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Shahid Afridi has said that the victory in the one-day series over New Zealand has filled Pakistan with confidence, especially since the win was not due to individual genius but through teamwork

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2011Shahid Afridi has said that the victory in the one-day series over New Zealand has filled Pakistan with confidence, especially since the win was not due to individual genius but through teamwork. The 3-2 triumph was Pakistan’s first series success since 2008.”What has given us the confidence to do well in the World Cup is that nearly every player contributed towards our series win in New Zealand,” Afridi told reporters at Karachi airport on Monday. “You can never expect to win depending on just one or two players. Every player has to contribute in some way.”Pakistan will be without the three players who were banned on charges of spot-fixing – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – but Afridi said that the team was focused on the cricket, and not off-field events. “The team has become mentally tougher and is hungry for success.”All three players received lengthy bans earlier this month, and Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said it was time to move on from the controversy. He also said the hearings in Doha hadn’t distracted his players during the New Zealand series. “It is important that it’s finished now and we can start afresh,” said Waqar, who had been coach during the England series last year when the spot-fixing scandal erupted. “A lot of controversies affected Pakistan cricket, I am happy that it’s over now.”I am sure this one-day series win will give us a good build-up for the World Cup,” he said. “We have good momentum, having played South Africa recently and now this hard-fought win in New Zealand gives us good momentum for the World Cup.”Pakistan have warm-up matches against Bangladesh in Mirpur on February 15th and against England in Fatullah to finetune their World Cup strategies.

AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis hit contrasting centuries to build on the platform laid by the openers to charge South Africa to an imposing 365 which proved beyond the reach of the inexperienced Indian batting line-up in the third ODI in Ahmedabad

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera27-Feb-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
HawkeyeAB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis added a massive 173 for the third wicket in quick time to intimidate India•Getty Images

AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis hit contrasting centuries to build on the platform laid by the openers Hashim Amla and Loots Bosman
to charge South Africa to an imposing 365 which proved beyond the reach of the inexperienced Indian batting line-up in the third ODI in Ahmedabad. Bosman was feisty, Amla was elegant, de Villiers was destructive and Kallis and well … Kallis – solid as ever. Together, the top order blasted South Africa to their highest score against India and helped avoid a clean sweep.It was de Villiers who played the most aggressive knock of the innings and it showcased his skill in picking gaps. The pitch was flat and India populated the on side, be it for spin or seam, and tried to force him to make mistakes while going for inside-out drives but he never erred.
The bat swing was clean, the head was still and for the main part, he was looking to off drive and when the bowlers tried to cramp him with the alteration in line, he pinged the on side with five fours and two sixes.It was simple in its thought and complex in its execution but he pulled it off without seemingly breaking into a sweat. The best shot was probably a nonchalant inside-out lofted cover drive against Ravindra Jadeja, though there were two really sweetly timed peachy off drives off Sreesanth that stood out for its classy elegance. He reached his hundred with a six and a four off Rohit Sharma in the final over of the innings.While de Villiers indulged himself right from the start, it was Kallis who provided the necessary glue to hold the innings together in the middle overs. It was a typical Kallis innings; you didn’t remember a stand-out shot in the first half of his knock and yet, he had reached his fifty from 68 balls with just one boundary. He dealt in nudges, pushes and gentle drives as he ensured South Africa held wickets intact for the fun in the end. As expected, he opened-up post fifty to muscle quite a few boundaries and overran de Villiers in the end with some clean hits. In the penultimate over, he crashed Sreesanth to the straight boundary before lifting him imperiously over long-off to bring up a very well-paced hundred.Before the de Villiers and Kallis show, it was a tango between Amla and Bosman that set up South Africa for the big total. If Amla applied the calm touch, Bosman provided the initial momentum at the top of the innings with a fiery cameo. If you had to pick a word to catch the spirit of Bosman’s innings, it would have to be . It was filled with several crunchy blows but what really caught the eye was that he never went across the line. There were 11 boundaries in all but his first boundary, perhaps, was the sweetest of them all. He was just on 1 and the confidence to go for the big aerial hits hadn’t yet sunk in and he just leaned forward to play a gorgeously timed on-the-up drive past Sreesanth.If Bosman thumped, Amla was all wristy elegance. He seemingly wristed even those on-the-up punchy shots through the off side where other batsmen would have used their arm a lot more but his best shot was a flicked boundary off Sreesanth – it was a short-of-length delivery on the off stump but Amla used the length to wrist it to the square-leg boundary. Unlike in the last ODI where the stiff target didn’t allow him to pace his innings properly, he showed better judgement today: he sensed Bosman’s confidence was on the rise and started to rotate the strike around and when Bosman fell, he realised he had to stay on for a big innings and started to work the angles for the singles.For their part India realised that pace, especially considering their inexperienced seamers, was not the way to go on this track and relied on the slow bowlers. But the inexperience of the attack proved too costly in the end. And when they chased, they could never get the momentum required to hunt down such a big target.The ball stopped occasionally on the dry pitch in the second half and the bowling was disciplined, without looking overtly threatening, but the pressure of the big target induced the mistakes from the inexperienced batting line-up. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma lifted India from 40 for 2 with a 95-run partnership but the run rate was slow. Roelf van der Merwe combined with Morne Morkel and Johan Botha to slip in a slew of tight overs and both batsmen couldn’t break free. The run rate climbed and Dale Steyn used the resultant pressure to take out a couple of wickets. Though Suresh Raina later threw his bat around to collect a few boundaries, India were never really in the chase.

