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The wicketkeeper-batter was fined 50% of his match fees for refusing to remove the sticker despite being instructed to do so by match officials

PTI28-Nov-2023The Pakistan Cricket Board has waived off the 50% match fee fine it had imposed on Azam Khan for displaying the Palestine flag on his bat during the ongoing National T20 Cup in Karachi.Azam, who plays for Karachi Whites in the tournament, was fined 50% of his match fee by the PCB match referee on Sunday after he refused to remove the Palestine flag sticker from his bat during the match against Lahore Blues. The wicketkeeper-batter was found to have violated Article 2.4 of the PCB Code of Conduct for repeated failure to comply with the instruction or directive of an umpire during a match.The PCB did not give any reason for completely waiving off the fine nor did it explain whether Azam had agreed to take off the sticker from his bat for the remaining matches of the tournament.”Azam Khan’s 50 per cent fine imposed by match officials has been reviewed and waived off by the Pakistan Cricket Board,” the PCB said in a release.”The Karachi Whites wicketkeeper-batter was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for being found guilty of committing a level-1 offence during his side’s National T20 Cup 2023-24 match against Lahore Blues at National Bank Stadium, Karachi.”As per ICC rules, players and team officials are not permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey personal messages on their equipment unless approved in advance by both player or team official’s cricket association and PCB’s cricket operations department.Azam has appeared in five T20Is for Pakistan, including two against Afghanistan earlier this year. He is known for his big-hitting abilities in T20s and is also a regular in the franchise cricket circuits worldwide.During the recent ODI World Cup in India, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan had also tweeted in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Hard-fought half-centuries from Ollie Pope and Steven Mullaney ended up in vain during a match that also witnessed an attack by bees

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2019
Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur were instrumental in India A securing a fourth successive victory over England Lions in their five-match unofficial ODI series in Thiruvananthapuram.Thakur picked up 4 for 49, his new-ball spell helping topple the visitors’ top order and leave them 55 for 4 in the 15th over. Half-centuries from Ollie Pope (65 off 103) and Steven Mullaney (58 off 54) helped resurrect the innings, but they still could only muster 221 for 8 at the end of 50 overs.Very few batsmen were able to show any kind of fluency in the game. Among those who faced at least 20 deliveries, only four men from either side were able to maintain a strike-rate above 65. One of them was Pant, who walloped 73 off 76 balls with six fours and three sixes. His unbeaten 120-run partnership with Deepak Hooda, who made a run-a-ball 47, took India to the target with 21 balls to spare.Pant and Hooda’s cool finish was much needed considering England Lions had removed opener Ruturaj Gaikwad for a duck and then posed enough menace through the middle overs that India A were 102 for 4 in the 28th over with KL Rahul falling for 42 off 77 balls. While the visitors may be pleased with their ability to fight back after losing early ground – Pope and Mullaney compensated for a top five that couldn’t get past 25 and later Mullaney and Will Jacks combined to pick up 3 for 61 runs in 20 overs – they struggled to deliver the finishing blow.And so the home crowd were able to enjoy another telling glimpse India’s next generation, their afternoon disrupted only when a swarm of bees decided to attack them.

Disagreement revolves around the nominees that make up the PCB board which plays a role in deciding the chairman

Umar Farooq27-Jun-2023The election to determine the new Pakistan Cricket Board chairman will not take place until July 17 with the High Court of Balochistan issuing a stay order against it.The Court was hearing a case which claimed the governing board of the PCB, which plays a big role in selecting the new chair, was formed in violation of the 2014 constitution. The Court did not hear the PCB’s arguments and issued notices to all stakeholders to attend the next session.On Monday morning – 24 hours before the election that could have led to Zaka Ashraf becoming PCB chairman – a number of writ petitions were filed in various courts in Pakistan to stop the whole thing. The Lahore High Court has admitted at least three petitions, combining them into one hearing, which was adjourned until Tuesday.The PCB’s board is comprised of ten members: four regional representatives, four representatives from services and the two members nominated by the Prime Minister. These members would then conduct a vote to determine the next chairman. Historically, it is the Prime Minister’s appointment to the PCB board of governors who becomes the chairman for a three-year term, and Ashraf was the overwhelming favorite.Najam Sethi was the most recent head of the PCB, but he was a temporary appointment, tasked with bringing back the 2014 constitution. He was working with a management committee and they are the ones who have taken to the courts to contest the elections. They claimed that the PCB board was improperly set up, emphasising that it disregarded a list of nominees that Sethi had put forward.Sethi’s list included Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Rawalpindi but they were named out of the rotation. The PCB election commissioner and acting chairman, Ahmed Shehzad Farooq Rana, rejected them and replaced them with representatives of Larkana, Dera Murad Jamali, Bahawalpur and Hyderabad. This difference of opinion is the reason the matter has been taken to court.These proceedings are a throwback to 2013 and 2014 when Sethi launched a legal offensive against Ashraf. The pair were involved in a protracted battle for the PCB chairmanship, with the position switching hands several times. Ashraf won in court but was ousted by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif which led to Sethi taking control.

