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The home side slipped to 12 for 2 after England’s captain had got their first innings close

Andrew McGlashan29-Jan-2022A stirring England fightback was halted by rain in Canberra after Heather Knight’s magnificent career-best 168 not out carried England to within 40 of Australia’s first-innings total on the third day before Katherine Brunt rattled the home side with two quick wickets.It left Australia with a precarious lead of 52 and a ball moving significantly for England’s quicks, but there was no more play after lunch as heavy rain swept through. There will be an early start on the final day with 109 overs to be bowled, but time is now running out to force a result. England are the side more desperate for the four points as they trail 4-2 overall. However, the fact they were even in such a position to consider it was down to the performance of their captain.The ninth-wicket stand between Knight and Sophie Ecclestone was extended to 100, an England record, then No. 11 Kate Cross chipped in with a useful hand until Ellyse Perry’s third wicket ended the innings.Brunt then made immediate inroads as the weather closed in. She found Alyssa Healy’s outside edge with one which bounced and moved away as the wicketkeeper bagged a pair and had Rachael Haynes taken at short leg with the penultimate delivery before rain arrived on the stroke of lunch. It took Brunt’s match haul to seven wickets and carried her to 50 overall in Test cricket.”Brunty’s having a brilliant Test and the way she bowled – the aggression, the skill – hunting Australian wickets, and to pick up those two wickets felt like we could really break the game open, try and get them out for a cheap score and set up a chase so obviously a little bit frustrating,” Knight said. “We are still holding out a little bit of hope…there’s a little bit of time left in the game so we are going to have bowl absolutely out of our skins to try and take early wickets and put the Aussies under the pump. We live in hope.”Knight, who resumed on 127, went past her previous best of 157 made in 2013 and become just the second batter to make two 150+ scores in Ashes Test after Karen Rolton. She had come out with positive intent from the start, unfurling a glorious cover drive, a hook against Perry and a slog-sweep off Jess Jonassen which took her to 150 off 274 balls.”Think it’s my best innings for England, definitely,” Knight said. “The situation we were in, in an Ashes game against probably the best team in the world, so super pleased. I felt quite rusty at the start, they bowled pretty well with the first new ball, but when you’ve played a lot of white-ball cricket and you have a red-ball moving it’s quite hard not to have a little flirt with it, and I did that a few times, but managed to get through that tricky period and when the spin came on I felt a lot more comfortable and found my rhythm.”The way Sophie batted was unbelievable, the team really need her to stand up. She’s got a really sound technique and really chuffed for her that she was able to put in that patient knock…to get us so close to the score. I was looking at a great situation being 70 or so behind, so to get to the deficit we did was a real effort.”It was a frustrating morning for Australia who had hoped to secure a far more substantial lead. When they finally bowled England out it felt a long time since there was talk of the follow-on.Ecclestone was given two lives, both by Meg Lanning at slip, the first coming in the opening over of the day and another when she had 33 but that was a tough one diving to the right. She was eventually trapped lbw by Tahlia McGrath who became the seventh bowler to take a wicket.

West Indies captain Roston Chase wants to leave New Zealand with their first Test win in the country in 30 years

Sreshth Shah12-Dec-20252:26

Roston Chase: ‘We made mistakes at crucial points in the game’

After another collective batting failure, West Indies captain Roston Chase called on his batters to convert their starts and hold themselves accountable after undoing the work of a disciplined bowling attack.West Indies made only 205 in the first innings in the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington, but then restricted New Zealand to 278. However, they were skittled for just 128 in the second innings when batting conditions were in fact better, and eventually went down by nine wickets.Chase said the manner of the loss stung especially because West Indies had got into a decent position before the collapse, and rejected suggestion that conditions were to blame.Related

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“We were in a good position up to this morning, even though in the first innings, we thought that we should have got some more runs,” Chase said in the post-match press conference. “A number of batsmen getting some starts, but we didn’t really convert into anything big. We left some runs up there in the first innings, and we thought that we would have gotten those runs in the second innings, but it didn’t happen. So very disappointing for us after the bowlers really put up their hands and brought us back into the game.”I still thought that the pitch was one that we could score runs on. Personally, I thought it was not as tough as the first game. I thought the first innings in [the first Test in] Christchurch, the ball was doing a whole lot, but I didn’t think that was the case here. I just thought we just made some mistakes at some crucial points in the game, and we just never really got our foot back into the game today.”Across the tour, Chase said, West Indies’ batting malaise had been clear: players get in, and then give it away. In Wellington, seven times batters crossed 20 across both of West Indies’ innings, yet the highest score was Shai Hope’s 47. The rest, like Hope, frittered away promising starts – 44, 33 and 29 in the first innings, followed by 22, 35 and 25 in the second.”You have to work very hard to get that start,” Chase said. “It’s just about buckling down and having that determination to carry it. You will get good balls, but I think sometimes we just give it away a little too easy when we get to the 30s and the 40s. But especially in New Zealand, we know the first innings is very crucial. If you can get a good first-innings total where the ball is moving around a lot more and [there’s] a lot of green on the wicket, that puts you in a commanding position to have a chance at winning the game.”When we do sit and chat after games, we sit and we discuss those things. We try to hold everyone accountable for their actions. But not only just talking, we need to find ways out there in the middle to combat what is being thrown at us.”Yet, even after a chastening defeat, Chase stressed that the squad remained driven by a long-standing ambition: winning a Test in New Zealand for the first time in 30 years. A victory in the third Test in Mount Maunganui would not only end that drought but also square the series and give West Indies their first win of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle.”The last time we won in New Zealand was in 1995, so we want to leave here with a win,” Chase said. “We still think that we are capable enough to get a win, but it’s just for us to be consistent, because the bowlers have shown that they’re capable of getting us those ten wickets or 20 wickets that we need to get.”

