An all-round performance from Stafanie Taylor helped West Indies Women to a seven-run win over Sri Lanka Women in the second Twenty20 game in Barbados

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2012
ScorecardAn all-round performance from captain Stafanie Taylor helped West Indies Women to a seven-run win over Sri Lanka Women in the second Twenty20 game in Barbados.West Indies won the toss and chose to bat, and started strongly with openers Taylor and Juliana Nero putting on 50 runs. Nero was dismissed by Chamani Seneviratna in the ninth over, and Deandra Dottin, Shanel Daley (retired hurt) and Stacy-Ann King followed in quick succession to leave the hosts in trouble at effectively 73 for 4 in the 14th over. However, Taylor held firm, hitting six fours and one six in her 49-ball 62, to steer her team out of trouble. She was ably supported by Shemaine Campbelle (22 off 18) as West Indies recovered to 129 for 4 in their 20 overs.Sri Lanka started poorly, losing their openers with just nine runs on the board. Two crucial partnerships, between Deepika Rasangika and Inoka Galagedara (43) and Rasangika and Seneviratna (38) wrested the initiative back for the hosts and at 98 for 4 in the 17th over, they looked on course for victory. However, Taylor struck to dismiss Rasangika, and that triggered a collapse as the visitors slumped from 98 for 4 to 115 for 8. Fifteen runs were required off the last over but Sri Lanka managed only seven to give West Indies a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. The next Twenty20 will be played in Port of Spain on May 6.

Pace bowlers Steve Patterson and Mitchell Starc were quick to make their mark on the first day of Yorkshire’s match against Northamptonshire

30-May-2012
ScorecardAndrew Hall’s 79 helped repair some of the early damage for Northamptonshire•Getty Images

Pace bowlers Steve Patterson and Mitchell Starc were quick to make their mark on the first day of Yorkshire’s County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Headingley.Patterson, who received his first team cap before the start of the game, responded by firing out both openers. Left-arm paceman Starc, on his Championship debut, also picked up two early wickets as the visitors slumped to 45 for 5 in this Division Two contest after winning the toss.However, captain Andrew Hall, led a spirited rearguard action with a rugged 79 which boosted his side’s score to 253. In five overs before the close, Yorkshire reached 27 without loss.Offspinner Azeem Rafiq, replaced the out-of-form Adil Rashid, for his first Championship outing since last May, and wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy made way for Jonny Bairstow – who had been given permission to play by England.Patterson shared the new ball with Ryan Sidebottom and in his third over dismissed Stephen Peters, who edged low to Phil Jaques at third slip. Patterson struck again two overs later when he trapped former Yorkshire all-rounder James Middlebrook leg before wicket.Starc got his chance when Sidebottom was rested and his fifth delivery comprehensively bowled Alex Wakely. The Australian was then struck for three legside boundaries in one over by Rob White but quickly gained revenge by trapping him lbw, leaving Northamptonshire 35 for 4.The slide continued as Sidebottom returned to the attack and had Kyle Coetzer caught behind with a ball which held its line. However, Hall and David Murphy teamed up move the visitors to 62 for 5 at lunch – and continued the revival in the afternoon.Hall, after an uncharacteristically slow start, played Starc through midwicket for four and in the same over slashed a boundary to third man, but Murphy had an escape on 35 when the Australian had him put down by Adam Lyth low at second slip.Murphy, having greeted Rafiq by driving his fifth ball for six, soon afterwards edged Sidebottom to Bairstow for 40 to end a 76-run stand in 27 overs with his captain. Northamptonshire continued their fightback through Hall and Con de Lange although Hall, on 25, survived a chance when he slapped Patterson to midwicket – where Anthony McGrath could not hold on to the catch.Hall’s fighting half-century came off 138 balls with seven boundaries but at 163 he lost De Lange, who was lbw on the back foot to McGrath. The scoring accelerated with the arrival of David Willey until both departed quickly when the new ball was taken.Hall was bowled attempting an expansive drive at Patterson for 79 from 179 deliveries with 10 fours and in the next over Willey fell lbw to Sidebottom after umpire Peter Hartley had spent a long time raising his finger. Pattinson pulled up with cramp in his 19th over and left the field for treatment and the innings was wrapped up by Rafiq, who bowled Oli Stone to claim his only victim.Yorkshire began well with Lyth taking two boundaries from Willey’s opening over and the left-hander stood on 14 at the close with Joe Root 7.

