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An emotional Jason Sangha said South Australia saved his career after delivering a match-winning unbeaten century to help the state break a 29-year Sheffield Shield drought.Sangha, 25, joined South Australia during the off-season last year having been discarded by New South Wales after six seasons and 37 Shield matches, including one as captain in 2022.The former Australia Under-19 captain had been promoted to Shield cricket very early but struggled for consistency, averaging just 26.63 with three centuries in 64 innings for New South Wales before being dropped in November 2023.Related

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But South Australia gave him a lifeline and he has repaid them in stunning fashion. He will go down as a South Australian hero after scoring an unbeaten 126 to help his side chase 270, the highest ever fourth innings run chase in a Shield final. When he hit the winning runs he was mobbed by thousands of fans that ran onto the ground and they chanted his name at the trophy presentation when he received his winners medal.”I thought my career was over,” Sangha said. “South Australia gave me a second chance. I owe them everything, really. They have saved my career.”Sangha finished the season with 704 runs at 78.22 from just six games including three centuries, one in his first game of the season where South Australia beat Tasmania in the equal closest game in Shield history, and one in the last to deliver the title.He performed his heroics in the final alongside Australia Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey who made a sensational 105 in a partnership of 202 after the pair came together at 28 for 3.Carey and Jake Lehmann were the only two players in South Australia’s XI that had played in the state’s last two Shield finals in 2016 and 2017 when they lost twice to Victoria at home and in Alice Springs. He was proud to have finally delivered a title to South Australia.”It has been too long – and the history is what it is,” Carey said. “I didn’t think time was running out but I was just super keen to do everything I can to help us this year.”The scenes in the aftermath of South Australia’s four-wicket win were extraordinary. A crowd in excess of 4000 had turned up at Karen Rolton Oval to watch the fourth day chase. There would not have been a crowd of that size at any Shield game in Australia in recent memory.When Sangha clipped the winning runs through midwicket, the vast majority of the crowd swarmed the field as Sangha and his batting partner Ben Manenti hugged in the middle. The pair got separated as they were each mobbed by fans as they tried to make their way off the ground to celebrate with their team-mates. The scenes were very similar to 1996 when South Australia last won the Shield in Adelaide, as fans swarmed Peter McIntyre and Shane George as they ran from the ground after the pair had held on for a draw.The view from the Karen Rolton Oval grandstand when the Shield trophy was presented•Getty Images

Every Shield final presentation in recent times has taken place on the ground with very few people around. With thousands on the ground in front of the only grandstand at Karen Rolton Oval, which doubles as the pavilion, Cricket Australia and South Australian Cricket Association officials created an impromptu stage in the seats at the front of the first tier.South Australia premier Peter Malinauskas stood in the throng of fans on the ground with his daughter on his shoulders as the crowd looked up to see the Shield presented to skipper Nathan McSweeney.One of the loudest cheers came for Brendan Doggett when he was announced as player of the match. The 31-year-old had already won two Shield titles with Queensland but delivered his finest performance as a Shield cricketer for South Australia taking 11 for 140 for the match, the best ever figures in a final.”I was probably a little bit naive with my first two,” Doggett said. “Just being young and being in a really strong side, I probably didn’t realise how hard they were to win until arriving here.”McSweeney, another former Queenslander, said the drought had weighed heavily on them.”When it has been a long time and you feel a little bit of external pressure as well, it makes it a little bit nicer,” McSweeney said.Coach Ryan Harris, who has delivered both the Shield and the One-Day Cup to South Australia in his first season as coach, said he was hoping the victory was just the beginning.”We’re going to try and win a few now,” Harris said. “We will definitely enjoy this one but I have already started thinking about next year.”

