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Chris Lynn passed 3000 BBL runs but his Brisbane Heat future is uncertain

AAP19-Jan-2022Sydney Sixers all but locked in second place on the BBL ladder, consigning the Brisbane Heat to a sixth straight loss.In a potential BBL farewell for Heat cult figure Chris Lynn, Sixers easily defended their 6 for 178 at the Gabba with Heat slumping to 4 for 43 in the ninth over and finishing 27 short.It meant, unless the Sydney Thunder could notch a monster victory against Melbourne Renegades, the Sixers will play table-topping Perth Scorchers on Saturday at Marvel Stadium for a spot in the final on January 28.Lynn passed 3000 BBL runs on his way to making 19 before slapping uppishly to cover against left-armer Hayden Kerr, a familiar scene in a season in which he’s passed 32 just once in 12 innings.The slump is a far cry from the form he was in, despite a host of injury setbacks, when he signed a rich, five-year deal that expires this season. The loyal Heat servant, replaced as captain by Jimmy Peirson this season, could be forced to look elsewhere or retire from the BBL and continue to tour the international T20 circuit.Heat’s loss leaves them in danger of collecting the wooden spoon, Renegades able to overtake them with a win over the Sydney Thunder later on Wednesday.Thunder could still jump the Sixers on run-rate, but Daniel Hughes and Moises Henriques did their best to put them out of reach on a warm afternoon.Marnus Labuschagne’s dismissal of Henriques in his return from Test duties and Michael Neser’s 3 for 39 ensured the hosts kept things respectable.Lynn’s exit after a bright start was followed by Labuschagne’s for just 3, while the returning Nathan Lyon found Sam Heazlett’s edge to make it 4 for 43.Peirson and Max Bryant combined to put some pressure back on Sixers, Bryant notching back-to-back BBL half-centuries for the first time. The jig was up though when the captain holed out to the miserly Steve O’Keefe, leaving them 51 to get off 19 balls before Bryant followed soon after.Kerr took his tournament tally to 22 wickets, one shy of leading wicket-taker Peter Siddle.

Renuka Singh, Alyssa Healy set to return to action in what will be the first international at the New Chandigarh stadium

Sruthi Ravindranath13-Sep-20251:11

Healy: ‘India a sleeping giant for a long time now’

Big Picture: A dry run for the ODI World Cup

Can either team get better preparation than this in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup? India get to face the defending champions, while Australia get to play one of the tournament hosts and have a chance to acclimatise to the conditions well before other competing teams.Having won nine of the 11 ODIs they have played this year and having beaten England in their backyard in July, India will carry a lot of confidence into this series. However, Australia can be a formidable opponent: they have beaten India in 12 out of the 13 ODIs since Harmanpreet Kaur’s epic knock in the 2017 ODI World Cup semi-finals.India were whitewashed 3-0 in the last two series they had played against Australia. Four out of the last five times they’ve met in an ICC tournament, India have lost, including the semi-final of last year’s T20 World Cup. India will want to use this series not just as a dry run to get their team combination right but also to come up with plans to get past the Australia hurdle. If India win this series, they will enter the World Cup as favourites.Australia, meanwhile, haven’t played ODIs this year since January, when they wiped England out 3-0 in the Women’s Ashes. The last tournament they played was the T20I series against New Zealand in March. But they have ten players who were also part of the 2022 ODI World Cup side in this squad, and have lost just three out of 28 matches they played since that tournament. So, they will back themselves to shake off the rust and hit the ground running. They will be playing in New Chandigarh, a non-World Cup venue, but they will benefit from some quality practice, specifically against spin in the middle overs, which is expected to play a big role in the ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.Related

• Harmanpreet says India believe they can beat Australia 'any day'

