Well, the New York Yankees aren't done yet, and they've actually shot up in the latest odds to win the World Series after a thrilling Game 3 win in the ALDS on Tuesday night.

The Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays have played an offense-heavy series so far in the ALDS, with New York putting up nine runs in Game 3, rallying from a 6-1 deficit to extend the series in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

As a result, the Yankees have seen their World Series odds skyrocket, going from +1600 to +950 at DraftKings Sportsbook.

New York isn't the only team that made a major move in the odds on Tuesday night, as the Seattle Mariners (+390) stole Game 3 of the ALDS on the road against the Detroit Tigers. After those teams were +600 (Seattle) and +850 (Detroit) entering Game 3, Seattle has jumped up to second in the odds to win it all while Detroit has fallen back to +1700.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have a chance to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night, remain the clear favorite at +160 to win the World Series this season, but the American League matchups have a ton of intrigue ahead of Wednesday's Game 4 matchups.

Here's a look at the latest odds and some storylines to watch on Wednesday.

World Series Odds for Every Team in MLB Playoffs

Los Angeles Dodgers: +160Seattle Mariners: +390Milwaukee Brewers: +450Toronto Blue Jays: +600New York Yankees: +950Detroit Tigers: +1700Philadelphia Phillies: +2500Chicago Cubs: +3500

Both the Dodgers and Brewers are up 2-0 and looking to close out their respective matchups on Wednesday night, so it makes sense that they're both shorter than 5/1 to win the World Series this season.

However, the American League seems to be totally up for grabs after New York and Seattle won on Tuesday. The Yankees have done this before — they came back from an 0-2 deficit in the ALDS in 2017 against the Cleveland Guardians — and things are setting up well for the Yanks in Game 4.

Not only did New York finally get something going on offense against the Toronto pitching staff, but it is favored (-186 on the moneyline) at DraftKings to win Game 4. The Yankeesh have wild card hero Cam Schlittler on the mound for his second postseason start while the Jays are expected to go with a bullpen game.

That's a major concern for Toronto since the team had to deploy several bullpen arms in a marathon game on Wednesday. Could the Yankees force a winner-take-all Game 5? Based on the latest odds, it seems like it.

Toronto fell from +475 to +600 to win the World Series after Game 3, a sign that oddsmakers expect this series to head back to Toronto for a decisive Game 5 on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Seattle is a sight underdogs in Game 4 against the Tigers with Casey Mize on the hill for Detroit against Seattle's Bryce Miller. While oddsmakers clearly expect Seattle to win this series (Detroit is now +1700 to win the World Series), a win by the Tigers on Wednesday could change things drastically if Detroit tries to come back with Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal in Game 5 on Friday.

There's no doubt that these World Series odds will shift on Wednesday night, so bettors may want to get a bet in on their team — especially if they're at a favorable price — before first pitch.

The Red Sox hosted the Guardians on Monday at Fenway Park for a matinee matchup on Labor Day. It was an entertaining game from the get-go, as Boston and Cleveland combined for six runs in the first two innings. And in the sixth frame, Trevor Story hit one of the strangest home runs you'll ever see in an MLB game. Certainly at Fenway Park, anyway.

Story squared up on a 2-0 pitch and sent a long fly ball down the right field line. Guardians OF Jhonkensy Noel sprinted towards Pesky Pole on the right field wall to try to rob Story. Then things got weird.

Noel appeared to make the grab at the exact moment the ball hit the foul pole. His momentum carried him almost into the stands and his glove hit a fan, forcing the ball free to bounce along the wall. If that is difficult to envision, watch the video first and then try to read it again because that's the only way to really grasp the sequence.

In real time it was almost impossible to tell what happened, and the umpires ruled it a foul ball initially. But slow-motion replay apparently revealed that the ball hit the pole clearly enough for the ruling to be changed and Story was awarded the home run.

A very odd series of events, and one that is almost physically impossible at a major league ballpark other than Fenway. Each day really does bring something we've never seen before.

Longtime relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel is signing with the Astros, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Thursday. He will be signed to their major league team.

Kimbrel started off the 2025 season on the Braves' minor league teams of the Double-A Columbus Clingstones and the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers. He was called up to the majors for one game in June and appeared in one inning before being designated for assignment.

Shortly after in June, he signed a minor league contract with the Rangers. He played for the Triple-A Round Rock and was released on Thursday. He posted a 3.86 ERA in 28 innings there.

Kimbrel is a nine-time All-Star reliever, with his most recent nod coming in 2023 with the Phillies. The Astros will mark the ninth MLB team Kimbrel's played for in his 16-year career.

