On a sapping day when the bowlers needed as much support as they could muster, Smith, Green and Head provided it in thrilling fashion

Andrew McGlashan27-Jan-20241:53

McGlashan: There could yet be some nervy moments for Australia

As the players emerged after tea at 7pm, with the floodlights taking full effect, the ‘feel like’ temperature at the Gabba according to various weather apps remained 35 degrees. It is, of course, not unusual for cricketers to face oppressively hot conditions, but the third day in Brisbane was especially demanding. It would have cranked the old Channel Nine ‘Player Comfort Meter’ off the scale.For the Australians, in particular, it was going to be a day of digging deep as they looked to work their way through West Indies’ second innings. Matt Renshaw was a regular presence on the field as the quicks rotated back to the dressing room. Spells for the fast bowlers were kept short. Drinks were run at every opportunity, so much so that at one stage the umpires sent one of West Indies’ reserves back before they could make it to the batters.Plan A for Australia would have been to go through West Indies while the new ball was still hard, but the visitors didn’t allow that to happen. Instead, Australia had to eke out their rewards. Kraigg Brathwaite’s poor series with the bat concluded with a loose drive to cover, Kirk McKenzie missed a sweep against Nathan Lyon after compiling an excellent 41, and Alick Athanaze’s best innings of the tour was halted with an edge to slip.Related

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Lyon later explained the Athanaze scalp owed much to some tactical input from Steven Smith, who suggested a wider line to the left hander. The wicket made Lyon-Smith the second most prolific bowler-fielder combination of all time. Overall, Lyon’s role in sending down 22 overs was crucial in that he was both incisive and economical, going at less than two an over, to allow the quicks to stay as fresh as possible.It was a day where the bowlers needed as much support as they could muster in the field. In the penultimate over of the first session, Smith had spilled a tough chance offered by Athanaze, diving across in front of first slip when the ball would probably have reached Usman Khawaja. It denied Cameron Green his second wicket of the session after a terrific over from around the wicket. Every time a camera focused on the faces of Australia’s quicks you could see the toll the conditions were taking. It was not a day to give a batter a second chance.Kavem Hodge was brilliantly run out by Travis Head•AFP/Getty ImagesBetween dinner and tea, Australia’s fielding was at the forefront of their success in keeping West Indies’ lead under control. Another stand had started to form between Kavem Hodge and Justin Greaves when Hodge flicked Lyon off his pads towards Travis Head at short leg. Hodge overbalanced out of his crease, Head gathered the ball and, in one motion, flicked it back towards the stumps. Replays showed Hodge’s bat was over the crease but in the air, as he hurriedly attempted to place it down rather than slide it in. It was a moment of inspiration.The bad news for Head is that it makes it even unlikelier he will be able to lose the bat-pad role, having recently taken it from Marnus Labuschagne amid a reshuffle of Australia’s close catchers following the retirement of David Warner”Spewing about that, you just don’t want to start well, do you?” Head joked after taking his screamer to remove Brathwaite in Adelaide. “Jeez, I don’t want to pigeonhole myself in there. But happy to do it if Marnus isn’t happy to do it.”Lyon confirmed Head was going nowhere. “Travis is going to be there for the rest of my career,” he said with a laugh. “Marnus has somehow weaved his way out of bat-pad and Travis has taken it on. I know he wants that spot and wants to do a really good job. As a spin bowler, bowling to someone who wants to be at bat-pad it’s pretty handy. [It was] a big turning point.”Cameron Green took out Joshua Da Silva with a juggling catch•AFP/Getty ImagesThree overs later it was Green’s turn. Joshua Da Silva, who had been a thorn in Australia’s side in the first innings, drove at Mitchell Starc. The chance flew above Green’s head, he leapt and got a hand to the ball, but the initial chance didn’t stick. However, he was able to keep his composure and hold the rebound as it fell behind him. For a split second, you could see an expletive of anguish coming from Starc before, perhaps, one of relief.”It’s going over most fieldsmen’s head, that’s for sure,” Ricky Ponting said on Channel 7. “And the big man puts both hands up. Knocks it up to himself and then gets it in one hand on the way down… another good catch from one of the best gully fieldsmen Australia has seen.”Lyon later added: “He’s taken some catches [that] I believe no one else would get a hand on.”In the final session, Smith showed the earlier drop had been an aberration as he leapt above his head to hold Alzarri Joseph’s flashing outside edge. “Both feet off the ground, great extension,” Ponting said. “Right in the middle of those very, very safe catching hands. I was just talking about it not being easy to see here at the Gabba. Very good catch, timed his jump perfectly.”West Indies’ innings came to an unfortunate end when Starc’s yorker became a literal toe-crusher as it crashed into Shamar Joseph’s boot. It was given lbw but Starc had overstepped, although by the time that was confirmed, Shamar was already on the ground in pain.But as a depleted West Indies’ attack made inroads into the top order once again, a target of 216 seemed just a little further away. Australia had passed their test of endurance on the field but, if the Brisbane weather allows, they could still face a test of nerve.

For a while, Bazball was on show, and then the spinners came in, and then Jaiswal took it up a notch

Alagappan Muthu25-Jan-2024At the stroke of 30 minutes at the crease, Yashasvi Jaiswal jogged across for a single.He wouldn’t have known it in that moment but he had just become personally responsible for two of the four fastest fifties India have ever recorded as a team in Test cricket.A wave of applause swept the ground, made slightly eerie by how some of it seemed to be coming out of loudspeakers at the ground. There were 21,000 people here. They didn’t need amplifying.Related

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Jaiswal struck the first ball of the innings for four and the first ball of spin for six. Ben Stokes had taken a gamble by having a debutant open the bowling. It backfired to the extent that in the UK, Simon Kerrigan, who was thrown into an Ashes Test match only to be mauled for 6.62 an over and never seen in Test cricket ever again, began trending.Tom Hartley’s day (9-0-63-0) made it clear that spinners aren’t guaranteed success even if conditions are in their favour. They have to put it in the right spot.India, themselves, needed a little time to come to terms with that.

