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Sonny Baker has won his maiden England call-up for the forthcoming ODI series against South Africa, while Jacob Bethell’s rapid rise continues after he was named captain of the T20I side to tour Ireland immediately after.Bethell is set to become England’s youngest men’s captain when he deputises for Harry Brook in three T20Is. Still only 21, Bethell will beat the mark currently held by Monty Bowden, who was 23 and 144 days when he led England against South Africa at Cape Town on the Test tour of 1888-89.Related

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• Originals hold off David Warner charge to record first win

South Africa will arrive to play three ODIs and three T20Is next month, which will conclude England’s home season. Brook will then sit out the three-match trip to Ireland, along with four other all-format players – Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith – as part of workload management.Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick will also take the reins from Brendon McCullum for the games in Malahide.Baker impressed with England Lions over the winter, which led to him being awarded an England development contract. Capable of bowling around the 90mph mark, he has caught the eye with Hampshire and Manchester Originals this summer.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

He joins an ODI squad that is largely unchanged from the group that beat West Indies 3-0 in Brook’s first series as permanent white-ball captain earlier in the summer. Gus Atkinson, Luke Wood and Tom Hartley drop out, though Wood is included in both T20I squads and Hartley will travel to Ireland. Atkinson will likely build up his red-ball loads ahead of the winter’s Ashes.Rehan Ahmed returns to the ODI group and is included in all three squads after a prolific summer with the bat. Baker is also in the Ireland T20I squad, as is Matthew Potts, who debuted in the format against West Indies.”Jacob Bethell has impressed with his leadership qualities ever since he has been with the England squads and the series against Ireland will provide him with the opportunity to further develop those skills on the international stage,” England men’s selector, Luke Wright, said.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Sonny is a player we have identified for a while and he was impressive during the England Lions tours last winter. He has carried that form into this season in white-ball cricket with Hampshire and Manchester Originals and deservedly gets his opportunity.”England ODI squad to face South Africa: Harry Brook (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jamie SmithEngland T20I squad to face South Africa: Harry Brook (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Luke WoodEngland T20I squad to face Ireland: Jacob Bethell (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Luke Wood

Big picture: Punjab Kings among frontrunners for playoffs

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had a golden opportunity just ten days ago to steer their IPL 2025 campaign in the right direction. Chasing a modest 112 against Punjab Kings (PBKS), two points were there for the taking along with a potential net run rate boost. But in a stunning collapse, KKR folded for just 95. That blow was compounded by another heavy defeat, to Gujarat Titans (GT) on Monday. Both losses illustrated how out-of-form their middle and lower-middle order has been, and that has left their title defence hanging by a thread. Five wins in their remaining six games is their equation to be realistic playoff contenders.For PBKS, that dramatic win over KKR may have been the turning point of their season. With points shared in their home-and-away clashes against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), PBKS have five wins in eight games and now find themselves among the frontrunners in the race for the playoffs.Related

• Can KKR find a way out of their middle-order mess?

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PBKS need at least three wins from their remaining six fixtures to breathe easy. But history looms large: the playoffs have eluded them since 2014. The only thing missing in their game is middle-order stability, and that could be the difference between qualification, a top-four finish and a top-two push.The last two games between PBKS and KKR have seen the former produce the highest successful IPL chase and the lowest successful target defence. KKR, in contrast, are a side searching for answers. Eight players from their championship-winning squad still make up the core, but the spark that once defined them feels distant. Having enjoyed a 71% success at home in IPL 2024, their record at Eden Gardens is only 25% in 2025. On current form, PBKS hold the edge as their batting is in form, their bowlers have rhythm, something KKR are lacking, big time.

Form guide

Kolkata Knight Riders LLWLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Punjab Kings LWWLW

In the spotlight: Venkatesh Iyer and Yuzvendra Chahal

KKR have stood firmly behind Venkatesh Iyer ever since his breakout season. They retained him ahead of Shubman Gill before IPL 2022 and invested heavily in him at the IPL 2025 auction. But so far this season, Venkatesh’s three single-digit scores in six innings and a sluggish 14 off 19 against GT have highlighted his struggles. On Saturday, he faces another stern test in Marco Jansen, who has dismissed him three times in four innings, conceding just 14 runs at an average of 4.67. Can he push past a poor campaign and deliver when it matters most?Yuzvendra Chahal was the hero when PBKS had stunned KKR•BCCI

Yuzvendra Chahal has rediscovered his rhythm after a slow start to IPL 2025, claiming seven wickets in his last three outings. His standout performance came against KKR where he tore through their middle order with a decisive four-wicket haul. The key to Chahal’s resurgence has been a return to his strengths: tossing the ball up, using flight and dip, and trusting his variations to deceive batters. His revival has added real bite to the PBKS middle-overs attack.