Kimbrel struggled last season with the Orioles, posting a 5.33 ERA across 57 game appearances. He threw 73 strikeouts across 52.1 innings pitched.

Ian Chappell pays tribute to his first touring room-mate Graeme Watson

Ian Chappell25-Apr-2020You never forget your first touring room-mate; it’s not quite a love-of-your-life remembrance but a fond recall.My first room-mate on a five-month tour of Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) and South Africa in 1966-67 was Graeme Donald Watson. His nickname was Beatle as he wore his hair long like the ‘Fab Four’. He was chosen as the replacement for Doug Walters who was called up for Army national service.Beatle was a genuine allrounder who batted in the top six for Victoria and bowled hit-the-deck-hard medium-fast. Before the tour, I’d played against Graeme, but I really only knew him as a slightly unusual Victorian in that he stayed around for a beer after play.On a five-month tour where you’re regularly cooped up in the same room, you get to know a guy pretty well. The friendship is either a lasting one or it runs out of steam pretty quickly. In our case, it remained firm until Friday, when sadly cancer claimed the Beatle’s life.There are many fond memories of that tour. We shared a lot together including a solid partnership against Eastern Province where we both completed our first centuries for Australia. The match was played at St George’s Park, which was then known as Pollockville because of the presence of the brothers, Peter the fast bowler and Graeme, one of the pre-eminent Test batsmen of the time.The second-innings battle of the Graemes ended with Pollock c Chappell b Watson 120.After commencing his debut Test at Newlands with an impressive half-century, Beatle injured his ankle while bowling and finished up on crutches with his leg in plaster. That resulted in the unusual sight of late-night crutch races being held in the corridors of Deals Hotel in East London, with the other participants being the fully capacitated but slightly inebriated Dave Renneberg, Brian Taber and yours truly.Unfortunately for Beatle injuries dogged his sporting life.I toured with Beatle again in 1972 but by that time I was captain and enjoyed a single room, so he had to make do with second best. He’d been included in the touring party despite suffering a near-death experience after an incident at the MCG in the Rest of the World series of 1971-72.I was batting with Watson when an unintentional beamer from Tony Greig hit him in the nose and he was carted off the ground bleeding profusely. He was extremely unfortunate as Greig’s delivery was affected when his bowling hand hit the stumps and Watson top-edged a ball that would’ve hit him in the chest if his attempted pull shot had missed.By 1972, Chappell was captain and enjoyed a single room, so Watson (back row, extreme left) had to make do with second best•Getty ImagesIt was only on that 1972 tour when I met one of his nurses at a social function that I found out Beatle had actually stopped breathing for a while when he was in hospital. It was typical of Beatle to say very little about the incident; he made light of any injury and at times was too brave for his own good.That serious injury occurred on January 5 but with a fervent desire to be selected for the 1972 tour of England, he defied doctors’ orders and played against South Australia on February 26. In the second innings with a gale blowing in the direction from mid-off to fine leg, I told fast bowler Kevin McCarthy the only option was to operate with a strong leg-side field.A bouncer from McCarthy struck Watson on the side of the head and for a moment my heart sank. Fortunately, it was only a glancing blow and he successfully continued his innings.In another season, he bowled for Western Australia with a broken bone in his leg and Rod Marsh swears that at times he was standing as far back for Beatle as he was for Dennis Lillee.However, there was one injury that did stop him; a broken jaw. A talented dual sportsman, he was in the Melbourne Football Club squad that won the 1964 Victorian Football League grand final. When he suffered two broken jaws in quick succession during the 1965 season, that brought his football career to an abrupt halt. On that South African tour, whenever Keith Stackpole wanted to annoy Beatle, he’d call out, “Hey, glass jaw.”His cricket career involved playing for three states Victoria, WA and New South Wales. During regular drink sessions with a group of mates it was a standard joke to claim that he played with four states – he was selected for Queensland but joined World Series Cricket instead – the same number as he had wives.I was in the official party at his first wedding which was attended by then Australian prime minister Harold Holt. I was unable to attend any of the other ceremonies which was unfortunate because it precluded me from using the hilarious line of England’s fast bowling funnyman John J Warr.When JJ attended England batsman Bill Edrich’s fifth wedding he was asked, “Which side – bride or groom?” Without a flicker of a smile, he answered, “Season’s ticket.”I know his last two wives well, Karina with whom he sired two beautiful girls in Laura and Louisa, and Jan who was at his side when he passed away. Beatle had generously offered a kidney to Jan who needed a transplant, but the dreaded cancer diagnosis put an end to that plan. Fortunately, Jan received a transplant and is now recovering well.Watson had a successful business life after sport, cleverly maximising his qualifications as an architect. He excelled in solutions for sports stadium management and was involved in that capacity in the highly successful Sydney Olympic precinct.His architectural background stood out in the functional design of his house at Burradoo in the NSW Southern Highlands and the farmhouse on his property at Wollombi, just north of Sydney. That was a favourite venue as a ‘male retreat’ and I have fond memories of the sessions enjoyed there with Tabsy and Beatle that made allowances for one female – our dog Bella.Beatle lived a very full life and he was looking forward to caring for Jan in her post-operation period, but unfortunately, the tables were turned and it was she who lovingly cared for him.His last public act was a selfless one as usual. Even in struggling health, he offered to help the Southern Highlands District Cricket Association raise funds for junior development.This culminated in a sold-out dinner in early March which provided much-needed funds for the association. Beatle – with his voice fading – made a fine speech that night, full of common sense and with a vision for the future.It was a long journey from Salisbury (now Harare) to Burradoo, but it was a successful one, with a lot of laughs along the way.

