All posts by csb10.top

Essex’s Championship challenge foundered at The Kia Oval a few days ago and as spectators gathered again at Chelmsford, the air was thick with inquests. It was thick with humidity, too, which is about as close as it has got to raining in these parts this summer, and in that atmosphere, Nick Browne reminded everyone of his worth with his second hundred of the season.Somerset, who find themselves part of a West Country bottom two, had imagined they were catching Essex at a good time with their title ambitions over – although an even better time would have been with Simon Harmer absent with South Africa for the upcoming Test series against England. As it was, Browne supervised a successful Essex day, batting the entire day for 129 out of 281 for 3.Chelmsford remains parched. It gets roughly half the annual rain that falls upon the likes of Manchester and Cardiff in an average summer. The outfield at the River End of the ground is in a terrible state, worn and bumpy with drainage ditches clearly visible. Field in this area at your peril.Centuries have tended to come this season from Essex’s more celebrated opener, Alastair Cook, who has made four of their 10 in the Championship this season. Browne, a big, lumbering sort, often guarded in his strokeplay, is not really designed to wrest attention, but he is the most wholehearted of cricketers. They remain an opening partnership to be reckoned with and he played well.Browne told blithely how he and Cook used to keep a tally over the season about who got out first before it was abandoned for his own good. “It is always hard to get out after him,” he said. “We used to have a little competition but I always seemed to lose it because he is too good.”How many England players as distinguished as Cook will remain true to county cricket in the future? Nearly four years have passed since he bowed out of Test cricket against India at The Oval, but he appears to have settled back into Championship life with equanimity and he looked untroubled in making 44 before Peter Siddle cut one back to have him lbw, the third time he has dismissed him in the Championship this season.The extension of Marcus Trescothick’s career in county cricket with Somerset felt like a prolonged farewell tour with the Taunton crowd outpouring its gratitude for every extra season, almost every extra run. Trescothick’s presence at Somerset was heartfelt, of course, because of the mental health issues that had ended his England career prematurely. Essex’s ties with Cook, while just as strong, are perhaps more understated; less emotional. Both, though, might be figures from a different age.Related

• Anuj Dal delivers in style as Derbyshire ramp up promotion bid

• Ben Aitchison drives Derbyshire before rain intervenes

• Michael Jones' career-best 206 not out drives Durham into ascendancy

• Wayne Madsen turns the tables before Anuj Dal, Mattie McKiernan take command for Derbyshire

• Ryan Rickelton 95 drives Northants into slender lead at Cheltenham

With England now pulling around 30 players out of county cricket from an early age to feed a never-ending international schedule, and with the future county fixture list once again awash with uncertainty, it invites questions whether club loyalties of the best players can possibly remain as strong in a changing landscape. Then you think of Joe Root and imagining him settling back with Yorkshire many years from hence and maybe for some it remains perfectly possible. Perhaps it is not the nature of the competition, but the nature of the man.Essex’s opening pair are easy to tell apart: Cook, willowy and contemplative, accumulating quietly, rarely drawing attention to himself; Browne, more hunched and thick-set and capable of occasional moments of pugnacity, his speciality the sort of punched drive through extra cover, off Siddle that brought him a most diligent hundred. He had sweated it out for 13 balls on 99, including a play-and-miss against Kasey Aldridge, one of the few times his outside edge was beaten. Siddle, who has also played at Essex awarded it a fist-bump of respect.During the morning, Somerset had an injury scare for Craig Overton, who has been released by England to play in this match. He limped away from an over after having problems with the footholes, and also missed part of the morning session after jarring his shoulder in the field.All Somerset’s wickets on an unresponsive pitch came in the afternoon session. Tom Westley drove at Overton, back with no long-term damage, to be caught at slip, and Dan Lawrence slumped in disbelief when he cut the last ball of the afternoon session, a wide long-hop from Matt Renshaw, an occasional offspinner, to slip. Renshaw finished off a wearying day by bowling Browne a bouncer off a few paces which he duly ducked underneath.Paul Walter had his aggressive moments for an unbeaten 57, never more so than when he lofted Jack Leach for a straight six during 27 unrewarding overs for England’s premier spin bowler. Few anticipate that Harmer will be as unproductive as the game progresses.