Team news and probable XIIs

KKR’s bench strength is not strong, therefore no clear replacement is expected despite their two defeats in a row. Rahmanullah Gurbaz is expected to keep his place as opener, and the only question will be Moeen Ali, Spencer Johnson or Anrich Nortje for the fourth overseas spot.Kolkata Knight Riders 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 4 Venkatesh Iyer, 5 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Anrich Nortje/Spencer Johnson, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Vaibhav Arora.3:13

Finch: Hard for Shreyas to be consistent with high-risk starts

None of Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell or Josh Inglis has been among the runs for PBKS. All three have had their chances and not impressed, but Maxwell’s offspin could make him a candidate to return to the XI in place of Stoinis with KKR enjoying a left-hander-heavy line-up.Punjab Kings 1 Priyansh Arya, 2 Prabhsimran Singh (wk), 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Josh Inglis, 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Marcus Stoinis/Glenn Maxwell, 7 Shashank Singh, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Marco Jansen, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Xavier Bartlett, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal

The big question

KKR have the poorest average (19) for the first wicket in IPL 2025. With time running out, is it time to replace Narine at the top as well?

Pitch and conditions

Although conditions in Kolkata favour the chasing team with dew expected, their game against GT showed no such signs with Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore finding turn. This game will be played on the same pitch, and the team winning the toss could be tempted to bat first.

Stats and trivia

• Both teams have middle-order (Nos. 4 to 7) woes. While KKR’s average for those positions is the worst (20.47), PBKS are not too far at 23.90.
• Shreyas Iyer has had contrasting home and away campaigns this season. In four games apiece, Shreyas has averaged 119 at away venues but only 6.25 at home.
• Similarly, PBKS’ powerplay performances with bat and ball are vastly different. Thanks to Prabhsimran and Arya, their powerplay run rate of 10.67 is the best of all teams, however, their ten wickets with the ball in the first six overs is the joint-lowest.
• Since IPL 2022, KKR have lost all seven games when their spinners Narine and Varun have gone wicketless together. There were three such games in 2022, one in 2023 and three in 2025.

Quotes

“Yes definitely (we can make playoffs). If you look at history, even Mumbai had a bad start and now they’ve won four in a row and they’re flying. We need to have that same mindset. We’re halfway through, we have to win most of our games”
“If you look at Shreyas’ contribution since the Champions Trophy, not only has he become consistent against spin bowling but against fast bowling as well. He has shown the hunger and is ready to accept every challenge he comes across. He has done some hard work behind the scenes and that is showing.”

Are India giving serious thought to adding Varun Chakravarthy to their Champions Trophy squad? For now, the answer to that question is… possibly.Varun’s inclusion in India’s squad for the three-match ODI series against England is one of the most intriguing eleventh-hour selections in recent times. He is yet to make his ODI debut, but his recent T20I performances have made him hard to ignore: since his comeback to India’s squad last year, he’s taken 31 wickets at 11.25.”Yeah, look, he has certainly shown something different,” Rohit Sharma said of Varun on the eve of the first ODI against England in Nagpur. “I understand that it is the T20 format, but he’s clearly got something different about him, so we just wanted to have an option and see what we can do with him. Clearly during this series, it presents us an opportunity to play him at some stage and see what he’s capable of.Related

