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The unorthodox left-armer was the leading spinner in last season’s BBL

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2023Left-arm spinner Paddy Dooley has been handed his first state contract after signing a one-year deal with Tasmania.Dooley, 25, whose unorthodox action was modelled on Jasprit Bumrah, was one of the breakout stars of last season’s BBL with Hobart Hurricanes having initially played for Brisbane Heat during the 2021-22 campaign among the raft of Covid replacements.He finished with 19 wickets in 10 matches for Hurricanes, making him the leading spinner in the competition, then made his List A debut for Queensland in February but will now look to forge his domestic career in Tasmania.Related

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• Bird and McDermott make the move home for new state challenges

• Australia's T20I future: who has stood out from the BBL?

• Crowds, controversies and Steven Smith: BBL gets its mojo back

• Weatherald seeks fresh start with two-year Tasmania deal

“I’m really excited to have signed my first state contract and to be joining the Tigers next season,” Dooley said. “I had a great time and learnt a lot working with Jeff and all of the players and staff at the Hurricanes last season, so it’s great for me that there’s also that cross over into the Tigers program in a lot of ways.”I absolutely loved my time down in Tasmania during the Big Bash, and this year will be a completely new experience for me living as a full-time cricketer, so I can’t wait to get down there and get stuck in.”Tasmania head coach Jeff Vaughan believes that Dooley could make a mark in red-ball cricket.”Paddy has obviously found his way into domestic cricket through the white ball game, but I think he also has the potential to play all three formats for us,” he said. “To have him supported in a full-time program such as ours, where he has access to all of the strength and conditioning and other training he needs outside of his cricket skills, we think will really be of benefit to him as a cricketer.”Dooley is Tasmania’s second signing in the off-season after they brought in Jake Weatherald from South Australia. Their full list is due to be announced next week and will include some significant departures with Peter Siddle returning to Victoria and Ben McDermott heading to Queensland. Pace bowler Jackson Bird is also set to return to New South Wales.

The wicketkeeper has taken over from the recently-retired Rachael Haynes

AAP19-Oct-2022Alyssa Healy is ready to lead the Australian women’s cricket team this summer if called upon after being appointed as Meg Lanning’s vice-captain.Healy was officially named as the retired Rachael Haynes’ replacement on Thursday, after previously filling in as a vice-captain last summer.There is every chance the role could turn into that of stand-in skipper, with Lanning no guarantee to return from personal leave before a December T20 series in India.Lanning is currently overseas after taking leave from the game in August, and while she has been given space by Australian players Healy contacted her personally to deliver the news.Related

• 'I am being given the freedom to make this team mine' – Alyssa Healy

• Garth gets Australia call-up; Healy named captain for India T20I tour

• Nitschke's inbox: Haynes' replacement, new leaders and sustaining success

• Healy, Gardner, McGrath: who could be Australia's next captain?

• Future on Alyssa Healy's mind after Rachael Haynes' call

Healy on Thursday stressed the Australian team was still Lanning’s and she is still hopeful her close friend will return to playing with no discussions yet about captaining in India.”I am positive she will be back around Australian cricket and in what role I am not 100 per cent certain,” Healy said. “That is a decision for Meg and one that me in particular I am really supportive of her making.”Whatever role I play in the summer I am happy with. If she comes back and says this is my team and I want to play and captain, it’s a great thing for Australian cricket. But if it’s the flip-side of that and there is a conversation about me having to take over then that is really exciting for me.”Australia also have a home series against Pakistan in January before a T20 World Cup defence in South Africa in February.Healy was confident if called upon she would be able to juggle her many roles, including as both the team’s wicketkeeper and opening bat.She has had experience doing so with New South Wales – a team in transition for the past four years with several older players retiring or moving elsewhere.Australia are also facing a changing of the guard with Shelly Nitschke last month named the team’s new full-time coach and Dan Marsh and Scott Prestwidge announced as new assistants on Thursday.”To have an opportunity to help shape the next chapter of this group, it’s really exciting for me,” Healy said. “If and when called upon [to captain] I would be absolutely chuffed to do that and call on some experience I have had with the NSW Breakers in the past couple of years.”There is also some chance Healy’s appointment could extend her own career after she recently admitted she had considered her own future in recent months.”It probably re-energises and re-focuses too,” Healy said. “There have been little moments and cool opportunities along the way that have reinvigorated me and the way I want to play the game. This is another one of those moments that makes you sit back and think, go: Actually is a really cool time to want to be involved.”