• Australia ready to embrace 'little bit of unknowns' at ODI World Cup

• Healy hopes wicketkeeping 'tinkering' avoids recurrence of injury

• She gets knocked down but she gets up again: Sneh Rana's journey

Form Guide

India WLWWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWW

In the spotlight: Alyssa Healy and Sneh Rana

A ruptured plantar fascia at the 2024 T20 World Cup, a knee injury during the WBBL, and a stress fracture in the right foot during the Women’s Ashes. Australia captain Alyssa Healy has been dealing with recurring injuries since late last year which also affected her wicketkeeping. But she made a strong comeback for Australia A in the recent white-ball series against India A, making scores of 91 and 137 not out in the last two one-dayers and also keeping wicket, saying she made a few wicketkeeping ‘tinkering’ to avoid such injuries. A force for Australia in World Cups, she will hope to remain injury-free as she gears up for her first ODI World Cup as captain.Offspinner Sneh Rana has been on a roll ever since her comeback into India’s white-ball sides. A superb WPL season resulted in an ODI call-up, and she impressed immediately with 15 wickets in five games in the tri-series in Colombo in May. She followed that up with three wickets in the ODIs against England. With India expected to go spin-heavy for this series, and the World Cup that follows, Harmanpreet indicated during the squad announcement press conference that Rana will continue to be crucial in the middle overs.Alyssa Healy is set to return to action from injury•Getty Images

Team news: Renuka Singh returns from injury

With Renuka Singh back for the series from injury, she is expected to start ahead of Arundhati Reddy, who had played the ODIs against England, with Kranti Goud as the other fast bowler. India are also likely to go in with Rana, N Sree Charani and Deepti Sharma as spin options.India (probable): 1 Pratika Rawal, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 N Shree Charani, 10 Kranti Goud, 11 Renuka SinghWill Australia tinker with the XI that last played against England in January? Though left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux is back in the side after a lengthy injury lay-off, she has not been given the green light to play. Healy said Molineux wasn’t “quite ready for the ODI format” and that Australia are “ready to have her back when she’s ready to go” at the press conference on the eve of the first ODI.Australia (probable): 1 Alyssa Healy (capt, wk), 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Beth Mooney, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Ash Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath, 8 Georgia Wareham, 9 Alana King, 10 Kim Garth, 11 Megan Schutt

Pitch and conditions

This will be the first international fixture at the New Chandigarh stadium, which has hosted 11 IPL matches in the last two years, so the conditions are a bit of an unknown for both sides. The weather is expected to be a bit cloudy on Sunday, with the possibility of showers in the afternoon, and clear for the rest of the day.Georgia Voll and Ash Gardner at the nets•PTI

Stats and Trivia

• India last beat Australia in an ODI at home in February 2007. They have lost all ten encounters since.
• Harmanpreet is set to become the third Indian to feature in 150 Women’s ODIs.
• Megan Schutt is set to become the ninth Australian to feature in 100 Women’s ODIs.
• Since June 2024, Smriti Mandhana has scored 1346 runs in 23 ODI innings, 581 runs more than the next best batter. She has scored six hundreds in this period, three more than any other batter.

Quotes

“No doubt, they [Australia] have been very dominating. They have played well all over the world and dominated. But we are also at a stage where, as a captain, we have the belief we can beat them on any day. The processes in the last one and a half years has been good, we have improved quite a lot. Even in England, we beat one of their best sides. These show that we are on the right track.”
“This is the most stable Indian team I’ve seen and I think they’re in a really good place heading into this World Cup, so I’m looking forward to that challenge. The rivalry continues to grow. I know how much they love beating Australia and I know how good they are in their home conditions and that’s really a challenge for us. I think it’s going to be a really enjoyable, hard-fought series.”

Henry’s hamstring injury, which he suffered during the World Cup, was deemed to have not sufficiently healed

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2023Left-arm fast bowler Neil Wagner has replaced the injured Matt Henry in New Zealand’s squad for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.Henry had picked up a hamstring injury during the World Cup game against South Africa on November 1, and was thus ruled out of the rest of the competition. He was expected to get fit in time for the Tests in Bangladesh, but on further scans and assessments, it was deemed that the injury had not sufficiently healed.”It’ll be great to have Neil’s skill and experience on the tour of Bangladesh,” Sam Wells, New Zealand’s selector, said. “His record speaks for itself, and we all know what a great competitor he is. He’s played plenty of cricket in the sub-continent, and I know he’s really excited by the challenge ahead.”Wagner, 37, had missed two rounds of the ongoing Plunkett Shield due to a back injury before returning to action for Northern Districts earlier in the week. The last of his 63 Tests was also New Zealand’s last in the format – against Sri Lanka this March – even as he wasn’t part of the original spin-heavy squad named by New Zealand for the Bangladesh tour.The first Test against Bangladesh will be New Zealand’s first of the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle from 2023-25. Wagner had finished the previous WTC cycle with 18 wickets.The majority of the New Zealand squad, who had also featured in the World Cup in India, are currently recovering in Dubai before they relocate to Sylhet next week. As for the other Bangladesh-bound players, they depart on November 21 ahead of the opening Test from November 28 in Sylhet.Updated squad: Tim Southee (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Neil Wagner

