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Mumbai have not bowled a lot of spin at home this IPL but RCB’s performance in the middle overs might make them change that

S Sudarshanan10-Apr-20242:47

How can Bumrah find assistance from fellow MI bowlers?

Match details

Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture – Spin struggles of a different kind for MI and RCB

The security guards in the lower tier of the stands at the media end of Wankhede Stadium were kept busy on Wednesday. They all had ‘ball retrievers’ added to their job description for the evening.Faf du Plessis had two stints at the nets. Glenn Maxwell one, Cameron Green one, Mahipal Lomror, Rajat Patidar, Tom Curran, Suyash Prabhudessai all one. And the prime focus was facing hitting spin. RCB had a plethora of net bowlers bowling spin and the batters’ aim was to hit them as far as they could.In the IPL since 2021, spinners have had an economy rate of 7.82 at the Wankhede Stadium. In the middle overs (7 to 16), they have returned 109 wickets at an economy of rate 7.76.In IPL 2024, RCB have had a tough time against spinners in the middle overs. Their average of 50.75 for the loss of just four wickets may not be bad, but they have been the second-slowest scoring team against spin in that phase. Their strike rate of 125 is only better than KKR’s 122.68 in the middle overs. Among RCB batters who have faced at least ten balls of spin in the middle overs, only Patidar (171.42) and Virat Kohli (142.42) have a strike rate in excess of 110.Related

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All these point towards an area of weakness waiting to be exploited. However, Mumbai have not bowled a lot of spin at the Wankhede Stadium so far this year. Piyush Chawla and Mohammad Nabi combined for four overs in their previous outing, while Chawla was the lone spinner used for three overs against Rajasthan Royals. RCB’s training methods suggested that they are bracing for a bit of spin test come match day.So far in this IPL, Mumbai have bowled the least amount of spin – 18 overs of which Chawla has bowled 10. They have picked up just two wickets with spin and their economy rate of 11.22 is the worst among the teams this year.In case Mumbai do decide to employ more spin, they have left-arm spinner Shams Mulani and Kumar Karthikeya, who can spin it both ways, to turn to. Will Mumbai change their methods to exploit RCB’s potential problems?

Form guide

Mumbai WLLL , 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Tim David, 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Mohammad Nabi, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 3:10

Moody: Green’s role in RCB has been confusing and unsettling

Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Glenn Maxwell’s low returns could tempt RCB into getting Will Jacks in the XI. Maxwell did manage to connect a few shots during nets, but has scores of 1, 0, 28, 3 and 0 in the season so far. RCB could also consider getting Suyash Prabhudessai in to shore up the lower order.Probable XII: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell/Will Jacks, 5 Cameron Green, 6 , 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Reece Topley, 9 Mayank Dagar, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Yash Dayal,

In the spotlight: Jasprit Bumrah and Cameron Green

There has been a vast difference between Jasprit Bumrah and the other Mumbai bowlers. Bumrah has an average of 19.60 and an economy rate of 6.12 while the others have averaged 35.60 and leaked runs at over 11 an over. Teams have tried to see off Bumrah and attack the others, but as he showed against Capitals, how Mumbai spread his overs through the innings decides how much they manage to limit the damage.Cameron Green returns to the venue where he was immensely successful in IPL 2023 – 229 runs at an average of 76.33 and a strike rate of 172.18. Ahead of the season, he was traded by Mumbai to RCB, where he has been shunted up and down the batting order and is yet to have a telling impact with the bat. He had a short bowling spell on Wednesday after which he had a 20-minute batting stint in which he middled almost everything. Will he turn his IPL 2024 form around at the Wankhede Stadium?

