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The allrounder reined himself in during an unbroken 69-run stand with Shakib to help Bangladesh seal the series

Mohammad Isam19-Jul-2021Mohammad Saifuddin has said that he had to rein himself in during the unbroken 69-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Shakib Al Hasan in the second ODI against Zimbabwe on Sunday. Saifuddin contributed 28 not out off 34 balls, helping Bangladesh seal the series with one match to spare.Saifuddin is usually an attacking lower-order batter but with Bangladesh 173 for 7 in a chase of 241, he played conservatively. He scored only one boundary during his innings, via an inside edge to fine leg.”There was a lot of pressure, but I felt I was prepared,” Saifuddin said. “I tried to stick to the process. We needed around 70 runs at that stage. It was a childhood dream to bat with Shakib and win a game for the country. I was happy to get such an opportunity, and tried my best to make it as memorable as possible.”I didn’t play any big shots. I defended loose balls for the sake of the team. Shakib supported me a lot. His presence gave me confidence. We knew that picking up the singles would lessen the gap, and we can ultimately win the game.”Related

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Saifuddin is largely picked as a new-ball bowler but he has always insisted that he wants to prove himself as a batter. He has two half-centuries in ODIs, but his batting isn’t rated as highly yet by the team management.”I don’t always get the chance [to bat], but I wanted to prove my worth as a batsman,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t want anyone to get out, but I tried really hard yesterday. I think I could prove myself. I am happy that I could contribute to the team’s cause.”Bangladesh have now won the first two ODIs thanks to contributions from their lower-middle order. In the first match, after Mahmudullah combined with Liton Das for a 93-run stand, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Afif Hossain and Saifuddin had stepped up in the slog overs.”Small partnerships and little contributions make all the difference, and it was proved in the last two matches,” Saifuddin said.

India’s captain also revealed how the pain of Melbourne 2020 spurred her on in this tournament

Valkerie Baynes29-Jan-2023″This is just the beginning,” smiled Shafali Verma, the Under-19 India captain who had just led her country to a maiden World Cup title in women’s cricket. The beauty of that statement was that it is – and isn’t – just the beginning.For many of its participants from 16 nations, the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa was a first foray into representing their country and playing overseas. And it will surely provide a spark for several promising careers, including that of Grace Scrivens, Player of the Tournament and Shafali’s defeated opposite number as India romped to victory by seven wickets with six overs to spare in Potchefstroom.Related

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Scrivens scored 293 runs – four fewer than tournament leader and Shafali’s opening partner Shweta Sehrawat – and took nine wickets. She heads home with hopes of lifting her Sunrisers team to victory after a winless 2022 across both 50-over and T20 domestic competitions, as well as building her fledgling Hundred career with the ultimate aim to “one day soon get in the main England squad”.Shafali, on the other hand, is in the thick of her senior international career already and, along with wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, will join up with India’s senior side towards the end of this week for the T20 World Cup starting in Cape Town on Feburary 10.”I am someone who focuses on task at hand,” Shafali said. “When I entered the Under-19s, I only focused on winning the Under-19 Cup and we have won that today. I will look to take this winning confidence with me and win the senior World Cup. I will try and forget this and get involved with the senior set-up and gel with the team and win the World Cup.”Shafali, who turned 19 on the eve of the final, entered the tournament with 74 senior international caps to her name. After scores of 45 and 78 against South Africa and UAE respectively, she added only 34 more runs in four innings leading up to the title decider, where she also fell cheaply alongside Sehrawat as India slipped to 20 for 2.But, despite England having also defended a small total to scrape past Australia in the semi-finals, those early strikes by Scrivens and Hannah Baker, the legspinner who has been another revelation at this tournament, could not deny Shafali and her team, who cruised to their target.For her part, Scrivens said she learned plenty to take forward.”As a captain, it’s the first time I’ve done it for a while. I’ve done it when I was younger, but it’s on a different stage with much, much more on it,” she said. “So I think I’ve learned so much from that… learning more about players has been great.”It’s about getting to know your players and learning what makes them tick and what doesn’t and what you need to do to support them. I think throughout the tournament, I’ve been able to do that.”As a team we’ve learned so much, the way we fought in the semi-final was unbelievable. I think the fight shown by every single one of us was great and also being out in South Africa, learning about conditions, playing abroad. That’s just going to give us more experience and improve our career and future.”Archana Devi pulled off this one-handed stunner apart from taking two wickets•ICC/Getty Images