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have responded to their early-season defeats – they have now lost three in a row in IPL 2025 – by ringing in the changes, but they are still struggling to find their best combination. It’s a “conundrum”. So says head coach Stephen Fleming, who is concerned by the lack of balance in the squad and the dearth of firepower in the batting line-up.Four games into IPL 2025, CSK have cycled through 17 players, including all seven overseas options, which is a departure from their usual strategy of continuity in selection. No other side has used as many players this season.”Yeah, that [finding the balance] is the conundrum at the moment,” Fleming said at the press conference after CSK’s loss to Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday. “To get more solidity at the top we have to remove obviously an overseas player, so we’re grappling just with the combination that we need. When it doesn’t go right, you pore over it and analyse that and see if it was the right call.”Related

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CSK have the worst scoring rate in the powerplay among all ten teams this season at this stage, and in order to remedy that, they brought in Devon Conway and reunited him with Rachin Ravindra at the top at the expense of Rahul Tripathi against DC. They also swapped out allrounder Jamie Overton for an Indian seamer in Mukesh Choudhary. The changes didn’t work out, however, with Conway compounding CSK’s powerplay troubles with another low score and Choudhary leaking 50 runs in his wicketless spell of four overs.”We felt that our batting in the powerplays has been below par and going too hard was probably not the way, particularly on our wicket, which is a little bit tricky,” Fleming said. “So we’re looking just to settle that with guys that have been in good form and have done it before, so that’s the theory behind that and that’s what we’ll possibly continue with.”But it just comes down to run production. You can have all the tactics you like, if you’ve got a couple of players in form they can cover for others. But at the moment we’re just not quite getting the big individual scores we need so that the cameos can do their part; we’re getting starts but not quite enough.”After crashing to their biggest-ever defeat at Chepauk in terms of runs, in late March against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), CSK seemed dreadfully off the pace and out of depth in another chase, this time against DC in a day game on Saturday. They managed only 69 for 4 in ten overs in pursuit of 184, and by the time MS Dhoni walked out to bat in the next over, the asking rate had almost touched 12. Vijay Shankar had a particularly tortured stay in the middle while Dhoni also failed to bring out the big hits in the face of a mounting asking rate.”The attempt was that we went out… a combination of they bowled well, I think the ball started to grip a little bit more,” Fleming said. “Well, we understood it was going to be good for the first half and then gradually get slower, so we were keen to bat and then take pace off the ball and they did it really well. Vijay Shankar struggled to get timing all the way through his innings. But that period from 12 to 16 was difficult for all, it was tough to watch and certainly tough to be out there, so the game was just slipping away and even with intent and different methods to do it, it was just too big a scale.”Noor Ahmad has a chat with MS Dhoni•AFP/Getty Images

CSK have now failed to chase 180-plus targets in their last ten attempts, dating back to 2020. Fleming admitted that it’s another worry and called for more contributions from the top order.”Yeah, whenever you’re not doing something well, it concerns me,” Fleming said. “That’s the job. So we’re looking to find the formula that will get us over the line. We’re certainly well aware of the [180-plus] chasing stat.”We are focusing hard bowling-wise to restrict teams below that [180], but we do need to be better with the bat. There’s no doubt about it. We need to have one or two players in the form, predominantly the top three or four, and you look at the teams that are going, well, you’ll see that the majority of the runs are getting scored through there, through the top four, so we need a bit more production there, and that then allows the more power-hitters or the players to finish off the coming in the right spots.”We’re having to introduce players, just not quite at the right time, and we’ve got [Shivam] Dube as well, who’s close [to returning to form], but just not quite getting the job done.”

Big picture: Opportunity for precious game time in Pakistan

A triangular ODI series is something of a curiosity that belongs in a museum more than it does in 2025. Pakistan last hosted one in 2004, and there have been none in the ODI format anywhere since 2019. When this particular series was announced not long ago, it stood out – it is the only ODI tri series in the current FTP.Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa will play a truncated version of the classic tri-series, with just one round of matches followed by a final. The schedule was likely squeezed by the SA20 at one end and the Champions Trophy at the other, and it is that upcoming ICC event – the first hosted by Pakistan in nearly three decades – which gives the series context.While South Africa’s squad is weakened by player commitments at the SA20 and injuries, Pakistan and New Zealand, who take each other on in the opener, have pretty much full-strength sides. Both have named near-identical squads for this series and the Champions Trophy, and had two practice sessions at the rebuilt Gaddafi Stadium, which will officially be inaugurated on Friday, on the eve of the first game.Related

• Champions Trophy: Teams, players, venues, and more

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• Jacob Duffy added to NZ ODI squad for tri-series in Pakistan