Ireland succumb to 48-run loss as rookie England prove too strong in the end

Andrew Miller23-Sep-2023England 334 for 8 (Jacks 94, Hain 89, Dockrell 3-43) beat Ireland 286 (Dockrell 43, Young 40, Rehan 4-54) by 48 runsWill Jacks and Sam Hain provided the ballast with the bat, before Rehan Ahmed served up a touch of class with the ball, as England’s rookies overcame their collective nerves – and George Scrimshaw’s in particular – to seal a comfortable 48-run victory in the second ODI against Ireland at Trent Bridge.With England’s World Cup-bound 15 all absent from this contest – including Joe Root, who had been lined up to play in Wednesday’s wash-out at Headingley but is now resting up with the rest of the squad – the XI that took the field boasted a skinny tally of 48 caps all told, including four debutants. And of those, two in particular will have emerged with indelible memories … most of them good, in the end.For Hain, it was an occasion he must have thought would never come. At the age of 28, his towering List A average – 57.96 across a ten-year career – had for so long seemed inversely proportional to his prospects of breaking into a generationally strong England white-ball set-up. But with the big guns away, he latched onto his chance with a sturdy knock of 89 from 82 balls, as did Jacks at the top of the order, who reinforced the sense that he could be Jason Roy’s long-term heir with a fluent knock of 94 from 88.Between them, the pair topped and tailed a total of 334 for 8 that, while imposing, understandably lacked a degree of cohesion, with no-one quite cutting loose except while Jacks and Phil Salt were briefly running riot in the powerplay.In the end it was ample – and it would have been a vastly more emphatic margin had it not been for a feisty tenth-wicket stand of 55 between Craig Young and Josh Little that again highlighted their opponents’ unavoidable naivety. But, for four agonising overs at the start of their reply, Ireland looked on course to exceed their successful 329-run chase at the Ageas Bowl in 2020, as Scrimshaw endured a bout of stage fright that brought to mind Scott Boswell’s attack of the yips in the 2001 C&G Trophy final.Scrimshaw’s troubles started from his very first delivery. Though he used his 6’7″ frame to pound out a tidy length with a hint of shape away from Andrew Balbirnie, he was pinged by the third umpire for a front-foot no-ball, then overstepped again with his third attempt, with Balbirnie crashing the resultant free hit hard over the covers for four.An anomaly was starting to look like a problem when Scrimshaw overstepped for the third time in the over, and matters reached crisis point when, having thought he’d escaped with no further damage, he was dragged back to bowl a tenth delivery having already taken his cap. Paul Stirling duly belted the ball back past his head for another four to leave Scrimshaw nursing a 17-run debut over, and Zak Crawley, England’s rookie captain, had a significant man-management issue on his hands.George Scrimshaw bagged his second as Lorcan Tucker holed out to midwicket•AFP/Getty Images

To Crawley’s credit, he trusted his bowler to go again, but Ireland sensed a weakness and set about probing it without mercy. With Scrimshaw’s legs turning to jelly, Stirling spanked two fours from his first four legal balls, then butchered an uppercut over extra cover for six as he overstepped for a sixth time in what should have been 11 balls.In between whiles, however, Scrimshaw’s natural attributes continued to pose awkward questions, and finally he got it all just right – a perfect off-stump line with extra bounce to Balbirnie which Ben Duckett scooped up low at slip, a position that a less attack-minded captain than Crawley might have already abandoned.Still there was an anxious wait for confirmation that the delivery was legal, but eventually the all-clear came from on high, and Scrimshaw looked as though he was about to vomit with relief, as even umpire Rod Tucker stepped across to England’s huddle for a congratulatory pat of his shoulder.Either way, his first two overs had still disappeared for 35 to give Ireland a flying start to their chase, but one ball later, Matthew Potts – exuding the air of an old sweat – produced an unplayable nipbacker to ping the top of Stirling’s middle stump, then followed up soon afterwards with the key scalp of Curtis Campher, Ireland’s new No.3.After a short break to collect his thoughts, Scrimshaw returned in the 11th over for a vastly more self-assured spell. He duly bagged his second of an eventful hour, courtesy of Duckett’s flying grab at midwicket as Lorcan Tucker mistimed a pull, and at 103 for 4, Ireland’s innings was on the slide.Thereafter it was over to Rehan, with a mesmeric mid-innings burst of googlies. Cunningly, he had held the delivery back during his wicketless first three overs, but the floodgates opened when Harry Tector miscued the first wrong’un he encountered and Jacks, at mid-off, clung onto a brilliant sprawling catch, running back towards the boundary.Andy McBrine was then done all ends up by a Rehan googly that straightened into his off stump from round the wicket, and one over later Mark Adair had no read on the delivery either, as Rehan pinned him on the knee-roll. Dockrell took some lumps out of his analysis with a brace of lusty sixes, but he too succumbed to the googly for a doughty 43 from 54, as Phil Salt swooped at long-on to make Rehan, at 19 years and 41 days, the youngest England bowler to claim four wickets in an ODI.Rehan Ahmed celebrates with his team-mates after dismissing Andy McBrine•AFP/Getty Images

