Pakistan have the opportunity to secure the world number one T20I ranking with victory in the decider against New Zealand

Preview by Danyal Rasool27-Jan-2018

Big Picture

Let’s begin with the facts: New Zealand have outplayed Pakistan along the length and breadth of the country. They have batted, bowled and fielded better, with the results bearing that out. Six of the seven games played have seen New Zealand emerge comfortably on top, while Pakistan trumped them on an off day in Auckland in a result that, in the context of this tour, could only be called an upset.But move on to the PR spin Pakistan will want to put on this tour, and you could paint a very different picture. Pakistan are one win away from returning to New Zealand having won one of the two series, and thus being able to claim parity. One game away from beating the world’s best T20 side in their own backyard, and wrenching that accolade from them and claiming it for themselves. They could claim to have taken on arguably the world’s most modern side in their approach to limited-overs cricket, and a victory for Pakistan would prove, in their eyes, that Sarfraz Ahmed’s men aren’t so far off from matching those heights either. They are three hours, and 40 overs, away from this.All of that rests on this game. Defeat for New Zealand will put a dampener on what has been a magnificent home season for them, one that’s well on its way to being considered one of their best ever. It will draw away momentum before the all-important visit of England, who have spent the last fortnight burnishing their limited-overs credentials with an impressive series win in Australia. It will undo a lot of their good work against a side that, for six games, frankly didn’t offer New Zealand the kind of competitive cricket they would have liked before England’s visit. Relinquishing their top spot in T20I cricket to that sort of team may almost be considered ignominious.For all those reasons, a lot more rests on this third T20I at Mount Maunganui than most bilateral T20Is have to shoulder. Victory for New Zealand, and the narrative of the tour is preserved. Defeat, and Pakistan begin to write a script of their own.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand LWWWL

Pakistan WLWWW

In the spotlight

Kane Williamson was sold at the IPL auction for a cool $635,000, but his T20 numbers of late haven’t quite dignified a man of his stature. He has managed just 97 runs in his last seven innings, never once crossing 30, and only once exceeding a strike rate of 135. He’s not a typical T20 player, but his reputation has been enhanced by his ability to adapt to both conditions and format, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who snapped him up, clearly still have faith in the New Zealand captain. His dismissal for a golden duck in the second T20I put Pakistan in firm control of the match, when a big innings from him was desperately needed. He was in form during the ODI series but if he wants to display his skills in the shortest format in a high-pressure encounter, Mount Maunganui has set the stage for him.Ish Sodhi may be ranked the world’s best T20I bowler – although that didn’t help him on the opening day of the IPL auction – but it feels inevitable that Shadab Khan will be ranked there someday. He’s already mixing it with the best and holding his own, and the final T20I gives him an excellent platform to showcase that again. He has blown a little hot and cold on this tour, following up a superb performance with an indifferent one. Consistency is arguably a legspinner’s biggest challenge, but Shadab has the confidence and ability to rise to it. Pakistan will consider tomorrow’s decider a fantastic place to start building towards it.

Team news

Ross Taylor and Tom Blundell – who scored a hundred on Test debut against the West Indies – have been called up for the final game. Colin Munro misses out with a slight hamstring strain, while Glenn Phillips has been released back to his domestic side, Auckland, where Mike Hesson wanted the wicketkeeper to “evolve” his game. Tim Southee, who was rested for the second game, returns.New Zealand (possible): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Bruce, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Colin de Grandhomme, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Ben Wheeler/Anaru Kitchen, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Ish SodhiPakistan are likely to go with the same eleven that produced their best performance of the tour at Eden Park. That may mean Sarfraz persists with batting at No. 4, given the success of the strategy in Auckland.Pakistan (probable): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), 5 Faheem Ashraf, 6 Haris Sohail, 7 Umar Amin, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Rumman Raees, 11 Mohammad Amir

Pitch and conditions

Rain is not expected to be a factor in Mount Maunganui, a surface which takes a bit more spin than the average New Zealand ground. That may prompt both sides to go with two spinners, though a batting friendly deck is expected.

