland’s tour of Texas in 2022. His form waned in the final year and a half of his career after relinquishing the captaincy, crossing 50 just once in his last 16 ODI innings while making 315 runs at an average of 22.50, well below his career mark.Related

• The ride hasn't been easy, but it's time now for Scotland's greatest moment under the sun

• Coetzer calls for 'bold and brave' moves to push Cricket Scotland forward

• Kyle Coetzer steps down as Scotland captain

• Kyle Coetzer announces T20I retirement after giving up Scotland captaincy

Yet his contributions were still significant enough over the last three years to help Scotland finish as the champions of the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two ODI tournament for top-ranked Associates, and in the process helped Scotland clinch a spot in the 2023 ICC World Cup Qualifier later this year in Zimbabwe.Aside from his lengthy career with Scotland which spanned two decades, Coetzer was also a regular on the county circuit, having started at Durham Academy in the early 2000s before making his senior debut in the County Championship against Glamorgan in 2004. His last match for Durham came in 2011 before a move to Northamptonshire, where he stayed through to the end of the 2015 season, before a brief cameo for three matches in the 2018 T20 Blast.Between the Intercontinental Cup and his county career, Coetzer made 4404 runs across 94 first-class matches at 30.37 with eight centuries and a best of 219. His decision to take up a role in women’s cricket coaching with Northern Diamonds in England follows up his role as a consultant coach with the Scotland Women’s team in September 2022 during their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier tour of the UAE.His retirement continues the changing of the guard within the Scotland set-up. Fellow batting stalwart Calum MacLeod – player of the match in that England victory – announced his retirement in November following the conclusion of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

Highlights from the final round of Ranji Trophy season

Shashank Kishore19-Feb-2024From 32 teams, eight of them are left standing as the final round of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 helped lock in the knockouts line-up. Here are the highlights.

TN’s first knockout appearance in six seasons

They began the season with a crushing away loss to Gujarat and then saw their chances of securing full points against Tripura go up in smoke thanks to the weather. But from having a solitary point after two rounds, Tamil Nadu have been an unstoppable force, securing four wins in their remaining five games to top Group B.Their latest win, against Punjab, may have yet not been enough to seal the top spot had Karnataka won their final group fixture against Chandigarh; Karnataka took the first-innings honours to finish second in the pool. For Tamil Nadu, this will be their first knockout appearance since the Ranji Trophy 2016-17, where they lost to Mumbai in the semi-final.Related

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• Varun Aaron to wrap up red-ball career after ongoing Ranji Trophy season

• Former Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal retires from professional cricket

Their fourth win was set up by B Indrajith and Vijay Shankar who struck centuries in a massive first-innings score of 435, before the left-arm spinning duo of S Ajith Ram and Sai Kishore wheeled away to picked up 15 wickets between them. Set a mere 71, Tamil Nadu got there in just seven overs to secure a nine-wicket win.Punjab’s fight in the second innings was led by Nehal Wadhera, who made a quickfire 107-ball 109 in an otherwise forgettable batting display. Overall, their season of promise – they won the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s – ended with a solitary win that had them finish sixth in the group.

Veterans Tiwary, Fazal walk into retirement

He un-retired after announcing his decision to walk away from all forms of cricket at the end of Ranji Trophy 2022-23 to be able to realise a long-standing dream of winning the coveted title. There seemed some merit in his decision, too; Bengal had come within sniffing distance twice in the last three years (2019-20 and 2022-23), only to be pipped by Saurashtra. But there was no fairy-tale ending for one of Indian domestic cricket’s great war horses, Manoj Tiwary, as Bengal endured a disappointing end to a campaign that never took off; finishing third, behind eventual qualifiers Mumbai and Andhra in Group B.The gulf between them and Andhra was seven points, which Bengal would have perhaps felt they lost after two of their seven games were severely weather-affected. They, however, signed off on a winning note after handing Bihar defeat by an innings and 204 runs, with fast bowler Mukesh Kumar picking up six wickets.Tiwary, who led Bengal all season, made 30 in his final innings, thereby ending a first-class career in which he made 10,195 runs across 148 matches with 30 hundreds and an impressive average of 47.86. He was fittingly felicitated by the Cricket Association of Bengal in a ceremony on Sunday evening at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.Manoj Tiwary was carried off the field by his team-mates•PTI

Unlike Tiwary, Faiz Fazal bows out with two Ranji Trophy crowns he led Vidarbha to back-to-back in 2017-18 and 2018-19. His final innings in first-class cricket on Sunday ended in a first-ball duck, but Vidarbha managed to secure a 115-run win over Haryana in a winner-takes-all contest in Nagpur. Fazal finishes with 9184 runs in 138 first-class matches with 24 hundred and an average of 41.The win helped Vidarbha top Group A, with Saurashtra, the defending champions, finishing a close second following their convincing two-day win over Manipur in Rajkot, with Cheteshwar Pujara hitting his third hundred of the season and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, the left-arm spinner, picking up his second straight match haul of ten wickets.

Thakur back in business as Mumbai march on

Shardul Thakur’s match haul of 10 for 52 helped Mumbai record their fifth win of the season, as Assam were handed a thrashing inside two days. Assam lasted all of 65.1 overs in both innings combined. This was only Thakur’s second first-class outing since playing the Centurion Test in December. Thakur aside, Shivam Dube continued to have a sensational 2024. He hit a counter-attacking unbeaten 121 that lifted Mumbai from a previous 110 for 5 in the first innings. This was Dube’s second first-class hundred of the season.