The pitch in Colombo isn’t expected to allow free-flowing batting

Madushka Balasuriya07-Oct-20252:07

Preview – Should Australia play Megan Schutt?

Big picture: Pakistan 0, Australia 16

Pakistan have never beaten Australia in any format of women’s international cricket. And if that trend continues on Wednesday, their path forward in the ODI World Cup will become very complicated given they have already lost their opening two matches to Bangladesh and India.What might be even more concerning for Pakistan is that in 16 ODIs against Australia, they’ve not even come close to victory, with the narrowest margins of defeat being 37 runs and four wickets, both way back in 2014.Pakistan’s most recent contest against Australia, a three-match rubber in 2023, had these results: eight-wicket defeat, 10-wicket defeat, 101-run defeat. And while they are also yet to beat India (12 tries) or England (15 tries) in women’s ODIs, their 16 defeats to Australia make them, statistically, the toughest opponent.Related

• Ellyse Perry and Sidra Amin highlight the contrasts in Australia and Pakistan

• Schutt praised for response to omission as another selection call awaits

All this is to say that Pakistan have a considerable mountain ahead of them. As for Australia, their opening game against New Zealand was an ultimately comfortable win, and their second against Sri Lanka was washed out. They are also a team in near-invincible form. In 32 matches since the last World Cup, they’ve won 27 and lost just four. Pakistan in that same period have played 34 ODIs, won 13 and lost 18.So what exactly are the straws Pakistan might look to clutch here? One, Australia haven’t played since October 1 as a result of their washout against Sri Lanka. They are also yet to play at the R Premadasa stadium, where conditions don’t necessarily seem conducive to free-flowing batting. With Pakistan already having experienced these conditions in their defeat to India, there could be an advantage to be exploited.Finally, Pakistan will be hoping the law of averages catches up and gives them the crucial win and points that they need.2:40

Australia exude an attitude of ‘we know how to win this’

Form guide

Australia WWLWW (last five ODIs most recent first)
Pakistan LLWLL

In the spotlight: Sandhu and Mooney

Since the 2022 World Cup, no Pakistani bowler has picked up more wickets than spinner Nashra Sandhu – her 42 strikes in this period coming from 28 matches. But more interestingly her 248.1 overs are the sixth-most bowled by any bowler in the last three and a half years. This serves to highlight just how much Pakistan lean on Sandhu. This year has also been her most impactful one – she’s picked up 17 wickets in 10 games, including a six-wicket haul against South Africa. The only thing is, in her past five matches, she’s gone wicketless three times. Pakistan will need her at her best if they are to upset Australia.You’d be hard pressed to find a team Beth Mooney doesn’t like batting against, but even so, her ODI record against Pakistan is better than most. Across eight innings she’s struck 279 runs at an average of 69.75, an average that has been boosted by the fact that she’s only been dismissed four times. Mooney’s recent form too has been ominous, with a century and two fifties across her last five innings.Megan Schutt has a good record against Pakistan: 10 wickets in nine ODIs•Getty Images

Team news: Will Schutt get a look in?

With a week’s break since their last game, Australia will be itching to get out on the field. Their biggest dilemma is down to healthy competition, as it remains to be seen if Darcie Brown continues to keep Megan Schutt out of the XI.Australia (probable): 1 Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Beth Mooney, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath, 8 Sophie Molineux, 9 Alana King, 10 Kim Garth, 11 Darcie BrownOmaima Sohail was replaced at the top of the order by Sadaf Shamas last time out, but with both openers struggling Sohail might find herself back in the side.Pakistan (probable): 1 Muneeba Ali, 2 Sadaf Shamas, 3 Sidra Amin, 4 Aliya Riaz, 5 Natalia Pervaiz, 6 Fatima Sana (capt), 7 Rameen Shamim, 8 Diana Baig, 9 Sidra Nawaz (wk), 10 Nashra Sandhu, 11 Sadia Iqbal

Pitch and conditions: Tricky batting conditions

Rain has been pestering Colombo and its surrounding suburbs over the past week, but Wednesday should arrive with clear, if cloudy, tidings. The pitch at the Khettarama has stayed true to form in the first two games its hosted at this World Cup, making life tricky for batters – expect that to stay the same.