Rehan’s performance was a reminder of the true value of this contest to England – a chance for the coming men to gain experience, and make their mark ahead of the inevitable rebuild that is looming after the likes of Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid have had their last dance at next month’s World Cup.And from the moment they were asked to bat first, England’s opening exchanges were dominated by two openers with clear designs on a more permanent ODI berth. Salt, somewhat outspoken last week about his place in the pecking order, opened his account with two fours in his first three balls; Jacks trumped that with three in his first four, and for a time thereafter, Ireland looked like being overwhelmed in a typical Trent Bridge-style blizzard of strokeplay.Young’s introduction, however, offered some much-needed order. After signs of swing in his first over, he lured Salt into a loose drive to short cover with the first ball of his second, then nipped one back into Crawley’s pads to trap him for a two-ball duck, the only dampener on his captaincy debut.Jacks then had a life on 44, when Tector at backward point couldn’t cling onto a low chance off McCarthy, but he quickly made Ireland pay with a magnificent launch for six over extra cover off the spin of McBrine, to bring up his fifty from 44 balls.Ireland seemed little more than passive observers as England sauntered through their middle overs at a run a ball, with Jacks and Duckett barely breaking sweat in a stand of 102. But Duckett then knelt into a trademark paddle over fine leg off Dockrell to lob a simple chance to backward square for 48, before Jacks – with a century at his mercy – tried to reach it with one mighty blow and instead found Balbirnie lurking inside the rope to traipse off for 94 from 88.And so it was over to Hain to guide England to the formidable total that their platform had promised. Having waited so long to make an impression, his opening gambit arguably reinforced the reasons why the selectors had tended to look elsewhere. He even played out a maiden from Adair in reaching 1 from his first 11 balls, and was then dropped at point while scuffing a cut off McCarthy.But finally he landed a solid thump for four through long-on to settle his nerves, and thereafter Hain was into his stride, more confident in his interception points as he skittered out of his crease for another pair of meaty blows down the ground, while rocking back for an authoritative cut through point.Brydon Carse, loftily placed at No. 7, kept Hain company in a 63-run stand for the sixth wicket that included a thump for six that sent an elderly gent sprawling for the crowd-catch, and after accelerating with purpose into the closing moments of his innings, a century was just about in Hain’s sights as he lined up for the last six balls of the innings from McCarthy, only for a leading edge to mid-off to end his hopes.Still, he had done the needful to put a hefty score on the board. And despite their stutters, England’s bowlers duly closed out the job – with Scrimshaw, perhaps fittingly putting the seal on the deal with his third wicket of the day, as Little’s run-a-ball 29 ended with a launch to long-on.

“I am bowling well and getting wickets again, so definitely looking forward to their call when they want my services”

Srinidhi Ramanujam22-Sep-2022Shardul Thakur has said that he is being looked at as an “all-format player” for India. Even though he has predominantly featured in ODIs this year, in the limited conversations he has had with the India captain Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid, Thakur said that the management wants him to play all three formats for the national team.”In the first conversation between them and me, they conveyed to me that I am a three-format player for them,” Thakur, who starred with four wickets to bowl New Zealand A out for 167 in the first one-dayer, said on Thursday. “They are looking at me in all three formats. After that [conversation], we really did not sit and have a chat because we have been playing games regularly. If you see, the schedule is packed. The Indian team is playing series after series with a gap of just four-five days. No one has really had time to sit and chat with each other. All the chat that we have had otherwise was game-based, or planning in terms of strategy for the next game – that kind of stuff.”Related

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Seen as a seam-bowling allrounder, Thakur has not always been the first-choice option for India in the limited-overs format. He was not part of the recently concluded Asia Cup nor did he make the cut for the upcoming T20 World Cup. However, with the next ODI World Cup in India is just over a year, he could well be in the mix. With Hardik Pandya back in the XI as a pace allrounder, Thakur will be competing for the third seamer’s slot, with the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Deepak Chahar, while Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami will be leading the pace attack.Having gone wicketless only twice in nine ODIs this year, and picking up 14 wickets at an economy of 6.02, Thakur said that he was “definitely looking for a national call again” irrespective of the format.”I am bowling well, getting wickets. Even in the last two white-ball series [against Zimbabwe and the West Indies] that I’ve played, I have taken wickets. So definitely looking for a national call again whenever they want my services,” he said.Overall this year, Thakur has featured in three of the five Tests that India played, where he also starred with a seven-wicket haul in the Johannesburg Test and has played only a solitary T20I in the 27 games played by India so far. In 50 overs, Thakur has played nine out of 15 games.Though he was initially a part of the West Zone squad for the ongoing Duleep Trophy, Thakur was drafted into India A contingent after Prasidh’s back injury. In the two first-class games against New Zealand A held in Bengaluru and Hubbali before the List A games, Thakur took three wickets. How has he adapted his game for various formats and conditions?”The moment T20 cricket was introduced, players had the challenge to switch between formats,” Thakur said. “As a professional, it’s our responsibility to switch immediately. In recent years, the switch has been happening a lot. It’s not the case where you play red ball first, you move on to ODIs and then T20Is, it all depends on what kind of schedule we have. I think as a player we just have to be ready and whenever we get time, apart from playing a match, like in nets or maybe a couple of days between the series, we just have to practise different skills that you would use in different formats.”