Afterwards, Shafali revealed there was also an element of looking to the past amid all the talk of what lies ahead. The pain of defeat as India tried in vain to chase down 185 against Australia in the T20 Women’s World Cup final three years ago at the MCG provided plenty of motivation and, as she fronted up to the post-match presentation – this time victorious – the emotions spilled over.”Melbourne was a very emotional day for me in that final game, we didn’t win the game. When I joined the Under-19 team, I’m just thinking, ‘you know, we have to win this Cup.’ I’m just telling all the girls, ‘We have to win this Cup, we are here for the Cup.'”We had lost the World Cup and it was tears of sadness. Today, they were tears of happiness because we achieved what we came here for. I tried controlling it but it couldn’t happen. I will look at this as a big achievement and look to use this to learn something more. I will try to score more runs for India and am not going to be satisfied with this Cup. This is just the beginning.”There is a sense of more to come from Player-of-the-Match Titas Sadhu, India’s sole seamer, and offspinner Archana Devi, who took two wickets apiece (not to mention the latter’s blinder of a catch at extra cover) to leave England reeling, as well as 16-year-old legspinner Parshavi Chopra, who also claimed two. Then there were Soumya Tiwari and Gongadi Trisha, who marshalled the bulk of the run-chase, albeit a small one, after Shafali and Sehrawat departed.”I can’t say the words but thanks to all the team, the way they were performing and the way they were backing each other,” Shafali said. “I’m going to miss this batch.”Perhaps she won’t have to wait too long before she is reunited with some of them.

Explosive batter riding a new wave into his Ashes debut

Vithushan Ehantharajah14-Jun-2023Of the players arriving into this Ashes riding the crest of England’s nu-wave, Harry Brook is probably at its very peak. Which explains the confidence he has in stating the faster Australia bowl, the quicker they will get sent to the boundary.”Obviously they might have a little bit of extra pace, but if they bowl quicker it tends to go to the boundary quicker,” he said, when asked about the arsenal of the visiting quicks. They will be the best and sharpest he has faced so far. And he doesn’t seem all that bothered by them at all.All to a man speak of belief and a love of being where they are and doing what they are doing. But few wear it as proudly as Brook. The 24-year-old has tangible proof of just how highly he is regarded in the England set-up.That the return of 2022’s Bazball totem Jonny Bairstow meant losing Ben Foakes, a reliable performer and certainly a superior wicketkeeper, was a testament to how the Yorkshire wunderkind has made the position his own. Seven caps in, 818 runs, four centuries, averaging 81.80 and striking at 99.03 – in a free-wheeling group, he is non-negotiable.Related

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“There was a lot of talk of me opening the batting – thank god I’m not doing that,” laughed Brook, perhaps remembering a 10-game stint for Yorkshire across 2018 and 2019 in which he averaged 14.94 at the top of the order.”I was never asked. It gives me a lot of confidence knowing that I’m going to be batting five and they back me batting there.”To have established himself so early and in such fashion – after picking up a T20 World Cup winners’ medal, he then toured Pakistan and New Zealand, scoring more runs in nine innings than any in Test history – speaks to a high base level of self-regard dovetailing with undoubted ability. The drive to get to this level has been evident throughout, and the enthusiasm to replicate the exploits of the England stars of 2005 – a fond series for him, albeit on DVD years after given he was six at the time – is clear. Some of his mates will be on hand in the Hollies, and will no doubt toast Brook’s Ashes debut repeatedly throughout the day.This Test, however, is the first with a sense of responsibility around Brook, even if the McCullum-Stokes ethos is geared towards quashing anything that promotes caution. That he feels part of it all is in some way an acceptance of those expectations.”It’s a dream come true to be involved in my first Ashes,” said Brook. “Growing up I was watching some of these players who are still playing, against the best in the world and the best Australians. I’m looking forward to it.”I feel like I’m more part of the team now. Obviously as a deputy you don’t quite feel like you’re meant to be there if you know what I mean. So to have been contributing and gain a few match-winning performances this winter has meant the world and I feel a big part of the team now.”Harry Brook launches a drive down the ground•Getty Images

