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Robert Haynes takes over as interim chairman as new CWI president hints at return of exiled star players

George Dobell11-Apr-2019Floyd Reifer has replaced Richard Pybus as West Indies’ coach just weeks ahead of the World Cup.Reifer, who was briefly captain of West Indies in 2009, has been appointed to the role in an interim capacity following a review of West Indies’ coaching and selection policies led by newly-elected Cricket West Indies (CWI) president, Ricky Skerritt.The entire West Indies selection panel has also been dismissed. Courtney Browne, who had been a selector since 2013 and head selector since 2016, has been sacked with Robert Haynes, who played eight ODIs for West Indies between 1989 and 1991, appointed as interim head selector in his place.”We have found it necessary to immediately adjust our selection policy to become more open, inclusive, and player-centric,” Skerritt said. “I am therefore pleased to confirm that we have terminated the old embedded selection policy which secretly, but actively, victimized some players and banished them from selection consideration.”While Pybus was only appointed to the role of interim head coach in January and was at the helm when West Indies recently defeated England in a Test series, his dismissal is no surprise. He had ruffled many feathers during his time as West Indies’ director of cricket – University of West Indies vice-chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles recently described Pybus’ decision to shut down the West Indies’ high-performance centre in Barbados as “deeply troubling” and “an act of vandalism” – and was seen as closely aligned to former CWI president, Dave Cameron.Indeed, it is understood that despite Jimmy Adams, West Indies’ director of cricket, not including Pybus’ name among a not so shortlist of 11 suitable candidates for the interim position in December, Cameron decided to appoint him anyway.Pybus had also been party to the decision to consider for selection only those players who made themselves available for selection in the Caribbean’s regional tournaments. As a result, many of the West Indies’ best T20 players were squeezed out of selection contention. It is possible his departure may encourage one or two more players who have previously announced their international retirement to reconsider.Lockhart Sebastien, Travis Dowlin and Eldine Baptiste are the other selectors to be dismissed. Adams and Reifer will assist Haynes with team selection for now. The team captain, Jason Holder, will also be involved in selection of the World Cup squad. Pybus will return to the role of High Performance Director.”Robert Haynes will be in place for three months or until the selection system review is completed,” Adams said. “Following this, full-time two-year appointments will be made. The Head Coach will also have selector status to ensure he or she has meaningful input into the selection process which is such a big factor for team success.”Reifer has enjoyed a previous stint of as interim head coach during which West Indies won a T20 series in Bangladesh. He has also coached the West Indies A side, including to victory over England, and the Combined Campuses and Colleges side to victory in the regional 50 over tournament in 2018.Skerritt explained that his appointment was reflective of the board’s new “West Indian first policy” designed to promote and encourage regional talent whenever possible.”Floyd Reifer had been identified as the outstanding emerging local coach,” Skerritt said. “Our landmark decision to immediately introduce a well suited young West Indian professional as our men’s team coach is therefore a clear indicator of the seriousness of our West Indian first policy and represents our commitment to celebrate the best of what it means to be West Indian. This decision also underscores the need for fresh thinking, and an even more urgent need to embrace the new inclusive selection policy.”We believe very strongly in localising the expertise that we put behind our teams and we believe in bringing in non-Caribbean expertise only where it is not available across the region. We want to be sure that the team does well at all times with the possible resources but we also have to make sure that they have a Caribbean support team around them.”Our performance record overseas under international coaches has been dismal at best. All of our victories in ICC tournaments have been with the help of local coaches. That is also why we have decided to give the opportunity to a young but seasoned professional, who lives among us, and who has dedicated his life to developing our young people and teaching them our cricket culture.”The changes we have triggered this week are more than a change in personnel or a shake-up in the ranks. This is a calculated strategic move designed to reignite the passion for a culture, where our cricket is being put back where it belongs: at the very centre.”West Indies depart for Ireland in less than three weeks for a tri-series ODI tournament also involving Bangladesh.