• PCB shifts ODI tri-series to Lahore and Karachi

For each side, it offers the opportunity for precious match practice in conditions where the Champions Trophy will be held in the main (with India’s matches in Dubai). Pakistan and New Zealand will also open the marquee tournament, though that game will take place in Karachi and not Lahore. Both have played exactly nine ODIs each since the end of the 2023 World Cup, and all in very different conditions to this. While Pakistan won each of their three recent ODI series, New Zealand fell short in the one they played in the subcontinent, a 2-0 reversal against Sri Lanka.However, it’s not as if they are short of match practice in this country. Since December 2022, they have played two Tests, eight ODIs and ten T20Is in Pakistan across four series. On most of those occasions, though, multiple factors meant New Zealand sent in weakened squads, with larger context to build up to. This time, however, there is a multi-team trophy on the line, all while preparing for the second-biggest title in ODI cricket.It offers the visitors a chance to trial what appears a healthy balance between seam and spin in Pakistan. Captain Mitchell Santner will have Rachin Ravindra, Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips for slow bowling company, while they also have a battery of fast bowlers – no fewer than six – in their tri-series squad.Pakistan appear to have shown their hand slightly more, with just one full-time spinner alongside Salman Ali Agha, their most plausible part-time spin option. There is a bit of tinkering required at the top, where it appears Fakhar Zaman, back in from the cold, will open with Babar Azam, an experiment the PCB are testing ahead of the Champions Trophy. With this their only game before the deadline to make changes to the squad on February 11, there is more riding on it for them than just the eventual outcome of the contest.

Form guide

Pakistan WWWWW
New Zealand LWWLLBabar Azam is expected to be called upon to open the batting to provide stability up top•Gallo Images/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Babar Azam and Lockie Ferguson

Babar Azam is always in the spotlight, but things are different this time. With Saim Ayub’s injury and Abdullah Shafique’s loss of form, ESPNcricinfo understands Pakistan’s former captain is expected to be called upon to open the batting to provide stability up top. He has, with polarising effect, performed this role in T20 cricket for several years, and more recently stood in as Test opener in Cape Town, scoring a half-century in each innings. In ODIs, however, all but 14 of his innings have come at three, and as he looks to navigate his way out of a difficult run of form, a change of position in his most prolific format will guarantee all eyes on him.Lockie Ferguson has not played ODI cricket since the tail-end of 2023, but with Pakistan also naming four seamers in their squad, this may be a series where express pace is a factor. Fresh off a respectable showing in the ILT20, where he places among the top-ten wicket-takers, the 33-year-old Ferguson is the oldest fast bowler across all three sides this tri-series, but also the quickest. Against a makeshift Pakistan opening pair and, in Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, middle-order players more accomplished against spin than high pace, Ferguson’s extra heat presents a locus of vulnerability for Pakistan, and a point of difference for New Zealand.

Team news: Saim Ayub is out of action

Ayub, recovering from an ankle injury, is out of the series and the Champions Trophy. Pakistan are expected to open with Fakhar and Babar, with three premier seam bowlers and Abrar Ahmed as lone frontline spinner. The middle order will see some rotation over the series.Pakistan (likely) 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Kamran Ghulam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), 5 Tayyab Tahir/Saud Shakeel, 6 Salman Agha, 7 Khushdil Shah, 8 Shaheen Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Abrar AhmedNew Zealand have two opportunities to work out their best side here before the deadline for the Champions Trophy squads shuts. The conditions would suggest three fast bowlers at a minimum. With all of New Zealand’s spinners also handy batters, balance of the side is not much of an issue.New Zealand (possible) 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips/Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O’RourkeThe Gaddafi Stadium has been renovated ahead of the Champions Trophy•Danyal Rasool

Pitch and conditions

This is a bit of a mystery, with the entire ground rebuilt recently. Historically, though, the Gaddafi has produced flat batting surfaces and reward for extra pace in ODI cricket. Overhead conditions are likely to be more overcast than sunny, with temperatures dipping in the evening, but no rain is expected.

