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It was only the eighth such instance in the Test history and the first since 1998

Ekanth13-Sep-2024The first ever Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand ended on a sad but predictable note as the game was called off without a ball being bowled. It was only the eighth such instance in the Test history and the first since 1998.There was an air of inevitability around the call after there was no play in the first four days and heavy rains ended the last two as early as 9.15am. The rain returned on the fifth morning, prompting the umpires to pull the plug at 8.45am.The clouds hung low and the covers were drenched yet again at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground. A pool of water had formed near one of the boundaries and a few puddles were scattered across the uncovered grass in the outfield.Related

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The match was subject to weather concerns even before the opening day. When there was no play on the first two days despite the weather being sunny during playing hours, the outfield and the preparedness of the venue came under the scanner.Apart from the New Zealand players getting a couple of hours of net practice next to the pitch on the second afternoon, there was no cricketing action in any form across five days. The ACB blamed the unseasonal rain for it.Afghanistan’s next assignment is the three-match ODI series against South Africa in Sharjah. New Zealand will now travel to Sri Lanka for two Tests, which are part of the World Test Championship. After that, they will face India in India in a three-Test series. The Greater Noida Test, which was not part of the WTC, was supposed to help them acclimatise to the subcontinent conditions but it was not to be.

“I don’t think all is lost. There’s a lot of youngsters who can definitely develop and turn things around for West Indies cricket”

Firdose Moonda01-Jul-2023Putting strong structures in place for current and future West Indies teams is the only way to stop their downward spiral, according to former captain Jason Holder.Speaking shortly after West Indies were confirmed as being out of contention for the 2023 50-over World Cup, Holder acknowledged their defeat to Scotland was “probably one of the lowest points I’ve had with the team,” but urged everyone in West Indian cricket to move on quickly.”I don’t think all is lost. There’s a lot of young guys in the group who can definitely develop and turn things around for West Indies cricket,” Holder said at the post-match press conference. “We’ve got a young crop of players and we’ve got to put some support around them. It’s really important that we try to utilise time outside of competition and put things in place where we can develop our talent.Related

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“We have to look at the levels below and improve them so that when guys get here, they have a good foundation. It’s an area we need to pay some special attention to. It’s not a quick fix. It’s something we need to spend time on. Development is the most important thing. Hopefully in the next couple of years we can see the fruits of that crop.”Holder’s call for more focus on the totality of West Indies cricket comes on the same day CWI announced their new director of cricket Miles Bascombe, who has already identified an “urgent need to improve performances.” One of Bascombe’s earliest tasks will be to establish High Performance systems throughout the territories under the CWI’s ambit. That kind of uniformity is also what Holder wants to see.”We’ve all got to do it. It’s not an individual thing, it’s not a territorial thing, we’ve got to come together as a region and really think about how we want to go forward as a group and make it happen,” he said.But all those are things that will be addressed in the weeks and months to come, which will include a quiet October-November period when West Indies should have been at the World Cup. For Holder, who played in the 2015 and 2019 events, missing out is a particularly sore point. “It’s disappointing, especially after last year’s effort in the T20 (World Cup – where West Indies did not make the Super 12s). I’ve had the luxury of playing in two fifty-over World Cups before and some T20 World Cups. There are special occasions so this one will hurt as the one last year did.”Dejected West Indies players leave the field•ICC via Getty Images

On the field, Holder was among those who showed emotion from around the time that Scotland needed less than 50 runs to win. He stood at mid-on, hands on hips, head bowed and at one point even sank to his haunches and remained there while waiting for the next ball to be bowled. Unlike when West Indies lost at the same venue to Zimbabwe a week ago, there were no last-ball meltdowns and though Akeal Hosein, who was consoled by Craig Ervine and Sean Williams seven days ago, needed an arm around his shoulder as he trudged off, there were no tears.Those may have come in the morning when, put in to bat, West Indies were 81 for 6 in the 21st over and the only team with India on their minds seemed to be the Scottish. “We knew what was at stake and that we still had a chance to qualify. We had a really good opportunity today to play against Scotland, and beat Scotland and we didn’t do that,” Holder said.So when the inevitable happened, West Indies were gracious losers, congratulated the Scotland players and those of them who had been on the bench started to run shuttles. Pointless? Not quite. They still have to play Oman and Sri Lanka before racing home to begin a series against India. As is the case with cricket schedules these days, there’s no time to dwell on this defeat, however significant it may be.”But there’s no point moping on and keeping our heads down. We have to find ways to get better and head in the direction we need to head in consistently. There have been too many fluctuations between good performances and bad performances. It’s a matter for us to understand where we are at, know where we want to go and all of us putting our hands up.”