The Afghanistan Under-19 men’s team is “very, very excited” after being cleared to travel to the Caribbean to participate in the World Cup, which starts on January 14.Earlier in the week, there were doubts over Afghanistan’s participation in the 16-team tournament due to visa glitches. As a result, Afghanistan’s two warm-up games, against England on January 10 and UAE on January 12, were cancelled. The Afghanistan squad had arrived in Dubai on December 20 to participate in the Under-19 Asia Cup, which took place between December 23 and 31. With the UK embassy in Kabul currently shut, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had decided that the players and support staff would apply for visas in the UAE to travel to the World Cup.However, uncertainty over the visas mounted as the days passed and a scenario of Afghanistan failing to get the paperwork needed to travel to the World Cup was not ruled out until late on Monday, when the UK government granted the necessary transit visas minutes before its consulate closed in Dubai. The Afghanistan group will now take a flight from Dubai early on January 12 morning to Manchester, followed by a connecting flight to the Caribbean.As a result of the delay and the quarantine requirements for the tournament, their first game has been pushed from January 16 – when they were meant to take on against Zimbabwe in Trinidad – to January 18, when they will take on Papua New Guinea.* Game on January 20 and 22 follow, against Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Afghanistan are placed in Group C along with these three opponents, and all the sides in this group have had games rescheduled to fit in Afghanistan’s matches. The top two teams from the pool qualify for the quarter-finals, while the bottom two from each pool will compete in a playoff round.

Changes to Group C fixtures

Jan 15, Zim vs PNG (was Jan 20)
Jan 17, Pak vs Zim (was Jan 22)
Jan 18, Afg vs PNG (unchanged)
Jan 20, Pak vs Afg (unchanged)
Jan 22 Pak vs PNG (was Jan 15)
Jan 22, Afg vs Zim (was Jan 16)

Raees Ahmadzai, the Afghanistan U-19 head coach, told ESPNcricinfo the team was thrilled to hear the news of their visas. “When they heard the news they were very, very excited,” he said. “It was the best news for all these young boys. They want to do something very special in the World Cup.”This will be Afghanistan’s seventh appearance in the Under-19 World Cup. Since first qualifying for it in 2010, they’ve made every subsequent edition. Their best finish came in 2018 in New Zealand, where they made the semi-finals. This is the second Under-19 World Cup for Ahmadzai as head coach – under him, Afghanistan finished seventh in 2020.This time around, with both the warm-up matches cancelled due to the travel delay, their biggest challenge will be the absence of any preparation as they had only “3-4 days’ practice” after the Asia Cup.But what’s more important, according to Ahmedzai, is the fact that Afghanistan will participate in the tournament. “I will say it is good news. We will adjust ourselves there, but participating in the World Cup is something very special for the fans, for the lovers of cricket in Afghanistan, for the country,” he said. “It is something very special in this kind of situation right now back in our country because the whole young generation, they are waiting and they are very excited to see Afghanistan in the World Cup. Cricket is more than a game for us now.”At the junior level if you representing the country for the first time or participating in the World Cup, it is something very special for the players. That is why they came out of their rooms today and celebrated in a special way [after the visa clearance].”Ahmadzai said the players have been boosted by their performance in the close defeat against India in the Asia Cup. Afghanistan set a target of 260 which India surpassed with four wickets in hand and eight balls to spare in a group-stage match.”They realised if they are more focused and remain positive during the game, they can beat any team in the World Cup,” he said. “That game boosted the morale of our players.”*

Big picture

On the one side, a team playing in its fortress. On the other, a team that managed to breach one in Australia at the start of this year.Cumulatively, South Africa and India have played a total of 18 Tests this year; South Africa have played only five of those, with the last one at home coming against Sri Lanka in January. Between then and now, South Africa cricket has been a tumultuous, even divisive space; enquiries into systemic racism have been centrestage this year, with not even VIP names, including some associated with the current team, escaping scrutiny as the push for justice reaches a vital speed.Related

• India's XI: Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, neither or both?

