Such was the draw of WG Grace that after a public spat with Gloucestershire, who he had captained since its formation in 1870, he was able to move to London and help establish a side that within a year had been given first-class status

Martin Williamson27-Jan-200682 pp, hb

Much has been written about WG Grace – perhaps more than any other cricketer with the exception of Don Bradman. But while his 19th-century exploits are well documented, less is known about the twilight of his career, and in some ways that is one of the most interesting periods. Such was the draw of the man that after a public spat with Gloucestershire, who he had captained since its formation in 1870, he was able to move to London and help establish a side that within a year had been given first-class status.Brian Pearce’s Cricket At The Crystal Palace helps to fill in the gaps about the brief history of the London County Cricket Club (by 1905 it had lost its first-class status, a victim of financial troubles and poor attendances). But in those five seasons, it was jazz-hat cricket at its best. Led by Grace (he only missed one of their first-class matches), LCCC attracted some of the best players of the era and also took on a quasi-MCC role of nurturing and encouraging the best young cricketers. The club was dominated by the Old Man, and Pearce manages to convey the sense of what it must have been like to play with and under him.This book is not just about WG. It gives the story of the Crystal Palace, which dominated the whole enterprise and ultimately led to its demise, and of the LCCC. Pearce injects colour and life into the narrative, and the illustrations are copious and interesting.This is clearly a labour of love but Pearce has managed to produce a book well worth buying. It’s not long – 82 pages in all – and if there is a criticism it is the rather slapdash and poorly formatted statistics. But that is one minor gripe which does not really tarnish the overall product.

How Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal bludgeoned the Indian attack into submission

On the ball with S Rajesh and Arun Gopalakrishnan14-Jan-2006If the two Ys ensured a fantastic start to the series for Pakistan, then the two As were responsible for converting that start into a mammoth total and completely battering the Indian attack on the second day. Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal were together for just 21.3 overs, but during that period added an incredible 170 runs, that’s a small matter of 7.9 runs per over.Afridi, with his seven sixes – including four in an over off Harbhajan Singh – stole the show, but Akmal wasn’t far behind. In their stand, Afridi’s contribution was 88 off 61 balls, while Akmal scored 80 off 68. In the end, Akmal’s century came off 81 balls, just three more than Afridi needed. The Manhattan below shows just how the partnership flourished, and how the Indians were completely powerless to stop the deluge.Rahul Dravid tried all the bowlers at his disposal, but none had any success at staunching the runs. Among those who bowled at least ten deliveries to each batsman, Anil Kumble was the most economical (that’s strictly in context): his 25 balls to Afridi went for only 23, though Akmal carved him for 45 from 33. Conversely, Harbhajan suffered badly against Afridi (59 from 39), but was relatively better against Akmal (15 off 15). As for the medium-pacers, neither Irfan Pathan (27 off 23 against the two) nor Ajit Agarkar (23 off 14) made the slightest impression.

Ireland’s crushing innings-and-146-run victory in the Intercontinental Cup against Bermuda brought the curtain on an eventful season for Irish cricket

Andrew McGlashan01-Sep-2007

Matches against India and South Africa were meant to be the highlight of Ireland’s summer, but it didn’t quite work out like that © Getty Images

Ireland’s crushing innings-and-146-run victory in the Intercontinental Cup against Bermuda last week brought the curtain down on an eventful season for Irish cricket. Under new coach Phil Simmons, who replaced Adrian Birrell after the World Cup, they have consolidated their position as the leading Associate nation. It hasn’t, though, quite been the triumphal march that had been hoped for after their heroics in the Caribbean.Many of the players will find it hard to remember the last time they had a significant break. Before the World Cup they spent time in South Africa, at a high-performance camp. They then found themselves in various far-flung destinations such as Mombasa, Nairobi and Abu Dhabi. Welcome to the world of international cricket.A matter of days after returning from the Super Eights, they were back in action, in the Friends Provident Trophy. But after the giant-killing against Pakistan and Bangladesh, they couldn’t manage a single win against the counties. However, there were mitigating circumstances.Key players already had county contracts: Boyd Rankin, Eoin Morgan and Niall O’Brien quickly disappeared after the post-World Cup back-slapping and celebrations had been completed, although Morgan and O’Brien did turn up for Ireland later in the season. Trying to hold on to their top players would become the defining theme of Ireland’s summer.”It was always going to be tough to maintain the momentum from the World Cup,” Simmons told Cricinfo. “Considering we lost three or four of the players who led the team to their glory, it’s been a very good season. We lost the two matches against India and South Africa, but didn’t lose a game against the other Associates.”It’s going to be difficult to keep hold of players with county contracts. But it’s not something I can do anything about, and it has given me a chance to work with new players who have come in this year.”For a few weeks Irish cricket was the centre of the universe, but it wasn’t going to last, especially after the team started losing matches and unfamiliar faces began showing up in the side. To add to the problems there was growing discontent in the ranks when players didn’t see immediate rewards for their success in West Indies.