Bengal erase most of Saurashtra’s 230-run first-innings lead on day three at Eden Gardens

Shashank Kishore18-Feb-2023Stumps Shahbaz Ahmed and Manoj Tiwary, the man who faced opposition from certain quarters to include this “outsider” in their main squad four years ago, are faced with an uphill battle of keeping Bengal alive in their Ranji Trophy final at Eden Gardens.At 169 for 4, having fought through a testing last half hour against fading light and reverse swing from Saurashtra’s skilful seam attack, Tiwary and Shahbaz have ensured Bengal live to fight another day. They still trail by 61, with Tiwary unbeaten on 57 and Shahbaz 13.Bengal would’ve given an arm and a leg to ensure they didn’t lose Anustup Majumdar’s wicket with stumps looming, but were scuppered by Jaydev Unadkat yet again during the course of a superb spell late on day three.Expertly varying angles and lengths to cause just about enough confusion to someone as experienced as Majumdar, he eventually had him reaching out to drive a fullish delivery that was pouched at gully to break a 99-run stand. Majumdar’s contrition was a wholesome 61, an innings full of defiance and grit for most parts, after Bengal’s top order floundered yet again.Debutant Sumanta Gupta had a forgettable game, finishing with scores of 1 and 1. Like he was dismissed in the first innings, he was out poking at an away-going Chetan Sakariya delivery that squared him up with Chirag Jani taking an excellent catch moving low to his left at second slip in the second over.Abhimanyu Easwaran too was out in similar fashion, half-heartedly poking at a delivery that seamed away. Sudip Gharami appeared to have calmed the nerves, focusing on playing straight and playing late for a brief while before Unadkat’s excellence had him nicking. In a testing spell prior to his dismissal, Gharami was challenged by deliveries that hit similar lengths and moved both ways.Gharami played and missed some, but the one that had his name moved away appreciably after pitching and found a thick edge through to the slip cordon. At 47 for 3, Bengal were in serious danger of a total surrender. It needed their veteran captain, Tiwary, to stand tall and blunt the bowling.Standing outside the crease to negate late movement, Tiwary shelved his typical flair to grind the bowlers even as Majumdar played himself in. As the two began to build a partnership, Saurashtra introduced spin in the form of Dharmendrasinh Jadeja in a bid to try and break the monotony. It was during this period, where both Tiwary and Majumdar cashed in by playing some delicate shots behind square to eat into the deficit slowly, before Saurashtra dealt a body blow with Majumdar’s wicket.That Bengal are still in with a chance, however slim, is because their bowlers had a much better outing on Saturday. It all began with Mukesh Kumar removing overnight batter Arpit Vasavada with an away-going delivery off the fifth ball for 81. In a relentless first spell where he made the ball talk, he had Jani next with a delivery that left him late to kiss the edge for 60.While Mukesh probed away, Akash Deep couldn’t maintain pressure at the other end. Three cracking deliveries would invariably be followed by leg-stump half-volleys in search of late swing. The beneficiary of this was mostly Prerak Mankad, who picked off boundaries from time to time to make 33 before being the ninth man out. At 369 for 9, Bengal could’ve closed out the innings a lot sooner, but eventually ended up conceding 404 as the last-wicket pair of Parth Bhuth and Jadeja frustrated Bengal.What would encourage Saurashtra was signs of variable bounce that the surface offered in the final session of play. Also, over the first three days, the fast bowlers have particularly enjoyed bowling in the opening session with early morning moisture playing to their advantage. If Saurashtra can maximise this early on the fourth day, like they did on the opening morning, they will go a long way in marching towards their second Ranji trophy crown.

India will have to choose between Samson and Hooda again as New Zealand look to extend their superb ODI record in Christchurch

Vishal Dikshit29-Nov-20223:23

Jaffer: Would be unfair to drop Hooda after a washout

Big picture

Just as it was in the T20Is, the ODIs have also effectively become a two-match series because of rain, except that New Zealand lead 1-0 now and India can at best square it. But rain is threatening to spoil the game, in Christchurch, too, even though there is a chance of a shortened game being squeezed out around the showers.Whether a full 50-50 game or a reduced one – like they attempted in the Hamilton ODI – the pressure will be on India. Not just because they are trailing, but also because they are are missing first-choice players and looked short of ideas while defending 306 in the series opener. India had only five bowling options then, and replaced Sanju Samson with Deepak Hooda to have the cushion of a sixth bowler in the following game, where rain allowed only 12.5 overs of play.