Stats and trivia: Australia’s return to Colombo

• This will be Australia’s first women’s ODI in Colombo since 2016
• Only against Ireland (17-0) do Australia hold a more dominant ODI record than the one they have against Pakistan
• Australia have won their last 10 completed Women’s World Cup matches
• Annabel Sutherland is four away from 50 WODI wickets

Quotes

“We do have an edge but it all depends on what the team does with this advantage. We were unlucky to have our warmup game against Sri Lanka washed out but we’ve also played two games here and know the conditions very well.”

With a small gap of eight points, the positions might change again before the World Cup ends

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2024Sadia Iqbal briefly became the first player from Pakistan to top an ICC women’s T20I player rankings table when she overtook Sophie Ecclestone to become the top-ranked bowler in the world. It didn’t last long, though, as Ecclestone snatched it back by the end of the week when the updates were made public.Ecclestone has been the top-ranked women’s T20I bowler since February 2020 – and continues to be – but for a few days over the week past, the throne belonged to Iqbal. Iqbal first drew level with Ecclestone after taking 3 for 17 against Sri Lanka in Pakistan’s women’s T20 World Cup opener. Ecclestone, in her first match of the World Cup, returned 0 for 21, and slipped behind Iqbal as a result. But Iqbal then took 1 for 23 against India, and Ecclestone bounced back with a Player-of-the-Match winning 2 for 15 against South Africa to claim the top spot again.There’s just an eight-point gap (762 and 754) between the two, though, so it’s quite possible that the positions might change again before the World Cup is done.

Full rankings tables

• Click here for the full team rankings

• Click here for the full player rankings

As such, left-arm spinner Iqbal is having her best year in T20Is. Among all players at the World Cup, she has the most wickets in 2024 – 28 wickets in 17 games. Sana Mir, the former Pakistan captain, is the only other Pakistan woman cricketer to top an ICC player table – she was the top-ranked ODI bowler in 2018-19.The tussle at the top of the T20I bowlers’ rankings aside, a number of other players have made notable movements as the World Cup has worn on.Among batters, Suzie Bates’ 27 against against India has lifted her two spots to seventh, while Harmanpreet Kaur is up to 12th, a jump of four spots, after her 15 against New Zealand and 29 (retired hurt) against Pakistan. One of the top performers at the World Cup so far has been Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who has so far hit 41 and 43 against Bangladesh and South Africa, respectively, helping England win both games. That’s lifted her from No. 20 to joint 18th, where she is joined by team-mate Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was 19th last week, after she scored 48 not out in the win over South Africa.Among bowlers, Megan Schutt has risen nine places to enter the top ten at No. 10 after picking up 3 for 12 against Sri Lanka. Within the top five, Sarah Glenn is up one place to third, behind Ecclestone and Iqbal, after picking up a wicket in each of England’s two games so far. Below her, Ash Gardner is up three places to sixth and Rabeya Khan is up one place to No. 9.Nonkululeko Mlaba, who set up South Africa’s opening win against West Indies with returns of 4 for 29, and has since picked up 1 for 22 against England, has zoomed up nine spots to 13th.

India’s Deepti Sharma also moved up one spot to occupy fourth position among allrounders

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2022West Indies’ Hayley Matthews has moved two places up to sixth in the ICC women’s ODI rankings for allrounders, while India’s ODI captain Mithali Raj has gone up one place to be second among batters.Matthews starred with an all-round performance in the two ODIs against South Africa in Johannesburg, taking four wickets at an economy of 3.78 and scoring a 63-ball 51 in the rain-hit first game. This also helped her gain four spots among bowlers as she now occupies 11th place with a rating of 587, the highest in her career so far. India’s Deepti Sharma also moved up one spot to be at the fourth position among allrounders.