Lahore Qalandars’ Zaman Khan gave away just five runs off the first five balls of the last over, but was unable to close it out

Associated Press10-Mar-2024Shoaib Malik hit a boundary off the last ball to give Karachi Kings a three-wicket victory in a must-win game against two-time champion Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League on Saturday.The win kept alive the Kings’ hopes of a place in the playoffs with eight points from nine games. Qalandars were already eliminated, beating only Quetta Gladiators and losing seven games in the absence of injured spinner Rashid Khan.With three runs needed off the last delivery, Malik (27 not out) drove fast bowler Zaman Khan’s low full toss through point to guide his team to a winning 179 for 7 in a tense finish.Qalandars had posted 177 for 5 on the back of half centuries from Abdullah Shafique (55) and Fakhar Zaman (54) after the Kings captain Shan Masood won the toss and chose to field.Masood’s decision to demote himself to No. 3 after struggling as an opener in his first season as the team’s captain paid off as the pair of James Vince (42) and Tim Seifert (36) provided a confident start of 59.But Qalandars came back strongly when fast bowler Tayyab Abbas (2-23) got the big wicket of Kieron Pollard (3) and Seifert was run out after a major misunderstanding with Malik.Irfan Khan scored a brisk 35 off 16 balls with six boundaries before the Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi (1-37) knocked back his middle stump in the penultimate over. Zaman conceded just five runs off his first five balls but Malik stayed calm to seal the game for the Kings off the final delivery.

Ellyse Perry takes three wickets in six balls as Phoenix win first home game

ECB Media03-Aug-2024After losing 12 completed games in a row, Birmingham Phoenix, inspired by captain Ellyse Perry, made it two wins from two by squeezing the life out of Southern Brave to win by 16 runs at Edgbaston.With a hint of rain in the air, Phoenix were put in by Georgia Adams and a steady start was only interrupted when 16-year-old slow-left armer Tilly Corteen-Coleman struck with her first ball to have Sophie Devine lbw. She struck again, Rhianna Southby effecting a smart stumping to get rid of Sterre Kalis, forcing Perry and Amy Jones to consolidate.They added 23 for the third wicket before Perry holed out to Maia Bouchier at long-on. With the score 55 for 3 at the halfway stage, the Phoenix needed to accelerate and did through Jones, and a cameo of 22 in 12 balls from Emily Arlott that included two sixes.Jones’s half-century saw Phoenix reach 137 for 7, with Lauren Cheatle having conceded just 14 runs from her 20-ball allocation.After three boundaries from the returning Smriti Mandhana at the start of the Brave innings, it became the Perry show, as the Australia legend picked up three key wickets – Mandhana, Bouchier for a duck, and skipper Adams – in her first ten deliveries.Danni Wyatt and Freya Kemp steadied the ship, the former striking a typically belligerent 33-ball 43 before Charis Pavely got rid of Kemp and Hannah Baker induced an error from Wyatt.At 92 for 5 from 69 balls, the momentum was with the Phoenix, and all of their bowlers stuck to their task admirably, throttling the Brave innings as the required run-rate climbed and the visitors simply ran out of steam.”Emily Arlott’s innings was the difference, clearing the fence with ease,” Jones said. “And Pez’s start was unbelievable. When you have someone like that, who can deliver such performances, it is a huge lift for the team. We were really good in the field and backed up the bowlers.”

India captain says the fast bowler “had a swelling in his knee”, which put him back in his recovery and bid to return to action

Ashish Pant15-Oct-20241:41

Will Shami be fit in time for the Australia Test series?

India captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that senior quick Mohammed Shami’s return to the international fold might get further delayed after he suffered another “recent setback”. Shami, who underwent surgery on his right Achilles tendon in February this year, has now developed a swelling on his knee which has “put him back a little bit in his recovery”, according to Rohit.”Right now, it is pretty difficult for us to make a call on whether he will be fit for this series or the Australia series,” Rohit said on the eve of India’s first Test against New Zealand, in Bengaluru. “He recently had a setback – he had a swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual.”He was in the process of getting fit – getting close to 100% – and he had a swelling in his knee. That put him back a little bit in his recovery, so he had to start again fresh.”Related

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Shami’s previous game for India came in the final of the World Cup last November. He was India’s highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets in seven matches at an average of 10.70 and strike rate of 12.20 at the tournament. He played through pain during the World Cup, taking injections to treat his ankle.Shami then underwent surgery in London earlier this year and would have been in contention for the five-match Australia series which starts next month, but the latest blow has set him back further. While Shami is at the NCA working with the physios as things stand, Rohit also said India didn’t want to risk taking him to Australia when he isn’t fully fit.”Right now, he is at NCA – he is working with the physios, [and] the doctors at NCA,” Rohit said. “We are keeping our fingers crossed. We want him to be fit; we want him to be 100%. More than anything else, we don’t want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia. That is not going to be the right decision for us.”Having not played international cricket for nearly a year, Rohit also suggested that it would be tough for Shami to get right back into the thick of things.”He has not played any cricket for over a year. It is quite tough for a fast bowler to have missed so much of cricket and then suddenly to come out and be at his best,” Rohit said. “It is not ideal. We will want to give him enough time to recover, and be 100% fit.”The physios, the trainers, [and] the doctors have set a roadmap for him. He is supposed to play a couple of games before he plays international cricket. We will see where he is at after this New Zealand series, and then take a call at what stage of Australia [series] he will be fit for us.”India have eight Tests left in the current WTC cycle. They play a three-match series against New Zealand after which they will travel to Australia for five Tests starting November 22.

The allrounder could come into contention for the semi-final in Dubai where India have played all their games

Andrew McGlashan02-Mar-20252:06

Should India stick with four spinners for the semi-final?

Cooper Connolly has been called into Australia’s Champions Trophy squad after Matt Short was ruled out through injury as they prepare for what could be a trial by spin in their semi-final against India.Short picked up a quad injury against Afghanistan and would not have had time to recover for the knockout matches.Connolly, the 21-year-old left-hand batter and left-arm spinner, has been a traveling reserve with the squad so will be available immediately. He has played just three ODIs but could come straight into selection consideration given Australia have lost Short’s offspin.Related

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If the selectors opt for a like-for-like switch of opening batters then Jake Fraser-McGurk is the spare batter while if they wanted another specialist spin bowler they could consider rejigging the balance of the attack and including Tanveer Sangha.Fraser-McGurk, who himself was a replacement for Mitchell Marsh, has struggled in his seven ODIs to date with 98 runs at 14.00, looking vulnerable when the new ball moves, but the selectors still see him as a player who can take on the powerplay.If Fraser-McGurk isn’t the route taken by the selectors it will require someone from the middle order moving up to the top to fill Short’s role, potentially the in-form Josh Inglis.Australia learnt their opponents for the semi-final will be India in Dubai on Tuesday when New Zealand were beaten in the final group game.Both Group B sides who qualified – Australia and South Africa – traveled to Dubai so that the team who faced India would have time to prepare. South Africa will now head straight back to Lahore for their semi-final against New Zealand.”We’ve obviously had a bit of a hectic schedule, playing a couple of games in Pakistan, back and forth in between cities, but I think with the nature of this tournament,” legspinner Adam Zampa said.In the selection frame: Cooper Connolly could feature against India•Getty Images

Zampa shapes as a pivotal figure for Australia in the semi-final at a ground that has aided the spinners. Against New Zealand, India used 37.3 overs of spin with Varun Chakravarthy taking 5 for 42 although there had also been some early assistance for the quicks as Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson troubled India’s top order.Australia were troubled by Sri Lanka’s spinners in their two ODIs in Colombo prior to the Champions Trophy.”It changes a little bit,” Zampa said of the conditions between Pakistan and Dubai. “Potentially slower lower wickets, so there might be an opportunity to create a few more chances, we’ll see.”Zampa added he felt there was room for improvement in his own bowling after returns of 2 for 64 against England and 2 for 48 against Afghanistan.”Personally, I don’t think I’m bowling quite at my best, but I like to think the beauty about me is when I’m not quite at my best and not feeling that great out there is my ability to still contribute and take those big wickets,” he said.”I’m obviously working on some stuff at the moment to hopefully get back to my best, but as I said, the ability to still do a job for the team and get those big wickets is still there, which to me is really important.”The last time Australia faced India in an ODI was the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. If they win this time they will return to Lahore for the final otherwise it will be staged in Dubai.

