On This Day

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 a bowling masterclass from JP Duminy helped South Africa to a comprehensive win over Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka set a tame total and Duminy combined with Imran Tahir with the ball and Quinton de Kock with the bat to decimate the Sri Lankan challenge.

Poor decision number one for Sri Lanka was promoting Kusal Perera who exited for just three. Soon enough Sri Lanka were 4-2. The first glint of success for the Sri Lankans was a strong partnership between Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakarra who got 65. Once Thirimanne was dismissed by Tahir, all resistance was futile. With the exception of Angelo Matthews all the rest of the Sri Lankan batsmen were dismissed for single figures.

Due to the fact that valid batsmen were running out, Sangakarra felt he needed to up the tempo ...and ended up getting out himself. Soon enough Sri Lanka were all out for 133 with 12.4 overs unused.

South Africa's chase began moderately until Hashim Amla holed out when his team were on 40. De Kock and Du Plessis fended South Africa away from a wobble. De Kock's innings was powerful and stylish, whilst Du Plessis hit a no nonsense 21.

South Africa hope that this will lead on to a successful tournament whilst Sri Lanka's elimination ends the one-day international careers of legends Sangakkara and Jayawardene.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Rohit Sharma's maiden World Cup century helped India to the semi-finals, besting Bangladesh by 109 runs.

Sharma's 137 off 126 balls, with 14 fours and three sixes was a dominant performance for India but there was some controversy when he was given a stay of execution after a controversial no ball decision.

Sharma was the main show but there were side shows. Suresh Raina hit an impactful 65 to push the Indian total over the 300 mark.

Sharma and Shikar Dhawan started well with a partnership of 75 until Dhawan got out through a Shakib Al-Hassan delivery on 30. Virat Kohli only lasted three runs to leave India on 115-3.

This brought Sharma and Raina together who began by stabilising and then pushed on.

On 90 Sharma appeared to have been out, caught at deep mid wicket, but the umpires over ruled it stating that the ball was above waist height when struck. This was belied by television replays but the decision stood.

Sharma soon made hay while the sun shined and reached his century soon after. When Raina got out shortly after his half century, Sharma went up through the gears. He was finally out for 137.

Bangladesh could not last enough time at the crease to form anywhere near as big a score. The top scorer for Bangladesh was Nassir Hossain's 35. Tamim Iqbal started off the chase powerfully, finding the boundary regularly but fell for a mere 25 after reaching out for one that was too wide. Imrul Kayes fell the very next ball for just five. He had been the less dominant opener and had accrued just five.

Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar looked to form a partnership together but both fell in their twenties at the hand of Mohammed Shami. This was the death knell for the Bangladeshi chase.

Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rahman put on a half century partnership but by then it was too little too late.

Umesh Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers with four wickets to his name.

This marked India's eleventh straight victory.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Australia beat Pakistan to progress to the semi final.

Pakistan's will rue their batting performance. A cast of Pakistan bowlers got in but couldn't push on. This is after both openers went in the first six overs. The only partnership of any note was between Misbah-ul-Haq and Haris Sohail. Misbah was lucky to survive an early shout which would have further buried the Pakistanis. The ball flicked the stump and dislodged the bail but it nestled led back down. Everyone else were also rans. When that partnership broke up, through Misbah feeling he had to up the run rate, Pakistan's fate seemed inevitable.

Even more frustrating was that all Pakistan's batsmen got out the same way - trying to clear deep mid wicket......and failing. It started with Misbah, Umar Akmal continued the trend and then Shahid Afridi finished off the inglorious hat trick. Sohaib Masqood and Wahab Riaz put up a stubborn thirty to push Pakistan over 200.

Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the Australian bowlers and finished with 4 for 35.

Pakistan's bowling strength was belied by weakness in the field, with the turning point being when Shane Watson was dropped before going on to make 64. There was also strength in the captaincy as Misbah set his field intelligently, as well as contributing with the bat.

At one point it seemed like the bowling of Wahab Riaz might have marked the death knell for Australia. His initial six over spell brought 2 for 24 claiming David Warner and Michael Clarke. The left arm fast bowler was awesome and made Watson hustle and bustle to get any runs from him. Away from Wahab the tale was not as pretty with the other bowlers being more profligate. Steve Smith racked up his 50 before falling for 65.

