England’s impressive summer continued with a 58-run victory in their second ODI of the Natwest quadrangular series, against New Zealand in Derby

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2011
ScorecardSarah Taylor lifted England to 237 with an unbeaten 41 from 43 balls that proved too much for New Zealand•Getty Images

England Women’s impressive summer continued with a 58-run victory in their second ODI of the Natwest quadrangular series, against New Zealand Women in Derby. It follows the six-wicket win against India on Thursday and their success in the Twenty20 tournament that preceded this series.England started the game as favourites and victory was built on Claire Taylor’s solid 67, Sarah Taylor’s enterprising 41 from 43 balls and a powerful bowling display led by quicks Katherine Brunt and Arran Brindle. New Zealand’s pursuit of 238 looked as good as over when they were reduced to 11 for 4, but 40 from Suzie Bates and 59 from Aimee Watkins gave them some hope. In the end the spinners took control and New Zealand were well short.It was a fine showing from England, who were below-par in the field in their opening encounter against India. This time the new-ball pair of Brunt and Brindle had New Zealand under pressure from the outset. It was their accurate bowling that perhaps led to Frances McKay being run out for 4 from 15 balls, and Brindle had Lucy Doolan out for 3 the next ball. Sarah McGlashan was bowled by Brunt for a duck and Brindle had her second when Liz Perry was caught behind for 1. Bates and Katey Martin began a recovery with a 45-run stand before Holly Colvin’s left-arm spin removed Martin for 21.The impressive Watkins then joined Bates in a 57-run partnership from 69 balls but Danielle Wyatt bowled Bates for 40 just when New Zealand had begun to get back in the game. Watkins continued positively, striking seven boundaries on her way to 59 from 67 balls but wickets kept falling. She was the second of Laura Marsh’s three scalps. Marsh finished with 3 for 50 but the pick of the bowlers was Brunt who took 1 for 28 from 10 overs.The bowlers made England’s solid total look more imposing than it was. Watkins’ decision to field first looked to have paid off when Sian Ruck and Nicola Browne struck in each of their first overs to remove both England’s openers. Charlotte Edwards had been in prime form during the Twenty20 series but she was trapped in front by Browne for 1 to leave England 2 for 1.Danielle Wyatt and Claire Taylor led something of a recovery, sharing a 54-run stand before Bates had Wyatt caught for 30, but Claire Taylor remained to anchor an 89-run partnership with Lydia Greenway. They took England to a healthy 145 for 3 by the 32nd over before Greenway fell for 34. Claire Taylor followed soon after, but Sarah Taylor held the lower order together and injected some crucial impetus into the innings just as it looked like England would lose their way.Running hard she only hit two boundaries in her innings but was well supported, first by Brindle (20) and then Hazell (16). With extras contributing a generous 22, the total was lifted to 237 which, it turned out, was well out of New Zealand’s reach.

Greg Chappell has said Nathan Lyon and Trent Copeland were among those who showed during the A-side’s tour of Zimbabwe that they could perform at a higher level

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2011Greg Chappell, Australia’s selector and national talent manager, has said Nathan Lyon and Trent Copeland were among those that showed they could perform at a higher level during the A side’s tour of Zimbabwe. Fast bowler Copeland and offspinner Lyon – who was the leading wicket-taker in the tri-series in Zimbabwe that also included South Africa A – have since been picked in Australia’s Test squad for the Sri Lanka series that begins on August 31.”They are very exciting cricketers,” Chappell told Australia’s . “The Australia A tour to Zimbabwe was a huge success. Those guys were two of a number who showed that what has worked for them in Australia can work at a higher level. They bring with them some form and confidence and freshness.”The fast bowlers who missed out on Sri Lanka, Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus, need to work on their fitness, Chappell said. “The message to both of them is quite clear. Doug’s fitness levels were not where they are needed to be. He knows what he has to do. The same with Ben. He struggled technically last summer [during the Ashes].”A big talking point about the Test squad was the omission of legspinner Steven Smith, but according to Chappell, this is all part of his maturing process. “He is in the same position that most players are in early in their careers when they get an opportunity. They get to have a look at it. Very few players are ready to go.”Most of us have been dropped. Even Bradman was dropped. You go away and rethink it. That’s where Steve’s at. I think he has the ability to be a very fine player for Australia, but this is only part of his development.”Australia are yet to find a long-term replacement for Shane Warne, and if spinners are to do well, Chappell said, the environment in which they are nurtured has to change. “The environment in which young spinners are growing up is very different from before. I just don’t see them getting the encouragement from captains and coaches, who see them as bowlers who leak runs rather than one who have the opportunities to take wickets.””They are a last resort option in junior cricket, club and first-class cricket at times. If we are going to produce champions [in the spin department], we have to encourage environments where spinners get the opportunities.”