Stats and trivia

• In four T20I series between these two sides, New Zealand have won two, and Pakistan one, with one drawn. If Pakistan win, it will be their first T20I series win in New Zealand
• New Zealand have never lost a T20I at Mount Maunganui. In five previous matches, they have won four, with the game against West Indies earlier this season washed out

Quotes

“The boys have played well there and the crowd’s always good as well. Hopefully they turn out and we can put on a good performance for them”

After conceding 180, Karachi put up a listless batting performance to go down by 67 runs –
the heaviest margin of defeat in PSL history

The Report by Danyal Rasool08-Mar-2018In a nutshellQuetta Gladiators turned in a performance that would have been well-suited to their form in the first two seasons, crushing Karachi Kings by 67 runs. Riding the high from Wednesday’s pulsating finish, they played their best match of this year’s tournament by far, dominating Karachi from the first ball to last. They amassed 180, thanks to major contributions from their two biggest stars. Shane Watson scored an unbeaten 58-ball 90, while Kevin Pietersen belted 52 off 34 balls to subdue a Karachi bowling attack that had more weak links than an Anne Robinson game show. Afridi and Imad Wasim were off colour, while Imran Khan and David Wiese bore the brunt of the punishment Pietersen and Watson dished out. By the end of the innings, it seemed a small win for Karachi that Sarfraz Ahmed’s men didn’t get closer to 200.Karachi experimented by sending Afridi to open the batting with Joe Denly, in the process reminding everyone why he hasn’t been opening the batting for the last decade or so. He looked particularly wobbly, and was dismissed for 1 off 5 balls. The rest of the Karachi top order was no better, as Mohammad Nawaz bossed proceedings in the first Powerplay with an excellent spell. By 10 overs, Karachi were 55 for 5, and the game was already over, with both sides going through the motions for the last hour or so. Before long, Quetta had clinched a big win, boosting their net run rate and sending a message to the rest of the league.Where the match was wonOpening with Afridi, Karachi would have hoped to get off to an aggressive start in the Powerplay, and keep in touch with the asking rate. It’s safe to say that idea didn’t work, but it’s worth looking at the scale of the disaster in the early overs. Four of their top five batsmen fell for a combined six runs, with Denly, Afridi, Ingram and Bopara scoring 1, 1, 5 and 0 respectively. Nawaz, Rahat Ali and Hasan Khan were without blemish early on, all of them taking wickets and not conceding runs. That was in marked contrast to Quetta’s top order, which, thanks to Watson and Pietersen, had taken the game away from Wasim’s men before the second innings had even begun.The men that won itThursday was a good day to shut up everyone who wrote Quetta off this year due to their lack of star power. With a lineup including two of the biggest names of this generation, it was only a matter of time before someone found themselves on the wrong end of a Quetta hammering. In the twilight of their careers, Pietersen and Watson tore into Karachi with an enthralling partnership, walloping 86 runs in 58 balls. Crucially, that was in the middle overs, a time when most teams’ scoring rates go down. That meant Quetta’s innings never really decelerated, resulting in an imposing total. Watson even returned for a stellar bowling spell, conceding 18 runs in three overs and taking the wicket of Babar Azam.The (big) numbers gameWatson’s unbeaten 90 superseded Sohaib Maqsood’s 85 that until today had been the highest individual score in PSL 3. Moreover, Quetta’s 67-run win is the biggest in terms of runs in the history of the league. At one stage, Quetta looked like they were on course to beat Multan Sultans’ 183 and claim the highest team total this year too, before a late part-rally by Karachi’s bowlers deprived them of that record.Where they standQuetta surge to second in the table after Thursday’s big win, their eight points behind only Multan Sultan, who have nine. Karachi, with seven points, drop down to fourth.

The Australia women captain has said her team will respond better to pressure against a resurgent Indian side ahead of the first ODI in Baroda

