On This Day

[The Professor]

On this day in 1969 Australia bounce back with a day of good batting.

Doug Walters began the third day with power and accuracy and looked like he could be deadly; however a peach of a delivery from Bishan Bedi sent him off just after his half century. This was the only glimpse of hope that Pakistan had on the day as Ian Redpath and Paul Sheahan then put together a partnership of 131.

Sheahan was by far the most impressive of the two. His score of 114 included twenty boundaries. When the pair was broken up, the Australian tail had little to offer and collapsed from 271-5 to 348 all out.

Srinivas Venkataraghavan was the best Indian bowler, popping up three times to claim three key wickets and end up with figures of 37-16-76-3.

The day ended with the end of the Australian innings. Australia have a 28 run lead.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1969 it was India's turn to dominate Australia on Day Four.

A successful day for India was peppered with a few moments of disappointment. Farokh Engineer got himself settled but was then out cheaply off the bowling of Alan Connolly for 21. Connolly also saw off Ajit Wadekar for 12.

It was Ashok Mankad and debutant Gundappa Viswanath that put Australia in second position today. Mankad played a very similar innings to his first innings display and posted a score of 68 before being dismissed by Graham McKenzie. He only overlapped with Viswanath for 33 runs but set the young man up for a more confident approach which saw him good up to stumps, despite another period of disappointing batting that saw Nawab of Pataudi and Ashok Gandotra go for single figures.

Viswanath ends the day on 69 accompanied by Eknath Solkar on 20 with India 176 runs ahead.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1969 an entertaining game between India and Australia ends in a draw.

Gundappa Viswanath and Eknath Solkar continued the final day as they ended the penultimate day; by frustrating the Australian bowlers. The pair put on an unlikely 110 run partnership that saw Viswanath to a maiden Test century on debut. Eventually Solkar was out for 35 off the bowling of John Gleeson. For Nawab of Pataudi, it seemed that Viswanath accruing as many runs as possible was more important than any chance of going for a win. He held the declaration until his debutant was dismissed and left Australia forty four overs and two hours to get 284 runs.

Keith Stackpole and Bill Lawry lasted unopposed for the rest of the day but the game had petered out to a draw by that time.

[The Professor]

On this day on 2015 Oman beat Hong Kong in the first T20i to be held in Abu Dhabi.

Bilal Khan, making his T20 debut, sliced through the Hong Kong top order with consummate ease and then returned to claim the scalp of Christopher Carter. Hong Kong's top scorer was number eight batsmen Waqas Khan with 19. Hong Kong could only reach 106.

Oman's chase had a similar pattern with their openers falling cheaply but Zeeshan Siddiqui and Sultan Ahmed set things right with a winning partnership of 64.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2013 Pakistan stunned South Africa with a huge T20i victory.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat and the openers tried to justify that decision. Ahmed Shehzad got himself set confidently and then got out cheaply. After the loss of his opening partner Jamshed began to toy with the South African bowlers. He was out for a 19 of two halves, caught behind off the bowling of Aaron Phangiso.

The combination of Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal proved the impetus for Pakistan's innings. The pair began by consolidating after the loss of the two openers but began to up the ante as the game progressed. They started to treat the spinners with such disdain that Faf du Plessis began to look at other options.

The loss of Hafeez for 63 off 53 balls slowed Pakistan down. Shahid Afridi looked a bit out of his depth accompanying Akmal and was a drain on the run rate.

In the chase it was Pakistan's spinners that took charge with Afridi's figures of 3-28 being the best figures. The openers of Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock began powerfully with 49 bagged from the first five overs. Pakistan's seamers started to strangle the South African openers before Afridi came in and spun de Kock out. Afridi returned in his next over to see off du Plessis for 6.

South Africa needed 90 runs off 52 balls. Amla and JP Duminy tried their best but the run rate was getting too much for them. As if to tease his opponents, Hafeez brought the strangling seamers back on who further ruined their run rate and led to their first victory in six matches.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Rajasthan tore through Haryana on the first day of their Ranji Trophy match.

Haryana lost wickets regularly and in clumps to put Rajasthan on the front foot. The two openers, Nitin Saini and Chaitanya Bishol, were both out within a couple of overs of each other - rendering Haryana 20-2.

The international excellence of Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma managed to consolidate with a partnership of 31 runs before they both fell within three overs of each other. 53-4.

Mohit Hooda tried to strike up a couple of partnerships but was forsaken before he himself was dismissed off the bowling of Ul-Haq. This set about something of a collapse wherein three batsmen were dismissed for the gain of a single run.

It looked like Haryana would struggle to get over one hundred, however a last ditch partnership, led by Mohit Sharma, dragged them over the line. Eventually they were all out for 112 in 52 overs.

The best figures for Rajasthan were Pankaj Singh's 4-10 in 14.2 overs.