Report’s authors predict ‘tensions’ in wake of windfall, particularly in light of ‘yawning gap’ between haves and have nots

Andrew Miller16-Jul-2025County cricket will face “tensions” as it seeks to manage the £520 million windfall that it is due from this year’s sale of stakes in the Hundred. However, it is well placed to avoid the pitfalls that Premiership rugby faced following its own injection of private equity capital in 2018, according to a new in-depth report into the financial health of the domestic game in England and Wales.The Leonard Curtis Cricket Finance Report, an 89-page study compiled by a team of sports business journalists, former and current cricket professionals, advisers and sports finance academics, was launched at the Kia Oval on Tuesday.Within it, the report described a “yawning gap” between the seven counties that host a Hundred franchise and the 11 that do not, with three clubs – Surrey, Warwickshire and Lancashire, all of whom hosted Ashes Tests in 2023 – responsible for 44% of the £306.1 million generated by domestic cricket that year. By contrast, the three poorest clubs – Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire – contributed just 5.56% between them.Professor Rob Wilson, the report’s co-author, acknowledged that, without the anticipated Hundred money, “three or four” counties might by now be facing bankruptcy. However, he was also broadly optimistic that the windfall could provide the “medium-term relief” necessary to shore up the county game’s long-term viability.Related

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“English cricket really is on the cusp of a transformational injection of capital,” Wilson said. “That represents an extraordinary opportunity for the game. But it has to be managed with real prudence, long-term thinking and probably a degree of creativity.”Michael Vaughan, the former England captain who wrote the report’s foreword, added that the Hundred money will allow the 18 first-class counties to “look to the future rather than simply survive from one summer to the next” and called on the smaller counties to invest in player pathways and facilities to generate homegrown talent, rather than seek to compete directly with the bigger clubs.”There needs to be a strategic plan of how to create a sustainable county cricket club,” Vaughan added. “I would like to see counties being transparent with each other and sharing knowledge about what works for them. Sometimes petty rivalries prevent that from happening and divisions between the Test host counties and the others develop.”The contrast with rugby’s experience of private investment is potentially instructive for English cricket. In 2024, Leonard Curtis compiled a similar report on that sport’s finances, six years on from CVC Capital Partners’ groundbreaking £200 million deal for a 27% stake in Premiership Rugby.The rugby report found that not a single club made a profit in the 2022-23 season, with seven of the ten clubs considered to be balance-sheet insolvent. “Old-school thinking”, it added, had contributed to three teams – Wasps, Worcester Warriors and London Irish – going out of business in the preceding seasons.”The ECB has a lot more control over the distribution of that Hundred money than we saw with the CVC deal in rugby union,” Wilson explained. “That money went to the clubs, then straight into player wages, and there was no real improvement in infrastructure.”In cricket, I think it will be much more akin to what we see in American sport, which is ownerships working together for the benefit of the competition, rather than owners against each other for the benefit of the club. Over time, that will mean the franchise values increase, and that then provides a lot more financial resources for the counties that sit beneath them.”However, the authors did acknowledge that the wide range of stakeholders in the Hundred could create separate pressures on county cricket. In addition to multiple investors from India and America, including owners of IPL and MLC teams, almost a third of the Hundred windfall was generated from outside the county system, with a US tech consortium bidding £144 million for a 49% stake in MCC-owned London Spirit.”It certainly creates increased tension, because of the range of different opportunities that the various bodies will be looking to capitalise on,” Wilson added.”With the BCCI investing fairly heavily through the IPL franchise system, that gives them the opportunity to get into the grassroots, and dominate the game at a franchise level, which could then have a tangible impact on the county game.”I’m encouraged that the ECB are regulating how that money will be distributed, so that it goes into the right areas to protect the fabric of the game. But there will be some significant tensions in making sure we can deliver an optimized franchise competition, alongside an 18-county first-class system.”