National selector Alistair Campbell believes Zimbabwe’s preparations for their return to Test cricket will stand them in good stead, but admitted that mental strength remained the team’s greatest challenge

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jul-2011National selector Alistair Campbell believes Zimbabwe’s preparations for their return to Test cricket will stand them in good stead, but admitted that mental strength remained the team’s greatest challenge. Zimbabwe are due to return to Tests with a one-off match against Bangladesh, starting on August 4.”Obviously there will be nerves flying around on our side because everyone will be watching how we are going to perform,” Campbell said. “But the players realise the expectations and they would need to give a good account of themselves. Of course, there is going to be pressure on the boys as they may push too hard to impress.”But in any professional sport you need to apply the mental strength and be able to play under pressure. In our case we have to improve on that part. I believe the more we play at the highest level the more we will be able to improve.”Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe is due to start with a three-day warm-up match against a Zimbabwe XI in Harare, starting on Saturday. The match will provide valuable practice in long format cricket for Bangladesh, as they haven’t have played a Test since the Old Trafford match almost 14 months ago.While a few members of the Test squad – such as offspinner Nasir Hossain, national regular Junaid Siddique and the recalled Mohammad Ashraful – played a couple of unofficial Tests for Bangladesh A against South Africa A in April, Bangladesh’s preparations have been limited to a long fitness camp and some two-day games against the Academy side before the tour. Still, captain Shakib Al Hasan believes that they go into the series as favourites.The Zimbabweans have sought to test themselves against A sides from South Africa and Australia. While team success has been lacking, there have been good individual performances from both batsmen and bowlers and coach Alan Butcher argued that Zimbabwe would click if both groups performed well during the course of a match.”The boys have shown improvement in their performance. Of course in the end people look at results, but we need to appreciate their efforts and see where they went wrong and work on that for future matches,” he said. “On a day our batting performs well the bowling will not be very good and when our bowlers do well then our batting line up crumbles hopelessly. So we need to work on having both departments standing up strong.”Campbell reinforced Butcher’s statements, saying Zimbabwe needed more exposure in order to develop as a team. He stressed, however, that there was no question of Zimbabwe’s readiness to face Bangladesh.”We are really excited that we have more commitments coming up in the next two to three months. Facing opposition that includes players like Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus should help raise our confidence,” said Campbell.”We are very ready for it because we have our experienced players like Tatenda Taibu, Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor and Elton Chigumbura all showing signs of good form. These are the people who should carry us through and again we have seen younger players like Brian Vitori doing well. I’m sure this young man has a lot to offer and we will consider him for Test cricket in the future.”But there are few things that need to be ironed out to be able to play competitively at Test level. We have some of our players like Craig Ervine who has been short on runs and this is a cause for concern.”Tino Mawoyo has also showed great promise facing some of the quality bowlers from Australia,” he added. “Probably Craig and Tino would need to get more time in the middle of the crease in the warm up game against Bangladesh at the weekend.”Both players will be in the squad to play the warm-up match against the Bangladeshis. Taibu, who missed the four-day games against Australia and has been out of action for several weeks after injuring his thumb during pre-season training, has also been included, and the match will also give one final chance for a clutch of promising young seamers to push for Test selection.”Obviously it’s good that Taibu is back to full fitness and he’ll be looking forward to getting a run,” said Campbell. “We have deliberately rested some of the players as we feel it’s an opportunity for some of the guys to make an impression before the final squad is named.”