Quarterfinal line-ups

• Vidarbha vs Karnataka

• Mumbai vs Baroda

• Tamil Nadu vs Saurashtra

• Madhya Pradesh vs Andhra

Delhi end on a high

Three senior players walked away expressing annoyance and hurt at DDCA’s dysfunctional system. The selection panel chief was forced to resign two games in, following a poor start. Yash Dhull, their young captain, was sacked one game in and the threat of relegation loomed halfway into the season. Yet, despite all the off-field rumblings, Delhi managed to hold their own in the back end of the season to finish with three wins, all coming in their last four games, to end third in the pool.Their win in the final round, against Odisha, was led by Dhull’s first-innings 112, his fifth first-class century, that helped open up a slender 11-run lead before Odisha collapsed in the second innings for 133. Eventually, a target of 123 proved too little to defend as Delhi won by seven wickets with Ayush Badoni and Dhull seeing them home.

Railways pull off record heist

Railways pulled off the highest successful chase in Ranji history to end their campaign on a high. The win was all the more special because they conceded a first-innings lead to Tripura that seemed decisive at the time.Railways were bundled out for 105 in response to Tripura’s 149, and then found themselves chasing a mammoth 378 for victory. At 31 for 3, Railways were in deep trouble before Mohammad Saif and Pratham Singh revived their chase with a fourth-innings stand of 175.Saif fell for 106, but Pratham batted on to remain unbeaten on 169. He was ably supported by Upendra Yadav, the captain, who played his part in the match-winning partnership by making 27 not out.In pulling off a sensational win, Railways surpassed Saurashtra’s record for the previous highest chase (372 against Uttar Pradesh in 2018-19). The win wasn’t enough to secure a knockouts berth for Railways as all of Karnataka, TN and Gujarat finished with more points than them in a tight table that was decided on the final day of matches.

England captain will continue to build towards Test summer by turning out against Lancashire in Blackpool

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2024Ben Stokes will make his first appearance for Durham in the County Championship since May 2022 against Lancashire this week as he steps up his return as an allrounder.The England Test captain’s last competitive match came in the final match of the tour of India at the start of March. Having pulled out of the IPL, Stokes subsequently made himself unavailable for next month’s T20 World Cup to ensure he can play a full part in the Test summer, with bat and ball, following surgery in November to clear out a troublesome left knee that prevented him from doing the latter.With almost two months to go before the first Test against West Indies, which begins at Lord’s on July 10, Stokes will begin his tune-up at Blackpool on Friday. With Durham sitting fifth in Division One with one win and three draws, head coach Ryan Campbell was understandably buoyed by the influence Stokes’ will have on his squad and the competition as a whole.Related

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• Key, McCullum, Stokes told Anderson: It's time to move on

“We’re looking to kickstart our season and we’re looking forward to welcoming England captain Ben Stokes back into our team for the first time – it will be absolutely awesome,” Campbell told BBC Radio Newcastle.”I suggest if you’ve got a few days over the weekend you get down to Blackpool and watch the great Ben Stokes return for Durham.”Players always want to play against the best players in the competition. To have one of those players in our own team to show us the way, his experiences, it’s unbelievable.”Suddenly, there’s an air of excitement around the place just because he walks in the room.”Stokes, 32, played all five matches of England’s 4-1 loss in India, but only bowled in the final Test. He removed Rohit Sharma with his very first delivery, eventually bowling just five overs.Having initially ruled himself out of bowling on the trip, such was the speed of his recovery behind the scenes that he decided to turn his arm over in Dharamsala. He subsequently left the tour with his sights set on building his bowling back up, not least because England struggled to balance their team without a seam-bowling allrounder.Though Stokes has had time off, he has ticked over with his bowling, slowly increasing the intensity of sessions with six Tests to come this summer – three against Sri Lanka after the West Indies series – and tours of Pakistan and New Zealand before the end of the year. Speaking to the BBC’s podcast on Monday, men’s managing director Rob Key said he was encouraged by Stokes’ progress.”Ben in particular is feeling, for the first time in quite some time, that he is bowling pain free, and is able to bowl almost, straight away, into his top end speed,” Key said. “And he’s not having to go through pain barriers all the time to do it. I think he feels liberated by the fact the knee op has been a success and he feels he can now look to this part of his career being able to do both things, which is always a big thing for an allrounder.”It’s one thing if you’re batting; if you fail with the bat you feel you can contribute with the ball. If you take one of those away, it becomes a trickier game for allrounders.”The trip to Blackpool is one of four red-ball matches for Durham that Stokes could play between now and the first West Indies Test. It is still to be determined whether he will be available for Durham’s Vitality Blast campaign, which begins on May 30. Whether with the red or white ball, Stokes and the England management will aim to ensure he has the necessary overs under his belt before the Test summer begins.”Even Ben Stokes, as indestructible as we always think he is, he needs to build up slowly and then hopefully peak at just the right time to go on and not have to worry,” said Key.”Because it’s not just about your back, your knee and the knee you had operated on – you just lose that bit of resilience and robustness that bowling requires. I don’t think there’s any other force you can put your body through like what it does when you bowl, so he just needs to build up into that again.”