Annesha Ghosh in Baroda11-Mar-2018While they have never lost an ODI series against them, it’s unlikely Australia will have forgotten recent reversals at the hands of India. In January 2016, an emergent Indian side picked up their maiden T20I series win over Australia. Eighteen months later, Harmanpreet Kaur ran amok in Derby to turn Australia’s World Cup campaign “to custard”.As she prepares to resume captaincy duties, a fit-again Meg Lanning insisted that Australia have long buried ghosts of the past, and are a more “evolved” unit that is raring to outdo a “tough opposition” on their home turf.”India are definitely up against a team that will respond better to the pressure they put on us in the semi,” Lanning said on the eve of the three-match ODI series-opener in Baroda, where she’ll be making her first international appearance since Australia’s exit from the World Cup.”There’s no doubt that that loss [in the World Cup semifinal] hurt us, and we learned a lot from that and we do feel like we are in a better space now as a team. We’ve improved on some things, we have to come out here and play really well. We’re looking forward to testing our skills in tough environment.”Acknowledging team changes during the multi-format Ashes as a rectification of fielding a batting-heavy XI at the cost of a frontline bowler at the World Cup, Lanning exuded confidence in how the side has shaped up since landing in India on March 3. Besides their emphatic warm-up victories over India A, Lanning pinned her optimism on the uncapped talents – allrounder Nicola Carey and left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux – roped in via the WBBL.”We’re blessed with a number of all-round options now,” Lanning said. “We knew going into that World Cup, it was one way or the other, team balance wasn’t right. Best teams evolve and learn from their mistakes. That’s something we have done really well. Opportunities for some of us to step up in this series. We’ve picked a number of players in good form from our WBBL competition.”Lanning also sounded confident about the team’s ability to cope with two new balls on their first assignment in the subcontinent, given the swing the Australian bowlers enjoyed during the practice matches. Echoing Lanning’s thoughts, head coach Matthew Mott said: “Agree, we’re blessed with having a bit more of a crack at it domestically. I think our players have got their head around it, how to respond in the field.”Mott acknowledged the progress made by the Indian side, and said the series would boil down to winning clutch moments. “I think they have been a strong side for a long time. It’s been great to see the profile of some of the Indian players expand. Unfortunately, we were on the back end of the victory. I think for the world game, it’s been very exciting to see some household names there, and India’s woken up to what women’s cricket can bring to the sport. There’s going to be no quarter given in those couple of games. Whoever takes those critical moments will end up on top.”As confident as India would be following their successful South African tour, Harmanpreet Kaur, the vice-captain, was wary of the impact Lanning’s return would have on the visitors. “She’s got this knack of scoring big, so the team is greatly dependent on her,” she said. “That’s her plus point. So, it’s a big advantage for them. Lanning and [Ellyse] Perry have done really well against us in the past. Our main focus would be on these two. And there’s [Elyse] Villani, too. Theirs is a strong side, so we need to keep an eye on pretty much everyone.”Even more, India would be wary of their fielding, which has been up and down. The South Africa tour featured a spectacular Jemimah Rodrigues catch and an airborne Smriti Mandhana stop in the deep, but also missed stumpings and seven dropped catches. Besides, their lower order has tended to cave in under pressure, when the top four have been dismissed early.”I know we have not been consistent in the [South Africa] series with our fielding,” Tushar Arothe, the India head coach, said. “But Biju [George] sir is working really hard at it, and we’ve made plans – assigning different positions to different fielders to give them confidence – and I’m expecting positive results from them.”Our lower-order batting is pretty weak. Given our top order has been getting the job done, our lower order hasn’t quite got enough opportunity. But it’s an important aspect we’re focused on. Since I’ve taken over, every member in the squad has been getting time to bat [in the nets]. In South Africa, too, we created match situations, where all the team members batted. This is a concern we are well aware of, and hopefully, in the coming years, things will get a lot better.”Arothe expected the batting-friendly pitch at the Reliance Cricket Stadium, with scant grass cover, to assist the quicks only in the first 30-45 minutes, but the absence of the injured Jhulan Goswami may give Australia a chance to test the hosts’ pace contingent.”All these years, Jhulan has been doing extremely well, but at the same time, Shikha and [Pooja Vastrakar] need to carry the weight, especially Shikha Pandey. We have always played with 2-3 fast bowlers, like you must have seen in South Africa, we went in with three fast bowlers. That’s a bit unusual for the Indian side. But this is what we did and we were successful. So we’ll take a look at the wicket tomorrow and take a call as to whether or not we should go in with two or three fast bowlers.”

England’s senior bowler says he relishes the responsibility of being vice-captain, but wants whole team to chip in

