Doug Watson is set to replace Johan Rudolph as the coach of the Namibian national team, Cricket Namibia has confirmed

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2012Doug Watson is set to replace Johan Rudolph as the coach of the Namibian national team, Cricket Namibia has confirmed. He will take charge of the team from October 22. Watson, who played first-class cricket in South Africa for 15 years, has been involved with Namibian cricket for the past two years in various capacities.”I’m extremely privileged and humbled to be the national coach for Cricket Namibia,” Watson said. “It is an exciting period of life for me, I believe that cricket in Namibia can only go forward, we have an exciting international and South African cricket calendar ahead of us and we’ll be looking to achieve our goals and objectives.”Watson has previously had coaching stints with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2009, where he was the assistant coach to Shaun Pollock, and the head coach of the Kwa-zulu Natal Inland team between 2009-11. He played 139 first-class matches, scoring 7692 runs at an average of 36.80.

A round-up of the second day’s action of fourth round Group B matches in the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2012
Scorecard
It was a tense day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as Karnataka and Odisha tussled for the first-innings lead. Karnataka seemed to have had the better of the first day having bowled out Odisha for 202, but found themselves at 183 for 7 in the final session. That brought together CM Gautam and KP Appanna, the same pair that had batted out 40 minutes on the final day to deny UP an outright win earlier this week. They took Karnataka to 197 for 7 before Gautam was run out, and Appanna holed out off Basant Mohanty. Karnataka’s last-wicket pair had to put on six to grab the first-innings lead. SL Akshay, who starred with the ball on the first day, steered them with the bat, hitting five fours in his 26 to take Karnataka to 213. Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar then took two early wickets to leave Odisha at 30 for 2 before bad light ended play. The first-innings lead may not prove crucial as there is plenty of time left in the game to produce an outright result.
Scorecard
Baroda’s openers put on a big stand to give their side control of the match against Haryana, the only team in the competition yet to score a point. Saurabh Wakaskar, playing only his second first-class match, made his maiden Ranji century and added 189 with Aditya Waghmode, who made his fourth fifty-plus scores in five innings this season. Baroda would have been in an even stronger position if not for legspinner Amit Mishra getting three lbws late in the day to push Baroda to 197 for 3. In the morning, another batsman playing his second first-class match hit a century. Haryana’s Rahul Dalal completed his hundred even as the side lost their final five wickets for 48 to end on 295. Offspinner Utkarsh Patel, who had only two wickets in his three first-class matches so far, was the most successful of the Baroda bowlers, taking five for 83.
ScorecardMaiden Ranji Trophy centuries for Delhi rookie Mohit Sharma and debutant Vaibhav Rawal extended Tamil Nadu’s woes on day two of their group game at Feroz Shah Kotla. Delhi declared their first innings on 555 for 4 half an hour before stumps and dismissed Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund in the first over. Tamil Nadu were 31 for 1 at the close. Read the full report here.
ScorecardVidarbha left-arm seamer Shrikant Wagh claimed figures of 5 for 23 at an economy rate of 0.84 to bring his team back into the contest against Maharashtra in Nagpur. Maharashtra held the upper hand on the first day at 227 for 3, which featured a century from opener Virag Awate. But Wagh, who had bowled a wicketless but economical spell the previous day, claimed wickets regularly to bowl them out for 282. Besides Awate’s 126 and No. 3 Sangram Atitkar’s 45, none of the other batsmen put up a resistance.Vidarbha lost a couple of wickets early in their reply, but opener Faiz Fazal scored an unbeaten half-century to take them to 123 for 3 at stumps.