Watch India tour of New Zealand LIVE on Prime Video from Nov 18 to 30

New Zealand also have an enviable 10-1 win-loss record at Hagley Oval in ODIs, where teams chasing have won the last three ODIs. So, if India lose the toss for the third time in a row, they will have to score big. The question is if they have that firepower – and the mindset – in the current line-up.Like India, New Zealand are also building up to the 2023 ODI World Cup starting with this series. They are ranked No. 1, there’s no qualification worry for them on the Super League table, and they haven’t lost an ODI series at home since early 2019, when India had won 4-1.After the washout in Hamilton, New Zealand would be eager to give some more game time to Finn Allen and Michael Bracewell, who have played most of their ODI cricket against lower-ranked sides in the past. There is a fair bit of inexperience in their batting, too, with the exception of Kane Williamson and Tom Latham, and Devon Conway; so Allen and Glenn Phillips could use the opportunity to get some runs and make a mark ahead of the ODIs in Pakistan in January 2023.

Form guide

New Zealand WLLLW
India LWWLWIt’s a chance for Devon Conway and Finn Allen to make an impression before the Pakistan ODI series•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight

Sanju Samson trends on social media as soon as he is left out of the XI, or each time he hits a crisp boundary, like he did a few times in the opening game during his 36 off 38. But he was then dropped for Deepak Hooda as India desperately needed a sixth bowler. Whoever plays on Wednesday will be under the spotlight; Samson to score runs to cement his spot in the middle order and Hooda to not only score but also contain the runs with the ball, and pick up a wicket or two with his part-time offspin.Michael Bracewell will be back where he returned 2 for 14 from four overs last month, in a T20I against Pakistan. He came in for Adam Milne in the second ODI, and if he gets another go in the last game, his lower-order batting could be handy for New Zealand, but his offspin will be tested by India’s batters on a pitch that assists strokeplay and fast bowlers.

Team news

There was hardly any game time in Hamilton, and New Zealand may not feel the need to change their XI unless they want to go back to playing four quicks, like they did in the Auckland ODI.New Zealand (probable): 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Michael Bracewell/Adam Milne, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Lockie FergusonWill India bring back Samson as a pure batting option, but Hooda is likely to play because of his bowling, which could be handy especially against left-hand batters Conway, Latham and Mitchell Santner. And will Kuldeep Yadav finally get a game? He was in both the T20I and ODI squads but hasn’t played on the tour yet, and is not even in the squad for the ODIs in Bangladesh next month.India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Sanju Samson/Deepak Hooda, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Umran Malik, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav1:55

Arshdeep: My aim in ODIs is the same as in T20s

Pitch and conditions

Showers have been forecast for Wednesday and if the game is shortened, the toss will become crucial, and bowling first will be the choice again. The tickets are sold out for only the second day-night men’s ODI at Hagley Oval, where the hard pitch is expected to help the quick bowlers and batters.

Stats and trivia

Australia now need to beat England on Sunday to qualify for the final of the triangular series

The Report by Daniel Brettig08-Feb-2020A stunning innings by the 16-year-old wunderkind Shafali Verma launched India Women on the way to a dramatic victory over the T20 World Cup favourites Australia. In doing so they announced their genuine candidacy for the global tournament and also ensured the hosts need to beat England at the Junction Oval on Sunday to qualify for the final of the triangular series that is proving to be a bruising warm-up for the event.Verma’s 49 off 28 balls, combined with a calming 55 off 48 from her opening partner Smriti Mandhana, were the difference as India ran down Australia’s 5 for 173 with two balls to spare. The hosts had appeared well-placed at the innings break after Ashleigh Gardner’s powerful 93 off 57 balls with support from Meg Lanning and Beth Mooney, but a halting last few overs proved costly as India went on the charge from the very first over of their chase.With Verma batting fearlessly and Mandhana providing key support, there was further support from Jemimah Rodrigues, before captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma helped India to their highest successful chase in the format. With two losses in three T20Is, this is the first time the Australians have struggled to this extent since 2017 when they lost four out of five.Gardner builds after first over dramasLate-comers to the Junction Oval missed a dramatic start to the afternoon as Alyssa Healy’s survival of a missed stumping cost India precisely one ball. Deepti’s offbreak lured Healy down the pitch out of what seemed idle curiosity as much as intent to score, and a lack of turn saw the ball pass the bat. But Taniya Bhatia was unable to collect the ball cleanly, allowing Healy to scramble back into her crease and reset – for a moment.The very next delivery was dragged down short, only to be tugged straight to midwicket by Healy as India celebrated their good fortune. Gardner walked out to join Beth Mooney, and there were a few more nervy moments as a few lofted shots landed just out of reach of the fielders. These near-misses soon gave way to cleaner blows as Gardner unfurled her power game in the fashion that has prompted Australia to use her at No. 3. Mooney was content to rotate the strike, and when she perished to a Harleen Deol full-toss, Meg Lanning offered similar support, albeit speckled with a few more boundaries.Haynes, Perry splutter at the finishIndia’s fielding display was far from the standard required, exemplified by the missed stumping to start with and several other clear missed chances besides. Gardner made merry as a result, piling up 11 boundaries and three sixes while adding 62 in 47 balls with Mooney and then a whip-cracking 79 in 42 balls with Lanning. That stand meant that the Australians looked ready to launch at 2 for 141 with 29 balls remaining, but the exits of Lanning for 37 and then Gardner, much to her chagrin, for 93, signalled a loss of acceleration.Ashleigh Gardner plays a cut•Getty Images