That Bairstow is behind him offers him license to go even harder, if that is possible. And with Moeen Ali behind the keeper-batter, Brook is excited by the prospect of seeing how a blockbuster lower-middle-order can perform out in the middle.”It’s a long batting line-up, that’s for sure. There’s a lot of T20 experience in there and lads batting with the tail tend to go harder and hit as many runs in a short period of time. To have them boys batting at seven and eight is ridiculous really.”That Brook has never faced Australia – the match at last year’s World Cup was rained off – puts a little bit extra on this. There is no doubt he will be the subject of a lot of their attention. The numbers – what he’s posted and his age – have put a target on his back, and he will not be lost for people to talk to when batting as the visitors look to disrupt his flow.There is no doubt the man will be willing to go toe-to-toe and give a bit back. He is certainly aiming to carry on his domineering ways out in the middle, even against the best attack in the world right now. And especially against one of the modern era’s premiere off-spinners in Nathan Lyon.”If I get a good ball I’m going to try and survive against that good ball, and if he bowls me a bad ball I’ll try and hit it for four or six. So it’s not necessarily I’m going to come after him and try and hit every ball for six. I’m going to respect the bowler and whatever he bowls and if it is a bad ball I’ll try and hit it for six.”

Her 26-ball 51 gives stellar Originals bowling attack something to defend in low-scoring game

ECB Media17-Aug-2025Manchester Originals 117 for 5 (Dottin 51) beat Northern Superchargers 112 for 7 (Litchfield 31, Kerr 2-20, Ecclestone 2-21, Bryce 2-26) by five runsAn inspired performance in the field from Manchester Originals held off the Superchargers in one of the games of the tournament.In front of a bumper crowd of 11,952 – a record for the women’s competition at Emirates Old Trafford – the home side held their nerve and took their catches to clinch a potentially season-defining victory.Defeat here to the high-flying Superchargers would have put the Originals’ campaign in jeopardy; yet they finished the day on level points with their opponents, in joint second, and with the table wide open.The catching was spectacular. The hinge point of the run-chase came from the 61st ball of the innings, when the in-form Australian southpaw Phoebe Litchfield, having just unfurled a stunning switch-hit for six, climbed into a conventional sweep against Kathryn Bryce. She got a lot of it, but Fi Morris, running full tilt not far from the boundary rope, leapt to pluck it out of the skies.Morris then took another good tumbling catch to remove Annabel Sutherland, before Deandra Dottin flung herself full stretch at cover to grab a fingertip-catch and remove Bess Heath with just seven balls remaining. That gave Sophie Ecclestone her second wicket.Left-arm spinner Ecclestone – working in tandem with the brilliant wrist-spinner Amelia Kerr, who also claimed two wickets – applied a further clamp to the Superchargers’ momentum which had began with an excellent new-ball spell from Mahika Gaur, who conceded just 10 runs from her 15 deliveries.After Ecclestone, the final set of five was coolly delivered by Lauren Filer to spark huge celebrations.Beth Mooney, Originals captain, later acknowledged that her team’s depth of bowling was crucial to the outcome.”It’s a huge result,” she said. “We’ve got to win these scrappy games and sometimes it looks a little bit ugly, as it did at times today for us, but it puts you in good stead at the back end of tournaments like this. I’ve got six international bowlers that I’m working with and they’re great at executing their skills. To have Sophie Ecclestone and Amelia Kerr, two of the best spinners in the world, in our team, certainly makes my life easy.”The Meerkat Match Hero award went to Dottin, who registered just the second fifty of the Originals’ tournament. It was her intervention, coming to the crease with just 42 balls left in the innings after the openers Mooney and Bryce had both fallen for single-figure scores, that changed the course of the match and perhaps the Originals’ season.Her unbeaten 51 was vintage Dottin, especially lethal on the pull to anything short, and clumping three sixes in her 26-ball stay. The momentum generated from Dottin’s knock carried over to the second innings, keeping the Originals very much alive in the tournament.”It was a really good game,” said Dottin. “So exciting and we’re just so pleased to get over the line. After the feedback and the info from the players who’d already been in the middle, the main thing for me was to see what it was actually doing and then taking it as deep as possible. It’s a big win but we’re not too overconfident.”