Favourites Royals tripped at the final hurdle despite solid knocks from Azam Khan and Rahkeem Cornwall

Deivarayan Muthu01-Oct-2022
A regal half-century from Brandon King and three-wicket hauls from Fabian Allen and Nicholson Gordon thwarted favourites Barbados Royals and gave Jamaica Tallawahs their third – and first since 2016 – CPL title. Shamarh Brooks, who scored a sublime century in the second qualifier against Guyana Amazon Warriors, also contributed handsomely, with a 33-ball 47, as Tallawahs chased down 162 with plenty to spare at Providence.The odds were stacked against Tallawahs even before a ball was bowled in the final. Mohammad Amir, who had taken a chart-topping nine wickets in the powerplay this season, was ruled out after having suffered a groin injury during the second qualifier. Then, his replacement, Migael Pretorius, conceded 24 runs in his two powerplay overs and then jarred his back while attempting a catch in the outfield. In the absence of their overseas spearheads, local seamer Gordon, in his first CPL season, stepped up at the death with figures of 3 for 33.It was left-arm fingerspinner Fabian Allen who had launched Tallawahs’ fightback after Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall had slammed 63 off 35 balls for the first wicket. Allen got rid of the dangerous Cornwall with the last ball of the powerplay for 36 off 21, and proceeded to dismiss Mayers soon after, He later sent back Azam Khan, who had top-scored for Royals with 51 off 40 balls.It was déjà vu for the Royals franchise: they reached the IPL 2022 final but had fallen short at the final hurdle there as well.Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall gave Barbados Royals a rapid start•CPL T20 via Getty Images

Cornwall’s opening salvo

Despite variable bounce posing a threat to batters – some balls reared from a length while some shot low at shin height from a similar length – Cornwall stayed true to his role of maximising the powerplay. He whipped Pretorius over square leg for six and then went 6, 6, 4 against offspinner Chris Green in the fourth over. In the next, Cornwall picked a fairly blameless non-turning ball from Imad Wasim and launched it over midwicket for a massive six.Mayers, too, was aggressive from the outset and punished anything that was full and in his arc. However, both the openers fell either side of the powerplay to trigger a wobble.Fabian Allen was named the Player of the Match for his three-wicket haul•CPL T20 via Getty Images

Allen and Imad pin down Royals
Allen had induced that wobble by exploiting the variable bounce on offer. After defeating Cornwall with extra bounce, he bowled Mayers with a slider that kept low. He then returned in the end overs to have an advancing Azam stumped. Allen was also busy in the field, patrolling the hotspots.Imad Wasim, who was the Player of the Match when Tallawahs had won the title in 2016, bowled inswingers in the powerplay and didn’t let Azam get away either. Something had to give and that something was a promoted Jason Holder missing a slog and being castled by Imad for 17 off 19 balls.Azam went on to notch up a 39-ball half-century but couldn’t find a higher gear to hurt Tallawahs. Najibullah Zadran was also responsible for Royals’ slowdown, managing just six off 12 balls.Gordon thrives at the death
Gordon wasn’t even needed with the ball during the Eliminator against Kings, but in the final, Rovman Powell needed him to do the tough job of bowling at the death. He varied his pace cleverly and bowled into the pitch to best Najibullah, Devon Thomas and Corbin Bosch. Thrown in at the deep end in his first CPL season at the age of 30, Gordon repaid Tallawahs’ faith and proved that his chart-topping tally in the inaugural 6ixty that preceded the CPL was no fluke.Brandon Kings struck a regal 50-ball 83 to lead the Tallawahs charge in the chase•CPL T20 via Getty Images

