It’s hard to decide which of Shakib’s performances was more meaningful as both were critical to Bangladesh’s win

Mohammad Isam06-Mar-2023Shakib Al Hasan packs many things into the regular phenomenon that is “Shakib Al Hasan Day”. He rescues Bangladesh’s batting from a slump. He farms the strike with a tailender as he looks for a late burst of runs. When handed the ball, he makes early breakthroughs, offers middle-overs stability and then adds the finishing touches with late wickets. These are supposed to be rare days, but Shakib has had many in his 16-year career.Shakib now has a fifty and a four-for in an ODI for the fourth time in his career, the most by any cricketer, beating the three times by Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi. He has also done the five-for.But a brilliant allrounder playing for a team often in trouble usually means that these Shakib Al Hasan days are more necessary than ornamental.In this game Shakib touched 300 ODI wickets, and is now 24 short of reaching 7,000 runs in the format. Only Afridi and Sanath Jayasuriya have reached these heights in ODIs. On most days, Jayasuriya and Afridi had seven or eight match-winners to share the load. For much of his career, Shakib had two or three others. Now perhaps there are a few more.It is hard to decide which of Shakib’s performances on Monday was more meaningful. Both were critical to Bangladesh’s win.He made 75 off 71 balls when the innings was in decline. He couldn’t find any of Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz to stick around for long enough to share slogging duties in the last ten overs.To ride out Bangladesh’s mini middle-order collapse, Shakib waited for 35 balls before getting his first boundary. When he did, he struck Sam Curran for two in a row. The rest of his boundaries came towards the death, when he was running out of partners, but Shakib is the sort of busy player who reaches 30-odd without anyone noticing and then finds the boundaries.Related

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Shakib then had work to do with the ball. England went off to another quick start, before he removed both openers, Phil Salt and Jason Roy, to bring the home side into parity. Salt was cross with himself for getting out to a short ball, but Roy had no answer for what he calls Shakib’s “undercutter”. It is essentially the arm ball, which Roy played back, and allowed to sneak under his bat.Shakib kept bowling tightly but those watching had his impending 300th wicket in mind. It was also increasingly looking like his last two overs, which Tamim had kept him back for after finishing Taijul Islam’s spell from the pavilion end, were going to shape the match.Taijul removed Jos Buttler, but Shakib also took James Vince’s wicket to seal the deal, getting Vince to follow his line on leg and middle only for it to break sharply and take the outside edge (Mushfiqur Rahim juggled a bit but took it safely). For his 300th ODI wicket, Rehan Ahmed couldn’t time Shakib’s half-tracker, only to be caught at short midwicket.Bangladesh have always won when Shakib has taken four wickets and scored a fifty in an ODI. The first instance came in the seminal Bangladesh-New Zealand series of 2010. Shakib started the series with 58 and a four-wicket haul, apart from being thrust into the captaincy following Mashrafe Mortaza’s injury in the first over.The next double, against Zimbabwe in 2014, was in his return to international cricket after serving a BCB suspension. The third one came against Afghanistan in the 2019 World Cup, when pretty much everything Shakib touched turned gold. It was only the second instance of a fifty and a five-wicket haul in the World Cup.What takes Shakib to the strata of truly allrounders is his consistency in Tests. He has taken five wickets and scored a fifty in Tests ten times. Only Ian Botham has done it more. Shakib has done the single fifty and five-for six times, and one instance each for two fifties and a five-for, a hundred and a five-for, a hundred and a 10-wicket haul, and a fifty and 10-for. Bangladesh won only three of these Tests.It highlights the physical load Shakib has taken over the years, regardless of the team’s result. For a long time since Mohammad Rafique retired, Shakib had to do the attacking, consolidating and defending with the ball. He has always had to quickly put the pads on too, to get the team a fighting half-century. Only in the Tests against West Indies (2009), Zimbabwe (2014) and Australia (2017) did the rest of the team contribute enough to win the Tests.Tamim Iqbal, who has seen these days from Shakib for many years, praised his long-time teammate for his contributions.”I thought he was phenomenal,” he said. “The way he batted, especially with the tailenders, those 20-25 runs were very important. Honestly, the wicket didn’t have that much spin, but the way he bowled was brilliant. It gave confidence to Taijul, who didn’t start well. He was talking to Shakib. I thought it was a fantastic effort from him.”Tamim said Shakib’s ability to handle pressure made him a special cricketer and called him a “blessing”.”I think he is mentally very strong,” he added. “Most of the time you will see him come out of pressure situations with similar performances. He has done it in the past. He has great skill-set to back his mentality. Not many people are blessed like him to bowl 10 overs and bat the way he bats. Any team will be blessed to have a player like him.”Blessing is perhaps the best way to describe Shakib for Bangladesh. Over 16 years, it has at times been a bit of a stretch to ask him do it over and over again. But Shakib has done it, be it in a dead rubber or on the biggest stage. In another World Cup year, a final push from Shakib is critical to Bangladesh’s ambitions.