But the Indian captain backs Vijay Shankar’s inclusion for the tournament in England

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Apr-2019India captain Virat Kohli agrees that Vijay Shankar offers balance to the Indian batting order, but has not committed to the Tamil Nadu allrounder batting at No. 4.On Monday, after announcing India’s World Cup squad, MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors, said that Vijay was identified as the No. 4.However, Kohli agreed with Prasad only to the extent that Vijay was a “three-dimensional” player and a better choice compared to the other options and combinations that India had tried out in the past.The search for the No. 4 started after the Champions Trophy and stretched to the ODI series at home against Australia in March, during which period 11 batsmen were tried out. The longest incumbent was Ambati Rayudu, but Prasad said he lost the race to Vijay.Kohli echoed that, saying Vijay was a “proper” batsman, who provided another allrounder option to India. “We tried a lot of things. There were a few combinations that we tried,” Kohli told . “Eventually when Vijay came in, it was three dimensional: he can bowl, he can field, he can bat.”He is a proper batsman as well. That just gave us an option, saying why not have that kind of balance which other teams have had all these years. From that point of view we all agreed on it.”Prasad had pointed out that Vijay would get to bat at No. 4 to begin with, with Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik being other options for the spot along with KL Rahul. However Kohli refrained from being definitive. “We are pretty sorted with how we want to go about the World Cup. Obviously who bats where is the decision for later.”Other than who is best suitable for No. 4, the other big debate over the past two years has been over MS Dhoni’s role in the ODI side, keeping in mind the fact that his signature explosive finishing power has been on the wane.After an extended period stretching over a year where he had not scored a half-century, Dhoni picked up three successive 50s in the ODI series win in Australia in January. Kohli stated then that Dhoni was best suited at No. 5 even though his deputy Rohit Sharma had said personally he would have India’s senior most player at No. 4.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Prasad had said Dhoni would be the most important guy for India at the World Cup. Prasad said that Dhoni had finally started finding his touch, which was evident in Australia and New Zealand where he played “fearlessly”.Kohli has always stood by Dhoni and he backed him once again. He said that when he was struggling to settle down in the initial years of his career, Dhoni, who was the Indian captain, had given him the space to grow. Today he was reciprocating and that was not as a favour but because Dhoni “deserved” that space.”For me loyalty matters the most. When I walked into the team, he had the chance of trying someone else after a few games. Although I grabbed my opportunities really early, he gave me an opportunity to understand my game and gave me time in the game.”For me those things are very important because I know the kind of phase I was coming into. And if he is going through a phase where he has to work things out, he deserves that respect, it’s not like I [gifted] it to him.”You look at what he’s done for the country, no one can [gift] him that space, he deserves it. So we were just doing our bit to tell people that you need to think in the same manner.”It’s not like we are giving him something, he deserves this and he is intelligent enough to know what’s going on in his life, in his cricket, everything. It was important to give him space, for which people did not have much patience at that time.”Now after 12 months people are saying he is the most important factor in the World Cup, which is true. We knew deep down all along.”

A rip-roaring day of fast bowling threw open a multitude of possibilities as the semi-final between Karnataka and Vidarbha opened with a 13-wicket day at Eden Gardens

The Report by Akshay Gopalakrishnan in Kolkata17-Dec-2017Abhimanyu Mithun’s five-wicket haul dismantled Vidarbha•PTI

