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Being an overseas captain of an IPL team is not an easy job. The moment you start to struggle, debates start if it is tenable to have an overseas captain because you are occupying one of the four key positions. The underlying implication is that it is okay if you take up one of the seven Indian spots and struggle, but those four positions need to be maximised.

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Also if you are considered for the captaincy job in the IPL, chances are, you are already captaining your national side and perhaps another team in another league. Not everyone wants that extra pressure of leading another team, especially in the toughest T20 competition in the world.Dinesh Karthik told the podcast that Eoin Morgan was reluctant to take up the Kolkata Knight Riders captaincy mid-season last year when Karthik was himself struggling for runs and didn’t want to block one spot in the team. It’s the darnedest thing. Morgan is struggling even more for runs.In this year’s IPL, Morgan has played 11 innings of any length, but only two of them have gone past single digits. He is lucky Knight Riders are still in the tournament. After the win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which Morgan scored two unbeaten runs, they need to beat Rajasthan Royals in their last match to make it through to the playoffs. There are also other permutations for them to go through should they not win their last match.That still has not taken focus away from Morgan’s form although his experience tells him he is not far off from contributing. “Absolutely,” Morgan said when asked if it was a concern. “I am short of runs in this phase of the tournament, the whole tournament in general. I am very lucky to be in a position where I have been through stages like this in my career. I think the longer you go without contributing a significant score, the closer you are to actually contributing. And that’s coming from experience.”Eoin Morgan gets a feel of the conditions•BCCI

Moving to the UAE with a team built for Indian conditions hasn’t helped them at all. The pitches have been difficult to play the brand of cricket Morgan’s England team does in limited-overs cricket. And the conditions have varied more than they usually do: Knight Riders’ last match two nights ago in Dubai was on a quickish pitch where 165 was chased down successfully; this one was slow and spongy, making 116 a scrap. However, Morgan said you just have to adjust to the pitches and play good cricket.”We were here two nights ago and the ball seemed to come onto the bat,” Morgan said. “Yes it swings early in the Powerplay and a little bit of nip, which is expected here in Dubai, but today was a little bit sluggish. Obviously the wicket is one thing, you need to adapt to conditions, bowl well, field well, and we did that incredibly well.”Morgan was asked if these conditions are good for T20 cricket. “The purpose of T20 cricket is to be our most entertaining format,” he said. “It is very appealing to the wider audience of sorts fans around the world. I think an element of pure cricket was in the wicket today. If bowlers bowled in the right area, they got their due reward. The batsmen had to work a little bit harder. I think sometimes in T20 it is nice to have that element to give an insight into the real game of cricket as opposed to the ball flying everywhere and everything in the batsmen’s favour.”Knight Riders have also had to deal with injuries to key players. Andre Russell and Lockie Feguson continue to sit out. Morgan said Ferguson did make the trip the ground, and started to do some run-throughs, which is a positive sign. Russell continues to rehab in the hotel.

There will be disruption to the start of the New Zealand domestic season due to the ongoing lockdown in Auckland.The opening rounds of matches for men’s and women’s sides from Auckland and Northern Districts will be delayed due to the current restrictions and the need to allow players adequate time to prepare.Auckland Aces will need to wait until round three to begin their Plunket Shield season on November 7. Last season’s Hallyburton Johnstone finalists Auckland Hearts and defending champions Canterbury Magicians will likewise make delayed starts to their campaigns, that will begin with a doubleheader weekend at Rangiora’s Mainpower Oval on November 6 and 7.”It’s certainly been a challenge,” Catherine Campbell, the NZC general manager of cricket operations, said. “I’d like to thank all six Major Associations and their teams, along with the CPA, for their assistance and cooperation.”We’ve had to adopt a flexible approach to permit players to perform at their best and maximise playing opportunities – whilst of course complying with Government requirements, and ensuring the health and well-being of all participants are protected.”The schedule has been changing right up to yesterday, and may well change again if Auckland’s Level 3 Lockdown continues. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it – we’re confident we have room in the schedule to make up matches as desired.”Reigning Plunket Shield champions Canterbury will get the season underway on October 23, hosting Central Stags at Hagley Oval, while at the Basin Reserve, 2019-20 champions the Wellington Firebirds host the Otago Volts.Central Hinds and Otago Sparks kick-start the women’s season on October 30 and 31 at Saxton Oval in what will be the first women’s domestic matches to be played in Nelson.The one-day Ford Trophy season will span November 30 to February 26. The Hallyburton Johnstone Shield Final take place on February 19, while the eighth round of Plunket Shield will begin on March 28 with the option of playing delayed fixtures in April.