He had a clean kaput of an exit, the completeness of a career with no lingering sense of unfulfillment

Osman Samiuddin20-Oct-2020Umar Gul has retired. This is not the precursor to an eventual u-turn. It is not a tantrum. It is not some power play to manoeuvre himself into captaincy. Umar Gul has retired and, with a degree of confidence, full-stop this sentence.This was always one of Gul’s most endearing traits: he is an uncomplicated figure. What you see is what you get is what he is, is what he said.One of the more illuminating stories about Gul comes from that turbulent period in 2009, when players were forever angling to remove whoever was the captain. Gul, not hitherto part of any faction, was pushed by a senior player to complain about the captain in one team meeting in front of everyone. He did, but when the captain countered and asked why he was complaining, Gul said that he wasn’t but that the senior player – present of course – had told him to and so he did. Rulers don’t come this straight.There was once an on-field squabble with Mohammad Amir over a dropped catch, and he recently – but gently – questioned the new domestic structure. But the PCB’s very vast archives of player disciplinary breaches don’t record an entry under ‘Gul, Umar’. Somehow he even came out untarnished from the Tours from Hell, Down Under in 2009-10, after which the PCB punished anything with a pulse.Putting all this front and centre may come across as a sideways dig at his bowling: his primary task, after all, wasn’t to be a nice guy but to take wickets. It isn’t intended to be. It’s just that we know Pakistani fast bowling is a fraught beat. It comes with aches and traumas, joys and bedlam, buts and if-onlys; some days it is only marginally about the bowling, and the rest of the time, it isn’t about the bowling at all. Almost none of it is good for the heart.With Gul, his bowling came with zero baggage. The rules were simple. He could be exceptional, good, ordinary, poor or awful and that was it. Pack your bags, day’s done, get on with your life, come back tomorrow. It may not always have been clear at the time, but with hindsight, that taste was sweet relief.

Underpinning it was the yorker which, if it didn’t carry quite the spectacle of Lasith Malinga’s, was arguably more effective. There was an unreal force around it, not least in how readily and accurately it was summoned.

Hindsight veers unevenly towards Gul with white ball in hand, with the canvas of the shortest format out in front at his mercy. Which is justified, but it’s worth lingering for a bit on his red-ball career, which now falls some way between forgotten or misremembered.No one can ever know what impact those stress fractures of the back had so early in his career. He’d taken 25 wickets in his first five Tests before the diagnosis, and he didn’t play another Test for two years. In fact, his last act in that sequence – the five-for against India – was the definitive modern Pakistani spell against India, until Mohammad Asif came along. Pakistan bluster was all pace but here was the bluff, a kid who wasn’t defined by pace, a kid with a natural length just back of good, who seamed the ball rather than swung it.It wasn’t so straightforward as that he wasn’t the same bowler after it (and actually his Test numbers, right until the end of 2007, were solid). But other bowlers arrived, a new format emerged, and the occasions on which he looked that potent again changed, both in manner and frequency. Often, as against a competitive West Indies side, he looked as good as he has ever done: movement with the new ball, reverse with the old, big-name wickets with big-time deliveries, and match-shaping spells. Against stronger opposition, with comedy support, he was manful, as in England in 2006.It says everything about Pakistan’s pace resources in that era that he only played three Tests with Shoaib Akhtar and none after April 2004. And he only played 17 Tests with Asif and/or Amir, the pair for whom he seemed the perfect condiment.Except it turns out he was better for their absence, even if Pakistan weren’t. Partnering either or both, Gul took less than three wickets a Test, at 40; on his own, he took nearly four wickets per Test, averaged ten runs lower, with a strike rate 14 balls lower. The numbers would suggest lead man rather than support, but even after Asif and Amir were gone, Pakistan turned to spin with such relish that Gul’s 11 wickets in the 2011-12 clean sweep of England come across as a clerical error.It all built into a tendency to dismiss him as a Test bowler, dimmed by comparison to those he bowled with, not shiny enough otherwise. And yet, to counter this, it feels necessary to point out that he is Pakistan’s highest Test wicket-taker in the post-Ws era by some distance. Given how this modern history has played out, an equally key stat would be that no Pakistani fast bowler has played more Tests than him, although, having himself played only 47 of 80 Tests, that makes him a poster-boy for the fragility of the era.To many, Umar Gul’s 3-0-6-5 remains the best T20 spell ever•PA Images via Getty ImagesNo such caveats or qualms with a white ball. Gul at the 2007 World T20 was one of the first movers in the format that spoke of a different sport, with different specialisations, with players not bound by their functions elsewhere. Credit Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain then – and Pakistani history – for the tactic of Gul coming on from the 11th over and strangling the life out of the back-end of an innings.But it needed Gul to execute and there was nobody better anywhere on the planet those first years. Just look at the table below, of bowlers in the last five overs of T20Is, until the end of 2012: highest dot-ball percentage, second-lowest economy, lowest average, most wickets. It’s not even a contest.

