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He joins James Pattinson and Michael Neser in the squad although is unlikely to play in Melbourne

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2019Peter Siddle has been recalled to the Australia Test squad as a replacement for Josh Hazlewood, ahead of the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand in Melbourne, although remains only an outside chance of playing.In a move flagged by head coach Justin Langer during the Perth Test, the selectors have returned to Siddle who will bring home-ground experience of the MCG and strong Sheffield Shield returns this season where he is Victoria’s leading wicket-taker with 18 at 19.77.Siddle played in three of the Ashes Tests, taking nine wickets, but picked up an injury early at The OvalHowever, if Australia only make one change for Boxing Day – a replacement for Hazlewood, who suffered a hamstring strain in his second over in Perth – Siddle will remain behind James Pattinson and Michael Neser in the pecking order.They have both been part of the Test squad throughout the season and Pattinson, who was ruled out of contention for the opening Test of the season against Pakistan in Brisbane due to his code of conduct suspension, is the favourite to come into the side.”You’d imagine a couple of guys would have to get injured [for Siddle to play],” Langer said. “A lot has been made about someone coming in but you have to cover your bases, especially with Big Bash going on you have to make sure you have enough cover. I’d say James Pattinson or Michael Neser, or both of them, will definitely play the Test.”Langer added that the various formats now being played with the start of the BBL had also been taken into consideration. “We have Sean Abbott going into the one-day side [for the India tour] so we want him to play Big Bash cricket, so he’s playing all white-ball cricket, so a lot thinking goes into these things. We think Sids is the right person for this Test.”Peter helped us retain the Ashes, he’s got over 200 Test wickets, he’s a ripping person around the team and for Boxing Day it seemed like a simple solution.”Langer has also spoken about the potential of playing a five-man attack in Melbourne with an eye on the workloads of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins plus a recent history of Test pitches that have been hard work for bowlers. That would mean leaving out a batsman, either Travis Head or Matthew Wade, with one of the quicks batting at No. 7 behind Tim Paine at No. 6.”If the wicket’s like it’s been in the last few years, we might even be able to play four quicks and a spinner,” Langer said during the Perth Test. “There’s lots of combinations. It’s nice to see Marnus and Travis Head bowling, that gives us a good combination as well.”There will be much interest in the MCG pitch in the lead-up to the Test following the abandonment of the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia.

Patel mesmerised the Glamorgan batsmen as he exploited the rough created by Keith Barker bowling his left-arm seamers

ECB Reporters Network31-Aug-2018
ScorecardWarwickshire gained a resounding win at Colwyn Bay with a day and 12 overs to spare, to consolidate their position as leaders of Division Two with four games remaining. The margin of victory, an innings and 35 runs, clearly demonstrated the difference between the two teams – the leaders Warwickshire well equipped in every department, with bottom club Glamorgan fielding a young inexperienced team who have been without many of their established players for most of the season.Warwickshire now have a comfortable lead at the top of the table, and if Kent fail to beat Derbyshire, they would be clear favourites to return to Division One. Their captain Jeetan Patel lead by example, ending with 7 for 83 which included his 800th first class wicket.Patel mesmerised the Glamorgan batsmen as he exploited the rough created by Keith Barker bowling his left-arm seamers from the other end. Not only did he get turn and bounce, but also confused the batsmen with his ability to obtain drift with two slips and a bat-pad in attendance.This was Glamorgan’s seventh loss, and their third successive innings defeat and without an overseas player and four front line bowlers, it has been a difficult season for everyone concerned. The arrival of Stephen Cook from South African for the remaining four Championship games should bring some stability to the top order and help the young, inexperienced batsmen.The 35-year-old Cook has played in four Tests, scored 44 first-class centuries and last year played for Durham in the County Championship. He will make his debut for Glamorgan in their next Championship game against Derbyshire which starts on Tuesday.After batting for 10.3 overs on the third morning, Warwickshire gained a 300-run lead on first innings and, apart from two useful partnerships, wickets fell at regular intervals, especially in the afternoon session.Nick Selman, who has been out of runs, took 32 balls to get off the mark and laboured through 38 overs, facing 110 balls before he was out for 14. Kiran Carlson and David Lloyd put on 56 for the fourth wicket, but the highest partnership came from the last wicket pair of Ruaidhri Smith and Michael Hogan.They put on 63 from only 6.2 overs, with Smith scoring an undefeated 52 from 40 balls, before Hogan was bowled by his opposing captain for an enterprising 28.