PCB, ECB discuss back-up plan as political unrest continues near venue of scheduled series opener

Umar Farooq15-Nov-2022Karachi is being discussed as an alternative venue for England’s historic first Test in Pakistan, as part of a back-up itinerary the PCB and ECB have been discussing as political unrest continues in Rawalpindi, the original venue for the series opener.In this itinerary, the dates of the tour remain the same but Karachi hosts both the first and third Tests, with Multan staging the second as in the original schedule. England have not played a Test in Karachi for more than 20 years, since their famous twilight win in the 2000-01 series.A final decision is expected to be taken in the next 48-72 hours, with the PCB keen to ensure all state and local bodies are on board with the switch.Rawalpindi, home to army headquarters and next to the capital Islamabad, was due to host the Test from December 1. But unrest around the capital following the assassination attempt on former premier (and former captain) Imran Khan at a rally nearly two weeks ago has resulted in a series of protests since.Khan escaped with injuries to his right leg and is now planning, with his PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf – Movement for Justice) party, a long march on to the capital, demanding fresh elections.He was ousted from power in April after a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Though no dates have yet been announced, the march from Lahore is expected to culminate in the capital towards the last week of November, around the time the England squad land.Amid the public protest last week, the Quaid-e-Azam trophy game between Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at Pindi stadium was first delayed for a day with the teams unable travel from the hotel to the stadium, then abandoned outright, with both teams taking five points. The latest round of the competition, which got underway on November 14, features ongoing matches in Karachi, Lahore and Abbottabad, with Rawalpindi not scheduled to host any further games.ESPNcricinfo understands that the England tour isn’t facing any direct threat from the ongoing situation, with the security of the team the PCB’s highest priority, and the ECB on board with all the back-up plans. Last week, Ben Stokes, England’s Test captain, said that his team would put its faith in the ECB’s security delegation, led by their veteran advisor Reg Dickason.Aside from the venue switch, the dates of the tour remain unchanged, with England expected to arrive from their training camp in Dubai on November 26-27, with the first Test set to begin on December 1. The second Test in Multan from December 9-13 and the third Test, already scheduled for Karachi from December 17-21, remain as originally planned.

Lancashire chase derailed in gutsy final over from Scrimshaw despite David’s 42 not out