West Indies captain Jason Holder said that the reprieves given to Azhar Ali in the first innings and the large number of extras conceded by the side were factors in their 56-run defeat to Pakistan in the first Test in Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-20162:01

‘Really proud of the way we fought’ – Holder

West Indies captain Jason Holder has said that the reprieves given to Azhar Ali in the first innings and the large number of extras conceded by the side were factors in their 56-run defeat to Pakistan in the first Test in Dubai. Holder lauded the team, particularly batsman Darren Bravo, for running Pakistan close and taking the match into the final hour on the fifth day despite having been on the back foot for the first three days of the Test.Azhar was dropped twice in his innings of 302 not out: on 17, Leon Johnson put down a sharp catch at gully off Miguel Cummins, and on 190 by Jermaine Blackwood off Roston Chase’s bowling.”It’s tough to say. When you look at the game in hindsight you can say a lot of things. Obviously credit must go to Azhar Ali, I thought he played really well. We put him down; at that stage if we would have held him, we would have had a new batsman in,” Holder said. “But that’s cricket. If you look at it critically, it’s those one or two chances that we missed. In the second innings, Babar Azam getting out off a no-ball. Things like this, if we negate them then we have less problems going forward.”Holder conceded that the bowlers, specially Shannon Gabriel, had some work to do to bring the rate of front-foot no-balls under control. Gabriel bowled 11 no-balls in the entire match, including 10 in the first innings which, combined with other extras, contributed 22 runs to Pakistan’s score of 579.”It’s definitely an area we need to improve on but if you look at the scorecard, there were a few no-balls from both sides. It’s something we have to pay attention to, Shannon was probably our head culprit. But again, he’s that kind of bowler, he runs in and gives it his all. Having said that the amount of no-balls he bowled was unacceptable and hopefully he can correct it going forward in the next Test match.”Holder pointed to West Indies’ comeback with the ball in Pakistan’s second innings – with Devendra Bishoo’s 8 for 49 – and Bravo’s maturity and determination on the fourth and fifth days as the positives for the side from the Test.Bravo followed up his 87 in the first innings with a stubborn 116 in the second innings that helped West Indies climb to within 83 runs of a victory before he was dismissed, and a drawn match was still a possibility after he had been dismissed. The 109 overs in the second innings was the second longest West Indies had batted in the fourth innings of a Test.”It was a quality innings and I just mentioned that he batted really well in both the second and first innings,” he said. “I think he showed a lot of maturity in both those innings and he spent some time and gave himself a chance to get a score. You could see the determination on his face and in his expressions and his body language was just very positive. Hopefully he can continue in this vein and we can lean on Darren Bravo in our batting.”One thing I am very proud of is the way the guys fought. They came good today and all the bowlers came up with a really good effort on a pitch that didn’t give much assistance to them. I can’t really fault the effort of the guys, it was a very, very good team effort. Unfortunately we didn’t get over the line and unfortunately we couldn’t save the game but a hell of a lot of positives we can take from the game.”