India declined to enforce the follow-on after wrapping up a 309-run first-innings lead, and extended it by a further 189 runs by stumps on day three

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy28-Jul-2017
2:19

Agarkar: India could have bowled again today

India declined to enforce the follow-on after securing a 309-run first-innings lead, and extended it by a further 189 runs at stumps on day three. Virat Kohli and Abhinav Mukund, whose careers have traced vastly different trajectories since they made their Test debuts in the same match six years ago, led India’s second-innings effort, adding 133 for the third wicket at 4.48 an over. The partnership came to an end in the last over of the day, Danushka Gunathilaka getting one to go with the angle from around the wicket to trap Abhinav lbw for 81.Until then, the third-wicket pair had enjoyed a pleasant stay in the middle, with Sri Lanka in damage-control mode throughout, and with Rangana Herath off the field for the last hour, having hurt his finger while diving to stop a powerful Kohli drive. The moment, captain inflicting pain upon captain, perfectly encapsulated the match situation.With India unlikely to stretch their second innings for too much longer, Sri Lanka face a gargantuan task on the last two days. The highest successful chase at this venue is 99. The highest score made in a fourth innings here – win, lose or draw – is 300. The weather could well be the only thing in the home side’s favour.Rain brought an early end to the middle session after India had lost their two first-innings centurions. Shikhar Dhawan failied to keep a cut down off Dilruwan Perera, while Cheteshwar Pujara clipped Kumara straight to a strategically positioned leg gully. Rain arrived immediately after Pujara’s dismissal, 30 minutes before the scheduled tea break.Play resumed after a break of an hour and 24 minutes. Kohli, the only Indian batsman to not get into double figures in the first innings, made a typically domineering start full of drives through cover before settling into a more prosaic pattern of collecting the uncontested singles made available by Sri Lanka’s defensive fields. Abhinav, who is likely to miss the next Test should KL Rahul return from illness, showed off the timing that has yet to fully assert itself in his so-far stop-start career, stepping out to clip Dilruwan Perera against the turn, hooking Lahiru Kumara between long leg and deep square leg, and using the pace adroitly when given width.Dilruwan Perera was stranded eight short of a maiden Test century•AFP

Ravindra Jadeja ended Sri Lanka’s innings nine balls after lunch, beating Kumara’s defensive bat with one that turned just enough to miss the outside edge and hit off stump. At the non-striker’s end was Perera, stranded eight short of a maiden Test hundred. His proactive approach had led Sri Lanka’s fight in the morning session, in which they scored 135 runs at just over four an over, while losing three wickets.Perera, batting above No. 8 for only the sixth time in 31 Test innings, did his best to make up for the absence of the injured Asela Gunaratne from Sri Lanka’s line-up, showing not just the skills to survive but also an ability to take calculated risks and keep the scoreboard moving. He showed early intent against the spinners, stepping out to Jadeja in the second over of the day and hitting him flat, over the non-striker’s head. Not long after, he went down on one knee and slog-swept the left-arm spinner over midwicket. That was to be the first of four sixes from Perera, two each off Jadeja and R Ashwin.He took on the quicks too, most notably when he made room against Umesh Yadav to slap and ramp him for two fours, either side of third man, shortly after he had brought up his fifth Test fifty. Umesh kept bowling short – intentionally, with two fielders back on the hook – but did not trouble Perera unduly. In his next over, he flat-batted a pull from outside off to the wide long-on boundary.By that time, Sri Lanka had lost Angelo Mathews, who moved from 54 to 83 before driving too early at a flighted ball from Jadeja and picking out short cover. Jadeja then went on to remove Rangana Herath, who gloved a reverse-sweep to slip. Hardik Pandya took the only other wicket of the session, his first in Test cricket, Nuwan Pradeep bowled playing down the wrong line.Herath and Pradeep only made 9 and 10, but with Perera scoring quickly at the other end, the seventh- and eight-wicket partnerships added 36 and 39.