Given the amount of rain that has fallen on Durban’s Kingsmead ground in the past week, Andrew Strauss would be forgiven for wishing that the heavens remain open for another day, so that his team can cement their 2-1 series lead

Cricinfo staff03-Dec-2009Given the amount of rain that has fallen on Durban’s Kingsmead ground in the past week, Andrew Strauss would be forgiven for wishing that the heavens remain open for another day, so that his team can cement their 2-1 series lead, and emerge victorious for the first time ever in an ODI series in South Africa. But such is the journey that Strauss and his charges have been on in recent months, such an anticlimactic conclusion would be far from fitting. The team has been accused of many things of late, but being boring is not one of them.For Strauss himself, the Durban contest marks a notable milestone. Weather permitting, it will be his 100th ODI cap, and seeing as he had been jettisoned from the set-up after the 2007 World Cup, and spent a full two years thinking he’d never play in that format again, it is an achievement of some note. “To come back in and be part of this side and feel like we’re going somewhere is quite motivating,” he told reporters at Kingsmead. “I’m really enjoying my one-day cricket.”Enjoyment has been central to England’s mini-revival. Back in September, when a listless and Ashes-sated squad were battered 6-1 in their home series against Australia, it didn’t seem possible to inject any urgency into their performances. But then came a relocation to South Africa for the Champions Trophy, and suddenly the results began to stack up – albeit with the odd hefty set-back, as inflicted by the Aussies once again in the semi-final of that tournament, and by South Africa in their record-breaking run-fest at Newlands last week.But Strauss’s England teams are becoming accustomed to fighting back from adversity – witness their spirited response to being bowled out for 51 in Jamaica in February, or the way they claimed the Ashes despite being routed in two-and-a-half days in the penultimate Test at Headingley in August. According to the captain, such bouncebackability requires a culture of honesty within the squad, and an absence of ego.”Players have probably opened their eyes to the fact we have a long way to go and we’ve all got to be prepared for hard work if we’re going to get somewhere,” said Strauss. “We want an environment where we all push each other very hard – and in order to do that, we need to be honest with each other first and foremost. The environment we’re trying to create is one everyone has kind of accepted.”South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith, is not noted for his chumminess with his English opposite numbers – having sparred with Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen in recent times – but even he could not find much of a bone to pick with Strauss, despite the lingering issue of his refused runner during the Champions Trophy.”Andrew is an intelligent guy, with a lot of common sense,” said Strauss. “He’s provided a lot of stability for England and has gone about it the way we have expected. We’ve managed to keep a little hold on him in terms of his batting – he still hasn’t scored a fifty against South Africa in one-day cricket, but he’s the guy we expected him to be.”But, as Smith went on to point out, it doubtless helps England’s rebuilding efforts that the go-to men of recent times – most notably Andrew Flintoff and Pietersen – have been out of the limelight, which has allowed new stars such as Eoin Morgan and Jonathan Trott to find their feet without being overshadowed. “We don’t want three or four senior players running the show,” said Strauss. “We want everyone feeling comfortable enough to contribute, and also that it’s expected of them to contribute.”In the sport we play, there are always going to be people who are bigger characters than others or have bigger egos,” he added.”But a good environment is able to take that into account and still let people express themselves and get the best out of themselves.”One of those players with a larger-than-average ego is Pietersen, who has struggled to reassert himself since returning to the squad following his Achilles injury, and produced a particularly frenetic six-ball performance at Port Elizabeth on Sunday. And true to form, Smith cranked up the psychological pressure by reminding him of the reasons why he is not the most universally popular cricketer on this tour.”He’s obviously got a history through things that he’s done and said, and people are still getting over those emotions,” said Smith. “The crowds have been quite vocal again towards him. Ultimately, I think it’s just his job to get on with it and deal with that. It happens round the world these days.”