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The forward defensive in a cricket match is like the blue in the sky. It’s everywhere.England have recently been doing something to make it rare and for a little while they were having success here too.R Ashwin was bowling to a fresh-to-the-crease, battling-with-something-in-his-eye Jonny Bairstow with three men on the leg side boundary.Rohit Sharma was asking his best fielder Ravindra Jadeja to go as far back at point as he has ever gone in the first session of a Test match. The run-rate was hovering around five after the first 10 overs.Jonny Bairstow is bowled by Axar Patel•BCCIBazball had pushed India back.So India made Bazball come forward. And defend. Because the forward defensive on a spinning pitch is like a freshman at a college party. It can be a bit awkward.Ben Duckett played for spin and got lbw. Jonny Bairstow played for the straight ball and got bowled. Both times India dragged the batters onto the front foot but prevented them any other luxury. They couldn’t get to the pitch to smother the turn. They didn’t have room to free the arms. The stumps were in play so they couldn’t hit across the line without taking a risk. They also didn’t stray on the pads so the flick for single wasn’t on. And of course, no one could quite tell which way it was going to turn.None of this had anything to do with the pitch. It was just discipline taken to a whole other level.Ashwin and Axar Patel, in particular, were able to hold this in-between length for long enough that it triggered two England collapses, 3 for 5 and 3 for 16.

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Hartley, Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed all turn the ball into the left-hander. And only one of them has Test match experience of any consequence. So when they tried to bowl full and bring India forward, they went too full, and India could come forward with glorious abandon.Jaiswal seems to pick up an opportunity to attack quicker than most others. It was almost predatory the way he went after a spin bowling attack that was one part solid and two parts hope. Almost similar deliveries were being dispatched with a slog sweep over midwicket and with inside-out drives through cover. And as if that wasn’t enough, he began charging at them too.England might just be able to match India’s batting in this series but the difference in the quality of the bowling was stark. Hartley really had no one to lean on like Axar did when he come on to bowl.”[Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja] come and tell me, this is what is happening from this part of the wicket, and that becomes a plus point and I am aware of what I need to do,” Axar said. “We keep having these conversations during matches. I have a lot of fun bowling with them. They’ve been playing for so many years, so it’s a plus point.”It almost felt unfair.

The RCB batter found form late this IPL season, but just in time for England ahead of the T20 World Cup next month

Matt Roller18-May-2024Will Jacks remembers looking at the scoreboard at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium and thinking, “Wow, this could be cool.” Royal Challengers Bengaluru needed seven to win against Gujarat Titans; six balls after reaching his half-century, Jacks had surged to 88 not out. His first IPL hundred beckoned.At the non-striker’s end, Virat Kohli was grinning. When Jacks slog-swept Rashid Khan for six to level the scores and move to 94, Kohli covered his mouth and laughed in disbelief. When Jacks swung Rashid over midwicket for six more, reaching a 41-ball century, Kohli ran down and jumped into his arms in celebration.”As soon as I hit that last one, I knew it was going miles,” Jacks says from Bengaluru. “It snuck up on me. I only got to my fifty the over before. I was just trying to get there as quickly as possible and win the game. Once I got my fifty, Virat was like, ‘I don’t want to face any balls – keep going.'”When Mohit Sharma came on [in the 15th over], that was my match-up. I was going to take him down there, because I’d faced him for three or four balls before and I’d got a good eye of him. I knew that was my time, and after that there was no reason to stop. I didn’t realise I could have got a hundred until we needed seven to win.Related