New Zealand Cricket is monitoring the unrest in Zimbabwe ahead of its team’s tour to the country later this month

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2016New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is monitoring the unrest in Zimbabwe ahead of its team’s tour to the country later this month. Widespread protests against economic and civil issues have taken place in Zimbabwe this week.New Zealand’s departure for Africa will not be delayed as of now, NZC public affairs manager Richard Boock told the , but the board will keep a close watch on the situation as the team prepares for the two Tests against Zimbabwe at a camp in Pretoria, South Africa.”We are monitoring closely what is happening in Zimbabwe,” Boock said. “There are no plans to delay the players leaving New Zealand. While in camp in Pretoria, we will be able to keep an eye on what is going on. South Africa A are in Harare at present, and we will be liaising with South Africa Cricket and the British High Commission in Harare.”Currently, South Africa A are in Zimbabwe to play two four-day games, one each in Harare and Bulawayo. In June, India had played three ODIs and three T20s in Harare without incident.The New Zealand team is scheduled to fly to South Africa on July 11, before moving to Zimbabwe in time for a three-day warm-up game in Harare from July 22. The Tests are set to be played in Bulawayo between July 28 and August 10.A nationwide strike to protest a lack of jobs and unpaid wages was organised in Zimbabwe on July 6, leaving city streets deserted. On Monday, taxi drivers clashed with security forces in Harare over issues of extortion, leading to many arrests. Several other strikes – reportedly featuring the likes of civil servants, doctors, teachers – have also taken place in the drought-hit country.

Craig McMillan knows a little bit about stratospheric one-day performances but New Zealand’s batting coach was unwilling to predict how much further teams could go

Alan Gardner13-Jun-20151:22

‘Not right to be easier to bowl in T20 than ODI’ – Taylor

Craig McMillan knows a little bit about stratospheric one-day performances but, after seeing more than 760 runs scored in 96 overs at The Oval on Friday night, New Zealand’s batting coach was unwilling to predict how much further teams could go.It is more than eight years since McMillan played a key role in New Zealand overhauling totals of 336 and 346 against Australia in consecutive matches – still two of the five highest successful chases in the format. McMillan’s 67-ball hundred in the third ODI was the fastest by a New Zealander until Corey Anderson and Jesse Ryder both breezed past the mark at the start of 2014.That final match in Hamilton in 2007 saw 696 runs scored, albeit within the bijou dimensions of Seddon Park, and was at the time the second-highest match aggregate in history. It has since been pushed down to 10th, with six of the new entries coming in the last two years. Changes to the ODI playing regulations recommended by the ICC cricket committee may shift the balance once again but McMillan’s suggestion that “400 might well be the new 300″ no longer seems outlandish.”I wouldn’t like to put framework on it, I don’t know,” McMillan said when asked about the expansion of batting horizons. “T20 cricket has changed the perception of one-day cricket and what is possible and what’s not. I would think it’s pretty hard to beat 400 against quality opposition but with some of the grounds you play on, where the boundaries aren’t big and you play on good, true surfaces, anything’s possible, really.””These two sides, we’ve got two attacking batting line-ups that are going pretty hard at one another. I think with the pitches we’re going to face in the remaining three matches, 400 might well be the new 300. It’s also T20 cricket coming to the fore, batsmen play with no fear so chasing seven, eight an over is not a big deal anymore.”After two matches in favourable batting conditions, this series is already beginning to resemble a subcontinental run fest, where bowlers are little more than fodder. At Edgbaston, New Zealand took a wicket with the first ball of the match but ended up conceding 408; this time, Steven Finn got through a maiden before the fireworks began. Even with a target off 399 to back them up, New Zealand’s attack only just held out.A couple of winters ago, India and Australia gave it some relentless pongo during a series that looked to have redefined the game – particularly in the wake of the rule changes that brought such attacking cricket at the World Cup. Then, the overall run rate was 6.64 over six matches (one of which was a no result due to rain); currently, England and New Zealand are trading blows at a rate of 7.72 runs per over.New Zealand’s 398 for 5 at The Oval was the second-highest total in their ODI history – and their best against a fellow Test nation – but there was an ominous sense of control about the way the runs came. Of the top four, only Brendon McCullum scored at significantly more than a run a ball in the first 35 overs, with Ross Taylor opening up towards the end for an unbeaten 119 off 96 and Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi providing further impetus lower down.Underpinning it all was solid partnership-building, with 50-plus scores for each of the first four wickets – their smallest was 45 for the fifth – leaving McMillan very satisfied.”It was a very professional batting effort, to have partnerships all the way through really set the platform for that big total,” McMillan said. “McCullum and Guptill probably set the tone, then the partnership between Kane and Ross set the platform and it allowed guys like Elliott and Ronchi to come in and play their cameos. In many ways it was close to the perfect batting performance.”English conditions could once be relied on to even the contest between batmen and bowlers, even with the white ball, but the absence of swing so far has neutered a strength of both attacks. Another generous batting surface is expected at the Ageas Bowl, a ground on which New Zealand cracked 359 for 3 in 2013. Records may continue to tumble.”It’s been a difficult series for the bowlers so far, I think they’re looking forward to a pitch with a little bit more help at some stage,” McMillan said. “But it is something we need to keep working on, I think we made improvements from Edgbaston. England came very hard at us last night, harder than at Edgbaston but the boys got the job done.”There’s very little help, you usually see with the new balls a little bit of swing. That’s one of the challenges for them at the moment, when the ball doe\sn’t do anything, what’s your gameplan? You have to be able to adjust and be flexible. It’s a continual discussion among the bowling group, with Dimi Mascarenhas as well. I think we’ve seen from the first two games it’s going to be a tough series for the bowlers.”