Rajasthan had time to put 70 runs on the board after the loss of Manender Singh for 22. Vineet Saxena (38*) and Puneet Yadav (12*) stand unopposed.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Rajasthan give Haryana a lesson in batting as they take control of their Ranji Trophy game.

Eight of the eleven batsmen managed to get into double figures for Rajasthan, compared to the four that did in Haryana's first innings. This deficit of runs gave Rajasthan a first innings lead of 167.

This being said, no Rajasthan batsman delivered the killer blow that would have made the game unassailable for Haryana. The top performer for Rajasthan was Ashok Menaria who got 47. His fifth wicket partnership of 71 with Siddharth Dobal gave Rajasthan's lower middle order the confidence to go out and hit the ball without being too concerned of the repercussions

Mohit Sharma put the most Rajasthan batsmen to the sword and finished with figures of 5-56.

Time enough was left in the day to allow Haryana to face 19 overs of their second innings and they raced to 62/0 with Nitin Saini on 42 and Chaitanya Bishnoi on 20.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 a Nitini Saini century gives Haryana hope against Rajasthan.

Saini powered to a century on Day Three of the Ranji Trophy match. After a disappointing start where fellow opener Chaitanya Bishnoi fell for the gain of two runs and Indian internationals Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag managed only twenty runs between them.

Just as it looked like Haryana might fall to another capitulation Saini shared partnerships of 72 and 88 with Priyank Tehlan and Mohit Sharma respectively. It looked at one point that Saini might have been able to bat through the day but he was dismissed with ten overs left in the day.

Pankaj Singh had three key wickets throughout the day and was the man that broke up the two key partnerships.

Haryana stand at 287/6 with Jayant and Shamsher Yadav's embryonic partnership on 7. Despite the hard batting Haryana's lead is only 120.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Puneet Yadav was the hero for Rajasthan as he snatches victory against Haryana.

After the two Haryana Yadavs, Shamsher and Jayant, had their 22 run seventh wicket broken up by Rajat Bhatia they did not have very much to offer and eventually were all out for 324 - a lead of 158.

The Rajasthan chase got off to the worst of starts when they lost Vineet Saxena for nought but this brought Puneet to the crease. He seized the initiative in his partnership with Manender Singh and scored 107 runs in 184 balls to win the tie for Rajasthan.

[The Professor]

Yesterday's:

On this day in 2015 Australia and New Zealand played out the first day-night Test match.




Australia would have been pleased with their bowling after New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat. Martin Guptil scored the first run in a day-night Test - however this was the only run he scored before being lbw to Josh Hazlewood.




They were regularly hitting the same line and length time and time again and grinding the opposition down. They received their reward when Kane Williamson was dismissed for 22, the lowest score he has reached in the series. He was lbw to Mitchell Starc, who was in sparkling form before he was forced to leave the field with ankle pain.




New Zealand then spent a goodly time trying to consolidate only for it to fall apart after the lunch break where they lost three batsmen for the gain of four runs in eleven balls. Tom Latham was superbly caught by Peter Nevill on fifty. In the next over Nevill also caught a Nathan Lyon delivery that had nicked Ross Taylor's bat - he was out for 21. The next over saw Starc return and take Brendon McCullum for a mere four runs.




New Zealand's resurgence came from unlikely sources. Debutant Mitchell Santner, selected as a bowler, scored a big hitting 31. He was duly accompanied by BJ Watling - with whom he scored a partnership of 44 runs.




The dinner break marked another collapse for New Zealand. This time they lost their last three batsmen for 18 runs - all cheaply. New Zealand were all out for 202.




The innings break saw the ball become more preferable for spin bowling. This claimed both Australian openers; David Warner for just one and then Joe Burns for 14.




The evening finished with Australia on 54-2; 148 runs behind New Zealand. Steve Smith (24) and Adam Voges (9) stood unopposed at stumps.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2012 wickets tumble between Australia and New Zealand in the first Day-Night Test.

The day began abysmally for Australia with six wickets lost and New Zealand, seemingly, untouchable. Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges were both out to a combination of lazy batting and outstanding fielding. Doug Bracewell bowled with metronomic regularity and saw off Mitchell Marsh for 4.

Throughout all this Steve Smith had beent he patient one at the other end. Frustrated by what he was seeing he was forced to hit out and got himself out for 53 off the bowling of Mark Craig. Craig also returned for Peter Siddle.

This meant that Australia, in reply to New Zealand’s 202, crumbled from 50-2 overnight to 116-8. A majority of these runs had been scored by Peter Nevill who now stood with Nathan Lyon. Lyon began nervily and survived on 2 by a circuitous chain of events that ran through Nigel Llong’s head. The pair then put together something of a salvage job with a ninth wicket partnership worth 74 runs. Even when Lyon was dislodged by Trent Boult for 34, Mitchell Starc proved explosive – scoring 20 runs in one over and 24 overall with a strike rate of 160. It was not he but Nevill that fell to end the innings. Australia would have taken their 224 all out – a 22 run lead.