ECB Reporters Network24-Jun-2022George Scrimshaw bowled a superb final over to give Derbyshire Falcons a five run victory over Lancashire Lightning in the Vitality Blast game at Derby.The fast bowler had gone for 48 from his first three overs but conceded only five off his last as the North Group leaders came up short on 183 for 5, chasing 189.Tim David smashed an unbeaten 42 off 23 balls but could only watch from the other end as Scrimshaw kept the Falcons quarter-final hopes alive.Shan Masood with 75 from 50 balls and Wayne Madsen, 70 off 30, drove the Falcons to 188 for 8 but Steven Croft’s 47 from 29 balls put the Lightning on course until Scrimshaw had the final word.After the Lightning elected to bowl, the Falcons were restricted to 44 from the powerplay for the loss of Luis Reece who sent a return catch to Tom Hartley off the fifth ball of the innings.The ball crossed the ropes only four times during the first six overs, four of those overthrows, and Hayden Kerr’s attempt to break the shackles two overs later ended in the hands of cover.That brought together Madsen and Masood who accelerated with a mixture of orthodoxy and improvisation.Masood lofted Luke Wells down the ground before Madsen scooped Tom Hartley over the wicketkeeper for four and then drove the left-armer to the cover boundary.Masood hammered Danny Lamb back over his head for four on his way to his fifth 50 of the competition, a record for Derbyshire, and Madsen powered to his half-century off only 23 balls.He pulled Wells over midwicket for the first six of the innings as 19 came from the 14th over and Masood tore into Lamb in the 16th, driving and pulling the seamer for two sixes before lifting a full toss to mid off.But Madsen was striking the ball with power and precision, taking 18 off four balls from Richard Gleeson before he was lbw to the next.The pair had plundered 64 from four overs but the Lightning recovered well with Luke Wood and Gleeson conceding only 20 from the last three overs.Even so, it left the Lightning with a tough chase and they lost Phil Salt in the third over when he was superbly caught by Leus du Plooy diving at deep square leg.Wells pulled Mark Watt for two sixes in the next over and Croft dispatched Scrimshaw for another six with 19 coming off the fifth.The powerplay ended with the Lightning 64 for 1 and Scrimshaw came in for more punishment in his second over with Croft pulling him for six before Wells called for a new bat and promptly struck two fours.Croft was dropped on 33 at short fine leg off Alex Hughes but du Plooy took another good catch to remove Wells who pulled the off-spinner to deep midwicket.The Lightning needed 91 off 10 overs but the Falcons were stemming the run flow and Dane Vilas was caught behind cutting Matt McKiernan in the 12th over.Croft launched Hughes over long on for six but was brilliantly caught at backward point off Watt in the 14th over.David responded by pulling and driving McKiernan for two sixes and another six off Scrimshaw left the Lightning needing 33 off 24 balls.Kerr and Watt conceded only 10 off the next two overs and although Rob Jones pulled Kerr for four, the Lightning needed 11 off six balls.Scrimshaw delivered when it mattered, trapping Jones lbw with his fifth ball before Lamb missed a wild swing at the last to end another T20 thriller.

There is a 90% chance of rain in Sydney which may put a damper on the opening match of the Super 12s

Deivarayan Muthu21-Oct-20223:23

Will Guptill find a spot in the NZ XI? Do both Milne and Ferguson play?

Big picture

Less than one year after New Zealand were blown away by Australia in the 2021 T20 World Cup final in Dubai , the two teams come together once again, this time to launch the main draw of the 2022 T20 World Cup at what will be a packed SCG. However, with the La Niña weather event in play there is a 90% chance of rain in Sydney, which could potentially play spoilsport.New Zealand’s warm-up fixture against India was also washed out though it was in Brisbane earlier this week. They will also have to contend with the injury-enforced absence of Daryl Mitchell – one of their heroes from the 2021 T20 World Cup – who is racing against time to be fit for the game against Afghanistan on October 26 at the MCG.Fast bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne are also working their way back from injuries and were hence managed carefully in the most recent T20I tri-series at home in Christchurch. Then, there’s New Zealand’s record against Australia in Australia, which hangs like Coleridge’s albatross around their necks. Zero wins in any format since 2011.Related

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In their quest to remedy that and maximise the powerplay, in particular, New Zealand have made the tough call of relegating Martin Guptill to the bench and bumping Finn Allen up to the top along with Devon Conway. Allen is one of the most exciting short-format players currently, boasting a powerplay strike rate of 156.48 – the best among all batters who have played at least ten innings during this phase since his T20I debut in March 2021.1:31

Williamson: Both Ferguson and Milne bring something different

The selection headaches don’t end there. New Zealand will have to choose between Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Michael Bracewell, the Wellington Firebirds batting allrounder who has shown that he can do the job as a bowling allrounder too. It is very unlikely that all three can find a place in the same XI.Australia have also had their fair share of issues in the build-up to the World Cup, but their appear in much healthier shape, despite losing spare wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis to a golf injury. Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa have all excelled in T20 cricket over the past 12 months. Throw in the finishing skills of Tim David and the pedigree of David Warner at the top, and you have the ingredients of another title-winning side.If it comes down to a truncated shootout on Saturday, Australia arguably have more depth and explosive power than New Zealand. However, one can never count New Zealand out at a global tournament.