Ellyse Perry and Rachael Haynes added 22 together but took 19 balls to do it, even with one mighty six from Perry in the final over bowled by Rajeshwari Gayakwad. They also survived another Indian fielding muck-up, this time a comedy of errors when it appeared easier to run out one of Perry or Haynes than neither. In the end, Perry was lbw when she moved too far across the stumps on the penultimate ball of the innings.Verma’s shots heard round the worldOn what had dried out into a beautiful batting pitch, the tourists had a chance provided they got a swift start. “Swift” proved to be too mild an adjective for the hurricane that was Verma, who took a hyper-aggressive approach from the very first over of the chase and was rewarded with a series of boundaries. The opening overs read like a list of cricket teams and squads: 11, 12, 11, 14 and 14 meaning the powerplay was to be worth 70 and the target drastically reduced.Verma’s fearlessness and sharp eye were complemented perfectly by Mandhana, who found her own occasional boundary in between plenty of singles and alert running between the wickets. Some formidable Australia bowlers – Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt and Perry – were momentarily humbled by Verma, and captain Lanning was left looking far and wide for bowling options. No fewer than seven bowlers were to be tried, but it was Perry who snared Verma for a breathless 49 from 28 balls to pull Australia back into the contest.Tourists hold nerve for victoryIn Verma’s slipstream, Rodrigues kept scoring at the required tempo with her own sparkling contribution, adding 37 with Mandhana with only a slight dip in the run rate after the opening stand of 85 in 50 balls. When Rodrigues did err, offering a thin edge behind to Healy off Schutt, Harmanpreet provided plenty of experience and poise to the pursuit as Mandhana reached a meritorious half-century.With 16 still required off 12 balls, a tight over from Nicola Carey could have turned the game towards Australia. But although she managed to win an lbw verdict against Mandhana, two fours including one swatted between mid-on and midwicket by Deepti off Carey’s final ball meant only four remained to be collected from the final over. Harmanpreet and Deepti kept their heads for a rousing win. The World Cup race is widening by the day.

The opener smashed 129 off 60 balls after which Mohit took 5 for 10 to knock out Mumbai

Hemant Brar26-May-20231:24

Manjrekar: Gill a once-in-a-generation player

Shubman Gill’s majestic 129 off 60 balls powered Gujarat Titans into the final of IPL 2023 with a 62-run win over Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad. Titans will face Chennai Super Kings at this very ground on Sunday in a bid to defend their title.Earlier, rain delayed the match by 30 minutes. With the weather around, Rohit Sharma opted to chase after winning the toss. Titans didn’t have a great start, but Gill’s knock lifted them to a mammoth 233 for 3. This was Gill’s third hundred in four matches; only Virat Kohli and Jos Buttler (four each) have scored more in a single edition of the IPL. The knock took Gill’s run tally to 851. Once again, only Kohli (973 in 2016) and Buttler (863 in 2022) have had more productive seasons.No team had chased down this many in the IPL. And then Mumbai lost two early wickets. But they didn’t go down without a fight. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma took them to 72 in six overs before Rashid Khan castled the latter. From there on, Suryakumar kept them in the contest almost singlehandedly with his 61 off 38. But Mohit Sharma uprooted his leg stump when the batter missed a scoop. In the next over, Rashid trapped Tim David lbw to end Mumbai’s hopes.Mohit, who hadn’t bowled till the 14th over, used his slower balls to good effect and finished with figures of 2.2-0-10-5.Shubman Gill earned praise from everybody, including the opposition captain Rohit Sharma•BCCI

Unstoppable Gill

Despite scoring at least one four in every over from the second to fifth, Titans reached only 38 for no loss after five. Gill then latched onto Chris Jordan in the last over of the powerplay. The second legal delivery of the over was too short and sat up on this sticky pitch. Gill waited for it and pulled it with disdain over deep square leg. The next one was slightly short outside off. Gill once again showed no mercy and cut it ferociously to the cover boundary.Luck too was on Gill’s side. In the same Jordan over, he punched one uppishly to the right of mid-on where Tim David dived, got both hands to the ball but couldn’t hold on to it. He was on 30 at that point.Titans finished the powerplay on 50 for no loss but Wriddhiman Saha was struggling for timing. In the fourth over of the innings, Akash Madhwal had hit him on the helmet with a skiddy bouncer, and soon after Piyush Chawla had him stumped with a leg-side wide. It was the sixth time in 16 innings this season that Chawla struck in his first over of the match.Gill brought up his fifty off 32 balls. And then he cut loose. In a space of nine balls, he hit five sixes and a four off Madhwal and Chawla. He didn’t slow down even in the 90s; his second fifty took just 17 balls. Immediately after reaching his hundred, he smashed Cameron Green for 6, 4 and 6. By the time Gill holed out to deep midwicket, off Madhwal, Titans had reached 192 in the 17th over.

