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A week is a long time in politics, they say. It’s both much shorter and much longer in sport.For supporters, in a week an entire squad should be changed, a coach replaced and a mindset shifted. After South Africa’s defeat at Lord’s, half the batting line-up were under scrutiny, there was increased interest in Russell Domingo’s position especially with his reapplication still under consideration and concerns that the disappointments of a long and largely unsuccessful trip to the UK were haunting even the mostly successful Test outfit.For the squad concerned, that week was about long day after long day of trying to fix what went wrong without overhauling the system. Practically they cannot pick as many new players as public opinion demands, neither can they change the management and while they can reframe their approach a little, they can’t actually alter what is often spoken about as a “brand” of play in such a short space of time. They know that they will have to take a similar group of players and the same support staff and aim for a different result. So how exactly did South Africa achieve that?A lot can be put down to the basics, both in selection and team performance. South Africa dropped their worst performing batsman from Lord’s, JP Duminy, swapped out another batsman, Theunis de Bruyn, for an allrounder, Chris Morris and had their captain Faf du Plessis back. The changes gave them more stability in the line-up and more options in the attack. They also did not bowl a single no-ball at Trent Bridge after overstepping 10 times at Lord’s and took all their catches in Nottingham after putting down four in London.Those things were not done by the flicking of a switch or the taking of a scolding but by focusing on two key things. “One was character. The style of play we normally have is one with a lot of character and intensity and good body language,” du Plessis explained.South Africa pride themselves on their ability to bounce back, which has its own problems because it means they have to be behind first, but it has allowed them to develop thick, resilient skins. They were reminded of that after their drubbing at Lord’s.The second thing was how they respond to pressure. “In the first Test, we played some good cricket but at times that went missing a bit,” du Plessis said. “It’s important how long and how well we can do that because it puts pressure on the opposition and then also, when you are under pressure, to make sure how you respond to those moments to get the pressure back on the opposition.”South Africa’s battling effort in the first session of the match set the tone•Getty Images

South Africa’s batsmen built steadier partnerships than England by playing the patience game and their bowlers broke through England’s attacking approach. As a unit, South Africa could dictate terms throughout the match. “Pretty much from the toss to the last ball that we bowled, we were in control of this Test match,” du Plessis said.Even when du Plessis chose to bat first in conditions most other captains, including the home one, would have bowled in he was confident his men had it covered. “We knew it would be tough but and we are used to making those brave decisions,” he said. “Back in South Africa we prepare green wickets and we’re not scared of batting first. For England to only get one wicket and us to get 56 runs in that session set the tone.”Then they promoted their best batsmen to No.4 and it paid off handsomely. Quinton de Kock’s sprightly 68 gave the first innings life. Though he failed in the second innings, South Africa are set to stick with him higher up and allowing him the freedom to continue playing a naturally aggressive game.”It wasn’t a case of making a decision that’s just a once off, I’m a big believer, in giving guys a fair opportunity,” du Plessis said. “We all know that the way he plays is the way he plays, so we are not going to ask him to change that. He’s going to put pressure on the opposition and he’s a good enough cricketer to understand when to adapt his game to play certain situations, so he’ll learn a lot from this.”The batsmen and the conditions gave the bowlers enough to work with but even after removing England for 205 in the first innings, du Plessis was preparing to play a long game in search of a series-levelling victory. “A lot of people might have thought we had enough runs long before we did, but for me it was crucial we got 450-plus to make sure it looked like a really big total because the pitch was still good,” he said. “We weren’t expecting it to be easy. We were mentally preparing to take it to lunch or even tea tomorrow.”That the win came mid-way through the day was a welcome bonus for a South African side that wanted to be challenged. They spent a week preparing for a fight, because both they knew that any small slip up in the second match would turn the entire tour on its head. The Test series would be un-winnable; the trip irredeemable. Now they have more than a week before they go again. It’s a long time in sport, both long enough for England to forget and long enough for South Africa to remember.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:49

