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Both teams have not been in great form in the format in recent times

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Jul-2025

Big picture: Two teams in choppy T20I form

So far on tour [two Tests and three ODIs], Bangladesh have one win from five matches. This, they will feel, is not an apt reflection of how competitive they have been in Sri Lanka. They were running the back end of the first Test in Galle, were more competitive than Sri Lanka’s margins of victory suggested in the ODIs, and have had some promising players make significant contributions.The problem for Bangladesh is that T20I is the format they have been in the worst form. They have lost 11 of their last 15 T20Is. Even against Sri Lanka, who have not been especially good themselves in T20Is recently, they have lost four matches to the two won since 2020.Related

• Shanaka, Karunaratne, Wellalage back in SL squad for T20Is against Bangladesh

• Kusal 124 forms the centrepiece of Sri Lanka's series victory

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There is added incentive here. Next year, part of the T20 World Cup will be played in Sri Lanka. The schedule for that tournament is yet to be released, but this could potentially be an important opportunity for Bangladesh’s younger players to become accustomed to these surfaces and grounds.Sri Lanka are in the midst of their most serious attempt at regeneration since their great T20 team of the early 2010s waned. It is difficult to know what to expect. They have both Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka in form. But as a team, they are yet to string together consistent T20 performances, losing eight of their last 13 matches. In the T20 World Cup last year, their defeat to Bangladesh effectively put them out of the tournament.They have momentum on this tour, though, and with there only being one free day between the end of the ODI series and the start of the T20Is, Sri Lanka will hope their momentum carries them through.

Form guide

Sri Lanka: WLLLW
Bangladesh: LLLLLLitton Das needs to find form with the bat•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Litton Das and Sri Lanka allrounders

There is currently a captaincy spot up for grabs for Bangladesh, with Najmul Hossain Shanto having stepped down as captain after the second Test. Litton Das could potentially be their next leader in the longest format, though he is not the frontrunner right now (you’d think that would be Mehidy Hasan Miraz). But for that to become a serious possibility, he would have to lead Bangladesh well in the format he currently captain of – T20Is. And he would probably need to contribute runs to their victories as well. Although he was dropped from the one-day team after making a duck in the first match, he had hit 90 in the Galle Test.While in ODIs, Sri Lanka are trying to develop a seam-bowling allrounder with an eye on the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, in T20Is, it seems like Sri Lanka are more intent on trialling Chamika Karunaratne and Dasun Shanaka for that role. On tracks that take big spin, Dunith Wellalage can turn the ball at speed, and also has outstanding control. But Sri Lanka want some big-hitting capability in their XI, and Wellalage doesn’t quite have the power game at present.Taskin Ahmed is expected to start for Bangladesh•AFP/Getty Images

Team news

Khaled Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud are out of the T20I squad, so Bangladesh have to make two changes in the bowling department. Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman are likely to play ahead of Shoriful Islam and Mohammad Saifuddin. They also have choices in the spin department, though that would depend on how they perceive the Pallekele pitch.Bangladesh (probable XI): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Litton Das (capt & wk), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Shamim Hossain, 6 Jaker Ali, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Tanzim Hasan, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur RahmanSri Lanka’s main question will be the make-up of their attack. They’ll likely want two frontline quicks – Matheesha Pathirana the likeliest to play, but Binura Fernando and Nuwan Thushara also in with a good chance. On the spin-bowling front, Jeffrey Vandersay will likely replace the injured Wanindu Hasaranga.The other question is allrounders. Wellalage, Dasun Shanaka, and Karunaratne are all in a fight for a spot.Sri Lanka (probable XI): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Avishka Fernando, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Dunith Wellalage/Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Jeffrey Vandersay, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Nuwan Thushara, 11 Matheesha Pathirana

Pitch and conditions

Pallekele can often be a high-scoring ground, particularly if there is a little rain around and the ball becomes difficult for the bowlers to grip. There are showers floating around the hills surrounding Pallekele frequently, but this is generally not one of the wetter parts of the year.

Stats and trivia

• In four T20Is so far, Wellalage has taken six wickets and maintained an economy of less than six. But his batting is less impressive in this format – he has a strike rate of 106 in T20s.
  
• Litton Das is yet to hit a fifty as captain. After ten innings at the helm, he has hit 158 runs at a strike rate of 120.
  
• Sri Lanka last played Bangladesh at this venue in this format in March 2013. Sri Lanka won that game.

  Quotes

  “Sri Lanka were better, and that’s why they won the ODIs. In T20s, if you play good cricket on the day, you will win. They have a lot of experience playing here, and overall, their bowling is strong with several mystery bowlers.”
  “The important thing is managing players. We have to give the players who come into the scene a decent run and keep them in good form for the World Cup. We hope the LPL will take place before the World Cup and that’s a big thing for us.”