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“Right now, we are not thinking about whether we’re going to take him [to the Champions Trophy] or not, but definitely he will be in contention. If things pan out really well for us and he does what is required, then definitely there is something that we need to think about.”Varun has always been known for being hard to hit through the middle overs of T20 matches, but the work he has put into becoming less of a pure mystery spinner and more of a conventional wristspinner with a high degree of overspin has turned him into a serial wicket-taker. He has two five-fors in 12 T20I innings since his comeback, and has only once failed to take at least two wickets.While Varun has only played 23 List A games, he has shown the same wicket-taking ability across the last two editions of the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy, finishing as the tournament’s joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2023-24 edition and as the joint-second-highest wicket-taker in 2024-25.While all eight teams have already named their Champions Trophy squads, they still have until February 12 to make changes if needed. India have made such changes ahead of previous ICC tournaments, replacing Axar Patel with Shardul Thakur ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup and Axar once again with R Ashwin ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup.At present, India’s Champions Trophy squad includes four spinners in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav, with Kuldeep having just returned to action after undergoing a hernia operation.Rahul vs Pant – ‘A good headache’
Ahead of the England ODIs and the Champions Trophy, one of the biggest selection debates India face is over their wicketkeeper. KL Rahul has been their first-choice ODI keeper in recent times, and contributed significantly in that role and with runs at No. 5 during the 2023 World Cup. But Rishabh Pant, who missed that tournament while recovering from injuries sustained in a car crash, has since returned to action, and presents an explosive option whose left-handedness is an asset in an otherwise exclusively right-handed top order.Rohit didn’t reveal who India would go with to start the England series, but highlighted the importance of “continuity”, hinting that it could well be Rahul.1:20

India selection questions: Gill or Jaiswal? Rahul or Pant?

“Obviously, KL has been keeping wickets for us in the ODI format for a number of years now, and he’s done pretty well,” Rohit said. “If you look at the last 10-15 ODIs, he’s done exactly what the team required him to do. Rishabh as well, he’s there, we’ve got the option of playing either one of them.”Both are quite capable of winning games on their own, so it’s a good headache to have whether to play KL or Rishabh, but obviously, looking at what we’ve done in the past, having that continuity is also very important for us, so that is where we stand as a team, with KL and Rishabh.”No clarity yet on Bumrah’s availability
Jasprit Bumrah, who is recovering from a back issue, is part of India’s Champions Trophy squad, and was also included in the squad for the third ODI against England. The BCCI release that announced the addition of Varun to the ODI squad, however, made no mention of Bumrah, raising the question of whether or not he was still part of India’s plans for the third ODI.Rohit said the selectors and team management were waiting on results of a scan that Bumrah would undergo “in the next few days”.”Look, Jasprit, obviously we’re waiting on some update about his scan and stuff, which was due to happen in the next few days,” Rohit said. “Once we get that scan, we’ll be able to give you more clarity on where he stands right now.”

Anil Kumble feels that KL Rahul is always put under unnecessary pressure, but his innings against Australia in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy in Dubai should give him “a lot of confidence”.In a chase of 265, Rahul came out to bat at No. 6, at the fall of Axar Patel’s wicket. Axar and Virat Kohli had added 44 off 52 balls for the fourth wicket but India still needed 87 off 90 balls. Rahul stitched handy partnerships with Kohli and Hardik Pandya and saw India home with an unbeaten 42 off 34 balls.”He [Rahul] should have come ahead of Axar Patel,” Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day. “I know Axar did a good job of getting that partnership with Virat Kohli but someone like KL Rahul coming in at that stage and this is what he can do – if he gets to 30, he will ensure that you cross the line. He does that and he does that consistently. Yes, he missed out on one opportunity in the last game against New Zealand, but otherwise KL is a class act. This will certainly give him a lot of confidence.Related

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“There is a lot of pressure on him. If he does well, it’s expected. If he fails even in one innings, suddenly the whole world comes after him. He was under pressure, even with his keeping in the last game, but today he showed what he is capable of.”After the match, Rahul said he was “quite used to” batting in different positions, but Sanjay Manjrekar, Kumble’s co-panellist, had a different take.”Sometimes we wonder if little time is good for KL Rahul, because then he is only thinking of attacking,” Manjrekar said. “Today he wanted to take the onus of attacking. And when he plays attacking shots, then he looks like the player… I have rarely seen KL Rahul play an innings where he is playing steadily, ones and twos, grafting and getting a hundred and winning a game, like Virat Kohli does. So maybe down the order in a way suits him.”I am so happy for him. This is a guy who is so sensitive. You can see that every mistake he makes or every batting failure he has just plays on his mind. I don’t know him well. Anil knows him better obviously. But he seems like a nice guy and India want him to be part of the playing XI. So this kind of an innings… at the end of the game, he was a happy man.”