Underpinning it was the yorker, which, if it didn’t carry quite the spectacle of Lasith Malinga’s, was arguably more effective. There was an unreal force around it, not least in how readily and accurately it was summoned. No moment in Pakistan’s recent history should have felt as frayed as the 19th over of South Africa’s chase in the 2009 World T20 semi-final. The entire country was under siege at the time, mostly from itself, and absolutely nothing about life in Pakistan felt secure. Neither would this moment have, except that it was Gul bowling it and at that precise point in time, the success of it was the one thing you could hang the fortunes of an entire country off. No way would Gul not pull this off and so he produced not only one of the format’s most nerveless overs, but also one of the most inevitable.ALSO READ: Top five – yorkerman Gul’s greatest T20 hitsPenultimate overs were not – at least publicly – acknowledged as the thing they are now but Pakistan’s use of Gul in that time suggests they knew it was. Until the end of 2012, Gul bowled that penultimate over nine times out of the 14 occasions that sides chased against him (and the final over, by comparison, four times).That kind of excellence, it is good to hear, might be put to use in a coaching capacity. He has gained qualifications, is keen for more and though you can never be certain about such things, instinct says he will make a good, empathetic coach. And if he doesn’t, then we’ll still have this clean kaput of an exit, the completeness of a career with no lingering sense of unfulfillment. It’s worth more than it sounds.

What have the ageing stars who helped the franchise reach two consecutive finals been doing in the last 16 months?