Stats that matter

Chloe Tryon is out with a recurring back injury but she will hope to be fit for the T20 World Cup in October

Firdose Moonda31-May-2024South Africa opening batter Tazmin Brits is in line for an international comeback after suffering a meniscus tear and sprained ligament on her left knee in April. Brits has been named in the ODI and Test squads to face India next month and will undergo a fitness assessment before the group departs to determine the extent of her involvement in the three ODIs and the one-off Test.Brits had sustained the injury on April 9, in the same match that she scored her second ODI century of the season, against Sri Lanka and underwent surgery the following week. She was expected to be in line to play by the end of May and is on track in her recovery thus far. The next two weeks are thought to be crucial in her return to play programme. While South Africa have not yet named their T20I squad for the tour, her participation in that series will be most crucial, with October’s T20 World Cup in mind.Allrounder Nondumiso Shangase, who bowls offpsin, has been recalled to the squad after missing the Australia and Sri Lanka series while wicketkeeper Meike De Ridder is also included after a hand injury kept her out of the Sri Lanka series. Those inclusions are a significant boost for a South African outfit that will miss out on the experience of Chloe Tryon, whose back injury has recurred. The problem has plagued her since 2020, and she has regularly missed cricket because of it but will hope to be fit for the T20 World Cup. Batter Lara Goodall and 19-year-old seamer Ayanda Hlubi, who debuted in the ODIs and the Test against Australia earlier in the year, are also out with a hamstring and groin concern respectively.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The rest of South Africa’s squad includes familiar names such as captain Laura Wolvaardt, allrounders Nadine de Klerk and Marizanne Kapp, and a bowling attack led by the seam of Ayabonga Khaka and spin of Nonkululeko Mlaba. De Ridder and Annerie Dercksen, who has played seven T20Is, are the only uncapped players across the ODI and Test format while Shangase and Eliz-Mari Marx are in the line for Test debuts.The four-day Test, scheduled for Chennai from June 28 to July 1, will be South Africa’s third in the last two years, with another to come against England at home this summer, while the ODIs are their second-last series of the Women’s Championship, which determines qualification for the 2025 World Cup. South Africa are in third position on the points table, a point behind England. The top five teams and hosts India will advance automatically to the tournament with the remaining two teams to be determined via a qualifier.Significantly, the India tour will be South Africa’s first series since the departure of long-serving coach Hilton Moreeng, who opted not to continue in the role after more than 11 years in the job. Interim coach Dillon du Preez will take charge in India, and South Africa are expected to confirm a permanent head coach before the T20 World Cup.”Everyone’s excited and looking forward to the tour to India,” du Preez said in a statement. “So far, preparation has been great. We had a big focus on options against spin and it was good to see the buy-in from the team. We also have new management involved, so this would be a great opportunity for them to find their feet before we come back and start our preparation for the World Cup.”The key for us would be to assess the conditions as soon as possible, be calm under pressure and try and play key moments in the game better than the opposition. We all know a series against India in India will always be tough.”The last time South Africa toured India, in March 2021, they won the five-match ODI series 4-1.The tour this time will start with a warm-up match against Board President’s Women XI on June 13 in Bengaluru before the three ODIs in the same city on June 16, 19 and 23. Chennai will then host the Test from June 28 and the three T20Is on July 5, 7 and 9.

South Africa Women ODI and Test squad for India tour

Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder (wk), Sinalo Jafta (wk), Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Suné Luus, Eliz-Mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, ⁠Delmi Tucker

He has been fined 100% of his match fee for a Level 1 breach of the IPL’s Code of Conduct during the game against Delhi Capitals

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2024Harshit Rana, the Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler, has been fined 100% of his match fee and suspended for a game, for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during his team’s match against Delhi Capitals. Rana will now miss KKR’s game against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, on May 3.Though the IPL release did not specify the reason for Rana’s fine, he could’ve been pulled up due to the animated celebrations from him towards DC batter Abishek Porel. Rana, who picked up 2 for 28 during KKR’s seven-wicket win, dismissed Porel in the seventh over of DC’s innings, giving the batter a bit of a send-off as he walked back. Rana was subsequently charged with a Level 1 breach under Article 2.5 of the tournament rules. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding.This was Rana’s second offence of the season, having also been penalised last month during the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. During that match, Rana gave SRH batter Mayank Agarwal a sharp stare after dismissing him, and was fined 60% of his match fee.KKR are currently second in the table with 12 points, and an NRR of 1.096, the best of all teams in the competition.

