Sri Lanka fought desperately despite a spectacular collapse lit up by a Faheem Ashraf hat-trick, and held the ascendancy right until Shadab Khan smashed a six with Pakistan needing eight from three balls

The Report by Danyal Rasool27-Oct-2017AFP

There was a hat-trick from Faheem Ashraf, and a Sri Lankan collapse that saw them lose eight wickets for 14 runs. That might suggest another rout of the hapless visitors, but nothing could be further from reality. In the game of the entire tour, Pakistan edged home with one ball to spare, with only two wickets in hand when the winning runs were struck. They were struck by none other than golden boy Shadab Khan, who smashed a six off the game’s penultimate ball to wrench victory from Sri Lanka’s desperate, clawing hands.This was a complete T20 game, beginning with intelligent batting by Sri Lanka, put in after Pakistan won the toss. That was followed by a remarkable collapse from 106 for 1 to 120 for 9. Pakistan looked like they were cruising early on, before an excellent spell by captain Thisara Perera dragged Sri Lanka back. From there, they held the ascendancy right until the last three balls. Pakistan needed eight off them. Shadab hit a straight six and a couple off the next delivery denied Sri Lanka’s valiant young side victory in an astonishing contest.It was Sri Lanka’s best game of the limited-overs tour. The batsmen early on deprived Pakistan of wickets while keeping the score ticking. A 63-run second-wicket partnership between Gunathilaka and Sadeera Samarawickrama set Thisara’s men up for a score above par, with fast bowlers Hasan Ali and Usman Khan expensive in the early overs.Shadab was the only bowler in the middle overs able to rein in Sri Lanka. At one point, they might have been eyeing 150, but a superb spell from the teenager prevented them from cutting loose. He has added another variation, a quicker one that can reach 120kph, and it removed Sri Lanka’s top scorer Gunathilaka amidst their late collapse. Shadab might not have taken heaps of wickets, but his figures of 4-0-14-1 were to prove crucial.In the madness of Sri Lanka’s final overs, Faheem Ashraf emerged as the hero with a sensational hat-trick, removing Dasun Shanaka, Isuru Udana and Mahela Udawatte off the last three balls of the 19th over. It was Pakistan’s first T20I hat-trick and, in truth, couldn’t have come from an unlikelier source.Poor running and brilliant fielding hurt Sri Lanka’s innings: there were three run outs, The wickets that crumpled in a heap towards the end crushed their hopes of a late charge, and while it was still an improvement on yesterday, they still finished with a below-par 124.Pakistan were tentative in their approach to the chase, almost as if they had forgotten what to do when a match become mildly competitive. Fakhar Zaman was run out after miscommunication with Ahmed Shehzad, before Babar Azam fell victim to an incorrect lbw decision. But skipper Perera rose to the occasion, giving his side a real chance of victory, accounting for both Shehzad and Shoaib Malik in his first two overs.For a while, Mohammad Hafeez and Sarfraz Ahmed looked in control, never letting the asking rate get out of sight. But once Hafeez holed out to long on with Pakistan still requiring 31, panic set in. Perera returned for his final over and got rid of Imad Wasim, and terrific fielding in the deep saw Pakistan’s captain run out three balls later. Twenty-one were still required off 14, and with three wickets remaining, Sri Lanka were firm favourites.Udana conceded only four in a brilliant penultimate over, but the drama all lay in the last over. Faheem was caught at long-on off the first ball of Vikum Sanjaya’s over, and with 11 needed off four, Pakistan were up against it. It looked even graver for them when Hasan sliced one straight to long-off, but was reprieved by a crucial dropped catch, allowing Pakistan to scramble three. That brought on strike Shadab, a young man whose honeymoon with cricket simply refuses to end. Two balls and eight runs later, the contest was suddenly over, and Shadab’s joy, as well as Abu Dhabi’s, was unconfined.