The Big Bash League’s marquee player Shane Warne will miss the Melbourne Stars clash with the Adelaide Strikers after travelling to the UK for Christmas

Alex Malcolm26-Dec-2012The Big Bash League’s marquee player Shane Warne will miss the Melbourne Stars clash with the Adelaide Strikers after travelling to the UK for Christmas.The Stars sent a press release late on Christmas Eve saying that their captain had “pre-existing commitments in the United Kingdom” and would miss the match scheduled for Thursday December 27.Warne made no secret of his location announcing on twitter: “Am spending my first Christmas away from Melbourne in 43 years I was hoping for a white Christmas in the UK & build snowmen too – sob !!! X”.It has been widely reported that part of Warne’s contract to play in the Big Bash League has been funded directly by Cricket Australia. Neither CA nor the South Australian Cricket Association has commented on Warne missing the match in Adelaide where a large crowd is expected.Former Stars captain Cameron White will take the reigns for the important clash with the Strikers, in which either side could all but sure up a semi-final berth.”It was something that was pre-arranged I think,” White said about Warne’s absence.”It is something that the team always knew was going to happen. He’s actually bowling quite well at the moment. But the team is very comfortable with the situation.”The two teams enter the match in fantastic form. The Strikers thumped the Sixers by nine wickets in Adelaide last Sunday to notch their third win of the tournament. Their attack featured three spinners in Johan Botha, Cameron Boyce and Brad Young, as well as the express pace of Shaun Tait.The Stars have their own firebrand, the form bowler of the tournament Lasith Malinga. But in Warne’s absence the spin duties will be left to the part-timers of White, David Hussey, and Glenn Maxwell, unless they select the inexperienced left-arm orthodox bowler Clive Rose. The Stars will get Luke Wright back from international duties with England.Shane Warne is scheduled to return for the Stars match with the Brisbane Heat on January 3.

The preview of the 1st Test between South Africa and New Zealand in Cape Town

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran01-Jan-2013

Match facts

Vernon Philander has been passed fit to play•Gallo Images

January 2-6, 2013

Start time 1030 local (0830 GMT)

Big Picture

In the last year, New Zealand have been practically living out of a suitcase, making trips to West Indies, India, Sri Lanka, and now South Africa. The most well-travelled team of 2012 has had more disappointment than joy. A sequence of five consecutive Test defeats started in the West Indies and ended in Colombo, where they recorded an odds-defying win. There were few positives to emerge from the clean sweeps suffered in the West Indies and India. The top order did not contribute enough and was criticised for irresponsibility. As a result, New Zealand’s impressive seam attack never had enough runs to work with. Another clean sweep loomed in Sri Lanka after they were vanquished in three days in Galle, but the captain Ross Taylor led by example in Colombo and it rubbed off on his team-mates as New Zealand proved they had the resilience to fight back.What New Zealand did not need was the internal turmoil that subsequently led to Taylor pulling out of the South Africa tour. With Daniel Vettori out injured, New Zealand are short on experienced hands against the world’s highest-ranked Test side, in home conditions. The teams are mismatched on paper, but if one of the seniors can show greater responsibility, the series could get competitive. Much will depend on whether New Zealand can bat for long periods and blunt South Africa’s seamers. Setting smaller targets, such as batting out an hour without losing a wicket, will help. They have had the benefit of a warm-up match, but only three batsmen – Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson – made half-centuries.After lifting the Test championship mace at Lord’s, South Africa enhanced their reputation by beating Australia at home. They fought tooth and nail to save the Adelaide Test and then were clinical in victory in Perth. Unlike New Zealand, they have a full-strength side at their disposal. This will also be their first Test at home as the No. 1 team.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
New Zealand WLLLL
South Africa WDDWD

In the spotlight

Kane Williamson may be only 18 Tests old, but is already being identified as a future Test captain. Though not officially the vice-captain, he is perceived as an understudy to McCullum. His temperament has been praised and his 135 in Colombo and crucial partnership with Taylor was an example of that. He is one of New Zealand’s better players of spin, but he may not face too much of it in South Africa.Dean Elgar had a horrific start to his Test career in Perth, making ducks in both innings. Fortunately for him, the selectors have given him another chance. Elgar, a left-handed middle order batsman, will play instead of the under-performing Jacques Rudolph. While the first five positions are secure, of late the No. 6 position has not been. This is a chance for Elgar to nail it down, with the likes of JP Duminy also competing for it. Thami Tsolekile is also in the mix, but for the moment, AB de Villiers will continue to keep wicket.