King: Batting royalty from Guyana Jamaica
Before CPL 2022, Powell had been quite vocal about getting the local Jamaica boys together in their quest for unlikely success. King moved from Guyana Amazon Warriors and Allen from St Kitts and Nevis Patriots; it was quite fitting that the pair played starring roles for Tallawahs in the final.Mayers struck in the first over of the chase to york Kennar Lewis, but King repaired the damage with an 86-run second-wicket partnership with Brooks off 58 balls.After patiently seeing off the new ball – King was on a run-a-ball 25 at one stage – he cranked up the tempo to raise his half-century off 36 balls. Along the way, King also surpassed his West Indian opening partner Mayers to become the highest run-getter this season.Spin has been King’s nemesis in the past, but he found a way past Mujeeb Ur Rahman and left-arm fingerspinner Joshua Bishop, who had been picked ahead of legspinner Hayden Walsh Jr on the day. King took Mujeeb and Bishop for 44 off a mere 19 balls, including eight fours and a six. He iced the game with another six, off Obed McCoy, to spark wild celebrations in Tallawahs’ camp.

Thakur’s three-wicket burst played a key role in dismissing the visitors cheaply before Gill struck an unbeaten 66

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2019India A extended their dominance over South Africa A on day one of the first four-day match in Thiruvananthapuram, bowling the visitors out for 164 before going to stumps within 35 runs of taking a first-innings lead with eight wickets in hand. Shardul Thakur’s three-wicket burst played a key role in dismissing the South Africans cheaply before captain Shubman Gill struck an unbeaten 66 to put India A in a commanding position.The India A quicks wreaked havoc with the new ball and the spinners cleaned up the tail to shoot out South Africa in the 52nd over. The visitors were in deep trouble at 22 for 5 in the 13th over before some lower-order contributions saved them from a complete collapse. Mohammed Siraj had the captain Adien Markram caught behind for a four-ball duck in the first over and Thakur followed that up with the wicket of Pieter Malan for an eight-ball duck in the fourth, to leave the scoreboard reading 0 for 2.There was no respite with the introduction of spin either, as Shahbaz Nadeem removed No. 3 Zubayr Hamza for 13, and Thakur soon sent back Khaya Zondo and Heinrich Klaasen in consecutive overs to leave them five down.A series of small partnerships thereafter – 30, 31 and 30 for the sixth, eighth and ninth wickets respectively – took South Africa past 100. Wiaan Mulder scored 21 and Dane Piedt chipped in with a quick 33 off 45, with six fours. But it was for the final wicket that the visitors added the most runs – 33 – with Marco Jansen top-scoring with an unbeaten 45, with four fours and two sixes, and Lungi Ngidi, the last man out, contributing 15.K Gowtham, who was reported unwell on the eve of the match, chipped in with three lower-order wickets, including those of Piedt and Mulder. Thakur finished with 3 for 29 while Nadeem bagged 2 for 37.In response, India started fluently, the openers adding 48 before Ruturaj Gaikwad was bowled by Jansen for 30. Gill was then joined by Ricky Bhui for a 58-run stand, which was broken by Ngidi, who cleaned up Bhui for 26, before Gill and No. 4 Ankit Bawne negotiated the last few overs of the day.

Peter Hatzoglou and quick Matt Kelly will come into the frame for next weekend’s decider which could attract 50,000 fans

Tristan Lavalette29-Jan-2023Perth Scorchers quick Jhye Richardson is set to miss the BBL decider next Saturday as he continues to battle a hamstring injury.Richardson is likely to be the hard luck story for defending champions Scorchers, who locked in a home grand final after beating arch-rival Sydney Sixers by seven wickets at a febrile Optus Stadium.After sustaining what was deemed a minor hamstring injury against Sydney Thunder on January 4, Richardson had been earmarked to return in time for the finals series but his recovery has taken longer than expected.”I think Jhye’s chances are pretty slim. I’d be surprised if we see him next weekend,” conceded Scorchers captain Ashton Turner.On the fringes of Australia’s Test team, Richardson has played three Test matches with his most recent being in the Adelaide Ashes Test in December 2021, where he memorably bowled Australia to victory on the final day with a five-wicket haul.Related

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But the 26-year-old Richardson fell down the pecking order this summer with a nagging heel injury consigning him to the sidelines for an extended period ahead of the BBL season.A fit and firing Richardson, however, issued a reminder of his talents with explosive bowling nudging 150kph to take 15 wickets in just seven matches to be the BBL’s standout quick until his latest setback.With fresh doubts over Richardson’s ability to stay on the field, Scorchers are set to be cautious with an eye on his long-term future.”Jhye’s such an exciting cricketer, but he’s still a young guy,” Turner said. “He puts his body through a lot. But we also have a bit of perspective. Jhye’s got a lot of cricket ahead of him, in orange, playing for WA, playing for Australia, playing for franchises around the world.”He’s too important to put unnecessary risk on his body. I don’t think it’s worth putting someone’s young body under too much stress.”