The Bangladesh coach has tendered his resignation, which has not yet been accepted by the board, with strong signals that SLC is pursuing him for the head coach role

Mohammad Isam and Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Nov-2017Chandika Hathurusingha’s future with Bangladesh hangs in the balance after the coach tendered his resignation to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).Whether that resignation will be accepted by the BCB, and if it will actually result in Hathurusingha’s exit remains to be seen. Hathurusingha and top officials at the BCB have not officially confirmed these developments, but are not denying them. Meanwhile, there are strong signals from Sri Lanka Cricket that they are pursuing Hathurusingha, and are in fact presently in negotiations with him.There have been increasing recent signs that despite Bangladesh’s many improvements during his tenure, Hathurusingha is unsatisfied with the state of his present role. He had once already moved to resign in October last year, but the BCB had not accepted his resignation and Hathurusingha was convinced to continue.Now, however there is the additional lure of a job in his home country. SLC has been on the hunt for a new head coach since Graham Ford resigned in June, and had, in fact, already approached Hathurusingha over the past three months. Though Hathurusingha had eventually rebuffed SLC on that first occasion, recent developments may have made the Sri Lanka role more attractive to Hathurusingha. SLC has just hired Hathurusingha’s longtime friend and associate Thilan Samaraweera as batting coach, for one. Then there has also been a change in selection committee. ESPNcricinfo also understands that SLC is prepared to pay Hathurusingha what he presently earns with the BCB – a substantial commitment for the Sri Lankan board.There are, of course, contractual obligations to consider here. Having been given an extension in the middle of last year, Hathurusingha has signed with the BCB until the end of the 2019 World Cup. Leaving this contract is likely to be a complicated proposition, possibly involving a months-long notice period.If Hathurusingha does end up leaving his position, however, it will bring to an end a tenure that lasted over three years and oversaw substantial gains by the Bangladesh side, particularly in ODI cricket. In major tournaments, Bangladesh made the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup and the semi-final of the 2017 Champions Trophy. They had also defeated India, Pakistan and South Africa in home bilateral series, and have climbed up the ODI rankings as a result.In Tests, Bangladesh registered their first-ever wins against England and Australia at home, and against Sri Lanka away. The team has, however, recently returned from a dispiriting tour to South Africa.

MSK Prasad, India’s chairman of selectors, effectively confirmed MS Dhoni’s spot in the 2019 World Cup squad, although Dhoni’s place has been under scrutiny recently

Arun Venugopal24-Dec-2017MS Dhoni has effectively been guaranteed a spot in the 2019 World Cup, about 18 months away, after the chairman of selectors MSK Prasad gave a resounding appraisal of the ” No.1 wicketkeeper in the world”. While this is the first time a selector has made a definitive statement on Dhoni’s participation in the World Cup, it is not yet a given that Prasad himself will be selecting the squad for the tournament.According to media reports, the selection committee, comprising Prasad, Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi, has been given a temporary extension until the BCCI’s next Annual General Meeting. A selector’s contract is renewed annually and his tenure runs for a maximum of four years. Prasad, who first became a selector in Sandeep Patil’s committee in November 2015 before taking over as chairman the following year, can technically remain a selector till late 2019, if he is granted an extension.Meanwhile, Prasad’s remarks came four months after he had declared Dhoni wasn’t an automatic selection anymore. However, in hailing Dhoni’s near-indispensability, Prasad also acknowledged India’s lack of success in unearthing a suitable wicket-keeping alternative.Prasad’s change in heart has also been guided by Dhoni’s eye-catching performances behind the stumps, a facet that Prasad has often felt is overshadowed by what he does with the bat. “I think MS Dhoni is still remains the number one wicketkeeper in the World,” he told reporters after announcing India’s squad for the six-match ODI series in South Africa in February. “And, day in and day out we have been seeing, even in the current T20 series [against Sri Lanka] the stumpings that he does, the caught-behinds that he takes are phenomenal, there is no comparison. I don’t see any wicketkeeper, who is even close to him in world cricket, forget Indian cricket.”It is not as if the selectors haven’t looked at other options, but they have hardly been given a run at the international level. Rishabh Pant, for one, was seen as a possible back-up option when he was picked for the limited-overs tour of West Indies. Unfortunately for him and the selection panel, Pant has since endured an extended poor run with the bat. An underwhelming tour to South Africa with the India A side was followed by modest returns of 3 runs from two List A games against New Zealand A at home. He has had a middling run in the Ranji Trophy as well with 262 runs from seven innings, including a solitary fifty. Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik, the other likely contender, has been picked for India in limited-overs cricket, but is looked at solely as a middle-order batsman.While Prasad didn’t name anyone in particular, he mentioned none of the emerging wicketkeepers had met the standards required of playing at the highest level. However, he said the selection committee would continue to try different options in India A tours to ensure they identify suitable talents. “We are grooming some wicket-keepers in India A tours. More or less we have fixed up [our] mind till the World Cup and after that at later stages we will start grooming some of those wicketkeepers in India A tours,” he said. “Let me tell you frankly that still those boys are not up to the levels that we have expected. We will still keep giving them chances in the India A tours and see that they are nurtured.”