Another aggressive contribution by Phillip Hughes not enough to prevent South Australia from slipping behind Western Australia on day two of the Sheffield Shield match in Perth

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2012South Australia 6 for 209 (Hughes 92, Marsh 2-35) trail Western Australia 9 for 400 declared (Harris 114, Marsh 73, Coulter-Nile 52, Mennie 4-115) by 191 runs
ScorecardAnother aggressive contribution by Phillip Hughes not enough to prevent South Australia from slipping behind Western Australia on day two of the Sheffield Shield match in Perth.The Warriors went on from their overnight 7 for 327 to a declaration at 9 for 400, Mitchell Marsh’s 73 shepherding the tail.SA’s reply developed into a series of starts, Hughes the only man to pass 50 while the likes of Michael Klinger and Callum Ferguson squandered decent platforms as they closed on an unsteady 6 for 209.Marsh followed up his runs with the wickets of Ferguson and Dan Christian, while Hughes was run-out by Nathan Coulter-Nile for 92, leaving him without a first-class century for the Redbacks this season despite going close three times.

ESPNcricinfo previews the first Twenty20 international between Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Harare

The Preview by Liam Brickhill14-Oct-2011

Match Facts

October 15, Harare

Start time 1400 (1200 GMT)Zimbabwe will hope Charles Coventry puts his career T20I strike rate of 193.33 to good effect•Getty Images

The Big Picture

The last time a full New Zealand outfit toured Zimbabwe, the trial of Saddam Hussein had yet to begin, the Live 8 concerts had just taken place and Stuart Carlisle was still an international batsman. Carlisle is now long gone, but Iraq is still war-torn. Much has changed in Zimbabwe since New Zealand’s last visit, but plenty has stayed the same too, and though New Zealand will start their tour as favourites their opponents are now much better equipped to provide a challenge.Or are they? Twenty20 cricket remains, largely, a domestic game but the format’s unique skill set has filtered through to international level for many national teams. Zimbabwe isn’t one of them. Pakistan have played 48 Twenty20 Internationals, Australia 44. New Zealand are just behind them, with 43. Zimbabwe have only played 16, winning three of those, and, such is the pace at which the game is moving on these days, they’re in danger of being left behind.Zimbabwe’s domestic T20 tournament, with its international imports and glossy marketing, has, no doubt, helped, but they will not develop as a T20 team playing two weeks of the stuff a year. Indeed, in the previous 12 months they’ve only played four T20Is, and their results have reflected their lack of experience. They showed considerable pluck in pushing South Africa close in an eight-run loss in Kimberley this time last year, but were shown up horribly by Pakistan in the first game of their two-match T20I series before losing the second in hugely anti-climactic circumstances.Zimbabwe’s naivety in the format will not have escaped the attention of a team as street-smart and cunning as New Zealand. The pugnacious visitors have become hardened over the years by the blows dished out by the big boys – particularly their neighbours across the Tasman Sea. They have, in Ross Taylor, a captain raised in the era of T20 cricket, with a bruising batting technique to match and plenty to prove. Though New Zealand haven’t played any international cricket since the World Cup, several members of their squad have plied their trade around the world in the interim. New Zealand will want to show, as Pakistan did last month, that they are a cut above the Zimbabweans,The focus of this tour will, of course, be the one-off Test match but the opening pair of T20Is will provide a handy opportunity for each team to analyse the character of the other. New Zealand’s shambolic performance in Bangladesh this time last year will give the Zimbabweans hope, but the visitors will expect nothing less than two outright wins.