Dustin Silgardo15-Sep-2020For the past two seasons, the Chennai Super Kings have defied the belief that T20 is a young man’s game. They have relied on players in their mid-30s and made it to consecutive finals. But with 16 months gone since the last IPL, can their experienced players still deliver? Perhaps a good way to discern whether they have faded is to look at how they have fared in the meantime.MS Dhoni, 39
After several months of mystery, Dhoni announced his international retirement in August this year. He had endured a difficult 2019 World Cup, in which he struggled to accelerate when the team needed him to, and was not named in any India squad in the months after. He also decided against playing any of India’s domestic tournaments in 2019-20. That means when he leads CSK onto the field on September 19, it will be his first professional cricket match in 437 days. Dhoni did attend Chennai’s training camp back in March, where he was met by hundreds of cheering fans, and has been in camp since August 16, ahead of this season.Shane Watson, 39
Watson announced his retirement from the Big Bash League last year, so with his international career already ended in 2016, he is now only playing the Bangladesh Premier League, the Pakistan Super League and the IPL. He had a poor BPL in 2019, with just one score of more than 10 in seven innings for the Rangpur Rangers, who finished second from bottom. He fared better in the PSL earlier this year, scoring at 27.44 and a strike rate of 157.32 for the Quetta Gladiators. He hit two fifties, the second enough to earn him a Player of the Match, but his performances were not enough to take the Gladiators to the playoffs.Faf du Plessis, 36
du Plessis has had a torrid time since the last IPL. He seemed to spend all his time apologising in press conferences as South Africa had a disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign and then suffered sound defeats in Test series in India and England. He eventually stepped down as captain of the national side in February. His own batting remained excellent in ODIs – he has averaged 64.50 in the 50-over format since the last IPL – but his Test form did dip. Things have gone much better for him in T20 franchise cricket: he led Paarl Rocks to the title in the 2019 Mzansi Super League and averaged 27.37 in the tournament.Imran Tahir was the Purple Cap winner in the 2019 IPL season•BCCIDwayne Bravo, 36
It’s been an eventful year for Bravo. In January he played for West Indies for the first time since 2016. After four years of disagreements with the West Indies board, and actually announcing his international retirement in 2018, Bravo returned and is now seeking a spot in the West Indies squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup. During the recent CPL, he became the first bowler to go past 500 T20 wickets. Still, setting the accolades aside, Bravo’s potency as a T20 bowler seems to have dipped. He took just 11 wickets in 12 games in the 2019 IPL and got just nine in ten games in the 2020 CPL. His economy rate of 7.50 in the CPL was unremarkable, considering the tournament was a slow-scoring one in general, though he was part of the title-winning Trinbago Knight Riders side.Imran Tahir, 41
Tahir has not slowed down one bit since he won the purple cap in the 2019 IPL. He has played a remarkable 52 T20s since and has repeatedly finished near the top of wicket-taker charts in various tournaments around the world. He was second in the 2019 CPL and third in the 2020 season, topped the charts in the 2019 Mzansi Super League, was fifth in the 2020 PSL, and sixth in the 2019 Vitality Blast.Ambati Rayudu, 34
It’s been high drama for Rayudu since the last IPL. After being less than subtle in showing his disappointment at not making the India World Cup squad, he retired from all forms of cricket in July, only to retract the retirement a couple of months later. He was named Hyderabad captain for the 2019-20 domestic season but skipped the Ranji Trophy due to apprehensions about corruption in the state’s cricket board. He was back for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and performed mediocrely, getting just two 20-plus scores in seven innings. He has not played any cricket since November 2019.Kedar Jadhav, 35
When he made his India debut in 2017, Jadhav was renowned for scoring quickly, but his strike rate has dropped since. Last season he struck at less than 100 for CSK, and it was his inability to accelerate that cost him his place in the India ODI team after the World Cup, though he did make a comeback during the tour of New Zealand earlier this year. He had an ordinary Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2019, averaging below 25 and striking at 120.65, and a poor Vijay Hazare Trophy, in which he averaged less than 20.

With two peaches to remove Rahane and Pujara, he might have well finished off India’s chances.

Andrew McGlashan09-Jan-2021There were two key wickets Australia needed on the third day in Sydney. That Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane both fell to Pat Cummins should be no shock in itself – he is the No. 1-ranked bowler in the world – but they were part of a masterclass in fast bowling that reinforced why Cummins has that tag and appears unlikely to let it slip without a fight.Cummins’ four main spells read: 6-3-10-0; 5-2-9-1; 6-3-5-1; 4-2-5-1 – no let up from start to finish. There was not so much as a no-ball or a wide. There might an inquisition over the three boundaries he conceded in the 21.4 overs: for the record they were through point and cover by Shubman Gill, who became Cummins’ first wicket late on the second day, and a steer to third man by Pujara (the ball after taking a blow on the shoulder) against the second new ball.Related

Cheteshwar Pujara: 'Couldn't have done anything better against the best ball of the series'

Ravindra Jadeja suffers dislocated left thumb, Rishabh Pant has elbow injury

Pat Cummins, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne put India on the back foot