Having stumbled to 39 all out against West Indies, Uganda will hope to end their tournament on a high

Andrew Fidel Fernando14-Jun-2024

Match details

New Zealand vs Uganda
Providence, 8.30pm local

Big picture

For Uganda, for whom the T20 World Cup 2024 has been the biggest and most consequential outing in their many decades of playing senior men’s cricket, Friday’s match is one last chance to show what they’ve got at the top level. So far in this tournament, they’ve been brushed aside by Afghanistan and West Indies. In their most recent match against West Indies, they were all out for 39, their lowest total in T20Is. But then they’ve also registered a victory against Papua New Guinea, sparking no little joy and satisfaction.Related

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Ugandan cricket has plenty of distance to travel, but it’s had a showing at a World Cup now. There has been a heartbeat there for much of the last 50 years, but it’s now as loud as it ever has been. Uganda just want to get another solid performance under their belt. An upset? This is of course the dream.New Zealand, now out of the tournament, having lost badly to Afghanistan then more narrowly to West Indies, have less to gain. Already there are assertions that the greatest era of New Zealand’s cricket is over, and some rebuilding must begin. Tim Southee and Trent Boult are not the forces they once were, perhaps, and that top order seems short of firepower.A big showing against Uganda won’t necessarily crush those critiques. But there will at least be an opportunity for a proud group of players to reassert themselves.

Form guide

New Zealand LLLWW
UgandaLWLWLKane Williamson has endured a troubled World Cup as captain and batter•ICC/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Riazat and Williamson

Uganda have some decent bowling stocks, but it’s their batting that is seriously deficient, as seen in the match against West Indies. Their best bet for resisting New Zealand’s attack is Riazat Ali Shah a batter of Pakistani origin who moved to Uganda from the Hunza Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan to pursue his cricket dreams. Riazat was not only the Player of the Match in their game against PNG but was also their highest run-scorer in the Africa Region Qualifier. His 42 off 28 against Zimbabwe was one of the most telling contributions of that tournament.Kane Williamson, arguably the centrepiece of New Zealand’s greatest cricket era, is captaining a team that bows out of the tournament before they reach the next level. And he is doing it without really having contributed meaningfully to the campaign, scoring 9 and 1 against the top teams in the group. There will be plenty of time to pick apart this World Cup showing. But, for now, Williamson needs some runs.

Pitch and conditions: Slower pitch in Tarouba

No rain is forecast for Tarouba on Friday night. The pitches at the Brian Lara Stadium have not been conducive to run-fests. They have had a bit of turn for the spinners, and rewarded bowlers who take the pace off.

Team news

Barring last-minute injuries, Uganda seem unlikely to make too many changes.Uganda: 1 Roger Mukasa, 2 Simon Ssesazi (wk), 3 Robinson Obuya, 4 Alpesh Ramjani, 5 Riazat Ali Shah, 6 Kenneth Waiswa, 7 Dinesh Nakrani, 8 Brian Masaba (capt), 9 Juma Miyagi, 10 Cosmas Kyewuta, 1 Frank Nsubuga.Ish Sodhi is the only member of New Zealand’s squad to not get a game so far in this World Cup. He could come into the side if conditions are expected to favour spin.New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway (wk), 2 Finn Allen, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Kane Williamson (capt), 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 James Neesham, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Lockie Ferguson.

Stats and trivia

• Frank Nsubuga’s figures of 2 for 4 against PNG were the most economical by any bowler to have completed their four-over quota in a Men’s T20 World Cup game.
• This is the first time in a decade that New Zealand have not made the semi-finals of an ODI or T20 World Cup. The last time they missed out was in 2014.

Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada ran through the top order as Afghanistan folded for 56, their lowest total in T20Is

Andrew Fidel Fernando27-Jun-2024South Africa’s quicks ravaged Afghanistan’s top order, taking five wickets inside the first five overs, to send the opposition spiralling towards their eventual 56 all out in the first semi-final of T20 World Cup 2024.Then, although they lost Quinton de Kock early, Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendricks calmly navigated the small chase on an exceedingly tricky Tarouba pitch.For a team infamous for playing jittery cricket in the knockouts, this win was dominant and clinical. South Africa left next to nothing to chance. They bowled beautifully, fielded well, and weathered some difficult early overs while pouncing on the loose balls.Related

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As their reward, they have their first ever berth in a men’s World Cup final, and continued their unbeaten run in the tournament, which now is up to eight matches. The margin of victory, by nine wickets and with 67 balls remaining, underscored the control they exerted on this match, from start to finish.

Jansen and Rabada rip out the top order

The Tarouba surface not only offered lateral movement but also a lot of bounce early on. With the heights that Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada bring to the table, South Africa had a great attack to exploit conditions.Kagiso Rabada flattened Mohammad Nabi’s off stump•AFP/Getty Images

Jansen struck at the end of the first over to remove Afghanistan’s batter of the tournament – Rahmanullah Gurbaz – who edged a ball angled across him to Hendricks at slip. In his next over, Jansen bowled Gulbadin Naib through the gate with a delivery that darted back into him.Rabada’s first over sent Afghanistan really into a nosedive. He jagged two balls back and hit timber on both occasions. The ball that clipped the top of Ibrahim Zadran’s middle stump was the killer – Ibrahim at that point was Afghanistan’s best hope of getting to a good score. Fourth ball, he took out Mohammad Nabi’s off stump with an even more stunning delivery. That over was a double-wicket maiden.

Nortje and Shamsi do the rest

With the top five gone, and their middle order having failed to produce much right through the tournament, Afghanistan were seriously struggling. Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi closed down the innings from there. Nortje had Azmatullah Omarzai (the only Afghan batter to get to double figures) caught at deep point, then later knocked out Rashid Khan’s off stump.Shamsi bowled a leg-stump line to the right-handers and kept getting them lbw as the balls rushed onto them. They reviewed all three decisions, but the on-field umpires had given them out, and umpires’ calls on impact were good enough.Jonathan Trott and Rashid Khan during the innings break•ICC/Getty Images

Farooqi and Naveen can’t wreck South Africa’s top order

Coming into this match, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq had 29 wickets between them. Their only chance of defending such a paltry score was running through the top order together.Farooqi added to his tournament-high wicket tally in his first over, setting de Kock up with some big outswingers before jagging one back in and making a mess of his stumps.And Naveen should have had Markram the next over, but most of Afghanistan’s players didn’t hear the thin edge to the wicketkeeper, and Rashid wasn’t sure enough of it to review the decision.

Markram and Hendricks take the chase home

There were still testing moments, as the pitch continued to play up, still often keeping low. But whenever Afghanistan bowled poor deliveries, South Africa’s batters pounced. The fifth over itself yielded 13 runs – more than a fifth of the target. South Africa got home in the ninth over, sparking restrained celebrations, even though this was a historic victory for them.

The T20I series in Edinburgh is the first bilateral meeting between the teams since 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2024Scotland pushed Australia hard at the T20 World Cup earlier this year – a victory would have dumped England out of the tournament – and have genuine belief they can go a step further in the three-match ODI series in Edinburgh.After Brandon McMullen’s 60 off 34 balls, the equation got down to Australia needing 87 off 39 deliveries and there was a realistic chance of an upset before Marcus Stoinis carried the game away from them. Having been 90 for 0 against England when the match was abandoned, it was an agonizing difference between the Super Eight and going home.Related