Durham snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in today’s Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street

14-Aug-2011
Durham snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in today’s Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street.After a week in which they lost to Hampshire in the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals and in the County Championship, Durham were bowled out for 192 by Leicestershire and then saw their opponents romp to 72 without loss in reply.But spinners Ian Blackwell and Gareth Breese then picked up six wickets between them as the visitors were dismissed for 155 to hand Durham a 37-run victory. Leicestershire batted a man short because Australian allrounder Andrew McDonald suffered a knee injury after bowling five overs for 18 runs.With James Taylor, like Durham pair Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick, on England Lions duty, Leicestershire were short of batting.Durham kept alive their hopes of a semi-final place despite a below-par batting performance. They were all out with 17 balls unused and were indebted to left-handed opener Mark Stoneman making 73 in his first one-day appearance of the season.On his comeback from injury, Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard took 2 for 26. He persuaded Paul Collingwood to sky a catch to mid-off after making seven, while Blackwell miscued to cover after hitting three sixes in making 43 off 40 balls. Going in at 66 for 4, Blackwell gave the innings impetus with two sixes over mid-wicket in an over from offspinner Jigar Naik.In reply, Leicestershire looked like coasting to victory until their opening stand of 72 ended in the 13th over when Josh Cobb sliced Callum Thorp to backward point to depart for 37. It was the first of four catches for Collingwood, who held the other three at slip off the spinners.Even at 117 for 2 the visitors were clear favourites, but two wickets fell on that total as Blackwell and Breese both bowled wicket maidens. It was left-armer Blackwell who ended Jacques du Toit’s innings of 56 off 65 balls to finish with 2 for 15 in his eight overs.Breese’s second wicket came when Wayne White, having hit 12 runs off the first five balls of an over, reverse swept the last one straight to backward point. Breese also took the last two wickets to finish with 4 for 21.

A late collapse from Namibia and a quick half-century from Paul Stirling left Ireland with just 38 more to get, with six wickets in hand, to win the Intercontinental Cup match

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChristi Viljoen top-scored with 87 before he was bowled by John Mooney as Ireland established firm control of the match•ICC

A late collapse from Namibia and a quick half-century from Paul Stirling left Ireland with just 38 more to get, with six wickets in hand, to win the Intercontinental Cup match. A couple of strikes from Louis van der Westhuizen just before stumps gave Namibia a window of hope going in to the fourth day but it is a small one, as Ireland’s centurion from the first innings Andrew White is still at the wicket along with his captain Kevin O’Brien.Namibia were 124 for 2 at one stage in their innings, but ended up being bowled out for 226, leaving Ireland 173 to win. It was not a straightforward chase given the highest total of the game had been 298, but Stirling attacked Namibia and Ireland were cruising at 75 for 1. He was trapped lbw by Stephan Baard but Alex Cusack guided the chase with a steady 42, before van der Westhuizen gave Namibia the slightest of openings.Stirling made his intentions clear early, hitting the fourth ball he faced for a six over fine leg.
Louis Klazinga was the recipient of most of the punishment, and Stirling took him for three boundaries in the ninth over, two through point and one to midwicket. Stirling looked like he wanted to finish the game on the third day itself, and smashed Baard for two boundaries to long-on in the 15th over before he missed one and was caught in front. The scoring did not slow too much once he was gone though, and Ireland finished the day on 135 for 4 from just 32 overs.Namibia’s day started badly with Stephanus Ackermann falling in the first over, caught at extra-cover off John Mooney. Christi Viljoen, who had started aggressively on the second day, looked to play the anchor role while Namibia captain Craig Williams went for his shots, hitting eight fours in his 40 off 43 balls. George Dockrell, who took five wickets in the first innings, had Williams caught behind down the leg side and Viljoen went soon after the lunch break bowled by an inswinger from Mooney.After that Namibia struggled to put together partnerships, and Dockrell helped himself to two more wickets to take his match-tally to eight.

A round-up of matches from the eighth weekend in Kenya’s East African Cup and East Africa Elite League

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2011

East Africa Premier League

Rift Valley Rhinos reignited the Twenty20 competition with a surprise five-wicket win over leaders Rwenzori Warriors in Kampala. The result cuts the Warriors lead to four points whereas two rounds ago they were a seemingly unassailable eight points ahead. Warriors never got going after winning the toss and batting, and only Roger Mukasa (32) hung around for any time as they were bowled out for 93. The Rhinos were wobbling on 58 for 5 before Ramesh Mepani (29* off 31 balls) calmly saw them home with two overs in hand.Nile Knights, unbeaten in five T20 games, took the chance to close the gap with a comfortable 33-run victory over Nairobi Buffaloes. The Knights made 140 for 9 – Collins Obuya picked up late wickets to return figures of 4 for 20 – and the Buffaloes lost too many early wickets to mount a serious challenge.Kongonis enjoyed a straightforward five-wicket win against winless Coast Pekee in Mombasa with 23 balls to spare.