Form guide

(most recent first)
Zimbabwe LLLLL

New Zealand LWWLW

Watch out for…

Charles Coventry remains an enigma. In possession of a repertoire of shots that allows him to match any young shot-maker in the game, he remains strangely vulnerable and inconsistent. But boring, he most certainly isn’t, and Zimbabwe will be hoping he sticks around long enough to put his career T20I strike rate of 193.33 to good effect.With 1,638 runs and 43 wickets to his name in T20s, James Franklin adds a weight of experience to New Zealand’s line-up with his all-round skills. Franklin, who is approaching his 31st birthday, has gone through a couple of incarnations in his stop-start international career, and the latest version is very well suited to the demands of the game’s shortest format.

Pitch and conditions

Zimbabwe is usually baking hot and dry in October, but it’s been a strangely cool, damp couple of weeks and it remains to be seen what effect this might have had on the preparation of the pitch at Harare Sports Club. No domestic cricket has been played at the ground since the season began in late September, but the recent matches against Pakistan provided a balanced battle between bat and ball. There is still some rain about but Saturday should be sunny and dry.

Team news

Zimbabwe have suggested they’ll play an extra batsman in these matches, but they won’t want to weaken their bowling resources too much and Prosper Utseya could be the man to miss out on a pitch that should have more in it for the seamers than the spinners.Zimbabwe (probable) 1 Chamu Chibhabha, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Hamilton Masakadza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt), 5 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Charles Coventry, 7 Malcolm Waller, 8 Keegan Meth, 9 Ray Price, 10 Kyle Jarvis, 11 Chris MpofuNew Zealand have several quality allrounders that will give them options with both bat and ball, while a top order that includes Jesse Ryder, Brendon McCullum and Taylor will be hard to keep quiet. Jacob Oram and Nathan McCullum will provide the batting firepower down the order, while Kyle Mills and Andy McKay will probably share the new ball.New Zealand (probable) 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Ross Taylor (capt), 6 James Franklin, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Luke Woodcock, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Andy McKay

Stats and trivia

• Brendon McCullum is New Zealand’s leading runscorer in T20Is, with 1,100 runs. His brother Nathan is their second-highest wicket taker, with 26 scalps.
• The teams have only met once before in a T20I, New Zealand winning a damp washout of a game at the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean last year by seven runs on Duckworth/Lewis.
• Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura are the only two players to have taken part in all 16 of Zimbabwe’s T20Is, and Masakadza is their leading run-scorer with 426 runs to his name.
• Zimbabwe have not won a T20I since their match against West Indies at Port of Spain in February 2010.

Quotes

“The big difference between the two teams is experience; New Zealand are an experienced group that has been playing together for a long time, yet our team is only just starting to play together and emerging.”