Team news

With Vernon Philander passed fit, South Africa are likely to play the same XI from Perth.South Africa (likely): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Alviro Petersen, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Dean Elgar, 7 Faf du Plessis, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 Vernon Philander, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne MorkelFor New Zealand, BJ Watling will keep wicket, relieving that responsibility from the captain McCullum. Dean Brownlie will be Taylor’s replacement in the middle order. McCullum hinted at playing an extra spinner for a seamer after seeing cracks on the pitch, meaning that the left-arm spinner Bruce Martin could be in for a debut.New Zealand (likely): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Dean Brownlie, 5 Daniel Flynn, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 James Franklin, 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Jeetan Patel, 11 Bruce Martin/Chris Martin

Pitch and conditions

The Newlands pitch appeared fairly dark in colour on the eve of the game. It is expected to flatten out from the second day and the spinners will come into play later on.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand have won just one Test in South Africa, since their readmission, at the Wanderers in 1994-95. They went on to the lose the next two, and the series.
• Dale Steyn is one wicket away from 300 Test wickets.
• Jacques Kallis is 20 away from 13000 Test runs. Only Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid are above him.

Quotes

“The team has taken big steps forward. We’ve travelled a lot in the last year. It was hostile, it was tough. Hopefully now we can play the same style of cricket in South Africa with home support.”
.”We pushed them quite hard in that series and put them under pressure at times. We’ve just got to make sure we get better and compete for longer in this series.”
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Sri Lanka have picked Kushal Perera, the wicketkeeper-batsman, for the limited-overs series in Australia, and spinner Ajantha Mendis makes a comeback after suffering a side strain during the World Twenty20 late last year

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jan-2013Sri Lanka have picked Kushal Perera, the wicketkeeper-batsman, for the limited-overs series in Australia, and spinner Ajantha Mendis makes a comeback after suffering a side strain during the World Twenty20 late last year. Mendis hasn’t played ODI cricket since January last year.Perera replaces Kumar Sangakkara, who was ruled out of the tour last month due to a hand injury. Perera has had a good run in the Premier Limited Over Tournament, the List A competition in Sri Lanka; he’s the leading run-scorer, with 365 runs in eight games at 73, including a century and two fifties.Two names missing from the limited-overs squad that played New Zealand in November are allrounder Chamara Kapugedera and offspinner Tharindu Kaushal. Suranga Lakmal, who has been called in as replacement for Chanaka Welegedera in the squad for the third Test in Sydney, has been selected for the limited-overs series. Sri Lanka play five ODIs and two T20 internationals; the first ODI starts on January 11 in Melbourne.Squad: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Angelo Mathews, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Rangana Herath, Kushal Perera, Shaminda Eranga.

New Zealand Cricket will be a beneficiary of the ICC’s Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP), and will receive US$1.8 million over a period of three years

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2013New Zealand Cricket will be a beneficiary of the ICC’s Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP), and will receive US$1.8 million over a period of three years. The programme is geared towards developing more competitive teams among the ICC’s Full and Associate/Affiliate Members. New Zealand are currently No.8 in both the Test and ODI rankings. The decision was made at the meeting of the ICC board in Dubai. The first Full members to receive ICC funding as part of the TAPP were West Indies and Zimbabwe last year.”The New Zealand Cricket initiative will focus on a programme of ‘A’ Team cricket and the development of coaching and sports science expertise,” an ICC release stated.The TAPP programme, which formed part of the ICC’s strategic plan for 2011-2015, began at the start of last year, with a $12m fund aimed at giving teams at all levels a chance to generate funding support from the ICC in order to improve team performance.Ireland and Scotland were the first to receive TAPP assistance in June last year, at the end of the ICC’s annual conference in Kuala Lumpur, with an award of $500,000 per annum for three years.
Countries that would like to receive funding are asked to go through a bidding process starting with a formal application that could lead up to a possible presentation, before the award is recommended by the ICC’s finance and commercial affairs committee to the board. The ICC then works with the board to develop a three-year MOU to detail the specific activities to be supported by the funding.The increasing number of domestic T20 leagues was also discussed at the meeting and the board agreed that further deliberations must be aimed at “attaining co-existence between domestic T20 leagues and the international game”. “Domestic Twenty20 leagues have provided so many opportunities for players and officials alike as well as entertaining large domestic crowds,” the release quoted the ICC chief executive David Richardson as saying. “A workable and balanced international playing calendar is key to the sustainability of the game.”In an interview with ESPNcricinfo in October last year, Richardson said, “there has to be a way to make sure that they [domestic T20 leagues] can exist and complement international cricket rather than destroy or cannibalise it.”The next ICC Annual Conference will be held in London in June this year.The ICC Board consists of the president or chairman from each of the 10 Full members plus three Associate member representatives. Also present at ICC Board meetings is the ICC President, who chairs proceedings, the ICC Vice-President and the ICC Chief Executive.