Full rankings tables

• Click here for the full team rankings

• Click here for the full player rankings

Raj has 738 rating points among the batters, behind top-ranked Alyssa Healy (750) of Australia. Raj’s team-mate, Smriti Mandhana, is unchanged at sixth with 710 rating points.South Africa’s stand-in captain Sune Luus made a two-spot jump to 18th, with team-mate Ayabonga Khaka and West Indies’ Chinelle Henry also gaining big in the bowling list, led by Australia’s Jess Jonassen. Veteran India pacer Jhulan Goswami has maintained her second place and Australia’s Megan Schutt occupies the third spot.England’s Natalie Sciver leads the allrounders’ chart, while Australia’s Ellyse Perry and South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp are placed at second and third positions, respectively.

Teenager avenges last year’s semi-final defeat to seal spot against Lancashire

Matt Roller16-Jul-2022Hampshire are one win away from equalling Leicestershire’s record for the most English domestic T20 titles after a clinical 37-run win against Somerset set up a final against Lancashire at Edgbaston.Last year, Somerset snatched an improbable victory against Hampshire in the day’s first semi-final, recovering from 34 for 5 to chase down a target of 151 with two wickets and two balls remaining. This time, Hampshire were ruthless, posting 190 after winning the toss and taking regular wickets to defend that score comfortably.Hampshire lost their first four games of the Blast this season but have now won 11 of their last 12. “It’s 10 years since we won our last semi-final,” James Vince said. “After 10 overs we set out to get 200 but the wicket lost a bit of its pace. The guys have been outstanding with the ball defending targets all year and that’s exactly what we’ve done. That was the way we wanted to go. It’s set up for a good final.”A young talent announcing themselves on county cricket’s biggest stage has become an annual feature of Finals Day. This year, it was Tom Prest’s turn. Prest, a 19-year-old top-order batter from Dorset, made the highest score of his fledgling T20 career to hold Hampshire’s innings together and propel them to a match-winning total. He was the youngest half-centurion in Finals Day history.”It’s amazing to get that win after last year’s disappointment,” he said. “It’s just been about playing with that freedom. We started firing at the right time and once you get on a roll in T20, it’s hard to stop. It’s what dreams are made of: I’ve always wanted to play in a final.”Related

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Prest captained England to the final of the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year and has been backed throughout this season despite a relatively lean return from No. 3. He made a triple-hundred in the Second XI Championship last season but most of his first-team opportunities have come in T20, where he looks to accumulate early on before cashing in.He had the chance to take his time in this semi-final thanks to a bright start from Vince and Ben McDermott, the most destructive opening partnership in the Blast this season, who put on 47 for the first wicket in 4.2 overs, flogging Jack Brooks and Peter Siddle. Both were caught at extra cover looking to loft over the infield, but from 69 for 2 at the end of the powerplay, Hampshire were able to consolidate.Prest was 30 off 27 balls when he was hit on the helmet looking to scoop Brooks and Hampshire’s innings looked in danger of petering out, but reached his half-century nine balls later. He was strong off his pads, whipping Lewis Gregory for consecutive boundaries through square leg, and by the time he holed out to long-on in the final over, Hampshire had ensured they had a total they could defend.Somerset were missing two of their best T20 bowlers in Craig Overton, with England ahead of Sunday’s deciding ODI against India, and Josh Davey, who injured his hamstring in last weekend’s quarter-final against Derbyshire. Perhaps they could have coped without one, but their attack looked toothless without both.Nathan Ellis celebrates after picking up Peter Siddle•Getty Images

Will Smeed and Tom Banton both started brightly but the depth and variety of Hampshire’s attack was too much for them: Smeed plinked Nathan Ellis to mid-on, and Banton was run out at the bowler’s end by Mason Crane’s direct hit after failing to dive to make his ground. “It’s Finals Day, man,” Simon Doull fumed on Sky’s commentary. “Do you not want it enough to get your clothes a little bit dirty?”Rilee Rossouw held the key against his old county and started brightly, hammering Brad Wheal onto the roof of the Hollies Stand. But he holed out to deep midwicket off James Fuller and despite Tom Abell and Tom Lammonby’s cameos, Somerset never managed to keep the required rate in check.”I think they got 10-15 more than we’d have liked,” Abell said. “We’ve chased really well through the competition but we obviously didn’t quite get it right. We just wanted to build a partnership and tried to do that. We just couldn’t quite get our flow with the bat in the second innings and that cost us.”Ellis finished with three wickets, mopping up the lower order, but Liam Dawson’s four miserly overs were crucial: they cost only 20 runs, and he could play a key role in the final as the Edgbaston pitch slows up.