Captain Tom Bruce also made an important half-century as the home side paced things superbly

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2023New Zealand A produced a fantastic final-day run chase to topple their Australian counterparts in Lincoln as they hunted down an imposing 365. Dean Foxcroft and captain Tom Bruce got them within sight of the target before Cam Fletcher’s unbeaten half-century finished the job.After resuming on 31 for 0, New Zealand A had taken time to lay a foundation. Xavier Bartlett made two morning breakthroughs for Australia A, claiming openers Sean Solia and Henry Cooper, before the middle order got to work.Related

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Foxcroft and Cole McConchie, who has been named in New Zealand’s squad to tour Pakistan, added 73 for the third wicket before Foxcroft and Bruce compiled a crucial 95 for the fourth.South African-born Foxcroft, who may have to wait until 2025 to be eligible for the national side, was three runs away from a century when he was superbly caught by Jimmy Peirson from an under-edged reverse sweep against Mitchell Swepson.Swepson kept Australia A in the match when he also removed Rob O’Donnell as the batter advanced down the pitch and missed. And when Bruce, having made 64 off 73 balls, fell to Bartlett, there were still 67 runs needed with the lower order exposed.However, Doug Bracewell cracked four boundaries in a nine-ball 18 to make significant inroads into that alongside Fletcher, who struck three sixes in his rapid display.Wes Agar removed Bracewell to a catch in the deep but Scott Kuggeleijn was able to partner Fletcher through to the target.All the Australia A attack came in for punishment with Swepson going at nearly four an over through 31 overs.The second of two four-day matches begins in Lincoln on Saturday.

Hosts can’t keep up with the Joneses as Eve and Amy lead Sparks home with six wickets to spare

ECB Reporters Network10-May-2023Erin Burns helped Central Sparks avenge their defeat at the hands of Southern Vipers earlier this month with a five-wicket haul to help her new side to victory in this Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy match at Hove.Chasing a modest 181, Sparks looked in little trouble from the moment their captain, Eve Jones, cut the second delivery of the innings from Lauren Bell to third man for four and they romped home with 8.4 overs to spare.They lost their first wicket at 68, in the 20th over, when Abigail Freeman, driving, was bowled by Georgia Elwiss for 28. After that their biggest setback came when the players came off for rain – and even then they had a superior run-rate. The result was confirmed by a second-wicket partnership of 85 in 15 overs between Jones (73) and her right-handed namesake Amy Jones, who picked up the scoring rate and raised the 100 in the 26th over when she hit Linsey Smith for successive fours. There were three more boundaries in her eye-catching, run-a-ball innings of 40.The Vipers bowlers could simply not keep up with the Joneses and their fielding flagged too as the result became inevitable in the warm afternoon sunshine.By the time Eve Jones was out, to the last ball of the 38th over, chipping a return catch to Elwiss, Sparks were just 12 runs short of victory. The captain had led from the front, facing 124 balls and hitting seven fours.The Vipers’ innings of 180 from 47.2 overs was a disappointment and represented a considerable comeback from Sparks who looked likely to be on the receiving end of a total of well over 200.Sparks had won two of their previous four matches and on each occasion had chosen to bowl. They did so again here, despite the good looking pitch, and had cause to regret the decision when Vipers opener Ella McCaughan, after making her customary solid start, decided to play more shots on the way to her 90-ball 59, with six fours.She lost opening partner Maia Boucher in the third over and then Australian debutant Nicole Faltum ramped Issy Wong straight to third man. But when Vipers were 96 for two in the 25th they looked confident of setting a more robust total.They were undone, mostly, by the Australian Burns, an exciting recruit for this season, who will be available until the end of July. Burns’ off-spin shone as she returned figures of 5 for 36 from her 10 overs, including the important wicket of McCaughan, who was caught sweeping at short fine-leg.The middle-order collapse saw Vipers lose six wickets for 42 runs with captain and key batter Georgia Adams making the second-best score of 29.With the pacey but erratic Wong withdrawn from the attack after bowling another beamer at the start of her ninth over, Burns was supported by Georgia Davis, who took 3 for 19, but the steadiest of the bowlers was Emily Arlott, even though she took just one wicket on the ground where she took a hat-trick last year.