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Three games in four days with home advantage, and against an Australia side with some less experienced names, gives Scotland the chance to secure a first victory over them – and they aren’t just targeting one win.”I think we’re after a little bit of blood this week, and not just win a game but win the series”, left-arm spinner Mark Watt told the Cricket Scotland website. “We can definitely take inspiration from that game in St Lucia, but we also have a little bit of a point to prove, as we all believe we should have won that game and kicked on further in the World Cup. We can say we got close, but actually in the back of our heads we’re disappointed that we didn’t win.”All 15 players who were at the T20 World Cup are part of the squad for this series, but one new name for the Australians who were there will be pace bowler Charlie Cassell who burst onto the international scene with the best figures on ODI debut when he took 7 for 21 against Oman.”It’s a great opportunity for them to share the field with world-class players,” Scotland head coach Doug Watson said when the squad was announced. “They’re wanting to put in some huge performances and compete, and really push this Australia team. The goal for us is to win this series. The first game is really important – if we can win that, it’ll set up the next two matches.”Scotland have been the beneficiary of Ireland being unable to host Australia as originally scheduled due to financial constraints. Australia last played a bilateral match against them in 2013 when Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh combined for a first-wicket stand of 246. Current captain Richie Berrington was part of the Scotland side.In 2018, Scotland had one of their most famous days when they beat England by six runs at Edinburgh but opportunities against the leading nations outside of global events are few and far between and they are desperate for more.”It is frustrating we don’t get the opportunities to play the big boys, so to speak,” Michael Leask told . “Even the likes of Bangladesh and West Indies, we don’t get opportunities to play against them. And we would take any opportunity, because the more high quality cricket we get, the better we get.”We would love them to come and play us more often but we understand sometimes it is not feasible. We want any fixture we can get against the big boys, but they have got a heavy schedule. This is our opportunity. It would be nice if the higher associates got more exposure. We punch above our weight a lot of the time and that is down to the quality of the group we’ve got.”

Payne, Matt Taylor share six wickets before Bancroft, Hammond romp in simple chase