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“Obviously a big celebration, a hug from Virat, and then I realised what I’d done. It was amazing. I just thought, ‘I’m 100 not out in an IPL game – and two weeks ago, I wasn’t even playing.’ There’s been a lot of attention since but I’ve loved the experience.”He has saved a photo in the “favourites” tab of his phone, of Kohli’s reaction to the six that took him to 94, which he intends to get printed.”Nothing’s changed realistically: I’ve just scored some runs. I’ve always known I’ve been good enough, but to really dominate like that just lets everyone else know what I can do. But to do it with Virat, and have him hyping me up like that? It’s special.”Second to last laugh: Virat Kohli has a disbelieving chuckle at the other end when Jacks is one six away from his maiden IPL hundred•BCCIIt was a far cry from the start of his innings: batting at No. 3, Jacks managed 17 runs off his first 17 balls. “I was gripping the bat a bit too hard,” he reflects. “I was a little bit over-eager to hit the ball hard, which is a trap I’ve fallen into. On the back of seeing all these high scores and crazy sixes, I felt like I needed to do extra when I know – or I should know – that my game is good enough.”They do have three high-quality spinners [Rashid, Noor Ahmed and Sai Kishore] and I didn’t face a ball of seam until my 17th ball. I just needed to settle in, and Virat really helped me with that. He took ownership of the partnership and the risks while I was getting going, and made sure that we didn’t fall behind – and that I didn’t have to do something really unnecessary.”Jacks spent “ten-plus years” watching the IPL back home on TV but this was his first experience of playing in it, after he was ruled out of last season through injury. He was taken aback by the scale of support for RCB: “Everyone told me their fans were the best but now I’ve seen how crazy it is… I kind of expected it, but it obviously still takes you by surprise.”The same is true of the adulation for Kohli, and adjusting to calling him a team-mate. “When he first walked in and I first met him, that was surreal,” Jacks said. “Seeing his aura, how people look at him, the following… even if you see a footballer in public at home, it’s not like that. It’s eye-opening. Everywhere we go – all the airports, every street – the support is incredible.”At 25, Jacks believes his first IPL season came at the right time in his career. “It would have been good to come earlier, but I wouldn’t have been ready. I went to the Big Bash when I was 20 and it was great, but my game wasn’t ready. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I did crap. I’m happy where I am now: I can come in and try to dominate, instead of just going, ‘Well, I’ll try to get some runs.'”RCB struggled at the start of the season but Jacks flourished in India, winning five of the eight games he played in and averaging 32.85 at a strike rate 175.57.”I can’t speak highly enough of it [the team]. Everyone is willing to share their experiences,” he says. He worked closely in training with Glenn Maxwell, particularly on his method against spin, and played “a lot of golf” with him. “He’s been outstanding with me. He’s given me loads of his time.”Team-mates Cameron Green and Jacks will be on opposing sides at the T20 World Cup next month•BCCIHe also grew close to Cameron Green, and they were sat next to one another on the team bus when they received their call-ups to their respective squads for the T20 World Cup. “He got called by George Bailey, then I got called by Motty [Matthew Mott] about ten minutes later,” Jacks says, laughing. They might face one another on June 8 in Barbados.This will be Jacks’ first World Cup and he admits he was “disappointed” to miss the previous two. “I thought I was close but obviously it’s tough to get in, which is understandable. My biggest goal for the year was to play in the World Cup – and hopefully win it, obviously – and this has given me confidence that I belong there. I know I’m ready for it.”With Jos Buttler and Phil Salt due to open, Jacks will start the tournament as England’s No. 3. It is a relatively new role – he has batted there 22 times in his 165-match T20 career – and he has been learning on the job. “I only really started doing it on the Caribbean tour [in December] but it’s something I’m getting used to and I’ve learned a lot in our last few games.”For an opener, coming in after the powerplay and starting against spin is different, People have said to me since I was 12 years old that I can always catch up: Stewie [Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket] always says to me, ‘If you face 50 balls, we’ll win the game.’ It might only be 30 balls at No. 3, but I’m selfless and I want to put the team in a good spot and that’s by being aggressive.”They are traits that he shares with his idol, Kevin Pietersen. “I don’t remember ever trying to bat like anyone, but maybe he was in my head from watching him in the 2005 Ashes,” Jacks says. “I was six then: that’s the first cricket I really remember. Maybe that was ingrained in me from early on?” Jacks has met Pietersen but only sporadically. “He’s someone who I’d like to speak to a bit more.”Jacks was 11 when England won the only previous men’s T20 World Cup staged in the Caribbean, when Pietersen was named player of the tournament. The next few weeks will provide Jacks a chance to write his own name into England’s T20 history.

Middle-order implosion after dismissals of Babar and Rizwan sets off familiar cycle of recrimination

Matt Roller30-May-2024You knew it was coming, didn’t you?Pakistan have spent 2024 kidding themselves – but just about nobody else – that they would break up the most prolific opening partnership in T20 international history. For their first 13 matches of the year, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam took it in turns to slide down to No. 3, giving Saim Ayub – and, briefly, Haseebullah Khan – opportunities to open the batting.But at The Oval, they made the change that was nothing short of inevitable. Ayub was one of the players of the tournament at last year’s Caribbean Premier League but, one game before the T20 World Cup, he was dropped. His 12 T20I innings this year have brought him 163 runs at just 13.58 and his last four opening stands with Rizwan were worth 7, 6, 16 and 0.Related

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It meant a return for the pair who have scored more heavily than any other in this format: Rizwan and Babar, reunited at the top of the order. It is impossible to question the volume of runs they have scored together: they are the only opening partnership with more than 2000 T20I runs, with an average stand of 49.18. They have put on 100 or more eight times; nobody else has managed more than four.Yet they have always managed to split opinion in Pakistan, and you can be certain that they will do so once again when they arrive in the United States this weekend. For the most part, they are immensely popular: there is even a Wikipedia sub-entry for “RizBar fandom”. It is their scoring rate as a partnership – 7.98 runs per over – which invites regular criticism.They have become even more restrained at T20 World Cups: Babar’s strike rate in his two World Cups is 114.47, while Rizwan’s is exactly 120. For every partnership like the unbroken 152 to beat India by 10 wickets, there has been a stand of 71 in 10 overs in an under-par total in the 2021 semi-final defeat to Australia.This was the sort of innings that both players might see as justification for their tendency to lean towards cautiousness. Pakistan resolved to play with a more attacking template after their defeat to Ireland earlier this month, and scored at more than 10 runs per over in consecutive run chases to win that series 2-1.But they have long preferred chasing to batting first, and this was a performance which highlighted why. Rizwan and Babar made an uncharacteristically fast start against some hostile new-ball bowling: Mark Wood hit 96mph/154kph and Jofra Archer passed 90mph/145kph, but both conceded early boundaries. When Babar failed to capitalise on Archer’s width, he threw his head back in frustration.Azam Khan was bounced out by Mark Wood•Getty ImagesAnd when Jos Buttler threw the ball to Moeen Ali for the fifth over, as though dangling a carrot, Babar bit it clean off the string: he charged down to the first ball of offspin he faced, lofting Moeen into the lower tier of the pavilion. Rizwan shimmied around in his crease, looking to unsettle the bowler, and dabbed delicately past short third.After Babar slapped Archer through the off side for back-to-back boundaries, Pakistan were 59 for 0 with a ball left in the Powerplay – their highest opening stand of the year, and the highest since this pair were first broken up. So when Babar steered the final ball of the sixth over – Archer’s legcutter – straight to short third, it did not take much foresight to work out what would happen next.Rizwan fell four balls later, clean bowled by a ball that didn’t spin from Adil Rashid, and Pakistan’s middle order subsided. Usman Khan, restored at No. 3, was the only man to make an impact, hitting three fours and two sixes in his 21-ball 38. The rest fell away against Rashid and Wood, with Azam Khan’s five-ball duck – which culminated in gloving behind a bouncer, via his shoulder – the lowlight.When Haris Rauf was run out off the penultimate ball of the innings, Pakistan had been bowled out for the second match in a row and had turned 59 for 0 into 157 all out. No wonder Rizwan and Babar prefer to do the hard work themselves, if that is all the middle order behind them can muster. It is a classic case of self-perpetuation.Rizwan and Babar bat deep, which means the middle order rarely get the chance to face many balls; when they do, their dearth of recent opportunities means they underperform. That, in turn, means that Rizwan and Babar feel the need to get things done themselves; and the middle order’s opportunities are limited once again. What came first, the chicken or the egg?And so, Pakistan head to the World Cup with the same old opening pair and the same old problems. Over the next four weeks, they will probably beat a team they shouldn’t. They will probably lose to a team they should beat. They will probably end up making it to the Super Eights, and probably even to the semi-finals. This is another season of the same show.It is still possible that Rizwan will take the gloves back too, reprising his role from the last two T20 World Cups. Azam had a shocker in the field, dropping a pair of straightforward chances: the first a top edge off Phil Salt, the second a regulation outside edge from Will Jacks. Next time somebody describes Pakistan as “unpredictable”, don’t listen: in T20 cricket, there is an inevitability about this team. Dread it, run from it, Rizbar arrives all the same.