James Pattinson has conceded he did not take his axeing from the Test side well on Monday but has come around to the realisation the severe punishment was necessary for letting his team-mates down

Brydon Coverdale12-Mar-2013James Pattinson has conceded he did not take his axeing from the Test side well on Monday but has come around to the realisation the severe punishment was necessary for letting his team-mates down. Pattinson, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja were all told they would not be considered for the Mohali Test starting on Thursday due to their failure to complete a task on how they and the team could improve following the innings loss in Hyderabad.After the decision was made by the coach Mickey Arthur, captain Michael Clarke and team manager Gavin Dovey, Watson flew home to be with his pregnant wife but also said he would consider his future as a cricketer. Pattinson, Johnson and Khawaja remained with the squad and trained as usual on Tuesday, and they will be available for selection for the fourth Test in Delhi after serving their one-match penalty in Mohali.”We had a training session yesterday and we apologised to the team about it,” Pattinson said on Tuesday. “It does hurt, missing a Test match. It’s not only that, you let your team down as well. At the time I was told I was quite upset. At the start I didn’t take it as well as I probably could have. The easy thing for me was to make excuses and say it’s a harsh punishment.”But the reality is it’s not – it’s part of playing cricket for Australia. You’ve got to do everything right. It wasn’t hard for the other 12 blokes to get it in on time and they took the time out to really reflect and do what’s best for the team whereas we four didn’t. Right now I’m still hurting about it but in the long run I think it’s going to make us a better team.”Following the loss by an innings and 135 runs, the tenth biggest margin for an Australian defeat in Test history, Arthur asked every player in the squad to think about where they and the team had gone wrong and could improve. They were given four days to complete the task and while 12 did so by the Saturday night deadline, four had still not by Monday morning.”It was one of those things where I didn’t put in 100% for the team,” Pattinson said. “At this level you can’t forget. It’s pretty cut throat and personally not good enough. It wasn’t a hard task at all and it was something that was very valuable for the team going forward. It comes down to preparation for a Test, you can prepare in the nets and the batting, bowling and fielding but preparing off the field as well is just as important.”It shows a lack of respect to the coach, the captain as well, and the rest of the team. I know if I was in their position, as a team member, I’d be quite disappointed in them for being a bit selfish. People talk about it as a harsh punishment but looking deeply into it you realise probably it’s not. If you want to be part of the Australian cricket team you have to do everything right. It’s not acceptable. I believe it’s the right punishment. Everyone in the group needs to understand that this is the lengths we need to go to to be successful as a team.”On Monday, Clarke and Arthur were at pains to stress that their extreme decision was the result not only of the players failing to complete this task, but also because the squad in general had been lax over the course of the tour and an example needed to be made. The initial reaction from a number of former players was one of disbelief that four men would be left out due to what might have seemed a trivial oversight, but Pattinson said in a young playing group he understood the need to build a positive culture.”They’re entitled to their opinion and a lot of the players that are saying that were great players and they probably didn’t have to deal with this stuff because they were in a period of time when they were on top of the world,” Pattinson said. “We’re in a different position. We’re trying to build a culture. We’ve got a lot of young guys. I think other people are starting to come around a bit more and understand the reasons behind it.”It’s not massive things. A lot of people are saying it’s just for not handing something in but it’s more than that. It’s little things like sometimes being late for something. You can give fines for that but that’s only so much. You talk about being late to things, the worst thing is actually being excluded from something. Being excluded from the team, being excluded from playing a Test match. That’s what hurts the most.”Australia will miss Watson in Mohali, the venue where he made his last Test century, but Pattinson will be arguably an even bigger loss on a pitch expected to offer more bounce for the fast men. Pattinson has taken eight wickets at 23.62 on this tour so far, twice as many wickets as any other Australian bowler, but he said the bigger picture for Australia was not just about this Mohali Test but about creating a strong team structure in the longer term.”Hopefully we’ve got the talent to one day be a great team,” Pattinson said. “We’ve got a huge period with the back-to-back Ashes that are going to be important. I think we must get these little niggling things out of the way now and send a message that come Ashes time we will be ready to go – and united as a group – to perform there, because the Ashes are massive for us and we are striving to get back against the Poms.”