On a Jaipur pitch that offered no help to the bowlers, the Rest of India batsmen made merry on the opening day of the Irani Cup tie against Mumbai

The Bulletin by Abhishek Purohit01-Oct-2010Day 1
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Abhinav Mukund struck his ninth first-class ton•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

On a Jaipur pitch that offered no help to the bowlers, the Rest of India batsmen made merry on the opening day of the Irani Cup tie against Mumbai. Abhinav Mukund dominated proceedings with an unbeaten 156 and was supported by half-centuries from opening partner Shikhar Dhawan and S Badrinath. Mumbai, the Ranji Trophy champions, toiled hard but there was also enough indiscipline on offer from their bowlers. Their fielders didn’t help matters by dropping the couple of chances that came their way.Yuvraj Singh called correctly in the morning and had no hesitation to bat on a pitch that seemed to have very little moisture; whatever little there was, evaporated soon under the harsh sun. There was hardly any movement, in the air or off the seam, for Mumbai’s new ball pair of Ajit Agarkar and Dhawal Kulkarni. It was evident in the ease with which Dhawan got going as early as the third over, driving Agarkar twice in three balls for four through the gap between extra cover and mid-off.Mumbai had a golden opportunity to get an early breakthrough in the next over bowled by Kulkarni, when Mukund edged a delivery outside off between second and third slip. Omkar Khanvilkar dived across from third slip, got both hands to the ball but failed to hold on. Mukund was on eight then. He capitalised on that lapse by driving Kulkarni to the extra cover fence in his next over.Dhawan and Mukund shut the door on Mumbai after that, defending the ones pitched on a good length and punishing deliveries bowled full or short. Mumbai missed a third seamer, someone like Aavishkar Salvi who could have hurried the batsmen, as Usman Malvi was steady at best. Spin was introduced in the 14th over in the form of Ramesh Powar, and though the veteran off-spinner flighted the ball tantalisingly, there was neither much turn nor bounce on offer to trouble the batsmen. Moreover, Powar was guilty of overstepping eight times.Jaffer juggled his bowlers around, using as many as eight during the course of the day. Abhishek Nayar got some deliveries to skid a bit off the pitch but he was far too erratic to cause any worries for the batsmen. If Powar could not get anything out of the surface, it was unlikely that Iqbal Abdulla could; he was smashed for three consecutive fours by Dhawan in his third over.Mumbai’s second and last chance came a couple of overs before lunch when Malvi, running in from long leg, failed to latch on to a top-edge from Dhawan at deep square leg off Agarkar, despite diving and getting both hands to it. Rest of India went into lunch at 128 without loss.Dhawan and Mukund unleashed a flurry of boundaries after lunch as Mumbai wilted under the hot Jaipur sun. However, Dhawan – who had looked the more fluent of the duo – tried to hit one too many and struck a Rohit Sharma full toss straight to Abdulla at midwicket to depart for 83.At 167 for 1, Mumbai ran into the broad bat of Badrinath, who hardly looked ruffled throughout his stay, and hit some pleasing drives, and the only six of the day off Powar. Mukund meanwhile reached his ninth first-class hundred with a straight-driven four past Malvi, after being stuck on 99 for 14 deliveries.Mukund’s timing only got better after tea and one shot off Kulkarni pretty much summed up the day. Mukund straight-drove a full delivery and the ball sped past the mid-on fielder before he could even react. It was that kind of day for the Ranji Trophy champions. It sped past them in a blur of runs.

George Bailey controlled Tasmania’s tricky chase with an unbeaten 74 that sealed a tight win over New South Wales

Cricinfo staff05-Dec-2009Tasmania 7 for 178 (Bailey 74*, Smith 3-43) beat New South Wales 177 (Henriques 37, Denton 3-19) by 3 wickets

ScorecardGeorge Bailey stayed composed as his side edged past the Blues•Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The captain George Bailey controlled Tasmania’s tricky chase with an unbeaten 74 that sealed a tight win over New South Wales. A testing pitch in Launceston made life hard for the batsmen and it was Bailey’s innings that stood out as his side reached 7 for 178 in a three-wicket win.Chasing the Blues’ 177, Tasmania were looking comfortable at 3 for 87 following a stand of 51 between Brett Geeves (36), the makeshift opener, and Bailey. However, Steven Smith created some awkward moments with 3 for 43 before Bailey, who hit three sixes and four fours during his 89-ball stay, and Brendan Drew (31) guided them home.The Blues, who have lost three of their four games in the competition, relied on some late hitting from Stuart Clark and Simon Keen to reach their total on a pitch offering some unpredictable bounce. Gerard Denton caused the early damage with the prized wickets of Phillip Hughes (0) and Phil Jaques (0) in the first over before following up with David Warner (8) in a match he was not meant to play in. The late withdrawal of the opener Wade Irvine, who hurt his back in the warm-up, allowed Denton to take his place and he finished with 3 for 19.Moises Henriques started the recovery from 3 for 14 with a team-high 37 while Ben Rohrer’s 28 and Smith’s 25 avoided an embarrassing total. Clark and Keen both scrambled 29 to hold up the hosts while Geeves and Luke Butterworth collected two wickets each to keep the pressure on.