Form guide

Australia LLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
New ZealandLWWWL

In the spotlight

The boundaries in Australia are bigger than the those in many other parts of the word. But they still might not be big enough for Tim David who has a bit of Kieron Pollard about his six-hitting. In addition to muscling the ball over midwicket, David is particularly good at hitting in the ‘V’ like his Mumbai Indians senior. His duel with Ferguson/Milne could set the pulses racing.John Cena’s Glenn Phillips‘ time is now. He only had a peripheral role to play in the last T20 World Cup but with Mitchell injured, he will be one of those asked to pick up the slack. Phillips is quite capable, his 360 degree game attracting the attention of T20 franchise owners all around the world. He is also a live wire on the field, can keep wicket and bowl some fastish offspin, if required.Everyone’s coming for the trophy in Australia’s hands•Getty Images

Team news

The sensational Cameron Green has found a way into Australia’s squad, but may not be able to make the XI, especially now that it looks like Marsh might just be available to bowl a few overs, if needed.Australia (probable): 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 David Warner, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodKane Williamson didn’t rule out the possibility of both Ferguson and Milne featuring in New Zealand’s XI. Bracewell emerged as the Player-of-the-(Tri)Series against Bangladesh and Pakistan earlier this month but might miss out if New Zealand opt for the experience of Santner and Sodhi and the batting insurance offered by Mark Chapman.New Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway (wk), 2 Finn Allen/Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Michael Bracewell/Mark Chapman, 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Lockie Ferguson/Adam Milne, 11 Ish Sodhi

Pitch and conditions

The pitch was under cover for most of Friday so Finch only got a brief look at it. He said it was on the drier side. Though the forecast is grim, the SCG recovers quickly from rain, which the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, says is likely to come in the afternoon and the evening.

Stats and trivia

• Williamson’s form has been iffy since the last T20 World Cup and his niggly elbow hasn’t helped him either. Since the final against Australia in November last year, he has managed only 420 runs in 20 T20 innings at a strike rate of 105.26.
• Boult could be New Zealand’s best bet to tackle Wade. The left-arm seamer has dismissed Wade three times in 23 balls in T20Is.
• No seamer has taken more wickets than Hazlewood (23) in the powerplay in T20 cricket in the past year. He has picked up 23 wickets in 32 innings at an economy rate of 6.20. Among all bowlers, only Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana is ahead of Hazlewood with 24 strikes, but he has had the benefit of 40 innings.

Quotes

“We haven’t thought too much about that. Nice to play against Australia first up, and it should be a good game.”

The wider sporting world has allowed athletes to play with the virus, but the league is adopting more stringent protocols

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Mar-2023Even as sporting authorities worldwide are permitting athletes to participate in events despite testing positive for Covid-19 over the last year, the IPL has decided to stick to its 2022 policy of asking players with the virus to go through a week-long isolation period before rejoining their teams.While the season will no longer need to operate out of a bio-secure bubble, which had been mandatory for the three years since the pandemic, the IPL has said it wants to be “careful” and players testing positive will not be allowed to participate in a match or in training until they return consecutive negative tests, the earliest of which can be taken on day five of recovery.”While there has been a decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in India we still have to be careful of the emerging strains which are becoming a concern at regular intervals,” the IPL’s medical guidelines, which were distributed to franchises this week, say. “Positive cases must be isolated for maximum seven days. Positive cases will not be allowed to participate in any match or any form of activity/event during the period of isolation.”From day five, they can undergo a RT-PCR, provided they must be must be asymptomatic without any medication for 24 hours. Once the first result is negative the 2nd test must be done 24 hours apart. Only after obtaining two negative RT-PCR tests 24 hours apart i.e. day five and day six, can they rejoin the group.”The IPL pointed out that testing will be carried out only for those actually showing signs of Covid-19, not for those who are asymptomatic. Any participant continuing to test positive even after day seven would need to present two negative tests 12 hours apart before rejoining the group.This is in contrast to the loosening of restrictions in dealing with Covid-19 cases in global sport including international cricket. Last August, Australian allrounder Tahlia McGrath became the first cricketer to play a match despite testing positive for Covid-19 in the Commonwealth Games T20 final against India.A few months later, at the men’s T20 World Cup, Mathew Wade, who had tested positive, was named part of the Australian team in the league match against England which was eventually washed out. In January, Australian opener Matt Renshwaw reported Covid-19 symptoms on the first morning of the New Year’s Test against South Africa in Sydney, tested positive before toss, but went on to play the match.The ICC has allowed players to participate in matches at global events including the CWG in England and the T20 World Cup in Australia last year. It remains to be seen, though, whether it will retain the same process during the ODI World Cup in India later this year.

