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Before Nair’s fireworks, Yash Rathod and Dhruv Shorey scored hundreds to set the platform for a comfortable win

Shashank Kishore16-Jan-2025Karun Nair’s glorious run of form brought him an unbeaten 44-ball 88 as Vidarbha beat Maharashtra comfortably in the second semi-final of the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The result sets up a fascinating prospect where Nair will be up against Karnataka, his former team, in Saturday’s final.Nair narrowly missed out on a fifth straight List A century only because he ran out of time. That he even got close to one is because of a sensational end-overs acceleration. On 51 off 35 balls with two overs remaining, Nair hit four sixes and three fours in the last two overs. This included a sensational sequence of 4, 0, 6, 4, 4, 6 in the final over against Rajneesh Gurbani, who was up against his former team. Nair took his run tally to 752 runs while being dismissed just once.The only time Nair didn’t middle something was while attempting a couple of reverse sweeps early in his innings to build on the platform laid by the openers. But that didn’t stop him from being enterprising, as he played some delicate paddles, audacious scoops as well as some clean strikes down the ground – he hit nine fours and five sixes in all.After being put in, and setting a target for the first time in the tournament, Vidarbha posted 380 for 3, the last seven overs alone producing 108. Nair’s sensational late carnage came on the back of a 224-run opening stand between Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathod in 34.2 overs. Jitesh Sharma, who came in at No. 4, also cashed in, hitting a 33-ball 51 in a 93-run stand with Nair off just 59 deliveries.Maharashtra’s chase didn’t take off till the 30th over, when they were 153 for 3. Except for a four-over window from here, where Ankit Bawne and Arshin Kulkarni upped the ante with an array of stunning shots, the intent to make a serious pitch to scale down their target seemed missing.File photo – Yash Rathod was the Player of the Match for his 116•PTI

It didn’t help that they lost Ruturaj Gaikwad in the third over when he top-edged a pull off Darshan Nalkande and was sensationally caught by Jitesh, who covered nearly 30 yards to his left before diving full-stretch to pluck a one-handed stunner.Rahul Tripathi, their other big-match player capable of taking the attack to the opposition from get-go, made an attractive 27 off 19 before a heave across the line had him nicking behind in the ninth over. This is when Kulkarni appeared to have gotten stuck, on the face of some impressive bowling from Vidarbha, particularly from Yash Thakur, who was zippy, and Harsh Dubey, who was able to keep it tight with his left-arm spin.Despite Kulkarni putting on a half-century stand with Siddhesh Veer, Maharashtra lacked the middle-overs firepower that allowed them to put any kind of pressure on Vidarbha as the game meandered until it briefly came alive in that short window after the 30th over. But those hopes ended when Kulkarni and Bawne fell in quick succession after scoring 90 and 50 respectively. Kulkarni’s runs came at a strike rate of 89.10 when the requirement was much higher.Earlier in the day, Shorey began with three fours in the very first over off Gurbani, while Rathod brought the typical left-hander’s flair to get going as he climbed into left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary. The pair accelerated steadily, bringing their half-centuries in the 19th over.Rathod was the more adventurous against spin and used his feet superbly to hit both with and against the turn. He brought up his second List A century of the season off just 90 balls in the 31st over and then tried to up the scoring. Shorey got there soon after, zipping through the 90s with two back-to-back boundaries and then bringing up his second straight hundred off 104 deliveries.Maharashtra had their chances but they didn’t take. In the 24th over, they should have had Shorey for 57 when he got a bottom edge to wicketkeeper Nikhil Naik off Siddesh Veer. Had Maharashtra opted to review, they would have been able to overturn the on-field decision of not out. In Veer’s next over, Naik missed a stumping chance to dismiss Rathod on 76.Then in the 45th over, Jitesh was put down on 19 when Naik failed to latch on to a skier to make it a forgettable day that even his 49 late in the second innings couldn’t quite compensate for. Nair, too, received a reprieve when, on 30, he was put down by Pradeep Dadhe at fine leg.Whatever Nair did on the field from there on worked magically as Vidarbha recorded their eighth successive win to secure a maiden entry into the Vijay Hazare final.