Considering we lost three or four of the players who led the team to their glory it’s been a very good season Phil Simmons on 2007

While some players decided they had to return to a normal life, others voiced their disapproval about how the Irish Cricket Union was conducting affairs. Loudest among them was Jeremy Bray, the left-hand opener, who scored a century against Zimbabwe and another in the Intercontinental Cup final against Canada. He made himself unavailable for the ODIs against South Africa and India, plus subsequent fixtures against fellow Associates.But he wasn’t the only person unhappy. During the quadrangular tournament staged in Belfast and Dublin during July, the players refused to undertake post-match media commitments following the match against Netherlands, in protest over non-payment of World Cup fees.In many ways Ireland’s progress to the Super Eights created problems for the ICU. Despite the additional prize money, and the boost it provided to the game, there were increased outgoings in terms of costs of the team’s stay in the Caribbean and wages for the players. There was hopeful talk of central contracts being introduced to give players some security and encourage them to stay with Ireland, but reality quickly began to sink in.To try and generate some much-needed income, and make the most of the team’s new-found marketability, the ICU dipped its toe into the offshore ODI market, only to experience its first taste of the volatile world of international TV rights when the matches involving South Africa and India nearly fell through. However, although Sachin Tendulkar and Co. did make it to Belfast, the weather was poor and the crowds even more so. In the end the ICU only broke even.”Partly it was down to the crowds,” said the chief executive, Warren Deutrom. “But that, in turn, came because of the fact that Zee TV pulled out three weeks before the event and there was very little time for advertising. Nimbus came on board, but we only had one hand and weren’t able to negotiate. Advertisers wanted to know what channel they would be on and we weren’t able to tell them until a couple of days before the match.”The weather didn’t help, either, with people not enticed to the matches in the cold and damp. We didn’t get any walk-up sales, compared to 2000 when Ireland played England [in 2006].”

Andre Botha hit two hundreds as Ireland continued to dominate their fellow Associates © Rowland White

When faced with international opposition on the field, Ireland continued to perform admirably without managing a scalp to match Pakistan or Bangladesh. At least the absence of some key players allowed Simmons to explore the depth available to him. Greg Thompson, a legspinner, was handed more opportunities, as was left-arm spinner Gary Kidd. Gary Wilson, who plays for Surrey 2nd XI, covered for O’Brien and Alex Cusack’s Man of the Match display against South Africa was a good-news story.”In many ways it was a good thing that we were without some of the top players,” said Simmons. “It gave other guys a chance and they have done well. There are some good cricketers coming through the Under-19 system and in two or three years I can see a very strong Ireland team.”The side’s Intercontinental Cup form remained impressive when they retained the title against Canada at Grace Road in May. The bowling attack, led by David Langford-Smith and Trent Johnston, was well clear of the next best. William Porterfield remained brilliant in the field and helped form a strong top order. Andre Botha, whose medium pace was key at the World Cup, suddenly found a new lease of life with the bat with back-to-back centuries to end the season. At youth level, too, there was no match for the Irish as they enjoyed success at Under-19, -17 and -15 level. The next major challenge comes for the new generation at the U-19 World Cup in Malaysia next February and March.”Porterfield was excellent throughout the season, right from before the World Cup to the final game [his career-best 166 against Bermuda],” said Simmons. “But many others have done well, and hopefully young players will look at what they’ve achieved and think that it could be them in a few years.”The ICU hopes to organise a pre-season tour in February or March next year, but for most of the players it will be a winter of day jobs and indoor nets. It is a far cry from the year they have experienced and there are many challenges for Irish cricket to face if the success of 2007 is not to be a false dawn.