Alan Gardner14-Sep-2024Gloucestershire claimed their maiden T20 title, and West Country bragging rights into the bargain, as they crushed defending champions Somerset in a one-sided Blast final at Edgbaston. An eight-wicket margin of victory, sealed by Ollie Price’s six over long-on with 30 balls to spare, told the story as Gloucestershire marched to their first piece of silverware since 2015.It was a night of many heroes for Gloucestershire. Miles Hammond’s unbeaten 58 from 41 led them home, having put on a raucous century stand with Cameron Bancroft, after the bowlers had blown Somerset away. David Payne, Gloucestershire’s stalwart attack leader, capped a remarkable campaign with 3 for 27 to take his tally to 33 and equal Alfonso Thomas’ longstanding record for an English T20 season. Matt Taylor, with 29 wickets himself, was the catalyst as he picked off three of Somerset’s top four on the way to figures of 3 for 18.For the second Finals Day running, all four teams came from the South Group. Gloucestershire arrived as the underdogs, having squeaked through in fourth place on net run-rate – but after seeing off Birmingham Bears on their own patch in the quarter-final, they returned to Edgbaston to demolish Sussex in the second semi, then took apart their cider country rivals with another inspired bowling performance. Somerset’s bid to become the first team to successfully defend the Blast title fell at the final hurdle, hopes of a domestic treble brusquely shelved in the process.Gloucestershire’s success was made all the more poignant by the presence of club president, David “Syd” Lawrence, the former England fast bowler who was diagnosed earlier this year with motor neurone disease. It was also a rousing performance from a county who have had their struggles, facing financial insecurity and battling in the wrong half of Division Two in the County Championship. But Mark Alleyne, in his first season back as head coach, has steered a side featuring eight homegrown players to a memorable T20 success.Chasing the dream
Somerset’s wicket-taking prowess was behind their 2023 victory, when they defended 145 in the final against Essex. But they were even lighter on runs this time around and could not conjure the early breakthroughs required to jangle Gloucestershire nerves.Bancroft drove his third ball, from Craig Overton, through the covers, launched the same bowler over long-on in the third over and then ramped Josh Davey all the way for six at the start of the fourth. Lewis Gregory, whose half-century carried the fight as one of only three Somerset players to reach double-figures, brought himself into the attack for the final over of the powerplay and was promptly dispatched for three boundaries as Gloucestershire raced to 49 for 0.Gloucestershire had twice beaten Somerset when chasing during the group stage but both of those games were helter-skelter affairs. This was clinical, though not entirely business-like, as Hammond channelled the mood in the Hollies Stand by belting Jake Ball and Roelof van der Merwe for sixes to speed Gloucestershire towards their target.Bancroft struck van der Merwe for back-to-back fours to raise a 39-ball half-century, before Hammond went to the mark from 36 balls in the following over, clouting Ben Green over long-on for another serene six. No team had ever won the T20 final by a ten-wicket margin and Somerset saved themselves from that ignominy by dismissing Bancroft and James Bracey. But the result was already in the post.Taylor-made start for Gloucs
Somerset were looking not only to make history by winning back-to-back T20 titles, but become the first team since Worcestershire in 2018 to lift the trophy after coming through the first semi-final. Having been inserted, Somerset got off to a decent start – certainly better than the 7 for 3 after 2.1 overs they managed earlier in the day – as Payne’s first two overs cost 19, only to come unstuck against Gloucestershire’s other left-armer.Matt Taylor is less heralded than Payne but barely less effective, and he struck three times in his first two overs. His first ball induced a slash to backward point from Will Smeed, before a clever change of pace saw Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who had hit Payne for two sixes in the previous over, miscue high into the off side. When James Rew, in the third T20 knock of his professional career, punched uppishly to the diving Bancroft at short cover, Taylor had startling figures of 3 for 7.Three down at the end of the powerplay, things got worse for Somerset. Sean Dickson had been their matchwinner in the semi – and top-scored in both games at last year’s Finals Day – but departed for a golden duck this time around, missing a reverse-sweep at Ollie Price’s second delivery. Somerset were 42 for 4 and up against it.Gregory can’t soothe Somerset Payne
In the absence of Dickson, Gregory stepped into the firefighter role. He and Tom Abell ticked over initially, taking the score to 63 for 4 at halfway, before the captain began to play some shots in an attempt to give Somerset something defendable. The left-arm spin of Tom Smith was targeted, Gregory clubbing six straight back down the ground before lofting the next ball over extra cover. Abell was less successful taking the aerial route, however, as he drove Tom Price down the throat of long-on to end a stand worth 44.Gregory continued to carry a threat, again clearing the ropes off Smith before a swivel-pull off Tom Price took Somerset’s innings into three figures. But the return of Payne to bowl the 16th over tipped the scales in Gloucestershire’s direction again – two consecutive slower deliveries accounting for Ben Green and Craig Overton leaving the defending champions up the River Rea without a paddle at 105 for 7. In the process, Payne overtook Hampshire’s Chris Wood as the most-prolific seamer in the history of English domestic T20.Gregory lost another partner when van der Merwe sent a flying edge straight into Bracey’s outstretched right glove, but raised a fighting fifty off 33 balls with a nudge for one off Matt Taylor. He was dropped at the start of the 19th, Ben Charlesworth unable to cling on to a diving effort running in from the cover boundary, but became Payne’s third wicket four ball later when he picked out long-off.

Alyssa Healy says Australia will not be in trial mode while Sophie Devine is hoping her side can regain some form ahead of the T20 World Cup after a nightmare tour of England

Alex Malcolm18-Sep-2024Australia captain Alyssa Healy says there will be no experimentation with their side as they plan to put out their best XI in the upcoming three-match series against New Zealand, who are hoping to bounce back from the nightmare tour of England as both sides prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup.Australia’s women have not played an international series since the start of April where they experimented quite a bit with their XI during the tour of Bangladesh including opening with Grace Harris in one game and batting Georgia Wareham at No.3 while Healy herself was listed at No.10.But on the eve of the opening match of the series in Mackay, which is being used by both sides as a warm-up for the T20 World Cup that begins on October 3 in the UAE, Healy said Australia were planning to field a full-strength side across the three games.Related