Rain fell from the sky, records fell by the wayside, but in all likelihood the wickets fell too late in the day

The Report by Sidharth Monga03-Jul-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Sangakkara and Dilshan both scored centuries•Associated Press

Rain fell from the sky, records fell by the wayside, but in all likelihood the wickets fell too late in the day. A wet outfield in the morning and obligatory showers in the afternoon meant a result was the farthest thing on people’s minds despite four strikes towards the end of the day, inspired by a spirited burst from Junaid Khan. The prospects of a result have been so bleak that, surreally, even the steel bands have given this Test a miss.There was nothing surreal about Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan filling their boots on their favourite surface and against their favourite opposition. This was Sangakkara’s ninth century against Pakistan, 30th overall, overtaking Don Bradman’s tally of 29. Like Sangakkara, Dilshan too scored his second century of the series. He also became only the eighth Sri Lankan to reach 5,000 Test runs. There was another statistical event: late in the day Mahela Jayawardene registered his first duck at the SSC, but it seemed like his first score of under 100 here.The pitch only began to misbehave when the two were approaching their centuries. That, combined with the time lost to weather, meant there was little scoreboard pressure on the two all through. It always seemed a matter of when, not if, when the two would get to their centuries. Sangakkara, in particular, looked certain he would get one, and make it a big one. Along the way came instructive milestones. When he nudged Junaid to fine leg for his 57th run, he became only the fourth man to have scored 2000 runs at a single venue, behind Graham Gooch at Lord’s, Jacques Kallis at Newlands, and Mahela Jayawardene in Galle and at the SSC. Two overs later, when he pulled Junaid behind square, the couple took him to 2090 runs against Pakistan, more than anybody else, then at an average of 87.Sangakkara began the day on 22, and kept on clipping balls off his pads with ease. The only time he looked in any discomfort was when he drove at wide deliveries to edge them just out of reach of gully. Dilshan carried his reckless approach from day three in to this morning too, but after two plays and misses he put his head down and cut out all the risks. He didn’t mind Sangakkara overtaking him even though he began the day 24 ahead. He scored just 14 runs in the first session, but was a much more reassuring sight than in the last session on day two.

Smart stats

• Kumar Sangakkara’s century is his 30th in Tests, taking him past Don Bradman on the list of batsmen with the most Test centruries. Among Sri Lanka batsmen, only Mahela Jayawardene has more centuries than Sangakkara.

• During the course of his knock, Sangakkara went past Sunil Gavaskar on the list of batsmen with the most runs against Pakistan.

• Sangakkara’s century is his ninth against Pakistan and takes him past Aravinda de Silva on the list of batsmen with the most centuries against Pakistan.

• Tillakaratne Dilshan’s century is his third against Pakistan and his second in consecutive Tests in this series. It is only the third series in which he has managed to score two centuries.

• Dilshan became the eighth Sri Lanka batsman to cross the 5000-run mark in Tests. He now has exactly 5000 runs in 81 Tests at 41.32.

• The 225-run stand between Dilshan and Sangakkara is the highest second-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against Pakistan, and their third-highest overall for the second wicket.