A rip-roaring day of fast bowling threw open a multitude of possibilities as the Ranji Trophy semi-final between Karnataka and Vidarbha opened with a 13-wicket day at Eden Gardens. Abhimanyu Mithun scythed through Vidarbha with his third five-for of the season that sent them hurtling to 185 all out. But Vidarbha hit back with their new-ball pair of Rajneesh Gurbani and Umesh Yadav to snuff out three Karnataka batsmen in a highly shortened and engrossing final session.As has often been the case with him this season, Mithun grew increasingly menacing as the day wore on, and his numbers proved that. In three spells over the day, Mithun recorded 5-3-18-0, 7-3-15-2, and 4-0-12-3. Having clinically wiped out the opposition in two sessions, Karnataka looked set to establish early dominance. But in what has been a rare occurrence this season, their top order came in for a stern scrutiny.Though surviving Umesh’s early burst would have been on top of Karnataka’s priority – and he was kept quiet for the most part – it was the 24-year old Gurbani who shook them. Accurate lines and lengths, prodigious movement – in the air and off the deck – and skiddy pace characterised a delightful spell of fast bowling. Running in with the confidence earned through five-wicket hauls in successive matches, Gurbani made up for the lapses of Umesh, who bowled at serious pace but was rendered ineffective through leg-sidish lines and inconsistent lengths.A brute of an outswinger in Gurbani’s third over had R Samarth nicking off to the keeper. In the next over, Umesh had Mayank Agarwal, the season’s best batsman, beaten by pace with a straighter one that pinged his pad. One over later, Gurbani pegged back Dega Nischal’s middle stump and Karnataka were 21 for 3. Karun Nair and CM Gautam saw off the remaining overs amid dropping light. The day’s final drinks break, at 4.20pm, also brought out the light meters. Five minutes later, play ended with Karnataka trailing by 149 runs.Factoring into the success of the pacers was a pitch that had considerably quickened after the early-morning dew had dissipated. It allowed Mithun to be at his most dangerous in the post-lunch session. In his first over after the break, Mithun had Ganesh Satish thrusting forward and finding an inside edge that was snaffled brilliantly by a diving, one-handed CM Gautam behind the stumps. Apoorv Wankhade was bowled five balls later, and when Wasim Jaffer fished outside the off stump against S Aravind to be caught at second slip, Vidarbha had lost three wickets for 14 runs after lunch.The effectiveness of Karnataka’s medium-pacers did not necessitate their spinners to come in until the 50th over. As they did in the quarter-final against Kerala, Vidarbha’s lower order rallied, with Akshay Wakhare and Aditya Sarwate deftly knocking the ball around during a 41-run seventh-wicket stand.Against a much stronger Karnataka side, though, it required a more sustained period of resistance. But Mithun returned and struck thrice in the space of four balls. First, there was Wakhare who poked at one that cut away off the deck. Then, Gurbani was bowled off a legcutter that pitched on middle and took out off. Mithun came tantlisingly close to finding Umesh’s outside edge as he pushed expansively on the hat-trick delivery. But when he repeated the same stroke next ball, it resulted in a thick outside edge to first slip.At nine down, Karnataka’s pacers were close to accounting for all 10 wickets in an innings for the first time in three seasons. But a loopy legbreak from Shreyas Gopal closed out that possibility as Sarwate’s fighting 47 ended with an uppish drive straight into the hands of cover.The day’s first session was the most productive passage for batsmen. Despite the abundant sprinkling of grass, Vidarbha chose to bat instead of unleashing their pacers at the Karnataka top order. Sanjay Ramaswamy crunched a text-book drive through the covers for the morning’s first boundary, but soon both he and the ever-compact Faiz Fazal displayed uncharacteristic tendencies. Though usually circumspect to begin with, Fazal fished at deliveries outside off.With spongy bounce and the ball occasionally stopping on the batsmen, Vidarbha’s batsmen struggled for fluency. Looking tentative, Fazal did not come entirely forward to an inswinger from Vinay Kumar and was trapped lbw for the first breakthrough of the morning.Aravind, who replaced Mithun 11 overs into the day, found substantial seam movement and beat the batsmen’s edges. That turned out to be a frequent occurrence through the morning, Aravind at one point doing it thrice in a row. Stuart Binny then dismissed Ramaswamy, who, playing for the line, failed to see that the ball had cut back off the seam and beat his inside edge to hit his pad.Karnataka then briefly eased the pressure, partly due to bad luck and partly to their own undoing. Satish sent an outside edge to first slip that fell short of Nair and then managed an edged four between third slip and gully. A rare sequence of half-volleys and short balls thereafter gave Vidarbha some pressure-easing boundaries.Vinay, who had swung the ball throughout, was then denied a wicket twice. First, Aravind put down Satish at first slip on 14. Later, Jaffer was held brilliantly by third slip diving to his right but the batsman seemed confident that it hadn’t been a catch despite Karnataka’s early celebrations. With Agarwal, too, not confident, the on-field umpires let Jaffer bat on.