Pakistan Cricket Board doctors have said Saeed Ajmal is “fully fit” and not suffering from a hernia, as initially feared

Umar Farooq03-Apr-2013Pakistan Cricket Board doctors have said Saeed Ajmal is “fully fit” and not suffering from a hernia, as initially feared. Ajmal had been suffering from pain in his lower abdomen, suspecting he had a hernia, but a recent assessment by the PCB’s panel of doctors have cleared him. The panel had suggested he meet with a sports hernia specialist in either England or Australia to get further clarification.”As far as his hernia is concerned, doctors have ruled out this possibility after consulting his reports,” a PCB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. “He is resting at the moment and is fully fit to play any upcoming series.”Ajmal, 35, has been suffering from mild pain in his lower abdomen for the last two months and was suspected to have sustained a hernia. After the South Africa tour, he was unavailable for almost the entirety of the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup. He featured in the final against Sialkot Stallions, after doctors had cleared him to play.Pakistan’s next major assignment is the ICC Champions Trophy in England in June, with a few ODIs scheduled prior in Scotland and Ireland. Ajmal however, in any case, is available for selection.The PCB’s doctors have been criticised for their handling of player fitness and injury issues. Last year, before the India tour, Harris Sohail twisted his ankle during a training camp at Gaddafi Stadium, but after an initial assessment, was cleared to travel with the team. He returned without playing any match on the India tour, but was retained for the South Africa Test series, where he redeveloped a strain in his ankle, and was subsequently sent home without playing.

Kings XI kept their slim hope alive, and made it difficult for Royal Challengers

The Report by Sidharth Monga14-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Adam Gilchrist with the man he believed should have been the Man of the Match: Azhar Mahmood•BCCI