Young batter is poised to open for Australia in Women’s Ashes Test

Andrew McGlashan18-Jun-2023″I still feel like I’m going to watch the Ashes, I need to remind myself that I’m potentially playing it,” says Phoebe Litchfield.In a way, it’s unfair to a player to say an international career feels inevitable because, however talented, there is a huge amount of work that goes into reaching the highest level.But sometimes, a player who is clearly going to make that step pops up.In mid-2019 a social media clip of Litchfield, the left-handed batter, playing cover drives in the New South Wales nets as a 16-year-old went viral. Later that year she made her WNCL debut for NSW and WBBL debut for Sydney Thunder, in the latter scoring a half-century in her second game.In late 2022, on the T20I tour of India, she made her Australia debut and her first ODI series followed a few months later against Pakistan, in which she made 154 runs for once out.Her caveat of “potentially” playing in the Ashes is understandable for a young player who doesn’t want to jump ahead of selection calls, but it would be a huge surprise if she doesn’t add a Test cap come next week in Nottingham.Related

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The retirement of Rachael Haynes opened one vacancy and the late withdrawal of Meg Lanning created another at the top of the order. Alongside Alyssa Healy’s desire to move down the order to manage her workload, everything points to Litchfield opening the batting as she did in the warm-up match against England A.”I’m so excited, can’t put it into words,” she tells ESPNcricinfo. “The T20 tour to India and the Pakistan series here were amazing highlights but think there’s an added layer to the Ashes. If the opportunity to open arises, I’ll definitely grab it. It’s probably the best position.”Ask others about Litchfield and there is one word that crops up frequently. “Just fearless, we speak about that in our white-ball cricket, and she embodies that,” Australia’s stand-in captain Healy says.Her technique was honed by working with her father Andrew at home in Orange when she couldn’t travel to Sydney 250km away. “It started when I just picked up a bat and it was probably very backyard cricket, then as I progressed, he told me where my front elbow should go and sort of progressed from there. Wouldn’t say it’s a perfect technique, but people have said it looks alright.”There is no multi-day cricket in the Australian domestic women’s game – there isn’t in England, either – but Litchfield has experienced two-day men’s cricket when she played the local competition in Orange. Although, she adds: “To be fair, our team wasn’t that good, so we didn’t last the full day most times.”Litchfield is something of an outlier in Australian cricket as a specialist batter coming through the game. The dominance of white-ball cricket in the women’s game lends itself to multi-discipline cricketers. If you look at a possible Australian XI on the England tour, it’s potentially only Litchfield from the batting group who does not have a second string, albeit Beth Mooney plays as a specialist batter. Litchfield still keeps wicket as a back-up but has never been pushed into being something she isn’t.”I began as a bowler but bowled off the wrong foot and as soon as I went down to training sessions, they were like you can’t bowl like that because you’ll get an injury,” she says. “So, I stopped bowling early on. I was a keeper, still have that as a secondary skill, but for the time, just want to focus on being the best fielder I can be and obviously, the batting.”While Litchfield’s talent was clear from early on, there has been an evolution in her game over the last 12 months. She is adding power to her T20 cricket, while last season, she averaged 49.87 in the WNCL which included a maiden century. Litchfield may not feature in the T20s of the multi-format Ashes – although Lanning’s absence leaves a hole to fill there, too – but she wants to be as versatile as possible.”Being a full-time cricketer, I can work on my game all the time,” she says, speaking just a few days after completing university exams. “I’ve been in the nets working hard on different shots and just being able to work hard on the craft of batting. There’s a lot to work on both the power game and just mentally. Your cover drive can be good, but out in the middle, a lot can happen and it’s about weathering that.”You can’t look perfect all the time; not that I want to look perfect but leading into one-day cricket and the [Ashes] practice matches, I’ve been working hard on the technique because that’s what gets found out, especially over in England with the swinging ball.”For someone who clearly loves batting, the chance to do it for a whole day in a Test match is an exciting prospect. “I’m so keen,” she says. “Now that I’ve got an added appreciation of batting and really enjoying it, I’m excited at the prospect of batting all day. Whether my mind can do it, we’ll see, but keen to give it a crack.”