East African Cup

All three matches were rained off leaving the table unchanged.

A round-up of the second day of the seventh round of Division One in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2011Abbottabad are six wickets away from a comprehensive win against Faisalabad at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi. Having bowled Faisalabad out for 74 on the first day, Abbottabad managed 311 in their first innings and had Faisalabad tottering at 42 for 4 in their second attempt by the end of the second day. Abbottabad started the day on 110 for 3 and lost an early wicket but Rameez Ahmed completed his half-century and shared a 74-run stand with Riaz Kail. Once Rameez was dismissed, Kail carried on and reached 67. The lower order all made handy contributions to push the score beyond 300. Faisalabad came out to bat needing 237 runs just to avoid an innings defeat and were in trouble by stumps. While Ahmed Jamal did the bulk of the damage in their first innings, it was left-arm spinner Mohammad Naeem who struck three times to wreck Faisalabad’s top order this time around.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited‘s seamers put them in a strong position against Habib Bank Limited at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, bowling HBL out for 156, thus securing a 45-run first-innings lead. By the end of the second day ZTBL had reached 119 for 1 in their second innings putting them in prime position to push for a win. HBL had got off to a solid start thanks to Ahmed Shehzad’s 42 but wickets began to tumble shortly into the second day and they slipped from 47 for 0 to 115 for 7. The wickets were shared around between ZTBL’s seamers and apart from Shehzad only two of HBL’s top-order batsmen reached double-figures. There was some resistance from Danish Kaneria, who made 25 not out at No. 10, but HBL conceded the lead. In ZTBL’s second innings Sharjeel Khan moved to 43 not out and Yasir Hameed reached 44 not out by stumps.Islamabad‘s seamers bowled Rawalpindi out for 119 on the second day at the at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, forcing them to follow on. Rawalpindi slipped to 26 for 3 in their second attempt but a half-century from Adnan Mufti got them to 100 for 3 by stumps. Rawalpindi are still 70 runs away from making Islamabad bat again, though, and the hosts will be eyeing a first win of the season. Islamabad took their overnight score of 226 for 6 to 289 and were then led by Fakhar Hussain, who took three top-order wickets to leave Rawalpindi reeling at 31 for 4. Zohaib Ahmed helped himself to three wickets too while Nasrullah Khan took four as only three Rawalpindi batsmen reached double-figures. Fakhar repeated his efforts in the next innings, again taking three early wickets before Mufit’s resistance kept Rawalpindi afloat.The match between State Bank of Pakistan and National Bank of Pakistan at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad was finely balanced by the end of the second day with State Bank reaching 237 for 6 in response to National Bank’s 282. The match swung through the day, with National Bank taking an early advantage thanks to a couple of strikes from this season’s second-highest wicket-taker, fast bowler Mohammad Talha. State Bank were 61 for 3 before Rameez Raja’s 79 and Rameez Aziz’s unbeaten 51 lifted them to a strong position. They looked to have the advantage as the end of the day neared, with Aziz and Gulraiz Sadaf putting together a 71-run stand. But Gulraiz became seamer Uzair-ul-Haq’s third victim to give National Bank an opening.The low-scoring match between Pakistan International Airlines and Water and Power Development Authority at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad is set for a tense finish as WAPDA finished the second day 161 runs ahead with three wickets remaining. PIA managed to get an eight-run first-innings lead after taking their overnight score of 111 for 5 to 186. Fahad Iqbal added just 12 runs to his overnight score of 50 not out but wicketkeeper Anop Santosh moved to 47 and Najaf Shah contributed 20 at No. 10. Seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan bagged his third five-wicket haul of the season to ensure PIA took only a small lead. WAPDA then started their second innings strongly, reaching 74 for 0 thanks to Asif Khan’s 49. Things began to unravel from there and WAPDA were soon 109 for 6. Contributions from Nawaz Sardar and Naved kept them in the game and they will now be aiming to set PIA a target of over 200, which could prove difficult on a pitch where batsmen have struggled.Karachi Blues made a strong comeback against Sialkot at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot and finished the second day 38 runs ahead with all ten wickets remaining. Sialkot dominated the first day and started the second on 98 for 0 in response to Karachi’s first-innings total of 166. Karachi’s fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and Tanvir Ahmed got them back into the game, taking four wickets each to make sure Sialkot lost 10 wickets for 133 runs and were bowled out for 249. Overnight batsman Mohammad Yasin took his score to 81 and Mohammad Ayub scored 67 to take Sialkot to 217 for 4. A collapse followed in which four of the last six batsmen were dismissed for ducks and Sialkot were restricted to a lead of 83. That was quickly wiped out by Karachi’s openers who put together an unbeaten stand of 121 at 4.93 runs an over. Shahzaib Hasan had reached 72 not out off 76 balls by the end of the day while Asad Baig moved to 42 not out.

