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After the Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad received scathing feedback for producing spicy pitches for Kerala’s Ranji Trophy knockout matches, it rolled out a more benign surface for the opening day of the first unofficial Test. By stumps, England Lions held the advantage, getting to 303 for 5 thanks to well-paced fifties from Ben Duckett and Sam Hain, and handy contributions from the middle order.Fear of extra moisture under the surface delayed the start by half an hour, and with both sides unsure as to how the pitch would behave, India A captain Ankit Bawne sent England Lions in.The new ball, however, didn’t do any tricks for either Shardul Thakur or Navdeep Saini, and Duckett and Max Holden got off to a brisk start, the two left-handers putting on 82 for the first wicket in 23.3 overs. Holden, the less aggressive of the two, hit four fours in getting to 26 before Saini got him to edge one to the keeper.Duckett felt India A’s fast bowlers may have been unclear in their approach. “They tried too many things,” he said at the end of the day’s play. “Maybe they searched a little bit more with the new ball. The three of them bowled fairly good pace. The wicket was slow, maybe it quickened up towards the end. I felt comfortable against all of them.”Today, they bowled quite wide to me. Maybe they could have bowled a bit straighter.”Duckett feasted on the width, cover-driving Thakur for successive fours in the 33rd over. He raised his fifty by caressing one to the point boundary, and England got to lunch at 92 for 1.With the pitch offering minimal help, India’s quicks tried different approaches. While Avesh Khan went at full throttle relentlessly, Thakur and Saini mixed up their pace and waited for errors in judgment.Thakur finally reaped the reward, getting Duckett to drag one on at 80. Avesh then got Ollie Pope with one that sped through him and crashed into his off stump.Then on, Hain kept the momentum going, making India’s bowlers, especially spinners Jalaj Saxena and Shahbaz Nadeem, toil hard. Even as the Lions lost Pope and captain Sam Billings after the second drinks break, Hain carried on, grinding his way to his fifty in the afternoon heat, allowing himself only a few moments of flamboyance. His dismissal came off a poor shot, though, as he top-edged a pull off Saxena to the keeper.That was the last wicket India would take on the day, as Steven Mullaney and Will Jacks put on an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 65. Jacks ended the day on 40 and the composed Mullaney on 39, leaving the Lions looking poised for a big total.

How the game played outOn the tournament’s first night in Sylhet, the Sixers laid a massive egg in front of their home fans as they were bowled out for the second lowest total of BPL 2019 to set up a lopsided victory for Comilla Victorians.Sixers never recovered from a limp Powerplay in which they were reduced to 16 for 5 thanks to a triple-wicket over from spinner Mahedi Hasan. Wahab Riaz then wiped out the tail with a series of full and straight deliveries in an innings that lasted just 14.5 overs.But for Victorians, the memory of being bowled out for 63 three matches earlier seemed fresh in their minds as they pursued the target in conservative fashion. The visitors crawled through their own Powerplay at 24 for 2 before inching their way to victory.Turning points-David Warner was the second wicket in the Mahedi sequence, playing well inside the line of a ball that straightened a fraction to be bowled. Atif Hossain overcompensated next ball playing outside the line of one that went straight on to put Mahedi on a hat-trick.-After Mahedi’s three-wicket over, Nicholas Pooran was given out lbw on a ball from Mohammad Saifuddin that appeared to be pitching outside leg, but DRS was not available for this match.-Victorians looked shaky at 15 for 2 in the chase when Imrul Kayes slashed Sohail Tanvir to Al-Amin Hossain at third man, but a chance was spilled over the rope for six. Kayes and Shamsur Rahman settled thereafter in an unbeaten 59-run stand to close out the match.Star of the day Mahedi suffocated the Sixers from the start and never allowed them to get into the match. He bowled Andre Fletcher with an offspinner’s classic dipping and turning to beat the West Indian through the gate to get things going, then terrorised a trio of lefties as they struggled to adjust to his angle around the wicket.The big missNo DRS. For the first match day of the tournament, the lack of technology hurt the hosts very badly. Not only was Pooran’s lbw decision almost certain to be overturned, but Sabbir Rahman was the victim of another dubious lbw appeal missing a sweep to Liam Dawson on a ball that may have been sliding down leg.Where the teams standVictorians move up to a tie for second place with Chittagong Vikings on six points, two behind Dhaka Dynamites who are first with eight points, though Victorians have a better net run rate than Vikings. Sylhet are in last place, even with Khulna Titans on two points but with a worse net run rate.