Worcestershire extended their 100% start to the NatWest T20 Blast campaign, registering a third straight victory when overcoming Yorkshire by seven wickets in front of 4,000 spectators at New Road

ECB Reporters Network02-Jun-2016
ScorecardAlexei Kervezee’s unbeaten half-century helped Worcestershire to victory•Getty Images

Worcestershire extended their 100% start to the NatWest T20 Blast campaign, registering a third straight victory when overcoming Yorkshire by seven wickets in front of 4,000 spectators at New Road.Yorkshire’s poor form in the competition continued despite a late blitz in which Liam Plunkett and Tim Bresnan took 61 from the last 17 balls to raise a total of 173 for 6. Plunkett smashed 34 not out from 10 deliveries and followed that by dismissing Worcestershire’s openers but in a well-paced reply, Alexei Kervezee made 52 not out in 37 balls as the Rapids reached their target at the start of the last over.Daryl Mitchell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit the right note from the outset, and although pegged back by wickets in successive overs from Plunkett, Worcestershire were given new momentum by Joe Clarke’s 34 from 23 balls until the England Lions batsman drove Adil Rashid to long-off.When Kervezee was joined by Brett D’Oliveira in the 12th over, the total was already beyond 100 and with barely a sign of trouble, they saw their team home. With D’Oliveira 34 not out from 20 balls, the matchwinning partnership produced 66 from 7.2 overs.Until Plunkett’s fireworks at the end, Yorkshire’s batting was mostly workaday on a slow surface which enabled the seamers to pick off wickets on a regular basis. The barrel-chested Joe Leach took wickets in three consecutive overs, signing off with 3 for 33, but a straight six by Bresnan three balls from the end of his spell opened the floodgates.The next over from Ed Barnard cost 30 runs as Plunkett embarked on a sequence of 6-4-6-6-4 from five deliveries, one of which was a no-ball. Bresnan then waded into Matt Henry in the final over, striking 14 off three balls as Yorkshire completely transformed the match. From looking at a total in the region of 140, they were in a position to put little more pressure on Worcestershire’s batsmen.The top of the order had been held together by Alex Lees, Yorkshire’s one-day captain going about his business with a minimum of fuss. He never seemed to be in a hurry but with skilful placement and good timing he was able to make 46 from 36 balls.David Wiilley’s return from injury was short-lived when he chopped on a ball from Barnard in the fifth over and Rashid was quickly run out from Kervezee’s slick pick-up and return from deep midwicket. When Lees went in the 11th over, his leg stump knocked sideways in a good containing spell by Mitchell, Jack Leaning and Gary Ballance made 24 apiece and both drove the recalled Chris Russell for six until the intervention by Leach.Leaning was caught behind attempting to pull a bouncer that gripped in the pitch and Ballance was bowled middle stump. In between these wickets, Will Rhodes emulated Wiilley’s dismissal by dragging on.

Hamsphire fight back after Surrey dismantle top order

Vithushan Ehantharajah13-Apr-2023Surrey 37 for 0 trail Hampshire 254 all out (Brown 95, Lawes 4-58) by 217 runsIf you come to this part of south London, you’re guaranteed at least two things – Portuguese restaurants and wicketkeepers.There is a high concentration of both in this corner of Lambeth. As many as 10 of the former within a one-mile radius of the Kia Oval and four of the latter within the ground as part of Surrey’s XI for the visit of Hampshire. Probably more coincidence than anything else, but who could blame you for indulging the fan fiction that Alec Stewart’s penchant for a pastel de nata bred an Iberian culinary turf war?Nevertheless, if you want the best of either, this is a good part of the country to seek it. Usually, anyway. On Thursday, patrons of the Kia Oval for the defending champions’ 2023 homecoming were informed that one of the best wicketkeepers around was not part of the four. Ben Foakes, England’s incumbent behind the stumps – a position surely reinforced by 76 and 103 not out against Lancashire last week – was out with back issue. Not enough to raise concern, but enough to urge caution and bring a sense of disappointment no amount of custard tarts could overcome.Shorn of theirs and England’s number one, locals made do with Jamie Smith, a long-term international prospect, as deputy. Ollie Pope, who did it twice on the Test tour of Pakistan, was also a potential option, though he seemed happy enough standing at second slip. Skipper Rory Burns was once considered a capable understudy many moons ago. Trawl through the annals, and you’ll even find under-17 scorecards of allrounder Jordan Clark with a dagger by his name. By stumps, however, the leading wicketkeeper turn came from the opposition.Ben Brown stood above his peers with a diligent 95, holding Hampshire together on day one of this first battle of the summer between two title rivals. That the visitors made it to 254 in their first innings was a minor miracle, and Surrey’s score of 37 for no loss at stumps put the under-performance of Hampshire’s top-order into perspective.Brown arrived at the crease on 39 for 4, after James Vince had won the toss and chosen to bat first under bright blue skies. Kemar Roach worked over Felix Organ for his 50th first-class wicket for Surrey, then fortuitously bowled Nick Gubbins – the left-hander defending a ball that bounced and spun back onto his leg stump – for 51. At the other end, Vince had poked at Sean Abbott’s first delivery before Tom Lawes knocked out Liam Dawson’s off stump.Alec Stewart – a case of mild indigestion perhaps?•Getty Images