Andrew McGlashan in Hamilton13-Mar-2018
James Anderson wants some of England’s younger players to be more vocal when it comes to sharing ideas and contributing to the leadership of the Test team.Anderson was confirmed as Joe Root’s vice-captain for the New Zealand Test series on Tuesday, having taken the position in Ben Stokes’ absence in the Ashes, but believes there is an important collective role for the players to have below the captain.”Most teams I’ve played in, the vice-captaincy didn’t mean people talking any more or other people talking less,” Anderson said. “It’s a group effort, a team, we need everybody’s input – Alastair Cook’s input, Stuart Broad, and we need the younger guys to start chirping up a bit more to be honest and having some more input. That’s what we want to do as a team – get to a point where everyone has their say. We’ve got an open and honest dressing-room, all we’re trying to do is improve this team.”Anderson (134 Tests) is England’s second-most capped player of all time, behind former captain Alastair Cook (152) while Stuart Broad (114) is in the top ten. Root has 65 caps and is part of the senior core alongside Stokes (39), Jonny Bairstow (50) and Moeen Ali (49). Among the less experienced players is the batting trio of Mark Stoneman, James Vince and Dawid Malan – the first two of which will be playing for their Test futures in New Zealand. Chris Woakes sits somewhere in the middle, having played only 22 Tests and needing to re-establish his Test credentials after a poor Ashes.The team was constantly under pressure during the 4-0 Ashes defeat, but Anderson hoped that that experience would help some players find their voice.”It probably is one of the quieter [teams],” he said. “I think the Ashes would’ve have helped in that respect because that’s as pressurised an environment as you can get and we came through that pretty strong as a group and hopefully we can kick on from there – not just in the dressing-room but on the field as well. We’ve got areas we need to improve and we know that. Hopefully that Ashes series helps us do that.”James Anderson and Stuart Broad during training at Hamilton•Getty Images

Keeping the vice-captaincy means that Anderson is just injury or illness to Root away from leading England in a Test match – “Yep, I’ll cross that bridge if and when that happens,” he said – and on the final day of the Ashes was left to dissect the 4-0 margin when Root was struck down with a bug that meant he was asleep in the dressing-room when the match ended.”I enjoyed that last day [in Sydney], I know I can play it down a bit and say I didn’t like it but that responsibility I like – it’s the same as taking the new ball. I enjoy trying to help the team, whether that’s defending the lads in front of the cameras, you guys, trying to fend off Geoffrey Boycott, whatever it might be, I enjoy each challenge that comes my way.”Anderson’s bowling output is showing no signs of diminishing – he took 17 wickets at 27.82 and conceded barely more than two an over against Australia – but he won’t keep going forever. The next milestone on the horizon is to become the leading pace bowler in Test history, with Glenn McGrath’s 563 wickets now 40 away, but Anderson wants to ensure he helps rejuvenate England’s Test side.”I think we’ve got some really special players and I want to see this team doing well. I just try and do everything I can to help the guys come through, whether that’s the bowlers or talking to the young guys, help them settle into Test cricket as quickly as possible, or even the batsmen – chatting to them in a net session. I think it’s an important job, certainly for the more senior guys, to do.”England now have four days, weather permitting, of action in Hamilton to prepare for the two Tests against New Zealand – it will be glorified middle practice given the hotchpotch scenario of pink and red balls over two two-day matches – and there is little room for error in a short series. They were fortunate to escape with a 0-0 draw five years ago and lost the first Test of a three-match series 2008 before winning 2-1.”We have recognised the areas that we came up short in the Ashes. It’s going to be just as tough in New Zealand,” Anderson said. “Maybe the attention around it is not going to be as big, that sort of pressure might not be as big, but we’re still playing a team that is really settled at home. They’ve got a really good formula when they play here, they’ve got a really good bowling attack who know how to take 20 wickets on these pitches here so we’ve got to really use this next week as best we can.”

India opener Smriti Mandhana’s prolific run of form in 2018 earned her a career-best fourth position on the ICC rankings for batsmen while compatriot Deepti Sharma climbed to No. 3 on the allrounders’ charts

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Apr-2018India opener Smriti Mandhana’s prolific run of form in 2018 – she averaged a stellar 90.50 in the recently concluded ODI series against England – hoisted her to a career-high fourth position on the ICC Women’s ODI rankings for batsmen.This is first time Mandhana, 21, has broken into the top five and she did it by moving up 10 places. Her team-mate Deepti Sharma climbed to No. 3 among allrounders, trailing Australia’s Ellyse Perry and West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor.In nine innings this year, Mandhana has amassed 531 runs, including five half-centuries, at an average of 66.37, nearly double that of her career average of 37.53. During India’s most recent 50-over assignment, which they clinched 2-1, she smashed 86, 42 and 53*. She struck 14 fours and five sixes – most by any player on either side – all of which earned her the Player-of-the-Series honours.Deepti also took giant strides along both the batting and bowling charts, climbing eight spots to 16th and ten spots to 14th respectively. She made 104 runs in three ODIs against England – second-highest for the series – and now sits on a career-best 560 points.Meanwhile, England offspinner Danielle Hazell, who picked up six wickets and dismissed India captain Mithali Raj cheaply twice in the series, rose to No. 12 on the bowling charts, with a career-best 553 ranking points. Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone rose 51 places to the 45th spot on the back of a match haul of 4 for 14 last Monday.Perry retained the top spot among both batsmen and allrounders, while compatriot Jess Jonassen leads the bowling charts.