South Africa’s bowling stocks have taken another hit after Gerald Coetzee, who was expected to be named as Anrich Nortje’s replacement in the the Champions Trophy squad, missed Joburg Super Kings’ match against Pretoria Capitals with a hamstring injury on Thursday and was subsequently ruled out of the remainder of the SA20 on SundayCSA, however, said Coetzee “remains in contention for selection” for the Champions Trophy and that a decision on his inclusion would be made in the first week of February. The deadline for submitting the final squads to the ICC is February 11.Coetzee had played JSK’s previous match against Durban’s Super Giants at Kingsmead, which was his first competitive game since the Test against Sri Lanka in Durban, where he injured his groin. He was ruled out of the rest of the international summer, after he had come back from a hip niggle and a 12-week conditioning block. He did not play any cricket between a game at the MLC in July (his only one in the competition) and a domestic match for the Titans in October. Then, he appeared fitter and faster than before, playing in all four of South Africa’s T20I fixtures against India, and took 4 for 85 in the first Test against Sri Lanka before he was ruled out again.Related

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It was confirmed by South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter that Coetzee had been in line for a Champions Trophy place but left out in favour of the more experienced Nortje. With Nortje sidelined with a back problem and Coetzee now injured as well, Walter, who is the sole selector of the team, will have to mine the depths of the reserves.With Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder already in the squad, Walter could look to 18-year old tearaway Kwena Maphaka or South Africa’s most recent ODI cap, Corbin Bosch, if he is looking for pace or may have to move away from that entirely. Death-bowling specialist Ottneil Baartman is another option with almost everyone else in contention currently injured.Nandre Burger will not return to action this summer after suffering a lower-back stress fracture while Lizaad Williams is recovering from knee surgery. Daryn Dupavillon, who was playing for Pretoria Capitals, is also ruled out of the SA20 with a hamstring concern.Dupavillon is the eighth seamer to be injured this summer. The others were Ngidi (groin), Coetzee, Mulder (broken finger), Nortje (broken toe, then back), Williams, Baartman and Burger. Barring Burger, Nortje, Williams and now, Coetzee, the others have returned to action.

England will make a late decision on Kate Cross’s fitness for the one-off Test against South Africa in Bloemfontein, but have opted to play an extra seamer either way, as thoughts begin to turn to their upcoming Ashes challenge in January.Cross, England’s senior seamer, bowled just five balls in Wednesday’s third ODI at Potchefstroom before leaving the field with a back spasm. She will attempt to bowl in the nets on Saturday, but if she’s not deemed fit enough to take part, Ryana MacDonald-Gay – who was drafted into the Test squad as cover – will make her Test debut, with Sophia Dunkley set to miss out among the batters.Speaking on the eve of the contest, captain Heather Knight admitted her team had to balance their desire to cap a successful tour of South Africa against the challenge that awaits in Australia. And Cross, who was instrumental in England’s Ashes Test win in Perth in 2013-14, remains a key part of that consideration.”We’ll have to wait and see,” Knight said. “Obviously, she went down in that first ODI, and it’s pretty rare to see Kate in that much pain. So we’ll have to see how that reacts. She’ll try and have a little bowl today, try and get a couple of spells in, and then we’ll make a call based on what we think is best for the team.”Obviously we’ve got a huge amount of cricket coming up as well, so that’s going be at the forefront [of our thoughts]. Kate’s such a key player for us in one-day cricket and Test cricket. We want to give her the biggest chance, because she’s so desperate to play Test cricket, but we feel like our seam bowlers are going to be so important over the next month, so we want to really look after them.”So, “I don’t know” is the honest answer, but if she doesn’t play, we’ll obviously miss her.”The upcoming Test will be South Africa’s first on home soil in 22 years, and Knight – who still considers the format to be her favourite despite the scarcity of opportunity – said her players were all excited at the prospect of “pulling the whites back on”. The challenge of switching mindsets from white-ball to red-ball cricket, however, would be the biggest factor for the coming four days.Related