The development will allow players from England and Bangladesh to play in the IPL when it resumes in September

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2021The ECB and BCB have confirmed that England’s white-ball tour of Bangladesh has been rescheduled to March 2023. The tour, comprising both ODIs and T20Is, was originally slated to take place in September-October this year, ahead of the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman.Both the ECB and BCB put out statements to the effect on Tuesday morning, saying it was “mutually decided” to reschedule the series. “The tour is planned to take place in the first two weeks of March 2023, with three ODIs and three T20Is due to take place in Dhaka and Chattogram,” the statements said.Related

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While the BCB has said that the proposal to reschedule the games had come from the ECB, sources within the England board told ESPNcricinfo on Monday that it was being postponed on the BCB’s request, with Covid-19 protocols possibly playing a part in the decision. It may be relevant, however, that the decision will allow many of those involved to return to the IPL when it resumes in the UAE on September 19 . The IPL was postponed after 29 matches earlier this year following a spike in Covid-19 cases within many teams’ bio-bubbles.The ECB is set to allow their players to take part in the remainder of the tournament, having said that it will provide ideal preparation for the T20 World Cup, which will be staged in the same part of the world a few weeks later.The players not involved in the IPL, meanwhile, will get a chance to rest before England embark on a packed winter touring schedule that includes the T20 World Cup, which begins on October 17, and the Ashes in Australia. England are also scheduled to tour Pakistan for two T20Is on October 14 and 15 as part of their preparations for the T20 World Cup. The PCB and ECB are currently confident this tour will go ahead.Ashley Giles had earlier said that England were not planning on making changes to their plans to accommodate the IPL•PA Images/Getty

The ECB has also indicated that it will complete England’s aborted limited-overs tour of South Africa at some stage.In May this year, Ashley Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, had stressed that England were not planning on making any changes to their plans to accommodate the IPL.The discussion then had been around rejigging the schedule of the upcoming home Test series against India, which is set to begin on Wednesday. The question was whether the dates for the Test series could change to enable a larger window for the IPL. The fifth day of the final Test of the series is September 14, with England originally having been scheduled to leave for Bangladesh less than a week after that. The IPL, meanwhile, will resume on September 19 and run until October 15.The England cricketers expected to link up with their IPL squads are Moeen Ali and Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings), Sam Billings, Tom Curran, and Chris Woakes (Delhi Capitals), Eoin Morgan (Kolkata Knight Riders), Chris Jordan and Dawid Malan (Punjab Kings), Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals), and Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy (Sunrisers Hyderabad). The Royals also had Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, and Liam Livingstone in their ranks to start with, but all of them were withdrawn for one reason or another during the first leg in April-May. Shakib Al Hasan (Knight Riders) and Mustafizur Rahman (Royals) are the only Bangladeshis in the IPL.As for Bangladesh, they will begin a five-match T20I series at home against Australia – the first bilateral T20I series between the two sides – today and are also expected to host New Zealand before the T20 World Cup.

The allrounder and wicketkeeper-batter have had a fruitful time batting together

Andrew McGlashan07-Sep-2022It feels like there is something significant stirring in Australia’s middle order.Not for the first time this year, Cameron Green and Alex Carey joined forces to define a match. They had done it twice before at crucial junctures: in the third Test against Pakistan, they added 135 to build what became a match-winning first-innings total, and during the opening Test against Sri Lanka, they added a quick 84 on a spiteful surface to ensure a decisive lead.On Tuesday in Cairns, they combined to turn what appeared a likely defeat into a gripping victory, putting on 158 for the sixth wicket after Australia had been in a mess at 44 for 5.Related

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They have now batted together twice in ODIs and have already added 239 runs for the sixth wicket, albeit the 81 they accrued against Pakistan in Lahore came in a heavy defeat.Their runs against New Zealand came after Carey had been pushed down from No. 4 to No. 6 and Green moved a slot higher than originally listed to No. 7 after Australia’s early collapse. There is the natural complementary element of a right-hander and a left-hander, but there is clearly something that is clicking between the two when they join forces.”Batting with Kez [Carey] is awesome,” Green said. “He just puts so much pressure back on the bowler. He’s always looking to score and I think that complements both of us. We are both guys who like to rotate the strike and obviously a left and right combination. Hopefully there’s a few more [partnerships] with him in the future.”Green had to battle severe cramps in the closing stages of the chase – he said on Wednesday that it was a problem he has had to deal with throughout his career and when he played Aussie Rules football as a youngster – but for the most part had appeared unflustered by the challenge in front of him.”We enjoy batting together, we work really well,” Carey said. “He scores pretty freely at the other end and we just bounce off each other nicely. You saw that he can come in any time so that’s a great feather in his cap. He’s a really calm character with bat, ball and in the field. Just goes about his business. We know how good he is but [he’s] taking this format [up] another step.”Green has become part of Australia’s ODI side as they experiment with a deep batting order. Having played Ashton Agar in the last two matches against Zimbabwe following Mitchell Marsh’s injury, they reverted to that model by recalling Marnus Labuschagne in Cairns. It means that on some occasions, Green’s immense batting talents won’t be fully utilised, but having a Test-class batter to rescue Australia last night was key against the moving ball.Despite it being just his 11th ODI, in the post-match presentation Green said his first half-century was a “monkey off his back” and he explained that it was more about having a template to use again. “Everyone wants to get that first one so you have an innings to look back on, so I can see how I went about it and replicate it in the future,” he said.It feels inevitable that as the years go on, Green will move higher – No. 4 would not be over promotion when the vacancy arises – but for now he is focusing on expanding his white-ball batting, particularly power-hitting early in an innings, and will get a chance with the T20I side on the upcoming tour of India.”[Hitting from ball one] is definitely something you have to work [on],” he said. “Doesn’t really come naturally to anybody, maybe a few of the best in the world, but it’s something everyone has to work on. Building your innings slowly comes a bit more naturally to most people.”Everyone aspires to be [a three-format player] but will just have to wait and see how heavy the schedule is, how much time you get to actually improve your T20 game.”