• KL Rahul hints India may stick to five-bowler strategy

• Stats: South Africa's dominance in Centurion, and India's middle-order muddle

• India-South Africa series to be played behind closed doors

• Pujara backs fast bowlers to make history in South Africa

India, meanwhile, have played in four marquee Test events in a year during which they had two legs of the IPL as well as a T20 World Cup to deal with. To speculate that there might be a few burnt out players in that squad wouldn’t be a big stretch. They’re carrying a middle order that has had no time to sort out issues they’ve been taking into every series this year, and contain some names who have had their share of off-field scuffles.South Africa are a team in turbulent transition, and the Indian team a broadcast magnet squeezed to its bones. Both teams possess bowling line-ups to win Tests in these conditions, and both come with batting line-ups that are difficult to judge before the series begins. India have been better at Tests than South Africa over the last few years – and have particularly elevated their game since their 2018 tour – but South Africa haven’t lost at Centurion since 2014; it is hard to categorically say that any one of these sides has the upper hand going into the first Test, and that is a delicious proposition ahead of a big series.

Form guide

South Africa WWLLW (last five Tests; most recent first)
India WDWLW

Players to watch

The last time India toured, Kagiso Rabada had Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel for company. Three years on, he is no longer an apprentice. Rabada will lead this attack in what is by far his best format as a bowler. It has been six months since he last played in Tests, and he was Player of the Match against West Indies in that one. He will be keen to embrace this chance to bowl the lengths he savours.Kohli averages 28.41 in Test cricket this year•Getty Images

Virat Kohli has been the centre of a media-driven joust with Sourav Ganguly over the last few weeks following his axing from ODI captaincy, and all eyes will firmly be on him when this Test begins. It will add to the narrative that he is now past two years since his last century and averages 28.41 this year.

Team news

South Africa are likely to use Wiaan Mulder as the fourth seamer and slot him in at No. 7 to add some batting to a thin lower order.South Africa: (probable) 1 Dean Elgar (capt), 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Keegan Petersen, 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Temba Bavuma, 6 Quinton de Kock (wk), 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Duanne OlivierKL Rahul hinted at a press conference that India are likely to back their five-bowler strategy.India: (probable) 1 KL Rahul, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane/Shreyas Iyer/Hanuma Vihari, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 R Ashwin, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj/Ishant Sharma

Pitch and conditions

The Centurion pitch can start slowly at times and then speed up on days two and three. At the moment, there is a lot of green grass on the surface, which will probably be trimmed. Scattered thunderstorms are forecast on the first and second days of the match. Thereafter, it is slated to be sunny and pleasant until the fifth day, on which thunderstorms are also forecast.

Stats and trivia

• Cheteshwar Pujara has been involved in four of India’s eight century stands abroad this year.
• Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock are the only batters in this South Africa line-up who have made centuries at home in the last three years.

Quotes

“I am not going to sit here and say they are not the best side in the world because there’s a ranking system for a reason. But the mere fact that we’re playing in our backyard gives us still the upper hand going into the series.”
South Africa captain Dean Elgar assesses the balance of the series

The kids are alright. Both Sri Lanka’s and West Indies’.In a game featuring some of T20s greatest names – Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard etc – it was a group of players under 27 that really shone. Perhaps the baton has been passed.

Watch cricket live on ESPN+

Sign up for ESPN+ and catch all the action from the Men’s T20 World Cup live in the USA. Match highlights of Sri Lanka vs West Indies is available here in English, and here in Hindi (USA only).