Stats and trivia

• Babar has only opened twice in ODI cricket, in a bilateral series against England in 2015. He scored 26 runs across his two innings
• Ferguson is one wicket away from becoming the 19th New Zealander to 100 ODI wickets
• Pakistan last hosted an ODI tri-series in 2004, featuring Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. It was called the Paktel Cup, after a telecommunications company that no longer exists. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the final then

Quotes

“You have to look at what the pitch, opposition and conditions are like before you finalise a team. This time around, even the Gaddafi Stadium is new to us.”
“We’ve seen [Tim] Southee and [Trent] Boult do it for a long time for us and do an extremely good job. We’ve got some new guys coming through alongside the experience of Matt Henry, and some good fast bowling stocks.”

Mohammad Abbas and Naseem Shah have been rested from Pakistan’s Test squad for the two-Test home series against West Indies with Pakistan looking to beef up their spin options.Aamer Jamal and Mir Hamza, who played in South Africa, have also been rested as Pakistan recalled Mohammad Ali and picked fast bowler Kashif Ali for the first time.Sajid Khan, who played a leading role in the series win against England earlier in the season, is back partnering Noman Ali. Pakistan have also recalled Abrar Ahmed.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“As part of workload management, the pace quartet of Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Abbas, Mir Hamza, and Naseem Shah has been rested,” the PCB said in a media release.Abbas was a standout performer in the South Africa series, ending as the joint-highest wicket-taker with ten wickets from the two Tests – including his 100th Test victim. Those were his first Tests for three years. His resting is likely also a result of the expected condition of the pitches – aiding spin – on which his relatively slower pace might not offer a threat.There is no place in the squad again for Shaheen Afridi, who also didn’t play in the Tests in South Africa. With Naseem also out, it means that a home season that began with Pakistan talking up their pace depth and fielding an all-pace attack will end with Shaheen and Naseem having played two and three Tests out of nine. The pair was widely seen as the attack’s pace spearheads when the season began but neither managed to play two Tests consecutively. Tellingly, when Pakistan fielded an all-pace attack in Cape Town against South Africa in their most recent Test, neither made it to the XI.Noman Ali and Sajid Khan reunite for the West Indies Tests•Getty Images

Saim Ayub, who sustained a fracture of his right ankle during the first Test against South Africa, is also missing from the squad. That will mean a new opening combination for the series as Abdullah Shafique, on the back of a prolonged run of poor form compounded by three ducks in three ODIs in South Africa, has also been dropped. The selectors have picked Imam-ul-Haq and Muhammad Hurraira in their places.Rohail Nazir will be the back-up wicketkeeper for Mohammad Rizwan. He replaces Haseebullah Khan, who split the webbing on his right hand in South Africa.Both Tests against West Indies will be played in Multan, with the first starting on January 17 and the second on January 25.

Pakistan Test squad for West Indies series

Shan Masood (capt), Saud Shakeel (vice-capt), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wk), Sajid Khan, Salman Agha

Pakistan Test head coach Jason Gillespie is considering his options after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided not to renew his assistant coach Tim Nielsen’s contract for Pakistan’s upcoming Test tour of South Africa.Nielsen, who was appointed in August this year, officially designated as the “high-performance red-ball coach”, had seen his contract run out; it was up for renewal after Pakistan’s tour of Australia, and he had been waiting to hear about a decision on an extension. He told ESPNcricinfo he felt he was “making good progress” with the team and was fully committed to the Test series against South Africa and West Indies, but that the PCB had told him his services were no longer required.It is understood that PCB did not inform Gillespie ahead of time he would no longer have his assistant coach by his side in South Africa, a decision that has left him extremely unimpressed. That he wasn’t consulted beforehand appears to be the most significant catalyst for his irritation, and fits in with a wider pattern of Gillespie’s roles and authority being steadily eroded over the last few months.Related

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• Gillespie frustrated by lack of clear communication in role as Pakistan coach

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• PCB says Gillespie will remain head coach for South Africa Tests