Be it batting, bowling or captaincy, not much has gone to plan this season for the traditional IPL powerhouse

S Sudarshanan16-May-20245:11

Making sense of Mumbai Indians’ summer of discontent

Coming into IPL 2024, Mumbai Indians (MI) had some of the very best India players available to them. There was Rohit Sharma, India’s captain, at the top. They had the No. 1 T20I batter in world cricket, Suryakumar Yadav, although he did miss MI’s first three games owing to fitness issues. In the bowling department they had a fully fit Jasprit Bumrah, who had missed the previous IPL due to injury. And, to cap it all, MI had also traded back into their books Hardik Pandya, India’s premier seam-bowling allrounder.On the back of that strong Indian core, many would have tipped MI to at least make it to the playoffs this time. But they were the first team to be knocked out of IPL 2024, and the wait for a sixth title now extends to four years – the longest they have gone without a title since their first one in 2013.Even before the tournament started, MI had created a stir by abruptly replacing Rohit as captain with Hardik, a move with which several die-hard MI fans were not too pleased. A few good games might have quickly solved that, but it was not to be. So, what has gone wrong for the team that has traditionally been a powerhouse in the IPL, despite boasting a strong squad, team management, and one of the most robust scouting systems going around?Related

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Hardik’s forgettable homecomingHardik’s first IPL stint with MI – from 2015 to 21 – helped his stocks grow, catapulting him onto the international stage. In 2022, he enhanced his credentials by leading Gujarat Titans (GT) to the IPL trophy in their maiden season, before taking them to a runners-up finish last year. Hardik’s form during those two successful seasons with GT – 833 runs at an average of 37.86 and a strike rate of 133.49, and 11 wickets at an economy of 8.10 – showed he was back to being at his best as an allrounder – and seam-bowling allrounders are always a prized asset in Indian cricket.But Hardik was tested immediately after returning to Mumbai colours. To kick off this season, he was incessantly booed in Ahmedabad when he led MI against his former side, GT, and MI started their season with a loss. The heckling did not stop in his second outing either, when MI played an away game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. And if Hardik expected any respite in front of his home crowd in Mumbai, he was in for a nasty surprise, as he was jeered during MI’s first home game this season.And as the tournament wore on, Hardik’s shortcomings on the field became hard to ignore. Across the first 13 matches, he batted at all positions from Nos. 4 to 7, and had been dismissed trying to hit out before getting set on several occasions. With the ball, Hardik picked up 11 wickets in these games, but at an economy rate close to 11.Has Hardik Pandya, the bowler, been trying too hard to impress?•AFP/Getty ImagesReturning to action after five months out due to an ankle injury he suffered during the ODI World Cup last October, Hardik bowled his full quota of four overs five times in IPL 2024; something he had done only six times across the previous two seasons. This time, Hardik often took the new ball ahead of Bumrah, and among those who have bowled at least nine overs in the powerplay so far this season, only Naveen-ul-Haq, Mitchell Starc and Gerald Coetzee have a worse economy in the phase than Hardik’s 10.55.Some of Hardik’s captaincy calls have also come under the scanner: like holding back Bumrah when SRH were blazing away to a record score, sending Tim David ahead of himself when MI needed 40 runs off 26 balls in their opening match, bowling the last over against Chennai Super Kings only for MS Dhoni to hit him for 20 off four balls, or even throwing Tilak Varma under the bus after a narrow defeat to Delhi Capitals. Pictures of bowlers running to Rohit or Bumrah to consult on field positions, and of a largely reclusive Hardik, when being taken for runs or during wicket celebrations, did not help either.Rohit’s up-and-down seasonThe idea behind the captaincy switch, as explained by head coach Mark Boucher, was to free up Rohit, the batter, after two underwhelming seasons for MI.11:32

Runorder: Captaincy aside, what’s gone wrong for Mumbai this season?