Glenn Maxwell joined Watson in the middle and played audaciously to help his team, and his team mate, to the victory.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Martin Guptil's 237 not out secured New Zealand's place in the semi final of the World Cup.

Gallingly Guptil was dropped in the first over and went on to beat the record for most runs scored in a ODI game and continued his fine form in this competition. Things would have been much brighter with Guptil gone - especially when Brendon McCullum was dismissed for just twelve runs but Guptil was able to plough on.

For such a high score Guptil wasn't initially prolific when it came to run rate. He took 111 deliveries to reach three figures. After his first century, however, he took just 41 balls to reach his second.

Despite run rates being high Jerome Taylor and Andre Russell got 5 wickets between them.

Chris Gayle started the chase big with a 33-ball 61 however he was the only form of defiance as he began to lose partners around him.

Another successful New Zealander was Trent Boult who became leading wicket-taker in the tournament thanks to a great catch from Daniel Vettori. The West Indies tail put up a bit of defiance with some decent double figure scores but the total was far too big for them.

Gayle broke himself a record too - most sixes in all World Cups with 37.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2013 the fourth test between India and Australia began. India were 2-1 up in the series.

Australia's first innings began underwhelmingly. Whilst a number of batsmen got in none managed to push their score above 50 to underline Australia's dominance.

The innings started brightly for India when Australian dangerman David Warner was dismissed for a duck. Despite this, Ed Cowan and Phil Hughes managed to put together a partnership of 67 to get Australia back on track. Hughes scored quickly but got out first, whilst Cowan was happy to act as the anchor and try and push his score up. Both were gone in the 33rd over with the score at 106-3.

Steve Smith came in to try and form some middle order partnerships but was rejected by a number of low scoring batsmen. Shane Watson, Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell all departed for a combined 15 runs, Ravi Ashwin claiming the first and the last. Australia were staring into the abyss.

Smith finally found a partner to stick around in the unlikely form of Peter Siddle. Siddle allowed Smith the opportunity to kick on whilst he seized in the bad balls. They did not last the rest of the day out as Smith fell late to another Ashwin wicket.

Siddle stands on the verge of a half century joined by James Pattinson on 11. Australia are 231/8.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2013 India responded in kind to Australia's underwhelming innings.

James Pattinson began the day with a stubborn tail end performance which yielded 30 runs to take their total to 262.

The opening partnership for India began much better than Australia's did yesterday with Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara putting on 108 together. Pujara scored quicker but fell first which marked the start of a panic for India with Virat Kohli falling for 1 in the next over. Both batsmen were dismissed by the spin of Nathan Lyon.

Wickets seemed to want to come in clusters as Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane both fell within five overs of each other. Vijay scored a measured 57 while Rahane went for a slap dash 32. It was a worry for India that no one could decide if they were going for calm and collected or smash and grab.

The unlikely stabilising partnership for India turned out to be their spin twins of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin. Their total of 44 between them added some grit and tenacity to an India side that could have spiralled into a decline. When Jadeja came in it was 180/5 and when Ashwin left it was 266/8 and India had the lead.

The day ended with the wicket of Ashwin and India hoping to push the lead higher on Day 3.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2013 Australia flopped in their second innings to capitulate the Fourth Test in just three days.

Peter Siddle is the only Australian batsmen to have anything to crow about. His half century rounded off an all round strong performance with the bat from the Melbourne man. At the other end of the batting order Ed Cowan was the highlight of the opening order with his 24 from 50. The rest of the batsmen didn't even scrape over 20.

Spin destroyed Australia. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin got 7 of the wickets, with Jadeja bagging a fivefer. The spinner got the first three batsmen within the 13th over.

Australia's total of 164 gave them a lead of 154.

Cheteshwar Pujara got over half of the runs needed the chase with his 82 not out. With a smaller total India might have wobbled. Sachin Tendulkar and Ajinkya Rahane both were sent back for 1 run by Nathan Lyon in successive overs. Virat Kohli joined Pujara in a partnership of 104, however he was by far the less dominant partner.