David Warner, who has signed up at the ILT20, is set to feature in both series, while Tim David could play too

Alex Malcolm20-Jan-2024A lighter-than-expected workload for Australia’s three-format fast bowlers across the Test summer so far could allow the selectors to pick them for one or both of the upcoming T20I series against West Indies and New Zealand, which are the only six T20Is Australia play before the T20 World Cup in June.Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc have got through four Tests unscathed so far, with none of the four home matches reaching a fifth day. Neither has had to bowl more than 38 overs in a game, and Cummins is the only one who has bowled 20 overs in an innings more than once; but he has only done it twice in eight innings across the summer.All three are being rested from the ODIs against West Indies in early February, and it seemed likely they would be rested from the T20Is too. But given how their workloads have unfolded across the summer, there may be an opportunity to play one or both of those series, with the selectors meeting on Monday to finalise those squads.Related

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“We’ll give some thought to that,” Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’ll be some that may play, and there’ll be some that might not play. It’ll be different squads [for each series]. We’ll look to potentially be at full strength for the New Zealand series.”We’ve got six games before the World Cup. A lot of the World Cup planning is in place at the moment. We’ll try to be as close to full strength for the New Zealand series as possible. The West Indies series is slightly nuanced.”There were concerns over how all three would come out of the ODI World Cup into the Test summer, but those fears have disappeared as they are in great shape and keen to play all seven Tests this season, including two against New Zealand in early March.Australia’s selectors are wary of the workload that both Cummins and Starc will have at the IPL as big-money signings, meaning they could be rested from the West Indies series before only playing part of the New Zealand series. However, Hazlewood would be the likeliest of the three to play both T20I series, given he is not going to play in the IPL unless an opportunity arises to be a replacement player.None of the three played any of Australia’s eight T20Is last year, as they were all rested in order to be fit for Test assignments and the ODI World Cup. Australia even defied the odds to win a T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021 and an ODI World Cup in India in 2023 with an attack comprising Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and only one specialist spinner in Adam Zampa. Glenn Maxwell was the second spinner and first-choice fifth bowler, with other overs being provided by allrounders.It appears as if Australia will back the same structure in for the T20 World Cup on the slower pitches in the West Indies, with Australia not scheduled to play any matches in the US.David Warner is set to return from the ILT20 for Australia duty•AFP/Getty Images

David Warner to play both series

McDonald confirmed that David Warner would be selected for both the West Indies and New Zealand T20Is, and will be required to leave the ILT20 to return to Australia by February 7. Tim David is in the same boat, having signed for MI Emirates, and will likely return to Australia if selected. Marcus Stoinis, who is at the SA20 with Durban’s Super Giants, might also return home early if he is selected for both of Australia’s series as expected.”Davey will be picked,” McDonald said. “He will come back from the ILT20. I think most of our players that are going over there are due back in on [February 7] in preparation for the [first] T20 in Hobart.”However, Australia are still yet to confirm who will captain the team at the T20 World Cup. Despite leading Australia to the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup last year, Cummins is very unlikely to be named T20I captain, having not led the team previously in that format.Mitchell Marsh captained the side on an interim basis in South Africa last year with great success, leading an inexperienced group to a 3-0 series sweep. He was also Australia’s vice-captain during the ODI World Cup, having led the ODI team too in South Africa. Immediately after the World Cup, Matthew Wade captained the T20I side in Marsh’s absence for the five-match T20I series in India.Meanwhile, McDonald will not coach the ODI and T20I series against West Indies in order to spend some extra time at home ahead of the New Zealand T20I and Test tour, although he is likely to be with the squad for some of the matches. Assistant coach Daniel Vettori will take the reins for those two series, having rested during the Adelaide Test. Fellow assistants Andre Borovec and Michael Di Venuto both coached Australia’s T20I sides last year in India and South Africa, respectively, when McDonald remained at home.