The 14th over hardly called for a “traditional” wicketkeeper in the modern sense. There was little to riff off beforehand and counter-attacking against a bowling group as rampant as they were relentless would have only gone one way. Just as well then that Brown strolled out.He is more batter-keeper than keeper-batter, and thus something of an anomaly among his full-time contemporaries. One who gets bowlers to come to him rather than the other way around, rarely straying from a self-imposed box, whether punching drives off the front foot or swivelling off the back foot to anything short. There are not many misjudgements, which makes the life he got on 3 all the more noteworthy.A hook off Sean Abbott burst through the hands of Lawes out on the square leg fence. Lawes would profit from Brown’s next error 146 deliveries later when the right-hander drifted across his stumps and was trapped in front, missing out on a 24th career century. The 20-year-old seamer made further amends to remove Keith Barker, the only other batter to offer resistance, before yorking Kyle Abbott to finish with 4 for 58.Brown used the time between his errors wisely, ticking over the scoreboard without taking undue risk, even for the 11 boundaries he managed. Even with the losses of Fletcha Middleton – caught behind for 32 after Smith had dropped him on 0 – and Ian Holland, Brown did not panic and go into cavalier mode. In Barker, he found an accomplished ally for a ball shy of 35 overs before their stand ended on 95.Brown has a degree of misfortune in that the gloves seem to distract from his batting, which is worthy of merit on its own. The straightforward methodology and average of 40.45 suggest he could have done it as a full-time pursuit, something lost by being a first-choice gloveman.That average has been steadily improving since 2015 and ticked over the magic 40 mark at the end of the 2021 season, where it has remained ever since. All the while, his keeping remains tidy, and in turn his value to Hampshire rises in tandem with the frustration of Sussex supporters. It remains a mystery why he was managed so poorly back in that 2021 summer when he was stripped of the captaincy. A mutually-agreed release from Hove two years ahead of time came to pass at the end of the year, ending an association that began as an under-11.Aged 34, international honours for a former England under-19 are probably gone, even if Brown has publicly stated he will keep pushing for a Test cap even when he’s 40. That he has rarely been mentioned in the numerous conversations around England’s keeping position over the years is best reflected in the “Foakes or Bairstow” one happening at the moment. The reliability of Foakes’ conventional batting is taken as read rather than a tick in his box.Brown falls into the same category. But, like Foakes, taking that for granted would be a mistake. Without his efforts, Hampshire could have been staring at a similar innings defeat they suffered here last season. Now, thanks to Brown, they will return with something to work with on day two.

Virat Kohli has been unveiled as the latest cover star of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, following his leading role in India’s clean sweep of trophies against England

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-20172:32

India’s player of the year – Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has been unveiled as the latest cover star of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, following his leading role in India’s clean sweep of trophies in all three formats of their recent series against England.Kohli, who made two centuries in India’s 4-0 Test series win before Christmas, including a career-best 235 in the fourth Test at Mumbai, is pictured playing a reverse sweep – a reflection, according to Wisden’s editor, Lawrence Booth, of the manner in which he has helped to revolutionise the sport in recent years.Kohli’s reverse-sweep adorns the cover of Wisden 2017•Wisden

“It underlines the fact that he is a very modern cricketer,” Booth told ESPNcricinfo. “It felt like the right time to get some unorthodoxy onto the cover. People often think of Wisden as a bastion of orthodoxy, but cricket is changing so rapidly that it felt like the right time to reflect that, and Kohli was the right man for the job.”Kohli is the third cricketer of Asian extraction to feature on the front cover in the past four editions. His former India team-mate Sachin Tendulkar was honoured in 2014 following his retirement from international cricket, while England’s Moeen Ali was the cover star for 2015.Kohli is the stand-out contender to be named as Wisden’s Leading Player of the Year, an accolade that dates back to 2004, when Ricky Ponting was the original recipient.”Kohli will be fresh in the mind of all cricket fans after his performances against England,” Booth said. “He has pulled clear of the likes of Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and AB de Villiers, and is clearly the most exciting all-format batsman in world cricket.”However, Kohli has not yet been named as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, the book’s oldest honour that can only be bestowed once in a player’s career and tends to reflect a player’s impact on the preceding English season.Kohli’s record in England does not yet match his overall impact on the sport – his only previous Test appearances in the country came in 2014, when he made 134 runs in five Tests at 13.40 in England’s 3-1 series win.However, he seems intent on making amends when India next tour England in 2018, and admitted last year that he would consider a stint in county cricket to acclimatise himself properly for the challenge.The 2017 edition of Wisden will be published in April, to coincide with the start of the English season.