Having watched Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque bat for close to two days after they had Bangladesh on the ropes at 26 for 3, Zimbabwe have been given a thorough lesson in how to apply themselves on a pitch that has occasionally offered something for the bowlers.”Our batters can learn a thing or two from him [Mushfiqur], from how he applied himself on that pitch,” said Shepherd Makunura, Zimbabwe’s fielding coach. “Earlier on, especially in the first session, the ball did quite a bit, but he batted quite well.”Mominul’s counterattacking ton and Mushfiqur’s watchful double allowed Bangladesh to seize control of the game after Zimbabwe’s early inroads. But Makunura presented a brave face when asked about what must have been a frustrating experience for the visitors.”That’s part of cricket,” he said. “Things like that will always happen. You do get a few wickets early on, but in Test cricket there’s bound to be partnerships along the way. The way the Bangladesh batters applied themselves, they set themselves up for the other batters coming in.”One of those other batters was Mehidy Hasan, who made an attacking, unbeaten 68 at No. 9 to extend Bangladesh to a total of 522. “Coming in to a set batter like Mushfiqur made it a little easier for him, and the stage was set for a good partnership,” Makunura said of Mehidy’s knock. “They did bat quite well, the two of them.”Helpful in Bangladesh’s recovery were Zimbabwe’s lapses in the field. They dropped Mominul three times during his 161, and also offered Mushfiqur a second life in the fourth over on Monday, when an inside edge ricocheted off his thigh and wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva put the chance down.”It’s always frustrating,” Makunura said of the drops, “But it’s part of the game. You catch some, you drop some, and it’s part of the game. We have to take it in our stride, and move on from there.”Zimbabwe were made to pay for their mistakes in the field, and their bowling attack struggled to maintain the consistency that had helped set up their win in Sylhet. Fast bowler Tendai Chatara was stretched off with a suspected Grade 2 tear on his left quadriceps muscle, and though Kyle Jarvis stuck to his lines to take 5 for 71 in his absence, he was given precious little support by Zimbabwe’s spin attack, who went wicketless.”I don’t think the guys were complacent,” Makunura said. “We spoke in our change rooms earlier on this was an opportunity for us to win an away Test series, which we haven’t done in a long time. I don’t think we bowled well enough, but I wouldn’t put that down to complacency. We didn’t bowl as well as we should have, but we also must give credit to the Bangladesh batters.”Makunura remained hopeful that Zimbabwe could learn from Mominul and Mushfiqur’s example and bat themselves back into the game, pointing to the first session of the third day as being crucial to their mission.”I think the game is still evenly poised, although Bangladesh batted quite well,” he said. “It’s all going to depend on how well we bat tomorrow, especially the first session. If we can negotiate the first session, we can make life a little easier for ourselves. It’s going to take a lot of batting for us.”