The allrounder hit 82 in 48 and picked up a wicket, and the Zimbabwe bowlers did their bit, to script a 31-run win

Firdose Moonda17-Oct-20222:54

Takeaways: Is batting first the way to go at the T20 World Cup?

Zimbabwe re-announced themselves on the big stage with a win over Ireland in their first major tournament appearance since 2016. It was also Zimbabwe’s first World Cup win over Ireland in four meetings across the 50- and 20-over formats, and puts them second on the Group B table behind Scotland, who beat West Indies earlier in the day.In chilly conditions and on a surface with extra bounce, Zimbabwe were in early trouble on 39 for 3 inside the powerplay, but recovered to 79 for 4 at the halfway stage. Sikandar Raza took the reins from there on, and powered his way to his sixth T20I half-century while also sharing in a 58-run fifth-wicket stand with Milton Shumba.Raza went on to add 33 from 17 balls with No. 9 Luke Jongwe at the death to give the bowlers a decent total to defend. He took on the Ireland spinners, as Simi Singh and Gareth Delaney conceded 52 runs in the five overs they combined to bowl. However, the pace bowlers weren’t spared by Zimbabwe either, as Curtis Campher and Mark Adair’s seven overs cost 68, with only left-armer Josh Little posing a real threat.It turned out to be a good day for left-arm seamers, as Richard Ngarava made the first two incisions into Ireland’s line-up. But Blessing Muzarabani also joined the fun, as Ireland were reduced to 33 for 4 in the powerplay. George Dockrell and Campher put up some resistance with a 42-run fifth-wicket partnership, but once they were separated – by Raza! – Zimbabwe’s path to victory was clear.Though Zimbabwe were untidy at the end by dropping two catches and allowing Ireland’s tail to wag, their bowlers will be pleased with their returns. Wickets were shared, with seven falling to the quicks and two to the spinners. Sean Williams, who became the player with the longest T20I career of 15 years and 323 days, finished with 1 for 22.Sikandar Raza held Zimbabwe’s innings together with a 48-ball 82•ICC/Getty Images

Ireland’s short-ball strategy
Ireland’s fast bowlers clearly had a plan, which seemed to be to bowl short early on, and they stuck to it almost to perfection. Collectively, they only delivered one full delivery in the first five overs while testing Zimbabwe’s top four with pace, bounce and seam movement.Regis Chakabva was greeted with a ball that kissed his shoulder and cramped him for room, even as it nipped back. The ball eventually caught the shoulder of his bat on its way through to Lorcan Tucker. Wessly Madhevere faced more of the same in the opening over, and top-edged the third delivery he faced from Tucker for four.He should have been out in the next over when he pulled Mark Adair to Campher at deep square but Campher mistimed his jump and the ball went through his hands. Madhevere made the most of his let-off, rocked back and rolled his wrists to bring out the pull and the whip through midwicket.However, he tried to take on one short ball too many when he picked out Gareth Delany at deep backward square to give Little a second wicket in his opening spell. Zimbabwe also lost Craig Ervine to offspinner Simi Singh in the powerplay.Catching in tandem
Williams and Raza steadied and then accelerated Zimbabwe’s innings with a fourth-wicket stand of 42, which was dominated by Raza. Williams had just joined the party with a slog sweep off Simi that went over the short-square boundary for six. But when he tried to repeat it, he found an Ireland pair that was stationed on the rope with good awareness. Adair ran towards long-on to get underneath it but knew his left foot was close to the boundary, so he lobbed the ball back to Harry Tector, who had made his way in from deep midwicket. Adair timed his throw back to perfection as his momentum carried him over the rope, and Tector made sure he was there at exactly the right time.Stunning Sikandar – Part 1