In October, he was removed from the selection panel for the Test side and said he was now merely a “matchday strategist”. There was limited communication between the player and the board since the end of Pakistan’s white-ball series in Australia, where he coached the side on an interim basis after Gary Kirsten quit.Gillespie’s anger is understood to partly stem from what he felt was a great rapport Nielsen had developed with the players, a point he had made more than once in public. It is believed both Gillespie and Nielsen consider the fact that Nielsen is not based in Pakistan as the reason his contract hasn’t been extended, though, as Nielsen confirmed, he would have been available for the upcoming two tours in their entirety.While it is understood the PCB has not yet made a decision on any potential replacement for Nielsen, the current administration has sought to replace overseas coaches it appointed earlier in the year with Pakistan-based ones. The PCB has, in the past, attributed not spending enough time in Pakistan as a reason for their dissatisfaction with overseas coaches, most notably in the case of Gary Kirsten, who quit in October. Gillespie, though has always maintained he has met his contractual obligations in that regard.Aqib Javed, who was part of the selection panel, and retains his place on it, was appointed head coach of the white-ball side on an interim basis until the Champions Trophy last month. The PCB did initially ask Gillespie to take up that role, but without an accompanying financial offer to reflect the increased scope of his role. It was another factor that led to relations between the board and the head coach being strained, with the latest development bringing those simmering tensions to a boil.Jason Gillespie’s future in the role was already in doubt after he was removed from the selection panel•Associated Press

While it is understood Gillespie has not ruled out the possibility of walking away before the series against South Africa, the terms upon which his stint at the PCB ends remain crucially important in what happens next. If the PCB decides to sack him, they could potentially be on the hook for paying out the vast majority of what remains of his contract, which runs till mid-2026. Should he resign of his own accord, that payout is significantly lower.ESPNcricinfo reported last month on the uncertainty surrounding Gillespie’s future. The PCB put out a statement denying his job was under immediate threat, reaffirming that Gillespie would be Pakistan coach for the two Test matches against South Africa, but pointedly declined to commit to stating that he would see out the remainder of his contract.Gillespie is scheduled to travel to South Africa from his home in Australia on December 13. Pakistan play the first Test in Centurion on December 26, with the second in Cape Town starting on January 3.ESPNcricinfo has reached out to the PCB for comment, but has not received a response.

Fast bowlers asking “questions after question” and Rachin Ravindra’s calmness were the major factors behind New Zealand claiming their first Test win in India after 36 years, captain Tom Latham has said.”We’re blessed with a couple of guys on our side, a couple of young guys that have stepped up in this match,” Latham said after the win in the first Test in Bengaluru. “I think the way Will [O’Rourke] bowled was outstanding, but I think I also look at the other two seamers, Tim Southee and Matt Henry, the pressure they were able to apply with that new ball on day one was outstanding. Matt got the rewards and Will got the rewards in that first innings.”It was a combination of everything. [It is] a really special feeling to be in this position. I think the work we did in the first and second innings with the ball and then obviously with the bat, really set the game up for us. It’s obviously a proud moment for this group and the one we will celebrate.”Related

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• Stats: A win for New Zealand in India after 36 years

Latham was effusive in his praise for Ravindra, who played a key hand in stretching New Zealand’s lead past the 350 mark in the first innings followed by a 39 not out in the second when New Zealand were two down early in the chase with the ball doing a fair bit on the final morning.Ravindra, who is just ten Tests old, showed his composure while forging an eighth-wicket partnership of 137 with Southee in the first innings after the visitors had slipped to 233 for 7.”The way he [Ravindra] played the situation of the game was really important for us,” Latham said. “A 137-run partnership with a No. 9 batter is awesome. I think the way he played leading up to that [second] new ball was really important.”Even this morning, the way he came out with the game in the balance where another couple of wickets there and it could have been a nervy 50-60 runs, but I think the way he calmed the dressing room with his composure out there for a young guy in his ninth or tenth Test to play in that fashion is obviously exciting.”We’ve seen the talent that he has got over the last 12 months and certainly happy he is on our side.”Despite bowling India out for 46 in the first innings and then amassing 402 when they batted, New Zealand had to work hard for the win. India replied strongly in their second innings, erasing the deficit losing just three wickets with Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant looking set for more.Rachin Ravindra celebrates his second Test hundred•BCCI