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“I think when you look at our side as a whole, we’ve been pretty settled in the T20 game for a long period of time,” Healy said on Wednesday.”I guess Bangladesh was a good opportunity for us to try a few things that are just in case, what-if scenarios, if some of our key players go down, who can fill those roles. But I think for us now, having some consistency around our XI leading into a World Cup, you still use all 15 players I find in a World Cup to win it, but everyone knows their roles.”I think we’re in a good place in that regard.”We’re going to get very different conditions here to what we’re going to get in Dubai so it’s just about us playing our best XI at every opportunity and putting some things in place, knowing that we do have a World Cup at the back of our mind.”Healy did admit there is some temptation to unleash Australia’s dual pace threat of Darcie Brown and Tayla Vlaeminck given the two have never played together at international level due to their respective injury issues.Healy said it was an exciting prospect to pair two of the world’s fastest female quicks together in the same attack but it would cause some other selection headaches in regards to the balance of the side.Darcie Brown is ready to return from injury•Getty Images

“Hugely excited to have Darcie and Tay in the same squad at the same time and available to play,” Healy said. “It creates some dilemmas for us, but at the same time, it’s really exciting. And the thought that, whether we play them at the same time as well, having that option is huge for us.”It’s great to see Darc back. She’s a ball of energy around our group, and I think she’s excited to be here, which makes it even better.”Healy’s vow that Australia would field their strongest outfit did not perturb New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine but she conceded it would be a great test for her team coming off a tour of England in June and July where they lost eight straight matches including five T20Is. They have lost seven T20Is in a row dating back to a home series against England in March and nine of 10 this year.”We certainly took plenty of learnings away from that, and we’ve had a number of camps where we’ve addressed, I think, where we went wrong and where we need to look moving forward,” Devine said.”I think it’s really important for this group that we stay positive, that we know that we’ve worked incredibly hard, not just these last couple of months, but leading into that as well. And just because we didn’t have the results we wanted from that series, that we’re still a good cricket team.”Rosemary Mair is set to be unleashed against Australia•Getty Images

Devine was keen to unleash a returning pace bowler of her own with Rosemary Mair named in the World Cup squad after missing the England tour with a back injury.”Rocco’s worked incredibly hard,” Devine said. “She’s obviously had a pretty frustrating injury the last couple of months. But she’s someone that can bring real pace and bounce to the side. I think she’s someone that attacks the stumps, which we really like in terms of not only here in Australia, but also over in UAE as well.”So we’re really looking forward to seeing what she can do. She obviously hasn’t played too much the last couple of years, so she’s a little bit of an unknown to a few players. So we’ll certainly be looking for her to have an impact, but just to have her in amongst the group, I think she’s someone that absolutely loves cricket. It’s been great to have Rosemary back.”Both captains were pleased with the ICC’s announcement that the tournament prize money has been raised substantially to match the men’s prize fund at the T20 World Cup.”Really cool,” Healy said. “I think it’s an amazing opportunity for the women’s game to be recognized in that regard, and I think it’s a great step forward in the game itself.”

Babar Azam has been rested keeping in mind Pakistan’s busy schedule, Mahmood says

Danyal Rasool14-Oct-2024In desperate need of a result following an innings defeat in the first Test, Pakistan have seemingly had a complete change of heart on the sort of pitches they want at home, and opted to use the same one from the first Test. To that end, they have lined up with three spinners, with seam-bowling allrounder Aamer Jamal the only pace outlet.According to assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, though, this is precisely how Pakistan had planned it all along.”We had a clear plan of what pitches to prepare for Bangladesh, and what to prepare vs England,” he said on Tuesday. “Our approach was pace wickets against Bangladesh and spin pitches against England. Our instruction to the curator for the first Test was that the ball should spin after the second day. But the pitch didn’t take turn until even the fifth day. Hopefully the ball will begin to take turn on the ninth day.”Related