Toby Roland-Jones’ Ashes hopes are in severe doubt after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower back

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-20174:34

Toby Roland-Jones on his Ashes hopes

Toby Roland-Jones’ Ashes hopes are in severe doubt after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower back.Roland-Jones, who played no part in the latter stages of Middlesex’s victory over Lancashire at Lord’s, had been a near-certainty to be named in England’s squad for the tour of Australia that is due to be announced at The Oval next Wednesday.Instead, he has been left sweating on his role in this winter’s campaign, after Middlesex confirmed that he would be taking no part in next week’s final match of the County Championship, a potentially crucial relegation showdown against Somerset at Taunton.”Middlesex Cricket are extremely disappointed to announce that the result of the medical scan which Toby undertook yesterday has revealed that he has a stress fracture in his L5 vertebra [lower back], which will mean that he will take no further part in the domestic season for Middlesex.”It is a potentially bitter blow for Roland-Jones, who has impressed in his England career to date. He has claimed 17 wickets in four Tests, including a best of 5 for 57 on debut against South Africa at The Oval in August, and his combination of accuracy and bounce from a tall action would have made him a prime candidate for selection on Australia’s wickets.In Roland-Jones’ likely absence, therefore, and with Durham’s Mark Wood also struggling with injury, the biggest beneficiary could be the man who came to Middlesex’s rescue against Lancashire on Thursday. Steven Finn returned a season’s best 8 for 79 to secure a 36-run victory and, according to his Australian captain, Adam Voges, “bowled as well as I’ve ever seen him bowl”.”If he bowls like that, he should [be in the Ashes squad],” said Voges. “One-hundred percent. He had rhythm, his pace was up and his areas were good.”Finn, who has taken 125 Test wickets in a stop-start 36-match career, endured contrasting fortunes on England’s last Ashes tours. In 2010-11 he claimed 14 wickets in the first three Tests en route to England’s 3-1 series win, but in 2013-14 he was rendered “unselectable” after the collapse of his bowling action.”We’ll see what happens,” Finn said. “I’m pretty content with where my game’s at. I felt really good. I felt that my pace was there for most of the game. It’s up to the selectors and whoever picks the team to see who goes Down Under. It’s a really exciting opportunity and really exciting prospect to potentially – hopefully – be in the mix.”The out-and-out pace of Somerset’s Jamie Overton would have made him another prime contender for a seam-bowling berth in the Ashes squad, but for his own back problems. His twin brother, Craig, who was included in England’s T20 squad against South Africa but didn’t play a match, may also have moved up the pecking order.The typical recovery time for a stress fracture of the back is between six and 12 weeks. The first Test against Australia begins at Brisbane on November 23, in almost exactly two months.

A round-up of the fourth day’s play from the first round of Group B matches in Ranji Trophy 2016-17

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2016A five-for from left-arm spinner Manan Sharma made sure Delhi did not have to bat again as they dismissed Assam for 313, to seal a win by an innings and 83 runs in Vadodara.Delhi took seven points from the match despite resistance from Assam’s middle and lower order. Assam started the day on 100 for 3, trailing by 296, and scored another 213 from there. Amit Verma added only two to his overnight score of 33 and Arun Karthik went from 17 to 34 before both were dismissed within the space of 18 balls. In trouble at 121 for 5, they were rescued by Syed Mohammad’s 82. Syed forged stands of 78 with Tarjinder Singh (42) for the sixth wicket and 72 with Swarupam Purkayastha (47) for the eighth to take them past 250.The stands were broken by Manan and Pradeep Sangwan respectively. The duo got rid of the tail too as Manan finished with 5 for 108, his fifth first-class five-for, and Sangwan and Varun Sood took two each.Jharkhand strolled to a six-wicket win over Maharashtra to earn six points at the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi. Jharkhand needed only 37 runs on the final day, and Virat Singh and Anand Singh scored them in 6.5 overs to chase down a modest 93. Their unbroken fifth-wicket stand was worth 48.They were 56 for 4 overnight, after openers Ishan Kishan and Shiv Gautam fell for ducks. But they did not lose any wicket on the fourth day. Virat was unbeaten on 33 and Anand on a 19-ball 25.As many as 13 wickets fell on the final day with Shaurya Sanandia, the right-arm medium pacer, taking a career-best 6 for 14 to give Saurashtra three crucial points, courtesy a first-innings lead over Rajasthan. This, after close to two full days were washed out because of rain in Vizianagaram. Rajasthan, who resumed on 62 for 1 in reply to Saurashtra’s 430, were bowled out for 105. Made to follow on, they stuttered to 30 for 4 in their second dig when the players shook hands.Vidarbha walked away with the first-innings honours in an attritional contest against Odisha in Visakhapatnam. Odisha, resuming on 74 without loss ended their second innings on 274 for 9 declared when play ended. As many as seven batsmen got off to starts, with the highest being 58 by captain Govinda Poddar. Akshay Wakhare, the offspinner, was Vidarbha’s best bowler with figures of 3 for 61. That Vidarbha took the lead after bowling out Odisha for 150 was largely due to captain Faiz Fazal (99) and Ganesh Satish (74).