Agarkar: Pune’s over-cautious approach cost them the IPL

This was, barring a WWE-style rebirth, Rising Pune Supergiant’s last ever IPL game. They made sure it went the distance, all the way to the last ball, despite keeping Mumbai Indians down to the lowest first-innings total in an IPL final.Somehow, Pune managed to drag a chase of 130 to the last ball.The first ever IPL final had come down to the last ball too. Then, nine years ago, Sohail Tanvir pulled L Balaji for a single to win it for Rajasthan Royals.Now, Mitchell Johnson bowled to Daniel Christian with Pune needing four to win. Bowling from around the wicket, Johnson went full and straight. Christian whipped it away to the left of deep square leg. J Suchith, the substitute fielder, fumbled at the boundary, allowing a second run. That wouldn’t do for Pune. They needed four to win, and three to tie.The batsmen chased a desperate third with Suchith’s throw almost already in Parthiv Patel’s gloves. Once Parthiv collected it safely, only one result was possible. Mumbai Indians, playing their fourth final, wrapped up their third title, winning by one run.Krunal Pandya was Mumbai’s hero with the bat, his 38-ball 47 dragging them from 79 for 7 to an eventual 129 for 8, a total that would enable their bowlers to scrap all the way. Then, helped along by Pune’s ODI-style top-order approach, those scrapping bowlers managed to make the required rate creep steadily upwards – with five overs to go, Pune were only two down but needed 47 from 30.Given Mumbai’s death bowling, this was definitely not over. Jasprit Bumrah took out MS Dhoni in the 17th over. Then Lasith Malinga and Bumrah again ensured Pune would only get two boundaries across the 18th and 19th. That left Steven Smith, batting on 51, and Manoj Tiwary 11 to get from the last over.Despite taking a boundary off his first ball, they couldn’t quite do it against Johnson.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mumbai bat, Mumbai falterSix of the nine previous IPL finals had been won by the team batting first. Perhaps that and how it was difficult to chase in Hyderabad was why Rohit Sharma went against his team’s record this season of eight wins in 11 games while chasing. That too when they only had a 3-2 record while batting first.Perhaps it had something to do with Mumbai’s record against Pune: they had met three times this season, and Pune had won all three times, twice while batting first.It seemed, right through Mumbai’s innings, that they had some mental scars from all those defeats to Pune. A first-ball leave from Lendl Simmons set the tone for a cautious start on a slower-than-usual Hyderabad surface, with only seven coming off the first two overs, against Jaydev Unadkat’s back-of-a-length cutters and Washington Sundar’s flat, stump-to-stump offspin.Then Unadkat dismissed both openers in the third over – a short ball cramping Parthiv Patel’s attempt to pull, a slower ball clipping Simmons’ leading edge and popping back for a diving return catch.Mumbai never really recovered from there, despite Rohit Sharma smacking Lockie Ferguson for four fours in the sixth over. Adam Zampa removed Rohit and Kieron Pollard in the 11th over, and Mumbai were 65 for 5.Krunal gives Mumbai a chanceChristian trapped Hardik Pandya lbw in the 14th, playing across the line, and Karn Sharma was run out in the next over, in most comical manner. Dropped by Christian diving to his left at slip, he ran out of his crease in a panic anyway. It seemed to sum up Mumbai’s state of mind.Krunal, though, seemed to be achieving some clarity of thought. For now, he was simply thinking of extending the innings as far as he could. It took until the 19th over for him to hit his first six, straight back over Unadkat’s head. Then he swiped and slogged Christian for a four and a six in the last over, off which Pune scored 14. Still, their total was 14 short of the previous-lowest first-innings total in an IPL final.That had come in 2009, when Deccan Chargers defended 143.Mitchell Johnson dismissed Steven Smith in the last over to turn the match again•BCCI