Playing three spinners “a theme that we would like to follow”, says R Ashwin

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2019The obvious question after the toss in Mohali on Monday was why Kings XI Punjab had picked three spinners when Delhi Capitals had three seamers in their bowling line-up? One of them must have got it wrong.The answer was a combination of the pitch, the form of the three main spinners – R Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin and Mujeeb Ur Rahman – and, importantly, the importance of taking the pace off the ball while defending a target, which, incidentally, captain Ashwin didn’t want to do – he said he wanted to bat first.In the last two matches in Mohali prior to Monday’s game, teams batting second had chased down big scores: Aaron Finch’s Australia chased down 359 with 13 balls to spare in an ODI against India in March, while Kings XI chased down 177 with eight balls to spare in their first home game of IPL 2019, against Mumbai Indians.According to Ryan Harris, the Kings XI bowling coach, the idea was to take the pace off the ball and make scoring as difficult as possible.”It’s really hard to defend, we’ve seen that over the last couple of weeks,” Harris told the host broadcaster after the victory. “You have to get a big score on the board to try and defend and even that’s too hard, we saw in a one-day here a few weeks ago as well.”I think (we took) a bit of pace off the ball. Chris Gayle didn’t play today so we thought bringing Sam [Curran] in as well helped, but with Mujeeb coming back in as well it took a little bit of pace off the ball.”According to Ashwin, once Gayle had been ruled out, the decision to promote allrounder Curran as an opener was taken quickly. Ashwin said placing Curran in the top order also allowed him room to play three spinners, who he was confident would play a dominant role defending the target of 166, which he said was well short of the desired total.”We were probably about 25 short and we backed ourselves to defend it against this batting line-up against our spinners and that’s why we played three spinners and we also got Sam to open the batting,” Ashwin said to the host broadcaster after the dramatic win, where Delhi lost a record seven wickets for just eight runs.”We wanted to bat first and we wanted to back our spinners, because M Ashwin bowled really well in the last game and that’s a theme that we would like to follow but hopefully it depends on the wicket. We thought there was a bit of grip on this one.”All said, the three spinners were the most expensive of the Kings XI bowlers – Ashwin went at 7.75 per over, but the other Ashwin, Murugan, had an economy rate of 9.50, and Mujeeb at 9. Ashwin got two wickets, but the others did not, and Curran (4 for 11) and Mohammed Shami (2 for 27) made the difference in the end, Kings XI picking up seven wickets for eight runs as Delhi sank from 144 for 3 to 152 all out.”We probably haven’t nailed our starts with the ball,” Harris agreed. “We spoke about that a lot as well. (But) we came back well at the death, as we did again tonight. So if we nail our starts, we should be a hard side to beat.”

Captain says team can become best fielding side in Asia after outperforming world champions