The left-arm spinner had a recurrence of knee soreness after the India series

AAP14-Dec-2024Australia have a fresh injury concern ahead of the Ashes with Sophie Molineux ruled out of the women’s ODI tour of New Zealand with a knee injury.Already sweating on the fitness of captain Alyssa Healy and her sore knee, Australia suffered more bad news on Saturday in the form of Molineux’s injury.Related

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The finger-spinner has battled knee issues this summer, missing some WBBL games with the Melbourne Renegades to manage pain in the joint.She played in the last two of Australia’s 3-0 series sweep over India, but pulled up sore following the last victory in Perth on Wednesday.It means she will now skip all three ODIs against New Zealand this month, with bowling-allrounder Heather Graham to take her spot four weeks out from the Ashes.The games double as the team’s last before next month’s multi-format Ashes series, where Australia will aim to retain the trophy for a fifth straight time.”Sophie Molineux has been withdrawn from the NZ Series due to knee soreness,” Cricket Australia said in a statement. “Heather Graham will join the squad in New Zealand on Tuesday, following Tasmania’s Women’s National Cricket League matches against New South Wales in Hobart.”Georgia Wareham would be the most likely player to come into Australia’s XI for the first ODI against New Zealand on Thursday, after she was left out of the final two games against India.In better news for Australia, Healy is at least a confirmed attendee on the New Zealand trip. Australia’s captain missed the three ODIs against India through her own knee injury, after also missing the end of the T20 World Cup with a foot issue.Healy’s return will create a potential headache for selectors given Georgia Voll’s impressive start to her international career against India.Voll made scores of 46 not out, 101 and 26 while deputising for Healy at the top of the order, after a breakthrough WBBL with the Sydney Thunder.But Voll is at risk of being squeezed out of the ODI side in New Zealand, with Healy expected to slot back into opening alongside Phoebe Litchfield.It means the only way Voll would remain in the first-choice XI is if selectors opt to bat her down the order and make the bold call of leaving out a more established player.

Filling in as opener, Babar Azam had a good day with the bat but was left to ponder what could have been

Danyal Rasool06-Jan-2025Babar Azam found himself rooted to the crease in disgust. He couldn’t believe the shot he’d played after being set on a surface where there was limited threat from either the pitch or the bowlers. He must have thought he’d never make that mistake again, but two sessions later it happened.So, on a day where Babar scored two half-centuries, the bigger talking point surrounded his shot selection. Well set during Pakistan’s first innings in the opening session, Kwena Maphaka had bowled one well down leg side, and managed to coax Babar into tickling it through to the wicketkeeper. It has been a persistent issue with Babar – the strangle down leg. But then again, so is his manner of dismissal two sessions later when, in the dying throes of the day, he threw his hands at a wide delivery from Marco Jansen, and edged it straight to gully.Related

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Babar admitted the dismissals meant it was disappointment rather than relief that dominated his emotions. “I’m very disappointed with both innings. I started well, but didn’t finish well,” he said. “If you settle, you must go much bigger. That is why I was a bit upset. There were just 15 minutes left.”It was all the more frustrating because South Africa posed no danger of dismissing either him or Shan Masood, who scored an unbeaten hundred. Having sent down nearly a hundred overs across the two innings, their discipline over the last two sessions had been poor; they bowled 10 no-balls in 49 overs of the second innings. There was almost no swing or movement of the seam, and Pakistan’s openers appeared set to finish the day unbeaten, looking to salvage something after the disaster of the first.”The conditions here are different from Centurion,” Babar said. “When you come to South Africa, you don’t expect that [the pitch will be so flat]. With the new ball, it was a bit challenging, but once you settled down and built a partnership, it became easier. But there are some rough patches; you saw a couple of overs from Maharaj to Shan which got some turn and bounce. So the spinner is a bit of a challenge for the batter. But against the fast bowler, if you’re settled, just play your normal game.”There was, however, some relief for Babar. After about two years without a Test fifty, he had scored three on the trot, a run stretching back to the second innings in Centurion. However, all three dismissals were down to poor shot selection rather than bowlers working him out.”I should have capitalised during our partnership, but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” he said. “In the second innings, my partnership with Shan has helped us come back into the game a little. Tomorrow, we have to try and build a partnership, and the longer those partnerships are the more pressure there’ll be on South Africa.”But there is a bigger picture, one that his continued struggle of late has put him in a better position to appreciate. He is the highest run-scorer for Pakistan this series, and now has something every batter values: competitive time at the crease under his belt.”Things change in life all the time,” he said. “I learned a lot during this time [of poor form] when what I wanted to do I wasn’t able to do, and when I couldn’t do the things that people expected of me. I just kept telling myself to stay calm, and believe that my ability and hard work would be vindicated, and to try and enjoy myself. But what was really important was to spend some time on the pitch, and thankfully [that has happened this series].”