Worcestershire 213 (Haynes 47, Crocombe 3-44) and 315 for 4 (Libby 125*, Haynes 62, D’Oliveira 56*) beat Sussex 264 (Carson 87, Orr 52, Leach 5-68) and 263 (Ibrahim 94, orr 57, Leach 4-68) by six wicketsJake Libby overtook David Bedingham to become the leading run-scorer in the LV=Insurance County Championship this summer as Worcestershire chased down a 315 target against Sussex at New Road.Libby scored his fourth Championship century of the campaign and he overhauled the 945 run tally of Bedingham who was not in action because Durham’s game against Surrey was called off because of COVID-19.He finished unbeaten on 125 and now has a total of 951 runs and the former Nottinghamshire batsman received excellent support from Jack Haynes, Ben Cox and Brett D’Oliveira as Worcestershire triumphed by six wickets with 24 balls to spare.Related

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Worcestershire picked up 20 points to emerge as the early pace-setters in Division Three. But they were pushed all the way by a young Sussex side containing no capped players and with an average age of nineteen and a half, showing great potential.Sussex resumed on 199 for 6 and the last four wickets went down for 64 runs in 15.5 overs.Adam Finch made the first breakthrough when Archie Lenham went for a pull and top-edged a head-high catch to keeper Cox. Finch struck again when Jack Carson, on seven, aimed a blow on the leg side and Josh Baker pulled off a fine low catch after running in from deep square leg.Dillon Pennington came into the attack and soon accounted for Henry Crocombe ,who was caught off a leading edge by Ed Barnard at cover.Dan Ibrahim went within six runs of becoming the youngest century-maker in the history of County Championship cricket before falling to Worcestershire captain, Joe Leach. The 17-year-old tried to hook Leach but only gloved through to Cox.When Worcestershire launched their reply, Daryl Mitchell and Libby put on 39 until the former on 19 was bowled by a delivery from Crocombe to the last ball before lunch.Tom Fell survived one chance behind the wicket before he was caught on four off a top edge at midwicket attempting to pull Crocombe.Haynes joined Libby and the third-wicket pair consolidated Worcestershire’s position.Libby reached his half-century off 121 balls with five fours and Worcestershire went into tea on 129 for 2, requiring a further 186 off 34 overs in the final session. An excellent half-century was completed by Haynes from 83 deliveries with six boundaries.But Fynn Hudson-Prentice ended the partnership on 105 when Haynes was caught and bowled for 62.Libby went into overdrive with 6-4-4 off successive balls from Crocombe and Cox, promoted up the order, also scored freely. A single off James Coles took Libby to three figures off 190 balls with one six and eight fours.Cox (37) holed out to long on off Lenham to end a stand of 86 in 18 overs with Libby. But D’Oliveira ensured the momentum was maintained and successive sixes off Hudson-Prentice enabled him to complete a 26 ball fifty.