Dilshan’s extravagance nearly cost him his wicket when he went after an Aizaz Cheema delivery so wide it would have been called in ODIs. Cheema managed to get another delivery to lift towards Dilshan’s chest early on in the day, but that was the only inconvenience the pitch caused in the morning, especially once the batsmen decided they could do without undue risks. Only the rare quick turning delivery from Abdur Rehman in the last over before lunch managed to beat the bat.After a sumptuously long lunch break, thanks to the rain, Rehman remained the only semblance of a threat. Still Dilshan picked up the rate, and the only contest to observe was the race to the centuries. Sangakkara was 72, and Dilshan 60 at lunch. An hour-long middle session later, Dilshan had reached 85, and Sangakkara 90, with Rehman posing the only questions.When on 86, Sangakkara played back to a full ball from Rehman, and was beaten. Just like the last over before lunch, the last over before tea from Rehman featured one rare sharp turner that beat Dilshan. An inside edge denied him an lbw next ball. The pitch had become to offer some turn now, making you wonder if this would have been a tame draw if we hadn’t lost so much time to rain.After tea, the two found themselves level at 98, but Dilshan burst through the photo finish with a six off Saeed Ajmal. Sangakkara chose the quieter way to get to the century. Dilshan grew adventurous again, scoring 23 off the last 19 balls he faced. Junaid, though, came back and squeezed one through from round the stumps to catch him plumb in front.Even as Sangakkara marched on, Junaid’s round-the-stumps angle troubled the other batsmen. Jayawardene shouldered arms to a delivery that looked like harmlessly wide, but was hit slightly above the knee roll just outside off. Simon Taufel took his time before raising the finger, and Pakistan could sense room for one final push. With 102 still required to avoid follow-on, they attacked.Thilan Samaraweera edged Ajmal just short of leg gully. Junaid came back with another impressive lbw shout from the same angle, and was denied. Pakistan had absolutely surrounded Samaraweera by then. There was no letting up of pressure. Samaraweera finally succumbed for an 18-ball duck, missing an Ajmal offbreak from round the stumps. The innings now featured only centuries and ducks.Suraj Randiv came out as the nightwatchman, safety still 93 runs away and a maximum of 38 minutes to stumps. Junaid tested Randiv for an over, drawing another close lbw shout and making him keep a yorker out. With Sangakkara the immovable object, Randiv hung on for dear life until he fell to a Rehman arm ball that also proved to be the last ball of the day. The 15.4 overs since Dilshan’s dismissal were edgy stuff, the only edgy stuff of the day. Arguably, the match.

Richard McInnes’ first assignment as head coach of Bangladesh’s National Cricket Academy will be to oversee a week-long training camp starting August 8

Mohammad Isam04-Aug-2012Richard McInnes’ first assignment as head coach of Bangladesh’s National Cricket Academy will be to oversee a week-long training camp starting August 8. Ten cricketers have been selected to take part in the camp.Batsmen Fazle Mahmud, Tasamul Haque and Myshukur Rahman, allrounders Mahmudul Hasan and Sabbir Rahman, left-arm spinners Shaker Ahmed, Sanjamul Islam, Nazmul Islam, leg-spinner Tanveer Haider and seamer Kamrul Islam Rabbi are the available cricketers in the country since Bangladesh A and the Under-19s side are currently playing abroad.All ten selected cricketers were part of the Academy squad that toured South Africa last year under McInnes’ predecessor Ross Turner.”He [McInnes] will work with ten players of the Academy who are currently available for a week,” BCB’s game development manager Nazmul Abedin said. “Later when others from the A team and the Under-19 team arrive, whoever is selected will join the Academy squad.”The Academy’s first assignment of the year will be a four-day game against the touring West Indies High Performance team from September 16 to 19 in Khulna’s Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium. The visitors will also take on Bangladesh A in another four-day match, three one-day games and two Twenty20s thereafter.

Harbhajan Singh still harbours hopes of reaching the landmark of 100 Tests despite not having played in the format for a year