A disciplined bowling effort from India’s seamers led England to scale back their usual aggressive intent

Matt Roller10-Jul-20251:21

Manjrekar in praise of Root’s batting

Shubman Gill declared the return of “boring Test cricket” but England did not care. They scored uncharacteristically slowly – at just 3.02 runs per over – and ground their way into the ascendancy on their slowest-scoring full day of the Bazball era, as Joe Root reached the close a run short of his 37th Test century and his eighth at Lord’s.”Baz-Baz-Bazball! Come on, I want to see it,” Mohammed Siraj was heard telling Root over the stump microphones, as England put their attacking shots away during a wicketless second session. “No more entertaining cricket, lads,” Gill told his team-mates, after Ollie Pope left the ball alone outside his off stump. “Welcome back to the boring Test cricket.”Boring suited England just fine. The crowd at Lord’s was probably anticipating a very different day when they cheered Ben Stokes’ decision to bat after winning his third consecutive toss, but a sluggish surface and a disciplined bowling effort from India’s seamers – including the returning Jasprit Bumrah – led England to scale back their usual aggressive intent.Related

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But India will be heartened by the fact that after a long day in the field, they have kept England in check. The bowling heroes of their 336-run win at Edgbaston, Siraj and Akash Deep, both went wicketless, but timely scalps for Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and two in an over from Nitish Kumar Reddy ensured that England never got away from them.Root walked in straight after Reddy’s first over, which accounted for both England openers and saw Gill drop a tough chance off Pope in the gully, and quickly got his head down. He put on 109 with Pope for the third wicket, then an unbroken 79 with Stokes for the fifth – though Stokes’ apparent groin issue could become a major worry.India had their own injury problem to worry about: Rishabh Pant tried to grimace through the pain after being struck on the index finger as he tried to gather a rare loose ball from Bumrah, but instead spent the last 49 overs off the field. But Dhruv Jurel proved an able deputy, taking a fine catch to dismiss Pope as Jadeja found his outside edge with the first ball after tea.0:57

What explains England’s ‘Blockball’ approach?

Brendon McCullum ordered a pitch with “plenty of life in it” after England’s heavy defeat at Edgbaston but his plea either arrived too late or fell on deaf ears. It was clear within an over that this was a slow surface, with Ben Duckett edging through to Pant on the half-volley; Bumrah, who replaced Prasidh Krishna, immediately called for the slip cordon to stand closer.Duckett was repeatedly struck on the body in the first hour as Bumrah nipped the new ball off the seam, while Crawley was frenetic. He changed his guard several times and threw his hands at the ball; while he nailed three cover drives, he slashed another over the slips and regularly played and missed at both Akash Deep and Siraj.But it was Reddy, wicketless in Birmingham, who made the breakthroughs. He struck first with perhaps the worst ball of the morning, a long-hop on Duckett’s hip which he under-edged to Pant on the pull, but then dismissed Crawley with one of the best, a wicked outswinger which angled in then shaped away late to take the outside edge.Pope was reprieved by Gill in between those two dismissals and batted as though determined to live up to his tag – coined by Steve James in the – as “the worst starter since prawn cocktail”. But he made it through to lunch unscathed, and dug in alongside Root after the interval; early in the second session, they went 28 consecutive balls without scoring.1:15