Chris Woakes could miss the first two Tests against South Africa due to the side strain which ruled him out of the Champions Trophy.The recovery timeframe is four to six weeks, with Woakes admitting it is likely to be the longer end of that scale before he returns to the field. It means he is all but confirmed to miss the opening Test against South Africa, which begins at Lord’s on July 6, and probably the second as well, which comes hot on the heels at Trent Bridge on July 13.Even if Woakes was able to bowl by then, he would have had no competitive action in which to prove his fitness. Another issue could be that the NatWest Blast will dominate the domestic schedule at that time, so Woakes may be limited to four-overs spells ahead of a potential return in the third Test at Old Trafford on July 27.”It’s a left side strain and there is a tear in the muscle,” Woakes said at a Chance to Shine event. “It’s a grade-two injury, which is not terrible news, but it’s not great news at the same time.”They say it’s roughly a four- to six-week injury, and it’s more likely to be towards the six when I am back playing competitive cricket. I’m on day five of my recovery now, and the physios say for the first 10 to 14 days there’s not a lot we can do other than rest it.”You don’t rule it out, but I’m probably up against it for the first Test. Sometimes these things heal quicker, sometimes they take longer, so we have to play it by ear.”It’s also one of those things you can’t rush back – if you do, it can just ping again. You have to make sure you’re right before you come back. The timing of it is frustrating, it’s terrible, but it’s one of those things.”Woakes took 34 wickets in six home Tests last year – 26 of them in the four-match series against Pakistan – although the five Tests he played on the tours of Bangladesh and India were tougher as he claimed just six wickets.James Anderson is also under a fitness cloud after suffering a groin injury last month playing for Lancashire, although he has returned to gentle training.Anderson, Woakes and Stuart Broad would have been England’s likely front-line pace attack to start the South Africa series, supplemented by Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, but there could also be question-marks over the workload Stokes can sustain in Tests due to his troublesome knee. If reinforcements are needed, Mark Wood, Jake Ball, Steven Finn and Toby Roland-Jones would be in the mix.

In January, Australia rested Usman Khawaja from the Chappell-Hadlee ODI series in New Zealand and chose instead to send him to Dubai to prepare for the Border-Gavaskar Test series in India. Khawaja, in the end, sat out all four Tests in India, with the selectors preferring Shaun Marsh in his middle-order role.Khawaja, who has not found a place in Australia’s 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, has spoken of his frustration at missing the ODIs in New Zealand.”Maybe when I was younger I would have been frustrated [at missing out on the Tests in India],” Khawaja told . “In saying that obviously I would have loved to play in that Test series, [and] when I didn’t get to play in that first Test I was a bit frustrated.”I sort of had an idea I was not going to play in that first Test after I didn’t get a run during the tour match. We played brilliant in that first Test match and we won. I was frustrated at the time, not so much because I didn’t play in that Test match — I understand the selectors, Boof [coach Darren Lehmann] and picking the best team and what was going on and I just want Australia to win.”The most frustrating thing for me was not to play those three ODIs in New Zealand. Getting pulled out from them to come to Dubai to prepare for 10 days and then not play the first Test. So I actually miss out on the one-day matches for Australia. For me that was the tough part.”I got pulled out of that series to prepare for India and then not playing was a bit hard.”Khawaja said he felt better after discussing his situation with Lehmann.”To Boof’s credit I had a chat to him about all that stuff and he came up to me and he actually knew where I was at in that things had not worked out, not being able to play the ODIs and come early to India, he knew exactly where I was coming from,” Khawaja said.”Once I chatted out to him it helped me quite a bit. He has seen it all, he has seen the ups and downs so after I had that discussion with him I was fine. I was just like ‘there are few more ODIs coming up that I can look forward to’. After that chat I was fine and just trying to do the best for the team and be ready in case the opportunity did come up.”An ordinary record in Asian conditions may have hurt Khawaja’s case in the head-to-head against Marsh. Before the India tour, Khawaja had scored 115 runs at 19.16 in four Tests in Asia, and 389 runs at 32.41 in nine first-class matches. Marsh, on the other hand, was seen as a subcontinent specialist, having scored two hundreds in three Tests there, all in Sri Lanka.”It is tough one because the way I look at it was Reny [Matt Renshaw] and [David] Warner were going to open, [captain Steve Smith] was going to play, Petey [Handscomb] was going to play, it was probably going to be between me and Shaun Marsh and he got hundred in the last Test match in Sri Lanka.”The selectors went for a gut feel I assume and that is their job,” Khawaja said. “I’m at a stage now where there are things I can control and there are things I can’t control so I don’t bother worrying too much about it.”I always want to be out there playing cricket. I have not played a Test match in India yet and it is hard fact to take it because at least I can prove to myself and to other people that I can do well out here. But on the same token as the saying goes on in sport ‘if you hang on for too long there is more negative that comes out than positive’.”