What a year Raza is having. Since July 2022, he has scored five T20I fifties in nine innings, compared with the one fifty in 47 innings before that. Against Ireland, not only did Raza almost single-handedly ensure Zimbabwe got a solid total, he did so with complete authority over an attack who were dead-set on trying to bounce Zimbabwe out and too often got that tactic wrong.Raza hit 54 of his 82 runs on the leg side, with 39 off those coming off the pull shot. He hit the ball high and far, and demonstrated a technique that is not always present in a Zimbabwean line-up. Raza’s was the third-highest score by any batter batting at No. 5 or lower in T20Is.Blessing Muzarabani helped Zimbabwe reduce Ireland to 23 for 4 inside the powerplay•ICC via Getty Images

Ngarava, Zimbabwe count their Blessing(s)

Unlike Ireland’s quicks, Zimbabwe’s went fuller, and let the extra bounce and swing do some of the work for them and ripped through Ireland’s top order in the first four overs. Ngarava struck first when Paul Stirling inside-edged on to his leg stump. Two overs later, Tucker, who had successfully scooped Tendai Chatara over short fine-leg, shuffled across his stumps to sweep but was late on the stroke and was bowled.From the other end, Zimbabwe introduced their two-metre tall quick Muzarabani, who delivered a Test-match like delivery on a good length on fourth stump, which Tector edged to Ervine at slip. Three balls later, Andy Balbirnie went in exactly the same way although the ball was slightly short of length.Ireland were 23 for 4 after four overs and 33 for 4 at the end of the powerplay, with the required rate already over ten.Stunning Sikandar – Part 2
Why contribute in one discipline when you can in two, especially after you have significantly changed the way you execute one of them? That must have been idea for Raza, complete with a new, Sunil Narine-esque action, when he was given the ball in the tenth over, with Dockrell looking dangerous.Dockrell was on 24 off 18 balls and it was Raza’s job to slow things down. He did one better and foxed Dockrell with a delivery that came out of the front of his hand, snuck under the toe end of the bat and yorked the batter. If that wasn’t enough, Raza also took the catch when the ninth wicket fell to cap off a spectacular all-round performance.

Maia Bouchier seals effortless chase to leave Western Storm winless

ECB Reporters Network12-Jun-2021Southern Vipers 178 for 2 (Adams 77, Bouchier 57*) beat Western Storm 177 (Dean 3-27, Bell 3-40) by eight wicketsTalismanic captain Georgia Adams inspired Southern Vipers to a comprehensive eight-wicket triumph over arch rivals Western Storm in a one-sided Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy contest at Taunton.Adams posted an authoritative 77 and Maia Bouchier made 57 not out as the defending champions chased down a victory target of 178 with 15.1 overs to spare to return to winning ways in the 50-over competition.Charlie Dean and Lauren Bell took 3 for 27 and 3 for 40 respectively to spearhead an impressive Vipers display in the field as the home side were dismissed for an inadequate 177 in 49.3 overs, Katie George top-scoring with 37 from 60 balls.Beaten for the first time since 2019 by Central Sparks in their last outing, Vipers summoned the perfect response and remain on course to retain the title they won last season. But Storm, weakened by the absence of England stalwarts Heather Knight and Anya Shrubsole, have now lost three matches in succession, their chances of progressing all but over.Storm won the toss and elected to bat on a sound track, but the innings failed to achieve lift-off in the face of accurate bowling and intense fielding. Off spinner Dean undermined the top order, inducing openers Lauren Parfitt and Fi Morris to hit to mid-on for 10 and 32 respectively, and luring Sophie Luff into a front-foot indiscretion to claim three wickets in 19 balls. Alice Monaghan then removed Georgia Hennessy, who was brilliantly held by Adams at mid-on, as the hosts lurched to 95 for 4 in the 29th over.George and Nat Wraith launched a recovery of sorts, adding 42 for the fifth wicket, but Bell comprehensively bowled the latter for 21 to initiate a collapse which saw Storm surrender their last six wickets for just 41 in 11 overs.Bell produced another in-swinger to clean bowl George for 37 and had Danielle Gibson caught behind in the act of cutting for 16, while Charlotte Taylor pinned Nicole Harvey without scoring. Adams accounted for Emma Corney and Mollie Robbins was run out in the final over as the tail drooped. Tara Norris conceded just 32 from 10 overs, helping restrict Storm to 11 boundaries in an innings starved of meaningful momentum.Related

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Storm’s total was afforded perspective when Wyatt and Adams staged an opening stand of 57 in 10.3 overs to give the reply impetus. Wyatt hit Morris straight to mid-on for a 30-ball 28, but Adams found another willing ally in Bouchier, the South African playing second fiddle in an alliance of 97 in 20 overs before going to a 64-ball 50 with her seventh boundary.Adams had her sights set on three figures when she was brilliantly caught at slip by Hennessy off the bowling of Lauren Filer, having plundered 10 fours in a high-octane knock spanning 101 balls. Thereafter, Bouchier eased to victory in company with Ella McCaughan.