Mohammad Isam14-Mar-2023More specialist bowlers than batters in the playing XI, and a better fielding display than England could manage, gave Bangladesh the decisive edge in the 3-0 T20I series win, according to their victorious captain, Shakib Al Hasan. The home side completed their whitewash with a 16-run victory in the third game, after engineering a mid-innings batting collapse and then squeezing England’s runs in the final five overs.Similar bowling displays had been instrumental to Bangladesh’s wins in the first two T20Is too. Hasan Mahmud bowled two great overs in the end of England’s innings in the first game in Chattogram, which enabled Bangladesh to chase a moderate 157. In the second game, England collapsed twice in the middle overs to be outplayed in the four-wicket defeat.Shakib said that, instead of playing eight batters, they chose to have a cushion of bowling options. In the third game, that bowling depth came in handy in the latter part of the innings when both Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan fell in the 14th over; Mustafizur Rahman removed Malan while Buttler was run out next ball. Mehidy’s direct hit highlighted the fielding effort which saw marked improvement in their ground fielding and catching.”Our bowling unit was quite good in this series,” Shakib said. “We never had the luxury of playing with six proper bowlers as we often played with eight batters. We were always a bowler short. In T20s, you need that [bowling] cushion. Bowlers win you T20 matches, so having that extra bowler was helpful. We have a few more areas for tuning, thinking ahead to the next World Cup, but we have made a good start. I think the turning point of the match was that over. They lost both their set batters in successive balls. It proved to be decisive.”Everyone noticed our fielding in these three matches. We out-fielded England, who are themselves a good fielding side. It is a big tick mark. Our biggest improvement is in our fielding, when I consider every aspect. We should always field well, but we have targeted to become the best fielding side in Asia. After this performance, I don’t think we are too far behind.”Shakib praised the way Litton Das came back into form, as the opener made a career-best 73 in quick time. He added 84 runs for the second wicket stand with the player of the series, Najmul Hossain Shanto, with the pair’s running between the wickets particularly impressing the captain.”We didn’t know how much runs were enough on this pitch. So we were very open-minded,” Shakib said. “We first thought 140 was a good score. Then we got to a stage when we thought 170-180 would be our total. We didn’t get many runs in the last five overs, but we batted well in the powerplay and middle-overs.”They have seven or eight proper bowlers so we had to struggle at least once in the innings,” he added. “The way Rony and Litton started, and then Shanto and Litton build the innings, especially their running between the wickets, it was outstanding. The way they turned ones into twos and twos into threes, it put England under pressure.”Related

• Bangladesh vs Ireland: batting-friendly Sylhet could throw up even contests

• Player rotation, trying out fringe players on Hathurusingha's agenda before ODI World Cup

• Tamim: Bangladesh 'should tour Australia and England more often'

• England in Dhaka departure lounge as they sign off arduous winter with defeat

• Litton Das finds spark before Bangladesh bowlers choke chase

Bangladesh’s sudden upswing in the T20I format had a lot to do with its proximity to the BPL, and the selectors’ willingness to pick the best performers from a tournament that ended only three weeks before the series. “Everyone in this team performed in this year’s BPL,” Shakib said. “It wasn’t too long ago before the England tour. The top five-six batters in this series were also the top run-getters in BPL. It is the same for the highest wicket-takers. The confidence did carry over, so I think that really helped us.”Shakib also told the long-term story of how this team gained confidence in T20Is. He believes it goes back to the Asia Cup last year when he took over the captaincy, but the real belief that they can win against major teams came in the T20 World Cup when Bangladesh won two matches for the first time in their history.”I have been leading the team since the Asia Cup last year,” he said. “We didn’t win a match there, but I thought we played good cricket. We were unfortunate not to reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. We were one win away from that achievement. We had a lot of doubt before the tournament, but the belief that we can compete with bigger teams started from the World Cup.”England’s lack of batting depth also played a hand in their success as Bangladesh knew that three or four wickets would bring them to the lower-order. “We had more confidence before this series, since we were playing at home,” Shakib added. “We capitalised on England being short of batters. It was our advantage that they didn’t have many batters after losing three or four wickets.”

Chadd Sayers ripped through Tasmania before Travis Head cracked an unbeaten century to give South Australia a chance of squeezing into the Sheffield Shield final, after day one in Adelaide

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Chadd Sayers returned career-best first-class figures of 7 for 46•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Chadd Sayers ripped through Tasmania before Travis Head cracked an unbeaten century to give South Australia a chance of squeezing into the Sheffield Shield final, after day one at Gliderol Stadium in Adelaide.Having opted to bat, the Tigers were rumbled for a mere 91, with Sayers’ 7 for 46 a new personal mark in first-class matches. Sayers claimed seven of the first eight Tasmania batsmen, while benefiting from tight supporting spells delivered by Daniel Worrall and Joe Mennie.Only George Bailey, Tom Triffitt and last man Jackson Bird were able to make it into double figures, offering SA the chance to push for a major first innings advantage and an outright win.SA lost regular wickets in their reply, but Head and Alex Ross helped their side forge ahead in the final session. Head’s century followed his second-innings hundred, which guided SA to an unlikely fourth-innings chase against Western Australia in Perth.That result kept SA in the race for the Shield final, and while they are reliant on other results in Alice Springs and Brisbane, they have given themselves a chance.