After having lost four successive ODIs in the series against Sri Lanka, England would have thought they would finally break that depressing sequence when they rattled off 321 in the last match

On the Ball with S Rajesh01-Jul-2006After having lost four successive ODIs in the series against Sri Lanka, England would have thought they would finally break that depressing sequence when they rattled off 321 in the last match at The Oval. A face-saving win, perhaps? Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga, though, had other ideas which went something like this: how about a record opening partnership and a win inside 40 overs? After ten overs, they had blasted 133, and the deceleration in the rate thereafter was only when compared to the dizzying standards they had set.When the partnership finally ended, England had been punch-drunk to the tune of 286 runs, scored in a small matter of 31.5 overs. The partnership beat the earlier record for the first wicket, between Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. That record, though, came against the rather modest Kenyan attack; this one came against – at least on paper – a much stronger attack.

Highest first-wicket partnerships in ODIs

Pair Partnership Against Venue and year

Tharanga-Jayasuriya 286 England Headingley, 2006 Ganguly-Tendulkar 258 Kenya Paarl, 2001-02 Ganguly-Tendulkar 252 Sri Lanka Colombo, 1998 Atapattu-Jayasuriya 237 Australia Sydney, 2002-03 Gibbs-Kirsten 235 India Kochi, 1999-2000 Jayasuriya’s contribution to the carnage was 152, off a mere 99 balls. The wagon-wheel below shows where the assault was concentrated: through the cover region, and the arc between backward square leg and mid-on. Those have always been Jayasuriya’s favourite areas, and this time fetched him 112 of his runs, that’s three-quarters of his total runs.Jayasuriya was severe on all bowlers, but the ones who felt it the most were Kabir Ali and Tim Bresnan: Ali disappeared for 46 from 22 balls, Bresnan for 26 from nine. Steve Harmison was only marginally better, conceding 38 from 24. In all, Harmison went for 97 in his ten overs, the most runs conceded by an England bowler in a one-day international – beating Derek Pringle’s 83 from ten in the 1987 World Cup against West Indies – and the fourth-most overall.

Most runs conceded in ODIs

Bowler Analysis Opponent Venue & year

Mick Lewis 10-0-113-0 South Africa Johannesburg, 2005-06 Martin Snedden 12-1-105-2 England The Oval, 1983 Muttiah Muralitharan 10-0-99-0 Australia Sydney, 2005-06 Steve Harmison 10-0-97-0 Sri Lanka Headingley, 2006 Ashantha de Mel 10-0-97-1 West Indies Karachi, 1987-88

Bangladesh scored 116 runs in boundaries to India’s 114, but they played out 38 more dot balls

S Rajesh12-May-2007Bangladesh finally fell short by 46 runs, but there was one aspect in which they trumped India: they scored 116 runs in fours and sixes – admittedly thanks to Mashrafe Mortaza’s blitz at the end – compared to India’s 114. That stat also means, though, that they fell behind in something more basic – and less glamorous – than dismissing deliveries over and beyond the ropes.The stats analysis after the World Cup had revealed that among all the teams that reached the Super Eights, Bangladesh played out the highest percentage of dot balls, and they repeated it today: of the 297 deliveries they faced, 190 produced no runs off the bat; that translates to nearly 32 overs, or 64% of total deliveries faced.