Manjrekar: India introduced spin very late

Root, the senior pro, recognised that the best way to play Bumrah was from the non-striker’s end: he faced only two balls of his five-over spell after lunch, pinching singles to give Pope the strike back. They added 70 in a sleepy second session, as India’s seamers hung the ball wide outside off stump and waited for a mistake which didn’t come.It finally arrived straight after tea, as Pope flashed hard at Jadeja and edged through to Jurel. He stood disconsolate, bent over his bat handle in disbelief that he had thrown his wicket away. India had another soon after, as the battle between the ICC’s No. 1-ranked Test batter and bowler ended swiftly: Bumrah nipped one back off the seam to peg Harry Brook’s off stump back.Stokes was underway early with consecutive cuts for four, but looked uncomfortable against spin once more and survived an lbw shout from Reddy via DRS thanks only to the on-field umpire’s call. He was in obvious discomfort after a leave against Reddy, but batted on getting treatment from England’s physio during another long delay.Root, meanwhile, cruised along as he does, only once putting his foot down with a rasping slog-sweep off Jadeja. He was a boundary away from his hundred in the final over of the day but could only manage a two and then a single. History bodes well: the previous 16 men to sleep on 99 in Test cricket have all reached three figures the following morning.

Overseas star carries his bat in 144-ball 143 to give his side four wins from four

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay15-Aug-2025Gloucestershire 289 for 5 (Bancroft 143*) beat Glamorgan 288 for 9 (Byrom 94, Northeast 52, van Buuren 3-33) by five wicketsCameron Bancroft scored a superbly-judged unbeaten hundred to guide Gloucestershire to a convincing five-wicket victory over Glamorgan and extend their winning start to the Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign to four games at Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium.Set 290 to win and retain top spot in Group A, Gloucestershire were indebted to their overseas star, who carried his bat in posting 143 from 144 balls, striking 17 fours and two sixes and sharing in stands of 72 and 84 with Ben Charlesworth and Graeme van Buuren for the third and fifth wickets respectively as the home side reached their target with 20 balls to spare.Recalled to the team, allrounder van Buuren had earlier claimed 3 for 33 with the ball to ensure Eddie Byrom’s outstanding innings of 94 from 108 balls was made in a losing cause. Byrom staged a stand of 127 in 22.1 overs for the second wicket with Sam Northeast, who raised a 59-ball 52 after Gloucestershire had won the toss. Dan Douthwaite weighed in with a hard-hitting 43, but seamers Matt Taylor and Josh Shaw took three wickets apiece to restrict the Welsh county to 289 for 9.Gloucestershire remain the only side to boast a 100 percent record after four matches, but 2024 competition winners Glamorgan are still seeking their first victory and will have to win all of their remaining fixtures if they are to stand any chance of making the knockout stages.Gloucestershire inserted their neighbours on a flat surface and Matt Taylor struck an early blow, luring Asa Tribe into driving low to mid-off in the second over.Initially tied down by nagging line and length, Byrom and Northeast eventually broke the shackles, both heaving Taylor over the mid-wicket boundary rope as their alliance raised 50 in 49 balls.Gloucestershire engineered an opportunity with the advent of Ollie Price’s off-breaks, Northeast hitting to deep midwicket on 19. Although Zaman Akhter took the catch, his momentum carried him over the boundary and the batter enjoyed a fortuitous escape. There were no such issues for Byrom, who moved smoothly to a 46-ball half-century with his seventh four, a fluent straight drive off Craig Miles.The hundred partnership occupied 16.4 overs as Gloucestershire’s seamers struggled to contain the second-wicket pair, who were further aided by some uncharacteristically loose fielding from the Group A leaders. Making good his earlier escape, Northeast posted 50 from 57 balls, only to give van Buuren’s slow left arm the charge and be stumped by James Bracey immediately afterwards with the score 135 for 2.This was the breakthrough Gloucestershire had been wanting and experienced allrounder van Buuren then removed the in-form Kiran Carlson for nine in his next over, Glamorgan’s captain nicking behind as the visitors slipped to 151 for 3 at the halfway stage. Welsh ambition required Byrom to bat on and register a substantial score, but the Zimbabwe-born left-hander fell to a superb catch by Tommy Boorman on the deep square leg boundary as van Buuren struck another potentially crucial blow.Byrom had provided the innings with a solid platform but with the score 194 for 4 in the 35th, Gloucestershire felt they were back in the game, an impression confirmed when Will Smale edged a catch behind off the bowling of Matt Taylor and departed for 26.Just when Glamorgan looked as though they might fall short, Douthwaite launched a counter-attack, including four sixes and dominating a stand of 52 in 7.2 over for the sixth wicket with Zain-ul-Hassan before falling to the returning Shaw.Bracey afforded Gloucestershire’s chase a super-charged start, raising 34 from 25 balls in an opening stand of 43 in 5.3 overs with Bancroft. But Ned Leonard redressed the balance in his first over, taking two wickets in three balls to reduce the home side to 43 for 2. Bracey was caught at the wicket and then Price was out slashing at a delivery outside off stump, Northeast palming the ball into the air for Tribe to complete the dismissal at first slip.Bancroft and Charlesworth responded to adversity in positive fashion, finding the gaps and running hard between the wickets to add 50 in 10 overs and rebuild the innings without taking undue risk. Having contributed 37 to a stand of 72 for the third wicket, Charlesworth then lost concentration, lofting Carlson to wide long-off where Douthwaite took a superb catch on the run to reduce the home side to 115 for 3 in the 20th.Undeterred, Bancroft went to 50 from 59 balls and he and Jack Taylor advanced the score to 145 for 3 at halfway, at which point Gloucestershire were required to score a further 145 at 5.8 an over. The home side’s task was rendered more difficult when Taylor was deemed to have feathered a catch behind off the bowling of Harris in the 26th.Guiding the pursuit thereafter, Bancroft moved to his sixth career List-A hundred off 100 balls by lifting Andy Gorvin over the long-on boundary. He found an able ally in van Buuren, who proved especially strong off the back foot, scoring at a run a ball to ensure the rate stayed below six an over.Glamorgan lost wicketkeeper Alex Horton to a hand injury and he was replaced behind the stumps by Smale, but Gloucestershire’s fifth-wicket pair were already in control, combining deft placement with quick running to keep the scoreboard moving. Harris returned to pin van Buuren lbw for 36, but Boorman contributed a brisk 27 not out to an unbroken stand of 57 for the sixth wicket with Bancroft to calm any nerves and render the outcome a formality.