For Sri Lanka, their two best batters of the tournament, Charith Asalanka (aged 24), and Pathum Nissanka (23), put on a 91-run stand off 61 balls for the second wicket, to help set up a total of 189 for 3, which always seemed commanding, even on a good Abu Dhabi pitch.Both hit fifties, but Asalanka’s was the better one. He struck 68 off 41, cracking a six and eight fours. In defence of a pretty big total, Wanindu Hasaranga (24), took two further wickets to finish at 16 for the tournament – a T20 World Cup record.For West Indies, the greats didn’t really show, but two young batters did, and despite the incompetence around them even got West Indies to within 20 runs of Sri Lanka’s total. Twenty-four-year-old Shimron Hetmyer’s 81 off 54 was the more substantial of the two. Nicholas Pooran (26) hit 46 off 34. No other West Indies batter made double figures.The Asalanka-Nissanka standWhen Sri Lanka started this tournament, Asalanka wasn’t even in the XI. He then came in at No. 3 for Dinesh Chandimal, who had failed in the first couple of games. Since then he’s hit 8, 80*, 35, 21, 12, and 68. His innings on Thursday wasn’t even his best of the tournament (that would be his 80* while chasing, against Bangladesh). It was still impressive though. He found regular boundaries while the spinners were operating (he is especially good against spinners), worked the singles and twos efficiently the rest of the time, and thanks largely to him, Sri Lanka were skipping along at more than eight an over for the majority of their innings.Nissanka, meanwhile, wasn’t quite so regular with the boundary-hitting, but found plenty of runs square on the legside, and took calculated risks that mostly paid off in his 51 off 41 balls. Their partnership defined the match. And they both ended up with more than 200 runs in the tournament – Asalanka making all but eight of those in the Super 12 stage.

West Indies penalised for slow over rate

West Indies have been fined 20% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over rate against Sri Lanka as they were ruled to be one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.

David Boon of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Langton Rusere, third umpire Paul Wilson and fourth umpire Richard Kettleborough leveled the charge.

In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel relating to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20% of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl within the allotted time.

Sri Lanka’s finishThe second-wicket stand had set Sri lanka up nicely, but it still needed a fillip to get into the commanding territory they eventually achieved. Dasun Shanaka promoted himself up the order, though, and produced his best batting performance of the tournament, hitting a six and two fours in his eventual 25 not out off 14. With Asalanka also raising the tempo until he was eventually caught at square leg in the 19th over, Sri Lanka made 52 in the last four overs.West Indies’ collapseGayle, match-winner in so many T20 internationals, played his fourth meek innings in a row. He hit one single off his first four balls, and holed out to mid off playing his first aggressive shot of the match, to be out for one off five deliveries. Evin Lewis and Roston Chase were also dismissed inside the Powerplay, substantially denting West Indies’ chances.If there was one half-decent stand, it was the 30-run affair between Pooran and Hetmyer, until eventually Pooran fell early in the 12th over. By then, the required rate had climbed to well over 12. Hetmyer, who was 9 off 15 when Pooran fell, then started playing much more aggressively, but wickets kept falling at the other end. If one other batter had contributed a rapid 35, West Indies could maybe have got close.In the end though, Sri Lanka were good with the ball and excellent with the field, and they closed the match down efficiently.

Big picture

Kolkata Knight Riders have been on a fairytale ride since the UAE leg of the tournament began. Their top-order batters have scored consistently at a brisk pace and their spinners have stifled oppositions on sluggish tracks. Even though Eoin Morgan hasn’t struck form with the bat, he has led Knight Riders to six wins in the last eight matches. Now they are in Qualifier 2, one step away from the final.Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals have been the most consistent IPL side in recent years – they are the only ones to qualify for the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. The key to their success has been identifying their best XI early and changing it only when forced to do so.This season, Capitals topped the league stage despite missing Marcus Stoinis for five games. But after their defeat to Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1, cracks seem to have emerged in their line-up. Suddenly, in the absence of Stoinis, their balance looks comprised, while R Ashwin’s bowling form is giving them headaches. Can they regroup quickly and make it to their second successive final?The chasing teams have won five out of seven games in Sharjah so far this season. Moreover, four of Capitals’ five losses this season have come when batting first, while Knight Riders have won on all five occasions they have chased during the UAE leg of the tournament. So it will not be a surprise if both teams are keen to bowl first.Shakib Al Hasan has made the most of his limited opportunities in the UAE leg•BCCI

In the news

Andre Russell is still recovering from his hamstring injury. According to West Indies coach Phil Simmons, Russell has been batting in the Knight Riders nets and is “running at a certain level”. But given the slow nature of the Sharjah surface, Knight Riders could continue with Shakib Al Hasan even if Russell regains full fitness in the next 24 hours.Rishabh Pant had hoped for Stoinis to be fit for Qualifier 1. That didn’t happen but Capitals will be keeping a close eye on him. If available, Stoinis will replace Tom Curran in the side.