Ackermann fifty, Ahmed three-for count for little after club’s points deduction

ECB Reporters Network03-Jul-2022Leicestershire Foxes finished off their Vitality Blast season with a fifth straight win but it was a bitter-sweet victory after it was revealed just hours before the match that they had suffered a two-point deduction as a result of two disciplinary offences committed during their dramatic one-run victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Friday evening, making it impossible for them to qualify for the quarter-finals.The Foxes finished with 211 for 7 from their 20 overs after skipper Colin Ackermann made an unbeaten 72 off 46 balls, backed up by Nick Welch’s rapid 46 in the powerplay and Louis Kimber’s 30 off 11 balls at the death, David Willey taking 3 for 29 for the Vikings.In what would have been a play-off for the final quarter-final place from the North Group with Leicestershire just a point behind Yorkshire ahead of the game, the deduction rendered the result academic, with the Vikings progressing in fourth place despite mustering only 151 for 9 in reply.Rehan Ahmed finished with an impressive 3 for 17 to total 19 wickets in his debut season, Adam Lyth’s 52 from 25 balls for the Vikings an effort in vain.The Foxes’ fate was decided by the ECB’s Cricket Discipline Commission on Saturday evening but the announcement was delayed until the Commission’s report was published at 11am on Sunday. The Leicestershire club have offered supporters who had bought tickets but did not attend after hearing that the match was effectively a dead rubber the chance to apply for a refund.Related

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Put in on the same pitch that was in use when they stacked up 215 against the Steelbacks, their highest total of the season, the Foxes looked to be on course for something similar when they raced to 56 for two in the powerplay.It was almost all down to Welch, who pulled and drove five sixes, two off George Hill, one off Willey and another couple off Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan before he was caught at deep midwicket in the fifth over, having hit his 46 off 23 balls after Lewis Hill had chipped to mid-off in the opening over to fall without scoring.Lilley, dropped on seven, joined Ackermann as the runs continued to pile up, the Foxes completing half their overs on 97 for 2, only just shy of where they had been at the same point on Friday.Having launched Shadab Khan over long on for long off for six, Lilley edged to short third man for 35 off 23 balls in the 11th and when Willey dismissed Wiaan Mulder, caught at mid-off, and Ben Mike, catching a miscue in his follow-through, with consecutive balls in the 14th, the innings looked at risk of falling away at 131 for five.Rishi Patel was caught on the cover boundary but after Kimber hit back-to-back sixes off Jordan Thomson before falling to a catch at extra cover in the final over from Willey, Yorkshire’s bowlers leaked 65 off the last four overs.After that, Yorkshire needed a productive powerplay and got it as Lyth thumped 52 off 25 balls before top-edging a Naveen-ul-Haq bouncer to be caught at fine leg, a 50th Blast wicket in two seasons for the Afghanistan pace bowler. The Vikings opener hit seven fours and two sixes, one each off Naveen and Mulder, who bowled three wides as he conceded 22 in an over.But 70 for 1 turned into 86 for 3 in the ninth over and 103 for four in the 11th as the Foxes bowlers fought back, Finn Allen driving Callum Parkinson in the air to mid-off, Ahmed tossing one up to Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who promptly picked out long off, before Dawid Malan bottom-edged Ackermann into his stumps.Willey missed a slog-sweep and was leg before, Harry Brook skied a catch to the wide long-on boundary off Mulder, who had Jordan Thompson caught behind first ball.At 124 for 7, Yorkshire’s chance had gone but it mattered little that Shadab Khan and Matthew Revis holed out to Ahmed as they slid to a 60-run defeat.Ackermann, the Foxes’ captain, said: “We were very disappointed by the decision to deduct points, so in those circumstances I was proud of the professionalism the players showed today. We wanted to finish the season on a high in front of our home crowd and I’m really pleased with the victory but in saying that it is bitter sweet.”I can’t really say whether it was a fair decision. Things happen on the field in the heat of the moment but it is what it is, the decision has been made and there’s nothing much more I can say about it. We found out at about 10 o’clock on Saturday evening and we were obviously gutted. But credit to the players for stepping up today in the way that they did for what was effectively a dead rubber from our point of view.”