Both are exceptional ODI outfits, coming in with a string of wins to their name. Both will also already have one eye on their respective semi-finals, which quickly follow Sunday’s game

Karthik Krishnaswamy01-Mar-20252:19

Kumble: ‘Not in favour of resting players at this stage’

Big picture: Kohli joins 300 club

Scroll down to the form guide section. Actually, no need, because, spoiler warning, both teams have WWWWW next to them going into this match.These are two exceptional ODI outfits in potentially title-winning form, deep and balanced thanks to the allrounders they possess. They are well-suited to conditions at this Champions Trophy – particularly, perhaps, to those in Dubai where this contest will take place – thanks to their spin options and the variety of batting gears in their top orders.There has also been, especially over the last five years and a bit, a lot of history between these two teams.Related

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This should, for all those reasons, be a main-course kind of contest, but it’s an appetiser in the context of where this Champions Trophy stands. India and New Zealand are both through to the semi-finals, and know exactly where and when their respective semi-finals will be played. All that remains to be decided is whom they will face there, and it’s unlikely there’s a “preferred” opponent for either team, given it’s a choice between South Africa and Australia.With that in mind, and the short turnaround before the semi-finals – particularly in the case of India, who only have a one-day gap before their game on March 4 – Sunday night’s contest may not necessarily be played at vein-throbbing intensity. There’s a chance of big names resting, and also – as India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate suggested on Friday – of key bowlers not completing their full ten-over quotas.There’s one man whose intensity is never short of vein-throbbing when he’s on the field, though, and he’s set to play a very special match. Virat Kohli is set to play his 300th ODI, becoming the 22nd player and seventh from India to get to that landmark. Given how infrequently ODIs are now played, and given how far away Kohli’s closest contemporaries are – Mushfiqur Rahim (274) and Rohit Sharma (272) are the only two to have played more than 250 – will he also be the last to get there?Virat Kohli is poised to play his 300th ODI•Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Form guide