Following the death of his father, the Australia allrounder believes he has found fresh perspective on the game and is no longer so rushed by it all

Daniel Brettig12-Jan-2018Marcus Stoinis was the archetypal young man in a hurry. In returning to international cricket after the death of his father, he believes he has found fresh perspective on the game to no longer be so rushed about it all.As Australia’s limited-overs team works to rebuild towards next year’s World Cup after a poor 2017, Stoinis is a key part of their plans following a series of staunch displays with the bat in particular. He will take this journey, though, while cherishing every moment, following the loss of his father to Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma during the Sheffield Shield segment of the season that preceded the Ashes.At 28, Stoinis has been a player with promise for some years, ever since moving across from Western Australia to Victoria to further his chances of playing at the highest level, earning the respect of players like Chris Rogers and more recently the Australian captain Steven Smith. He now finds himself playing alongside a mentor in Cameron White, while he went through the experience of his father’s illness and death with team-mates like Adam Zampa close by his side. All this, Stoinis thinks, has helped him see the game through a different lens.”My perspective has changed, for sure,” Stoinis said in Melbourne, where Australia’s training was restricted by wet weather. “Obviously the experiences you go through change your perspective as you go through life. Cricket for me is quite a lot more enjoyable than it has been in the past, I’ve probably been in a rush for a number of reasons to get things done in cricket.”For the moment, it’s become a lot more fun and I’ve realised it is a family for me. When I found out about dad, I had Adam Zampa there sitting on the boundary with me and we sat there for about half-an-hour. And I’m sharing these games with him now. We stand next to each other every national anthem. I’ve got some bloody good friends and I’m having some fun doing it.”I don’t know if ‘not taking it too seriously’ is the right way to put it, but it’s more just understanding that you’re there to enjoy it and you’re there to perform as well as you can, in front of some unbelievable crowds. You’ve got opportunities that so many people are dreaming of and you’ve been dreaming of for a long time. Once you get there you’ve got to remember to enjoy that.”For White to be recalled for his first match since 2015 was a delight to Stoinis, not only as a former state team-mate but also as someone who had gone out of his way to ensure the allrounder would make the right developmental steps. “He’s one of the smartest players in Australian cricket if not international cricket,” Stoinis said. “He took me under the wing seven years ago when he didn’t have to.”As soon as I stepped into the Victorian change rooms, he was probably the main person that helped show me the ropes. We trained together, I remember, six years ago in pre-season. Every morning he’d send me a message saying what are we doing this morning, why are we doing it, what are you looking to get out of it, so it’s no wonder why he’s so good. I’m stoked for him to have the chance to get back in the Aussie colours.”Another source of advice and help has been Stoinis’ Melbourne Stars team-mate Kevin Pietersen, who has added his own spin on the world of international cricket. “He’s been unbelievable for me,” Stoinis said. “He’s been unbelievably generous with his time and he hasn’t needed to be. That’s probably been over the last 12 months that we’ve built a stronger relationship and have had continual conversations about cricket and perspective. He’s been through everything, from the front page to the back page of the paper. He’s a smart cricketer – there’s a reason why he’s as good as he is. He’s been good for me.”All these factors have helped Stoinis to believe he is now in prime position to make an Australian berth his own after he was in, out and back into the ODI team in 2017, excelling in New Zealand then curiously being left out of the team for the Champions Trophy, only to resume impressively in New Zealand when others struggled and, in the cases of Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade, paid for it with their places. The Australians convened with a team meeting on Thursday afternoon and have discussed their plans for the series, leaving Stoinis to note how markedly different this young group feels when lined up against the vanquished and weary group he linked up with after the 2015 Ashes in England.”That was an interesting tour, it was the same sort of thing – we played the Ashes series but in England, we lost, so coming into the team was a very different dynamic to what it is now,” Stoinis said. “It shows how hard the Ashes series are on the players and the scrutiny they get. So it was a different dynamic then.”A couple of guys retired, a couple of guys were about to retire, they lost the Ashes… Whereas now we’ve just won the Ashes, it’s a young team, there’s been people coming into the team, people doing well, so it’s the complete opposite. I got my chance [in 2015], only played the two games then didn’t see international colours for a long time after that. I sort of fell like I might’ve missed a couple of games there for my career, but that’s all right.”I think it’s a bit of everything [now] – finding a consistent playing group will be No. 1 and, understandably, we’re building towards a World Cup so trying to find the right mix, trying to get players playing the right role that suits their game and suits the team. As much as you want to win every single game, I think they’re building towards a bigger picture.”