“If you haven’t done it much in your first-class career, it’s going to be very difficult to come up the order”

Alex Malcolm26-Dec-2023Former Australia batter Michael Hussey has cautioned the Australian selectors on picking a makeshift opener as David Warner’s replacement, saying he would prefer a specialist opener who has dominated Sheffield Shield cricket to be rewarded. Hussey, however, stopped short of naming a candidate.Hussey was speaking ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG after he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame alongside former Australia women’s captain Lyn Larsen.Hussey started his Test career as an opener and made a century opening the batting in his second Test match in 2005 as a replacement for the injured Justin Langer, having made his name as an opener in first-class cricket plundering 15313 first-class runs predominantly for Western Australia and Northamptonshire prior to making his Test debut at 30.Related

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The left-hander only opened in one innings in Test cricket after his first two Tests as he was shuffled down the order when Langer returned and played the rest of his 79 Tests as a middle-order batter, scoring 6235 runs at 51.52 in total with 18 of his 19 Test centuries coming at Nos.4-6.But despite being one of Australia’s most adaptable all-format players in the three-format era, Hussey was adamant that Australia’s selectors should pick a specialist opener for the first Test against West Indies in January after Warner retires at the end of the Pakistan series.”Opening is one of the toughest jobs in the game,” Hussey said. “So for me personally, if I was selecting, I’d be going for a traditional, proper opener. Someone who has done it for a long period of time. Because if you haven’t done it much in your first-class career, it’s going to be very difficult to come up the order.”I’m not saying you can’t do it, and maybe someone could evolve into doing that role. But I think it would be difficult for a player like Mitch Marsh or someone – I know there’s been talk about him going up the order – I think he’s probably more suited, much like Travis Head, to be in the middle-order.”I think that’d be the best for the balance of the Australian team.”The debate on who should replace Warner continues to bubble away in the background as Australia’s side remains incredibly settled. Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Matt Renshaw are the three main specialist candidates in line for the role. However, Australia coach and selector Andrew McDonald raised some eyebrows prior to the Pakistan series when he raised the possibility of picking Marsh and Cameron Green in the same XI and shuffling the order to have Marnus Labuschagne move up to open.Usman Khawaja said his preference was to have a specialist opener join him at the top and believed that Labuschagne wouldn’t be comfortable filling the role. Both Head and Marsh have publicly said they would prefer not to open the batting.Mike Hussey was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Harris did no harm to his case for the role with a century for the Victoria XI against Pakistan in the two-day tour match during the week, although he continues to dominate at the batting-friendly Junction Oval while being less prolific at Australia’s main Test venues in Shield cricket. Renshaw has made the most runs for Australia A and the Prime Minister’s XI in recent years, including a century against Pakistan batting at No.3 in Canberra earlier this month, while Bancroft has been the dominant opener in Shield cricket scoring 10 centuries since the start of 2021, twice as many as Harris and six more than Renshaw in that time.Hussey stopped short of naming his preferred candidate but said Shield form should be rewarded.”I like whoever’s dominating the level below, who’s been dominating in Sheffield Shield cricket over a period of time, and to be fair, they all have at various stages,” Hussey said.”So it’s a tough job for the selectors. I don’t want to stand here and say it should be this guy or this guy.”I hope that they reward the guy that’s been performing very well at Sheffield Shield cricket. I think that sends a great message to the competition. And it’s great for our pathways that we’re going to reward the guys that are doing well.”Hussey spent two days working with the Australian team in the lead-up to the Perth Test as a coaching consultant while assistant coach Andre Borovec rested at home in Geelong after standing in as interim coach for the five-match T20 series in India following the World Cup.”I really enjoyed it,” Hussey said. “Just watching how they prepared and slowly starting some little conversations to get to know them and their games a little bit more.”It was fun. I really, really enjoyed it. My shoulder is still just recovering.”Hussey has a strong relationship with McDonald having played Test cricket and BBL cricket with him at Sydney Thunder. Hussey worked with England at the T20 World Cup in Australia last year under Matthew Mott when England won the title but he is keen to work with Australia again in the future after his brief stint in Perth.”It just depends on how the schedule sort of line up at this stage but I’ve got a good relationship with Andrew McDonald,” Hussey said. “We played with each other at the Thunder and our paths crossed many times. So I’ve got a good relationship there. I’ve got a good relationship with some of the players as well. So if I can [do more] I’d love to.”

He had retired from international cricket in December 2020, but his return means he will be unavailable for Derbyshire at the start of the county season

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2024Mohammad Amir has made himself available for selection to Pakistan for the upcoming T20 World Cup that starts on June 1 in the USA and the West Indies. Amir’s last match for Pakistan was a T20I against England in 2020, and he retired from international cricket in December that year, saying he felt mentally tortured.”I still dream to play for Pakistan!” Amir, 31, said in a post on social media. “Life brings us to the points where at times we have to reconsider our decisions. There have been a few positive discussions between myself and the PCB where they respectfully made me feel that I was needed and can still play for Pakistan, and after discussing with family and well wishers I declare that I am available to be considered for upcoming T20 WC.”I want do this for my country as it comes before my personal decisions. Donning the green jersey and serving my country has always been, and will continue to be, my greatest aspiration.”Amir most recently played the 2024 PSL, where he finished with 10 wickets in nine games with an economy of 8.41 for Quetta Gladiators. Amir’s announcement comes a day after allrounder Imad Wasim reversed his retirement and also made himself available for selection for the T20 World Cup.While Amir had an unremarkable PSL campaign, his performances in the CPL in recent seasons stand him in promising stead for a World Cup that will largely be held in the West Indies. He has taken 43 wickets at an average of 14.39 and an economy rate of just 6.50. With Shaheen not at full tilt since his injury return, Naseem only recently back from a lengthy layoff and Haris Rauf currently injured, Pakistan’s pace bowling stocks are depleted, potentially giving Amir the opportunity to elbow his way in.The decision also has ramifications for his county Derbyshire, whom he will not be linking up with when the season starts on April 5.New Zealand visit Pakistan for five T20Is from April 18-27, and Amir’s decision to make himself available for international cricket means he will be in Pakistan during this period. In a post on social media, he thanked the county, as well as head coach Mickey Arthur, for “being understanding”.