India WWWWW
New Zealand WWWWW

In the spotlight: Shreyas Iyer and Kyle Jamieson

India’s batting is yet to face a truly daunting test in this Champions Trophy. They have batted second in both their games so far, and chased down targets of 229 and 242. Whether they bat first or second on Sunday, they are likelier to face a stiffer challenge from New Zealand, particularly from their fingerspinners Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell through the middle overs. It is perhaps in this context that Shreyas Iyer becomes especially important. Where Kohli and KL Rahul have gone at strike rates in the low 80s against spin in the middle overs since the start of 2023, Iyer has struck at 95.24. New Zealand know how dangerous Iyer is against spin – he hit five sixes while scoring 48 off 35 balls against their spinners during his century in the Mumbai World Cup semi-final of 2023.If the Kohli generation is India’s golden generation, it probably peaked around the time of the inaugural World Test Championship of 2019-21. And it’s quite possible that India may have won that trophy had they not happened to run into Kyle Jamieson. This towering and hugely gifted fast-bowling allrounder has gone through a testing time since then, mostly due to injury, and he’s now set to face India for the first time in any format since December 2021. Jamieson hasn’t yet had the same impact in ODIs that he has had in Tests; could the sight of his favourite opponents bring out his best?

Team news: Daryl Mitchell fit, but where does he fit in?

India only have a day’s gap between this match and their semi-final, but had a six-day gap between their previous match, against Pakistan, and this one. Do they believe, then, that their key players are adequately rested for 200 overs over three days? Or do they rest one or two of them? And what of the players on the bench, and their match-readiness should they suddenly be required in a knockout game? Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami went off the field with niggles at various stages during the Pakistan game, but both, according to the team’s press-conference representatives, are fit.India didn’t train on Saturday, but Rishabh Pant had an extended session in the nets on Friday, which suggests he could get a game – he has only played one ODI, back in July 2024, since his return from injuries suffered during his car crash. Given that as many as five left-hand batters could feature in New Zealand’s top eight, there’s a chance India may replace one of their two left-arm fingerspinners with the offspinner Washington Sundar. If Pant plays and adds his left-handedness to India’s top five, it relieves them of the need for Axar Patel as a floater.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Kuldeep Yadav/Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Mohammed Shami/Arshdeep Singh.India, especially, will have a question of balancing workloads to address•Associated Press

Daryl Mitchell is fit again after missing the match against Bangladesh with an illness, and this leaves New Zealand with a major top-order headache. Rachin Ravindra, who was himself returning from injury, replaced Mitchell and scored a match-winning hundred against Bangladesh. Will Young scored a hundred in the tournament-opener against Pakistan. Devon Conway, who had replaced Ravindra at the top of the order, has also been among the runs, scoring 97 against South Africa in the tri-series that preceded the Champions Trophy.New Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O’Rourke.

Pitch and conditions: spin to win?

Dubai has been the most spin-friendly of the four Champions Trophy venues, with spinners currently returning an average of 37.07 and an economy rate of 4.36 here. Rawalpindi is second on both counts, at 40.60 and 4.81.This, of course, may also have something do to with the quality of India’s spinners. In any case, the pitches in Dubai, far from being square turners, have tended to be merely slow, with the large outfield also serving as an ally to the slower bowlers.Bangladesh and Pakistan both won the toss against India and chose to bat, reflecting the trend for dew not to be much of a factor at this time of the year. It’s possible that bat-first may still be the way to go, given the tendency for the pitches here to slow down over 100 overs.A clear, pleasant day is expected on Sunday, with a maximum temperature of 24 degrees Celsius.Vital runs aside, Tom Latham now has 100 ODI catches as a keeper to his name•ICC/Getty Images

Stats and trivia

• India and New Zealand have only met once before in the Champions Trophy: the final in 2000 when an unbeaten Chris Cairns century led New Zealand to a four-wicket win.
• India have won each of their last five completed ODIs against New Zealand; New Zealand won five in a row before that stretch.
• Tom Latham’s unbeaten 118 made all the headlines, but he also enjoyed a big moment on the field during New Zealand’s tournament-opener against Pakistan: the catch of Shaheen Shah Afridi, off Matt Henry, was his 100th as wicketkeeper in ODIs.