It seemed to have been working for MI after Rohit got off to blazing starts in the first few games. Thanks to him, MI had the second best run rate (10.66) in the powerplay in their first six games. Whether it be left-arm seam, right-arm pace or spin, Rohit was treating the bowlers with disdain, using sweeps, reverse-sweeps and scoops among other shots. In fact, only twice in his IPL career had Rohit scored more off his first 12 balls than the 26 he did in Hyderabad: 37 in April 2015, and 27 in May 2015.Rohit even hit his second IPL century – his first since 2012 – in MI’s loss against CSK, but his form has tapered off since – he averages 8.66 with a strike rate of 88.13 in his last six outings. He was dismissed inside the powerplay in only two of the first seven innings, but has only managed to play out the first six overs in only one game since. Rohit’s loss of form means his overall strike rate of 145.42 – his career best in the IPL – has been reduced to a mere footnote.MI’s bowling woesThink of MI’s overseas bowlers in each of their title-winning seasons: Mitchell Johnson (2013), Lasith Malinga (2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019), Mitchell McClenaghan (2015 and 2017), and Trent Boult (2020). All of them complemented the Indian bowling contingent in MI’s success stories. Once Jason Behrendorff – who picked up 23 wickets last year – was ruled out of this season, MI’s bowling resources took a hit. All of Coetzee, Luke Wood, Kwena Maphaka (a teenager who only rose to prominence in the Under-19 World Cup earlier in the year) and Nuwan Thushara were playing their first IPL, and couldn’t take on the mantle of second seamer behind Bumrah.MI’s collective economy of 10.04 in the first six matches was the worst for any team in IPL 2024. They also had the third-worst average (35.72) in that period, even though they had picked up 33 wickets. Despite that, Bumrah was a class apart in those games with an economy of 6.08 and ten wickets (average 14.60). Coetzee was MI’s next best bowler with nine wickets until then, but conceded runs at over ten an over. Getting Bumrah back this season should have lifted MI’s bowling performance, but they faltered and let teams post tall scores, including SRH’s record-breaking 277.Where has Kumar Kartikeya disappeared to?•BCCIA part of this was also down to the absence of a reliable spinner in their ranks. It took time for MI to back their premier spinner Piyush Chawla, who has been their second-most economical bowler since their seventh outing. MI played Shreyas Gopal and Shams Mulani, and also used the offspin of Mohammad Nabi with little effect, before continuing with Chawla, who has picked up ten wickets in IPL 2024.Their reluctance to try Kumar Kartikeya, who had played eight games and returned five wickets last season, is confounding. He bowls wristspin as well as fingerspin, and picked up eight wickets at an average of 11.87 and an economy of 5.58 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023, India’s domestic T20 tournament. Kartikeya was regularly among the first at MI’s optional trainings this season, but has failed to make the XI 13 games in.Fluctuating batting fortunesTill their fifth match on April 11, MI’s run rate (10.11) was only marginally less than Kolkata Knight Riders’ (10.45). But since their loss to CSK – their fourth defeat in six matches – MI have been the third-slowest team in the powerplay. They have lost 25 wickets in the first six overs, the second-most for a team this season.Rohit’s form, as already touched upon, has been patchy, and his opening partner Ishan Kishan’s returns have been poor. In MI’s first six matches this season, Kishan and Rohit added four fifty-plus partnerships, including 101 vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru. But in five of the next six games, they did not cross 35.Like his team’s, Ishan Kishan’s season has been forgettable•AFP/Getty ImagesSuryakumar, after being declared fit, returned to hit three fifties and a century in ten innings. But Tim David and Romario Shepherd’s inconsistency, coupled with Hardik’s own poor returns, has meant MI have lacked a reliable finisher.”T20 cricket is about momentum, but we didn’t get that momentum right from the beginning,” Chawla said after the loss against KKR at Eden Gardens. “Sometimes we bowl well and then we end up not batting that well. Likewise, sometimes we bat well and the bowling is not [up to the mark]. It’s not just that we are lacking in one department. As a unit, we have failed in a few games. These things happen, and we have to accept that fact.”MI do have a few positives from the season: Akash Madhwal’s spell against Rajasthan Royals, a couple of 40s from Nehal Wadhera after getting a late look-in, Anshul Kamboj’s debut, and Tilak’s consistency are some of them. But, given how this season has played out, the MI team management is probably glad they have the chance to start afresh at the mega-auction ahead of the next season.

Royals also get a new lease of life for finishing in the top two after the Hyderabad washout

S Rajesh16-May-2024Sunrisers Hyderabad

The one point earned in the washout against Gujarat Titans takes SRH into the playoffs. However, a top-two finish is no longer in their own hands, as Rajasthan Royals can go past them to 18 points even if SRH win their final league game and finish on 17. SRH can still take second position if they win their last match and RR lose theirs. However, if SRH’s last match is also washed out and they finish on 16, then RR’s 16 points will place them higher on the points table as they have won eight games, compared to seven for SRH.Rajasthan Royals

RR will certainly take the second place if they beat Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. If they lose, they can cling on to No. 2 if SRH get no more than one point from their final game, and if CSK get no more than one point versus RCB. If SRH’s game is washed out again, they will have fewer wins than RR, which is the first tie-breaker ahead of the net run rate if teams are on equal points.However, RR could drop to fourth place if they lose to KKR, SRH beat PBKS, and CSK beat RCB.Royal Challengers Bengaluru

The task for RCB is now clear: Assuming a score of 200, they need to beat CSK by 18 runs or chase the target with about 11 balls to spare. A washout will wash away their playoff hopes, while a reduced game will also make their task tougher as they will still need to win by the same margin to go past CSK on net run rate.Chennai Super Kings

CSK need one point to qualify, which means a washout will take them through. However, if they win, they have a shot at moving up to second position if RR lose, and if SRH get no more than one point from their final game.

The visitors were left with plenty to ponder after their batting struggled in spin-friendly conditions

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Aug-20245:39

India’s batting (except Rohit’s) against spin a sign of concern

Mohammed Siraj is fired up. Halfway through his seventh over, the 39th of the innings, he strides down the pitch and sprays a few angry words at Kusal Mendis, who responds in kind.In his next over, Siraj bowls a ball to Janith Liyanage that the batter drives back at him. Siraj picks the ball up in his follow through, and flings it at the stumps, and misses. The batter would have been back safely in any case.In the background of that shy at the stump is Virat Kohli, applauding the bowler’s aggression. Through the course of these middle overs, Kohli has gone through some big emotions of his own. He’s celebrated wickets with more verve than the bowlers and yelled at exiting batters, appealed so vociferously it felt like his lungs might come flying out of his body. He’s backed up every move of the bowlers like they were boxers at the Olympics and he was their coach in the corner.Related

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At one point he fields the ball at short mid on and throws at the stumps but hits the pad of Charith Asalanka. The batter had not only never seriously attempted a run, he’s so far home he’s fallen asleep in front of a Netflix documentary.But none of this is massively out of the ordinary. We have seen Siraj this fired up before. For Kohli, this is like a six out of 10 on the macho-flailing scale.But this is what is truly surprising. Kohli has played many matches against Sri Lanka in which he has found no need to reach into the angrier portions of his heart. Siraj has usually had a very high smile-to-grimace ratio when facing this opposition.And now all this aggression has been accessed for Sri Lanka? Wow. Should they be blushing? Is this for real?