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Aug-2012Harbhajan Singh still harbours hopes of reaching the landmark of 100 Tests despite not having played in the format for a year. He was left stranded on 98 caps when injury struck during last year’s tour of England and he admitted he never imagined that he would be out of the side for so long.It has taken a stint with English county side Essex for Harbhajan to rediscover his rhythm and his form, resulting in a recall to the India squad for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.In the latest edition of ‘Alison’s Tea Break’, Harbhajan tells Alison Mitchell about his time out of the India fold, describing how his desperation to get back hampered his form rather than helping it.He opens up to talk about his use of ‘visualisation’ in order to achieve the right performance state and make himself feel as if he’s “done it all before” when he takes to the field to bowl. Find out which Indian great introduced him to the technique, what it involves and when he does it. Hear what he means when he insists ‘process’ must come before results, and what his lofty ambitions are with the India team as he strives to force his way back into the Test as well as Twenty20 side.Harbhajan was speaking before R Ashwin took 12 for 85 in the first Test against New Zealand, while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha also took six wickets in the match to suggest India’s Test spin department is in capable hands for the time being. However, with the visit of England looming later in the year Harbhajan is eager to add to his 405 wickets.”I’m quite hopeful and very positive about the way things have gone here,” he said of his stint at Essex. “I can’t wait to get back in the Test side again, can’t wait to take lots of wickets again and take my team to the No. 1 position again. That will be the contribution from my side, that’s what I want to do. It can be done. It’s all about belief.”And Harbhajan admitted that the desperation to get back into the Test fold may not have helped his cause of the last 12 months. “In my case I was very desperate to come back. That was probably the reason why I wasn’t really concentrating on the job, or on what I had in my hand,” he said. “In the last year I was putting myself under so much pressure to do well that my focus was more on the result than the process. It should have been more on the process.”

Lancashire’s bid for Division One safety looks set to be reliant on Surrey failing to beat Nottinghamshire after failing to take control against Middlesex

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's06-Sep-2012
ScorecardGareth Cross scored a counter-attacking half-century but Lancashire could not build a substantial lead•PA Photos

Lancashire’s bid for Division One safety looks set to be reliant on Surrey failing to beat Nottinghamshire at The Oval ahead of the seventh- and eighth-placed teams meeting next week. Lancashire were unable to build a sizeable first-innings lead against Middlesex on a day that saw them relinquish their Championship crown to Warwickshire.At the close of play, Middlesex were 127 runs ahead having only lost two wickets, meaning Lancashire will have to bowl them out or concede enough runs early on Friday to convince Chris Rogers to declare. Rogers will be looking to do what only Neil Dexter has done so far in this match and successfully convert his hard work and patience into three figures.Lancashire looked comfortable in morning, with the combination of early movement and new ball not as potent as many thought it would be, until Ashwell Prince – 12 away from 1,000 first-class runs for the season – nicked to first slip, giving Toby Roland-Jones his first wicket. Persisting on an off-stump line, his second came as a bit of surprise to both himself and Steven Croft, as the ball shot through, between knee and ankle height, uprooting both middle and off. It was the first ball of the match to really misbehave, if you can call it misbehaving on the evidence this summer.The Lord’s pitch has been called a lot of things this season. After Surrey’s defeat here at the beginning of the season, Chris Adam’s described it as the worst he had even seen. Last month, some had the gall to liken it to an archery venue.Enter Gareth Cross, who hit the mark, his straps and Ravi Patel, in a counter-attacking display that took Lancashire into lunch on a high, scoring the majority of the runs in a swift fifty partnership with Karl Brown. He took that urgency into the afternoon session, looking for a run off every ball, constantly putting pressure on the Middlesex bowlers and fielders – at times even his partner. He reached 50 off only 30 deliveries, and did little to acknowledge the landmark, knowing he had more work to do. Middlesex would have been disappointed with their effort in periods before and after lunch, which saw Lancashire rack up 100 runs in an hour of play.Cross’ innings was done nine runs later, as he was caught behind off Gareth Berg, having pulled the same bowler for six the ball before. Brown took over as the aggressor but it took him a bit of time to adjust to the shift in roles. While he didn’t find the boundary as much as he would have liked to, he bustled his way to his half-century.With the help of cameos from Kyle Hogg, Glen Chapple and Ajmal Shahzad, Brown took Lancashire past 400, and then to a small first innings lead, before playing a Berg delivery on to his stumps. Patel accounted for all but one of the last four wickets to fall, leaving him one short of a maiden first-class five-wicket haul, though these were his best figures to date.It would not have been a five-wicket haul that you could read too much into. He bowled well but was gifted a couple of wickets through some sloppy decision making from Lancashire’s lower order. Had he achieved the feat, many would have dismissed his achievement as ordinary, what with nine, ten, Jack accounting for three of his scalps. In the end, four seemed about right.Middlesex’s second innings got off to a shaky start, with opener Sam Robson falling to Glen Chapple early. The Lancashire captain, along with Kyle Hogg, asked probing questions, but Rogers and Joe Denly had the right answers. When they didn’t, their noncommittal replies allowed them to stay in the debate long enough to converse between overs as to how they would cope with the inevitable evening barrage.Denly departed to a wicked delivery from Shahzad that nipped in and kept low to disrupt his stumps. Kerrigan bowled studiously at the other end, invoking a few erroneous drives, but at no point did the southpaw pair of Rogers and Dawid Malan display any real discomfort.Rogers freed his arms to pierce the off-side field – both off the front and back foot – as Shahzad’s patience dithered, as it ever does. There’s no denying his intent (or pace), but Shahzad needs to understand that even individual bowlers need to have plans. Rogers had a plan – to bore Shahzad into laxity. It worked.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Group A Champions League T20 match between Auckland Aces and Delhi Daredevils in Durban