However, it is considered a shock when Cummins does bowl a poor delivery. Today’s performance was the most economical spell of at least 20 overs by an Australia bowler since 2014.Back to the present day and ten overs into play on Saturday, Rahane, who had played the match-defining innings at the MCG with a magnificent 112, was cramped for room by a back-of-a-length delivery that nipped back and took a bottom edge into the stumps. But Cummins’ best was still to come, 34 overs later.Pat Cummins leaps up in joy after getting rid of Cheteshwar Pujara with a jaffa•Getty ImagesFive balls after Pujara had done the rare thing of scoring a boundary, Cummins produced the ball of the day – perhaps the match – which climbed from a length and took the thumb of the glove through to the keeper. It was Australia’s second wicket in five balls, following the removal of the dangerous but injured Rishabh Pant to end a 53-run stand that had taken India to 195 for 4. It was the moment where the Test took a likely decisive swing to the home side. The last six wickets fell for 49 runs.It was also the cumulation of a contest that had spanned Pujara’s 176 balls. This was no quick dissection, but in many ways that made it even more impressive. Australia, led by Cummins, held and squeezed until that little bit of magic came along. His career is already littered with such deliveries and there will be many more. His career average sits at 21.15, very close to the 21.08 he reached during the 2017-18 Ashes, and of bowlers to take more than 150 Test wickets only five have done it with a better average.Cummins has now removed Pujara four times in the series. Here’s how ESPNcricinfo’s ball-ball commentary has recorded them:2nd innings, Adelaide: 1st innings, Melbourne: 2nd innings, Melbourne: 1st innings, Sydney: Ajinkya Rahane chopped on against Pat Cummins•Getty ImagesThere have been subtle differences in each dismissal, but one thing that has not shifted is the unstinting accuracy around that off-stump channel. Pujara, because he is such a good player, has been able to repel and repel for significant periods (more than 400 balls now in the series) but unlike his herculean tour here two years ago, Australia have found a way to cut him off.”The one today I think I got a bit of assistance with the pitch, it seemed to jump up a bit,” Cummins said. “He is someone you know you are going to have to bowl a lot at. I think we got our head around that this series, for him to score runs we are going to make it as hard as possible.”Australia bided their time with Cummins, giving his body time to mature as the game champed at the bit for him to return, and that measured approach is reaping huge dividends.”Hopefully a couple of years on, we are all little bit better equipped as bowlers and see what happens,” he said ahead of the series when asked about the task of overcoming Pujara.The series has not been decided yet and won’t be until next week even if Australia win here, but if Tim Paine is holding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy aloft, Cummins will be a major reason why.

Also, why did the third umpire rule Mandeep Singh’s low catch off Ruturaj Gaikwad not out?

Karthik Krishnaswamy01-Nov-2020
Why did the Kings XI leave out Glenn Maxwell?Maxwell has had a miserable season with the bat for the Kings XI, scoring 108 runs in 11 innings at an average of 15.42 and a strike rate of 101.88. Despite that, he’d played all their matches before today for two reasons. One, he’s capable of playing explosive, match-turning knocks; and there are plenty of cases within the IPL of teams being rewarded for sticking with their X-factor players, such as the Mumbai Indians with Kieron Pollard through some lean patches in the past, and, most memorably, the Chennai Super Kings with Shane Watson in 2018. The second reason is that Maxwell has been a valuable contributor with his offspin. Three wickets in eight innings and an economy rate of 8.04 aren’t immediately eye-catching, but only two bowlers have been more economical for the Kings XI this season – Ravi Bishnoi and M Ashwin – and Maxwell has bowled five of his 21 overs in the powerplay.The Kings XI have tended to use Maxwell as a specialist against left-hand batsmen, however, and the Super Kings, who have shelved the experiment of opening with Sam Curran, weren’t expected to have any left-handers in their top five. This was probably the biggest reason behind Maxwell’s exclusion today.Another possible reason for including James Neesham, a left-hand batsman, in his stead was because every spinner the Super Kings have used this season turns the ball away from the right-hander. Today, they had two of them in the legspinner Imran Tahir and the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. Which brings us to…ESPNcricinfo Ltd… should the Kings XI have promoted Neesham to No. 6?Those (in the graphic above) are Jadeja’s numbers against right- and left-hand batsmen this season. By the time the Kings XI lost Chris Gayle in the 12th over, Jadeja hadn’t yet bowled possibly because the left-handed Gayle had been at the crease through all the non-powerplay overs until then. The Kings XI sent in Deepak Hooda at the fall of Gayle’s wicket, meaning there were now two right-handers at the crease.The Super Kings immediately brought Jadeja on, and he proceeded to deliver three back-to-back overs, conceding only 17 runs and no boundaries. He only bowled two balls to left-hand batsmen, both to Neesham, after dismissing Mandeep Singh in his third over.Could the Kings XI have promoted Neesham above Hooda, knowing Jadeja’s record against left-handers? They could have, and either forced the Super Kings to use Jadeja against Neesham or to bring on their quicker bowlers earlier than they may have wanted.But sending in Hooda at that point also gave him the rare opportunity to play himself in. He faced upwards of 20 balls for only the sixth time in 50 IPL innings, and ended up scoring a brilliant, unbeaten 62 off 30 balls. Hooda showed a particular proficiency in lofting the ball over the covers, and while he didn’t play that shot off Jadeja – who largely bowled a middle-and-leg line at him – it’s a profitable shot if you can play it against left-arm spin, and perhaps this was also part of the Kings XI’s thinking in sending in Hooda ahead of Neesham.Why did the Kings XI leave out Arshdeep Singh?Apart from Neesham for Maxwell, the Kings XI made another change by bringing back Mayank Agarwal – who had recovered from the leg injury he sustained against the Delhi Capitals on October 20 – for the left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh.They could have made a more like-for-like swap by leaving out either Mandeep or Hooda rather than a bowler to bring in Agarwal, but that might have left them short on the batting front. In the absence of genuine allrounders, teams often have to compromise on either batting or bowling depth, and the Kings XI chose to go with the extra batsman today.Arshdeep could have been useful, especially in the powerplay during which the Kings XI couldn’t separate Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad, but it’s possible they could have been defending an even lower total without the presence of the extra batsman.3:25

The Mandeep Singh catch – was it fair to overturn the soft signal?