A 27-year wait is over for Sri Lanka #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/Jg8vZaY2zO

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 7, 2024

Before this series, Sri Lanka had played 19 ODIs against India since the start of 2015, and lost 16 of those games. The most recent memories were of being bowled out for 55 at the Wankhede in the World Cup and being blasted out for 50 in the Asia Cup final last year, when Siraj took 6 for 21 at this very venue and was inflicting so much trauma it seemed more appropriate for India’s players to cuddle Sri Lanka’s batters rather than cuss at them.But through the course of this ODI series, this Sri Lanka team, ranked seventh in ODIs, who finished ninth in last year’s World Cup and as such have not qualified for the Champions Trophy, who struggle to get their seam bowlers on the field, and who haven’t made a global-tournament semi-final in 10 years, has asked some serious questions of an India side whose ambitions are world domination.A quick rundown of those questions:

• Are India a little shaky on big-turning tracks, given the results in their last four ODIs in Asia? This series was three matches long. This was their fourth match back.
• Are they over-reliant on Jasprit Bumrah at the death? He was rested for this series, but Sri Lanka’s lower-middle order and lower order produced strong showings and reached totals that proved to be beyond India’s batters.
• Should they keep persisting with floating batters in the middle overs, prioritising left-right combinations over more strongly-defined roles for each batter?
• Are they better off with predictable KL Rahul or mad genius Rishabh Pant?

This is not an exhaustive list of questions. But for Sri Lanka the list is so much shorter, because for a team not playing next year’s Champions Trophy so little beyond the present matters, in ODIs.Their only worry is whether they can be competitive in anything other than extremely spin-friendly conditions. Almost everyone in Sri Lankan cricket – players, administrators, coaches, support staff, fans – has this question in mind right now. But they will happily take Siraj being this angry at their batters. They will take Kohli being this expressive.Sri Lanka gave India a rare dusting up•Associated PressAnd they should take captain Asalanka being realistic. When asked whether he took pride in achieving a bilateral series victory over India that had eluded even greats of the Sri Lankan team such as Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lasith Malinga, Tillakaratne Dilshan and others, he said:”I don’t think we’re at the level of those players. I think we have the potential, but at ICC tournaments those players took us very far. That’s how we were able to have global recognition. I don’t think we can be equals to those players at the moment. But as a captain I’m happy we were able to defeat a team as good as this. This is a process. We have some talented players. If we manage them and look after them, we can go far.”Sri Lanka have more modest ODI goals now than they have had in roughly 25 years. India are aiming higher than ever. Right now, it’s enough to just have shaken India up a little.

An opening day that was theirs to claim came crashing down as they slipped from 78 for 1 to 84 for 4

Alagappan Muthu01-Nov-2024India might somewhat justifiably believe that their struggles during this series against New Zealand were the result of circumstances coming together. The rain in Bengaluru. The toss in Pune. But the chaos in Mumbai is less easy to wish away.They were on top, picking up seven wickets for 76 runs to limit the opposition to 235, and responding to that with 78 for 1 in 17 overs on a pitch where first-innings runs will be incredibly important. Until 4.47pm on Friday, everything was going according to plan. And then, in the next five minutes, it all fell apart. Three wickets in eight legal balls, and a day that was theirs to claim was back in the balance.Related

Ajaz triggers late India slide after Jadeja keeps New Zealand to 235

The Indian players in the dressing room could only look on in horror. A set batter falling to a reverse sweep with stumps approaching. A nightwatcher dismissed first ball and using up a review. A world-beater run-out going for a quick single. Morne Morkel had his head in his hands. Ravindra Jadeja didn’t have the time to react even that much.”Everything happened in ten minutes,” Jadeja said at the end of the first day’s play in Mumbai. “But it happens. It’s a team game. You cannot blame one person. Everyone makes mistakes. The next batters will have to stitch some partnership and try to get [the score] beyond 230. Only then the second innings will come into play. So it will be better if the incoming batters contribute.”New Zealand have done what few others have been able to, and hang on until the moment where the balance can shift. They showed it in Bengaluru in their first innings when Tim Southee and Rachin Ravindra added vital lower-order runs. They showed it in Pune when they toppled India from 50 for 1 to 156 all out. And they’ve shown it again, here, breaking a 53-run stand between Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal with 13 minutes to go to stumps and then topping that with the direct-hit run-out of Virat Kohli.Ajaz Patel struck twice in two balls•BCCI”You want to keep taking wickets,” Daryl Mitchell, who top-scored for New Zealand with 82, said. “It’s always nice. Look, it’s the nature of the surface and playing Test cricket over here, the ebbs and flows happen throughout the day and happy with how we hung in there while they were building a partnership, and when you get one you hopefully can get two and three.”And thats our motto, its just keep giving to the team, the way Rachin and some of the other guys chased the ball right to the boundary, that’s the stuff we always pride ourselves on. It means everyone is engaged, everyone is giving to the team, so that if we get one, hopefully we get another and its nice that it paid off tonight.”Kohli was fully kitted up when the second wicket fell, but Mohammed Siraj came out to bat instead. The nightwatcher fell first ball and burned a review trying to survive. Kohli then came in but he took on Matt Henry’s arm at mid-on and lost. Rishabh Pant came out. It was a good thing no more wickets fell because the next man in, Sarfaraz Khan, wasn’t in his whites.India have already lost this series, and are looking to avoid their first-ever home whitewash in a series of three or more Tests. They’ve been reminded of these things everywhere they’ve turned. Was their plunge into this possibly avoidable situation a sign of a team buckling under pressure? Jadeja didn’t think so.”Only the individual can tell what’s going through in his mind,” he said. “But if you are behind in the series, and such a situation comes, it feels you panicked because you are 2-0 down and committed an error. But if you are 2-0 up and the same thing happens, everyone says it happens. But if you are behind in the series, even the small things look big. Our top order has made mistakes, so the next six batters need to go close to or beyond 230. If we bat well in the first innings, things will be easier in the second.”