Quicks Sippel and Hancock combined to take five wickets on bouncy WACA pitch to defend 169 against Thunder

Tristan Lavalette28-Nov-2023 125 for 9 (Athapaththu 41, Sippel 3-9, Hancock 2-16) by 44 runsQuicks Courtney Sippel and Nicola Hancock effectively utilised a bouncy WACA surface as Brisbane Heat comfortably beat Sydney Thunder in the elimination final.Heat kept their season alive after allrounder Amelia Kerr top-scored with 48 before Sippel and Hancock combined for five wickets under lights to crash Thunder’s chase of 170.Heat will play in the Challenger against Perth Scorchers on Wednesday at the WACA. The winner of that match will face Adelaide Strikers in Saturday’s final at Adelaide Oval.”Perth are a quality side and they have got world class players, we’re going to have to play well to beat them,” Kerr said after getting the player of the match award. “It’s about recovering tonight and then getting ready to go again tomorrow.”In good batting conditions, Thunder never seriously challenged in a disappointing ending to a bounce back season after last season’s wooden spoon.”It [surface] definitely bounced a lot…we didn’t quite make use of the conditions,” Thunder captain Heather Knight said.Both teams had to endure a cross-country journey after tailing off in the regular season to miss finishing in the top two. Thunder won the toss and elected to field in cool and overcast conditions in a notable change to oppressive recent weather in Perth.Heat’s fortunes of a revival seemingly rested on opener Grace Harris, who had gone off the boil recently mirroring her team’s spiral. After a watchful start, Harris took a liking to the wayward bowling from Thunder’s quicks. She particularly capitalised on seamer Sammy-Jo Johnson, who repeatedly bowled back of a length and was subsequently punished for three boundaries in the sixth over.Harris’ timing was exquisite, but she also showcased her trademark power by smashing offspinner Lauren Smith into the gigantic sightscreen near the rubble where the Prindiville Stand once stood.Courtney Sippel took three wickets for nine runs in her four overs•Getty Images

With her half-century in sight, Harris on the next ball attempted another lusty blow but she mistimed to deep midwicket. Harris had dominated the opening stand with Georgia Redmayne, whose struggles this season with being tied down at the crease continued. She made a sluggish 18 off 24 before being caught behind off seamer Hannah Darlington.Kerr took over with sweet shots around the wicket as Heat eyed a total around 200. She effectively went aerially in the power surge, while Laura Harris was keen to make up for lost time in her second match back after being sidelined for two months with a calf injury.Harris smashed Smith over deep midwicket for six off her first ball then whacked Darlington on her next delivery with a crunching blow through the off-side.But she soon fell lbw to a superb full slower delivery from Johnson, who found her length and ignited a late comeback from Thunder. Left-arm spinner Samantha Bates bowled accurately at the death to restrict Heat to a total that only felt par.Thunder’s batting all season had relied on Chamari Athapaththu, the newly-minted player of the tournament. But she struggled to find rhythm on a hard surface and was left rattled after a disastrous mix-up saw opener Tahlia Wilson run out in the eighth over.But the dismissal seemed to ignite Athapaththu, who went after left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen with decisive footwork. She was less assured against pace and it proved her downfall on 41 when Athapaththu succumbed to a well-targeted delivery from Sippel.When Kerr had Phoebe Litchfield caught and bowled, Thunder slumped to 61 for 3 at the halfway point and they never recovered as Heat lived to fight another day.