“It’s really tough,” Cummins says about losing Josh Hazlewood for the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches

Andrew McGlashan18-Dec-20240:55

Cummins on Hazlewood: ‘Story of the last few summers’

Australia have insisted that Travis Head will be fit to take his place in the Boxing Day Test against India after he experienced some discomfort with a tight quad on the final day in Brisbane.Head appeared slightly restricted towards the backend of his second innings and did not take the field for India’s brief chase before rain halted the match for the final time. There was initial speculation that it was a groin problem, but that was emphatically denied by a Cricket Australia spokesperson”Trav, he’ll be fine, it’s a bit of a tight quad, he’ll be fine for Melbourne,” captain Pat Cummins said after the match.Related

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At the post-match presentation, Head said, “It’s been a big couple of weeks. But I’ll be fine.”Australia had already lost one key player during the Gabba Test, with Josh Hazlewood picking up a calf strain during warm-ups on the third day. Cummins confirmed Hazlewood would miss the remainder of the series. Scott Boland is expected to return at the MCG.Hazlewood’s latest injury came in his comeback match from the side strain that kept him out of the second Test in Adelaide and means, after a setback-free run from mid-2023 where he played ten consecutive Tests, he will miss more matches than he plays this season.”It’s really tough,” Cummins said. “It’s been the story, outside of last summer, of the last few summers. The extra layer to that [is] he’s probably one of the most disciplined, professional sportspeople you could meet [with] the way he trains and prepares. When he’s at home he’s in the gym every second day or every day, doing whatever it takes to try and minimise injuries. Think that’s an extra kind of blow, knowing how much he’s put into his body in the last few years to try and play as many Tests as he can.”It’s one of those [injuries] you can’t really predict, but we value him. Unfortunately, he’ll miss this series. I don’t know exactly when he’ll be right to go again but even in the little snippets we’ve seen this series it shows how much we rate him and how much of an impact he can have.”Travis Head hit his second century of the series in Brisbane, but ended the Test with “a tight quad”•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

However, Head, Australia’s most in-form batter, would have been an even bigger hole to fill so his positive prognosis is vital for the home side. He has made back-to-back destructive centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane, the first setting up victory and the second putting Australia in a dominant position.Cummins confirmed that there had been consideration to opening with Head on the final day after Australia had secured a lead of 185, following a defiant last-wicket stand between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep which removed the option of the follow on.However, ultimately the decision was to stick with openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney in what became a strange second innings, where Mitchell Marsh was promoted to No. 4, in which they were 33 for 5 in 11 overs making it a little unclear what the objective was until Cummins flayed 22 off ten deliveries.”[We were] always trying to set up the game,” Cummins said. “[A] day-five wicket, it always felt like there were plenty of wickets on offer so just trying to get a bit of a total then try and then have enough overs to take those ten wickets. The number in your head always keeps changing as the weather does.”With Hazlewood limited to just six overs in the first innings, a significant bowling load fell on the shoulders of Cummins and Mitchell Starc, who sent down 46 of the 78.5 overs India faced in their first innings. Cummins acknowledged it had been tough work on the fourth day but that the regular rain breaks had meant they had not felt overburdened.Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc took on most of Australia’s bowling load in Josh Hazlewood’s absence•AFP/Getty Images

“We are feeling really good,” Cummins said of himself and Starc. “It was hot yesterday but we’d had about seven days off bowling after Adelaide so we were fresh, ready to go, and if anything the rain breaks helped us get little breaks yesterday.”Marsh, who effectively became Australia’s third seamer, only sent down two overs (having bowled just four in Adelaide) but Cummins said he would have been used more extensively if a fuller run chase had played out. Before the match, Marsh had reiterated he was able to bowl as much as the captain needed him following doubts over his fitness after Perth where he had pulled up sore following 17 overs in the opening Test.”We went in thinking we’d need a lot more from Mitchy Marsh but felt like we got enough breaks so he wasn’t needed as much,” Cummins said. “Also [had] a bit of an eye to the second innings so when we had a fresh new ball, it would have landed on Mitchy a lot to try and take those ten wickets. I suspect we’ll call on Mitch and some stage in the next couple of Tests to get us a breakthrough or two.”Australia’s selectors will meet over the next 24 hours and the squad is due to come back together in Melbourne on Monday ahead of the Boxing Day Test.