The visitors bring a strong pace attack and a new-look middle order to the start of their journey to 2023

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan13-Jan-20200:38

Star Sports Game Plan: Gambhir and Dean Jones predict series outcome

Big Picture

For the first time since being pumped by England in the World Cup semi-finals, Australia return to ODI cricket as they begin plotting their path for the next three-and-a-half years. India are both the hosts in 2023 and where Australia’s rejuvenation as a one-day side kicked into gear last year as they made a late sprint to be World Cup contenders with a memorable come-from-behind 3-2 series victory.While some senior figures have been retained there is a fresh feel, particularly in the batting, with Peter Handscomb and Ashton Turner – both of whom starred on the last India tour before being squeezed out of the World Cup – back in the mix alongside the uncapped Marnus Labuschagne, who will be looking to transfer his stunning Test form into the one-day arena.The ‘big three’ of the Test attack – Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood – are also back together while there has been an interesting decision to move away from a number of allrounders for a variety of reasons: Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh are currently lighting up the BBL.The next World Cup is a long time away so a lot can change – and probably will – between now and then (captain Aaron Finch will be 36 by then) but there are the staging posts of two T20 World Cups and it will be interesting to see how closely Australia bring their two limited-overs sides.As ever, India bring a fearsome ODI top three with their main questions lower down the order around the balance of the side, which was an issue during the World Cup. Hardik Pandya remains sidelined by injury and there continues to be a juggle for spots in the middle order with Kedar Jadhav being persisted with and Shivam Dube given his debut against West Indies.Mitchell Starc raises his cap to the crowd•Getty Images

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
India WWLWW
Australia LLWWW

In the spotlight

Jasprit Bumrah is set to play his first ODI since the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand after recovering from a stress fracture of his back. He has eased back into action in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and this will be another step up ahead of the all-formats tour of New Zealand. In 11 ODIs against Australia, Bumrah’s average (29.82) and economy rate (5.07) are the second-highest of his career although it remains a very fine record.Josh Hazlewood did not hide his disappointment at missing the World Cup after the selectors opted to save him for the Ashes following the stress fracture he sustained early last year. Now, having returned from a hamstring injury picked up against New Zealand in Perth, he has the chance to resume his ODI career – during which he was ranked the No. 1 bowler in 2017 – and form a strong pace attack in a country where he has never played a one-dayer

Team news

India could now play all three of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan, Kohli said on Monday. If they want to retain Ravindra Jadeja as the fifth bowling option at No. 7 and Kedar Jadhav as the sixth at No. 6, they might have to leave out Rishabh Pant and give Rahul the keeping gloves. With Jasprit Bumrah back in the ODI side, they may have to leave one out of Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini, if they want Shardul Thakur’s batting contribution from No. 8.India (possible): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 KL Rahul (wk), 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami/Navdeep Saini, 11 Jasprit BumrahSteven Smith will return to No. 3, which opens the possibility of a debut for Labsuchagne at No. 4. The interesting decision is how Australia balance the side with Ashton Agar a candidate for the role at No. 7 to give five bowling options although it will lengthen the lower order.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam ZampaRohit Sharma looks on as Alex Carey takes the catch to dismiss him•AFP

Pitch and conditions

It was unusually overcast in Mumbai on Monday morning before the sun shone through, and the ground staff kept refreshing the pitch with an occasional sprinkle of water. It had a thin layer of grass, and with dew likely to kick in in the evening, teams will be tempted to bowl first. Expect another high-scoring game in Mumbai, with memories still fresh of India scoring 240 in a T20I against West Indies last month.