Prajapati ton in vain for Oman as hosts take another step towards the ODI World Cup

Madushka Balasuriya29-Jun-2023A valiant Oman fell achingly short of the finish line, as Sean Williams’ 142 trumped Kashyap Prajapati’s 103 – the first ton by an Oman batter against an ICC full member – to help Zimbabwe secure a narrow yet crucial 14-run win to kick off the Super Six stage.Williams’ masterful innings was aided by cameos from Sikandar Raza and Luke Jongwe, along with several other useful contributions right throughout the order. Then with the ball, Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani picked up three apiece, and Richard Ngarava grabbed a pair to stall Oman’s charge.

Oman penalised for slow over-rate

Oman were fined 40% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate – they were two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration – against Zimbabwe.
Their senior bowler Kaleemullah, meanwhile, had one demerit point added to his record for a code-of-conduct breach relating to using inappropriate language, actions or gestures.

The result means Zimbabwe have one foot in the World Cup proper, with another win from their next two games securing qualification – though they can qualify even with two losses, provided other results go their way.For Oman, while their chances of qualifying are now virtually non-existent by virtue of their inferior net run rate, their performance was yet another reminder of the closing gap between Associate nations and their full-member counterparts.Oman will rue missed opportunities with each of Williams, Raza and Craig Ervine dropped, while there were also several easy runs given away and run-out chances missed. By contrast, Zimbabwe grabbed every inch, most notably when Raza completed an awe-inspiring over-the-shoulder grab to dismiss the set Prajapati.In the twilight of his career, Williams is currently at the peak of his powers, putting up scarcely believable numbers. In Bulawayo, a ground where he has played countless hours of club cricket, he struck a 103-ball 142 – nearly becoming the second man after Sanath Jayasuriya to score back-to-back scores of 150 or more in ODIs. His average is vying with his strike rate, and he is now on 532 runs for the tournament with three more games potentially left to play.Kashyap Prajapati’s 103 was the first for Oman against a Full Member team•ICC/Getty Images

On Thursday, he arrived in the middle overs and shifted gears effortlessly. The surface in Bulawayo was not completely to the batters’ liking but in Williams, Zimbabwe had a man for all occasions.He was part of key partnerships throughout – 64 with Wessly Madhevere, 103 with Raza, 41 with Ryan Burl for 41 and finally 21 with Jongwe. In each of those, Williams was the more dominant partner, finding boundaries all around the ground when needed. Only the excellent Kaleemullah managed to keep him to a strike rate of less than 100 (90).When Williams fell with still five overs left, Oman might have had hopes of getting in a few miserly overs but Zimbabwe’s tail wagged significantly – through a combination of excellent running, streaky boundaries and fielding lapses – to take 55 off the final five.At that stage, with a target of 333 set, on a track that wasn’t exactly straightforward to bat on, Oman went about their chase with the nous of more seasoned campaigners – never letting the required rate get out of hand, finding boundaries when necessary and limiting dot balls.But where Oman had provided the Zimbabwean batters with breathing room, Zimbabwe kept the pressure on, and when the chances came they didn’t flinch. Though no one was surprised; they’ve only been doing it all tournament.