Karun Nair’s unbeaten fifty underpins Northants hopes after Hassan Azad falls for 48

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Sep-2023Even with an 18-point lead at the top of Division One and facing bottom-of-the-table Northamptonshire at home, Surrey arrived into this penultimate match of the season wary of complacency. At the Kia Oval, in weather confirming summer was really over, it was Tom Lawes, one of their own, who stepped up to maintain standards.Northamptonshire closed on 171 for the loss of 6, Lawes’ nagging, surprisingly brisk seamers responsible for half of them. A simple equation is two wins give Surrey the title, which is all they care about. The fine print for the rest of us is that victory with three bonus points puts the onus on second-place Essex to win to keep the County Championship alive. Across a bitty 63.4 overs, when the usually reliable senior figures were a little off with the ball, Lawes’ 3 for 47 has not only helped bag two of those bonus points but moved the game along with rain set to play its unwelcome part for the rest of the week.Rory Burns won his first toss in five, inserting the visitors in as grim conditions as possible without being bad enough to prevent play from starting on time. The skies were overcast enough to require the floodlights at full beam at 10:30am. And the sharp winds that persisted throughout the day were fierce enough for the flags sitting atop the Micky Stewart Pavilion to be brought down.At another time, Burns would have needed to reinforce his hairband before heading out onto the field. Alas, the flowing 14-inch locks are no more, shorn for a good cause to make a natural wig for The Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides real hair wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or to other conditions.Related

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Given the climes, and prolific new-ball duo of Kemar Roach and Dan Worrall going up against a batting line-up that has only managed four bonus points all season, this was surely going one way. And yet 13 overs in, neither had caused Hassan Azad or Emilio Gay any discomfort, barring a delivery from Worrall that leapt off a length and clocked Azad on the jaw of his grille.At 29 for no loss, both left-handed openers would have been satisfied with their early work. But Surrey are not where they are because of the work of just two bowlers. Enter Jordan Clark, who needed just four deliveries to move to the top of the club’s wicket-taking charts with a 47th dismissal of the season as Gay flicked down the leg side to Ben Foakes.Azad, however, trucked on, typically barnacle-like in approach. He has long been about accumulation through survival, but that throwback approach has been found wanting this season, as per the average of 16.15 from 14 innings heading into this match. Nevertheless, on a day like today, stickability was the name of the game and, together with Karun Nair – one of two Indian batters in this match after Sai Sudharsan was handed a debut in place of Jamie Smith away on England duty – compiled a 55-run stand from 24.2 overs.There was a whiff of general sadness when Azad fell, short-arming Worrall behind with an apologetic pull, wary of the man lurking around the corner at leg gully. Not for the first time this season, the short-ball did for him, two shy of a second half-century of the season.Nair, meanwhile, was able to bring up his own in 108 deliveries, and will recommence his innings on Tuesday thanks largely to a life given to him by Jamie Overton when on 11, off the bowling of Worrall. That is likely to be more stop-start than day one, which featured just one shower stopping play for two hours from 1:30pm.Nevertheless, a relatively frustrating day for Surrey carried cheer beyond the wickets. Overton pulled up five deliveries into his second over with what looked like a twinge to his left groin. In the immediacy, their depth covered for the loss as he walked off and Burns brought himself on to send the final delivery down the leg side. Lawes plugged the gap from the Vauxhall End, eventually prising out Luke Procter with a length delivery that lifted and left the visiting skipper.By then, Overton had returned to the field, taking a regulation catch at second slip. And just to reiterate his bloody-mindedness, he was back bowling by the 57th over, rapping Saif Zaib on the hand before nicking him off two deliveries later with a full ball that arched away late.It was the second of three dismissals in 25 deliveries, sandwiched between Lawes removing Keogh – another catch for Overton – and yorking Lewis McManus. Overton should have had a third when Justin Broad fended some extra bounce behind, which Foakes could only tip over the bar.At 5:22pm, bad light stopped play and no doubt Surrey were rueing what looked set to be a procession of the remaining Northants wickets to make up for the early, Zaib-led resistance as they walked off. Remarkably, the clouds had parted enough to allow through what remained of the sun to give us a 5:38pm restart, with an optimistic 12 overs remaining.Six minutes later, back came the clouds and off went the players. The only play of note was a ninth boundary to Nair, driven through extra cover, to take him to a second half-century for Northants.