Knights handed Cape Cobras a 148-run drubbing after Rudi Second’s sixth List A century set up Knights’ bonus-point victory in Cape Town, a result that helped them remain in contention for the title. It was the Knights’ biggest win in tournament history.Coming off the back of a last-over defeat in the previous game, Knights were dealt the early loss of opener Diego Rosier (16), after being put in to bat. Second, the Knights wicketkeeper, anchored the innings thereon with a 128-ball 104, hitting including eight fours. He was ably supported by Tumelo Bodibe who struck a career-best 93 off 107 balls – studded with eleven fours – and shared a 183-run stand for the second wicket with Second.While the partnership took Knights’ past 200 in 37 overs, it was David Miller’s quickfire 58 that helped Knights amass 300 in 50 overs. Miller, batting at No. 4, hammered six fours and two sixes in his 37-ball knock, and put on 75 off 52 balls with Second for the third wicket before falling to Rory Kleinveldt, who claimed the best returns (3-41) for Cobras.In reply, Knights medium-pacer Shadley van Schalkwyk’s double-strike in the third over set the Cobras back. Dillon du Preez then removed Andrea Agathangelou (24) and Zubayr Hamza (2) as regular wickets had the Cobras reeling at 40 for 5 in the 12th over.Dayyaan Galiem top-scored with 41, and put on 43 runs for the sixth wicket with Aviwe Mgijima (19). Rosier (3-29) then chipped away at the tail with his legspin to help Knights skittle Cobras out for 152 in 32 overs.Farhaan Behardien top-scored for Titans with a 50-ball 45•Gallo Images

Titans beat table-toppers Dolphins by 33 runs in a rain-curtailed contest in Durban to move to within one point of the top spot. Defending 205 from 40 overs, Titans removed the Dolphins openers inside the first three overs, before rain reduced the game further. Just 16 runs, and six overs, were knocked off the revised D/L calculations. Handy cameos from Sarel Erwee (38) and Khaya Zondo (41) kept Dolphins in the hunt, but regular wickets effectively killed the game. Left-arm spinner Shaun von Berg finished with figures of 4 for 40, while medium-pacer Junior Dala took 3 for 26.That Titans had 205 to defend was down to a 71-run, fifth-wicket stand between Farhaan Behardien (45) and Albie Morkel (38), after they were reduced to 73 for 4 in the 21st over. David Wiese provided the required impetus towards the end with a 25-ball 37 that included three fours and two sixes. All five Dolphins bowlers picked up at least one wicket each.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Woakes and Joe Root saw England home with an unbroken 102-run stand•Getty Images