Rahane, Smith keep Mumbai in the gameNo team had defended a total of 129 or below since the 2013 season. Mumbai, though, had the bowling to do it. Pune, meanwhile, adopted a keep-wickets-in-hand approach. With Rahul Tripathi lbw in the third over to Bumrah, Smith joined Ajinkya Rahane at the crease. Rahane could have fallen for 14, foxed by a Malinga slower ball, but Krunal failed to hold on to a fairly straightforward chance at short cover.By the time he holed out to long-on in the 12th over, he had made 44 of 38, batting as he would in the longer forms of the game. Smith, playing in the same manner, was batting on 18 off 25 at that point. Given the slowness of the surface and the difficulty new batsmen would face in getting going straightaway, this seemed a questionable approach.As it happened, Dhoni struggled initially, scoring only four off his first nine balls. With Karn Sharma and Krunal getting the ball to grip, and Malinga varying his pace, Pune batted out three boundary-free overs. With 30 balls remaining, they now needed 47.End-overs experts squeeze out PuneA half-controlled square-cut from Dhoni sped between backward point and short third man, and two balls later Smith reverse-swiped Krunal for six. Fourteen came off that over, and Rising Pune seemed to be back on track.Bumrah and Malinga, though, still had three overs to bowl. Bumrah got Dhoni caught behind, denying him width for the cut, and closed out that over, the 17th, with two lbw appeals against Manoj Tiwary, the batsman unable to read his changes of pace and angle, coupled with a hint of reverse.Smith managed to flick Malinga for four in the 18th, in between a string of unhittable yorkers, and launched Bumrah over long-off in the 19th, off the one ball in the over that was pitched short of the blockhole. When Tiwary shuffled across and whipped the first ball of the 20th over to the vacant square-leg boundary – Johnson had just lost an argument with Rohit to station a fielder there – the equation came down to 7 off 5.Surely, that would do it. Johnson, though, hadn’t had his say yet. Looking to hit him over extra-cover, Tiwary was undone by the slower ball, only managing to drag it round to long-on. Then Smith, having crossed over, timed an inside-out slice perfectly, but straight to sweeper cover.With three balls left, Pune needed seven, with two new batsmen at the crease. Washington Sundar brought Christian on strike off the fourth ball, failing to make contact with a wide-ish yorker but managing to scamper a bye. Then Christian, slogging at another full slower one, was dropped by Hardik running forward from deep midwicket – he sprinted a second, and Pune needed four from the last ball.The last ball of Rising Pune Supergiant’s two years in the IPL. It wouldn’t be the last ball they wanted.

Match facts

April 7, 2017
Start time 09.30 local (13.30 GMT)Can Shadab Khan spin his magic in the ODIs as well?•AFP

Big Picture

It is often alleged that the existential threat 50-over cricket faces arises largely due to the number of ODIs played without context or substantial meaning. Series such as this one, featuring three ODIs tucked between four T20s and three Tests, would generally have been the perfect example to advance that point. But the ICC’s otherwise severely criticised move to reduce the World Cup to ten teams, only eight of which qualify directly, means Pakistan and West Indies – ranked eighth and ninth in ODIs respectively – will be playing for much more than the series trophy when they take on each other in Guyana. If West Indies win all three ODIs, they will leapfrog their visitors to eighth position less than six months before the cut-off date of September 30.Pakistan will be buoyed by a 3-1 win in the T20I series, although it did little to allay concerns that Sarfraz Ahmed’s men are still too inconsistent to compete with the very best. The series was bookended by clinical wins, but the two games in between witnessed a convincing win for West Indies and one game their coach Stuart Law said they threw away. With West Indies now significantly depleted by the departure of many of their high-profile names to the IPL – Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine have all flown off to India – a mere series win, much less a whitewash, would be a welcome result.

Form guide

West Indies LLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLLWL

In the spotlight

With Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree away, this represents an opportunity for Devendra Bishoo to establish himself in the West Indies’ line-up. He will play all three ODIs in front of a home crowd in Guyana – the first time in his ODI career he is playing there. He is still just four games into a return from a five-year absence from the ODI set-up, and will be eager to improve upon disappointing returns against England; in three games, he took three wickets and conceded 136 runs in the 21 overs he bowled. But with the pitch in Providence expected to favour the slower bowlers, he will be hoping for better returns.For Pakistan, could it really be anyone else? The biggest talking point in the T20Is was legspinner Shadab Khan‘s explosive introduction to the international stage. The 18-year-old was instrumental in all three of Pakistan’s wins, and was named the Man of the Series, an award for which, in truth, he was the only contender. He now faces a sterner test: whether he can turn brilliant four-over spells into solid performances over ten overs in various phases of an ODI innings.