Likely XIs

Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Marcus Stoinis/Tom Curran, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Avesh KhanKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Shivam Mavi

Strategy punt

• Capitals have tried Lalit Yadav, Steven Smith, Ripal Patel and Curran to fill the Hulk-sized hole Stoinis has left behind. But none of them offers the balance Stoinis provides, by being a finisher who can bowl seam-up. A left-field option could be going back to Smith as the Sharjah pitch is likely to suit his style of batting. But given Ashwin’s form, Capitals could continue with Curran.
• If Knight Riders go unchanged, they will have five left-hand batters in the top eight. On the face of it, that should work in Ashwin’s favour, but a closer look tells he doesn’t have particularly impressive numbers against them in T20 cricket: 74 runs off 35 balls (no dismissal) against Nitish Rana, 60 runs in 21 balls (no dismissal) against Sunil Narine, 32 runs off 23 balls (two dismissals) against Eoin Morgan. He has hardly bowled against Venkatesh Iyer and has a favourable match-up only against Shakib: 30 runs in 31 balls and two dismissals. Generally, Ashwin is an economical bowler in the powerplay but Shubman Gill has taken him for 38 runs in 25 balls without getting out.Rana, though, has struggled against Axar Patel. The left-arm spinner has dismissed him twice in 22 balls while conceding only 23 runs. So it will be interesting to see how Capitals use their spinners.
• Knight Riders can once again promote Narine up the batting order, especially when the spinners are operating. In T20 cricket, Narine has a strike rate of 287.5 against Ashwin and 187.5 against Axar. Neither bowler has been able to dismiss him in a combined 29 balls.
• Instead of Kagiso Rabada, Capitals could use Anrich Nortje at the death. Rabada has a death-overs economy of 10.84 in this season, whereas Nortje has gone for only 6.81 per over. Rabada could be used in the powerplay and middle overs where has conceded 6.93 and 7.86 per over respectively.

Stats that matter

• This season Ashwin has picked up only five wickets in 12 games at an average of 60.80 and a strike rate of 49.0. Of the 22 bowlers who have bowled at least 40 overs in the tournament, Ashwin’s average and strike rate are the poorest.
• Knight Riders have played three games in Sharjah this season. In two of them, against Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, they didn’t concede even one six.
• In the IPL playoffs, including finals, Pant has scored 199 runs in six innings, at an average of 49.75 and a strike rate of 151.91.
• The teams that have scored more runs in the powerplay have won eight out of nine games in Sharjah this season.
• Capitals have hit the most number of fours (227) and the least number of sixes (60) for any team in IPL 2021.

South Africa Women’s offspinner Raisibe Ntozakhe has been cleared to bowl in international cricket again by the ICC, following remedial work after she was banned for an illegal bowling action. Ntozakhe was found to have an illegal action in October 2018 and was suspended from bowling in international cricket on the day she was named in South Africa’s squad for the T20 World Cup.Ntozakhe was reported during an ODI against West Indies in September 2018 in Barbados and had undergone an independent assessment of her bowling action at the University of Pretoria. The assessment revealed that all of her deliveries exceeded the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the regulations. On Thursday, the ICC announced that after further assessment, her elbow extension was found to be within the limit.”Ntozakhe’s remodelled bowling action was assessed at the University of Pretoria on 10 September, where it was revealed that the amount of elbow extension was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Illegal Bowling Regulations,” the ICC said in a release.”Match officials may still report Ntozakhe if they believe she is displaying a suspect action and not reproducing the legal action from the reassessment. To assist the match officials, they will be provided with the report, images and video footage of the bowler’s legal bowling action.”The 24-year-old had still managed to be among the women centrally contracted by Cricket South Africa in 2019 but missed out in the following year.

Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga has leapfrogged Afghanistan’s new T20I captain Rashid Khan to be ranked career-best No. 2 among T20I bowlers. The ICC rankings list is led by South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi, who has a 72-point advantage following impressive returns on the tour of the Caribbean and Ireland earlier this month.As many as six wristspinners feature in the top 10 – the others being Adil Rashid (fourth), Adam Zampa (seventh) and Ish Sodhi (ninth). Hasaranga will have an opportunity to establish a lead over Khan, who is just one point behind, during the second and third T20Is against India this week. The 23-year-old legspinner picked 2 for 28 during the series opener in Colombo on Sunday.Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India’s vice-captain on tour, jumped four places to be ranked 16th, while Yuzvendra Chahal, whose tight spell reined in Sri Lanka in the first T20I, jumped 10 places to be ranked 21st. Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera also moved up five places to 37th spot.

Full rankings tables

• Click here for the full team rankings across formats

• Click here for the full player rankings

The other gainers include India’s stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan, who is joint-29th with Reeza Hendricks. The South Africa opener made a 48-ball 69, his sixth T20I half-century, in an impressive 127-run opening stand to help South Africa clean sweep Ireland in Belfast last week.In the ODI arena, Josh Hazlewood made significant gains following an excellent tour of the Caribbean, jumping to No. 2 after taking five wickets and starring in Australia’s 2-1 series win. His new-ball partner Mitchell Starc, who also came up with a Player-of-the-Series performance in picking 11 wickets, jumped 10 places to be ranked eighth. The list is headed by New Zealand’s Trent Boult.Among the batters, Alex Carey jumped three places to be ranked just outside the top-20 (22nd), while Avishka Fernando, who struck a match-winning half-century against India to lift Sri Lanka off the bottom of the World Cup Super League points table, is now ranked 52nd.

James Vince stroked 60 from 38 and Chris Jordan produced a late cameo with the bat as Southern Brave finally got their campaign up and running with victory under the lights at the Ageas Bowl. Liam Livingstone produced his first significant contribution of the Hundred with an unbeaten half-century and Adam Milne’s 3 for 15 had seemingly set up Birmingham Phoenix for a narrow victory – only for Tom Helm to blink first against Jordan in the final set of five.For the third game running, Brave conceded a century stand (no other men’s team has done so even once), as Livingstone and Miles Hammond lifted Phoenix from a precarious 47 for 3 after 37. Jake Lintott picked up 2 for 13 while Liam Dawson was also frugal – but neither bowled their full allocation as Brave’s big guns, Tymal Mills and Jordan, again proved expensive, Livingstone hauling Phoenix up above 150 with a boundary from the final ball of the innings.Vince led the Brave charge but Milne removed Quinton de Kock cheaply and Devon Conway suffered the rare indignity during his time in England of being made to look human, producing a scratchy 34 from 27. Conway took 21 balls to score a boundary and then had his stumps rearranged by the returning Milne, leaving 32 needed from 19.Jordan struck a vital boundary off Helm and Milne produced a late blip by delivering a wide and a no-ball in his final set, bringing the equation down to single figures. With Phoenix failing to bowl the 95th ball before the cut-off, they were made to bring an extra fielder up inside the ring – and their poor timekeeping was to prove costly, as Jordan thrashed Helm into the newly-created gap at deep square leg, before a wide and a dropped catch by Benny Howell at deep midwicket was followed by another wide as Jordan scrambled Brave over the line.Lintott provides cutting edge
Despite a much-vaunted pace attack for this competition, Brave have struggled to make an impact with the ball. Missing Jofra Archer as he continues his comeback from injury, Mills and Jordan had taken one wicket between them in Brave’s first two games; and their only wicket in the Powerplay was George Garton’s dismissal of Alex Hales at the start of Trent Rockets’ low-pressure chase of 127.Related

• Winfield-Hill: Making relationship public was 'weight lifted'