Mitchell and Young hit half-centuries for New Zealand, while India lost three wickets in two overs just before stumps

Sidharth Monga01-Nov-2024Stumps Ravindra Jadeja bowled 22 unchanged overs in the oppressive heat and humidity of Mumbai to pick up his 14th Test five-wicket haul and help bowl New Zealand out for 235. However, India threw away the advantage with the loss of three wickets in the last two overs of the day to end at 86 for 4.Jadeja had to work much harder for his wickets than New Zealand did at the fag end of the day. It included bowling through the whole middle session, during which Washington Sundar, who took four wickets, went off the field to rehydrate, and the batters got drinks almost every three overs.Jadeja’s was a timely intervention, as Daryl Mitchell and Will Young, half-centurions both, threatened to run away to a big total on a pitch that showed enough signs – with puffs of dust and variable turn – that it was going to be a nightmare for the side batting last. Mitchell and Young added 87 runs in a fourth-wicket partnership that looked under more threat from dehydration than the bowling.The collapse from 159 for 3 to 235 all out brought some respite for India, playing to avoid their second-ever series whitewash at home (of two or more Tests) and also vital WTC points. However, the last two overs – Yashasvi Jaiswal bowled to a reverse-sweep, the nightwatcher Mohammed Siraj burning a review, Virat Kohli running himself out – were a downer for them.Virat Kohli was run out looking for a quick single•BCCI

That’s because they had got into a desirable position after Tom Latham won another important toss and got the right to bat in the best batting conditions of the match. He led New Zealand’s initial progress even though he lost Devon Conway to Akash Deep from around the wicket. A pace attack missing Jasprit Bumrah was only going to go so far. R Ashwin came on to bowl as early as the eighth over, the last time of the day he would be considered the likeliest spinner to get wickets.Latham scored 28 off 44 before a vexing one-two from Washington sent him back. From a near identical spot, with near identical seam orientation, Washington beat the inside edge one ball and the outside edge next ball to take out top of off stump. For the third time in three times of asking, Washington hit the off stump of Rachin Ravindra with a near identical delivery to leave New Zealand delicately poised at 72 for 3.The half-an-hour to lunch was a nervous period for Young and Mitchell as both their edges were threatened regularly. Post lunch, though, the pitch settled down for an hour and a bit. With the temperature hitting 37 degrees, the high humidity of the coast and little breeze, this session tested everybody’s fitness. The batters got a drink every couple of overs to go with iced towels or ice packs around their necks.Every now and then, the ball turned if Jadeja slowed it down, but he was looking for quick turn. Young and Mitchell, though, looked at ease. The sweeps and reverse-sweeps were employed to good effect, but Young also danced down the wicket to languidly loft the ball. This was Young’s first fifty of the series even though he has given the impression he has been the most comfortable batter on either side.Ravindra Jadeja acknowledges the cheers after his 14th Test five-for•BCCI

Washington, Siraj and Ashwin bowled from the other end, but Jadeja kept going from his. Towards the end of the session, he got what he wanted: turn at high pace. Now he was in it. Young edged to slip one that turned at 94kph. Three balls later, Blundell saw one pitch on leg and hit off at 92kph. Puffs of dust started making more regular appearances.Now Jadeja took full control. He kept attacking the stumps with subtle changes of pace and the occasional undercutter. He took out Glenn Phillips with one that didn’t turn to go past Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma into the list for top-five wicket-takers for India.India began the final session with Jadeja and Washington again, something that will hurt the competitor in Ashwin. Jadeja wasted little time to dismiss Ish Sodhi and Matt Henry in the same over. Sodhi fell to one that turned and stayed low, and Henry was bowled on the off to Jadeja’s slowest wicket-taking delivery: at 90kmph.Whatever the support staff did to Mitchell during the tea break worked wonders as he found enough energy to hit three sixes in three Washington overs after having struggled to run during the middle session.Mitchell didn’t farm the strike with the No. 10 for company, but eventually made a mental error by guiding a flat delivery straight to slip just like how coaches do during catching drills. Not before having scored 82, though. Ajaz Patel, on whom lay the onus to improve dramatically from Pune, hit a six before padding up to one that didn’t turn, giving Washington his fourth wicket.Daryl Mitchell celebrates his fifty•Getty Images