Quotes

“That’s a lot of ODI games and a lot of international games and yeah, he’s been… I mean, words fall short to express how good a player he’s been, and what a great servant of Indian cricket he’s been.”

Support from coach and captain helped spinner rediscover his enjoyment for the game

Matt Roller21-Oct-2024Jack Leach believes that being dropped by England during their home summer enabled him to fall back in love with cricket, aided by an unexpected phone call from Ben Stokes in the aftermath of a Test win.Leach is the leading wicket-taker in England’s series in Pakistan with 14, but had only played two Tests in the 18 months before the tour and failed to complete either due to back and knee injuries. He had returned to full fitness after knee surgery by the time England picked their first Test of the summer in June, but they selected his Somerset team-mate Shoaib Bashir instead.Bashir earned widespread praise after his match-winning five-wicket haul against West Indies at Trent Bridge, and was preferred throughout the rest of the summer. But when England returned to their Nottingham hotel after that win, Stokes called Leach to tell him that Bashir’s success did not mean he had been forgotten.”I felt really happy and proud,” Leach recalled on Monday, speaking at England’s hotel in Islamabad. “He just wanted to tell me how great I was, basically, in the way that he does, and just recognise how I’ve dealt with the situation. That gave me a chance to say some nice things back to him about what he’d given me, probably going back to 2019 at Headingley.Related

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• Shoaib Bashir's raw returns turn spotlight on England's spin gamble

• Switch Hit: Spinner, spinner, chicken dinner

“There’s just a mutual respect there, so it was a nice conversation to have for sure. It just reminded me that I was going about things in the right way, and gave me confidence I still had something to offer the team and I was a part of it, in a small way. That gave me good motivation for the remainder of the summer… a nice reminder that there was still a chance to play.”Leach admitted that he briefly feared that his England career would be over when he initially learned of his omission. “You always do,” he said. “After a long time out with injury, I maybe felt that might be it… I really understood the situation. If you’re not able to stay fit, then other people come in and do well, and Bash certainly did that.”But he was happy with the level of communication from England’s management throughout, and received a similar call from Brendon McCullum the day after speaking to Stokes in July. “I was really happy with that – and in a way, not surprised, because of what I’d experienced when I was there [in the squad],” he said. “I’m very thankful for that, and my relationship with those guys.”After a slow start to the season which saw him take nine wickets at 50.44 in his first four appearances for Somerset, Leach thrived at the end of the year with 36 at 15.86 in five matches. He said that the secret was as simple as “remembering what I’m about, and being happy with that” rather than worrying too much about making minor technical changes.”I just felt like I needed to rediscover that kid-like mentality of why you play the game,” Leach said. “You have that on the journey up to playing for England, that nothing-to-lose mentality. Then it’s like, ‘I’m here now, I want to keep that’. That’s tiring, it’s stressful, it’s not enjoyable… You forget what your main strengths are.”This summer actually provided a really good opportunity to go back to play for Somerset – which is what I always wanted to do as a young boy – and to just simplify everything; just do what I was good at, and build the confidence that actually, that was good enough… I’ve discovered that again: just being myself, and actually really enjoying that.”Leach has outbowled Bashir in England’s first two Tests in Pakistan, but said that reclaiming his status as first-choice spinner is “not important” to him. “That’s not really in my thoughts,” he said. “I just want to keep building on what I’ve done in the summer and what I’m doing out here… For me, it’s all about the team. Maybe I’m at an age where that’s all that really matters to me.”The pair have worked closely together in Pakistan. “He’s just done so well,” Leach said of Bashir. “He’ll just be learning so much, so quickly. He’s quality. We have a good relationship, good fun, and try to work together. I try to help where I can. I don’t want to overload him with stuff: I feel like he’s just learning through playing, and it’s all going to come quite naturally.”The series decider starts on Thursday in Rawalpindi, with another turning pitch in prospect after Pakistan’s 152-run win last week. Two years ago, it was the scene of a famous England win: they racked up 657 in 101 overs in their first innings, and Leach applied the finishing touches when trapping Naseem Shah lbw on the final evening to seal the victory.”That’s probably my favourite wicket: just the pictures of the appeal, and then just after of everyone celebrating,” Leach said. “It was just such a good game to be part of.” England will hope for something similar this week, in their bid for a 2-1 series win.

