Quality fast bowlers are its gem: Faf du Plessis compares PSL and IPL

Tim Southee picks up five-wicket haul, goes up on the Lord's Honours Boards for second time

Pacer Tim Southee bowled exceedingly well on the fourth day and picked a five-wicket haul to put New Zealand in a commanding position in the first Test against England at Lord’s. He went on to the Lord’s Honours Boards once again after his maiden appearance in 2013. It was his 12th five-wicket haul in the longest format. He picked the wicket of Zak Crawley on the second day of the Test and followed it up with the three big wickets of Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence and James Bracey in one spell to put England under real pressure. Till the fall of Ollie Robinson, Southee’s bowling figure read 22-8-37-5 and his control over swing and line and length broke the back of England’s batting on the fourth day. Starting the fourth day, England were rocked early by Kyle Jamieson who eliminated Joe Root on the very first ball of the day and Southee took it on from there to put New Zealand on the ascendency with a good chance of taking the first-innings lead. For England, Rory Burns has been the lone man standing at one end while his teammates have fallen to some intelligent bowling from the Kiwis and their poor application at the crease with the bat in hand.

"He does pack a powerful punch": Faf du Plessis credits Quetta compatriot, Pakistan select Azam Khan

Quetta Gladiators middle-order batsman Azam Khan recently received his maiden Pakistan call up when he was named into the T20I squads for the England and West indies tour of the men in green. His compatriot and one of the senior pros, South Africa’s Faf du Plessis believes that the youngster is one of the powerful hitters going around in the Pakistan Super League. “Yeah, he is a good hitter. I haven’t seen much of him be honest, but he got a fifty in near the end of the Karachi leg, and he does packs punch with a lot of physical power,” du Plessis said about the 22-year-old from Sindh. “He can tonk the ball long and it is interesting to see what he does in this last leg of the tournament,” added du Plessis who expects a refreshed and happy Azam to deliver for his side. Talking about realistic chances of three-time finalists and 2019 PSL winner, the Gladiators making to the Playoffs this season, du Plessis said, “In the last leg, we never really played that well with bat and ball together in one game. Now there are new players in all of the franchises due to various circumstance and it means almost a new competition in UAE. So we can try and play together and better.” The Gladiators, currently sitting at the bottom of the points table with just one win in five games, would play Islamabad United in their first game of the Abu Dhabi leg on June 11 at the Shiekh Zayed Stadium.

Sri Lanka players refuse to sign contracts, put tour of England in doubt

The Sri Lankan’s team tour to England is under some dark clouds after the players who are expected to be picked in the squad have refused to sign the tour contracts that have been offered by the Sri Lanka Cricket. A statement from the players suggested that the cricketers are not signing the contracts because of the problems with the transparency of the ratings system devised by SLC. "Because of the problems with the transparency of the ratings system devised by SLC, the players will not sign the [tour contract]," the release signed by 38 top players said. "In addition, the players have decided they will not sign the contracts until players who have performed well in past years are looked after fairly," the statement added. Further there is also a legal objection to the contracts as per their lawyer Nishan Premathiratne to ESPNcricinfo. "The tour contract also refers to matters of the annual [main] contract for 2021, which is yet unsigned," he said. "In the event, the annual contract is not settled and a dispute is pending, the validity of the tour contract referring to an unsigned contract is also an issue." List of players who are not ready to sign the tour contract: Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Embuldeniya, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Oshada Fernando, Ramesh Mendis, Lahiru Kumara, Danushka Gunathilaka, Ashen Bandara, Akila Dananjaya, Chamika Karunaratne, Asitha Fernando, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Avishka Fernando, Ishan Jayaratne, Charith Asalanka, Dananjaya Lakshan, Nuwan Pradeep, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamil Mishara, Praveen Jayawickrama, Roshen Silva, Minod Bhanuka

PSL 6 | Between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni : Faf du Plessis analyses Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis believes that while all leaders are different and there is not any correct style of captaincy, said that former India skipper MS Dhoni and former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, both of who are his captains in PSL and IPL respectively are the exact opposites of each other. In fact, he likened Srafaraz to seem more like current Indian skipper Virat Kohli. “MS Dhoni and MS is really quiet and reserved and does most of the things instinctively on the field,” du Plessis said about his Chennai Super Kings captain in an interview to a Pakistani Youtube channel, Cricket Pakistan. “Sarfaraz is the exact opposite and almost like Virat in a sense that he is always talking to the players, always talking to the bowlers and always very passionate about he leads his team,” he added about his Quetta gladiators skipper. The 36-year-old would be turning out very soon in PSL’s Abu Dhabi leg of its sixth edition. The right-handed batsman, who himself is one of the most successful Test captains that South Africa has seen, likes working under different leaders so that he can pick their brains. “There is no right or wrong way, these are two different styles,” said du Plessis about Dhoni and Srafaraz’s captaincy styles. “I enjoy working under different captains just to see how they operate because even I am very passionate about leadership myself. Whenever they ask, I offer my inputs as well,” added the newly appointed captain of Caribbean Premier League team St. Lucia Zouks.