Rohit Sharma enjoyed some early luck as Will O’Rourke dropped him at long leg, but his attacking mindset meant he had committed too much to a forceful shot when Henry seamed one ball away. The Rohit that went to England in 2021 would have had time to bail out, but now he just edged it to second slip.Jaiswal and Shubman Gill weathered the storm to assuage fears of a repeat of what happened in Pune. They even began to dominate the bowling in a 53-run second-wicket stand. Then, with about ten minutes to stumps, Jaiswal was beaten on the reverse-sweep, the first time he has got out to the shot in Test cricket having tried it 14 times previously for 36 runs. Ajaz then bowled perhaps his best delivery to Mohammed Siraj first up, pitching on leg and hitting off. For some reason, though, Siraj decided to review it.Amid the DRS drama, Kohli walked in for the first time this series without an applause for the wicket preceding him. Part-time spinner Ravindra tried the old left-arm-spinner-full-toss trick but Kohli got past the lethal delivery – it had been his downfall in the previous Test – with a boundary. However, he couldn’t get the better of his own instinct of running with the shot despite hitting the ball firmly enough to mid-on. The only way Kohli could survive this was if Henry misfielded or missed. He did neither.

England opener says crowd “saw quite a good day’s cricket” after early close greeted by boos

Valkerie Baynes06-Sep-2024As the booing sounded from a good-sized Oval crowd who felt they were being robbed when the umpires ushered players from the field for a second and final time on a weather-blighted day, Ben Duckett, for one, didn’t see the need to argue.He was already out, having scored a rapid-fire 86 in conditions that should have suited Sri Lanka after they had won the toss, his innings having laid the foundation for England’s impressive 221 for 3 from just 44.1 overs possible on the opening day of the third and final Test. Given the scoreline – and storyline – with Ollie Pope making a defiant run-a-ball 103 not out, Duckett felt spectators had got their money’s worth.”I think they saw quite a good day’s cricket in the short amount of time there was,” Duckett reflected at the end of a day which had included an earlier stoppage for bad light, which lasted nearly three hours through the middle of the day, and the another just before 6pm that sparked the angry reaction in the stands and ultimately led to stumps being called half an hour later.”That’s living in England and playing cricket in England, they’re the conditions. It’s very easy to sit there as a supporter and want to see more cricket but if it does get really dark and more dangerous, we’re the ones out there playing. I did make a joke saying if they wanted to bowl double spinners before lunch they could do. They weren’t conditions for that. Both sides did it at Old Trafford, went double spin, but when the lights were on and the ball was nipping around a bit, the umpires were taking us off and we’re going to have to go with their rules.”Related

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The earlier interruption seemed particularly contentious with conditions not appearing vastly different to those that greeted an on-time start. It did become darker and the faintest mist gave way to a light rain shower while the players were off for the first time but in an afternoon session that ran from 3.10pm to 5.10pm the light was as good as it had been all day. As the gloom threatened to return, it signalled the beginning of the end.Duckett said the batters weren’t consulted ahead of either stoppage, with the umpires directing the players from the field, and while he gave no indication that he wanted to go off for the first – on the contrary he highlighted having to “start again” afterwards – he was resigned to having to abide by their decision.”I’m sure if it was that same Aussie attack last summer, bowling in those conditions, you’d probably want get off the field,” Duckett added. “It does have a big impact when those lights are on and they’re fully on and the ball starts swinging and nipping around a bit more. To be honest, it’s got nothing to do us. You don’t really get the option any more. If the umpires take you off you’ve got to go with their decision.”Sri Lanka had opted for a pace-heavy attack, dropping spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, and clearly missed a trick by failing to take early wickets under overcast skies and following heavy rain through the early hours of the morning.Aaqib Javed, Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling coach, put that down to his charges becoming carried away by the promise of the conditions and failing to execute as a result.”What we did wrong is we didn’t get the good areas because there was a lot going on in the mind, ‘oh this is the best day of swing bowling,’ and that chance of taking wickets and sometimes trying to calm them down, excitement levels, it’s sometimes too much,” he said. “So far I think we’ve been doing really good with the new ball, the bowlers, but today I would say they got carried away with the expectations. When you have high expectations, then you go down very quickly because there are bowlers looking at each other, [saying] ‘oh my God, that was the best opportunity, missed it!'”A little bit of disappointment but there’s still a lot in this game so we have to show our character tomorrow morning, the bowlers will rest and come up with something better than this. We got it wrong in the morning with excitement, overexcitement, I would say.”Lahiru Kumara conceded 81 runs in 12.1 overs for his two wickets, while Asitha Fernando went wicketless for 58 runs from 14 and Vishwa Fernando ended the day with 0 for 29 from seven. Milan Rathnayake was the other wicket-taker with 1 for 34.