England’s limited-overs resurgence may have been built upon aggressive batting but it was, for the second game in succession, their calm under pressure that led them to victory in Antigua.With their side reeling against a familiar foe – spin bowling – at 124 for 6 and having just lost 4 for 16, Joe Root and Chris Woakes produced an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 102 to take England to a four-wicket victory with 10 deliveries remaining. It means England have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, with only Thursday’s game in Barbados to come.This was a far from straightforward win, though. On a two-paced, slow surface that rendered it difficult to time the ball, the batsmen of both sides struggled to dominate.And, had one of the edges offered by Root (on 0 and 51) gone to hand or Rovman Powell and Jason Holder been able to cling on to relatively straightforward chances offered by Woakes on 42 and 58, things might have been different. But Root’s first edge landed just in front of first slip and his second bisected slip and the keeper, and West Indies sorely missed their premier fast bowler, Shannon Gabriel, who was forced off the pitch with a side strain after three overs of his spell.Jason Roy also enjoyed a moment of fortune. He survived a strong appeal for caught behind off Holder before he had scored. And though replays suggested a possible deviation of the ball and there was a sound on the stump microphone, the TV umpire concluded reasonably enough that he did not have enough evidence to overturn the on-field umpire’s not-out decision. Had the host board or host broadcaster been able to come to a deal over the use of ultra-edge – understood to have been priced at £8,000 for this series – there might well have been a different result.Gabriel’s absence allowed Root and Woakes to play out the spinners, rotate the stroke and pick off the runs. The run-rate never rose close to five-an-over and, with Carlos Brathwaite unable to sustain the pressure of the senior bowlers, England simply had to wait for his return and the relatively easy runs that followed. Crucially, while Ashley Nurse and Devendra Bishoo claimed five wickets for 77 from their 20 overs combined, Brathwaite conceded 38 runs in four wicketless overs.It was only Woakes’ second List A 50 for England, with the first (an unbeaten innings of 95) coming in the dramatic tie against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge last year. He might not be the most pleasing or powerful allrounder in this side, but he has a wonderfully equable temperament and perhaps only Root has a better technique with the bat. His six off Carlos Brathwaite, driven over long-off, was one of the shots of the day.Root, playing within himself, hit only three boundaries. But this was exactly the sort of mature contribution that his captain had provided in the first ODI and, in its way, a masterful demonstration of how to control a limited-overs chase.All of which probably makes it sound like an exciting game. And it is true, it rose to a climax of sorts. But just as a rock fall might be dramatic, it doesn’t make the thousands of years of erosion that lead to it great entertainment. This match was not played on a surface that encouraged attractive or, for long periods, entertaining cricket.It may be widely presumed in these parts that hosting England is something close to a licence to print money. And it is true that somewhere approaching 8,000 travelling supporters made up the bulk of the crowd. But if Antigua continues to greet them with tired hotels, roads that make even the shortest journey laborious and wretched pitches that produce stultifying cricket, they may find they spend their money – and their holiday allowance – elsewhere. Nobody wants the homogenisation of pitches but, with the game fighting for its place among other leisure pursuits, we have to provide better entertainment than this to appeal to an audience beyond the die-hard cricket fan.Still, England can’t hide behind that as an excuse for their middle-order fragility. Instead they will accept that the accuracy and variations of the offspinner Nurse and the turn offered by the legspinner Bishoo illustrated flaws that never linger too far from the surface of English cricket: a weakness against spin bowling.Roy ensured a bright start for England with a fluent half-century but it was his dismissal, caught at long-on, that precipitated a collapse that saw England lose five wickets for 37 runs in 10 overs. Morgan was bowled by one that appeared to skid on with the arm, before Jos Buttler edged a late cut – a poor choice of shot with a slip in place – and Moeen Ali was punished for playing back to one that drifted in, pitched and turned to hit the top of off stump. It was fine bowling by Nurse, who didn’t concede a boundary in his 10 overs, in particular. He has looked the best spinner on either side in this series.But with the specialist spinners bowled out, Holder had no choice but to turn to Carlos Brathwaite and his part-time spinners. Brathwaite’s first over back conceded 10, including that six from Woakes, and the pressure eased never to return.West Indies’ batting was inadequate, though. While Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Mohammed were able to add 72 for the fourth wicket, West Indies’ power hitters failed once more as England’s seamers varied their pace cunningly on a surface offering them enough assistance to render length bowling a reasonable tactic. West Indies were bowled out with 13 deliveries of their allocation unused and mustered only 15 fours in their entire innings.While Root and Woakes attempted, for the most part, to keep the ball on the ground, five of West Indies’ batsmen fell to catches lofted up to the cordon as a result of mis-timed strokes. Liam Plunkett, varying his pace cleverly, added three wickets to the four he took in the first ODI, while Steven Finn became the tenth England bowler to claim 100 ODI wickets. He is also the third quickest in terms of games (he has played 67 ODIs) behind Darren Gough and Stuart Broad, who both achieved the milestone in 62 ODIs.