South East Stars struggle to post 148 but heavy rain then raises spectre of bowl out

Valkerie Baynes21-Sep-2023A bizarre day ended with early season pace-setters Blaze overturning a three-game losing streak at the perfect moment to defeat South East Stars and secure a place in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Final.Originally set 149 to win after they had bowled Stars out for 148 in 43.5 overs, persistent heavy rain throughout the day led to a revised target of 52 runs from 10 overs being confirmed half an hour before the cut-off for the fixture to constitute a match and to avoid the second protagonist of Sunday’s finale against Southern Vipers in Northampton being decided by a bowl out. At that time, Blaze were 15 for 1 from 3.2 overs, leaving them 37 runs to get off 40 balls.Stars’ Beckenham ground – chosen as host despite Blaze finishing second in the table because Trent Bridge is preparing to stage Saturday’s ODI between England and Ireland and the other two options, Derby and Leicester, are in the midst of home County Championship fixtures – was bathed in glorious autumnal sunshine when play began.But soon the heavy grey clouds that have so challenged the wisdom of playing cricket in England mid-September over the past week or so descended and interrupted play, albeit briefly. At least the Blaze fan decked out in orange and black – one among about 30 spectators at the ground in total – who launched into a heartfelt chorus of “Feeling Hot Hot Hot” when Marie Kelly pinned Aylish Cranstone lbw to reduce Stars to 77 for 7 in the 20th over seemed oblivious to the impending gloom, as were her team.Or perhaps they were acutely aware of the weather forecast, such was their initial hurry to get this match done with Kelly, Kirstie Gordon, Lucy Higham and Kathryn Bryce taking two wickets apiece to bowl their opponents out well inside their 50-over allocation, despite a plucky 33-run stand for the ninth wicket between Ryana MacDonald-Gay and Chloe Hill giving Stars’ innings some substance.Kira Chathli had fallen to the second ball of the match, bowled by Grace Ballinger, and Stars were 40 for 2 when Gordon bowled Bryony Smith, bringing Alice Capsey to the crease. But her stay was short-lived when Josie Groves struck with her third ball, Capsey dragging on to fall for just 5.Alice Davidson-Richards, called into England’s ODI squad which played Sri Lanka off the back of her century against Blaze at this very ground 11 days ago, dispatched Groves straight down the ground for six but soon had her middle stump uprooted by Gordon. Then Alexa Stonehouse picked out Kelly at deep midwicket off Higham and Stars were in deep trouble.Kelly took a sharp return catch, launching herself forward to her right in her follow-through, to remove the threat of Stars’ leading run-scorer Paige Scholfield cheaply and, sure enough, a heavy downpour arrived on the stroke of midday and play was suspended for about 15 minutes.It was only another quarter of an hour before Bethan Miles was adjudged lbw to Kathryn Bryce, leaving it to MacDonald-Gay, the 19-year-old No. 10, to top score for Stars with 26, including a lovely straight-driven four off Kathryn Bryce shortly before she was stumped by Sarah Bryce sashaying down the pitch to Higham in the 44th over.When Lizelle Lee was run out in the second over of the reply, her hesitation on being called through for a single by Kelly giving Davidson-Richards ample time to fire the ball in to wicketkeeper Chatli, Blaze’s prospects of a quick run chase took a hit and they were destroyed by a second wave of showers arriving at 2pm and persisting on and off even through baking sunshine at times.The irony of that as the absurd prospect of a bowl out to decide who would do battle for the season’s title loomed brought a huge sense of relief when the sun prevailed over yet another shower at around 5pm and the players began preparing like they were possessed, the match allowed to enter a tense final stanza, thanks in no small part to the groundstaff who worked tirelessly throughout the day.Stonehouse had Kelly caught behind with the third legitimate delivery after the re-start, much to the delight of the few Stars supporters who had hung around for three-and-a-half action-less hours. But Sarah Bryce and Georgie Boyce marshalled their pursuit at around a run a ball and when Bryce swung Davidson-Richards through the leg side for four, the pressure eased. She sealed victory with a six straight down the ground off Smith and eight balls to spare.Sarah Bryce admitted a bowl out “would’ve been a very strange way, I think, for the game to be decided”.”I guess you’ve got to get results somehow or decide who’s going through but it would be a strange way to finish,” she said. “It was a strange day really. Pleased with our bowling performance to put us in such a good position, then the rain hanging around for a bit longer than we would’ve liked and then putting a little bit of doubt in the thought of a bowl off was a little bit nerve wracking for us all but we were absolutely delighted that we were able to get out there and finish the game of cricket and obviously delighted to come away with the win.”Blaze won their first six completed matches of the tournament, including against Vipers, who switched that result by a massive 126 runs in their final group-stage game last week. Vipers also defeated Blaze in the final of the Charlotte Edwards Cup in June.”They’re a good team,” Bryce said. “We’ve got a rematch of the T20 final, but we’ve also beaten them in the 50-over, in the first group game, so we know that we’ve got that belief behind us. Just really excited to be back at a final where anything can happen and hopefully we can come away with the right result.”One thing that one of our players actually said that I think was really valuable was the fact that we were in the eliminator allowed us the opportunity to hopefully go into a final off the back of the win. That can be a really positive way to look at it. We’ve not had the best three games that we would’ve liked, but we know that we have it in the tank – we’ve shown that at the beginning of the season and I think hopefully we can take the momentum from this game into the final.”