The rumours of raging turners in the Tests against India have not got South Africa in a strategic spin just yet, as they plan to start things off by sticking to their traditional strengths.

Firdose Moonda in Mohali04-Nov-20152:42

‘This Mohali pitch looks different’ – Amla

The rumours of raging turners in the Tests against India have not got South Africa in a strategic spin just yet, as they plan to start things off by sticking to their traditional strengths. Three seamers and a lone specialist spinner is the way South Africa have always done things, and they seem set on starting that way in India as well, irrespective of the conditions.”There’s an old West Indian saying, ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,’ so if the seamers do the job for you, be it in the subcontinent or anywhere else in the world, so be it,” Hashim Amla said. The phrase actually originated out of farmers in Texas and popularised a director in Jimmy Carter’s administration but Amla’s point stands.Now the question is which three seamers and which spinner?The first answer is obvious. South Africa’s premier pack is made up of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, as has been the case since 2011. They have not featured in every Test over the last four years, but the ones they have missed have only been because of injury. It’s unlikely the case will be any different this time around.Morkel is the only one carrying an injury – he tweaked a quad muscle in the third ODI in Rajkot – and will have a last-minute fitness assessment on the morning of the match to determine his availability. If he pulls up unfit, South Africa will have to give uncapped Kagiso Rabada a debut.The issue of the spinner is more complex, though. South Africa have given themselves a choice between Simon Harmer, Dane Piedt and Imran Tahir, but are keeping their cards close to their chest as to which one will play. Essentially the choice is between an attacking spinner (Tahir) and a containing one (Harmer or Piedt), which is further complicated by the unavailability of JP Duminy.”When JP plays, he adds that added spin option for us. But with him not being in the team for the first Test, it adds dynamics to our team,” Amla said. That means South Africa’s holding overs have to either come from part-timers or from a specialist holding bowler.”In conditions where the pitch is turning, spinners have multiple roles. When it doesn’t turn they fall into a defensive role. When it does turn, naturally they fall into an attacking role. A lot depends on the surface,” Amla said. “We have been very strong with our seam bowlers wherever we have been in the world. We have a few options in the seam department and we have been blessed and done well. We are fortunate in that our seam bowlers have done well in the subcontinent. They can be an attacking option. Not many countries around the world can say that. Our spinners will probably do both roles depending on what the game needs.”Both Harmer and Piedt are also wicket-takers, albeit to a lesser degree than Tahir, and if South Africa are looking for a spinner who can switch gears, they are more likely to go with one of them. Being the incumbent, having played in Bangladesh, Harmer appears to be the frontrunner.Sticking with Harmer for now also seems to tally with Amla’s overall philosophy of trying, “to do what’s most efficient to try and win a game.” That may sound incongruous on first reading because Harmer is not the most attacking spinner South Africa have at their disposal. So he may not be the most efficient appointment but, as Amla explained, going for the kill does not always mean relentless aggression.”There will be times when you have to play the game in a way that will ensure a result. Sometimes you have to play a slightly defensive game to make sure the result comes a bit later, he said. “We all know the game of cricket is a bit like chess – you have got to make the right moves. Sometimes you will get it wrong and sometimes it works in your favour. That’s as simple as I keep it.”And that’s a phrase Amla can call his own.