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“From my own experiences, I absolutely love playing red-ball cricket,” Knight said. “It’s such a test, such a challenge, and something that I love doing … the mental challenge, the repetition of skills, adapting to so many different situations that you might face. I absolutely love it.”But honestly, in the build-up to the Test, everyone was like, ‘right, what do I do, how do I learn? How to develop?’ Picking a team is pretty hard, just because you’re going on minimal information, from white-ball cricket or from a Test match that was maybe a year ago.”So it’s quite hard thing to prepare for. Mentally, it’s about getting clarity around how you’re going to play. I don’t think that should differ hugely from your one-day mindset, it’s just doing things for a little bit longer and managing situations that change in a game a little bit better.”You have to be okay sometimes with not scoring, and having to soak up pressure for a little bit longer. But also I want the girls have that mindset that, when we get a chance to really put the pressure back on the opposition, can we move the game forward at a rate of knots?”The two teams last faced each other in a Test match at Taunton in 2022, where Marizanne Kapp made a brilliant 150 to set her team up for a hard-fought draw.”She’s certainly high-class, she’s a key player for them,” Knight said. “We have our plans to try and get her out. Laura [Wolvaardt]’s got potential to bat long and score some big runs as well, so she’s another key player. We want real clarity about how we want to go about it, then it’s about adapting to how they’re playing the game in the moment as well.”Despite the proximity of the Ashes, where the Test will be held for the first time at the vast MCG, Knight insisted England’s focus was all in the “here-and-now”.”We’re totally focused on this Test match. It’s been in the calendar, and it’s something that the girls have highlighted that they really want to play in and really want to do well. Any chance to play a Test match is really cool.”We’ve had one eye on the Ashes throughout this series and trying to prep for that, whilst also not looking too far ahead and doing what we need to do to have some success. And obviously we’ve had huge success on this tour. It’s been a brilliant trip for us, a really successful tour. We’ve had loads of learnings as well, and things we can fine tune before we go into the Ashes.”

Somerset have agreed a return for Australia quick Riley Meredith next year. Meredith, 28, will be available for the Vitality Blast, as well as potentially in the County Championship and One-Day Cup, depending on the structure of the season.Meredith enjoyed a successful first spell in county cricket during the summer, his 14 wickets in the Blast helping defending champions Somerset reach Finals Day – although he was unable to play in the knockout stages after being called up by Australia. He also picked up six wickets in three One-Day Cup appearances.”I really enjoyed my time with Somerset this year and I’m looking forward to coming back to England next summer,” Meredith said. “We played some good cricket, and it was nice to be able to play a part in some good wins. Hopefully, we can go on to lift some silverware in 2025.”Somerset’s director of cricket, Andy Hurry, said. “We were all extremely impressed with how Riley performed on the field and by how he seamlessly he fitted into the group.”He showed that he is a world-class performer, and he brought something a little different to our already outstanding attack. He bowled with genuine pace and aggression and will once again be a valuable addition to our squad next summer.”

Kyle Abbott and Liam Dawson claimed four wickets each as Hampshire boosted their bid for runners-up spot in the Vitality County Championship by skittling nearest rivals Somerset for 136 on the opening day of the final Division One match at Taunton.Seamer Abbott returned 4 for 37 and left-arm spinner Dawson 4 for 28. Only Tom Kohler-Cadmore, with 63, offered much resistance after the hosts had won the toss and elected to bat first on a dry surface, expected to take spin.By the close of a rain-interrupted day, Hampshire had struggled to 62 for 5 in reply, Toby Albert unbeaten on 38 and Jack Leach taking 3 for 9. But, having failed to claim any batting points, Somerset now have to win the game to overtake their opponents and finish second behind champions Surrey.The home side’s batting problems began with the fourth ball of the second over when Tom Lammonby, promoted from No. 3 to open with Archie Vaughan, fell lbw to Abbott without scoring. Soon it was 4 for 2 as Andy Umeed was caught by wicketkeeper Ben Brown off the same bowler for a second-ball duck.Tom Abell, on 5, survived a confident appeal for a catch behind off Mohammad Abbas, who then bowled him through the gate for 10 with the total on 29. Kohler-Cadmore’s response was to launch his innings with four boundaries in the space of five balls.Vaughan had recovered from an uncertain start and was unbeaten on 19 when rain interrupted play with Somerset 52 for 3 from 14 overs. An early lunch was taken at 12.15pm and the action resumed at shortly after 1.20pm, with ten overs lost.Hampshire immediately introduced Dawson to the attack and he quickly found some turn to pin Vaughan leg before for 29 with his sixth delivery to make it 63 for 4. With only a single added, James Rew edged Abbas to second slip where Albert snapped up a low two-handed catch. Kasey Aldridge went 22 balls without scoring before trying to sweep successive deliveries from Dawson, the second of which saw him fall lbw.Lewis Gregory helped an increasingly restrained Kohler-Cadmore add 27 for the seventh wicket before being struck on the back pad by a delivery from Dawson and departing to another leg before decision for 16.At 98 for 7, Somerset were in disarray. But Kohler-Cadmore stood firm to record his first Championship half-century of a red-ball season heavily curtailed by participation in the IPL. He had faced 85 balls and struck five fours and a six over midwicket off James Fuller.Leach looked to be lending decent support when caught at slip for 9 aiming a big hit off Dawson. When tea was taken at 3.30pm, the scoreboard read 128 for 8.Kohler-Cadmore did his best to farm the strike at the start of the final session and the scoreboard ticked slowly to 136 before he was caught behind driving at a ball from Abbott. Last man Shoaib Bashir, who had survived being bowled first ball because of the distraction of Abbott’s towel flying to the ground as he released the delivery, quickly became the fifth lbw victim of a sorry batting display lasting just 53.5 overs.Alfie Ogborne had battled away for 24 balls to score 1 not out and the young left-arm seamer lifted Somerset spirits by having Fletcha Middleton caught at second slip off the eighth ball of Hampshire’s reply. It would have been 0 for 2 had Aldridge not spilled a routine slip catch offered by Albert off Gregory in the third over.With the total on 13, Nick Gubbins edged Gregory to first slip where Abell took a good catch low to his right. Somerset were back in the game when James Vince, having hit Vaughan for six over deep square, aimed another big hit at Leach and skied a catch off a leading edge to Abell at backward point.Leach struck again when Tom Prest drove a catch to extra cover and then bowled Dawson between bat and pad. For the first time in a Championship match, Somerset had picked both Leach and Bashir, bowling the two England spinners in tandem towards the end of the day.