Titans retire out Sudharsan

All this happened while Sai Sudharsan was playing second fiddle to Gill. But with nine wickets in hand, Titans needed both batters to attack. The 18th and 19th overs combined went for just 16, after which Titans retired out Sudharsan who scored 43 off 31. Rashid replaced him in the middle and hit his first ball for four. Hardik Pandya then applied the finishing touch, hitting the last two balls of the innings for four and six.Suryakumar Yadav lost his leg stump to Mohit Sharma•BCCI

Shami strikes twice in powerplay

Coming into this game, Mohammed Shami had represented Titans three times against Mumbai. On all three occasions, he went wicketless. Tonight, though, he struck twice inside the powerplay to put Mumbai on the back foot. Nehal Wadhera, who came in as Impact Player for Madhwal, was caught behind in the first over of the chase, and Rohit top-edged a pull in the third.In between those two dismissals, Hardik hit Green on the left forearm with a short ball, forcing the batter to retire hurt. During the first innings, Ishan Kishan had walked off the field after Jordan’s elbow hit him in the eye when the two were crossing each other. So when Rohit departed, leaving Mumbai 21 for 2, it felt like they were effectively 21 for 4. But Green came out to resume his innings later, and Kishan’s injury had seemingly resulted in a concussion, so Mumbai replaced him with Vishnu Vinod.

Rashid, Mohit trump mighty Mumbai

Varma started by hitting two sixes in his first four balls, and then smashed Shami for four fours and a six in a 24-run over. He had moved to 43 off just 13 with 100% control over his shots. Hardik turned to Rashid in an attempt to put the brakes on the scoring rate. The spinner duly obliged his captain by bowling Varma when the batter tried to sweep him.At the fall of Varma’s wicket, Green came out once again, and was looking dangerous. He and Suryakumar added 52 in 5.2 overs before Josh Little pinged his leg stump with a delivery that seamed in from good length.Suryakumar, though, was still battling in the middle. He reached his fifty, off 33 balls, with a scoop-pull over the wicketkeeper’s head. He brought down the equation to 79 needed from 34 balls before Mohit sent him packing. Two balls later, the seamer had Vinod caught at extra cover.David was Mumbai’s last hope. Hardik, as always, had saved Rashid’s one over and brought him on in the 16th. With his third ball, Rashid trapped David lbw. The batter reviewed the decision but he couldn’t have been more out. From the other end, Mohit cleaned up the tail to pick up his maiden five-for in T20 cricket.

England’s Test tour of India in late January as well as the SA20 and ILT20 will have to be factored in by clubs

Alex Malcolm23-Aug-2023Ashes stars Harry Brook and Zak Crawley headline a host of English players unveiled as the latest nominations for the upcoming BBL draft but England’s Test tour of India in January, as well as clarity over the ILT20 dates means clubs will have some decisions to make as to whether to recruit the biggest names or those with the most availability.Brook, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Will Jacks and Dan Lawrence have all nominated for the draft which is set for September 3. However it remains to be seen how much of the BBL season they will be available for given all will be in line to tour India with England’s Test team in January 2024 with the first Test of a five-Test series starting on January 25 in Hyderabad.Exciting England tearaway Gus Atkinson has also nominated for the BBL draft. He is yet to be called up to England’s Test side but is poised to make his England limited-overs debut next month and is in their World Cup squad.Related

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• Warner to fulfil BBL commitments with Thunder before heading to ILT20

The BBL final will be held on January 24 and the final home and away game of the streamlined 10-game season finishes on January 17. The other key development for BBL clubs came with the announcement of the ILT20 dates for next year with that tournament to begin on January 19 in the UAE.With South Africa’s T20 league starting on January 10 clubs may favour drafting players who have also committed to the ILT20 as opposed to those who will go to South Africa given they are likely to be available for almost all of the home and away season.Englishmen Dawid Malan and Tom Banton and New Zealander Jimmy Neesham were among the latest names who have nominated for the BBL draft but have already committed to South Africa. Clubs are more likely to be interested in the likes of Sam Billings, Joe Clarke, James Vince, Tom Curran, David Willey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Martin Guptill and Atkinson who have all committed to the ILT20.A number of players will be available as retention picks including Crawley (Hurricanes), Billings (Heat), Clarke (Stars), Vince (Sixers), Curran (Sixers), Banton (Heat) and Willey (Thunder) even though he withdrew last year after being drafted. Players who were drafted last year but did not play are eligible to be retained by that club. Willey played 27 games for Perth Scorchers between 2015 and 2019 but is not eligible to be a retention pick for Scorchers as he was drafted by Thunder last year.Brook, Lawrence, Jacks, and Malan have all played in the BBL previously but do not fit the criteria to be retained as they did not play for a minimum of two seasons with a club previously after not playing last season.Marizanne Kapp is eligible to be retained by Perth Scorchers•Getty Images

In the WBBL, South Africa star Marizanne Kapp has confirmed she will return to the WBBL leaving Scorchers with a massive decision to make over their lone WBBL retention pick. Scorchers need to choose between two of the best allrounders in the world in Kapp and Sophie Devine.Kapp was outstanding for Scorchers in her last two seasons but Devine is a two-time WBBL player of the year and Scorchers captain. Devine has also been involved in Western Australia’s WNCL team which is closely linked to the Scorchers program, making the decision even more difficult.Laura Wolvaardt looks destined to be a retention pick for defending champions Adelaide Strikers but Dane van Niekerk is not eligible as a retention pick after missing last year’s tournament, having previously played for Strikers, Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Renegades.