Why did the third umpire rule Mandeep’s low catch off Gaikwad not out?In the eighth over of the Super Kings’ chase, Gaikwad strode forward to drive Ravi Bishnoi, and ended up slicing in the air towards backward point. Mandeep had to dive forward to take the low chance, and the on-field umpire sent a soft signal of out when he referred it to the third umpire.Replays showed Mandeep catching the ball cleanly with both hands, but his hands appeared to separate when his elbows hit the ground. The ball also seemed to peek between his hands and momentarily touch the ground just before he completed the catch. Going by this, the third umpire Chris Gaffaney interpreted the evidence as being strong enough to overrule the soft signal.

ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index reckoned that the drop cost the Royals 26 runs

ESPNcricinfo stats team30-Oct-2020Chris Gayle rode his luck against the Rajasthan Royals and nearly got his 23rd T20 hundred in the process. It would have perhaps been the chanciest of Gayle’s hundreds, given that 20 of his runs came from shots of which he was not in total control. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, only one innings had more runs scored off not-in-control shots in this IPL season – the Mumbai Indians’ Ishan Kishan’s 99 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.The Kings XI Punjab had been short of luck in the first half of the season, and were perhaps due a stroke, or two, of good fortune. That lucky break came in the form of Riyan Parag dropping Gayle early in his innings in the fourth over of the Kings XI innings. Gayle was batting on 10 from eight balls at the time. He went on to score 87 runs from 54 balls after that.ESPNcricinfo LtdESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index reckoned that the drop cost the Royals 26 runs. According to the algorithm in use, the Kings XI’s batting order to follow would have managed only 63 runs from those 54 balls that Gayle faced after the drop. This is estimated to be lower than what Gayle actually ended up scoring because of the fact that Glenn Maxwell and Deepak Hooda are not in the best of form and the Kings XI were playing with a longish tail in this match.This estimation is done distributing the balls that Gayle faced after the drop among the batsmen who weren’t dismissed yet – Maxwell and Hooda in this case – and if necessary, those who didn’t bat in the innings. (This calculation takes into account the expected balls that each batsman is likely to play, based on their quality.)The drop may not cost the Royals dear considering the fact that chasing has become easier of late because of the dew factor, but the drop did help the Kings XI put a fighting total on the board.

Like Australia’s recall of Chris Rogers in 2013, it could be the right solution for the short term