The chatter surrounding India’s No. 3 slot has taken another twist, with Smriti Mandhana saying that the batter will be chosen based on the conditions and match situation.”The wicket condition and ground conditions are a lot different to what we thought when we came here,” Mandhana, India’s vice-captain, said on Tuesday. “It just depends on the match situation, who we are playing, how the wicket is playing, and what score we are chasing as well. I think that also is a big consideration. I wouldn’t say that it was all planned.”Head coach Amol Muzumdar had all but confirmed prior to India’s women’s T20 World Cup opener that Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain, was the chosen one for the key position.Related

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Harmanpreet, who has been cleared of any major injury after leaving the field with a neck sprain in India’s previous game, batted at No. 3 in both the warm-ups as well as in the opening game against New Zealand. On Sunday, against Pakistan, India sent in Jemimah Rodrigues in a chase of 106 after a slow start. Harmanpreet slotted in at No. 4. Of the players in the squad, Yastika Bhatia is another option for the spot.Mandhana suggested that while conditions in the UAE have been challenging, the difference between batting in an afternoon game (vs Pakistan) and an evening game (vs New Zealand) wasn’t all that much, especially with dew yet to become a massive factor.”Except the New Zealand match, we haven’t seen any team go over 140 in the whole tournament – 135-140 – be it a day game or a night game. It says a lot about the conditions,” she said, prior to the start of Australia’s game on Tuesday when they made it to 148. “I wouldn’t say it changes massively in terms of the wicket or the conditions, the outfield especially. Yes, the heat is a lot more.”But yeah, I think [when] we came here, for the first two-three days, we felt a lot hotter, but now I think it’s gotten better. It feels more like Indian conditions now. So it’s not as bad as we thought. Even in the last match, we thought it would be a lot hotter than it was actually when we were playing. I wouldn’t say it changes a lot. Definitely maybe 10 or 15 runs here and there depending on how you bat, but yeah, that’s it.”India’s cautious approach with the bat against Pakistan, in particular, has led to questions about whether they were even thinking about a possible net run-rate scenario where three teams in their group might be tied on points at the top. Mandhana said points on the board were most important.”That’s the first priority for us,” she said. “I think it’s a balance between trying to find out what’s the best for the team. Of course, in the last match, I started off fine, but then later I consumed a few dot balls, which was a little irritating for me. But yeah, having said that, I think as batters we have to be really smart. We can’t just go out there thinking that we are going to take on this bowling line-up and we are just going to cruise, because of course the conditions and the outfield is a lot different.”So yeah, I think we have to keep that net run-rate in mind, but first is of course winning the match and definitely then going on and thinking about the net run-rate. Of course, the group is definitely a lot tricky. But it’s just the start. I think we don’t want to go ahead thinking a lot about what will happen but one day at a time, and if at all [against Sri Lanka] there’s a place where we think about the net run-rate, of course we’ll be trying to get it first. But I think the win is the priority.”4:48