Australia were left feeling “hollow’ by how the 2023 series ended but it’s still more than 10 years since England toppled them outright

Valkerie Baynes10-Jan-20252:25

Charlie Dean: We don’t have as many Ashes scars in this team

Both protagonists enter this chapter of the Women’s Ashes with points to prove. It’s a scenario that might seem unlikely given that Australia have held the Ashes for a decade, but that’s not the full story.For starters, this year’s hosts are never done – it’s what’s made them dominant for so long. The fact that they were very nearly brought undone in the drawn 2023 series, should fuel Australia’s desire to win this one outright, while giving England confidence.Add disappointing T20 World Cup campaigns for each side less than three months ago, where Australia were knocked out in the semi-finals and England failed to progress beyond the group stage, and this weekend’s opening ODI in Sydney looms as a thriller – weather permitting.Related

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England won both white-ball legs at home in 2023 to level the series eight points all after Australia had won the Test. With the four-day, pink-ball Test at the MCG coming at the end of this edition, England can put themselves in prime position beforehand, if they can match their earlier form in the three ODIs and three T20Is.Hoping to play a role is England’s ever-reliable seamer Kate Cross, just as she did on her Ashes debut in 2014, the last time her team won them on Australian turf.Cross is still managing her recovery from a back injury suffered during last month’s tour of South Africa but, on or off the field, she offers considerable wisdom, having taken three wickets in each innings as England won the Perth Test – then worth six points – to open that series.And, while last year’s Ashes provided plenty of learnings, she believes more recent events could be a factor.”Even the aftermath of the World Cup that’s just happened probably is playing a bit of a role in both teams – maybe both teams might feel like they’ve got a point to prove,” Cross told ESPNcricinfo.”What we gained from that 2023 Ashes was, when we play our best cricket, we can beat the best in the world, and that’s the confidence that you take from a series like that. It was more around the way that we played our cricket that pleased us all the most and what we were the most proud of. We came away from that series with a draw but two white-ball series to our name.”When you beat Australia in two white-ball series, of course it’s going to give you confidence but having said that, that was on home soil and it was 18 months ago, a lot’s changed since then. As much as you can draw confidence from it you also need to realise that this is a fresh start and it starts at nil-nil on Sunday.”ESPNcricinfo LtdCross is one of a handful of players remaining from the 2013-14 series alongside Danni Wyatt-Hodge, current captain Heather Knight, Amy Jones and Nat Sciver-Brunt from England and Australia’s Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Megan Schutt.Her over-riding memory of that time was the Test and she has tried to emulate that early performance in midst of a brutal nationwide heatwave ever since.”That was my debut so I didn’t have a clue how to play the red-ball format,” Cross said. “It’s just experience [that’s changed]. I’ve not tried to change my blueprint too drastically from that series in particular.”The December before that I’d made my white ball-debut. Obviously you want to evolve as a player, but you also have to remember what gets you to your international debuts and that was something that I’ve tried to remember and keep hold of throughout my career.”When I’m keeping it simple and I’m trying to be as consistent as I can as a bowler, then that’s when I’m at my best. I might not have the pace that some of the youngsters have got coming through, but I would always pride myself on being a reliable bowler for any captain. That’s where I found success in that Test match back in 2014.”Australia’s celebrations at the end of the 2023 were muted•Getty ImagesBack then, after winning the Test and the first ODI, England had one hand on the trophy but a mini fightback from Australia in the next two games meant that it wasn’t until the first T20I in Hobart that England retained the Ashes.Wyatt-Hodge doesn’t remember a lot about that series, but she does recall the defining moment – and the celebrations that followed. As Cross said, much has changed since then.Wyatt-Hodge was known as much then for her offspin as her batting potential, the latter having completely overgrown any designs she might have had on being a bowler, such has been her success as a powerful T20 opener and ODI finisher over years since.Long retired is Charlotte Edwards, who delivered the Ashes with her unbeaten 92 off just 59 balls as England won the first T20I to take an unassailable lead of 10 points to four with two games to spare.

“It was probably the weirdest feeling I’ve ever had because I’ve never really lost a game and then had to celebrate winning”Phoebe Litchfield on the 8-8 draw in 2023

“I don’t really have that many memories apart from Lotti getting all those runs down at Hobart,” Wyatt-Hodge said. “I remember running onto the pitch, celebrating with her, and then we had a great night out in Hobart after.”They’re my biggest memories of the Ashes in 2014. It’s been 10 years since we’ve got it so it’d be amazing if we did it again. It starts at nil-nil and it’s just really exciting. Especially for me, I don’t even know how many Ashes I’ve played in, but I’ve still got those nerves and excitement and that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?”Australia, meanwhile, will be looking to avoid the emptiness of their 2023 celebrations, as described by young opener Phoebe Litchfield.”Both teams were probably left a bit hollow after that series, knowing we’d retained it but haven’t truly deserved it, so this time around we are definitely keen to win it outright,” Litchfield said this week. “It was probably the weirdest feeling I’ve ever had because I’ve never really lost a game and then had to celebrate winning. It was quite foreign.”And it was probably just because the team has succeeded so much, and the start we had last time, we were six points up, and only needed one more to retain it, let alone win the thing. By the end of it, it was a bit hollow.”1:51