Stats and Trivia

• David Warner needs 10 runs to reach 5000 in ODIs – he has plenty of innings in hand to become the fastest Australian to the landmark. Dean Jones did it in 128 innings, Warner has currently batted in 114
• Pat Cummins needs four wickets for 100 in ODIs; the last time he, Starc and Hazlewood played an ODI together was November 2018
• Kuldeep Yadav needs one wicket to reach 100 in ODIs

Quotes

“I think we, along with Australia, are probably the top two sides in the world, as far as the balance is concerned. Whether it’s (the series) relevant or irrelevant, that’s for people to decide. But we as a team are excited to play Australia, in our conditions, to test ourselves against the best.”
“Part of the recipe for success we had here last time was being able to come up with the solution to combat the world-class spinners that India do have and no doubt their spinners will bowl a lot of overs through the middle overs of these one-day games and a lot of times in a lot of games that’s where the game is won or lost.”

Diana Edulji, one half of the CoA, revealed that the BCCI had “broken rules” while appointing Ravi Shastri as a replacement for former India coach Anil Kumble

Nagraj Gollapudi and Sidharth Monga11-Dec-2018The controversial chapter in Indian cricket concerning Anil Kumble stepping down last year as the head coach has been reopened with Diana Edulji, one half of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), saying the BCCI had “broken rules” while appointing Ravi Shastri as a replacement. Edulji said that Virat Kohli, the India captain, constantly sent messages to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri about Kumble, which eventually lead to Kumble’s resignation.Kumble stepped down as India head coach a year into the job after he was told by the BCCI that Kohli had “reservations” with his style of coaching and over him continuing in the role.Kumble’s contract was a year-long one, till the 2017 Champions Trophy. The BCCI had already advertised the job in late May, just as India landed in England for the Champions Trophy. Kumble was one of the six applicants after the BCCI said he would be a “direct entry”. The entire process was overseen by the CoA and the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. At the behest of the CoA, the CAC met Kohli to patch up the differences amicably, but failed.Nonetheless, the CAC informed the BCCI that Kumble was its preferred choice. Consequently, the BCCI extended the deadline and that is when Shastri applied and was finalised as the head coach till 2019 World Cup.Edulji has now said that the entire selection process was fraught. Edulji’s revelations come as part of her disagreement with Vinod Rai over the appointment of an ad-hoc committee to pick the India women’s team head coach. While senior players like the T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana requested the CoA and BCCI to continue with the interim coach Ramesh Powar, Rai said players cannot pick coaching staff through votes.Miffed at that comment, Edulji pointed to the example of Kohli playing the decision-maker during Kumble’s standing down. “Virat did not accede to Kumble continuing in spite of CAC saying so then why not these two players get what they feel is best for the team,” Edulji wrote to Rai in an email sent on Monday. The email, seen by ESPNcricinfo, was also marked to the three BCCI office-bearers along with several BCCI top management. “I see nothing wrong in women cricketers writing emails reg the coach,” Edulji wrote. “They were truthful in expressing their views unlike Virat who frequently sent sms’s to the CEO on which you acted and there was a change in the Coach.”There also I had objected and my dissent is recorded when the timelines were extended for someone to apply as he didn’t apply in time. Mr. Kumble a legend in his own right was subjected to loss of face and made to look like a villain, he was gracious enough to move on for which I respect him. There also rules were broken and I had raised objections back then.”In his response, Rai admitted Kohli’s hand. “Yes- there were differences between Virat and Kumble. As a consequence of that Kumble stepped back.”

Jharkhand, meanwhile, battled it out to save their match against Rajasthan after following on