Perth Scorchers weigh up specialist spinner

Richardson’s absence will be a blow for Scorchers given his liking for the big stage having taken seven wickets in three previous grand finals, including a player of the match performance against Sixers in the BBL06 decider.Scorchers will also be without speedster Lance Morris, who played his last BBL match of the season before joining Australia’s squad for the Test tour of India.Morris’ replacement is set to be a battle between reliable legspinner Peter Hatzoglou and quick Matt Kelly, who missed the Sixers match due to concussion protocol after suffering a freak injury to his face while fielding against Melbourne Renegades.Peter Hatzoglou could give Perth Scorchers a specialist spin option•Getty Images

Scorchers went into the clash against Sixers without a specialist spinner with part-timers Turner and Cooper Connolly not used.”We’ll have to assess the conditions,” Turner said. “Peter Hatzoglou has bowled really nicely for us over a couple of years now. He’s someone who should be playing at this level. He’s got a proven track record, he’s won us games.”Left-arm quick David Payne is likely to hold his spot after a starring role against Sixers with the pivotal dismissals of Steven Smith and Moises Henriques amid a three-wicket haul.His performance was even more impressive with Payne having been a doubtful starter after feeling unwell and forced into isolation from his teammates.”We have a lot of confidence in every player in our squad. We trust what they have to say. He’s been such a valuable inclusion into our squad,” Turner said of Englishman Payne, who replaced compatriot Tymal Mills after he was unavailable for the tournament due to a family emergency.”It’s been a seamless transition for him. He’s been great for our dressing room. Thankfully now he’s got a couple of days to rest up.”

Hope for 50,000 fans at BBL final

After such a commanding victory over Sixers, lapped up by more than 41,000 vocal fans, Scorchers have strengthened their status as the competition’s powerhouse franchise on-and-off the field.As Scorchers attempt a back-to-back triumph and fifth title overall, a 50,000 crowd is expected at Optus Stadium, which will host a BBL grand final for the first time.Only an Australia-England ODI and a BBL semi-final between Scorchers and Hurricanes have attracted crowds over 50,000 for cricket at the venue and both those matches were held immediately after the Burswood stadium opened in early 2018.No matter who they play, Scorchers will start firm favourites having won 12 of their last 13 matches at home.”It is a distinct home ground advantage,” Sixers quick Sean Abbott said. “Those guys play their home conditions extremely well.”

The New Zealander will join the team on their ongoing tour of Australia

Umar Farooq10-Jan-2023Mark Coles is back as head coach of the Pakistan women’s team, and will join the squad on their ongoing tour of Australia. The New Zealander takes over the responsibility from interim head coach Saleem Jaffar, who was originally working as the team’s bowling coach with fellow former Pakistan men’s international Taufeeq Umar as batting coach.The PCB, under a new management committee headed by Najam Sethi, has roped Coles in on a one-year contract. He previously served as head coach from 2017 to 2019, when he resigned from the role citing family commitments.Related

• PCB review could limit Babar's all-format influence

• Mark Coles resigns as Pakistan women's head coach

• Diana Baig returns as Pakistan name squads for women's T20 World Cup and Australia tour