Team news

The West Indies squad is significantly different from the one that featured in the T20I series, and not necessarily the better for it, at least on paper. As previously mentioned, Brathwaite, Pollard, Badree and Narine are absent, while Kraigg Brathwaite has been dropped in favour of Chadwick Walton, a move coach Stuart Law put down to a desire for greater impetus at the top of the innings. Pacers Shannon Gabriel, Miguel Cummins and Alzarri Joseph all feature, a sign that West Indies may finally be moving on from veteran Jerome Taylor, who did not play any of the T20Is despite being in the squad.West Indies (possible): 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Chadwick Walton (wk), 3 Kieran Powell, 4 Shai Hope, 5 Jason Mohammad, 6 Jonathan Carter, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Shannon GabrielPakistan haven’t made too many changes to the side that won the T20Is, although a few fresh faces have been drafted in. Asif Zakir, Fahim Ashraf and Mohammad Asghar are the three players in the 16-man squad yet to pull on an international shirt in any format. The most notable difference is the return of left-arm fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan, who were rested from the T20 series. In addition, it will also be the first ODI series for Sarfraz Ahmed as captain, after Azhar Ali was removed after the 4-1 defeat in Australia and omitted from the squad altogether.Pakistan (possible): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Kamran Akmal, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Fakhar Zaman, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Wahab Riaz

Pitch and conditions

In the short history of the Providence Stadium in Guyana (it was constructed ahead of the 2007 World Cup), it has developed a reputation as a venue where the ball keeps low and doesn’t come on to the bat. As such, the execution of each side’s spin-bowling plans may be decisive in the outcome of this match – and indeed the series.Rain is expected in the early part of the day, but the sky should clear up by the evening.

Stats and trivia

• The best individual ODI bowling performance at the Providence Stadium was by Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi in 2013. His figures read a remarkable 9-3-12-7 as the West Indies were skittled out for 98 – the lowest score at this ground
• Only once has the Providence Stadium seen an innings total in excess of 300. That was during the 2007 World Cup, when Sri Lanka made 303 against the hosts

AB de Villiers will lead Royal Challengers Bangalore if Virat Kohli fails to recover from a shoulder injury for the IPL opener next week against Sunrisers Hyderabad. According to Daniel Vettori, Royal Challengers’ head coach, Kohli will join the squad on April 2 and then reassess a date of return with the team’s medical staff.There has been no definitive update on Kohli’s right shoulder, which he hurt during the third Test of the series against Australia in Ranchi. After India won the series 2-1 in Dharamasala, Kohli had said he was not 100% fit yet, and was waiting for a final word from the Indian team physiotherapist.Vettori said there was no “clear picture” on Kohli’s return date. “He [Kohli] will come in on April 2. Between now and then, the BCCI doctors and physio will speak to us (on his condition) and our medical staff will get a clearer picture,” Vettori said as RCB assembled for the season’s first training session in Bangalore. ” Right now, we don’t have a clear picture on his availability. We’ll know in the next few days.”According to Vettori, de Villiers would be on standby if Kohli is unavailable. De Villiers, who will play for Titans in the Momentum One Day Cup final on Friday, will arrive in Bangalore on April 2. “The likely scenario is that de Villiers will take over the duties but we’ll answer that once we find out if Virat is out,” Vettori said.Kohli played a pivotal role in Royal Challengers reaching the final last year, but his absence would offer an opportunity for youngsters like Mandeep Singh and Sarfaraz Khan to take on more responsibility. “”Fortunately, we have a number of exceptional batsmen who haven’t got many playing chances like Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh. It’s a huge asset for us that someone else can fill in those gaps.”