Wood has already picked eight wickets and Mayers has displayed two stunning shows of power-hitting

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2023Lucknow Super Giants may have lost to Chennai Super Kings on Monday night after leaking 217 runs, but their bowling coach Morne Morkel sees the rise of their two international players as “a bonus” in the IPL. Mark Wood has already picked up eight wickets after hauls of 5 for 14 and 3 for 49, and Kyle Mayers is only behind Ruturaj Gaikwad on the run-scorers’ list following scores of 73 off 38 and 53 off 22 balls.”There’s a lot to like about Mark Wood. He’s running in, he’s bowling at 150, that aggressive length,” Morkel said after the match. “He’s a strike bowler for us. It’s only his third game in the IPL. He’s still finding his feet in the subcontinent, especially in the IPL, where the margins are quite tough and it’s a lot of quality players. So, for me, it’s just talking through different periods where he’s possibly going to bowl and ensure he’s clear with his plans.”But one thing about Woody is that he’s won a World Cup, he’s got a lot of experience, he’s played for years in the England team that knows the recipe for success. So, yeah, my advice for him is not to over-think it now that he’s playing in the IPL. He’s been picked for a reason – he’s bowling pace; make use of that as best as possible and, yeah, target certain batters to really go and express himself.”Related

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Wood has certainly done that in the two matches this season. Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan and Axar Patel were among his five against Delhi Capitals, and against Super Kings, he had Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni.It’s not been a bad start for Mayers either. He is currently top on ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats for Total Impact, with 235.52 impact points, with Gaikwad (212.51) at No. 2 and Wood (156.75) at No. 3. (Click here to read about ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats)”Very happy to see Kyle [perform]. I have played with him a little bit at St Lucia Zouks back in the day [in the CPL]. It’s amazing to see him sort of move on, he’s progressed into a quality white-ball player,” Morkel said. “Saw him in Durban [in the SA20 league] and he played these sorts of innings where upfront he really puts the bowlers under a lot of pressure. And to see him now in top form is also great.”It’s no secret that Mayers’ form has caused a happy headache in the Super Giants camp. After all, he was only the back-up for Quinton de Kock, who should be arriving soon for them after finishing the Netherlands ODIs at home. What happens then?2:50

Did Super Giants get their batting order wrong?

“How we’re going to work that out, luckily that’s not for me to think about,” Morkel said. ” But yeah, it’s fantastic to see him (Mayers) upfront, firing, and playing well and in form.”However, Super Giants fell short in their massive chase despite powering to 79 for 0 in 5.2 overs before Mayers got out. Even though they got close in the end, their Nos. 3 and 4 – Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya – fell for just 2 and 9 in the next two overs. On ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time:Out show, Tom Moody, said the fall of the first wicket was the ideal time to send out Nicholas Pooran. Super Giants instead batted Pooran at No. 6, when they were 105 for 4 and needed 113 off the last 10.”They had a good start with Mayers and KL Rahul… got them off to a flier, really more courtesy of Mayers’ beautiful striking. At that point, when the left-hander got dismissed [in the sixth over], Nicholas Pooran had to come in at that point,” Moody said. “Because that was the last over of the powerplay and at that point, MS Dhoni had no choice really but to play a left-arm spinner at some point, whether a Santner or Jadeja. And Pooran has got a phenomenal record against left-arm spin.”I know that he’s selected to be that middle-order finisher but this is a different situation, this is where you’re chasing a huge total, you need your trump card.”

A round-up of the second day’s action from the fifth round of matches from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

Cricinfo staff04-Nov-2009

Group A

A collective bowling effort, led by Fahad Masood’s four-wicket haul, helped Habib Bank gain a 90-run first innings lead against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Marghzar Cricket Ground.
Resuming on 232 for 6, Habib Bank lost their last four wickets for 25 runs, as Kashif Daud finished with a haul of 6 for 94. ZTBL stumbled to 58 for 4 in their reply and failed to put together big partnerships to match Habib Bank’s total, the highest being 51 for the sixth wicket. Shahid Yousuf top scored with 49 before he was dismissed by Masood, who finished with 4 for 32. Habib Bank extended their lead to 122 at stumps but lost their openers.Opener Naeemuddin missed his century by seven runs but helped set up a first-innings lead of 87 for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in Rawalpindi.
Azhar Shafiq supported Naeemuddin with 45 but Misbah-ul-Haq, trying to work his way back into the Pakistan team, failed to make an impact scoring 12. He was dismissed by Jaffer Nazir, the right-arm seamer, who took 4 for 41. SNGPL had their last-wicket pair at the crease at stumps and will look to push the lead past the psychological barrier of 100.It was always going to be tough for Lahore Shalimar to come back after being bundled out for 114, but Mohammad Naved toiled manfully for 40 overs for a five-wicket haul against Pakistan Customs at Muridke.
Naved, the right-arm seamer, took 5 for 87 but it didn’t stop Customs from gaining a lead of 181, with one wicket in hand at stumps. Customs added 101 for the fourth wicket – led by Asad Baig’s 56 – lost their way a bit before Tahir Mughal and Mohammad Iftikhar scored forties to frustrate Lahore and stretch the lead.It was a day of domination for National Bank of Pakistan as Nasir Jamshed and Umar Amin scored centuries to make Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC) toil in Faisalabad
. Amin and Jamshed added a massive 236 for the opening wicket and set the platform to mount an imposing first-innings lead with eight wickets still in hand. Jamshed made 108 with 13 fours before he was dismissed by Rizwan Ahmed. Amir was unbeaten on 139, with 16 fours and a six, to extend the lead to 92 at stumps.Five-wicket hauls by Sarfraz Ahmed, the left-arm seamer, and Azharullah helped Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) fight back on the second day at the Gaddafi Stadium
but it couldn’t prevent Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from gaining a first-innings lead of 55. Azharullah rocked the top order, including the wicket of in-form opener Khurram Manzoor, while Sarfraz chipped away at the middle order. Sarfraz even claimed the wicket of his namesake for 46, the top scorer of the innings. PIA were bowled out for 193 before the WAPDA openers made a refreshing start to their second innings, adding 65 till stumps with an overall lead of 10 going into the third day.