India did enough to tie it all up on day three to tie the series.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2013 a spectacular performance from Peter Fulton saves New Zealand innings against England to gain huge total.

On this, the fourth day of the test match, New Zealand began the day on the back foot. Stuart Broad had sent back three batsmen the day before for a mere 35 runs. Fulton and Dean Brownlie needed to consolidate - but Brownlie fell to a Monty Panesar delivery thirteen overs into the day.

This brought together the defining partnership of the day in the form of Fulton and Brendon McCullum. Their partnership of 117 took New Zealand from 82/4 to 199/5 in 17 overs. McCullum played the game as if it was a T20 match and Fulton's strike rate upped as he saw how the game was changing. Fulton was the first man out, but not before he claimed his century. McCullum put on 48 with BJ Watling but decided to declare when his partner got out at the hands of Panesar. New Zealand had a second innings lead of 480.

England's reply started poorly with Nick Compton being dismissed in the second over for just 2. Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott consolidated with a partnership of 58 before Trott fell to a Neil Wagner delivery.

The day couldn't have ended worse for England with two wickets falling for the gain of no run. Cook fell for 43 against the part time spin of Kane Williamson whilst, twenty dot balls later, the night watchman Steven Finn was dismissed for a duck.

England end the day on 90/4 needing 390 in the last day with only six wickets in hand.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2013 England started the day with two options: hold on to the six remaining wickets or score 390 runs. They favoured the former.

Ian Bell was the first man to help them towards that. He started the day on 8 and began the day with a new partnership with Joe Root. They'd started at an average pace - 2.14 runs an over - until Root got out lbw to Trent Boult.

Panic would have beset the England faithful when Jonny Bairstow got out just 5 overs later, rendering England 159-6. Only four batsmen left.

This then brought together Matt Prior and Bell - who, it seems, temporarily forgot the situation they were in and played for fun. Their strike rate of 3.16 an over was the second highest of the innings and the fourth highest of the match for England. Blinded to the situation that they were in, the pair put on runs bravely and frustrated the bowlers.

The pair took England to the brink of tea. Bell looked strongest whilst Prior seized on the bad balls. In the over before tea Bell became slightly too ambitious and edged to third slip. England were 237/7 with a session left and only Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Monty Panesar in the hutch.

Broad is often accused of being too attacking, not so today. It took him 62 deliveries to score a run. He allowed Prior to do the hard work before he edged it to slip in the 139th over. His total was 6 off 137 balls - a strike rate of 7.79.

Hearts were in English mouths two balls later when Anderson fell for the exact same trick. Bowled by Kane Williamson, edged to Ross Taylor, out for a duck.

Prior and Panesar had three overs to survive together to draw the match. It was not confident. It was not attractive. It was edgy but England's pair held on to end a very tight day in Auckland.

Prior's 110 not out marked a great day for the wicketkeeper at the end of a great series. He became only the fifth wicketkeeper to score a century in the fourth innings of a Test. Also Prior's series aggregate of 311 is his second-highest, next to the 324 he scored in four Tests against West Indies in the home series in 2007. Among wicketkeeper-batsmen who've scored at least 3500 runs, Prior's average of 45.46 is the third-best, after Andy Flower and Gilchrist.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Matt Prior's average dropped to 40.18 in the end. From memory, that was his last significant inniings for England. It still gives him the third best average for a keeper over 3500 runs, though only nine bats have scored that many. Good player and he earned his cheese on that day, sticky bails or not.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1859 George Giffen, one of Australia's most talented cricketers, was born.

Born in Adelaide, Giffen began his career with the Norwood Cricket Club before moving to the West Adelaide Club. His career kick started when he began playing for South Australia. He started off as a squad member but some stand out performances saw him become a regular soon enough due to the fact that he was equally strong with bat and ball.

Giffen made his test debut in the 1881-82 series against Australia which they won 2-0 but was largely underwhelming; only getting two wickets and making 44 runs in the three matches which he played.

Giffen was part of the series that Summer that coined the phrase 'The Ashes' - taking 32 wickets at an average of 21.84 and making 699 runs averaging 19.02. Despite this he was over shadowed by his more experienced bowling team mates.