Hiral Patel heroics with the bat and ball couldn’t save Canada from a four-wicket defeat against Kenya in the Intercontinental Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHiral Patel’s heroics with the bat and ball couldn’t save Canada from a four-wicket defeat against Kenya in the Intercontinental Cup. Patel struck a doughty 93 on the fourth day, scoring more than half of his side’s second innings total, as the other batsmen fell to Nehemiah Odhiambo’s pace. Canada folded for 175, leaving Kenya a target of 128 for victory.Kenya’s chase was hardly confident; they lost Irfan Karim in the first over and then Patel made inroads with his left-arm spin. It was left to Tanmay Mishra, who followed his first-innings half-century with a calm, unbeaten 38, to steady the Kenya innings and then guide the side to a win.

Fleming is now the head coach at all three CSK teams, in the IPL, at the SA20, and at the MLC

ESPNcricinfo staff and PTI22-Mar-2023Stephen Fleming will be the head coach of Dallas-based Major League Cricket (MLC) team Texas Super Kings (TSK), who have a partnership with IPL side Chennai Super Kings.Fleming has been the long-serving head coach at CSK, and has guided the team to four IPL titles. He was also the head coach at Joburg Super Kings, a team owned by the same owners as CSK, for the inaugural season of the SA20 league in South Africa.Super Kings joined Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians to make it four out of six MLC teams to have owners connected with the IPL – the tournament is scheduled to begin on July 13.Related

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The six MLC teams are San Francisco Unicorns, Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings and Washington DC. Capitals, co-owned by GMR Group, are partnering with Seattle Orcas.All six MLC teams completed the domestic player draft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they selected nine players each from more than 100 eligible to represent the “US cricket community”. The rest of the players are going to be filled later.”Cricket is the second-most popular sport in the world with a global fan base of around 2.5 billion followers, but there has not been an opportunity for the sport to grow in the US,” Anurag Jain, co-owner of TSK, said. “We look forward to having a professional team in Texas for the passionate local cricket community to root for and to introduce the sport to new fans across the country.”

Sri Lanka batter was picked up by the police from the team hotel in Sydney on Sunday morning

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2022Sri Lanka batter Danushka Gunathilaka has been charged by police after an alleged sexual assault in Sydney’s east. He was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning from the team hotel in Sydney’s central business district after a police investigation into reports that a 29-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted at a residence in Rose Bay earlier in the week.”The woman met with the man after communicating with him for a number of days via an online dating application; it’s alleged he then sexually assaulted her on the evening of Wednesday 2 November 2022,” a New South Wales police statement said. “As part of ongoing investigations, a crime scene examination was undertaken by specialist police at an address in Rose Bay yesterday.”Following further inquiries, a 31-year-old man was arrested at a hotel on Sussex Street, Sydney, shortly before 1am today (Sunday 6 November 2022).”He was taken to Sydney City Police Station and charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent. The Sri Lankan national was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court via AVL today.”SLC issued a statement on Sunday morning after the news had become public.”Sri Lanka Cricket confirms that it was notified by the ICC that player Danushka Gunathilaka has been arrested on the allegations of sexual assault of a woman in Sydney, and Mr. Gunathilaka is due to appear in court tomorrow (7 November 2022),” the statement said. “SLC will closely monitor the proceedings in court and, in consultation with the ICC, will expeditiously initiate a thorough inquiry into the matter and take stern action against the player if found guilty.”Gunathilaka was ruled out of the T20 World Cup during the first round with a hamstring injury. He was replaced in the squad but remained with the team in Australia. He has played eight Tests, 47 ODIs and 46 T20Is for Sri Lanka since making his international debut in November 2015.Sri Lanka’s tournament ended on Sunday following a defeat in their final group match against England at the SCG.