‘Cricket is all about batting, so if you can contribute with the bat, as an individual it’s more pleasing,” says Player of the Match Sunil Narine

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-20241:13

Aaron: KKR have a ton of matchwinners

The price tag of INR 24.75 crore (US$2.98 million approx.) almost ran in with him as Mitchell Starc bowled in his first two IPL 2024 matches, where he went for a combined 0 for 100 in eight overs. It might have on Wednesday in Visakhapatnam too, but with the batters scoring an almost-record IPL score of 272, the pressure was perhaps a little off. And Starc, one of the best in the modern-day game, struck in his second over, getting Mitchell Marsh to slap one to cover point, and then again in his third, when he got David Warner to under-edge an attempted cut on to his stumps.Figures of 2 for 25 look a lot better than 0 for 53 or 0 for 47, and while Starc didn’t quite admit to feeling a bit out of place in the previous matches, he did say that those returns weren’t what he had hoped for.”In a game of T20, we all need a little bit of luck, a few edges go by, a dropped catch or two, that’s T20 cricket,” he said on the host broadcast after the game. “You move on pretty quickly, because the games come thick and fast. Yeah, probably not the start I wanted, but we’ve been winning games, so that’s what it’s about. We’re three-nil. And tonight, with bat and ball, we were pretty good, I think.Related

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“It can be brutal at times, particularly on the bowlers [in T20 cricket]. I think we’ve seen on some of the grounds, some of the scores… so yeah, you take a little bit of luck here and there. Yeah, we’re three-nil at the start of the season, and tonight we were pretty clinical with bat and ball. Personal stuff aside, the team’s start has been fantastic.”That’s the bigger picture. The fact that almost every Knight Rider has put in at least one performance of note in taking KKR to three wins on the trot and the top position on the table after all the teams have played at least three games.As for the smaller picture, getting Marsh and Warner must have felt good? “It’s nice to have those ones in the pocket,” Starc said with a laugh.But before Starc got into his act, it was Vaibhav Arora, 26 years and just 34 T20 matches old and not really anywhere near international cricket, who created a flutter, getting rid of Prithvi Shaw in his first over as Delhi Capitals chased a mammoth 273 for victory. Arora did it at his mid-130s pace with a lot of swing into the right-hand batters and the occasional well-directed bouncer, and finished with 3 for 27.”That’s all him, he was fantastic tonight, and I thought he used the short ball really well,” Starc said when asked if he had a role to play in Arora’s success. “For me, it’s probably more conversations around training, around bowling meetings, when we’re taking on Dave and Mitch, who some of these guys haven’t played before. So just talking a bit around that sort of thing. Just see how they go about their business in the nets, and if they ask questions, just little conversations around that. Certainly not me telling them how to bowl and tonight I thought our whole bowling attack was fantastic.”The bowling came later. First, it was the batting. Sunil Narine – 85 in 29 balls. Angkrish Raghuvanshi – 54 in 27 balls. Andre Russell – 41 in 19 balls. Rinku Singh – 26 in eight balls. KKR – 272 for 7. Just five runs behind Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 277 for 3 the other day, which is the highest IPL total ever.”Not at all. To be honest, the way we were at the start, maybe we’d reach around 210-220, but 270 [272 for 7] was icing on the cake,” Shreyas Iyer, the KKR captain, said when asked if topping SRH’s total had crossed his mind. “Sunny’s [Narine’s] job is to go out there and free his arms and see to it that he gets us a great powerplay. Even if he doesn’t, we’ve got other batters who can basically take on the bowlers and see to it that we get a commendable total by the end of the powerplay. So that is the mindset, to keep intent strong and taking on the bowlers.”1:42