The mystery spinner did the bulk of the damage as Zimbabwe collapsed to 134 all out. It only took Afghanistan 21.1 overs to chase that down without loss, with Mohammad Shahzad and Ihsanullah making unbeaten half-centuries

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIDI via Getty Images

Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs led Afghanistan to a series-clinching ten-wicket win over Zimbabwe, with one match still left to play. The win confirmed Afghanistan would end the series at No. 10 in the ICC ODI rankings, one place above Zimbabwe. Afghanistan have now won four of the five ODI series between these two sides, the other ending in a 2-2 draw. Mujeeb, aged 16 years and 325 days, also became the youngest to clinch a five-for in ODIs – beating Waqar Younis’ record, who had clinched his first five-for aged 18 years and 164 days.Zimbabwe chose to bat first and were immediately pushed onto the back foot by Mujeeb’s mystery spin. Opening the bowling, as usual, he sent back Solomon Mire and Hamilton Masakadza – both openers bowled – in his first spell, leaving Zimbabwe 15 for 2. Brendan Taylor counterattacked, hitting two sixes in one Mujeeb over and rushing to 30 at over a run a ball before falling to Sharafuddin Ashraf’s left-arm spin. Either side of his dismissal, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan also struck key blows to reduce the visitors to 74 for 5.Craig Ervine kept fighting at one end, but no one stayed with him long enough as Afghanistan’s spinners kept making regular incisions. Mujeeb returned to the attack in the 28th over to send back Graeme Cremer and Kyle Jarvis off successive balls, the latter bowled through the gate by a perfectly pitched offbreak. Eventually, a last-wicket stand of 31 between Ervine and Blessing Muzarabani – who made a 17-ball duck – took Zimbabwe to 134. Ervine ended up unbeaten on 54 off 73 balls, having struck six fours and a six. All ten Zimbabwean wickets fell to spin. Their innings only lasted 38 overs.This meant there would be a dinner break just under an hour into Afghanistan’s chase. By that point, they had already motored to 75 for no loss in 12 overs, with Mohammad Shahzad leading the charge with a 40-ball half-century and Ihsanullah going to the break on 17 off 31 balls.Post-dinner, the roles were almost reversed. Shahzad added 24 to his score off 33 balls, while Ihsanullah clattered 34 off 22, bringing up his half-century with the winning boundary off Ryan Burl in the 22nd over of the chase.

The opener made his sixth 80-plus score in seven innings in the tournament and added 155 with Karun Nair in a nine-wicket win against Maharashtra

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-2018Mayank Agarwal crossed 2000 runs across formats this season, scoring an 86-ball 81 in the presence of the national selectors in Delhi, during Karnataka’s nine-wicket win against Maharashtra in the first semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. This was Agarwal’s sixth 80-plus score in seven innings in the tournament. His opening partner and Karnataka captain Karun Nair made an unbeaten 70 and hit the winning runs after the pair had put together 155 in a 161 chase.Mayank Agarwal’s 2141 runs are the highest by anyone in a single Indian domestic season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Maharashtra lost opener Ruturaj Gaikwad in the first over after electing to bat. A second-wicket stand of 57 between Shrikant Mundhe (50) and Rahul Tripathi (18) would be their most substantial one as first the seamers and then offspinner K Gowtham (3 for 26) ensured the wickets fell regularly. Following the run-out of Ankit Bawne, Naushad Shaikh (42) kept the innings afloat before being the last man dismissed. Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna finished with figures of 2 for 26.Agarwal, on the back of a 140 against Hyderabad in the quarter-final, started the chase with a six and four off the first two balls. He got Karnataka off to a quick start and forced Maharashtra to bring on the left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachhav (1 for 32) early to try and restrict the runs. Maharashtra failed to capitalise on the offered chances and the opening pair went about the chase with the run rate barely falling below five at any point.In the final, Karnataka will face either Saurashtra or Andhra, who face off in the second semi-final at Palam on Saturday.