How India and Bangladesh scored their runs

Team Dot balls 1s/ 2s/ 3s 4s/ 6s Dot ball %

India 152 110/ 16/ 2 24/ 3 50.84 Bangladesh 190 77/ 11/ 2 14/ 10 63.97 The Indians themselves aren’t known to be the best runners between the wickets, but Bangladesh’s batsmen could start by taking inspiration from some of them: in the first game, Dinesh Karthik scored a 60-ball 58 with only 16 runs in boundaries, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s brisk 91 had 28 runs in fours. Today, Rahul Dravid’s 42 had just one four, and yet he scored his runs in 47 balls.In contrast, Bangladesh’s batsmen relied almost entirely on the boundaries to score quickly. Aftab Ahmed made 40 off 41, but with 26 runs in boundaries; Habibul Bashar wasn’t quite as successful with the big hits – and he admittedly batted after Bangladesh had lost lots of wickets which allowed India to attack more – and he struggled, getting to 43 from 88 deliveries, with 62 dot balls.Gambhir stands outFor India, the performer of the day was Gautam Gambhir. He has often frittered away starts in the past – in eight out of 21 innings he has fallen between 15 and 40 – but today he didn’t make that mistake, getting to his second ODI century. The feature of his innings was the manner in which he paced it – the first 25 runs came off 39 balls, the next 25 took 26, the third 25 came in just 18, while the last 26 took slightly longer – 30 balls – primarily because of the stifling heat. The knock also took his average against Bangladesh beyond 50 – he now averages 51 against them in four innings. The challenge will be to keep up this level consistently, and be among the runs against all kinds of bowling attacks. (Click here for Gambhir’s career summary.)More stats India’s 284 for 8 is their second-highest total in an ODI against Bangladesh. The highest is 348 for 5 at Dhaka in 2004-05. Enamul Haque, a former left-arm spinner and an umpire in this game in which Dinesh Mongia was smashed for 26 in an over, was himself at the receiving end in an ODI: Shahid Afridi smashed him for 28 in an over – including four sixes – at Dhaka in 2001-02. The 26 runs that Mashrafe Mortaza and Abdur Razzak scored off Mongia is the most runs scored in an over in an ODI between India and Bangladesh. (Click here for the list of most number of runs scored in an over.)

Stats highlights from the third day’s play between South Africa and India at Johannesburg

S Rajesh17-Dec-2006

Zaheer Khan: one of the few Indian batsmen who averages more abroad than at home © AFP

0 & 0 – Herschelle Gibbs’s score in the innings at Johannesburg. It’s the first time he has bagged a pair in 80 Tests.39 – Jacques Kallis’s aggregate in this match. It’s his lowest in a Test against India, against whom his average has now dropped from 82.71 to 68.67.8 for 87 – Sreesanth’s match figures so far. The only Indian bowler to take more than eight wickets in a Test in South Africa is Venkatesh Prasad, who took 10 for 153 at Durban in 1996.54* – Ashwell Prince’s score at the end of the third day. All his three previous half-centuries in Tests have been in matches South Africa have lost. Of his four hundreds, though, South Africa have won one, drawn two and lost one.5 – The total of the first-wicket stand in two innings for South Africa. India were marginally better with the openers adding 14 and 20 in the two innings.37 – Zaheer Khan’s contribution with the bat, which is his fourth Test score of more than 35, all of which have come overseas. Zaheer averages 15.11 when batting abroad; at home his average drops to 9.28.48.50 – VVS Laxman’s Test average in South Africa. His 73 at Johannesburg was his second half-century there in eight innings.

Two late wickets were reward for New Zealand’s application – particularly that of Chris Martin whose wiry frame belied an extra yard of zip that none of England’s bowlers could replicate (least of all Steve Harmison). But perhaps more significantly, the b