Group B

Ashar Zaidi and Naeem Anjum put in strong batting performances to prop Islamabad to 485 against Faisalabad at the Diamond Club Ground.
The pair were involved in a stand of 83 for the sixth wicket before Zaidi fell to Tauqeer Hussain for 129. Anjum continued to resist with a patient 88 off 223 balls and was supported by the lower order before he was bowled by Zulqarnain, who took four wickets. Faisalabad lost their opener Zeeshan Asif for 9 but they ended the day on a safe 63 for 1.Naved Yasin made an unbeaten 107 for Multan but Karachi Blues held the upper hand on the second day at the National Stadium.
The lower order resisted to push Karachi to 377 and Multan in reply were still way short of that score, ending on 220 for 8. Multan failed to close out Karachi when they resumed their overnight score of 291 for 8. Forties by Atif Maqbool and Azam Hussain pushed the score past 350. Zulfiqar Babar, the left-arm spinner, finished with 4 for 73. Multan were struggling at 20 for 3 when Tanvir Ahmed ran through the top order and that’s when Yasin stepped in to repair the damage. Kashif Naved added 71 with him for the fifth wicket but Mqabool and Hussain combined to strike and pull things back for Karachi. Multan ended the day faced with an imposing deficit of 157.Fifties by Shahid Qambrani and Mir Ali propped Hyderabad to 377 against Lahore Ravi at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground.
The overnight pair added 80 for the fifth wicket, the highest stand of the innings. Waqas Ahmed was the top wicket-taker with 4 for 117 off 32 overs. Kashif Siddiq led Lahore’s reply with an unbeaten 70.Riaz Afridi’s six-for sent Rawalpindi crashing to 81 at the National Ground
leading to a follow on against Peshawar. Afridi took 6 for 31 while Imran Khan and Nauman Habib chipped in with two wickets each to sink Peshawar, who lost their last five wickets for 18 runs. Faced with a deficit of 182, Rawalpindi out in a much better effort in their second innings, ending on 198 for 3. Usman Saeed led the way with 79 while Zahid Mansoor remained unbeaten on 57. They ended the day with a slender lead of 16 with seven wickets in hand.Kamran Younis’ unbeaten 147 gave Sialkot the upper hand against Quetta at the Jinnah Stadium.
Arun Lal’s three wickets helped Quetta gain the early advantage when they had Sialkot struggling at 104 for 5. But Ahmed Butt joined Younis and the pair added 175, remaining unbeaten till stumps. Butt scored seven boundaries in his 76 while Younis hit 20 fours. Sialkot ended the day with a lead of 66.

England’s sixth defeat in seven games was Australia’s fifth win in five

Andrew Miller04-Nov-2023It’s over. And that’s not simply the worst World Cup defence in the history of international sport.Everything that, for eight heady years, had been taken for granted about England’s white-ball batting has vanished without trace, as if some Hollywood baddy had pinched a sports almanac(k) from the future and set the dials on the team’s Delorean for the 2015 World Cup. We’ve re-entered an epoch of endless, desperate failure – the miracle of 2019 lost forever to some branch-line of the space-time continuum.England’s sixth defeat – by 33 runs in Ahmedabad – in seven games was in turn Australia’s fifth win in five, with which they have marched clear of a hard-chasing pack to tighten their grip on a semi-final berth. It was marginally less supine than some of England’s losses – thanks to another spirited bowling display led by Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes, who also rallied gamely at the death with the bat, and another compelling but all-too-brief sighting of Ben Stokes in #HeroMode.But with Adam Zampa surging to the top of the tournament wicket-charts with an outstanding haul of 3 for 21 in ten overs, Australia’s apparently middling target of 287 was never realistically challenged – especially after another abject powerplay in which Joe Root, one of England’s indisputable greats across formats, produced an innings of such awfulness it truly deserves to be his last in coloured clothing.England versus Australia always tends to exist outside of context, but not on this occasion. Australia’s victory has brought closure to everything – England’s barely-less-than-non-existent hopes of a top-four finish; their claim on the so-called #MoralAshes, especially after Marnus Labuschagne’s Test-tempo 71 proved to be the decisive score of the match; and maybe even their hopes of playing in the 2025 Champions Trophy, if other results go against them in the coming days.The only thing that must limp on, ironically, is England’s World Cup campaign itself. Netherlands are up next for an unlikely shot at European Championship glory, before Pakistan – fuelled by after their astonishing win in Bengaluru – rock up in Kolkata with a chance to make their 1992 comeback seem like a standard day in the life.Just as had been the case in their 100-run loss to India in their previous outing, England played a pretty canny game for the first 50 overs of the match, as they bowled Australia out for 286 after winning the toss, hoping – then as now – that the onset of evening dew might even out a two-paced wicket and allow the ball to skid onto the bat more freely.But, even if that did eventually prove to be the case, England’s desperate lack of batting form had long since sunk any hopes of making the depth of their line-up count. The nadir arguably came when Jos Buttler, their captain and white-ball GOAT, skimmed the first ball of Zampa’s fifth over to Cameron Green at long-off to trudge off for 1 from six balls – leaving England in the soup at 106 for 4 at the half-way mark of their chase – but the omens had been grim from the very start of an angsty chase.The England of old could take mishaps in their stride – take Jason Roy’s mighty white-ball record, for instance; that had been pockmarked by countless first-over dismissals, including to the very first ball of his career, but this trait was factored into his willingness to have a go in the first place, safe in the knowledge that his team-mates would close ranks around him.By contrast, when Jonny Bairstow flicked at an innocuous leg-side loosener from Mitchell Starc to leave England 0 for 1 after one ball of their innings, the groan of recognition was palpable from dug-out to press-box to the armchair of every England fan. Starc’s reaction was sheepish in the extreme. Nevertheless, after going wicketless for the first time in his World Cup career against New Zealand last week, Starc was back on the board at the earliest opportunity, and Australia were surging back onto the front foot in their favourite rivalry.What followed, from an England perspective, was gory and uncomfortable viewing. Though Dawid Malan hunkered down for the long haul with his familiar sang froid, Root’s equilibrium endured another thorough rinsing. His second-ball drive for four was as good as his night would get. In the space of his next 15 balls, he survived an lbw appeal from Starc by the skin of his leg bail, a bad drop by Marcus Stoinis at point, and an edged drive off Josh Hazlewood that eluded second slip.Mitchell Starc struck first ball to get rid of Jonny Bairstow•Getty Images