The Super Kings allrounder was fully aware that his bowling had counted for a lot too, even though he had stunned the Wankhede crowd primarily with a match-winning 30-ball 68

Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai08-Apr-20181:44

Coach’s Diary: CSK need explosive openers

About 20 minutes after winning the match for Chennai Super Kings with a flurry of sixes in the dying moments of what looked like a losing cause, Dwayne Bravo was asked in the post-match press conference about his strategy in the death overs against Mumbai Indians. Bravo asked the journalist a question in reply: “While batting or bowling?”Bravo was fully aware that his bowling had counted for a lot, too, even though he had stunned the Wankhede crowd primarily with a 30-ball 68. He came out to bat when Super Kings were reeling at 75 for 5 with the asking rate nearing 12. But his barrage of boundaries in the end snatched a win from the hosts.”[While batting] I wasn’t thinking much actually, I was just trying my best to bat till the last over,” he said. “I thought that if I bat deep and till the end, we have a good chance of winning the game because Wankhede is a ground where if you miss your length and yorkers, the ball can travel. So you mistime a few, a few edges go your way and the bowling team is always under pressure because margin for error is so small in this format, you miss your yorker by an inch, it can go for six as you can see tonight.”When I reached 50, I didn’t even raise my bat. I knew the job wasn’t finished, there was still a long way to go. I was in a zone. I was just focusing on trying to get the game done for my team. I was disappointed that I was out in the last over. But I played the innings that put my team in a position to win. I am just happy that I was able to contribute with the bat. It has been a while that I haven’t been able to make runs with the bat. This one will always be special to me.”It was just my day, I’ll take that. It’s always good to start any tournament with a win and this is a special win for us personally because our fans have been so loyal to us and they waited for this opportunity and people in Chennai and throughout India as well, our CSK fans and our captain MS [Dhoni].”Bravo’s task became stiffer and stiffer as each over went by. He watched Kedar Jadhav walk back with an injury, he saw Deepak Chahar dance down to be foxed by debutant Mayank Markande’s googly, and then witnessed soon Harbhajan Singh and Mark Wood hole out in the quest for some desperate boundaries.An elated CSK dugout burst into ecstacy as Kedar Jadhav hit the winning runs•BCCI

Ultimately, it was down to Bravo when Imran Tahir gave him strike in the 18th over and Super Kings needed 46 from only 17 deliveries. Two sixes and a four in that over against Mitchell McClenaghan and three sixes in the next off Jasprit Bumrah, another death-overs specialist, brought it down to seven from the last over.”I just wanted to stay still, keep my eyes on the ball, have a good swing,” Bravo explained. “Here at Wankhede the ball travels every time you miss the length. Just get a good contact and the ball will go. Those two overs, we needed 15 an over. So, at some point, I had to take a chance and it worked off. Anytime you hit a boundary, whether it is a six or a four, automatically the bowler is under pressure.”I know how you feel as a bowler when your first ball goes for a boundary. No matter how good a bowler you are, in these tense moments if you’re put under pressure, you tend to fumble. Again, I was hitting the ball nicely in the nets. I had the confidence and the belief that I can win the game despite losing wickets. I can bat deep. Can’t forget Jadhav, who came back and showed a lot of fight and a lot of guts. To hit that six is a special, special moment. From thereon, we had the game.”Much before that, Bravo had quietly curbed Mumbai to 165 for 4 by conceding only eight runs in two of their last three overs. Bravo clearly said performing in the death overs, with the bat or ball, was his “specialised” role in the team and a lot of planning and training went behind it.”I think it’s a challenge for me,” he spoke of bowling in the end. “I mark myself against the best in the world so in moments like this is where it really matters and I don’t enjoy bowling when there’s not much pressure on. When there’s pressure I need to focus a lot more and in the nets, I prepare very well when I bowl to guys like MS and Suresh [Raina] and these guys, who are good hitters. Even when I’m playing for West Indies, I bowl to [Andre] Rusell and [Kieron] Pollard and those guys so it gave me confidence.”I don’t just turn up in a game and it happens naturally. I prepare in the nets, I make sure I’m executing my yorkers properly so whenever I call on those special deliveries, I deliver more often. Tonight was a little tougher because I bowled the last three overs and the skipper asked me if I’m able to do it and of course I said ‘yes’. And again, bowling to these guys is a big challenge, I embrace it, I enjoy it and tonight was just my night.”Bravo was not only helping Super Kings return on a good note in the IPL, he was himself returning to the league after a two-year gap after missing last year’s edition with a hamstring injury. Since then, he has played three tournaments – the CPL, BPL and BBL – before returning with the yellow jersey. Now 34 and having undergone plenty of rehabilitation, Bravo said he had to be “careful” with his workload.”Well, it’s on my mind in terms of I had to be more careful and I’m no longer 24 like how I used to be before so I have to be very cautious,” he said. “I started very slow and just needed to get momentum going into the game. But as you can see, as the game picked up especially in the later stages, this is where I’m more specialised and this is where the team needs me the most at the close of the game. The captain showed faith in me and this is basically my role in CSK team to finish off games with the ball. Each game now I’ve to make sure I can cover properly, we travel now and fitness is very important but I have a very good medical team and I’m happy that we won tonight’s game.”