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2017Parthiv Patel, the captain, and Chirag Gandhi – key to Gujarat’s Ranji Trophy triumph last season – held their composure to complete a nervy four-wicket win over Kerala in Nadiad. Chasing 105, Gujarat slumped to 80 for 5 before Parthiv, who walked in at No. 6, allayed fears of a shock loss by remaining unbeaten on 18. The spin pair of Akshay Chandran and Jalaj Saxena picked up two wickets each for Kerala.That Kerala couldn’t defend much more was due to the efforts of Siddarth Desai, who picked six wickets to dismantle them for 203 in the second innings. Piyush Chawla, turning out as a professional for Gujarat this season, took three wickets to take his match haul to 8 for 135. Priyank Panchal, the highest run-getter last season, started the new season with scores of 18 and 30.Kerala, who beat Jharkhand in their opener, now have one win in two matches. They next play Rajasthan at home. Gujarat, meanwhile, will clash against Jammu & Kashmir in the third round starting October 24.On his 23rd birthday, in just his second first-class match, Nazim Siddiqui scored his maiden first-class ton as Jharkhand put in a spirited showing to save the game following on. After Siddiqui’s effort, the baton was picked up by the more experienced Ishank Jaggi, who hit a 16th first-class ton – an unbeaten effort – to see his side through to safety. Rajasthan tried everything possible to take the game away – everyone except the keeper bowled in the innings – but could claim only five wickets in the 76.5 overs played on the day before a draw was declared.Siddiqui, the opener, was batting on 71 overnight and went on to score exactly 100 as his team battled. Briefly around the time when he was out – Jharkhand lost a wicket quickly on either side of his – Rajasthan must have maintained hope of taking full points from the game, but then they ran into Jaggi. He was well supported by the lower-middle order of Ishan Kishan and Kaushal Singh, both of whom batted out a sizeable chunk of balls for their 30-somethings to help carry their team to the finish. They got a point for their efforts, while Rajasthan got three for the first-innings lead they had secured.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has said Kusal Mendis’ 176 in Pallekele was the performance upon which the series against Australia pivoted

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo17-Aug-2016Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has said Kusal Mendis’ 176 in Pallekele was the performance upon which the series against Australia pivoted.Mendis had come to the crease with Sri Lanka still 80 runs behind, and already two second-innings wickets down. But his faultless innings spurred a middle-order resurgence, and Sri Lanka posted a score of 353, on a quickly wearing track. Australia fell well short of the target of 268. Sri Lanka then won the Galle Test in under three days, and were dominant through the back end of the SSC match.”The key point I thought was Kusal Mendis’ innings – that was the turnaround for the whole series after getting all out for 117 at Pallekele,” Mathews said. “It was a special effort by him to get us on to a winning track. From there onwards it really kicked off. The confidence levels were sky high from there. We worked very hard and actually we worked harder than the first two Tests ahead of the third Test as we were desperate to finish this 3-0.”Despite having top-scored in each of the first two Tests, Mendis was the second-highest run-scorer in the series, surpassed by 24-year-old Dhananjaya de Silva, who collected 325 runs at an average of 65. Mendis, however, had only scored one first-class century before this series, and had been picked almost solely on potential, when he initially made the Test team last October.”It’s just pure talent, with the young batsmen,” Mathews said. “I suppose Dhananjaya has played a bit of first-class cricket, but Kusal Mendis hasn’t. We’ve got to take that chance with some people sometimes, and it’s paid off. You can see the way they batted in extreme conditions – it was turning square. They had Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, and Steve O’Keefe in the first game. Mitchell Starc has been outstanding in the last three or four weeks as well. The calmness and composure of Dhananjaya at No. 7 was great. He handled that pressure well. Kusal Perera also played some brisk knocks, so the future is bright.”Rangana Herath, however, was Sri Lanka’s key performer in the series. He claimed 28 wickets at an average of 12.75. Only Muttiah Muralitharan has taken more wickets for Sri Lanka in a single series – against Zimbabwe in 2001. Herath had also been visibly hampered by a groin injury during the SSC Test, in which he took 13 for 145.”Rangana was fantastic,” Mathews said. “He was bowling off one leg, but one leg was enough for him. He got hit while batting and then he had a groin strain. He couldn’t run and he couldn’t jump. He was just landing the ball on one leg, and he is unbelievable. He has taken 28 wickets in the series and is one of the best I have seen. The batsmen are having a nightmare facing him no matter how well they play spin. He has been a great team man as well.”Herath himself said that he did not envision a whitewash against Australia, prior to the series. He echoed Mathews’ praise of Mendis and de Silva, but also had encouraging words for left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who took nine wickets at an average of 23 across the three Tests – though, he did not get a breakthrough at the SSC.”Sandakan had a good game at Pallekele,” Herath said. “What I believe is, that when you have three spinners, all three are not going to get wickets in the same game. It will vary. He is a very good bowler. He has to also learn a few things – like control. I am pretty sure that he will learn quickly, and become a very good bowler.”