A round-up of the action from the third day of the first round of the Ranji Trophy Plate League 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2011

Group A

Four-wicket hauls by Himachal Pradesh‘s Mohinderraj Sharma and Rishi Dhawan forced Tripura to follow-on on the third day in Agartala. Tripura began the day on a solid 91 for 1, but lost three quick wickets for just two runs. Subhrajit Roy went on to score 75 before he was dismissed by Mohinderraj. The left-arm seamer claimed three more wickets to finish with 4 for 47. Wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant made a fighting 67 but it wasn’t enough to take his team past the follow-on mark. Batting again, Tripura lost Roy to a 26-ball duck.Half-centuries by captain VA Jagadeesh and Abhishek Hegde led Kerala‘s steady reply to Vidarbha‘s 557 in Nagpur. The two openers shared a stand of 156 before Jagadeesh fell 12 short of his century. Hegde made 76 before he was caught off the bowling of legspinner Sairaj Bahutule. Kerala were set back towards the end of the day when they lost two quick wickets. Sachin Baby and Sony Cheruvathur were at the crease at stumps.Gonnabattula Chiranjeevi’s blistering unbeaten century gave Andhra Pradesh control of their game against Services in Delhi. Chiranjeevi made 105 from just 110 balls, smashing nine fours and two sixes along the way, to set up Andhra’s declaration at 307 for 9 and leave Services needing 433 to win. The hosts successfully negotiated the five overs before the close of play, but they still trail by 418 and will be hard pressed to bat out the final day and save the game.

Group B

An unbeaten century by Vaibhav Naik and a fifty by Saurabh Bandekar helped arrest a middle-order collapse to keep Goa afloat against Maharashtra. Goa slipped from 59 for 2 to 67 for 5 before Bandekar joined Naik to rescue the hosts in Porvorim. Bandekar made 80 before he was bowled by Akshaya Darekar. Naik remained unbeaten on 137 with Robin D’Souza for company. Goa ended the penultimate day trailing by 115 runs with three wickets in hand.Hyderabad held the upper hand in Uppal as they finished with 416 and had Jharkhand trailing by 217 runs with five wickets in hand. Syed Quadri, overnight on 77, went on to make 105 before he was bowled by Shankar Rao. The right-arm seamer Rao finished with 4 for 69. Ishank Jaggi led Jharkhand’s reply with 81. Lalith Mohan, the left-arm spinner, was among the wickets, claiming Jaggi to end the day with figures of 3 for 45.No play was possible on the third day of the Jammu & Kashmir v Assam match in Srinagar.

Mushfiqur Rahim said poor shot selection hindered Bangladesh’s chances of saving the second Test