Australia batsman Nic Maddinson, who missed New South Wales’ clash against Victoria last week, will miss the game against Queensland too, starting February 10, because of “personal reasons”.”Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW advises that Australian and NSW batsman Nic Maddinson will not be available for selection due to personal reasons, until further notice,” CA and CNSW said in a joint statement.In the absence of Maddinson, 18-year-old offspinner Arjun Nair, who made his Shield debut against South Australia in Coffs Harbour last year, has been added to the squad for cover.Maddinson made his Test debut against South Africa in the day-night game in Adelaide, where he fell for a duck. He then made modest scores of 1,4,22, in his next three innings against Pakistan, before being dropped for the third Test against Pakistan at the SCG.”At the end of the day I’ve had my chance and I couldn’t grab it,” Maddinson said last week. “I actually haven’t even thought about playing Test cricket again since.”After being left out of the Test squad, Maddinson linked up with Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League. He scored 75 runs in seven innings.

Ajay Shirke, who was removed as BCCI secretary by the Supreme Court of India, had expressed “concerns” to ECB president Giles Clarke over the BCCI’s ability to host the limited-overs series against England, despite no longer holding office in the Indian board. That was the claim made by Clarke in an email to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, in an email seen by ESPNcricinfo.On January 6, four days after the court ordered Shirke and BCCI president Anurag Thakur to give up their posts with immediate effect, Clarke wrote to Johri about a conversation he had with Shirke. In the email Clarke did not indicate when he received the calls from Shirke, but he refers to him as not being secretary any longer. Both Clarke and Shirke, when contacted, chose not to comment on any communication.Johri, in reply, has offered the ECB assurances of the limited-overs series against India going ahead as planned.”I have received calls from Mr Shirke who I understand is no longer the Honorary Secretary of BCCI,” Clarke wrote. “Can you please confirm to me that the England team will continue to be looked after by the BCCI in the usual fashion, with proper security, player daily allowance payments, hotel bills covered and the like, with transport organised at all times.”Obviously it is entirely a matter for BCCI where matches are played, but please advise soonest that the schedule will be adhered to, or any changes.”Johri replied the same day and assured the ECB that the series would go ahead as planned and that the England squad had “arrived and settled well”.”The BCCI has announced the teams for the warm-up matches, the ODIs and the T20 matches, the ticket sales for which have kicked off with the first game sold out, as of last week,” Johri wrote.The venue of the first ODI between India and England on January 15 is incidentally Pune, where Shirke was president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) for more than nine years. Apart from losing his post as BCCI secretary, Shirke was also unable to continue as MCA president after the court order on January 2 because his term had exceeded the Lodha Committee’s nine-year cap on tenure for BCCI and state office bearers.MCA officials confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that tickets had been sold out nearly three weeks before the match.Johri also told Clarke that the remaining five venues had confirmed hosting the matches. His email stated the BCCI was in control of the situation and that he would oversee the process.”The other venues have shown similar uptake in anticipation of an exciting contest between our teams. As you must have followed, the Supreme Court has delivered their verdict early this week, and we are expected to work with the court-appointed administrators, who will be appointed by the 19th of this month and till such time, we are making every effort to ensure that the matches live up to the expectations of all our stakeholders, including ECB.”We have been in touch with all the hosting centres and they have expressed confidence that the games will be managed successfully, just like always, and as on date, we do not anticipate any form of disruption to the series. Rest assured, I will personally monitor the series as it unfolds and will keep you posted on the progress.”In another email on January 7, Johri asked Clarke to divulge what Shirke had “communicated” in his “calls” in order for BCCI to “assuage any other concerns” the ECB may have.Clarke replied: “His concern was the BCCI and relevant association having funds and expertise to manage security and safety of our players, and transport, allowances, all usual issues for a tour.”In the email chain, ECB chairman Colin Graves also acknowledged Johri’s assurances.Clarke declined to comment on the exchange when contacted. “I am not going to make any comment,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I don’t even know what this is.”Shirke would not confirm whether he had made the call to Clarke and did not comment on the email exchange either. “I have no comments to offer,” he told ESPNcricinfo. Shirke said that people with “obvious malicious and vested” interests were trying to suggest that he was trying to scupper the Pune ODI.”I have got messages from some people in the media that we are obstructing the match [from taking place],” he said. “This is a record opportunity for MCA: my gate collection is INR 6.2 crore and my in-stadia sales is INR 2.2 [crore]. So we have got a total collection of about INR 8.5 crore.”With regard to funds for the associations hosting the matches, on December 7 the court had approved a maximum of INR 25 lakh for each state hosting the three ODIs and three T20Is. The court had rejected the BCCI’s request to release INR 3.79 crore as advance for the limited-overs series.On January 7, Shirke along with other longstanding office bearers of the BCCI and state associations who were removed by the court order on January 2, had an informal meeting in Bangalore to discuss their next step. That meeting had been called by former BCCI president N Srinivasan and included about 24 state associations.The Lodha Committee was formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for some of the officials involved in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and also to propose changes to streamline the BCCI, reform its functioning, prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest.In January 2016, the committee released its report, which recommended an exhaustive overhaul of the BCCI’s governance and administrative structures. On July 18, the Supreme Court of India approved the majority of the recommendations and directed the Lodha Committee to supervise the BCCI’s implementations of the same. However, despite the Lodha Committee laying out timelines and other directives, the board did not cooperate because it said that its state associations objected to the recommendations. This impasse eventually led to the Supreme Court removing Thakur and Shirke from office on January 2, 2017.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShahid Afridi celebrates with the game’s highest scorer Mohammad Shahzad after taking a wicket•BCB