Andrew Miller in Hamilton06-Mar-2008
Alastair Cook fell for 38 – a stark reminder of the frailties of England’s batting lineup © Getty Images
For 85 overs of the second day at Hamilton, the first Test between England and New Zealand was dying a slow death. The application shown by Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori during their 148-run stand was admirable but foreboding. England’s bowlers found no swing, seam or spin to help them on their way, and when their own batsmen replied in kind with an 84-run opening stand, the worst sort of stalemate was already being envisaged.But then, Alastair Cook went and played a pull shot that had “mug” tattooed all over it, and suddenly there was life in the match once again. Two late wickets were reward for New Zealand’s application – particularly that of Chris Martin whose wiry frame belied an extra yard of zip that none of England’s bowlers could replicate (least of all Steve Harmison). But perhaps more significantly, the breakthroughs were a reminder of the frailties of England’s batting line-up.Daniel Vettori made a point of bigging up England’s top six on the eve of the series, remarking how they all averaged in excess of 40. What he omitted to mention is that they all too frequently reach that score then give their wickets away. In Sri Lanka before Christmas, England were overwhelmed by three totemic innings – 152 from Kumar Sangakkara at Kandy, and then 197 and 213 not out from Mahela Jayawardene at Colombo and Galle respectively. In reply they mustered a solitary hundred in six attempts, and that came from Cook at the last gasp, when the series was already irretrievable.Taylor’s hugely mature 120 wasn’t quite in the class of those three knocks, but it was a performance of great resolve and substance, the like of which England aren’t too keen to replicate these days. As a squad they have mislaid the art of the meaningful innings – and they can’t even manage it in one-day cricket, where their last centurion was Owais Shah at The Oval against India last summer, 11 matches ago.Andrew Strauss used to score centuries for fun, with 10 in his first 30 Tests, but he was dropped after failing to reach three figures in 25 subsequent innings. Now he’s back in the mix, thanks entirely to the shortcomings of others, and he’s out in the middle already – at least a session sooner than he had envisaged. There’s no time like the present for ending his run-drought either. Ian Bell is incapacitated, Tim Ambrose is on debut, and Ryan Sidebottom – for all his merits – is hardly fit to lace Vettori’s boots at No. 8.New Zealand are flushed with unexpected confidence after the success of their batsmen this morning, and they sense that England are beatable.”We think we can win the game,” said Taylor. “If they were none-down or one-down it would be a pretty even game, but to have them two-down when it is starting to slow up and take a bit of turn, I’m sure the first session tomorrow will be big. If we can put some pressure on England early on then you never know.”Pressure was what England’s bowlers singularly failed to apply after resuming on 282 for 6. “We’re disappointed that we didn’t bowl as well as we did yesterday,” said Ryan Sidebottom, who with 4 for 90 was England’s stand-out bowler and, for once, had the figures to prove it. “We were fired up to get the four wickets and we were stupidly searching for wickets this morning, rather than doing what we did yesterday. We were trying to bowl too quick instead of plugging away, and they scored 100 more than we expected.”Apart from watching him on TV, I haven’t had a lot to do with him [Steve Harmison] but he can bowl at 130kph as much as he wants, because it makes it easier for me. He’d be a hell of a bowler to face if he was bowling at 145-150kph, especially on a bouncy deckRoss Taylor gives a damning assessment of Steve Harmison”Bowling too quick.” That may have been true of the two specialist swing bowlers in the line-up, but oh for such an accolade to be uttered in Harmison’s direction. Taylor could hardly believe his luck when reputation finally met with reality, and he faced up for the first time to the bowler who was once the most fearsome in the world. “Apart from watching him on TV, I haven’t had a lot to do with him,” said Taylor, “but he can bowl at 130kph as much as he wants, because it makes it easier for me. He’d be a hell of a bowler to face if he was bowling at 145-150kph, especially on a bouncy deck.”It was a pretty damning yet utterly honest assessment from a man in only his third Test match. Taylor came to the crease with a reputation for big hitting and a career-best score of 17, and yet he bedded in to bat for more than five hours. “I got off to a bit of shaky start in my first four digs in Test cricket, so it was good to silence a few people who doubted me and whether I was good enough to play at this level,” he said. “It was definitely the most circumspect I’ve ever batted.”England are capable of emulating such feats. Strauss was back to his compact self during the warm-up in Dunedin, while Kevin Pietersen is bristling for a big one after failing to reach even fifty in Sri Lanka. But to judge by the verve and aggression showed by Martin and Mills with the new ball, and the steep bounce and not-insignificant turn extracted by the spinners, Vettori and Jeetan Patel, New Zealand’s bowlers are more up for the challenge than their English counterparts proved to be.England were, after all, bundled out for 131 in their warm-up at Dunedin. “That showed us that England can be beaten,” said Taylor. “It was only a three-day game and it did do a lot on the first morning of that game, but it gave the players in that match a bit more belief they could foot it with England. It showed we are still in the game.”

Exactly one year after Shohei Ohtani played his final game with the Los Angeles Angels, he returned to his former home ballpark for the first time on Tuesday night as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While Angels fans' reactions in Anaheim may have been mixed, the Angels’ scoreboard operator left no doubt as to where he stood on the two-way star. During the Dodgers’ 6-2 win, he used quite the snarky line to describe Ohtani on the scoreboard.

“Used to work here.”

Just those four words. It was a picture-perfect moment to hang in the Louvre.