During one of the matches that Adam Gilchrist sat out of, he complained – not without humour – about how the umpiring mistakes had all been targeting his Kings XI Punjab side. He also said that he might have had a whinge, but his side needed to do better despite umpiring mistakes. It seemed Gilchrist would be left saying something similar tonight after Chris Gayle survived an lbw shout when he was 4 off 11, and went onto help Royal Challengers Bangalore score 122 in the last 10 overs.Luck turned on the night, though. Gilchrist was plumb at 18 off 16 when he didn’t pick a Muttiah Muralitharan doosra. A mix of outside edges, inside edges and some vintage Gilchrist shots, helped by Azhar Mahmood’s 61 off 41, stunned Royal Challengers, ending the chase of 175 with 11 balls to spare. Kings XI kept their slim hope alive, and made it difficult for Royal Challengers, who were left fighting Sunrisers Hyderabad for the final playoff place. Sunrisers are level with Royal Challengers, but have a game in hand.Put in, Royal Challengers needed a huge total on a flat pitch and short outfield, especially given their bowling. For a long period of time, it seemed Royal Challengers wouldn’t even get to a fighting total. Kings XI bowled few loose balls in the first half of the innings, and Gayle and Virat Kohli struggled to come to terms with the pace of the pitch.After their misfortune, Kings XI lost their way towards the end. Once Gayle and Kohli began hitting, the Kings XI bowlers were like rabbits caught in headlights and kept bowling length balls, which kept disappearing. Parvinder Awana, the bowler who had been denied the Gayle wicket earlier, came back to rip Gayle’s stump into two in the 19th over. Despite the damage control, Kings XI had been hit hard, and the momentum seemed to have shifted.However, Royal Challengers bowlers once again had no sting. Theirs is a bit like the typical Indian ODI team under MS Dhoni, with which no total seems safe. Gilchrist was scratching around, and struggling to go at a run a ball when Mahmood joined him. Having bowled two good overs at the death, Mahmood came and smacked three consecutive boundaries in the sixth over to inject some life into the chase.Gilchrist kept handing over the strike to Mahmood until it was time for both to go. Then Gilchrist got an outside edge for four. Then a four off the inside half of the bat. The best of Gilchrist came against Muralitharan when he charged at him and drove him back over his head for four. He bettered it by charging at the returning Zaheer Khan and sending him back over the sight screen. It all ended in a blur after that, but his driving and sweeping of Murali for consecutive sixes stood out.Once again Gilchrist called it as he saw it. He pointed out both the lbw mistakes, admitted that he “scratched around like an old chook” in the first half, and that Mahmood deserved the Man-of-the-Match award that he got.

A stuttering top order and a lame effort with the ball saw Delhi Daredevils succumb for the ninth time in 12 matches, while Rajasthan Royals sounded out a warning with a nine-wicket thumping

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando07-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
–>A stuttering top order and a lame effort with the ball consigned Delhi Daredevils to their ninth loss in 12 matches, while Rajasthan Royals sounded a warning with a nine-wicket thumping that embellished their unbeaten home record, and propelled them to second place on the table.Royals’ seventh straight victory in Jaipur was founded first on robust bowling, as Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny and 41-year-old debutant Pravin Tambe struck upon a collective consistency that erased the damage done in Shaun Tait’s early, wayward overs. Their openers then flew to an unbeaten century stand in staggeringly orthodox fashion, and ensured Daredevils’ modest total would not challenge them.Ajinkya Rahane, who opened alongside Rahul Dravid, was dropped on 4, but did hardly a misdeed thereafter, as he finished not out on 63 from 45 balls, after he hit the winning run in the 18th over. Dravid had more of the strike in the early overs, and though he was the slower scorer, reached his fifty first, before departing for 53, with the match almost secure, at 108 for 1.It was Royals’ bowling, however, that had the bigger impact on the match, as they muzzled a seasoned Delhi Daredevils top order, despite their strike bowler’s indiscretions. Tait began the match with an 11-run over, three wides among those runs, and his second cost 17, later in the Powerplay. But James Faulkner and Watson had struck once each in between those Tait overs, and that was enough to scare Mahela Jayawardene and David Warner into relative reticence.On a pitch so full of runs, Daredevils did not hesitate to bat first, but the visitors were barely scoring at six an over inside the Powerplay, and when Warner departed in the eighth over to leave his side at 47 for 3, the run rate dipped further still. Jayawardene attempted a measured rescue, but fell too, before he could make any meaningful impact, and were it not for a well-paced 64 not out from Ben Rohrer, whose recent nuptials had evidently done him good, Daredevils may not have reached 154 for 4 on a pitch on which they should have made 180.Royals’ openers exploited Daredevils bowling, and the pair went about playing orthodox cricket, with just the level of aggression required for such a chase. Daredevils’ seam bowlers strayed towards the pads too often, and Dravid laced the first four of the innings through the leg side, and continued to prosper there, throughout his innings. Rahane began with more nerves – an inside edge past the stumps in the eighth over in addition to the early life – but he found the going simple enough in the end, thanks largely to the largesse of the bowlers. Watson arrived after Dravid’s fall in the 14th over and struck two powerful fours off Umesh Yadav almost immediately, as Rahane coasted beyond 50 at the other end. The pair blasted one six apiece in the 17th over to take their side to the brink.