Uncapped Delhi quick Navdeep Saini has been named as his replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2018India quick Mohammed Shami has been left out of the squad for the Afghanistan Test in Bengaluru after failing a fitness test at National Cricket Academy (NCA). It is understood Shami has a hamstring issue in the right leg and it was decided to rest him keeping in mind the five-Test series in England which starts in August. Uncapped fast bowler Navdeep Saini, who was the highest wicket-taker for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy with 34 wickets in eight games, has been picked as a like-for-like replacement.Shami tested his hamstring while bowling in the nets on the first day of India’s training sessions ahead of the Afghanistan Test. It is not yet clear whether the decision to drop him from the squad was taken after Monday’s training.Shami had been hampered by the niggles right through the IPL, where he played for Delhi Daredevils. ESPNcricinfo understands that Shami played the first three matches with some niggles and, though he was not 100% match fit, played Daredevils’ fourth game but struggled once again for rhythm. Once the coaching staff noticed that Shami could not even run properly during training sessions, it was decided to not play Shami for the rest of the IPL.He has been at the NCA in Bengaluru undergoing rehab. Reportedly, he also underwent yo-yo tests, a mandatory process for selection, though the results of these tests could not be confirmed. To clear them, Shami would have had to meet the 16:1 mark set by the Indian team.After the IPL, Shami was named as a replacement for allrounder Hardik Pandya in the World XI squad for the charity T20I match against West Indies at Lord’s on May 31, but did not turn up for the match.Saini consistently generated speeds upwards of 140kph in the Ranji Trophy – two such thunderbolts dismissed Aamir Gani and B Amit off successive deliveries in the semi-final against Bengal in Pune. He claimed seven wickets in the match and bowled Delhi into the final. He then picked up eight wickets in six matches in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy at an economy rate of 5.13. He was subsequently picked for the Deodhar Trophy and the Irani Cup.More recently, Saini was named in the India A squad to tour England for a four-day match from July 16. Saini did not get a game for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, but the franchise’s bowling coach Ashish Nehra rates him highly.Updated India squad: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur

Sri Lanka ended the first day on 277 for 9 with the left-arm South Africa spinner leading the fightback; Dale Steyn’s wait for his record-breaking wicket to overtake Shaun Pollock continued

The Report by Firdose Moonda20-Jul-2018Stumps Keshav Maharaj and Hashim Amla celebrate a wicket•Associated Press