National Bank fold for 44 (forty-four!)Perhaps no pitch truly is a 44 all out pitch, but if ever there was an exception, it would be had on the domestic circuit in Pakistan’s premier first-class competition (simply writing that is becoming embarrassing). In Faisalabad, A Shan Masood-led National Bank fell for 44 in under 18 overs against SNGPL – led by Misbah-ul-Haq still – bringing the nature of the pitches into sharp focus once more. Unkempt grounds, squalid dressing rooms and poorly prepared pitches have all been in evidence over the first few weeks of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as the gulf between international and first-class cricket continues to widen.150 was crossed in all of the other three innings, with the match effectively decided when SNGPL opened up with 265 first up, thanks to a number of stellar contributions including a half-century from Adnan Akmal. Form continues to elude Misbah, however, whose scores of 2 and 7 mean he has mustered just 31 runs in four innings this season.The Lahore regions clinch thrillersAfter eight matches among them, neither Lahore side, the Whites or the Blues, had manged to scrape a win between them. But in their fifth match each, both got their campaigns off the ground, and in dramatic fashion too. Lahore Whites clinched a thrilling one-wicket win, with the No. 11 Bilal Anwar striking the winning boundary as they chased 184 against Peshawar. He was the hero in more ways than one, also taking five wickets in Peshawar’s second innings. The game had been evenly poised almost throughout, with Peshawar taking a slender 24-run lead in the first innings.Lahore Blues’ victory was similarly dramatic as they staved off an impressive Multan fightback to defend what had initially seemed like an insurmountable 263-run target. Usman Liaqat’s 86 took Multan to 241, but a five-wicket haul from the former Pakistan fast bowler Aizaz Cheema ensured Lahore Blues’ winless run wouldn’t extend as they put their first points on the board.Mohammad Asif? Consistency?When Mohammad Asif took five wickets in an innings in the previous round, it could be discounted as one of those spells he bowls once every so often, yet not nearly often enough to be taken seriously. Who knew, though, that the boy could follow it up with another five-for, this time against ZTBL. Seven wickets in the match – just like in his last game – from Asif helped WAPDA cruise to a nine-wicket victory, their fourth win in five matches. What’s more, he even scored 34 in the first innings; he had a highest score in international cricket of 29. The comparisons with Glenn McGrath were more multi-facteded than you’d appreciate at first thought.While we’re on the subject of wagging tails, though, it would be discourteous not to mention his teammate Ehsan Adil’s flourish. No allrounder himself, he smashed an unbeaten 85 in WAPDA’s first innings, 37 more than he has managed over eight international innings.

JP Duminy will miss both South Africa’s upcoming limited-overs tour of Australia and the Mzansi Super League to undergo surgery for an injury to his right shoulder.Duminy had been announced as the marquee South African player for the Cape Town Blitz in the MSL, but he will now be replaced by Quinton de Kock. Duminy’s time out for surgery means that South Africa will be without two of their most experienced players on their trip to Australia. Earlier this week, it was announced that Hashim Amla would also not be touring as he is given time to fully recover from a finger tendon injury picked up during the Caribbean Premier League.”JP aggravated a pre-existing shoulder injury during the recently-concluded series against Zimbabwe,” South Africa team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee said. “The injury will require surgical management, thus ruling him out of the immediate tour of Australia and the upcoming MSL. At the moment, we can’t say how long he will be out for, that is dependent on the results from the surgery.”South Africa’s squad for the Australia tour, consisting of three one-day internationals and a solitary T20 international, will be announced later this week. The tour begins with a warm-up game against a Prime Minister’s XI on October 31, while the MSL kicks off on 16 November and runs until 16 December.

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India women wrapped up a dominant tour of Sri Lanka with a 51-run victory in the final T20I in Katunayake. The victory meant India won the series 4-0, with the second game in Colombo being washed out. They had also won the preceding three-match ODI series 2-1.Early on, the Sri Lanka bowlers validated their captain Chamari Atapattu’s decision to field first by dismissing both India openers, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj, inside the first five overs to reduce them to 30 for 2. That left the onus on the in-form Jemimah Rodrigues, coming into the match on the back of successive half-centuries, to repair the innings, and she once again did the job, joining hands with captain Harmanpreet Kaur to put on 75 for the third wicket. However, once Sri Lanka found a way past the duo, with the wicket of Rodrigues for 46, the end was swift as India lost their last eight wickets for 51 runs. Harmanpreet was the eighth batsman dismissed, for 63 off 38 balls – an innings that contained three fours and five sixes. As was the case when Sri Lanka batted, spinners did the bulk of the damage, with the offspinning duo of Shashikala Siriwardene and Inoshi Priyadarshini snaring three wickets each.Sri Lanka lost Atapattu on the fourth ball of their chase and never quite recovered. Anushka Sanjeewani (29), Siriwardene (22) and Oshadi Ranasinghe (22) got the starts, but Sri Lanka needed them to stay on and steer the chase. The hosts also did not help themselves with three run-outs, including that of Priyadarshini, who was the last batsman dismissed as Sri Lanka crashed to 105 all out. Poonam Yadav was the most successful bowler, picking up 3 for 18 in four overs. Deepti Sharma, who opened the bowling, and Radha Yadav grabbed two wickets each from their respective three overs.