“I have worked with Mark and he is a perfect coach for a women’s team – gentle but firm, friendly but strict,” Sethi, told ESPNcricinfo. “He is a well-respected coach and in his previous stint with Pakistan he worked incredibly hard for the team’s progress. Players only had good words to say about him, hence we have decided to bring him back and he will be joining the team in Australia with immediate effect.”The PCB has been functioning under Sethi ever since the government removed ex-chair Ramiz Raja and his board by revoking the 2019 constitution the PCB was operating under and giving the Sethi-led 14-member committee full executive powers to work on reviving the constitution of 2014.Pakistan are presently in Australia for a series of three ODIs starting January 16, which are part of the 2022-25 Women’s Championship. It will be followed by a series of three T20Is, following which the team will travel to South Africa for the Women’s T20 World Cup – where Pakistan are in Group 2 along with England, India, Ireland and West Indies. Pakistan play their opening game against India on February 12 in Cape Town. Pakistan have never gone past the group stage of the T20 World Cup; in the 2020 edition, they won only one game, against West Indies, and lost to England and South Africa; their fixture against Thailand was washed out.Coles was first appointed in 2017, on a trial basis, ahead of a series against New Zealand in the UAE, as part of the PCB’s efforts to revamp women’s cricket and bring in a professional structure. Until then, the PCB had brought in coaches on a series-by-series basis and had even gone into their previous 50-over World Cup, earlier that year, with Sabih Azhar only a few weeks into his job. Coles was offered a long-term contract but Sethi resigned in 2018, and a year later Coles resigned to focus on his family responsibilities.Months later he joined the Japan Cricket Association as a high-performance manager in 2020, and he has since worked with the Vanuatu Cricket Association and been a high-performance manager with the women’s teams of Western Australia and Wellington. He won a domestic T20 title in 2013 with Wellington Blaze. His last coaching job was with the Scotland women’s team, from February 2021 to February 2022.In his term with Pakistan, Coles led the women’s team to seven wins in 16 ODIs, including a first-ever series victory over West Indies in 2019, and 12 wins in 30 T20Is. Between Coles’ resignation and return, the core of the team hasn’t changed drastically, with captain Bismah Maroof set to welcome back her former coach.Pakistan have already named their squads for the Australia tour and the Women World Cup, with fast bowler Diana Baig leading Pakistan’s bowling pack in both ODIs and T20Is. Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal, who emerged during Coles’ previous term, has developed to become an automatic choice in both formats. Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the T20 Asia Cup in Bangladesh this October, and beat their arch-rivals India in a thriller after they lost to Thailand earlier in the tournament.

Smith felt like his dismissal was a turning point but believes Australia’s batters can adapt to the conditions in the upcoming games

Deivarayan Muthu09-Oct-2023Steven Smith has suggested that his dismissal, which triggered a collapse, denied Australia the chance to post a competitive total in their World Cup opener against India on a sharp turner at Chepauk on Sunday.Smith top-scored for Australia with 46 off 71 balls before Ravindra Jadeja landed one on middle and got it to rip away to hit the top of off stump. Australia went from 110 for 2 in 27 overs to 199 all out in 49.3 overs.”Yeah, perhaps [my dismissal was the turning point],” Smith said after Australia lost by six wickets. “I mean you never want to get out. We were trying to take it a little bit deeper, and it was obviously very challenging [on this pitch]. And it was going to be challenging for the guy coming in…We were just trying to take it a little bit deeper and unfortunately felt like I got a pretty good ball from Jadeja. Felt like I was back playing Test cricket. But to lose those wickets in a row probably cost us getting up to around 250.”Related

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Until he was knocked over by Jadeja, Smith felt that he was in good rhythm with the bat. After Smith had walked out to bat in the third over, following Mitchell Marsh’s dismissal for a duck, he accumulated steadily with David Warner in a 69-run second-wicket partnership in Chennai’s inhospitable heat.”I thought I was playing quite nicely,” Smith said. “It wasn’t a wicket where you can just go out and muscle it and have a high strike rate I suppose. We had to work our way through that scenario, and it was challenging. Felt like I was moving into the ball nicely and played a few nice drives off the fast bowlers and was working spin around. So, [I] felt good and unfortunately couldn’t go on to make a bigger one.”Smith scored five boundaries – all against pace – and trusted his defence against Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and R Ashwin in spin-friendly Chepauk. Hitting good-length balls against the turn was fraught with risk and loose balls never arrived. India’s spin trio had combined figures of 30-3-104-6.”From my point of view, it’s just [about] hitting the men in the deep as much as possible and get down to the other end, rotate the strike, and wait for loose balls and then try to put those away,” Smith said. “With those three quality bowlers, there wasn’t a great deal of loose balls coming, so yeah it was challenging. So, I was just looking to rotate the strike as much as possible around that middle period and that’s essentially it.”Australia are set to play their next eight group games in seven different venues, starting with back-to-back matches against South Africa and Sri Lanka in Lucknow. They had struggled to adapt to the conditions in Chepauk, but Smith is hopeful of Australia faring better on other pitches and peaking at the right time in the tournament.”I think we can learn a bit from this game, definitely,” Smith said. “We’ve talked as a group [about] playing according to the surface and maybe a nice partnership at that stage would’ve been good. If we were able to extend it a little bit longer and had one more partnership we could’ve posted a total that could’ve been defendable on that wicket if all things stayed the same, I suppose.”And then we might go to the next place [where] it might be flat and we might score 350 and play according to what that surface is. I think that’s the most important thing to do playing in these conditions. In tournament play, you don’t want to be peaking too early. You obviously got to do enough to make your way to the finals, but you want to play your best cricket in the end. So, hopefully we can turn it around and beat South Africa in a few days’ time.”