• Wyatt 69* fires Southern Brave to third win from three

• Rodrigues sparkles, slow start for Verma

• Every second counts – early takeaways from the Hundred bash

Brave started much better in their first outing at home, with Garton proving difficult for the two right-handed Phoenix openers to get away during an opening “tenner”. Colin de Grandhomme sneaked through a cheap set and Mills then finally got himself on the board for the campaign when Daniel Bell-Drummond slapped to point for 9 off 10. Phoenix were 27 for 1 after 25 and although Livingstone targeted de Grandhomme, hitting him for two sixes either side of being caught off a no-ball, the introduction of Jake Lintott seemed to put Brave on top.The left-arm wristspinner, a Blast wildcard pick after his success for Birmingham Bears, claimed a wicket with his first 100-ball delivery in Cardiff earlier in the week, but was then collared by Ben Duckett. On a bigger ground, he had greater protection to toss it up, and this time he struck twice in four balls – Finn Allen stumped coming down the pitch, Moeen Ali bowled while slog-sweeping – for impressive figures of 2 for 3 from his opening ten.Livingstone, we presume
That Livingstone would prove to be the headline act for Phoenix sooner or later was no surprise, coming just a couple of weeks after he had blitzed an England record 42-ball T20I hundred. But despite a few trademark towering blows into the stands, this was an innings that was more perspiration than inspiration.Liam Livingstone powers one through the offside•Getty Images

Livingstone was reprieved on 12, when replays showed de Grandhomme had overstepped after a big top edge had settled in the hands of mid-off, and although the next ball was dumped over the ropes, he only managed to find the boundary once from his next 23 balls. He moved into the 40s with a thick top edge over the keeper, crashed Mills into the crowd next ball and then brought up his half-century with another slice over short third man.Taking the pressure off during the middle of the innings was Hammond, moved down after the first two matches to fill an unfamiliar middle-order berth. From 6 off 9 he looked increasingly fluent and briefly overtook Livingstone to be 41 off 25 – but only ended up facing four of the last 15 deliveries. He said afterwards his strategy was to “get down the other end” and let his partner go to work, but Livingstone’s struggle for timing continued, even if his 68 off 44 looked like decisive.Vince’s lone hand
The women’s match earlier in the day had produced a cakewalk of a chase for the home side, Danni Wyatt’s fireworks seeing them to a target of 141 with 18 balls to spare; consequently, both Vince and Moeen Ali had been keen to bowl first at the toss. Vince got his way and made the early running in Brave’s chase. In fact, he did the early everything – during the time he was out in the middle, he scored 60 out of 82 and all nine of his side’s boundaries.He began in circumspect fashion against Milne’s extra pace in the Powerplay, but climbed into Helm, taking his first five for three fours and a six. Howell’s second ball was lofted for a regal six over deep extra cover, while four more boundaries came from the spin of Moeen and Livingstone. But with Conway dealing almost exclusively in singles, the pressure on Brave’s captain increased – and when he top-edged a sweep off Moeen to short fine leg, they were left needing 70 off 42.It looked beyond them until Jordan joined his captain in making a stand, as Brave’s men matched the women by pulling off the highest chase in their side of the tournament so far.

Mithali Raj, the India Test and ODI captain, has surpassed former England captain Charlotte Edwards as the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket on Saturday. Raj, 38, bettered Edwards’ tally of 10,273 in the 24th over of the Indian innings in the third ODI in Worcester. She reached the milestone with a four down the ground off quick bowler Nat Sciver. New Zealand’s Suzie Bates is third on the list with 7849 runs.Raj finished on an unbeaten 75, steering India to a four-wicket win on Saturday. After being named the Player of the Match, she told Sky Sports: “I never gave up in the middle. It’s being in the middle because you can’t win the match sitting out in the dugout. I wanted to win the game for the team.”I just needed to get the partnership to take it to the last. That’s something that kept me going through the innings. I knew in the middle overs I could manage the game. When you have young players in the side, you need to guide them along, that’s a responsibility.”When asked about becoming the highest run-scorer in women’s internationals, Raj said, “I’m just happy, thank you.”Mithali Raj had gone past Charlotte Edwards as the highest run-scorer in ODIs in July 2017•PA Photos/Getty Images

On July 12, 2017, during the league stage of the 11th edition of the ODI World Cup, Raj went past Edwards to become the highest run-getter in women’s ODIs. In the same match, against Australia, she became the first batter to cross 6000 runs in the format. Her 58 fifties, three of which came in the ODI leg of the ongoing multi-format series against England, are the most by a woman in ODIs.Raj quit T20I cricket in September 2019, and is placed at No. 7 on the list of the leading run-scorers in the format, with 2364 runs at an average of 37.52 and strike rate of of 96.33. Harmanpreet Kaur, who succeeded Raj to T20I captaincy, is the only other Indian in the top ten of that chart.In Tests, her 669 runs from 11 matches at an average of 44.60 are the fourth-most among India Women players and highest among Indians still active in the women’s international cricket.Raj, who completed 22 years as an India cricketer last month, is one win away from becoming the most successful captain in women’s ODIs.