The Preview by Sidharth Monga18-Oct-2012

Match facts

October 19, 2012
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)Morne Morkel is the leader of an attack that can otherwise look weak•AFP

Big Picture

Delhi Daredevils have looked the best IPL side in the tournament, and they will be the favourites against Auckland Aces, but many a team has learned the hard way that you take Aces lightly at your own peril.If Daredevils win, though, and win it big, they will be pretty close to qualifying for the semi-finals. They have carried good net run rate from the big win against Kolkata Knight Riders, and a second win will put them in a strong position in the group. Kevin Pietersen, who had left for meetings with England team director after the win against Knight Riders, is expected to be back in time for this game, and he will be buoyed by having settled his differences with the England team.Aces, on the other hand, had their excellent run of wins rudely interrupted when they came up against group leaders Titans. They have won many a fan by winning both their qualifiers, and also their first game, but they can ill afford a defeat. Having camped in the Highveld well before the tournament, they have played there as if it’s their own backyard, but they struggled in Durban. They will hope they catch their opponents similarly unawares when Daredevils play their first game at Kingsmead.

Watch out for…

Azhar Mahmood, with 137 runs at 68.5 and 10 wickets at an economy rate of 6.57, has been Auckland’s highest wicket-taker and their highest run-getter, and easily one of the best players in the tournament. Auckland will look to him to provide inspiration against the much-fancied opposition.Daredevils’ top order has been the talk of the town, but Morne Morkel is equally important to their chances in the tournament. He leads an attack that can look weak without him, and will be pretty handy under the lights in Durban.

Stats and trivia

• This is Simon Taufel’s 92nd match as a Twenty20 umpire, more than anyone else.
• With 10 wickets, Mahmood is the leading bowler in the tournament.

Quotes

“Keep it simple, focus on our strengths and try and execute a good game plan. And results will take care of themselves. We need to focus. We are not going to win matches by just turning up, we need to keep performing, we have to be consistent and win that. So we have to try and do that.”

Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford has said the swing New Zealand’s seam bowlers generated caught Sri Lanka by surprise on the second morning in Galle