The second new ball, however, brought about a change of fortunes as India collapsed from 433 for 4 to 462 all out and New Zealand had to chase only 107.”From our perspective, we knew India were going to come back,” Latham said. “From the wicket point of view, it’s probably at its best over those couple of days [three and four] for a bit to bat, so we certainly knew it was going to be a challenge against India, who obviously have a lot of firepower in that line-up. They certainly keep challenging us, they keep asking good questions and obviously to get a lead from the position that they were in was obviously a quality effort.”But the work we did with the new ball yesterday evening was outstanding. I think Tim Southee, Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke with that new ball, just asked lots of questions and obviously managed to get the rewards.”At that point we certainly knew India were going to get themselves right back in the game and certainly [we were] just happy we weren’t chasing too many more than 100.”While Latham had led New Zealand in nine Tests previously, this was his first since being appointed full-time captain after Southee stepped down after the Sri Lanka series last month. He cheekily admitted that he was “very happy” to lose the toss on the second morning as he too would have opted to bat first. The opening day was washed out due to rain and with the pitch under covers for the better part of two days, New Zealand ran the Indian batting unit ragged.”I guess it’s just one of those times where you fall on the wrong or right side, whatever way you look at it, it’s always hard,” he said. “I guess the time that the wicket was under the covers, they obviously didn’t have the preparation time that they probably would have liked and [I am] happy that it fell the right way for us.”I think you try to look at what’s going to be harder. Is it going to be harder on day one or is it going to be harder on day five? We expect the match to go the duration of the game and I think we even saw it this morning when [Ravindra] Jadeja got that one out of the foot marks that hit Rachin in the head.”Obviously, the pitch was deteriorating. The cracks were starting to open a little bit more and we certainly saw that from a seamer’s point of view when the ball did hit those cracks that went up and down a little bit. I guess that’s a fine balance when you come over here and there’s not many times that you win the toss and bowl. So yeah, happy it fell on the right side.”It could end up being a red-letter day for New Zealand cricket. The men’s team won a Test in India after 36 years, and the women’s team now have the chance to claim their maiden ICC title when they face South Africa in the T20 World Cup final later in the evening in Dubai.”Yeah, it’s obviously been a great morning for New Zealand cricket from our point of view, but hopefully it can be an even better day for New Zealand cricket,” Latham said. “Obviously, the guys have been following the tournament a little bit and we’re obviously excited when they won that semi-final and I think for them to be in the position now with a chance of winning a T20 World Cup is obviously really special. Good luck to them.”

New Zealand were on the high of a maiden Women’s T20 World Cup win and their spinners combined to take seven of the ten Indian wickets to restrict them to 227. But India’s ODI debutants, Tejal Hasabnis and Saima Thakor, shone in crucial moments to help them make a winning start to the three-match series against New Zealand in Ahmedabad.Hasabnis, the Maharashtra middle-order batter, played a steady innings at No. 6 walking in after India were in a spot of bother. She made 42 off 64 balls and was involved in a 61-run partnership. Then Thakor, Mumbai’s bowling allrounder who played for UP Warriorz in WPL 2024, delivered telling blows with the ball to help dismiss New Zealand for 168 and help India go 1-0.Amelia Kerr and Eden Carson continued their superb form from the T20 World Cup. Amelia, the Player of the Tournament, returned 4 for 42 while Carson, who headed into the title-clash on the back of two Player-of-the-Match performances, picked up two of her own. With Suzie Bates also bowling five overs and returning a wicket, it seemed as if India had left a few runs on a surface that looked good for batting.That looked to be case even more when Georgia Plimmer got off to a flier. She hit a flurry of boundaries off Thakor and Renuka Singh, both of whom erred by bowling on her pads. The idea was not all wrong – Thakor was getting the ball to shape away, and hence was trying for the magic ball. There was merit in her bowling plan after it paid dividends on her third ball in internationals. She got one to nip away ever-so slightly to entice a poke from Bates and feather an edge behind.Renuka used the width of the bowling crease to bowl the in-anglers but it played into the hands of Plimmer and Lauren Down, batting at No. 3 after Amelia was seen limping towards the end of the bowling innings. But Deepti Sharma then used her experience to prise out Plimmer. She slowed the flighted ball down and made the batter force the issue, only for her to chip a return catch back.Deepti’s street-smartness then helped India see the back of New Zealand captain Sophie Devine. Devine, who stepped down from T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup, pushed one towards Deepti but stood out of her crease. Deepti threw the ball back at wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia even as Devine took a few steps back, but no part of her foot was inside the crease.Radha then managed to have Down miscue one to mid-off an over after a leading edge landed short of the same region. Which is when the real domination came from New Zealand with the bat. Brooke Halliday and Maddy Green combined to play a clinical game. They used the crease to manufacture boundaries regularly, most of them behind square on either side.Green first scooped one fine down leg, cut one fiercely past backward point and then sliced one over the same region. Halliday even used the reverse sweep early. They added 49 off 63 balls for the fifth wicket. Smriti Mandhana, captaining India after Harmanpreet Kaur missed out due to a niggle, brought in Shafali Verma in a bid to change a few things but she was hit for a couple of fours in an over.Thakor then broke through, in the third over of her second spell. She got one to stop on Halliday and managed to catch hold of the caught and bowled chance. Three balls later, Mandhana nailed a direct hit at the striker’s end to send Green back. And there was no looking back from there for India. They struck regularly, with only Amelia’s 55-ball stand with Isabella Gaze for the eighth wicket delaying the inevitable.Tejal Hasabnis was solid in the middle order•BCCI