Six Rangpur Riders bowlers were among the wickets as they strangled Barisal Bulls’ batting to win by 29 runs in Mirpur. Notching up their first win in four matches, Rangpur moved to third while Barisal ended their season in last place.Defending 154, Rangpur’s bowlers never let Barisal settle. Sohag Gazi struck in the first over, removing Rayad Emrit, who had been promoted to open the innings, and dismissing Mushfiqur Rahim in his next over, before Naeem Islam sent back a dangerous-looking Jeevan Mendis, whose five-ball stay included two sixes.Fazle Mahmud added 39 with the opener Dawid Malan before he was dismissed on 21 by Shahid Afridi’s third ball of the match, leaving Barisal 68 for 4. Four balls later, Malan fell for 30 to Anwar Ali with the team’s score unchanged. Rangpur had sent back half of Barisal’s batting within their first ten overs. Thisara Perera looked to hit out, and struck two sixes as he attempted to chase down a now improbable target before Afridi had him caught by Naeem Islam for a 17-ball 24.Liam Dawson then had Shahriar Nafees top-edging to short third-man before pinning Taijul Islam plumb in front with a yorker to finish with figures of 2 for 11. Rubel Hossain, wicketless till then, ended the match with successive, inch-perfect yorkers – the second one a slower version of the first – to rattle the stumps of Monir Hossain and Kamrul Islam Rabbi.In the first innings, Rangpur’s 154 could best be described as a patchy performance. Opener Mohammad Shahzad scored a 40-ball 48 and added 76 for the second wicket with Mohammad Mithun after Soumya Sarkar fell for 17. Shahzad’s innings, which contained four fours and one six, ended in the fifteenth over after he missed a full ball from Emrit that struck him flush on the pad.The 63-ball partnership ended with the team 105 for 2, bringing Afridi to the crease. He played a typical three-ball innings: taking a single, hitting a six – a short ball dispatched straight over the bowler – and holing out to mid-off, off Kamrul. The pacer was expensive – although he took two crucial wickets – going at an economy rate of 9.75 in his four overs.Just as Rangpur seemed set to post a really big total, Mithun, who made a controlled 41-ball 38 attempted a lofted shot off Perera but failed to connect cleanly, only managing to hit it as far as deep midwicket. Perera then removed Anwar Ali as well, before Ziaur Rahman and Dawson added 16 in the last over – including a last-ball six – to take Rangpur to 154.Rangpur Riders have their future in their own hands. A win in their last match against Comilla Victorians assures them of a semi-final spot, while a loss will leave them waiting anxiously on other results to know their fate.