Zimbabwe chased down a target of 304 with ease and ended a 19-match losing streak in ODIs against this opposition

Mohammad Isam05-Aug-2022Zimbabwe 307 for 5 (Raza 135*, Kaia 110, Mustafizur 1-57) beat Bangladesh 303 for 2 (Litton 81, Anamul 73, Raza 1-48) by five wicketsSikandar Raza and Innocent Kaia struck brilliant centuries to help Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in an ODI after nine years.The pair added 192 runs for the fourth wicket – breaking a 25-year old partnership record and becoming the new best for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh. Raza and Kaia also became only the second Zimbabwean duo to score centuries in the same ODI innings. To think they actually came together when the score was 62 for 3 and the game was almost slipping away from them.Kaia displayed a refreshing batting approach, concentrating on keeping the ball all along the ground. Still he picked up 11 fours and maintained a strike rate of 90.16 by running himself ragged for those ones and twos. He hit two two sixes over midwicket, but he never tried to out-hit the man of the moment.Raza, recently named Player of the Series at the T20 World Cup qualifier, grabbed the game with both hands and struck 14 boundaries including six sixes, the last of which was the winning hit. He had earlier been their best bowler too, taking 1-48.Bangladesh, who came into this game with a 19-match winning-streak over Zimbabwe, would rue their poor finishing with the bat as they become the fourth team in ODI history to lose a game in which they lost only two wickets.Fifties from Litton Das (81), Anamul Haque (73), Tamim Iqbal (62) and Mushfiqur Rahim (52*) had them sitting pretty, but scoring just 39 runs in the last five overs hurt them. It is only the third time that Bangladesh have lost a game scoring in excess of 300, and the fourth time for Zimbabwe have won one chasing 300-plus.Bangladesh join a forgettable list•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Things had been so different at the start of the chase. Regis Chakabva barely had any time to soak in the fact that he was the first Zimbabwean to captain, keep wicket and open the batting since Andy Flower in 1996. He chopped a Mustafizur Rahman delivery on to his leg-stump for 2. Tarisai Musakanda skied Shoriful Islam to cover in the next over, and Zimbabwe were suddenly 6 for 2.Wessly Madhevere fended Bangladesh off, with Kaia, adding 56 runs for the third wicket. But the partnership ended disastrously when miscommunication between the two, having seen a fumble out in the deep, resulted in an entirely avoidable run-out.That brought Zimbabwe’s match-winners together and though there were a few iffy moments – substitute Taijul Islam dropped Raza on 43, a simple chance at cover. Kaia was dropped twice in the same Shoriful over on 68 and 74 respectively – they soon settled into rhythm.And when they brought up their 162nd run in tandem, they broke the record for Zimbabwe’s biggest ODI partnership against Bangladesh, eclipsing the Flower brothers, Andy and Grant, effort from October 1997.Raza was the dominant one in the partnership, starting his six-hitting in the 21st over when he hammered Shoriful down the ground. He pulled Taskin over midwicket, took a five-over break between the 25th and the 30th, then smashed Mustafizur straight back over his head to reach his fifty. He thrashed his next six off Mehidy Hasan Miraz, pulled Shoriful over midwicket for good measure and finally sealed the match with 10 balls to spare by carting Mosaddek Hossain over the ropes as well.Luke Jongwe played an important hand (24 off 19) after Kaia got out for 110 in the 42nd over.Tamim couldn’t find a wicket-taker among his bowlers. To make matters worse, Shoriful looked to have hurt his knee. Their gamble to go without a left-arm spinner for the first time against Zimbabwe also hurt them.Bangladesh’s score of 303 for 2 was built around four half-centuries but it was the big partnerships that really helped them. Tamim and Litton added 119 runs, their fourth 100-plus stand as an opening pair. Tamim was the first to fifty, and shortly afterwards when he reached 57 runs, he became the first from Bangladesh to reach 8,000 ODI runs.After Tamim’s departure, Litton got to his seventh fifty, and suddenly got into a groove to hit a cluster of fours and a six to get to 81. But while taking a quick first run, he pulled his hamstring, and had to stretchered off after the second drinks break.Anamul followed the openers with his first fifty for Bangladesh in almost eight years. This was also the innings in which he struck the ball the sweetest since making his comeback this year. Anamul got into the Bangladesh side with a world record 1,138 runs in the domestic List-A tournament, the Dhaka Premier League. He continued on the same vein against Zimbabwe, hitting his tenth one-day fifty in 2022, and this was his sixth in a row in this format.Anamul added 96 runs for the second wicket with Mushfiqur, as the pair got into the last ten overs with a gung-ho approach. But after taking 51 runs between the 41st and 45th, they got only 39 runs in the last five. The Zimbabwe bowlers pulling back the scoring rate was their only success in an innings in which they took just two wickets.