West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith has announced his retirement from all international cricket. Smith, 33, who is playing for Islamabad United in the ongoing Pakistan Super League, confirmed the decision before the start of the second qualifying final against Karachi Kings in Sharjah. His last West Indies appearance came at the 2015 World Cup.Smith made his international debut on West Indies’ tour of South Africa 2003-04, beginning with the New Year’s Test in Cape Town in January 2004, after Marlon Samuels flew home with a knee injury. He made an impression straightaway, scoring a century on debut – a run-a-ball unbeaten 105, his only international century – in the second innings of the game, to help West Indies draw the match and end their streak of seven successive Test losses in South Africa. The team, however, did lose the series 3-1. Smith played only nine more Tests, scoring a total of 320 runs in the format. His last Test appearance for West Indies was in March 2006, against New Zealand in Napier.Smith had a far more substantial run in the limited-overs sides, where he also made useful contributions with his medium-pace, although his batting returns remained modest. Having begun in the lower order, Smith was promoted to the top order, including as an opener, after 2014 and did better there. Six of his eight ODI fifties came when he batted in the top three, and his average of 25.27 was better than his overall career average of 18.57. Overall, he played 105 ODIs scoring 1560 runs at a strike rate of 92.69. He also took 61 wickets in ODIs, with a career-best of 5 for 45 and three four-fors.Smith was part of two World Cup squads for West Indies in 2007 and in 2015, where his final appearance came against UAE in Napier. Following West Indies’ early exit from the 2007 World Cup, Smith spent close to three years out of the ODI and T20I squads before making his return in 2010.He was part of three World T20 squads – in 2007, 2012 and 2014. While he played only one match during West Indies’ title run in the 2012 World T20, he was picked in the next edition as the side’s designated opener and scored 125 runs in five matches. In 33 T20 internationals, he scored 582 runs at 18.18 with a strike rate of 122.78, although he only made three fifties.Smith has been a popular cricketer on the T20 circuit, over the last few years, turning out to play for franchises in the Indian Premier League, the Caribbean Premier League, the Bangladesh Premier League and the Pakistan Super League, as well as the NatWest Blast in England.

Scorecard
In a nutshellKumar Sangakkara’s best form since international retirement wasn’t enough to overhaul Lahore Qalandars’ top-heavy batting performance in the latter’s seven-run win. In an entertaining contest at the Sharjah Stadium, Brendon McCullum’s men struggled to deliver a knockout blow to Karachi Kings, which meant the win looked narrower than it actually was. Karachi’s chase of 180 looked an uphill battle from the start, with the beleaguered Chris Gayle holing out to long-off in the second over of the chase bowled by Sunil Narine. Karachi’s challenge, in truth, lasted for the duration of the 101-run third-wicket partnership between Sangakarra and Shoaib Malik. When the pair fell within five balls of each other, the chase swiftly faded.Lahore’s captain McCullum’s lean run also continued, as he dragged a straight delivery on for a second successive duck, but the rest of the batsmen demonstrated that the horror innings against Peshawar Zalmi, where they were bowled out for 59, had not dissuaded them from going for their shots. Fakhar Zaman and Jason Roy shrugged off their captain’s departure to plunder 57 runs by the sixth over. Zaman barely noticed Roy’s dismissal, or indeed the end of the Powerplay, as he and Umar Akmal continued to swing from the hip. Karachi did not help themselves, dropping a pair of fairly routine catches that would have sent the pair packing earlier. By the end of the 13th over, Lahore were 125 for 4, and looked set for 200, and while they didn’t quite manage that, their final score of 179 was good in the end anyway.Where the match was wonA slow start is often costly in any T20 contest but when chasing 180, it is almost decisive. Gayle looked a tortured shell of his usual self in his seven-ball stay at the crease, and Babar Azam played a lazy shot to gift third man an easy catch. Sangakarra began brightly, his timing as well as placement his vintage majestic self, but with Malik also struggling early on, Karachi only mustered 60 runs in the first nine overs. The innings really only burst into life off the back of a poor tenth over from Bilawal Bhatti, and 53 runs came off the next four overs. But the slow start meant Karachi’s asking rate never really came down to a point when the pressure was off, and Sangakarra ultimately fell playing the high-risk cricket that was the only option before the side.The men that won itNarine, the bowling equivalent of McCullum in T20s, has lived up to his billing all tournament. He was at his wily, unplayable best today, turning the ball sharply off the Sharjah surface with no batsman seeming to pick him up properly. It appeared that as long as Lahore could turn to him, they were ahead in the game. It helped, of course, that the two wickets he took were of Gayle and Kieron Pollard. The mystery Narine continues to carry in his arsenal was epitomised by Pollard’s cluelessness as he played all around an offspinner.File photo – Sunil Narine removed Gayle and Pollard•AFP