There’s been plenty of talk about when the world will get back to normal, but Lahore Qalandars look like they’re there anyway. A vintage capitulation from a side for whom qualification to the semis once looked a mere formality means their chances for progression hang in the balance. Multan Sultans swatted them aside by 80 runs, with Sohail Akhtar’s side bowled out inside 15.1 overs for 89, which – aside from the points going to the Sultans – has produced a devastating blow to the Qalandars net run rate that they could ill afford to absorb. Shahnawaz Dhani was the architect of the huge win, taking four wickets once again in the face of listless opposition from Qalandars.Having lost three on the bounce when failing to chase down targets, Qalandars’ decision to put Sultans in first was curious, but the bowlers kept them on a leash for much of the innings. Aside from a menacing 63-run partnership between Rilee Rossouw and Sohaib Maqsood – whose 40-ball 60 was redolent of his best days as a T20 power hitter – Sultans were never truly able to pull away. And once that partnership was broken, Shaheen Afridi and James Faulkner helped Qalandars run riot, ripping through the lower-middle order to leave Quetta hovering around 140. Only a destructive – in every sense of the word – final over from Haris Rauf, from which Sohail Tanvir plundered 24, helped Sultans set Qalandars 170 to win.Given their chasing struggles in this leg of the tournament, that was always going to be an uphill task. Ben Dunk was promoted, signalling a shift in approach. But the experiment failed before Dhani, sensational once again, got some extra bounce to prise out a struggling Fakhar Zaman. Blessing Muzarabani got in on the act as Mohammad Hafeez fell thanks to a loose shot. Imran Tahir joined the party too, and aside from one big over courtesy Faulkner, the chase was never really on. When he was dismissed, the fight left the Qalandars. At this rate, the Qalandars might be leaving Abu Dhabi soon enough.Dhani delight Shahnawaz Dhani’s special relationship with the PSL shows no signs of cooling, his dizzying figures of 3.1-1-5-4 the zenith of an already glittering tournament. The signs of a remarkable day presented themselves the very first time he bowled, nailing Fakhar Zaman with a bouncer off his first ball and putting Qalandars on the back foot straightaway. When he returned in the middle overs, he got rid of the last dregs of Qalandars’ hope, extra bounce putting paid to Faulkner’s enterprising little stay. All that remained was the snuffing of the tail, and in this sort of mood, he accomplished that with disdainful ease.Harif Rauf’s 20th overIt’s easy to forget what a seemingly impregnable position Lahore found themselves in 19 overs into the match. Sultans had hobbled along to 145, and Tanvir kept the strike off the final ball of the previous over, hoping to get a few big hits in. It began with a couple of streaky fours, before a hammer blow over square leg for six saw the momentum shift ominously away from the struggling Qalandars. Assisted by supremely ordinary bowling, Tanvir – who has struggled for runs this PSL – managed another ten off the last two, wrenching the momentum back to his side. While Lahore had conceded just 26 off the five overs prior, Sultans plundered 24 more in just one. Lahore would never quite recover.Where they standLahore Qalandars are joined by Multan Sultans on ten points and both teams have one match to play. Sultans have the best net run rate in the tournament and barring a historically catastrophic loss to Islamabad United, Sultans are assured of a playoff spot. Meanwhile, Qalandars’ fate rests in the hands of Quetta Gladiators. If the last place Gladiators can beat Karachi Kings, then Qalandars will take the final playoff berth. However, a win for the Kings and they’ll move to ten points but will be in the playoffs ahead of Qalandars due to a superior net run rate.