Mohammad Isam21-Dec-2011The shots played by Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, Bangladesh’s captain and vice-captain, were dreadful examples of leading from the front. The captain getting out with his team just a session away from safety was the bigger offender. Pakistan eventually beat the clock and the fading light, chasing down the target of 103 to win the series 2-0.With bad light being so much of an issue in the second Test in Mirpur, it was likely to come into play as Bangladesh fought for a draw. Mushfiqur had done the hard work of keeping the two-hour morning session wicketless, with 86 runs in 29 overs. He added 107 for the sixth wicket with Nasir Hossain, who batted without trouble against a Pakistan attack that waned at times.The pair surged along, knocking off Pakistan’s 132-run lead, and both batsmen reached half-centuries. However, Abdur Rehman found a way through Nasir Hossain’s defences after lunch, and it was all down to Mushfiqur and the tail. What the captain did next is another example of how Bangladesh implode all of a sudden. After batting nearly three hours, Mushfiqur skipped down the wicket and, in his effort to attack Rehman, ended up lofting one to Saeed Ajmal at mid-off to depart for 53.”Of course I will take the blame. If I didn’t get out, we could have batted 30 minutes more,” Mushfiqur said after the defeat. “I feel guilty for my shot as I let my team down.”I was set so I thought if I take a chance, I could score 20-30 more runs. My plan was correct but execution was wrong. They only had square-leg back. I tried it earlier but couldn’t get to the ball.”The timing of Mushfiqur’s dismissal was a sickening blow to Bangladesh’s pursuit for safety. It was all over in 25 minutes.On the fourth evening, Mushfiqur’s deputy, Mahmudullah, had committed a similar blunder. After Tamim Iqbal and Shahriar Nafees suffered poor decisions, Mahmudullah’s shot was hard to comprehend. He chased a wide delivery from Aizaz Cheema and top-edged to deep point to be dismissed for 32 off 50 balls.”He [Mahmudullah] knows it well that when he got out, it was a bad time. He was having good partnerships with Nazimuddin and Nasir,” Mushfiqur said. “We have to cut down on some shots in such situations.”Ever since I started playing for Bangladesh, this has happened. This is the fact. We make mistakes in situations and we can’t recover. If we had taken all the catches, they wouldn’t have taken the 130-run lead. It would have been a different ball game if we took a 250-280 lead.”Mushfiqur, however, believed his team had improved with every innings during this Test series against Pakistan. “Overall batting-wise, we have gradually improved. Some of our batsmen could bat for a long time, which was our goal. We often get out after a quick 30-40. These are the positives.”If we lose four, five wickets in a session, or they score 100 for 0, it becomes difficult to come back. Our bowlers created a lot of chances in this game, but we couldn’t capture it.”

Hobart Hurricanes’ last gasp victory over Melbourne Renegades at Bellerive Oval secured Xavier Doherty’s side a Big Bash League semi-final at home

The Report by Alex Malcolm18-Jan-2012
ScorecardOwais Shah played a match-winning innings for Hobart Hurricanes•Getty Images

Extraordinary. Thrilling. Bizarre. That summed up Hobart Hurricanes’ last gasp victory over Melbourne Renegades at Bellerive Oval, which secured Xavier Doherty’s side a Big Bash League semi-final at home.Chasing 174, it came down to the last over. Renegades captain Andrew McDonald gambled by entrusting Shahid Afridi with the job. Hurricanes needed 10 to win from Afridi’s six balls.Before that climax, Renegades had been in control. Hurricanes needed 52 off 30 balls with Owais Shah on 26 and Jonathon Wells on 62. Afridi conceded 18 from the 16th over, including one delivery that cost five wides, as he was unable to combat the pre-delivery movement and unusual hitting of Shah.Shah was still there at the start of the final over but he was stuck at the non-striker’s end. Phil Jaques had moved down the order to five to accommodate Mark Cosgrove’s inclusion. With 8 from 4 balls faced, Jaques top-edged a reverse-sweep over short third man for three runs. The equation was seven off five. Shah cut the next to point for one. Six off four. Afidi fired a quicker full toss that struck Jaques on the pad. No run. Jaques squeezed a single from the next, leaving Shah five to win from two balls. Afridi was on the verge of being the hero.Then the twist. Shah backed away, Afridi fired full and wide, Shah managed to edge it fine to third man for four. Hobart needed one off the last ball to avoid a super over. Afridi obliged with a wide. Shah was not required to play a shot to win his side the game. He was named Man of the Match for his unbeaten 49 from 30 balls.Earlier in the game, Renegades looked like they had saved their best performance of the tournament for their last appearance. After winning the toss, Brad Hodge and Aaron Finch rollicked along in the Hobart sun. They thumped an opening stand of 126 from just 13.3 overs. Finch made 67, Hodge 63, as the pair struck four sixes and thirteen boundaries between them. The coup de grace was Finch’s three consecutive sixes against Jason Krejza. The offspinner had the last laugh, though, having Finch caught at long-off. Despite being expensive, Krejza picked up three important wickets.Renegades were unable to capitalise on the incredible foundation that was laid. After Hodge departed in the 14th over, they managed just 43 from the last 36 deliveries of the innings.It made the chase an enticing one for the inform Hobart top-order. Jonathan Wells made his highest score of the tournament – a well-compiled 72 from 61 balls. He was ably supported by the Big Bash League’s leading run-scorer, Travis Birt, who clubbed 25 from 16 balls, including three sixes in the space of six balls.When Afridi trapped Birt lbw, Renegades regained the ascendancy before Shah entered to do what he does best. He controlled the chased with clever placement and superb timing. He did leave it to the last ball to seal victory, but he got the result he required and secured his team a home semi-final in the process.