This meant that New Zealand were inserted just as the floodlights had come on and the ball might start to be unpredictable. Both New Zealand openers survived the opening salvos but did not go much further; with Tom Latham out on 17 and Martin Guptil on 16. Mitchell Marsh then came in to dislodge New Zealand’s two dangermen; Kane Williamson and Brendon McCullum. At this time New Zealand were 84-4 and the day had seen 12 wickets.

The final wicket of the day was Ross Taylor who looked the most dangerous of the New Zealand batsmen. The fact that he could only get 32 was a relief seeing as they dropped him on 0. The day ended with Watling on 7 and Santner on 13 with New Zealand on 116-5 – a lead of 94.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 the first Day-Night Test come to a premature yet electric finish.

The day started with Australian dominance with the ball. Josh Hazlewood got three of New Zealand's last five wickets. His first victim, BJ Watling, came off the second ball of the second over scoring a confident looking 45.

Again Mitchell Santner proved the surprise package with the bat and frustrated the Australian bowlers. Doug Bracewell also looked tenacious with a 72 ball 27*. Both lower order batsmen helped New Zealand to 208 and set Australia 186 to win.

All of the Australian top three would have been disappointed with their scores. David Warner's 35 was below par for him and Joe Burns and Steve Smith's 11 and 14 respectively was poor. Then Shaun Marsh came in and turned it around.

Shaun Marsh would have felt aggrieved not to have been the one to score the winning runs as he did a lot of the hard graft in his 117 ball innings only to fall to Trent Boult one short of his half century. He was nearly out off his first ball - also from Boult - but he soon regrouped and became the key player for Australia.

Shaun hooked up with brother Mitchell for an impressive 46 run partnership - the first time the two brothers has batted together for their country. Mitchell played very confidently but soon became over confident and lifted a Santner delivery to Kane Williamson for 28.

Instead it was Peter Siddle and the injured Mitchell Starc who saw Australia through to the victory.

The bowlers made life hard for Australia with Boult's 5-60 being the stand out figures for the New Zealander's.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 England seize Super Over victory over Pakistan.

England came back from the brink when they found themselves 86-6, however they were saved by a stand of 60 between debutant opener James Vince and Chris Woakes. Vince proved himself an odd opener batting at an almost leisurely pace for a T20 batsmen. His experience of opening the batting was reinvented when his mere senior partner, Jason Roy, was dismissed for nought by debutant Aamer Yamin. Joe Root then helped to guide Vince through the experience but was gone after a 22 ball 32. Eoin Morgan also came in and batted below par before getting out. It was only Woakes that helped Vince and England.

Shahid Afridi was the most impressive bowler for Pakistan with the wickets of Joe Root and Moeen Ali under his belt.

In the chase, Pakistan also started poorly and were stranded on 11-3 after just 14 balls. It was Shoaib Malik who, almost singlehandedly, turned the tide with a stand of 75. He was accompanied by a number of cameos - most notably a 29 in 28 balls from Afridi.

And so to the Super Over. Chris Jordan was entrusted with the bowling duties and limited Afridi and Umar Akmal to a meagre three runs. In return Afridi then bowled to Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler who just scraped over the line, despite a near Buttler run out.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1950 England got off to a good start to the First Test of the Ashes.

Freddie Brown lost the toss and Lindsay Hassett put Australia in to bat.

England soon made them rue this decision when they got opener, Jack Moroney, out for a duck. From there on in the fielding team seemed to never relinquish the upper hand. The wicket keeping of Godfrey Evans was of great excellence. His dismissals of Neil Harvey and Sam Loxton were both tricky but masterfully held.

The bowlers did not let England down either. Alan Bedser played with metronomic precision and ended with figures of 4-45. He was ably assisted by Trevor Bailey who was more aggressive but got one wicket less.

Good though the bowling and fielding was, Australia's batting, with the exception of Neil Harvey, was poor. His 74 was made off 118 balls and contained a number of fine strokes. Ray Lindwall produced a decent rear guard offering of 41 and held together some mini partnerships with the tail.

They were all out for 228 at stumps.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1950 fierce rainstorms meant no play was possible between Australia and England.

The belief is that if you lose a day to rain the quality of the Test will depreciate. This is not always the case.

One of the most famous matches between England and Australia was heavily rain affected. The Test at The Oval in 1880 that began the Ashes myths was very heavily affected by rain. So to all intents and purposes rain helped define the Ashes.

All in all - in the words of Sir Neville Cardus "The elements are cricket's presiding geniuses."