Keshav Maharaj singlehandedly kept South Africa competing on a dry pitch in Colombo, where he claimed the best figures by a visiting spinner on Sri Lankan soil. Maharaj was operating as the only specialist spinner in the XI, and his career-best 8 for 116 engineered mini-collapses in a Sri Lankan innings that could not sustain its strong start.Danushka Gunathilaka and Dimuth Karunaratne, put on the first century stand for the opening pair since October 2016 , and the first at home since 2010. Both went on to score half-centuries. Dhananjaya de Silva joined them with the milestone but none of the three pushed on to a three-figure score, and no-one in the middle-order made more than 22.Sri Lanka lost 3 for 37 after their first-wicket stand and 5 for 41 later in the day, and may not get to 300. But with three spinners in their attack, they will believe their total is worth much more.South Africa have armed themselves with an extra batsman to prepare for the challenge, leaving out the second specialist spinner, a selection which threatened to backfire on them when the seamers failed to make inroads.Dale Steyn’s wait to overtake Shaun Pollock as South Africa’s leading wicket-taker continues. Steyn bowled 15 overs but caused few problems, fewer than Kagiso Rabada or Lungi Ngidi, who was selected ahead of Vernon Philander for this Test. Of the three, Rabada was the stand-out performer, putting in the most work and enjoying some reward, when he claimed the only other wicket in the day.Gunathilaka and Karunarathe began confidently, taking on the full ball and in Karunaratne’s case, the short ball too, and it was only when Ngidi replaced Steyn, seven overs into the morning, that they were properly challenged. Ngidi had an appeal for lbw against Karunaratne with his fifth ball, beat his outside edge with his next, drew a leading edge from Gunathilaka in this third over, an uncontrolled aerial shot four balls later and an outside edge that fell short of point. Gunathilaka settled after that trial by Ngidi and registered the first half-century of his five-Test career, with the milestone coming post-lunch, the delivery after Karunaratne’s.By then, Maharaj had bowled nine overs without success, and he went on to deliver a 10th before things started to happen. Maharaj tossed one up, Karunaratne flicked feebly as it spun down the leg side and Quinton de Kock moved quickly to take the catch. In his next over, Maharaj dangled a delivery outside off, Gunathilaka went on to slog sweep and top-edged to deep-square leg, where Rabada took an impressive diving catch.Kusal Mendis carried on where the top two left off and played enterprisingly for his 34-ball 21 but became the second batsman to fall to the sweep. Sri Lanka had lost three of their top four in the middle session and needed to consolidate.But Angelo Mathews did little to aid the cause when, three balls after tea, he played at a Maharaj ball that bounced and took the outside edge to offer Faf du Plessis a catch at slip. Mathews did, at least, manage to score the eight runs he needed to become the ninth Sri Lankan to 5,000 Test runs.Instead, it was up to de Silva to steady Sri Lanka. He found runs off Maharaj fairly easily, used his feet well, built a fifth-wicket stand of 54 with Roshen Silva and recovered from a blow to the shoulder after he ducked into a Rabada short ball to bring up fifty off 100 balls. But he could not stop the slide that followed afterwards.Roshen became the only Sri Lankan to fall to a seamer in the innings when he was bowled by a Rabada yorker, and the lower order fell away, largely of their own doing. Niroshan Dickwella gloved a sweep to first slip, de Silva was given out on review off a slider, Dilruwan Perera swept to backward-square leg and Suranga Lakmal drove to short extra cover. Maharaj bowled 25 overs in his first spell and seven in his second, putting a workload of 32 overs on the first day, and leaving South Africa to question whether they should have instead sacrificed a quick for a second slower bowler, especially on the evidence late in the day.Part-timer Aiden Markram, bowling offspin with the second new ball, found substantial turn and bounce and on one occasion, got the ball to explode off the pitch as it spun sharply away outside off stump. After South Africa take the last Sri Lankan wicket, their batsmen will have to step up on this pitch, and will need to show better application than they did in Galle if they are to stay alive in the series.

Two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is are scheduled in November and December, meaning the tour will take place alongside Bangladesh’s general elections

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2018West Indies are set to visit Bangladesh in November and December this year for their first full tour of the country since 2012. There will be a two-day practice match before the tour kicks off with two Tests. Three ODIs and three T20Is follow.

Tour itinerary

• 1st Test, Nov 22-26, Chittagong

• 2nd Test, Nov 30-Dec 4, Mirpur

• 1st ODI, Dec 9, Mirpur

• 2nd ODI, Dec 11, Mirpur

• 3rd ODI, Dec 14, Sylhet

• 1st T20I, Dec 17, Sylhet

• 2nd T20I, Dec 20, Mirpur

• 3rd T20I, Dec 22, Mirpur

West Indies’ visit means Bangladesh will have a packed home season, with Zimbabwe touring in October and the Bangladesh Premier League scheduled in January. The November-December window had been left empty due to the general elections scheduled in the country at that time, but, as things stand now, the West Indies series will happen alongside the elections.The last match West Indies played in Bangladesh was during the 2014 World T20. Their last bilateral tour of the country was in 2012-13. West Indies had blanked Bangladesh 2-0 in the Test series then, but the home side fought back to take the ODI series 3-2, while West Indies ended the tour with victory in the solitary T20I.The two sides are currently playing each other in the West Indies, where the home side brushed Bangladesh aside 2-0 in the two Tests but the visitors came back to win the first ODI of the ongoing three-match series. The teams will also play three T20Is.