Zimbabwe’s loss on Tuesday and their poor net run rate has knocked them out of contention

S Rajesh04-Jul-2023Zimbabwe’s 31-run defeat to Scotland means they can no longer qualify for the ODI World Cup in India later this year. That’s because their net run rate has fallen to -0.099, largely due to their heavy defeat against Sri Lanka, when they lost with almost 17 overs to spare.Zimbabwe were on six points with two games to spare, but they failed to get those two points which would have ensured qualification. If Netherlands beat Scotland on Thursday, then all three teams – Zimbabwe, Scotland and Netherlands – will finish on six points.Related

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With Netherlands’ net run rate in the negative but already above Zimbabwe’s, any win for them will only improve that further, thus ensuring that Zimbabwe cannot finish in the top two.Thus, the focus now shifts to the Netherlands-Scotland game, and the result margins for those two teams to qualify. A win for Scotland will obviously take them through, but even if they lose, they could qualify if the margin of defeat is relatively small.If Netherlands score 250, Scotland can afford to lose by up to 31 runs to stay ahead on run rate. A win by 32 or more runs for Netherlands will lift their NRR above Scotland’s. If Scotland bat first and score 250, they will stay ahead on NRR if Netherlands chase it down in around 44.1 overs (depending on how they get their winning runs). If they chase it down any sooner, then Netherlands will trump Scotland’s run rate and take the second qualification spot.

The ODIs against New Zealand in March will be used to raise money for the Red Cross bushfire appeal as well

Andrew McGlashan04-Jan-2020Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts would be open to the idea of staging a charity match to raise funds for the bushfire appeal as the natural disaster continues to ravage large areas of the country.Australia is in the midst of one of its worst ever bushfire seasons which has led to fatalities, mass evacuations and significant loss of property. The Christmas and New Year period has been especially severe in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.There have already been a number of initiatives put in place across cricket, including players in the Big Bash League pledging donations for sixes hit and wickets taken and the Australia team auctioning off signed shirts from the Boxing Day Test which had raised over AUD$40,000. On the opening day of the Sydney Test players from both sides wore black armbands in memory of those who have died in the fires while there was a one-minute applause to honour the emergency services.CA has also announced that the ODIs between Australia and New Zealand in March will be used to raise money for the Red Cross bushfire appeal, but if the pieces could be put into place Roberts said the potential is there for a standalone fixture.”I’d love to think we could do something along those lines, we’ve all got great memories that the role those sort of events have played in disaster and tragedy in the past and would like to think we can make the most of those ODIs in March,” he told radio. “We are very open to other initiatives that could include celebrity matches, we’ve got a very crowded cricket calendar, we have to make sure what we do has maximum impact. If there’s time, space and availability of the right people nothing is off the table.”In the past there have been matches staged to raise money after severe bushfires. In 1994, South Africa played an extra game against a New South Wales XI following bad fires in Sydney early in the year. Further back in 1967, after devastating fires in Tasmania, a fundraising match was staged at the MCG and in 1983, Australia played New Zealand in a one-off match at the SCG.In January 2005, the MCG staged the tsunami appeal match between an ICC World XI and an Asia XI to raise money following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Years later, James Sutherland, who was CA chief executive at the time, recalled the impact of that match and how boards and player associations had worked to bring it together.”Between Tim May [former head of the ACA and FICA] and I, there was always something to fight about, but when that happened we said, ‘We’re going to do something special’ and he was able to get through his FICA the players to commit to come here and play,” he said in 2018. “Together we put on an event that was extraordinary and raised more than A$15 million for a huge tragedy. It was a reminder of the power of what cricket can achieve when it galvanises all its forces.”