Maddy Darke’s unbeaten 106 along with Katie Mack’s 68 set up Australia A’s eight-wicket victory over India A in the second one-dayer in Mackay. The openers added 131 as Australia A chased down India A’s 219 with ease to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Having been put into bat, Raghvi Bist and Tejal Hasabnis hit fifties helping India A fight back with a 124-run stand for the fourth wicket. But Charli Knott and Grace Parsons triggered a collapse as the visitors slumped from 176 for 3 to 218 all out.The game started with Tayla Vlaeminck’s superb opening spell of 4-3-3-1 where she had Priya Punia caught behind. Nicola Hancock replaced Vlaeminck and dismissed Shweta Sehrawat in her first over before Knott sent back Shubha Satheesh for a 38-ball 24.Bist and Hasabnis started slowly before picking boundaries in overs from Parsons and Kate Peterson. They focused on rotating the strike in the middle overs and eased past fifties. But India’s acceleration was cut short by Parsons having Hasabnis caught and bowled and Knott having Minnu Mani caught behind in successive overs.Shipra Giri got going with a couple of fours but with Bist getting run out in the 45th over, India slipped to 203 for 6. Maitlan Brown cleaned up the tail in a triple-wicket maiden over, which included a run out, as India were bowled out in 48 overs.Mack and Darke were aided by wides and a couple of threes from Soppadhandi Yashasri and Sayali Satghare’s opening spells as Australia A coasted past fifty in the 11th over. Between overs eight and 16, every single one went for at least five as Mack reached fifty in the 16th over. Darke reached hers in the 21st over with Australia A on 121 for 0.Satghare trapped Mack lbw in the 23rd over but Darke carried on. Her 38-run stand with Knott included just one boundary but brought the asking rate well under three. Tahlia McGrath hitting four boundaries in her first 15 balls quashed the little chances for a visitors’ comeback and allowed Darke to complete a century in the 37th over. The duo stayed unbeaten to take Australia A home with 58 balls to spare.Australia A had swept the T20I series 3-0 and have the chance to repeat the feat in the ODIs at the Gold Coast on Monday.

India fast bowler Mohammed Shami has made considerable progress in his recovery from an ankle injury that has sidelined him from cricket since the ODI World Cup last November. The hope is that he will be ready to play India’s home season, which begins with a Test series against Bangladesh in September.The selectors have been apprised of Shami’s progress and a decision on whether he should play at least one of the Duleep Trophy matches, beginning on September 5 in Anantapur, to prove his fitness will be taken soon.Shami is currently in his final stages of rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Last month, he had resumed bowling for the first time since his surgery and is understood to have slowly built up his bowling workload after being pain free.Related

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Prior to India’s departure for the tour of Sri Lanka in July, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had confirmed Shami had “started to bowl” and the first Test against Bangladesh starting on September 19 in Chennai “was always the goal” for his comeback.”We more or less know who the guys are, there are some injuries at the moment and hope they will be back up,” Agarkar had said. “Shami has started to bowl which is a good sign. September 19 is the first Test and that was always the goal. I don’t know if that is his timeline for recovery, will have to ask the guys at the NCA about that.”There are so many Tests coming. We will need some depth. Bumrah, Shami, and Siraj have been around for a while, these are the obvious ones. But there will be some conversation around it. Got a lot of first-class cricket coming up so we can build guys up like that.”Mohammed Shami was the highest wicket-taker in the 2023 ODI World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

Late last month in Kolkata, Shami had expressed hope of playing for Bengal first before returning to the national team, while he took part informally in a few motivational and fitness sessions for the state players.Even if Shami misses some or all of India’s home Tests – two against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand – he still has enough time to build his bowling rhythm for the tour of Australia, for which the team will depart shortly after the third Test against New Zealand ends on November 5. There is the Ranji Trophy beginning in October, following the BCCI’s decision to split the first-class competition into two halves to prevent matches being affected by weather disruptions, especially during winter in north India. India’s A team will also play two first-class games in Australia from October 31, giving Shami plenty of opportunities should he need them.The ankle injury, which came to light soon after the 2023 ODI World Cup, was initially believed to be not so severe. Shami had been included in India’s Test squad for the two-match series in South Africa in December-January subject to fitness. He was subsequently withdrawn from the tour.Shami went back to the NCA in the hope of recovering for the home Tests against England in February-March, but was advised surgery after he experienced continuous swelling on his right ankle, forcing him to miss the series and IPL 2024 for Gujarat Titans.Shami was a key player in India’s run to the final of the ODI World Cup, taking 24 wickets in just seven games at an average of 10.70 and strike rate of 12.20.