Fielding fitThe fielding between the two sides was particularly stark. While Lahore looked sharp and alert under the stewardship of McCullum, taking their catches and hitting the stumps regularly, Karachi were sloppy. Zaman and Akmal had comfortable chances put down – the former, unhelpfully, by Sangakarra – and Karachi regularly struggled to stop ones from turning into twos. Given that the margin of defeat was only seven runs, such sloppiness cost them dear and they can ill-afford such untidiness in the following games if they have to lift themselves from the bottom of the table.The moment of the matchThe abiding memory of this game will undoubtedly be the century stand between Malik and Sangakarra, boasting a combined age of 74. Sangakarra’s lofted cover drive, in particular, is a shot worth the clichéd admission fee on its own. On consecutive deliveries off the unfortunate Yasir Shah in the thirteenth over, he showcased both his finesse and destructive power, timing the first over extra cover for four. Yasir went straighter next ball, but was still brave enough to flight the ball generously. Fortune didn’t favour him, as Sangakkara slog-swept him – still gracefully, somehow – onto the Sharjah roof. It might not have been decisive, but it was certainly delightful.Where they standLahore’s up-and-down season continues, with McCullum’s men managing two wins and two losses. They have four points, and sit fourth in the table on net run rate. Karachi are yet to manage a win in their three games.

Yes, ties, plural. We’re misquoting on purpose here. Each season has one game more memorable than the rest, and January 14 was probably it. The two Sydney sides make you think of close matches, after last year’s thrilling final, but it doesn’t get any closer than two ties in the same match. Once in regulation play, again after the Super Over.And how the pendulum swung throughout. First the Sixers lost their powerful openers cheaply, then surged back through Ash Gardner’s hitting with Sarah McGlashan in support. Thunder’s experienced heads kept being influential, Rene Farrell and Stafanie Taylor with the early wickets, Erin Osborne getting McGlashan, then captain Alex Blackwell proving she can do anything, stumping Gardner off Taylor as a makeshift wicketkeeper.Twenty-three off the last three overs was below-par given the platform, and Thunder should have chased it easily thanks to Taylor’s 68 from 51 balls. She was out in the second-last over leaving 11 required from ten balls, but Osborne and Naomi Stalenberg couldn’t find the boundary, a succession of singles bringing them level.Enter Kim Garth, the Irish seamer occupying the Sixers’ international rookie spot. She hadn’t been near the playing XI until the previous day, but with Marizanne Kapp absent due to South Africa duties, the 20-year-old was being thrown the ball by Ellyse Perry for the highest-pressure job.She did it with distinction – four singles and a couple of twos. And when Alyssa Healy charged Farrell first ball for a lofted four, that should have been it. But her calamitous running undid that work. Healy drove straight to the bowler and ran blindly; Perry was hesitant, and then, expecting the gathered deflection to be thrown to the struggling Perry’s end, Healy didn’t bother to extend her bat into the non-striker’s ground and was instead run-out herself at point-blank range.Perry carved two through cover to reduce the target to three, then holed out next ball to long-on. Why the cool head of McGlashan wasn’t employed is a mystery, but Angela Reakes skewed a single and was run-out reneging on an impossible second. With one ball to face and two runs needed, Gardner could only slam a single to cover, Farrell standing over the stumps with ball in hand to render the second impossible. Fourteen boundaries to 16 was the countback – thanks largely to Taylor’s nine – and Thunder won on that technicality.The ties that defineThe thrill for the Thunder only lasted two days, before they stumbled against Hobart Hurricanes and again undermined their bid for the top four. And so it is down to the frenetic final weekend, a format we have become accustomed to in WBBL.Eight of 55 games remain in the regular season, and teams pair off to play the same opponent twice over consecutive days on Friday and Saturday. There are four likely candidates to make the finals, though other sides could yet force their way in.The Sixers are guaranteed a spot even with two losses. Brisbane Heat sit fifth, but can force their way well into considerations with two home games against the bottom-placed Adelaide Strikers.Perth’s Scorchers will finish top-two if they win twice against the inconsistent Thunder, but could be jumped if they lose once and Hobart Hurricanes win twice.Hobart is indeed where the main action will be, given the Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars are currently third and fourth, and their mid-table clash will dictate fate for so many teams beyond their own.Hobart is where the action will be heading for the final round•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