Ambrose took his side from a strong position to a totally dominant one as he gained the measure of a slow wicket to work the Northants attack around

ECB Reporters Network21-Apr-2018
ScorecardTim Ambrose made his 17th first-class century to give Warwickshire a chance to press for victory over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road with two days remaining. Ambrose made 103 as Warwickshire ground out 413 to take a first-innings lead of 266 before Northants, with 10 overs to face at the end of the day, closed on 41 without loss.Ambrose, who made 81 last week against Sussex in the season opener, took his side from a strong position to a totally dominant one as he gained the measure of a slow wicket to work the Northants attack around. He nudged, prodded, glanced and flicked his way to 96-ball fifty with just one boundary – the long, heavy outfield making boundaries a rarity – before playing more fluently to raise a century in another 58 balls with five fours and a six.For the latter half of his innings, he had 18-year-old Henry Brookes for company playing just his second first-class match. He settled to become a sound partner for Ambrose and repelled Northants’ fightback with the second new ball to compile a record ninth-wicket partnership for Warwickshire against Northants of 116.After Ambrose fell, caught on the deep square fence, Brookes took top billing as he worked his way towards a maiden first-class fifty. He got there with a mighty pull over midwicket off Brett Hutton and added a second to take Warwickshire past 400 as Northants wilted in 128.1 overs they were forced to send down.The hosts had hope of a revival in the morning session where Doug Bracewell made the day’s opening breakthrough with the 18th ball of the morning, straightening a full delivery to clip Will Rhodes’ off stump to end a stand of 91 for the fourth wicket.Sam Hain was the other member of the partnership and fell 15 short of memorable return to the ground where he become Warwickshire’s youngest centurion in the County Championship four years ago. He resumed on 51 and struck two flowing cover drives on his way to 85. But Ben Sanderson hatched a plot with the wicketkeeper stood up and three catchers in front of the bat and got Hain to chip a full delivery to short midwicket where Bracewell claimed a smart catch down to his right.Twenty-one-year-old Matt Lamb developed another useful stand with Ambrose of 66 for the sixth wicket before Lamb fell to the second new ball and Warwickshire slipped to 263 for 8 and the lead 116 – but Ambrose and Brookes ensured Warwickshire’s advantage was far greater.Northants had 10 overs to survive before the close and Rob Newton was almost stumped when he was deceived by Jeetan Patel. Some pad saved him and Newton and Ben Duckett, who avoided a king pair, went to the close intact.

Mark Stoneman, who failed twice at Lord’s and hasn’t passed 60 in 11 Test matches, has been left out

Andrew McGlashan28-May-2018England have responded to their thumping nine-wicket defeat at Lord’s by recalling Keaton Jennings for the second Test against Pakistan at Headingley with Mark Stoneman dropped following a continuation of his poor form in the heavy loss.Jennings, 25, scored a century on his Test debut against India in Mumbai but lost his place midway through last season after struggling to build on that early milestone.However, following a move from Durham to Lancashire, he has been one of the few in-form batsmen on the domestic circuit this season. He has scored two centuries in the County Championship, including one against a strong Nottinghamshire attack, and has carried that form into the Royal London Cup.