Dushmantha Chameera will miss Sri Lanka’s second ODI against Afghanistan, with Asitha Fernando drafted into the squad as his replacement.Chameera had limped off midway through his eighth over during Sri Lanka’s 42-run victory in the first ODI. He had picked up two wickets at the time but could not continue after that. It has now been confirmed that he injured his left quadriceps.It is understood the injury is not related to any of his previous injuries; last year he had missed a chunk of Sri Lanka’s games with a torn pectoral muscle, and prior to that he had undergone surgery for an ankle injury.The extent of the current injury is unknown. The 32-year-old fast bowler underwent a scan following Friday’s game, the results of which have been sent to a specialist in the UK for consultation.”He’s feeling better now, but we won’t know for sure the exact nature of his injury until we hear back from the specialist,” Sri Lanka’s team manager Mahinda Halangoda told ESPNcricinfo.Fernando, his replacement in the squad, last played an ODI in November 2022, also against Afghanistan. He has played five ODIs in all, picking up the solitary wicket.However, he has impressed in Tests, most recently against Afghanistan when he picked up six wickets in the match to help Sri Lanka on their way to victory.

IPL 2024 is likely to be played between March 22 and the end of May, with the final schedule to be announced once the polling dates for India’s general elections have been finalised by the Election Commission.On the eve of the 2024 auction, the IPL also notified franchises about the availability of players in the auction for next season:

Australia: Hazlewood not available in March and April

Josh Hazlewood will be available only from the first week of May if he is bought at the auction. It is understood that he and his wife, Cherina Murphy Christian, are expecting their first child. He was released by RCB and entered the auction with a base price of INR 2 crore (USD 240,000 approx).All the other Australian players in the auction are expected to be available for the whole IPL season. With the Sheffield Shield final scheduled from March 21 to 25, Cricket Australia has left the choice to the individual players if they have to choose between playing the Shield final and the IPL.Related

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England: Rehan withdraws from auction

England are scheduled to host Pakistan for a T20I series between May 22 and 30 but the ECB has told the IPL that its players will be available for the whole season “subject to fitness and international duty and any periods of unavailability that players submitted on their auction applications.”The ECB also pointed out that if any players “require specific management in the build-up to the T20 World Cup” its managing director Rob Key would “liaise directly” with both the player and his franchise.Harry Brook, Phil Salt, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid are among some of the top England players who have entered the auction. Rehan Ahmed, the 19-year-old legspin allrounder who listed his base price as INR 50 lakh (USD 60,000 approx), has been withdrawn from the auction at short notice, ESPNcricinfo has learned. Rehan will be in India early next year for a five-Test series and the ECB is keen to avoid him spending too much time away from home at a young age.

Sri Lanka: Hasaranga, Chameera available

Sri Lanka Cricket has made all its key white-ball players available for the whole of IPL 2024. This includes Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana, who play for Chennai Super Kings, and Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, who are in the auction after being released by RCB and Lucknow Super Giants respectively.None of those four players will be part of Sri Lanka’s Test squad, which is scheduled to play a two-Test series against Bangladesh until April 3. The other Test players who get bought at the auction will be available for the IPL after the series against Bangladesh.Mustafizur Rahman has listed his base price at INR 2 crore (USD 240,000 approx.)•BCCI

Bangladesh: Taskin, Shoriful withdrawn from auction

Left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman has been permitted by the BCB to play IPL 2024 between March 22 and May 11 if he is bought at the auction. He was released by Delhi Capitals and has listed his base price as INR 2 crore (USD 240,000 approx.). Fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam will not be available for the 2024 season because they are likely to play Bangladesh’s home series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in March and April.

Ireland: Josh Little available

Ireland left-arm fast bowler Josh Little will be available to Gujarat Titans for the whole of the 2024 season and will not play the one-off Test match against Bangladesh from March 22 to 26. He will also miss Ireland’s T20I series against Pakistan (May 7-14), and against Netherlands and Scotland (May 19-26).Afghanistan, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe have made their players fully available for IPL 2024 if they are bought at the auction.