Root’s luck was in, you might presume? His form, unfortunately, is not, and there were only so many gifts that could elude Australia’s clutches. He might have got away with another life when Starc lured him once more in the channel, but Labuschagne charged in from cover to insist he’d heard a noise. UltraEdge duly confirmed a thin snick to leave England 19 for 2 in the fifth over, and Root had succumbed to his 11th powerplay dismissal in 18 innings since the 2019 World Cup, in which time he has averaged a ghastly 5.63.In Stokes and Malan, England still had a pair of batters whose apparently contrasting methods are united in the belief that good things come to those who lay a platform. And while they were grinding out an 84-run stand for the third wicket, at a similar tempo to that with which Labuschagne and Steve Smith had revived Australia’s own innings, a flicker of muscle memory rippled back into England’s equation.But then Malan, on 50, gave his innings away with an over-eager pull off Cummins, to expose the out-of-sorts Buttler to a match situation that his game-brain cannot currently compute, and though Moeen Ali rose to the awkward occasion with a diligent run-a-ball 42, the entire psyche of England’s innings screamed “Stokes or bust”, and Australia knew it too.Despite his horror-duck against India, Stokes’ stage presence was undimmed, as he allowed himself to reach 15 from 37 balls before his first true shot in anger, a fierce straight drive for four off Starc. Thereafter, he became increasingly mighty and muscular, his innings replete with obligatory limps as that troublesome left knee repeatedly buckled beneath the force of his launches to leg.But for all his Superman bravado, his innings had far too much in common with his lost-cause Ashes onslaughts at Headingley and Lord’s – and his loud groan of “oh no!” as he scuffed a sweep off the incorrigible Zampa confirmed that more than just his innings of 64 from 90 was ending as Stoinis clung on at short fine leg. Liam Livingstone, bizarrely preferred to Harry Brook despite his own grim lack of form, duly lasted less than an over before skimming a pull to midwicket, and when Moeen became Zampa’s third of a superlative spell, the rest was mere formality.It’s a measure of England’s desperate funk that Australia arguably won against the head, in the wake of their own piecemeal batting display that never really got going, and would surely have been more closely challenged by almost any other chasing side at this tournament.Without the power of Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell in their middle order, Australia had a huge amount riding on their equally proactive opening partnership, but Woakes bagged both Travis Head and David Warner inside his first three overs, meaning that, at 38 for 2, Labuschagne and Smith had little choice but to fall back on their Ashes best, grinding out a third-wicket stand of 75 across 16 overs, to guard against a repeat of their 2019 semi-final meltdown.The delayed entry of England’s main man, Rashid, would destabilise Australia’s innings once more. With 20 overs gone, Smith’s timing was still eluding him when Rashid served up a slower and wider googly in his second over, which dipped on an attempted cut to loop to Moeen at backward point for 44.Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes got together after the fall of the first two wickets•Associated Press

That soon became 117 for 4 when Josh Inglis fell to the same combination in Rashid’s second over – this time to an ill-judged reverse-sweep off his sixth delivery – and though Labuschagne brought up his half-century from 63 balls, Rashid’s canny variations, and willingness to take off his pace against his entrenched opponents, kept Australia waiting for their chance to cut loose.It took Wood’s return to the attack for a visible step-up in Australia’s tempo. Green, Maxwell’s stand-in, looked deeply uncomfortable against Wood’s express pace – at one stage, four fielders converged on a top-edged pull as his bat soared out of his hands towards the square-leg umpire – but he somehow found enough leverage on the wider line to keep snaffling his runs through backward point, including a startling deflected four off a near pinpoint 153kph yorker.And though Wood bust a gut once again to make a difference – extracting an lbw that left Labuschagne non-plussed as his review showed three reds, before later bombing out Cummins with the short ball – his final figures of 2 for 70 would confirm that was another night on which his raw speed proved too profligate whenever he missed his mark.Fittingly, it was Zampa who proved this point in decisive fashion. At 247 for 8, he alone found the gumption to kick on into the death overs – albeit he needed a large slice of luck when a 149kph throat-ball from Wood fizzed off his gloves and over the keeper’s head for four. Unfazed, Zampa smashed his very next delivery back down the ground for another boundary, and he’d rattled along to 29 from 19 before Woakes ended Australia’s late charge with two wickets in three balls, two more cutters to prove the virtues of pace-off on a capricious deck.It should not have been nearly enough, given England’s once-vaunted reputation for chasing, and their belief at the toss that the dew factor would be decisive. It would prove to be plenty, on a night when normal service in the white-ball leg of this ancient rivalry was resumed in emphatic fashion.