Someone in form: Jennings’ season

County Championship 314 runs @ 44.85; two hundred
Royal London Cup 306 runs @ 76.50; one hundred, two fifties

Stoneman failed twice at Lord’s – bowled by Mohammad Abbas in the first innings and defeated by a one that kept low from Shadab Khan in the second – in a display bereft of confidence.He had been somewhat fortunate to retain his place in the first place following a lean start to the season for Surrey. In his 11 Tests he has made five half-centuries but not gone beyond 60, with a distinct slump in his performances after getting hit on the helmet at the WACA.”Keaton Jennings showed a strong temperament in scoring a hundred on his Test match debut against India in December 2016,” national selector Ed Smith said. “Keaton has found good form in county cricket this season, including three centuries in his last seven innings.”Mark Stoneman misses out at Headingley. Mark has experienced a disappointing start to the 2018 season and had a difficult Test match at Lord’s.”With the swap of Jennings for Stoneman confirmed, the one decision to be made on the final XI is whether there is a return for Chris Woakes, who was the man to miss out from the 12 at Lord’s. Mark Wood was preferred in the hope that he could provide a different element to the pace attack but his first-innings return of 2 for 74 was underwhelming.England squad: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (capt), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Dom Bess, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Woakes

A career best 73 for Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman set Pakistan up for a convincing win over Australia in Harare

The Report by Daniel Brettig05-Jul-2018
Pakistan gained a mental advantage over Australia by dominating Aaron Finch’s team in a match that served as a dress rehearsal for Sunday’s Twenty20 triangular tournament final at the Harare Sports Club.Having beaten Pakistan comfortably in their first meeting, the Australians put in an unfocused performance, dropping far too short with the new ball after Finch sent Sarfraz Ahmed’s side in to bat to allow Fakhar Zaman to fire off a succession of pull shots on his way to the highest score of the match. They then lost a series of early wickets to the late moving ball in the hands of Faheem Ashraf and the 18-year-old left-armer Shaheen Afridi.Having slid as low as 75 for 5, Australia never looked likely to get close to their target, though the wicketkeeper and vice-captain Alex Carey played another intelligent innings down the order. Pakistan’s victory also served the purpose of preventing Australia from taking their place at the top of the ICC’s T20 international rankings.Both sides had already qualified for Sunday’s tournament final, making this game chiefly a chance to gain information and psychological high ground. Australia kept the same side that delivered comfortable wins over Pakistan and Zimbabwe to be the first team to reach the decider. Pakistan included the youthful Afridi for his second T20I in place of Hasan Ali, while Usman Khan came in for Mohammad Nawaz.4:18

‘Steven Smith is the toughest batsman to bowl to’

On a cold morning in Harare, Billy Stanlake failed to induce the sort of early collapse he had been responsible for in Monday’s match. While Jhye Richardson enjoyed the good fortune of having Haris Sohail clip his first delivery straight to square leg to depart for a golden duck, the Pakistan top order were able to feast on a generous helping of short stuff.Fakhar was the major beneficiary, flashing nine boundaries and a trio of sixes on the way to the highest score of his T20I career thus far – he is Pakistan’s leading run-maker in this tournament by a distance, and will require far more careful planning by Australia’s pacemen and coaches ahead of the decider.They reached 80 inside nine overs before Hussain Talat was cramped for room by Glenn Maxwell’s off-breaks and bowled, and from there a series of nifty partnerships ensured that Finch’s side was unable to restrict the run rate. A particularly heavy toll was taken from the bowling of Ashton Agar, while 18 runs from the final over rather disfigured Aaron Tye’s previously excellent figures.Needing a rapid start given the task they were facing, Finch and D’Arcy Short were instead confounded by Pakistan’s fast men pitching the ball much further up to the bat and finding movement both in the air and off the seam. Finch was cornered by an Afridi delivery bending back at him and was caught behind off the inside edge, then Travis Head’s minimal footwork was exposed when Faheem Ashraf seamed one back to pluck out middle stump.Maxwell managed a pair of boundaries before he played around a late inswinger from Afridi that pinned him in front of middle stump, and the innings of Nic Maddinson – who made the squad despite being cut from the New South Wales contract list – lasted only eight balls before he misread a well-pitched wrong’un from Shadab Khan and was comfortably stumped.Short had persevered without timing the ball with anything like the power of which he is capable, but was well and truly beaten by the yorker Afridi served up on his return to the bowling crease. From there it was largely a matter of damage limitation for the Australians, as Carey knocked the ball around with the sort of resourcefulness that is quickly becoming his trademark without ever looking likely to threaten a distant target.Pakistan will now go into the final with plenty of confidence, while the Australians must face Zimbabwe before reconsidering their approach to Fakhar, Afridi and the rest of Sarfraz’s team.