No risks from champions as Nottinghamshire’s overnight ascendancy is thwarted

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2023Brett Hutton’s fifth five-wicket haul of the season was the highlight of the final day at The Oval as Surrey’s LV= Insurance County Championship fixture with Nottinghamshire petered out into a draw.Hutton, who spent a portion of day one off the field with what proved to be cramp, took 5 for 91 to take his tally for the season in the Championship to 41, putting him alongside Durham’s Chris Rushworth at the top of the wicket-taking standings.South African leg-spinner Calvin Harrison provided great support for Hutton with 3 for 99 to bowl out the hosts for 340 40 minutes after lunch. This was a heroic effort from the visitors who, already without the services of Jake Ball, injured in the first innings, then lost Dane Paterson to what appeared to be a hip injury after just one delivery with the new ball.Will Jacks led the run-scoring for Surrey with a largely subdued 60, while there a maiden first-class 50 for Tom Lawes, but Surrey’s batting was overly cautious for too long.The eventual chase was 297 from 52 overs, but despite a solid start from Ben Slater (39) and acting captain Haseeb Hameed (44 not out ) a draw was agreed with the visitors 118 for 1.Surrey began the day 156 ahead with five wickets down, so were understandably keen to avoid a collapse which would have afforded the men of Trent Bridge a more comfortable chase. Consequently, progress from Lawes and Jacks was at best steady, the main talking point being an accidental beamer by Paterson to Lawes from a ball which clearly slipped out of his hand.The arrival of the new ball led briefly to a change of approach as Jacks attempted to break the shackles with two fours from a Hutton over. Paterson’s unfortunate injury appeared to help the host’s cause, but Hutton responded magnificently in adversity, trapping Jacks lbw before sending first-innings centurion Jordan Clark packing by the same means.Surrey went to lunch on 299 for 7, 255 in front but anyone hoping they would have a quick dart on the resumption were disappointed as they chewed up more than 11 overs in adding a further 41.Lawes reached 50 in 106 balls before Harrison had him superbly caught at slip by Matthew Montgomery. The leg-spinner then turned catcher to remove Sean Abbott and give Hutton his fourth victim.The run-chase may have been more tempting had Jamie Overton been given out caught at mid-wicket soon afterwards, but the square leg umpire ruled the catch hadn’t carried and consequently another seven overs slipped by before Hutton wrapped up the innings.Hameed and Slater saw off the early swing from the Kookaburra in the run-chase, the latter more than once despatching the short ball to the fence. However, the run-rate required which had begun at almost six continued to rise. By the time Slater cut Jacks into the hands of Abbott at point from what proved the last ball before tea to depart for 39, that rate was almost seven.A barrage of short balls from Overton immediate post the tea interval slowed down Nottinghamshire’s progress still further and Hameed and Young batted with few alarms before the 5pm handshakes.

India, who are already through to the final, may be tempted to rest some players

Hemant Brar14-Sep-20233:35

Kumble: ‘If fit, bring in Shreyas Iyer and give Hardik Pandya a break’

Big picture: A chance to test bench strength

India have already qualified for the final of Asia Cup 2023. Bangladesh are no longer in contention. And that means Friday’s match between these two sides is a dead rubber. However, with the ODI World Cup less than a month away, it’s a chance for both teams to test their bench strength and try out any new combination they want to.India have already ticked most boxes. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli have been among the runs at the top. Ishan Kishan’s gritty knocks in the middle have given the team management a happy headache. KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah have not only proved their fitness but also shown excellent form. The only thing left to see is when and how Shreyas Iyer returns from back spasms he suffered just before the Super Fours game against Pakistan.Things couldn’t have gone in a more opposite direction for Bangladesh. Besides registering just one win in the tournament so far, they have also had tough luck with injuries.Related

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Tamim Iqbal and Ebadot Hossain were ruled out even before the tournament started. Litton Das missed the first round because of illness. After scoring 89 and 104 in successive games, Najmul Hossain Shanto suffered a hamstring injury and went back home. Now even Mushfiqur Rahim is unavailable; he has been granted an extension of leave to be with his wife, who is recovering after giving birth to their second child.With so many first-choice players unavailable, Bangladesh may look to try out a new combination. At the same time, they would like to finish on a positive note as well.

Form guide

India WWWWL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLWLW

In the spotlight: Axar Patel and Mohammad Naim

On a turning track in Colombo, where India lost all ten wickets to spin, and Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja picked up six between them, Axar Patel went wicketless in his five overs while leaking 29 runs. Before the match, Anil Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day that with Jadeja already in the World Cup squad as a left-arm spin-bowling allrounder, he would have considered picking R Ashwin or Washington Sundar instead of Axar. Can Axar repay the selectors’ faith?Mohammad Naim has scores of 16, 28, 20 and 21 in the tournament•Associated Press

Bangladesh opener Mohammad Naim has played all four matches for his team so far in the tournament. He got starts in every innings, and reached 20 on three occasions, but failed to convert any of them into a substantial score, with a best of 28 against Afghanistan. In his fledgling ODI career, Naim has 95 runs in eight matches at an average of 13.57 and a strike rate of 60.50. Is it time for Bangladesh to look beyond him?