Though the scoreboard operator may have been feeling some type of way that night, the Angels did honor Ohtani with an emotional tribute video shared on social media.

Ohtani’s six-year career with the Angels may not have amounted to much playoff glory, but he definitely made his mark on an organization that was naturally sad to see him leave in free agency. During his time in Anaheim, which saw him win two AL MVPs and three All-Star nods, Ohtani racked up 171 home runs and 437 RBIs while also pitching to an impressive tune with a 3.01 ERA.

Luke Weaver is always an interesting interview.

On Thursday during World Series media day, MLB Network's Lauren Shehadi asked the New York Yankees reliever what he would be doing if he wasn't a pitcher. That's when things got weird.

Weaver's initial reaction was "underwater basket weaver" which he then attempted to explain. He said, "And hear me out, play on words. I was definitely a water kid then, you know, ear troubles, tubes that I had to get out of that."

Then he continued by completely changing course. Weaver said, "So now I think, I would love to be a golfer but realistically I would like to combine some type of drawing slash … I don't know."

So, in the end, the answer is "I don't know." But the journey we took to get there might have been worth it.

Weaver had an outstanding 2024 for the Yankees. He finished the season 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP and 103 strikeouts against 26 walks in 84 innings. He has continued that hot streak in the postseason, as in eight appearances he is 1-0 with a 2.61 ERA, a 0.77 WHIP and 12 strikeouts and one walk in 10 1/3 innings.

The 31-year-old doesn't need to know what he'd do if he wasn't a pitcher because he's pretty good at being one.

Chasing 230 in 40 overs in a rain-affected match, Zimbabwe went into the last over needing 15, but managed only 11

The Report by Liam Brickhill22-Mar-2018

A dejected Sikandar Raza walks back after holing out•IDI via Getty Images

Zimbabwe all but crashed out of the running for a spot at the 2019 World Cup with a narrow three-run defeat to United Arab Emirates in their final Super Six match at the Harare Sports Club. Chasing 230 in 40 overs in a rain-affected match, Zimbabwe went into the last over needing 15, but managed only 11. Their chase had been powered by Sean Williams’ 80, but his dismissal in the 37th over left the lower order with too much to do, and UAE held their nerve to record their first victory over a Test nation.How can Zimbabwe still qualify?

Zimbabwe’s loss means they end with five points whereas Afghanistan and Ireland, who will play each other on Friday, have four each. Whoever wins on Friday will take the tenth spot in the World Cup but Zimbabwe still have a slim and improbable chance of making it which rests on the Afghanistan-Ireland match ending in a tie. In that case, all three teams will be tied on five points each but both Afghanistan’s and Ireland’s net run rate will take a beating since the teams will be conceding as many runs as they score. While Afghanistan’s NRR (0.34) is already below Zimbabwe’s (0.42), Ireland’s NRR (0.47) will slip below Zimbabwe’s to a value of 0.377.
However, if Friday’s clash is washed out, the three teams will end on five points again but the NRRs for Afghanistan and Ireland won’t change and Ireland will go through because of a higher NRR.

Needing to score at 5.75 from the outset, with only 40 overs and the potential of further rain delays, this was a situation in which Zimbabwe might have welcomed Cephas Zhuwao’s big hitting up front. But without him in the XI, Hamilton Masakadza and Solomon Mire opened the batting.With the ball skidding on a little quicker on a surface juiced up by the shower, Mohammad Naveed’s pace soon proved too much for Mire. Late on a pull, he spliced an easy catch to Shaiman Anwar at midwicket. Working up serious pace, Naveed then sent Masakadza’s off stump cartwheeling with a delivery clocked at 140kph. Those wickets put a dent in Zimbabwe, but it seemed they were floored when Brendan Taylor played down the wrong line at a delivery from Ahmed Raza that rushed on with the arm, zipping between bat and pad to bowl him for 15. Zimbabwe were reeling against the ropes at 45 for 3 with their best batsman back in the dressing room and the asking rate now at 6.6 per over.But while UAE’s bowling attack packed a punch, they couldn’t quite deliver the knockout blow. Williams and Peter Moor gritted their way through the new ball, a stiffness in their strokeplay that spoke volumes about the incredibly high stakes of this match. It wasn’t until Williams started to connect his reverse sweeps that they began to settle. He collected boundaries off Raza and Mustafa, and then broke free with a remarkable upper cut off Amir Hayat in the 25th over. That shot took him into the 40s, and a quick single soon after brought up a vital fifty from 56 deliveries.Mustafa, Williams pick up demerit points