Andrew Fernando in Galle18-Nov-2012Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford has said the swing New Zealand’s seam bowlers generated caught Sri Lanka by surprise on the second morning in Galle. Tim Southee reaped three wickets for 18 from his first spell of seven overs, while Trent Boult took the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara at the other end. Both bowlers moved the ball considerably, with Southee, in particular, finding vicious swing in the air in addition to deviation off the seam.Sri Lanka resumed on 9 for 1, after debutant left hander Dimuth Karunaratne had been trapped in front for a duck by a Southee inswinger the previous evening, and they were reduced to 50 for 5 inside the first hour on day two. The other opener, Tharanga Paranavitana was also dismissed for zero, and neither nightwatchman Suraj Randiv, nor Kumar Sangakkara made it out of single-figures.”This morning they swung it considerably and more than we expected,” Ford said. “It was a lovely clear morning and we didn’t think it would move as much as it did, when they bowled. It perhaps did catch us a little bit by surprise.”Despite bowling which often bordered on unplayable, Sri Lanka found regular boundaries in the first hour and maintained a much better run rate than New Zealand did during their innings on day one. Ford said the hosts had not been too aggressive in their approach during the opening spell.”It’s always easy to say that they could have played tighter, sitting on the sidelines, but everybody who watched closely realised they did bowl very well.”It’s a fine balance. If you can get a few balls away, it changes their length and once they change their length they don’t swing it much. You can’t just be negative about the way you play. You’ve still got to look for scoring options. I think we stayed positive in our play.”Sri Lanka recovered through a 156-run partnership between Angelo Mathews and Mahela Jayawardene, as the pair saw out the swinging new ball and batted through the second session. When they were only five wickets down and 15 runs behind New Zealand’s first-innings score, Sri Lanka might have had their sights set on a large first innings lead, but Mathews’ demise heralded another poor period for Sri Lanka, and they finished only 26 runs ahead in the first innings.”We would have been certainly happy for a bigger lead but again you can’t be greedy when you are 20-4 and 50-5. At that stage you think you’re going to be a little bit behind. We’ve got to be grateful for the work the guys did, and we’ve got to give credit to New Zealand who did bowl fantastically well up front and kept the pressure on the whole way through the innings.”It was a brilliant fightback by Mahela and Angelo which has got us right into the game, and we’ve everything to play for in the morning. The game’s very even at the moment.”New Zealand finished the day nine runs in the lead, with nine wickets in hand, and Ford said his side had not worked out a maximum target that it would like to chase in the fourth innings. “At this stage it’s about making sure that disciplines and our skills are really good with the ball. We have to bowl really well and we have to make New Zealand fight really hard for every single run they want to set for us to chase. At this stage it’s more about taking it one session at a time looking at the big picture.”

Viv Richards has hailed Ricky Ponting’s brashness and “show-no-fear” attitude as among his greatest traits

Brydon Coverdale06-Dec-2012Viv Richards has hailed Ricky Ponting’s brashness and “show-no-fear” attitude as among his greatest traits, and Shane Warne has lauded Ponting’s habit of making runs when Australia most needed them. Ponting farewelled Test cricket with Australia’s loss to South Africa in Perth this week and on Thursday, Warne and Richards, in Melbourne in the lead-up to Friday night’s Big Bash League opener, reflected on Ponting’s 17-year Test career.”Certainly he’s up there with the very best,” Richards said. “What I love about him more than anything else, you look at the way he walks out to the crease. He always has presence. There is a tenaciousness about him. He walks out and believes. He’s not going to be intimidated by no one. I would like guys like that. I appreciate seeing guys who come out and have a particular presence.”The same words could have been used to describe Richards, one of ‘s five cricketers of the century, a man who never wore a helmet and stared down fast bowlers all over the world while nonchalantly chewing his gum. Although the careers of the two men did not overlap – Richards retired from Test cricket four years before Ponting made his debut – Richards saw plenty of Ponting’s batting and was impressed by the attitude he displayed from his very first match in 1995.”A young batter who wants to make it, you cannot feel like you have one foot in and one foot out,” Richards said. “You’ve got to make that crease your house. Ricky always made the crease his house. I’ve always been in his corner as a player because of that brashness, he’s an in-your-face sort of guy. Show no fear. Batsmen sometimes can be intimidated by a guy from how far he runs up, but you just put that at the back of your mind and bat with what you have. Ricky, to me, certainly did that.”Richards is part of the BBL this year as a batting mentor for the Melbourne Stars, who are captained by Warne, a man who played 85 Tests alongside Ponting. Although Warne was not always enamoured with Ponting’s captaincy decisions, he said Ponting’s ability to score runs when Australia faced potential trouble was one of the reasons the team was so successful.”It was fun to play with Ricky Ponting,” Warne said. “I met him as a 16-year-old at the cricket academy in Adelaide. He was a guy who was pretty tough and an uncompromising sort of player. He will definitely go down with Greg Chappell and Allan Border and Bradman as the greatest batsmen Australia have had, and he’ll hold up well on the international stage.”He loved a scrap, he loved a fight, he was always good when the team really needed him he put his hand up. That’s a really good characteristic in any player. It’s not about how many runs you get, it’s about when you get your runs and when you take your wickets. I think Ricky always got the majority of his runs when Australia really needed him. That was a standout characteristic of his. He was good fun to play with and tough as nails.”