It was not the perfect start for Mandhana, who was leading India in an ODI for the first time. She fell cheaply, cutting one straight to backward point. But Shafali looked to bring a gear that we hardly saw at the T20 World Cup, particularly targeting Jess Kerr. She used the pull shot to good effect and then dispatched a length ball over the sightscreen. But she pulled Carson’s first ball straight to square leg to fall cheaply.A couple of 20-something partnerships followed – first between Bhatia and Dayalan Hemalatha, who batted at No. 4 in Harmanpreet’s absence, and then between Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues. It was only when Rodrigues combined with Hasabnis that there came a sense of stability in the Indian batting.The pair looked particularly at ease against spin, maneuvering the ball in the outfield to keep the scorecard ticking. Hasabnis showed her prowess against spin specifically when she went deep in the crease against Amelia’s legspin to slice it past backward point. The pair increased the pace as they went along in their 61-run partnership of just 70 balls.But Rodrigues missed a clip off Bates and was adjudged lbw, the review returning an umpire’s call on impact. Then on 42, Hasabnis could not resist charging at a tossed-up delivery from Amelia and was stumped. Deepti, who walked in at No. 7, showed a lot of intent from the start. She hit a couple of fours and a six in her 41, her best score in ODIs since September 2022. Her innings capsulated the theme of India’s innings – that of batters getting starts but not carrying on. Five India batters made more than 30 but none crossed 42.India faced 125 dots in the 44.3 overs they batted; New Zealand faced 141 in their 40.4. But eventually, it came down to the team that made fewer mistakes and India, despite finishing on what can at best be termed a par score, took the honours that mattered in the series-opener, winning just their second ODI in the last eight outings against New Zealand.

Josh Philippe has made a perfect start to life in New South Wales colours, plundering a sparkling century against his former side to lead the Blues to a thrilling eight-run One-Day Cup victory over Western Australia.Philippe made an off-season switch from WA to NSW in a bid to reignite his Sheffield Shield career. But it’s with the white ball that Philippe has made a memorable early impression, with the 27-year-old cracking a career-high 139 off 119 deliveries to lead NSW to 287 for 9 at Cricket Central in Sydney on Sunday.Philippe’s innings overshadowed the return to form of WA’s injury-prone quick Jhye Richardson who put his injury woes behind him to finish with 5 for 63, including two wickets in three balls in the sixth over.In reply, three-time defending champions WA had a chance to pinch victory after moving to 279 for 9, needing nine runs off the final eight balls.But Will Salzmann ended WA’s hopes, taking a tough catch at deep point while running backwards and looking into the sun to dismiss AJ Tye.Salzmann had returned expensive figures of 2 for 72, but he had the last laugh with the match-winning catch.Cameron Bancroft top scored for WA with 71, while Ashton Agar (51), Ashton Turner (41) and Hilton Cartwright (41) also produced handy contributions.Philippe plundered 17 fours and three sixes in his devastating knock, with the star opener particularly brutal down the ground, both along the deck and over the top.Agar, WA’s lone spinner, suffered plenty of punishment from Philippe on the way to figures of 1 for 58 from eight overs. Richardson claimed Philippe’s wicket in the 38th over courtesy of a brilliant one-handed diving catch from Bancroft at mid-on.But the damage had already been done, with Philippe’s knock helping NSW post a formidable total despite the lack of support around him.Matthew Gilkes scored 41 off 47 batting at No.7 to be the next best scorer, while tail-ender Tanveer Singh added a handy 26 not out off 14 balls at the death.