Team news

On Thursday, Iyer batted in the nets during India’s optional practice session. If 100% fit, he could come in for either Kishan or Rahul. Bumrah could also be rested with Mohammed Shami replacing him. The pitch could once again decide if India go with Shardul Thakur or Axar.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer/KL Rahul, 5 Ishan Kishan (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur/Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Mohammed Shami/Jasprit BumrahBangladesh could consider bringing in Tanzid Hasan for Naim and Afif Hossain for Mushfiqur. Litton Das could don the wicketkeeping gloves.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 2 Tanzid Hasan/Mohammad Naim, 3 Litton Das (wk), 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Nasum Ahmed, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Hasan Mahmud

Pitch and conditions

With Colombo having hosted four games in six days, expect the pitch to be on the slower side. There’s a slight chance of rain throughout the duration of the match.

Stats and trivia

• Jadeja is one strike away from becoming the seventh Indian with 200 ODI wickets, and the first Indian since Kapil Dev (3783 runs and 253 wickets) to complete the double of 2000 runs and 200 wickets.
• Shubman Gill needs 96 runs to become the first batter to 1000 mark in ODIs this year.
• Since the start of 2022, Kohli has an average of 13.00 against left-arm fingerspinners, with eight dismissals in 11 innings.
• While India lost the two bilateral ODI series they played against Bangladesh since 2015, they have a 100% win record against them in multi-nation tournaments during this period.

Quotes

“Personally very happy with the way Hardik [the bowler] has shaped up, something that we worked for a long time. We have been planning on this, managing his workload, making sure he is fit first and is able to achieve what we expect out of him. That you could see in the last game. He has been doing that consistently – hitting that 140kph mark. Once he does that, he is a different bowler. From the team’s perspective, he is a wicket-taking option that we have.”

Another Rohit Sharma special the icing on the cake for a packed house in Ahmedabad

Danyal Rasool14-Oct-20231:32

Urooj Mumtaz bemoans Pakistan’s batting

The game that always promises and rarely delivers came and went once more, promising plenty at various stages, and ultimately delivering what a blue mass of humanity had come to see: a crushing India win. A stunning middle-overs collapse from Pakistan which had them lose eight wickets for 36 runs turned what should have been an enthralling run chase into a dull formality.Each India bowler played a part in their own way, five different players splitting the ten Pakistan wickets evenly. With Pakistan folding for 191, India – spearheaded by captain Rohit Sharma – dazzled and sizzled, though really, it was like bringing a gun to a knife fight. Pakistan had already checked out of this game, and were bystanders as India romped home in front of around 100,000 supporters to go to pole position in World Cup race for which they look favourites.India won the toss and opted to bowl, flying in the face of one of the features of their historical ODI World Cup dominance over Pakistan: making them chase. Just in one of their previous seven World Cup encounters have India triumphed by chasing, but on a slow, low pitch, India left the job of figuring out the par score to Pakistan’s batters. Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq batted with impressive calm in a cauldron early on, negotiating Jasprit Bumrah while putting away Mohammed Siraj with relative ease. And when Shafique fell victim to low bounce and Imam to a slightly wild shot, Babar and Mohammad Rizwan stepped in, and began to steady the ship once more.Pakistan weren’t being flashy, but it felt like they were being mature, taking the emotion out of the game and accepting the task ahead would require steel and grit. India’s bowlers, for their part, never really let them out of sight. A couple of expensive overs would be followed by several tight ones, the first-change bowlers backing up the openers, and Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja executing their tight-fisted roles to perfection. But none of it appeared to be unsettling Pakistan’s two best batters much, who struck up a sedate 50-run partnership, and began to assume a position of dominance when their captain brought up his first half-century of the tournament.Related

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Pakistan sat pretty at 155 for 2, but the blue touchpaper was about to be metaphorically lit in Ahmedabad. Siraj had been expensive in his second spell, too, but as Babar tried to angle one down to deep third, that devilish low bounce struck again, knocking back his off stump. Next ball, Saud Shakeel called for a run that was never there, saved only by an errant throw. After 30 overs of calm, Pakistan’s nerves began to fray.And Kuldeep knew just how to exploit them. He would say later he knew Shakeel liked the sweep shot so he dragged his length back and skidded one on, trapping him in front. The same over, Iftikhar Ahmed was unfortunate to chop one on to his stumps – bowled around his legs – off his gloves. India had introduced panic into an eerily calm Pakistan, and it would never be the same again.Bumrah, curiously wicketless until then, cleaned up Rizwan one shy of a half-century with an unplayable offcutter, before a quicker one – equally impossible to negotiate – toppled Shadab’s off stump. Hardik Pandya put paid to Mohammad Nawaz and Ravindra Jadeja mopped up the tail. A taut Ahmedabad suddenly had all the pressure released, and with India due to bat soon, a carnival-like atmosphere took hold.Mohammed Siraj knocking over Babar Azam initiated a collapse of 8 for 36•ICC/Getty Images