After a breakout Women's World Cup, the mesmerising forward put in a statement performance as her side ended their opening-day hoodoo

This felt like a significant night for Lauren James. With Chelsea taliswoman Sam Kerr out through injury, she stepped up to deliver an effortless, match-winning performance against Tottenham under the lights at Stamford Bridge.

James acted as playmaker-in-chief and her side's principal goal scoring threat on Sunday evening, but it was debutant Mia Fishel who broke the deadlock in the first half, nodding home Niamh Charles' pinpoint cross.

The 'cheat code' – as she has been christened by her England team-mates – sent several warning shots to Spurs before eventually scoring from close range just after the break, with Charles against playing the role of provider.

As impressive as they were going forward at times, Chelsea left a lot to be desired out of possession. A combination of poor finishing and the heroics of Zecira Musovic were the only things that prevented Martha Thomas from netting on her Spurs debut in the first half – and she eventually got her rewards for a lively display when the ball slipped out of the Blues' goalkeeper's grasp and into her path for an easy finish.

This set up a tense finish, but in the end it was mission accomplished for the champions, who finally won a opening-day WSL game after a four-year wait.

GOAL rates Chelsea's players from Stamford Bridge…

• Getty Images
  

  Goalkeeper & Defence

  Zecira Musovic (6/10):

  Made an outstanding 'starfish' save from Thomas on the stroke of half time. Looked dependable, right up until she let a shot squirm straight into the Spurs' frontwoman's path in the second half.

  Maren Mjelde (4/10):

  Not massively convincing. Needed to get closer to Bright at times with Thomas squeezing through more than once.

  Jess Carter (6/10):

  Played her way out of some difficult areas with some neat control. Generally passed it very well.

  Millie Bright (6/10):

  Made a couple of much-needed recovery challenges. Solid for the most part, but Thomas' runs stretched her at times.

  Niamh Charles (8/10):

  Gave Chelsea width and was a consistent attacking threat, as evidenced by the two assists she provided. If she keeps this up Rachel Daly might finally be freed of left-back duties for the Lionesses.

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• Getty
  

  Midfield

  Sophie Ingle (6/10):

  Needed to assert herself more during a frantic first half when the game was calling out for her trademark composure. Improved after the break.

  Sjoeke Nusken (5/10):

  Clearly eager to impress following her summer move from Eintracht Frankfurt. Was perhaps overly enthusiastic at times, which result in some sloppiness. Showed promise, though.

  Lauren James (8/10):

  Just an absolute joy to watch when she's playing like this. Glided past her opponents with grace, poise and understated power all afternoon.

• Getty
  

  Attack

  Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (4/10):

  Barely in the game in the first half, only touching the ball 11 times. Withdrawn on the hour mark.

  Mia Fishel (7/10):

  A dream debut, with the American scoring in front of the away end. Hold-up play was nifty too.

  Guro Reiten (6/10):

  Not quite her electric best, but provided some threatening moments.

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  Subs & Manager

  Fran Kirby (5/10):

  Great to see her back on the field after injury. However, she wasn't really in this game.

  Melanie Leupolz (6/10):

  Helped see the game out after coming on.

  Ashley Lawrence (6/10):

  Looked good at right-back. Will likely soon become a starter.

  Jessie Fleming (6/10):

  Bustling display.

  Jelena Cankovic (N/A):

  Only on for the closing stages.

  Emma Hayes (6/10):

  She brought up Chelsea's inability to win on the opening day unprovoked in her pre-match press conference, so will clearly be delighted they got that monkey off their back. However, like Arsenal and Manchester United earlier in the day, this was far from Chelsea at their best as they look to blood their new players.