Moody: Narine prides himself on his batting

As for Raghuvanshi, playing his first IPL innings and looking like he has always belonged, Iyer said, “He was fearless from ball one. When you see him, his work ethic is phenomenal. He is top notch in analysing situations and he is a smart batsman when it comes to reading the situation. The way he played today, the shots were literally pleasing to the eye.”Starc and Raghuvanshi and Arora played their part, but the man of the moment, and the Player of the Match, not just for all those quick runs but also the 1 for 29, was Narine.’Cricket is all about batting, so if you can contribute with the bat, as an individual it’s more pleasing. But I still enjoy my bowling,” he said when asked which of the two disciplines are more his thing.What Narine’s performance did, of course, was give KKR a huge net run-rate boost. Not only are they top of the table, but their NRR of 2.528 is way ahead of the others’ – second-placed Rajasthan Royals are at 1.249.”On a good wicket like that, trying to keep it as tight as possible, to try and win with a bigger margin so it can help our run rate later on in the tournament,” Narine said on the matter.

Freya Kemp set to bat at No. 5 at Edgbaston in allrounder’s absence

Valkerie Baynes10-May-2024Nat Sciver-Brunt will miss England’s opening T20I against Pakistan at Edgbaston on Saturday after undergoing a “minor medical procedure”, her captain Heather Knight has revealed on the eve of the match.Knight said the absence of allrounder Sciver-Brunt opened the door for left-hander Freya Kemp to bat at No. 5. Allrounder Kemp is in England’s T20I squad purely as a batter as she continues her return from a back problem.”Nat Sciver-Brunt is unavailable tomorrow,” Knight told reporters on Friday. “She’ll be available for the next game. She’s had a minor medical procedure, so this game tomorrow comes a little bit too soon for her.”We obviously played those three T20s in New Zealand without her as well and without a few other players, so that gave us an opportunity to find out about a few people and add to our depth a little bit. There’s some good young allrounders coming through. Dani Gibson has been impressive, particularly with the ball at the back end. Freya Kemp is obviously a massive clean ball-striker and a left-hander which we don’t have a lot of in England, and when she’s back bowling as well, she’ll become a real asset.”There’s some really good talent coming through. It is just about guiding those younger players and keeping them on the right track to fulfil the potential that they have.”Related

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Maia Bouchier enjoyed a breakthrough tour of New Zealand in March, making the most of her opportunities at the top of the order amid the late arrivals of Danni Wyatt and Sciver-Brunt from the WPL as England won the T20I series 4-1.That tour was an important stepping stone in England’s build-up to the T20 Women’s World Cup in Bangladesh in October, as is this visit by Pakistan and the upcoming home series against New Zealand in June and July.”In New Zealand I felt like our T20 game evolved a little bit,” Knight said. “We played on pitches that were slightly more tricky in the powerplay, slightly bigger boundaries, and we had to play a slightly different game. That was really good for us. It probably added a few more tools in our bag and made us be a bit smarter with how we attacked, and how we put pressure back on the bowlers. There was a lot more hitting into pockets, hitting twos, it was harder to hit sixes out there.”I feel like that’s evolved us a lot as a side and evolved our method a little bit. That’s going to be the same in Bangladesh, it’s conditions that we haven’t played a huge amount of cricket in as a squad, so it’s about having as many skills in our cricket toolbox to try and call upon when we need them, and building settled positions. As a bowling unit as well, having different people to bowl in different positions and giving opportunities as and when there is the chance to do that.”Heather Knight during a practice session in Birmingham•PA Images via Getty Images

Meanwhile Pakistan are coming off the back of a disappointing tour by West Indies, who won their T20I series 4-1 and swept the ODIs 3-0. But Knight said there would be no complacency in her side as a result.”They’ve had some good results as well in New Zealand, they won that series away, which is a really good result for them,” Knight said of a Pakistan side captained by Nida Dar since last year, taking over from Bismah Maroof who recently retired from international cricket.”They’ve also got a new captain and a few retirements in their team and that quite often I think brings energy and reinvigorates the team, so we’re certainly not underestimating them at all. They’ve obviously got a few gaps to fill, so it’d be interesting who they bring in and what young talent they potentially bring in. It’ll be a good challenge for us.”The match in Birmingham is the first of three T20Is between the sides, with games in Northampton and Leeds to follow ahead of a three-match ODI series.