Despite some dubious batting figures , by The Ashes series of 1882-83, he was invited to open the batting. He got 41 in his first innings, a career best at the time, and followed up with 7 in the second innings. During this tour Giffen became the first non-English player to get a whole team out.

The 1884 tour of England helped mark his claim to be an all rounder. He took 81 wickets in England at an average of 19.60 and top scored, against Lancashire, with 118 runs.

Giffen's reputation was tarnished with the Australian public when he, alongside a number of the other Australian team, struck during the 1884-85 tour to complain about their share of the profits. They may have been won over by his figures of 7/117 in his return match.

Giffen holds some rather extraordinary figures. In 1891, in a domestic game against Victoria he scored 271 runs and took 16/166 across the two innings. His fine form continued internationally. In the 1886 England tour of Australia he made 1424 runs and took 154 wickets including 13 fivefers.

Giffen raged at the dying of the light. Despite retiring from international duty in 1896, he still took 13 English wickets in a domestic game in 1900 aged 41. He finished his career aged 44. His last figures were 81, 7/75, 97* and 8/110.

By the end of his career Giffen had stacked up many records he was the first Australian to take 1000 first-class wickets and score 1000 runs. He totalled 18 first-class centuries and 4 double centuries.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1892 the last day of the Ashes series was played out.

After a huge total of 499 from England, the Australians could only muster 100 in return, primarily thanks to the bowling of Johnny Brigs. After England enforced the follow on they did little better in the second innings. The Australians started the day on 124/8 needing another shed load of runs to make England bat again.

The three key men for Australia were Bob McLeod, who had accrued 8 runs in the tail end of Saturday's play, Harry Donnan, just coming in, and Jack Blackham, still in the hutch with an average run rate of 15.65.

McLeod and Donnan went further than most thought they would with a combative 33, before a George Lohmann delivery dispatched him for 30. Blackham, a wicket keeping last man came in, offered some resistance and then fell for 9.

The three match series ended 2-1 to Australia but as consolation wins go this was a particularly huge one.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Interesting post about Giffen, 365, cheers.

[GarlicJam]

Interesting post about Giffen, 365, cheers.

Indeed.

He had some very impressive figures. Up until now, to me, he was just the name of a (now mostly demolished) grandstand at the Adelaide Oval. I think that they now have a statue of him to ameliorate this loss.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 a strong bowling attack helped Australia lift the World Cup trophy.

Brendon McCullum won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision he may rue in retrospect. This was certainly the case personally as he was sent back in the first over. This brought together Martin Guptil and Kane Williamson who had to curb their attacking instincts and play to the scoreboard. Neither of them succeeded, with both gone in the early teens, leaving New Zealand 39-3.

New Zealand have been so strong with the bat during this tournament but if it were not for an 111 run stand between Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott the score could have been a humiliation today. Elliot lived a blessed life, narrowly surviving an lbw appeal. Taylor scored quickly, around a run a ball throughout his innings. The partnership was broken up by the specialist Australian finisher James Faulkner. He sent back Taylor for 40.

This proved a brief respite between two collapses. After this partnership New Zealand lost 7 wickets for 33 runs. In the same over as he dismissed Taylor, Faulkner bowled Corey Anderson for a duck. Luke Ronhi was next batsman out, also for a duck. Daniel Vettori got himself in and didn't go for big hits unlike his two team mates. When he lost Elliot he had to adapt his batting style accordingly - and then got out. The Australians made short work of Tim Southee and Matt Henry (another batsman out for a duck) and wound the New Zealand innings up for 183.

Mitchell Johnson claimed the best figures with 3-30.

There was a little hope for New Zealand in the reply when Aaron Finch was removed for a duck but David Warner and Steve Smith steadied the ship. Warner allowed himself to play at his most aggressive, bagging three consecutive fours off Southee. He struggled to keep the pace up as the game went on though. Once Warner departed Michael Clarke supported Smith in a century partnership to show how Australia can work up through the gears to destroy a team. They did not, however, make any stupid shots and played well within themselves, knowing the comfort of their position. A flurry of boundaries saw Clarke to his fifty.

Despite the fact that Smith hit the winning runs, it was a fairytale end to Michael Clarke's ODI career. Even the fact that he got dismissed 9 runs short of the total allowed him a standing ovation all of his own.