WBBL nominations

England: Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Heather Knight, Emma Lamb, Katie Levick, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Mady Villiers, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Issy Wong, Danielle WyattIndia: Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Hurley Gala, Richa Ghosh, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha YadavNew Zealand: Sophie Devine, Kate Ebrahim, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Jess KerrPakistan: Fatima SanaSouth Africa: Suné Luus, Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Laura Wolvaardt, Dane van Niekerk, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Anneke Bosch, Tazmin BritsSri Lanka: Chamari AthapaththuWest Indies: Hayley Matthews, Karishma Ramharack

BBL nominations

Afghanistan: Shafiqullah Ghafari, Izharulhaq Naveed, Mujeeb Ur RahmanEngland: Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Harry Brook, Joe Clarke, Zak Crawley, Tom Curran, Laurie Evans, Richard Gleeson, Alex Hales, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Dan Lawrence, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Callum Parkinson, Matt Parkinson, Ollie Pope, David Payne, Matt Potts, Olly Stone, Josh Tongue, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey, Luke Wood, Dan WorrallIreland: Josh LittleNew Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Jimmy NeeshamSouth Africa: Marchant de Lange, Faf du Plessis, Beuran Hendricks, Wayne Parnell, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran TahirSri Lanka: Lakshan SandakanWest Indies: Joshua Bishop, Sheldon Cottrell, Akeal Hosein, Nicholas Pooran, Jayden Seales, Ramon Simmonds

Half-centuries from Marizanne Kapp and Fargana Hoque go in vain in their respective matches

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2022South Africa will head into the World Cup on the back of two losses in their warm-up games. After going down to India, they were handed a comprehensive six-wicket defeat to England in Lincoln on Wednesday.Heather Knight opted to bowl in a clash reduced to 35-overs-a-side, and South Africa let themselves down with the bat, slumping to 138 for 9 as Anya Shrubsole and Sophie Ecclestone picked five for 41 between them. In reply, England lost four wickets, but knocked off the runs in just 26.3 overs.Laura Wolvaardt, fresh off a 95-ball 83 against India, fell for a duck. Tazmin Brits, her opening partner, struggled to get going, making a 44-ball 13 as a follow-up to her duck against India.Shrubsole, Ecclestone, Katherine Brunt and Kate Cross were all among the wickets as the South African failed to get momentum at any stage. It was only a 65-run stand for the sixth wicket, between Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon, that gave South Africa some respectability.The two got together at the fall of Brits’ wicket, and while they didn’t set the game alight, they chipped away. Tryon fell for 27, but Kapp carried on till she became the ninth batter out, for a 60-ball 52, with five fours.Stopping England short was always going to be a tall ask for South Africa, but Ayabonga Khaka gave them a great start with the ball, taking out Lauren Winfield-Hill and Heather Knight cheaply. But a 33-run stand between Tammy Beaumont, who scored 35, and Nat Sciver, who scored 33 before retiring hurt, put England in the box seat.By the time they were done, the target was just a few hits away, and Amy Jones, Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley finished off the job.Fatima Sana gestures to the camera after returning a four-wicket haul•AFP/Getty Images

In an even contest, Pakistan edged Bangladesh with a seven-run (DLS) win in Lincoln, Fargana Hoque’s 95-ball 71 ending up being second-best to Fatima Sana’s 4 for 47 on the day.After keeping Pakistan to 199 for 7 in 42 overs, Bangladesh had a revised target of 202, and gave it a good tilt, mainly courtesy Hoque. Sana did the initial damage, reducing Bangladesh to 29 for 2, but Hoque and captain Nigar Sultana fought back with a 42-run stand.That, and the 49 runs Hoque and an enterprisingRumana Ahmed added for the fourth wicket, gave Bangladesh a good shot at overhauling the target, but there wasn’t much support for Hoque as Sana came back to pick up two more wickets, including that of Hoque, and Bangladesh were bowled out seven runs short with four balls remaining in the chase.Earlier, good hands in the middle order from Javeria Khan (44) and captain Bismah Maroof (32), and lower down from Aliya Riaz and Sana meant that Pakistan put up a total that was eventually enough for them.Before any of them came into the picture, though, it was the Fariha Trisna show, as the left-arm medium-pacer sent back the Pakistan top three of Nahida Khan, Sidra Ameen and Muneeba Ali with just 38 on the board by the tenth over.But the senior pros, Javeria and Maroof, took control after that with a 73-run stand in 15-and-a-half overs. Riaz and Sana then provided the innings with some muscle towards the end with a 66-run stand for the seventh wicket, the runs coming in good time, in 12 overs. That, in the end, made the different in a weather-affected game.