The sides that are boundEarthbound, that is. Those who have struggled to lift off, and now look to snatch the trailing rope of a rising hot-air balloon for a last miracle ascent – Thunder and Renegades.In short, if the Stars and Hurricanes split their contest one game each, neither of those two sides can pass them. But if either loses twice, and Brisbane loses once, the Thunder can still sneak in by beating Perth twice.The Renegades would need to beat the Sixers twice while relying on the Thunder to lose one, Brisbane to lose both, and one of the Stars-Hurricanes double to lose both. Tough gig.Adelaide Strikers cannot make the finals, and are left to work out what went wrong this season and address it for next time.The side left behindAs for the Melbourne Stars, it’s all a bit too familiar. Still in the top four, but after a torrid run of form since Christmas, they’re back in the same position as last season: a sudden death last round to qualify for the finals, with no momentum behind them. Last year it didn’t end well.In the penultimate weekend of group games they finished off the Strikers for the second time in a week, Jess Cameron’s 42 pushing the required chase above six an over before Adelaide again collapsed.But the fixture that mattered came later against Perth. It started well – they knocked over the international trio of Elyse Villani, Nicole Bolton and Suzie Bates inside six overs. Then the cavalry came in the form of Lauren Ebsary, unbeaten on 45, and Katherine Brunt’s fast 32.Sure enough, after Meg Lanning was removed early by Brunt, the Stars couldn’t rally and were held to a meek 97 in 20 overs. That made four losses in six starts. Melbourne’s early-season wins mean their destiny remains in their own hands. Just.The Stars’ destiny remains in their own hands•Getty Images

The sides that flyLast year the Scorchers underperformed relative to their strength on paper. Second time up they’ve earned their progress. The Stars limping run chase was in no small part due to Brunt and her England partner Anya Shrubsole pairing off with the new ball for Perth. Duos don’t come more frugal or effective.Perth didn’t miss out on more points against the Strikers either, led by impressive 20-year-old Heather Graham, a consistent contributor with bat and ball throughout WBBL02. Her 39 not out in 30 balls steered her side home.Brisbane’s Heat have found form at the right time, coinciding with Beth Mooney doing likewise at the top of the list. Her 45 was enough for an easy win over the Renegades, combining for another half-century stand with Kirby Short.They lost the reverse fixture due to a Duckworth-Lewis chase, but that wouldn’t have cost them much sleep. What will is that Indian signing Smriti Mandhana has torn an ACL, ends her WBBL and potentially a lot more cricket in 2017. A blow for a talented young player.Meanwhile, the Hurricanes keep on doing what they do best – finding new ways to win. After the Sixers knocked them off to begin the weekend, courtesy of Perry clocking yet another match-winning innings, the pressure was on when they returned home to face Thunder.Julie Hunter got superstar Staf Taylor for zero, before Kiwi international Amy Satterthwaite reinforced why she is one of the form players on the planet with 5 for 17. The Canes’ chase of 116 was never in doubt, and the team is never to be underestimated.

Australia are almost certain to tour Bangladesh for two Tests later this year unless further security issues arise in the meantime, Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland has said. Australia postponed their Test tour in October 2015 after receiving advice from the Australian government that there were “high risks” if they went ahead with the tour, and Australia also did not send a team to the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in early 2016.At the time that the Test tour was postponed, the Australian government’s official travel warning stated that there was “reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh”. The wording of the official advice is now different, with a more general warning that militants may be planning to target “Western interests” rather than “Australian interests” specifically.”I think they’re quite high,” Sutherland said on ABC radio when asked what were the chances of Australia touring Bangladesh in 2017. “What we saw at the end of last year was the England team tour Bangladesh. We certainly saw very strong security around the team. We actually sent our head of security, Sean Carroll, over to observe for seven or ten days, just to get a little bit of comfort on the systems and processes that were in place.”Anything can happen between now and then, and we continue to monitor what’s happening in Bangladesh, but we work on the assumption that we’re going to play and we start to plan accordingly. But we certainly get a good deal of comfort from the way in which the security measures were put in place by the Bangladesh government, in conjunction with the cricket board over there. At the moment I would assume that we would be playing two Tests over there.”Sutherland said that while no dates had yet be fixed for the tour, the likely time was in August or September. Australia have not played a Test series in or against Bangladesh since 2006, when Jason Gillespie famously made a double-century in Chittagong, although they did travel there for a three-match ODI series in April 2011, shortly after the World Cup.”I think it is important for us,” Sutherland said of the tour. “The fundamental for us is that safety comes first, the safety of our players and officials, and all of that. We’ll make those judgments accordingly. At the same time, we have made decisions in the past to postpone a tour of Bangladesh. We were also the only team not to send a team to the Under-19 World Cup, which was held in Bangladesh not long afterwards.”Whilst there’s pressure for us to get back on the horse, so to speak, and to travel to Bangladesh, we won’t be compromising anything in our reviews and understanding, and getting to a level of satisfaction that the security measures are appropriate and at the level we need and want.”