Pakistan will take on Bangladesh in the first Test in Rawalpindi next week without a specialist spinner, after Abrar Ahmed was released from the Test squad to join the Shaheens squad.It means Pakistan will field an all-pace attack, with the return of Naseem Shah to the Test side after a year out bolstering an attack that also includes Shaheen Shah Afridi.Khurram Shehzad and Mir Hamza, who both impressed at times during Pakistan’s last Test assignment in Australia, and Mohammad Ali are the other fast bowlers in the squad. Aamer Jamal, though, is unlikely to be available for the first Test. Jamal was the standout performer in Australia, taking 18 wickets and scoring valuable runs. But he’s been suffering from a lower back complaint since earlier this summer, one which affected and ultimately curtailed his county stint with Warwickshire.Abrar, who missed the Australia Tests with an injury, has been released alongside Kamran Ghulam, in the interests of both playing cricket rather than sitting on the bench. Ghulam will captain the Shaheens side against Bangladesh A in a four-day game, which begins in Islamabad on August 20, one day before the Test series.Related

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Abrar’s absence means Pakistan will be without a frontline spinner for only the second time in a home Test – including their UAE Tests – since September 1995 (though they did play a couple of Tests in the early 2000s with Shahid Afridi as their sole spinner). The only other time they played an all-pace attack was also at Rawalpindi, in December 2019, in what was their first Test in Pakistan in 10 years. That was part of a strategic shift under the new leadership of Azhar Ali, who, with Yasir Shah’s form dipping drastically, wanted to rely more on pace. It didn’t last long as Yasir returned and, in subsequent seasons, pitches were prepared to assist spin.Abrar Ahmed will play for Pakistan Shaheens against Bangladesh A next week•Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

The move to release Abrar doesn’t mark a broader change in philosophy as much as it acknowledges what Pakistan hope the surface in Rawalpindi will be – one with pace and bounce. If so, that will be a significant change from recent Test surfaces at the venue: lifeless and full of runs.It is also a nod towards the relative lack of resources in Pakistan’s spin cupboard, with neither Sajid Khan nor Noman Ali really having nailed down a spot in the Test side over the last few seasons. The first Test will be the fourth instance of Pakistan not picking a spinner in their playing XI in their last 32 Tests. By contrast, only twice in 201 Tests before that did they not play a specialist spinner.It will leave Salman Ali Agha to shoulder the spin load for this Test, though increasingly that is a responsibility he has looked well-equipped for. In his last six Tests, since the start of 2023, he has bowled on average 12 overs per innings, including twice bowling 20 or more overs in Australia. He’s also made a habit of picking up useful wickets in that time, something that has not gone unnoticed.Asked on the last week whether Pakistan were short of spinning options, Test coach Jason Gillespie said: “You can look into whatever you want. But to start, I think we’ve got two special spinners. Salman Ali Agha is good enough to be classified as a specialist spinner. From what I’ve seen, he has a lot of potential with his offspin. Abrar (Ahmed), obviously, is a fine young bowler in the early stages of his career.”So, I think we’ve covered a lot of bases. We have a lot of seam-bowling options and spin-bowling options. Our batting is varied as well. I believe we have all bases covered, and it’s a very exciting time for the Pakistan Test side.”Both Abrar and Ghulam will rejoin the Test squad after the conclusion of the Shaheens four-day game and will be available for selection for the second Test in Karachi.

After 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.”