There was reason for Indian fans – and there were almost exclusively Indian fans in this colosseum – to be excited for what would follow. Rohit came out in the same creamy, luscious form he demonstrated against Afghanistan, taking the attack to Pakistan’s vaunted pace unit early, biting chunks out of the low target. Shubman Gill, recovered from a nasty bout of dengue fever, was similarly enterprising, and the pair struck five fours off the first two overs before one slash off Afridi flew straight to Shadab at point.It meant Virat Kohli and Rohit were united at the crease, just like they had been during that decorated-procession-like chase against Afghanistan. While Kohli timed the ball well enough, this was the Rohit show. Haris Rauf came into the attack and was greeted by a monstrous tonk over mid-on for Rohit’s 300th ODI six. Three balls later, he would play perhaps the shot of the game, a sliced six over cover after perfectly reading an attempted slower ball.Kohli miscued one to mid-on off Hasan Ali, but India were under no pressure whatsoever. Shreyas Iyer was a useful accomplice to the devastating beauty at the other end, which had Rohit bring up a 36-ball half-century. Next over, Rauf was pulled over square leg in another sumptuous display of strokemaking by Rohit as India sped towards the target.Rohit Sharma did not let Shaheen Afridi settle•AFP/Getty Images

Shadab, hopelessly out of form, was never going to alter the trajectory of this game. After a couple of tight overs, he was bulldozed out of the attack by Iyer and Rohit, his last delivery a loopy waist-high full toss which was such a gift it may as well have come with a bow on it. Rohit would dispatch it into the stands over midwicket, and the first ball next over, Iyer was treating Nawaz the same way.Ahmedabad now waited expectantly for another Rohit ton, though in that aspect, they would be disappointed. Afridi returned and found a way to make the Indian captain miscue one to midwicket, and he perished 14 short. But that was as good as it would get for Pakistan, as KL Rahul and Iyer eased home, the latter bringing up his unbeaten half-century with the winning shot, a straight drive for four.It was the exclamation mark on a win that had been scripted a few hours previously in a manic ten-over spell.

Megan Schutt, Shabnim Ismail and Sophia Dunkley among the big overseas players not retained by their respective teams

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Oct-2023

Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals have retained 15 of their 18 squad members. Among the three released are Tara Norris, who was the only Associate player across teams in the inaugural season, and Jasia Akhtar, the Jammu and Kashmir batter known for her power-hitting in India’s domestic circuit. Capitals will go into the 2024 auction with a purse of INR 2.25 crore to fill up to three slots.Squad: Alice Capsey*, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen*, Laura Harris*, Marizanne Kapp*, Meg Lanning*, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniya Bhatia, Titas SadhuReleased: Aparna Mondal, Jasia Akhtar, Tara Norris*

Gujarat Giants

Gujarat Giants, who finished at the bottom of the points table last season, have released more than half of their squad members, including four overseas players: Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth and Sophia Dunkley. Laura Wolvaardt, who was an injury replacement for Beth Mooney, has been retained, as is Mooney.That means they have ten vacancies now, and will have the biggest purse at the mini-auction – INR 5.95 crore – to fill those.Squad: Ashleigh Gardner*, Beth Mooney*, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt*, Shabnam Shakil, Sneh Rana, Tanuja KanwarReleased: Annabel Sutherland*, Ashwani Kumari, Georgia Wareham*, Hurley Gala, Kim Garth*, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, Parunika Sisodia, Sabbineni Meghana, Sophia Dunkley*, Sushma VermaESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mumbai Indians

Defending champions Mumbai Indians released just four players, out of which only Dhara Gujjar had played any part last season. Since they had only 17 players last time, they have five slots available and a purse of INR 2.1 crore, the smallest among the five franchises.Squad: Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr*, Chloe Tryon*, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews*, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong*, Jintimani Kalita, Nat Sciver-Brunt*, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika BhatiaReleased: Dhara Gujjar, Heather Graham*, Neelam Bisht, Sonam Yadav

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Megan Schutt, Dane van Niekerk and Erin Burns were the biggest names released by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Schutt played seven out of eight games last season but could pick up just four wickets at an economy of 8.46, while van Niekerk had spent the whole season on the bench. They have seven slots vacant, and INR 3.35 to fill them.Squad: Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry*, Heather Knight*, Indrani Roy, Kanika Ahuja, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine*Released: Dane van Niekerk*, Erin Burns*, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt*, Poonam Khemnar, Preeti Bose, Sahana Pawar