Ravindra Jadeja is the eighth batsman and first Indian to score three triple-centuries in first-class cricket

Haresh Pandya02-Dec-2012Ravindra Jadeja is the eighth batsman and first Indian to score three triple-centuries in first-class cricket. He joined the illustrious company of WG Grace, Bill Ponsford, Don Bradman, Wally Hammond, Graeme Hick, Brian Lara and Michael Hussey. Jadeja is not yet 24.He reached his third triple on the second day of Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy match against Railways in Rajkot. He was unbeaten on 320 at stumps, having batted 690 minutes in the first innings. Jadeja had begun this Ranji season in a blaze of glory, making an unbeaten 303, which spanned 561 minutes, against Gujarat in Surat. His first triple-hundred had come in November 2011, 314 in 558 minutes against Orissa in Cuttack.The third triple was laudable for its timing. Saurashtra, without Cheteshwar Pujara, had slipped to 90 for 4 after Jaydev Shah had decided to bat against Railways. Jadeja would have also been dismissed, on 19, had medium-pacer Krishnakant Upadhyay not floored a straightforward catch off his own bowling.Jadeja made the most of that reprieve. He found a partner in Shitanshu Kotak to first stabilise the innings and then give it respectability. Jadeja and Kotak complemented each other: the two left-hand batsmen, one full of exuberance and the other experience, ensured Railways did not have any further success on the first day. Saurashtra were 227 for 4 at stumps. Jadeja was on 111, Kotak 53.”As usual the wicket was playing very easy. But to stay at there and score runs, you had to show a lot of application and determination,” Kotak said. “After all, the Railways new-ball bowlers and spinners were really bowling well and keeping a good line and length. Jadeja handled them excellently and played a lovely innings.Having shown a tremendous appetite for runs this season, Jadeja batted on through the second day, converting his century into a double and then an unbeaten triple. Jadeja had another let-off, on 274, when he edged left-arm spinner Ashish Yadav but Sanjay Bangar could not catch a difficult chance at slip.”He has started showing so much maturity and this particular innings was the best example,” said Kotak, who was dismissed on 68 after adding 170 runs for the fifth wicket with Jadeja. “I was there at the other end for a very long time and I can tell you he batted with great responsibility. Never once did he appear careless or irresponsible. He was determined to play a big innings.”Kotak said Jadeja’s form would make the selectors take notice when they pick the limited-overs squads for the Twenty20 and ODI series against England in December and January. “You can’t ignore such performances. Jadeja is very young. He has not only batted well and scored lots of runs this season, but also taken plenty of wickets as a left-arm spinner. So the selectors should seriously consider him as an allrounder and give him another chance to prove his worth.”Debu Mitra, who has been Saurashtra’s coach for more than ten years, rated this triple-century higher than Jadeja’s previous two. “I’ve seen all the three triple-centuries scored by Jadeja. Though this one was played on a slightly batting-friendly pitch, it was easily the best because it was made when the bowlers were on top and Saurashtra were in trouble.”It was a fantastic innings. This is Group A, with some of the best teams. And Railways are no pushovers. I think almost right through the first day the Railways bowlers dominated the proceedings. You can see that from Saurashtra’s score, too – 227 for 4 in 90 overs. But Sunday belonged to Jadeja.”