Georgia Voll talks Women’s Ashes

Ashleigh Gardner, who starred in the 2023 Test with eight second-innings wickets and 12 for the match, believes Australia have made great strides in their one-day game, citing series victories over India 3-0 and New Zealand 2-0 this season.”I know with the ball, looking back in England, we probably didn’t execute well enough but we’ve done a lot talking,” Gardner said. “We’ve got some players who are playing different roles at the moment with ball in hand and with the bat as well, it’s making sure we are taking the game on and not worrying about the consequences.”Looking back more recently at the ODIs we’ve just played, I certainly think we did that, different people stood up at different times, and it’s super exciting to see where this team can be.”Both squads look similar to 2023 with a number of players on either side taking further steps in their development.Litchfield is firmly established in Australia’s top order and 23-year-old allrounder Annabel Sutherland is in prime form after back-to-back ODI centuries against India and New Zealand in December.Georgia Voll, who shone on her international debut in the series against India in the absence of injured captain Healy, further pressed her Ashes cause with a fifty opening alongside Healy for the Governor General’s XI in the washed-out warm-up on Thursday.Kate Cross is one of the survivors from England’s last Ashes victory•Getty ImagesHealy was unable to test her hopes of returning to wicketkeeping duties after a knee problem when play was abandoned in the 29th over of the 50-over-a-side contest, although she came through a practise session afterwards unscathed.After the previous Women’s Ashes in England drew bumper crowds, played alongside the men’s version amid high stakes when the home side dropped the first T20I, the hope is that the Australian public will be similarly captivated this time.Cricket Australia said this week that while venues, capacities and scheduling were different, the series was “tracking significantly above” the 2017-18 Women’s Ashes, with 2021-22 affected by Covid restrictions. “We expect this women’s international series will be the highest attended in Australian cricket history,” CA said.Cross said: “The beauty of the 2023 Ashes was that the narrative was created. We were six-nil down and then fought our way back to six-all and that created a lot of interest. Naturally having the men’s Ashes side by side to ours made cricket the talk of the town a little bit during that summer.”I’m hoping what doesn’t happen this time is that because the games are quite close together and it’s all played over such a short period that we lose that narrative. You want to give the public the time to realise what’s going on and get behind – obviously they’ll be getting behind the Aussie girls over in Australia – but you still want the crowds to be in.”With 10 days of cricket scheduled over 22 days from January 12 to February – three ODIs, three T20Is and the Test – this tale may not be epic in length but if history serves as it so often does in the Ashes, it could be epic all the same.

West Indies are in form, but Bangladesh have been boosted by the inclusion of players – like Soumya Sarkar – who took Rangpur Riders to the GSL title

Mohammad Isam07-Dec-2024Will the chatter continue in St Kitts?The cricket between the two sides was absorbing during the Test series. So, too, was the sledging. It was louder from the West Indies side as Jayden Seales had something to say to all the Bangladesh batters. He taunted Mehidy Hasan Miraz when he ducked under a bouncer. The slip cordon joined in from time to time, particularly Kevin Sinclair, who was a substitute fielder in Jamaica.Related

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The on-field umpires spoke to captain Kraigg Brathwaite a few times, and even told the players to calm down. Later, the ICC fined Seales for his send-off to Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Sinclair for not listening to the umpires and continuing to talk.Bangladesh, for their part, weren’t as animated as the home side, but they did have the odd one-liner to share from time to time.The West Indians looked like they lost a bit of focus on the job at hand as a result of all the talk, and might not take the same route in the ODIs. In any case, after the Test win in Jamaica, Bangladesh should now have a few replies ready.West Indies are in form even if their captain isn’tThe first priority for West Indies would be to continue their good showing in ODIs after the series win against England recently.Shai Hope leads a side that has a good batting line-up and an impressive pace battery. They have included the uncapped Amir Jangoo, who was the top run-getter in the recent Super50 ODI tournament. Justin Greaves, who made three centuries in a row in the competition, returns to the ODI setup, too.But Hope, the highest-ranked ODI batter of the two sets of players, needs to return to ODI form, having averaged 29.28 this year. This comes after several good years – in 2023, he made 824 runs at an average of 68.66. Keacy Carty has shown form for West Indies in ODIs this year, while left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie is their leading wicket-taker.West Indies’ batting line-up is full of power-hitters. Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Lewis will be expected to provide the big hits, while Roston Chase usually holds together the middle-order. Shamar Joseph and Matthew Forde are nursing injuries, with Marquino Mindley and Jediah Blades replacing them and providing fast-bowling cover.Mehidy Hasan Miraz will lead Bangladesh in the West Indies ODIs as well•Athelstan BellamyNew Bangladesh, but is it improved Bangladesh?Bangladesh need to carry the positives from their Test win in Jamaica into the ODIs. This is especially important as they have a side devoid of most of their experienced players. Shakib Al Hasan continues to be out, while Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman haven’t made it to the West Indies either – Shanto and Mushfiqur are recovering from injuries while Mustafizur has taken time off for personal reasons.Mehidy will continue as the captain with the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Jaker Ali and Litton Das from the Test side also part of the ODI squad. Soumya Sarkar’s performed in the Global Super League in Guyana should also give the team confidence – Soumya was the Player of the Tournament – and Player of the Match in the final for his 86 – as he finished as the tournament’s top-scorer. Rishad Hossain and Afif Hossain – also part of the Rangpur Riders’ trophy-winning side – are in the squad too.Bangladesh will have Taskin, Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana and Hasan Mahmud from the Test pace attack. Tanzim Hasan will come from the GSL where he played for the Guayana Amazon Warriors side. Nasum Ahmed and Mehidy will take charge of the spin department, while Mahmudullah will add experience in the batting line-up that also includes Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain.International cricket returns to St Kitts after two yearsBangladesh would have happy memories of Warner Park in St Kitts, having won two out of their four completed international matches at the venue.This will be the first international match in St Kitts since August 2022. Incidentally, the last ODI played at the venue was also between the same two sides, while there have been a handful of CPL and first-class matches held here this year.The three ODIs are on December 8, 10 and 12. The weather is mostly dry but there’s a forecast of some rain during the second ODI.