UP Warriorz

UP Warriorz retained their core; Shabnim Ismail, who played just three games last season because of the team combination, was the only overseas player released. Among Indians, the franchise let go of Devika Vaidya, Shivali Shinde and Simran Shaikh. Vaidya, who was signed at INR 1.4 crore, managed just 77 runs and one wicket in seven matches. Warriorz will have INR 4 crore at the auction to fill five slots.Squad: Alyssa Healy*, Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris*, Kiran Navgire, Lauren Bell*, Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, S Yashasri, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone*, Tahlia McGrath*Released: Devika Vaidya, Shabnim Ismail*, Shivali Shinde, Simran Shaikh

“We wanted to take that semi-final out of the equation, not to think too much about it”

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-20232:35

Is Shami India’s greatest ODI bowler of all time?

India have made it ten out of ten at the World Cup. They have been clinical pretty much all the way, dominating with the bat and with the ball, but that wasn’t quite the case on Wednesday in Mumbai in the semi-final against New Zealand, even if the margin of victory – 70 runs – sounds comprehensive enough. Captain Rohit Sharma acknowledged that it was among the toughest matches India played at this World Cup, adding that his side had to “stay collected” and take the “semi-final off the equation” to stay in the game and pull off a win.”The way our bowlers came and bowled up front with the new ball, getting those wickets… when you have a target [India scored 397] like that, you’ve got to take wickets upfront. And we did that exactly,” Rohit said on Star Sports after the game. “Today being the semi-finals, I wouldn’t say that there was no pressure. Whenever you play the game, there is always pressure, and obviously semi-final adds a bit of extra there. But I think the guys were doing the job.”To be honest, we wanted to take that semi-final out of the equation, not to think too much about it. We just wanted to keep doing what we’ve been doing in the first nine games that we played, and things came off for us really nicely in the second half as well.”Despite their big total, India were put under pressure by Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson, who put together 181 runs together in 149 balls in their third-wicket partnership, silencing the Wankhede crowd in the process, with Mitchell bringing up an 85-ball hundred and Williamson a resolute half-century.India also dropped Williamson – Mohammed Shami spilling a sitter at mid-on – and also missed a run-out chance when the two were batting together. At that point, New Zealand were in control of the chase. But Shami, who had picked the first two wickets, came back in the 33rd over to provide the breakthrough with Williamson’s wicket.”When the scoring rate is above nine all the time, you got to keep taking your chances,” Rohit said. “Sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn’t. They gave us chances, we didn’t take them. But credit to them as well in the middle, Mitchell and Williamson batted brilliantly.”Again, for us, it was important to stay calm. At one point, the crowd went absolutely silent, that’s the nature of the game. But we knew that we had to pull something up from our sleeves and need a magic, either a good catch or a run out or maybe a magic delivery. But we tried everything we couldn’t [break through], but again, Shami was brilliant.”I’ve played a lot of cricket here [at the Wankhede]. So I know any score on this ground… you cannot relax, you got to get the job done as quickly as possible and stay at it. We knew there will be pressure on us at some stage there will be partnership. We just got to stay collected and I think that’s what we did. We were calm even though we were a bit sloppy on the field. But that can happen. We’ve got nine perfect games on the field. So, these things are bound to happen. But I’m glad that we could get the job done in the end.”Virat Kohli gets the crowd going as India close in on their win•AFP/Getty Images

The Wankhede is known for being batting-friendly, and it didn’t play any differently on the day.India were off to a rollicking start, with Rohit and Shubman Gill putting up a 75-run opening stand off just 50 balls. Kohli registered his record 50th ODI century and Shreyas Iyer brought up a century of his own, hitting 105 off just 70 balls. India plundered 110 runs off the last ten overs to get to their third 350-plus total of the tournament.”The top-five-six batters, whenever they’ve gotten an opportunity, they’ve made it really count,” Rohit said. “Very, very pleased to see what Iyer has done for us in this tournament. Gill, the way he batted up front was brilliant. Unfortunately, he started getting cramps so we had to bring him back.”Kohli was brilliant as usual, played his trademark innings and got to that landmark milestone as well. All in all, the batting was superb, and that is the kind of template we want to bat with and move forward with.”