Returning quicks close out soggy win after Markram, Brevis and Ferreira cameos

Firdose Moonda10-Sep-2025Don’t read too much into it, but South Africa took the lead in the three-match T20I series against England after winning a game initially reduced to nine overs a side by batting for 7.5 and then defending an adjusted five-over target.Wet conditions in Cardiff stalked the match throughout as play began two hours and 20 minutes after the scheduled 6.30pm start, and was then interrupted with seven balls remaining in South Africa’s innings.South Africa were on track for a total over 100 thanks to a top-score of 28 from captain Aiden Markram, who sold for R14 million (US$800,000 approx.) at Tuesday’s SA20 auction and hit two fours and two sixes in the 14 balls he faced. Markam shared in a 32-run second-wicket stand with Lhuan-dre Pretorius before Dewald Brevis and Donovan Ferreira put on 36 off 15 balls to form the spine of a competitive total.A heavy burst of rain ended South Africa’s innings prematurely and England were set a reduced target of 69 of 30 balls. With a required run rate of 13.8 an over, their task was always going to be tough but losing Phil Salt and Harry Brook for ducks made it even more difficult. Jos Buttler returned to the top of the order and scored 25 off 11 but needed support against South Africa’s top seamers to challenge for the result to go England’s way.

Wood proves his worth

England made a late change to include left-arm seamer Luke Wood in their XI in place of Jofra Archer, who was wrapped in cotton wool in wet conditions. Wood seized his opportunity: his second ball, and first to the left-handed Ryan Rickelton, swung away, Rickelton drove with no footwork and edged to Buttler for a golden duck.Luke Wood claimed Ryan Rickelton for a first-ball duck•AFP/Getty Images

Markram hit Wood over mid-off for the innings’ first boundary later in that over, then back over his head for six and over mid-on for four at the start of his second over but Wood came back well. Pretorius tried to hit over the leg side but miscued towards mid-off where Brook dived forward to take a stunning catch and Wood ended with 2 for 22.

Brevis justifies the big bucks

After breaking the SA20 pay record and selling for R16.5 million (approx US$944,000) a little over 24 hours ago, Brevis is expected to produce big things and he delivered. When Liam Dawson was brought on in the fifth over, Brevis played the no-look six first up and then smashed a low full toss into the sightscreen for six more. He is a strong player of spin and dispatched Adil Rashid too, over midwicket for his third six.But when Sam Curran was brought on, to bowl his first international spell of the year, he foxed Brevis with an ultra-slow slower ball that Brevis played too early and edged to third. Still, his cameo in partnership with Ferreira showed off his quality – and the reason Pretoria Capitals were willing to splash the cash.Dewald Brevis drills a six down the ground•AFP/Getty Images

Welcome back, South Africa’s strike bowlers

The wisdom of picking Kagiso Rabada, who sat out the ODIs in both England and Australia with ankle inflammation and will have a big role to play in upcoming tours to Pakistan and India, and Marco Jansen, who has not played for almost three months, could have been questioned but both seemed keen to be back.Rabada’s first ball back was full to Phil Salt, who picked out Kwena Maphaka at deep backward square with precision. Rabada barely had time to celebrate his early strike before Buttler hit his fourth and fifth balls, both pace-off, for four and then six to close out the over strongly.Jansen beat Jacob Bethell to start but was then dispatched over midwicket for six before he had him caught at cover. After Brook missed a coupe, Jansen then found extra bounce to beat his uppercut and ended with a slower ball. He bowled a second over, mixed up his pace well and ended with the wicket of Buttler, caught off the inside edge, to end the game as a contest.South Africa were without Lungi Ngidi, ruled out of the series with a hamstring strain sustained at training on Tuesday, and Keshav Maharaj, who tweaked his groin during the warm-ups. Nandre Burger will replace Ngidi – who is due to fly home on Thursday – and will join up with the squad ahead of Friday’s second T20I in Manchester.