Phillip Hughes’ batting partner Tom Cooper denied his team-mate and former house-mate was subjected to an “ungentlemanly” number of bouncers on the afternoon he was fatally injured in a Sheffield Shield match, the New South Wales Coronial inquest has heard.On the day Australia’s vice-captain David Warner also gave evidence via video link from Cape Town in South Africa, Cooper was subjected to hard questioning by the Hughes family’s legal representative, Greg Melick SC, and left the witness stand in tears.Apart from the question of how many bouncers Hughes was subjected to before he was struck on the side of the neck by a short ball from Sean Abbott on November 25, 2014, causing the arterial injury that led to his death at St Vincent’s Hospital two days later, Cooper was also pressed on a subsequent conversation he had with Hughes’ brother Jason.It is from that exchange that Doug Bollinger’s alleged sledge of “I’m going to kill you” was meant to have emerged. However, Cooper was emphatic in his denial of ever having heard or relayed such a phrase. Cooper did acknowledge that Hughes faced a “noticeable” increase in the number of short balls after the lunch break, but did not feel it was an excessive amount.”Yes, he was on top and they were trying to stop him from scoring,” Cooper said under questioning from counsel assisting the coroner, Kristina Stern SC. “He handled it with relative ease. There were no worries. I guess he was targeted, but I wouldn’t say it was in an ungentlemanly way. The tactic was used against him but it wasn’t for any other reason than to stop the run rate.”Melick turned his attention to the alleged words used by Bollinger. Cooper said the phrase had not been used. “I’m confident it didn’t happen,” he said. “If it had of happened I would have remembered it. It’s quite personal, it would stick in your mind.”The Melick cross-examination was exceptionally tense, including a refusal from the Coroner, Michael Barnes QC, to subject Cooper to footage of the over leading up to the fatal blow. Cooper recalled speaking to Jason Hughes, and of telling him that it had been “a tough period of play, with plenty of short stuff”.However Cooper strongly denied relaying Bollinger’s alleged sledge to Jason Hughes despite repeated questioning by Melick, responding “no”, more than once.The officiating umpires Mike Graham-Smith and Ash Barrow, plus the long-time international umpire and ICC training manager Simon Taufel, were also questioned. Graham-Smith reported that there had been no sledging out of the ordinary during the match, and also that he did not feel the need to caution the NSW bowlers for intimidatory bowling.Taufel had reviewed footage of the match, and said there had been “nothing to indicate the umpires should have done anything differently on the day”.Warner’s evidence, which closed proceedings for the day, focused largely on Hughes’ level of comfort against short bowling. “It looked like he was in control of everything he was doing,” Warner said of Hughes. “He was playing quite comfortably.” Warner added that the ball that struck Hughes had simply done so as the result of an “error of judgement”.The conclusion of Warner’s testimony also ended the involvement of players in the inquest. Abbott has not been required to appear. The inquest continues until Friday.

Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath is set to become the oldest player to lead a Test team for the first time since Somachandra de Silva in 1983, after he was named captain of Sri Lanka for the tour of Zimbabwe because Angelo Mathews is injured.Sri Lanka’s regular vice-captain, Dinesh Chandimal, was also unavailable for the two-Test series because of a thumb injury sustained during a domestic game, for which he had to have surgery. Herath, 38, will be only the second bowler to lead Sri Lanka in Tests, after de Silva.Mathews had torn his calf during the fourth ODI against Australia in August and had not recovered sufficiently, despite being named in the original squad for the tour of Zimbabwe on October 21. He is expected to be out of action for three weeks and is doubtful for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, also involving West Indies, that follows the Tests. No replacement was named yet for Mathews.Herath played 71 ODIs and 17 T20Is for Sri Lanka and did not captain in those formats either. He retired from limited-overs cricket in April this year to focus on Test cricket and played the defining role – 28 wickets – in Sri Lanka’s 3-0 whitewash of Australia in July and August. Seventeen years after having made his debut in 1999, Herath is set to make his captaincy debut, in his 74th Test.