UAE captain Rohan Mustafa and Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams have been found guilty of breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during their verbal exchange in the 37th over after Mustafa had dismissed Williams. Both players admitted to their offences and a formal hearing was not required. They’ve each picked up one demerit point as a result, alongside fines of 15% of their match fees.
Mustafa was found to have breached Article 2.1.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an International Match”, while Williams was found guilty of violating Article 2.1.4, which deals with “using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International Match”.

Immediately afterwards, however, Moor chipped a drive straight to Adnan Mufti in the covers to fall for 39. A 79-run partnership was broken, and the pressure increased once more. Needing at least a boundary an over, Raza and Williams scampered for every possible run, taking on the field, while Raza managed to puncture the leg-side boundary to keep the asking rate just about within check. Their fifty stand came up from only 36 deliveries, but the exertion began to tell on Williams, and cramps set in.With Zimbabwe needing 53 from 36, Raza heaved mightily to place a flighted delivery from Mustafa on the roof above the players’ dressing rooms, but then whipped a full-toss straight out to Shaiman Anwar at long leg. In an atmosphere of rising tension, Mustafa repeatedly warned the non-striking batsmen for backing up to far, threatening the Mankad but never actually tipping the bails off. When Williams collided with Hayat turning for a second run in the next over, words were exchanged and the umpire stepped in to cool things off. When Williams whipped a sweep over fine leg, but lapped the next ball to be caught, one-handed, by Hayat in that position, Mustafa bellowed a send-off.Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer arrived at the crease in an atmosphere of almost unbearable tension, and in fading light Naveed rifled in a full delivery to bowl him first ball, and the home side slipped to 209 for 7. Craig Ervine and Kyle Jarvis swung gamely, and Ervine was on strike to the final ball with six needed. But Naveed held his nerve, restricting them to two runs to break Zimbabwean hearts.Mohammad Naveed exults after picking up a wicket•IDI via Getty Images

UAE’s innings had begun under rather clearer skies. Asked to bat by Zimbabwe on the same pitch as was used in the game between Scotland and West Indies on Wednesday, captain Rohan Mustafa signalled his intent early with a hack over cover for four. Ashfaq Ahmed was also unafraid to hit over the top early on, but after conceding two boundaries, Tendai Chatara had him caught behind, pushing flat-footed at one that left him off the track.But while Jarvis’ length and swing troubled both edges of the bat, Chatara struggled for any consistency and despite the early wicket his opening spell leaked 31 runs in four overs. He wasn’t the only Zimbabwean to have an off day, and nerves may well have contributed to Zimbabwe’s stiffness in the field.Ghulam Shabber was gifted a life when an edge off his bat flew right between Taylor, keeping wicket once again, and Masakadza at first slip. He was also gifted extra runs, Chatara misreading the spin on the ball as it bounced towards him in the outfield, slipping wrong-footed, and giving away four. When his luck eventually ran out and he was bowled, missing a sweep at Raza, Rameez Shahzad continued to take the fight to Zimbabwe’s bowlers.Shahzad smashed an unbeaten 112 against West Indies earlier in this tournament, and in January he cracked 121 to help UAE chase down 300 against Scotland. Against Zimbabwe he showed that he hadn’t lost any touch by getting off the mark with a towering six off Raza that landed on the roof of the three-storey building at the Golf Course End. Fifteen overs of drives, pulls and dabs later, he brought up a half-century off 51 balls with an adventurous ramp over point, and UAE were bossing the innings at 171 for 3 after 37 overs.Zimbabwe’s bowlers surged once again at the death, and the wicket of Shahzad in the 39th over slowed UAE’s charge. Mohammad Usman and Shaiman Anwar holed out, and when Blessing Muzarabani removed Ahmed Raza in a wicket maiden in the 47th over, UAE had slipped to 211 for 7 with the rain on its way. There was just enough time for Naveed to blast 22 from 10 deliveries, boosting the score beyond Zimbabwe’s reach and, ultimately, shattering their World Cup dreams.