India spinners ran through England’s middle order and only a fighting 52 from captain Knight took the visitors to 126

Valkerie Baynes10-Dec-2023India’s new spin pair of Shreyanka Patil and Saika Ishaque and an improved batting performance led them to a consolation victory in the third and final T20I against England at the Wankhede Stadium.The things that had gone wrong as India slumped to a 2-0 deficit in the series came together as Renuka Singh finally found support with the ball and, despite Shafali Verma’s second failure in as many matches following her half-century in the series opener, India staged a key batting partnership with Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues adding 57, which helped chew through a modest target. With captain Harmanpreet Kaur delaying her entrance after appearing to twist her foot while fielding – she came in at No. 5 – she marshalled the remainder of the chase with Amanjot Kaur to seal victory with an over to spare.Patil and Ishaque built on Renuka’s good early deeds to run through England’s middle order as the visitors lost five wickets for nine runs in the space of 21 balls, lurching from 67 for 3 to 76 for 8 before Heather Knight’s half-century salvaged something from the innings. Knight, England’s captain, provided her side’s sole resistance, hitting down the ground as the majority of her countrywomen perished sweeping or cutting. Twin sixes over long-on in three Amanjot deliveries took Knight past fifty in the final over of the innings before she holed out on the penultimate ball, with Mahika Gaur giving Amanjot two wickets in as many balls when she was caught by Deepti Sharma at cover point with England all out for 126.With India needing 11 runs from the last two overs, Sophie Ecclestone bowled Richa Ghosh attempting to paddle and put some pressure back on India but Amanjot, who replaced Pooja Vastrakar in the side, pierced the covers for four next ball to ease the tension and another four levelled the scores before her reverse sweep took her to 13 not out in just four balls and India to victory.

Newcomers shine for India

Patil and Ishaque, who both made their T20I debuts in the first match of this series, were pivotal in England’s demise. Patil, the 21-year-old offspinner, held on at deep midwicket to remove Amy Jones for 25 off 21 and give Ishaque her second wicket, sparking the rot for England. Left-arm spinner Ishaque, a revelation as the inaugural WPL’s joint third-highest wicket-taker, had already had Alice Capsey taken by Rodrigues at extra cover and she then bowled Danielle Gibson for a duck attempting to cut.Bess Heath, making her T20I debut as England rang in the changes, did little better, giving Patil her first with an attempted reverse sweep which found Amanjot at short third. Patil then had Kemp lbw and Ecclestone bowled, on the cut and sweep respectively. Both India spinners overcame nervy debuts, Patil taking 2 for 44 from her four overs in the first match as Ishaque took 1 for 38, and reinforced India’s faith in a revamped side.Renuka Singh struck twice inside the powerplay, including dismissing Maia Bouchier for a first-ball blob•BCCI

Renuka reprises powerplay role

Just as she had in the first two matches, Renuka struck early, removing both England openers inside the first three overs. On this occasion, with Danni Wyatt, who scored 75 in the opening match, making way for Maia Bouchier in this dead rubber, Renuka struck with the third ball of the match, a slightly fuller one that nipped back a little and pierced Bouchier’s tentative prod, bowling her through the gate.Renuka also accounted for an out-of-sorts Sophia Dunkley for the third time in as many matches, throwing her hands at a ball outside off stump which was there to be hit but she just couldn’t clear Patil at backward point. Dunkley’s score of 11 was her highest of the series and came amid a lean stretch dating back to the Ashes in the middle of this year, where she managed just one half-century – in the first T20I – and has scored just one since – at the WBBL last month. Unlike in the opening two games, however, Renuka’s good work received ample support in the form of Patil and Ishaque.

Mandhana, Rodrigues step up

Scores of 159 for 6 in pursuit of 198, where Shafali lacked support from her team-mates, and 80 all-out raised worrying questions over India’s batting ahead of this match. But Mandhana and Rodrigues stepped up when required. Mandhana’s run-a-ball 48 included two glorious sixes over deep midwicket and long-off, and five fours while Rodrigues was particularly effective on the sweep on the way to her 29 off 33.Offspinner Charlie Dean had broken their stand with a full ball that rapped Rodrigues on the back thigh as she knelt to sweep, her call for DRS unable to save her as ball-tracking showed the ball on target. Soon after, Mandhana also fell, agonisingly short of her half-century when she drove tamely to Dunkley off Ecclestone. But the India duo had set their side up and gone some way to answering those batting questions while Amanjot’s cameo at the end gave her side more encouragement.England, meanwhile, missed Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was rested from the match but still named Player of the Series for her 93 runs and two wickets, her 77 in a 138-run stand with Wyatt in the opening game the standout performance. Sarah Glenn, who is not part of England’s squad for the Test starting on Thursday, missed the match with a thumb fracture picked up in the second T20I.