The fast bowler has been named in the India A squad for their Quadrangular series third-place match against South Africa A on Wednesday

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Aug-2018Bhuvneshwar Kumar has regained full fitness and will be part of India A’s squad for their third-place game against South Africa A in the ongoing A team Quadrangular Series. The BCCI confirmed the development with a tweet on Monday evening.Bhuvneshwar had been undoing intense rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for the last four weeks, after being ruled out of the first three Tests against England with a lower-back issue. He had been managing this injury for a few months – he had been rested from the Nidahas Trophy T20s and the one-off Test against Afghanistan, and sat out a few IPL games too – and aggravated it while playing the third ODI against England at Headingley.The selectors announced the squad for the fourth and fifth Tests on August 22, but Bhuvneshwar’s name didn’t feature in it. It is possible the selectors wanted the fast bowler to prove his fitness by playing a match at the domestic or India A level before picking him in the India squad.On India’s previous tour of England, in 2014, Bhuvneshwar was India’s most successful bowler in the Test series, picking up 19 wickets in five Test at an average of 26.63.India A will face South Africa A in the third-place match on Wednesday in Alur. On the same day, India B will face Australia A in the final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Kent could only manage 137, but that was made to look a significant total as Northamptonshire’s batting was blown away

ECB Reporters Network04-Sep-2018
ScorecardKent pace bowler Matt Henry bagged 6 for 31 to leave Northamptonshire reeling on 71 for 8 when bad light and rain ended prematurely an action-packed opening day of Specsavers County Championship action.On a thrilling day when 18 wickets fell, Henry – the New Zealand Test paceman – took his season’s red-ball wicket tally to 56 as the Division 2 promotion hopefuls recovered from a poor batting display to leave the visitors punch drunk and still 66 runs in arrears by the time the umpires stopped the contest and took the sides off for bad light just before 5pm.Northamptonshire, who started their first innings response at 2.42pm, struggled to cope with the guile of Darren Stevens and the pace of Henry, the Championship’s leading wicket-taker.Henry, who went into the game with 50 scalps to his name at an average of 15.84, forced Ben Curran to play on to leg stump and then plucked out the middle and off stumps of Ricardo Vasconcelos after rushing one through the South African left-hander’s gate.Stevens snared Luke Proctor leg before with an in-swinger, Henry re-arranged Alex Wakely’s poles with a yorker and then Richard Levi scooped a rearing delivery from Henry to square leg to send the visitors in at tea on 31 for 5.Three overs after tea, Saif Zaib feathered an attempted leg-glance against Stevens through to the keeper then, three balls later, Henry sent Nathan Buck’s off stump cartwheeling to secure his fifth five-wicket return of the summer.Northamptonshire limped past their lowest ever score against Kent – 39 all out at Wantage Road in 1907 – but with their score on 44 Adam Rossington’s top edged pull against Henry skied to long leg.Henry gave way after 12-overs as did Stevens, with 2 for 26, allowing Brett Hutton and Richard Gleeson to add a precious 27 before the players went off for bad light.Batting first after an uncontested toss, Kent’s top-order were soon in trouble against the new ball and under leaden skies and had lost both openers within five overs.Zak Crawley, fending down the line of off stump, feathered a Hutton away-swinger through to the keeper, then, seven balls later, Sean Dickson went back and across his stumps to miss an off-cutter from Ben Sanderson and depart leg before.Experienced third-wicket partners Joe Denly and Heino Kuhn took advantage of the short St Lawrence boundaries to keep the board ticking over at a decent rate and raise the home 50 after 15 overs. But, with his score on 16, Kuhn played around a full, in-swinger from Buck to also go lbw.Having batted 76 minutes for his 14, Denly’s late decision to withdraw the bat outside off stump against Gleeson proved fatal as the ball glanced off the bat face and through to the keeper.Batting under floodlights after lunch, Kent’s position quickly became gloomier as they lost their last six wickets for 46 runs inside 18 overs.Sam Billings nicked off against Gleeson, Stevens prodded at Sanderson to become the third leg before victim and, having scratched around for 98 minutes for 23, Daniel Bell-Drummond edged behind.Sanderson ran one in off the seam to peg back Grant Stewart’s off stump, then Buck polished the job off with two wickets in as many balls. Henry heaved across the line to lose off stump then Ivan Thomas was caught on the crease and palpably leg before as Kent succumbed inside 47 overs with Gleeson, Sanderson and Buck claiming three wickets apiece.Gleeson suggested the pitch was nothing out of the ordinary.”To bowl them out for 137 you think ‘great start’ but they bowled tremendously in helpful conditions,” he said. “It’s not really brightened up all day, it’s stayed overcast and the wicket has been doing a little bit throughout.”When we turned up we felt the wicket looked quite flat and that we were in for a long toil, but it doesn’t look that way from the scoreboard. The pitch has done a little bit, but nothing out of the ordinary. They were just very tough overhead conditions all day.”