Danyal Rasool03-Feb-2021A month shy of his 36th birthday, Chris Rogers had only ever played one Test match for Australia. This wasn’t a travesty of justice; for the best part of his career, the opener had to wait his turn behind Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, and latterly a combination of Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich and David Warner, each of whom were either better, sexier or younger than him. So the New South Welshman bided his time building up a rock-solid domestic career in both Australia and England, content that it was likely just about as far as his talent would take him.Fast forward to the 2013 Ashes series in England. Katich had been removed from CA’s contracts list two years ago, controversially, and Hughes’ inconsistent returns had led Australia to push him down the order in an attempt to get more out of his unquestionable ability. Watson had moved up and down the order too, and his most recent act in Test cricket had been his departure from India in the wake of Homeworkgate. Warner, meanwhile, had just punched an opposition player in a bar.Australia had a decision to make. They made one that didn’t look too far into the future or signal any long-term intent in terms of the direction they were taking. But calling up Rogers to plug a gap at the top proved a pragmatic and brutally effective step.He had over 20,000 first-class runs over the best part of 15 years, and more experience playing in England and Australia than most of his more established teammates. He lacked the boyish charm of Hughes, or Watson’s wrecking-ball drives down the ground, but he was a decent, honest professional who had built up a decent, honest career. He was also, if for the extremely short term, the best opener in the country.What might that have to do with Pakistan? Well, they’ve tried a plethora of opening combinations over the past decade, and looked about as likely to stumble upon a solution as a toddler fiddling with a Rubik’s cube. The trend continued with Abid Ali and Imran Butt against South Africa in Karachi, where they put on 5 and 22. They’ll almost certain retain the same pairing in Rawalpindi, but it remains to be seen for how long they endure.The most compelling argument for Azhar as opener?•ESPNcricinfo LtdSince the start of 2016, Pakistan have tried 14 different openers. Only India (16), and Sri Lanka and Australia (15 – remember, Rogers retired in 2015), have played around at the top more, and all three teams have played significantly more Tests than Pakistan in this period.In fairness, other Test sides – other than New Zealand (who have used just four) – have all had to juggle around at the top too, so for once, this isn’t a uniquely Pakistani problem. We appear to be in a golden age of Test match opening bowling partnerships, but that has spelled trouble for their batting counterparts. Opening partnerships have averaged 30.91 in the decade that’s just begun, and 34.51 in the 2010s. They’re the two lowest-averaging decades for opening stands since – wait for it – the 1900s.Since, arguably, the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012, no Test side has managed to lock in two set-and-forget openers, and the days of Langer and Hayden or Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs seem like fuzzy, faraway memories.What makes Pakistan’s case so intriguing, however, is that they might have at least one half of the solution hiding in plain sight. Sometime during the past five years, Pakistan decided Azhar Ali was better suited at No. 3, where he has the majority of his career (110 of 158 innings). Perhaps Azhar, or Pakistan, or both, believe it’s his best position.But in batting him at No. 3, Pakistan have ignored his record as opener: his average of 45.76 at the top of the order is better than those of Alistair Cook or Andrew Strauss or Marvan Attapattu or Gautam Gambhir, among a host of other distinguished names. His accumulation methods might not be pretty, but his numbers certainly are.There is some nuance to those numbers, of course, not least because since January 2010, openers have averaged higher in the UAE and Pakistan than anywhere else, and while he’s yet to open at home, 10 of Azhar’s 37 innings as opener have come in the UAE. But Pakistan’s other openers in this period have also played a lot of their cricket in these two countries, and most have struggled to make the most of those favourable conditions.Azhar Ali has been part of some of Pakistan’s most durable opening pairs in recent times•ESPNcricinfo LtdShan Masood has struggled to buy a run since a superb 156 at Old Trafford, while just under 60% of Abid Ali’s Test runs came in his first three innings; he has since averaged less than 20. Imam-ul-Haq, meanwhile seems to have faded from contention, having last played Test cricket in 2019. Sami Aslam, who combined with Shan Masood relatively successfully – albeit briefly – has his eyes set on a career in the USA.It might be time to sit back and wonder, as presumably the bigwigs at Coca-Cola did a few decades ago, what was wrong with the old formula after all. Azhar Ali’s average as opener is higher than any other Pakistani batsman’s since January 2010. In that period, three of Pakistan’s seven highest-averaging opening partnerships have included him. He has a triple-hundred in the UAE from the top of the order, and he’s the only visiting opener in history to score a double-century at the MCG; no other current Pakistan opener has a double-hundred anywhere. If this wasn’t a batsman reputationally associated with the middle order, he’d be at the front of a fairly short queue of contenders making a persuasive case to face the new ball. It isn’t like he doesn’t face the new ball as things stand anyway, given he bats almost exclusively at No. 3 and Pakistan’s openers haven’t hung around for too long of late.And while Azhar is 35, the same age as Rogers before that 2013 call-up, this might not be the worst time to consider returning him to the top. Stripped of the captaincy with signature Pakistan insensitivity – for the second time in his career, his removal was known to the media before being officially communicated to him – Azhar has decided against doing his talking off the pitch, and has quietly begun building up a head of steam on it. A potentially career-saving hundred against Sri Lanka last year was followed by a likely match-saving century against England in the summer, a 93 in Christchurch, and two steely knocks against South Africa in Karachi in sticky situations that received less attention than they perhaps deserved.It certainly would be typical of his career to expect Azhar to bail Pakistan out just after Pakistan themselves bailed on him, but it’s also a reminder of what a versatile asset he has been over the years. Sure, his absence in the middle order would need serious plugging, but with Haris Sohail and Asad Shafiq currently out, and Agha Salman and Saud Shakeel among the squad, that is an area Pakistan could cover far more effectively than the opening positions.t the sIt’s not the sexiest idea or the longest-term solution. But Rogers, once recalled ended up playing 24 further Tests over two years, scoring 1996 runs at 44.35, including four Ashes hundreds and one in South Africa. That’s not a swansong. It’s a second career.About to turn 36, Azhar might not so much have been stripped of the captaincy as liberated from it. Pakistan have searched high and low for a man who might be half-decent at facing the new ball. It may be worth giving that dressing room one final look after all.