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If the expectation was that the pitch would take turn from the second day in the first Test, Pakistan’s line-up did not necessarily reflect that. Legspinner Abrar Ahmed was the only specialist spinner in the XI, with Pakistan lining up with Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi and Jamal to round the attack out. Now, unless one of the part-timers are thrown the ball, it will be the first time Pakistan play a men’s Test with only one quick bowler.It wasn’t an attack that left the Test with its reputation enhanced. England piled out 823 for 7, the highest score Pakistan have ever conceded. Captain Shan Masood was critical of the bowlers, and the focus has shifted to finding a way to take 20 wickets by any means necessary.”You have to take 20 wickets,” Mahmood said. “We thought about how we’re going to take those. We thought that if we use that pitch, the thinking was how do we take 20 wickets against England and we thought spin was the way to do it.”The players who are coming in are experienced. They are all experienced and have been playing first-class cricket for a while. The best option is to play players at home on pitches they are used to, so I don’t think there’ll be that much pressure on that.”While each of the incoming spinners – Zahid Mahmood, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan – have accumulated plenty of first-class experience over the years, none of it has been particularly recent. The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy season hasn’t started yet, meaning these players’ last red-ball involvement was in the previous season – none of them have played a first-class match since January this year. Thrown in against an England side that broke a multitude of records on this very pitch last week, it is not a particularly gentle easing in.Mahmood also attempted to downplay all the changes from the first Test, particularly the leaving out of Babar Azam, which he insisted was “rest” rather than “drop”.”Babar is our No. 1 player in terms if technique and ability,” he said. “Pakistan has so much cricket coming that the selection committee decided to give Babar a rest, because Pakistan have to go to Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.Jason Gillespie and Azhar Mahmood hatch their plans•Getty Images

“We need to take advantage of our conditions. We announced the team for one Test match because we knew we would have changes. After this we’re flying to Australia to play white-ball cricket. We knew we’d have to rest Shaheen and other important players because we have non-stop cricket for the next six months.”There may be some scepticism towards Mahmood’s reasoning. None of the upcoming white-ball tours are as significant for Pakistan as a three-match home Test series against England. This is arguably the biggest series for Pakistan in this current season, and there will invariably be questions about why the upcoming white-ball series couldn’t serve as a more appropriate avenue for rotation.Fielding three spinners in addition to Salman Agha, who Mahmood said in August was a “specialist spinner”, requires a certain degree of confidence that the pitch will take turn. “We left a lot of grass on the pitches and wanted the ball to turn to use the pitch in our favour. Let’s see if it works for us.”

The PCB’s stance remains unchanged, stating there is “no chance” of a hybrid model for the tournament

Osman Samiuddin12-Nov-2024The PCB has written to the ICC and asked them to provide a written confirmation from the BCCI that they are unable to play the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, as well as giving a reason for it.The PCB was told last Friday by the ICC that the BCCI has not been given permission by the Indian government for the Indian team to travel to Pakistan for the tournament, scheduled to be played across three venues in Pakistan from February 9. But the PCB wants it in writing from the BCCI that they are unable to attend, as well as the justification for it.That ICC communication came three days before what would’ve been the official launch event for the tournament in Lahore, starting a 100-day countdown. Instead, the event has been postponed, with uncertainty now swirling around the eight-team tournament.Related

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The PCB’s stance at the moment remains unchanged: the entire tournament will be played in Pakistan with a senior PCB official reiterating to ESPNcricinfo there is “no chance” of a hybrid model being considered. Such a model, used once for the Asia Cup in 2023, would allow India to play their games outside of Pakistan. There has been speculation about the UAE being used as a second venue in this instance but the PCB has unequivocally ruled that out. The tournament is scheduled to be played in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi between February 19 and March 9.As well as that stance, there is also a growing realisation that with the Pakistan government now involved, any decisions on hosting and hybrid models may not be driven by the PCB but will be firmly in the government’s hands.One of the reasons the PCB is standing firm at the moment is because they feel aggrieved by events last year. After they were forced to use a hybrid model in hosting the Asia Cup, Pakistan agreed to travel to India for the World Cup. That decision was taken after consultation with the government and permission was ultimately granted – despite considerable opposition – on the hope that it would lead to India reciprocating by visiting for the Champions Trophy.The same government remains in place in Pakistan and Mohsin Naqvi, a senior figure within it as the country’s interior minister, is now the PCB chairman.The PCB has also pointed out that the tournament was awarded to Pakistan three years ago and no objection was raised at the time, or has been raised since. The PCB is believed to have provided a progress report at the ICC’s board meetings in October including the intention to go ahead with the 100-day launch event on November 11, with no concerns raised.The ICC has been approached for comment.