The Pakistan head coach also praises Faheem Ashraf, saying the allrounder has taken his finishing skills to “another level”

Danyal Rasool16-Aug-2023Pakistan head coach Grant Bradburn has said that Pakistan have bought into the new-look attacking style they adopted against Sri Lanka in the Test series, promising the ODIs would see more of the same being implemented. He also said the players called up to training camps in Lahore and Karachi over the past week had been geared to implement the attacking skills they have demonstrated in the nets in match situations across the series against Afghanistan and the Asia Cup.”We’re not training to show skills in the nets,” Bradburn said. “We are looking to use those skills in the game. And it’s not a request from coaches to players. It’s a necessity for them to be in the team because that’s the way the game is moving forward globally. We want to play winning cricket. We have to demand that from our players. The game is moving forward all the time. And we want to be leaders of the game.”While the wasn’t officially mentioned, the PCB leaned in hard on branding Pakistan’s more belligerent new approach that way throughout the successful tour of Sri Lanka. Bradburn was keen to insist it was a philosophy the side would adopt across formats, and that Pakistan’s selection for the upcoming series had been driven by the approach rather than the other way around.Related

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• Bradburn confirmed as Pakistan men's head coach for next two years

• Thrill, thrill Pakistan

“In some ways, the selection has been difficult, but in our minds, the selection is being very easy,” he said. “And what I mean by that is we are very clear around our starting XI, we are very clear around our batting approach, the way we want to approach the game. We are very clear around how we want to attack the game, particularly in the middle overs. Pakistan hasn’t been successful in the middle overs as well as we should be. We are working hard on developing some skills to really attack that middle-overs period with some hostility, not only with the bat but with the ball and with our field placings as well. We want to take wickets through that period.”Among the more contentious selection calls was the return of Faheem Ashraf to the ODI side. Faheem has not played an ODI in over two years and had fallen out of favour across all three formats. While there has been little notable form to make a return inevitable – especially with the bat – Bradburn singled out Faheem’s allrounder credentials, saying a dearth of fast bowling allrounders made him an attractive prospect.”I believe that there is no one better at hitting pace bowling at the death than Faheem Ashraf. We really want to develop all around us. There is a lack of pace-bowling allrounders in the country and we have worked hard during the camps and our selections to reflect the fact that we want to promote pace-bowling allrounders. We want to really give opportunities to guys who are dynamic in both forms with the ball, with the bat and in the field.”Whether we go with a batting allrounder or we take the best bowler, that’s still to be decided and that’s a decision that Mickey [Arthur], myself and Inzi [Inzamam-ul-Haq] will be involved with alongside Babar as well. But it’s good to have him coming back into the one-day mode. We have really taken note of the way Faheem has been able to finish games with the bat, particularly in PSL. You would have seen him going to another level in the last year or so and he is really now starting to use his skills to finish games at the back end with the bat.”On the subject of Arthur and Pakistan’s somewhat unusual coaching arrangement due to his limited availability, Bradburn insisted the two were on the same page. Arthur is the director of Pakistan men’s cricket team, appointed after the PCB failed to reach an agreement with him to take up the head coach’s job. That elevated Bradburn into the position, which means Pakistan’s backroom staff suddenly looks very similar to the one they had during the 2019 World Cup, with Arthur, Bradburn and Inzamam all a part of the setup.”Mickey and I are very aligned. We communicate daily and he is very much in tune with where everyone is at. He is very much part of the new direction that we are wanting to take this team. So we are really looking forward to him joining us on the 23rd of August. He will be with us through to the end of the India game in Kandy. And then again, Mickey will be joining us straightaway after the English domestic season and joining us at the World Cup for its entirety and right through the Australian series and New Zealand series as well. We are really looking forward to having Mickey on board, but for me, he is on board every day anyway.”