Takeaways – Reddy, Patil’s performances great signs for India

Before the tournament, it was assumed that the Asian teams would find the conditions in Dubai and Sharjah more to their liking than, say, New Zealand, who beat India handsomely in their contest.”I’m sure the first match didn’t go the way we planned. But, having said that, we won’t shy away from taking that responsibility that we did not step up to play good cricket on that particular day,” Mandhana said. “As a batting order, as a bowling unit, I think we couldn’t do it. We had that one-off bad day where sometimes you just come and want to do everything but you’re not able to get over the line.”Having said that, I don’t think that it’s just the Asian teams that are not able to adjust to the conditions. I’m sure that in the other teams as well, it’s not like they have scored 170-odd.”But yeah, I think the brand of cricket which we want to play, I would say that in the first match we could not do that. Even in the second match, I wouldn’t say we played 100% of our cricket. I’m sure we are still better than what we have been playing. In these conditions, you have to understand your cricket very well, be very smart, and know what shots to play and which shots to play. So I don’t see any difference in Asian teams and other teams.”

Half-centuries from Sam Robson and Leus du Plooy gave Middlesex the upper hand on the second day of their Vitality County Championship game against Northamptonshire at Merchant Taylors’ School.Robson enhanced his impressive record at the Northwood venue, which includes four first-class centuries, by grinding out a vital 58 while Du Plooy hit an unbeaten 66 as the home side reached 250 for seven, a first-innings advantage of 43.However, Ben Sanderson kept Northamptonshire right in contention with figures of five for 58, regaining his status as Division Two’s leading wicket-taker after being briefly displaced by Middlesex captain Toby Roland-Jones.Northamptonshire were dismissed for 207, with Roland-Jones taking a season’s best of five for 49 – and the visitors’ hopes of restricting Middlesex to a lower total were not helped as Prithvi Shaw shelled a trio of slip catches.Sanderson and Lewis McManus, who had hauled Northamptonshire out of difficulties the previous evening, did enough to usher the visitors beyond the key landmark of 200 as they extended their partnership to 83.Sanderson unfurled a pair of classic drives to the boundary off Tom Helm and thoughts of a maiden first-class half-century must have entered the veteran seamer’s mind as he overtook McManus to reach 40.However, those thoughts were dashed when Henry Brookes bowled Sanderson around his legs and, although debutant Dom Leech cracked a cover boundary to raise the visitors’ 200, Roland-Jones quickly wrapped up the innings by capturing their last two wickets in three balls.In reply, Middlesex’s opening pair both survived close calls during the hour prior to lunch, although they made it to the interval unscathed on a surface with variable bounce and pace.With just a single to his name, Robson edged a rising delivery from Justin Broad through the slips, while Mark Stoneman offered a tricky slip chance off the same bowler and Shaw, going low to his left, was unable to hang on.Sanderson made the breakthrough soon after the resumption, getting the ball to swing and uprooting Stoneman’s off stump for 36, but Robson and Max Holden dug in for an afternoon of laborious progress.Robson cut the seamers with authority to keep the scoreboard moving and passed 50 from 118 balls with a sweet cover drive for four off leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, whose change of ends then bore immediate fruit as he trapped Holden leg before.Northamptonshire might have removed Robson as well in the next over, with Shaw – who had also put down Holden – fumbling another opportunity, but Sanderson made amends immediately after tea with two wickets in as many deliveries.With Robson lbw to one that kept low and Stephen Eskinazi succumbing in identical fashion, Middlesex were suddenly wobbling at 129 for four but a bristling partnership of 72 between Du Plooy and Fernandes was exactly what they needed.Leech eventually brought the stand to an end with his first Northamptonshire wicket, having Fernandes taken at second slip, but Du Plooy remained to nudge his side into the lead with a crisp off-driven boundary.However, Sanderson returned with the new ball and promptly claimed two more wickets in quick succession, completing his third five-for of the summer before Roland-Jones launched a late flurry of boundary-hitting.He took two fours from successive Sanderson deliveries and had just cracked Broad to the fence to earn Middlesex a batting bonus point when the deteriorating light brought play to a close.