Also, which record will be broken at the World Cup? And which young player is one to watch? ESPNcricinfo staff make their picks

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2022Who are the dark horses to challenge Australia for the title?
Valkerie Baynes: New Zealand. The hosts are peaking at the right time with Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates hitting top form with the bat. A nine-wicket warm-up win over the Aussies will boost the hosts’ confidence no end.Annesha Ghosh: New Zealand, India, and South Africa. They are all on an equal footing heading into the tournament and are likely to push defending champions England for a knockouts spot.Andrew McGlashan: New Zealand. The hosts are coming off an impressive 4-1 series win over India and made quite the statement by chasing down 322 against Australia in their last warm-up. A top order of Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite is very strong.Firdose Moonda: South Africa S Sudarshanan: New Zealand or South Africa. I think England lack the consistency and firepower, while I am not entirely convinced about India this time.Related

Rana and Vastrakar provide timely answer for India's search for allrounders

Stats: A World Cup that promises steep scoring rates, big chases

Quiz: Leading run-scorer in Women's ODI World Cups?

Who do you think will be player of the tournament?
Baynes: You could pick a swathe of Australian players to be fair, but Meg Lanning is just so tough – and reliable with the bat – that you’d back her to withstand the pressure an “overwhelming favourites” tag carries and to marshal her side to do the same.Ghosh: India’s Deepti Sharma or New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr. Both spin-bowling allrounders are critical to the chances of their sides and come into the tournament in form.McGlashan: Meg Lanning. This is a defining tournament for her team and her legacy. After the semi-final exit in 2017 she won’t want another to slip away.Moonda: Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa’s in-form opener.Sudarshanan: Beth Mooney has been quite a run-machine, so I would pick her, given Australia are the favourites. If I had to go left-field, I would go with Pakistan’s young seamer Fatima Sana.Which young star are you most looking forward to watching?
Baynes: India’s Richa Ghosh. This 18-year-old, who only made her ODI debut in September against Australia, provides plenty of scoring power in the middle order. A run-a-ball 65 and rapid-fire 52 off 29 – India’s fastest fifty in the format – against hosts New Zealand last month showed she’s in fine touch.Ghosh: Fatima Sana, the 2021 ICC Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year. In pace-friendly New Zealand conditions, Sana, 20, could test the top orders of all teams.McGlashan: She has been around for a considerable time, but Amelia Kerr is still only 21 and looks to have taken her batting to another level this year.Moonda: Fatima SanaSudarshanan: Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Fatima SanaWhich group-stage match is a must watch?
Baynes: England vs India on March 16 – a replay of the 2017 final. The sides were quite well matched as recently as the 2021 English summer when the hosts won their series 2-1 with India squeezing the contest after a heavy defeat in the first match.Ghosh: New Zealand vs Australia on March 13. New Zealand bossed the most successful ODI side in their warm-up on March 1, with captain Sophie Devine leading their successful 322 chase with a fiery 161 not out. Australia are not invincible, and New Zealand look the most likely side to expose their frailties.McGlashan: Australia-England early in the competition (March 5). The first match for both sides. It was all Australia during the recent ODIs in the Ashes but can the defending champions make an early mark?Moonda: South Africa-West Indies on March 24 (they’ve had two Super Overs in their history!)Sudarshanan: India vs Pakistan, on March 6, could be interesting, given they hardly play each other.Which record do you think may be broken at this World Cup?
Baynes: Highest successful women’s ODI chase. Australia posted 289 for 6 to defeat New Zealand in Sydney back in 2012, and the White Ferns moved to second on the list with their 280 for 7 to beat India in Queenstown a fortnight ago, while Auckland and Mount Maunganui also feature in the top-five.Ghosh: Five of the top 10 highest successful chases in women’s ODIs have been recorded during the past 12 months, so chances are the record will be broken more than once at this edition.McGlashan: The record for sixes was smashed in 2017 with 111 and it could well go again this time.Moonda: Best economy rate in an ODI.Sudarshanan: Given the stage women’s ODIs are at, I think the record of the highest successful chase definitely will be broken.

ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent tries to make sense of the latest mismatch between these two teams

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Mar-2022A scene from a principal’s office, somewhere in IndiaAh yes, you. Come. Come. Sit down, please.You know why you’re here, no?, please. Of course, we both know why we’re here.It is fine for you to be good at cricket. Something to be proud of even. That we can understand and allow. But why must you always take it to this extent? Why can you not sense when enough is enough?What do I mean? WHAT DO I MEAN? Thrashing that poor Sri Lanka team is what I mean. This is not the first time. Or the second time. Don’t think we have not noticed.Related

Rohit hails 'all-time great' Ashwin and 'top allrounder' Jadeja after innings win

Stats – Ashwin goes past Kapil Dev

Jadeja's epic all-round show gives India win inside three days

Look here. Nagpur 2017 – an innings and 239 runs. Pallekele 2017 – an innings and 171 runs. Galle 2017 – ah, there you won only by 304 runs. Verrry kind. Do I have to go on? Ah, you want me to check the ODI file?You know what Sri Lanka has to deal with, don’t you? This, you should know by now. Their home circumstances…Lowers voice. Listen, they haven’t kept a coach for more than two years. It’s a very pathetic situation. More than ten coaches in ten years. Like a revolving door only…Let’s not even talk about their board. In this match, you hit 574 runs in the first innings. Between all of their top-level officials, they can’t even muster that many brain… I feel so unkind to even say these things. But you get the picture.And your Ravindra Jadeja. My god. By himself, he is scoring 175 not out. You’re not letting them score even that much for the whole team in the first innings. As if that wasn’t enough he takes nine wickets. NINE. Can you imagine? In more than 129 overs, all of Sri Lanka took eight, . Can you possibly explain this behaviour? These people are your neighbours. Some dignity they must have, no?Scoring all these runs even after they obviously chose the wrong attack for this pitch, and their fast bowler Lahiru Kumara broke down on the first day. Three times in the last three years he has injured himself in the middle of a Test. For years we know they’ve had these problems, no? Did you know they have banned bum-pats in their team because they are worried they will do a career-ending injury?What are India going to do after this? Throw rocks at puppies? Please stop•BCCIHey. Do not laugh. Do NOT laugh. This is not funny.We have also got news today from our sister school that the women’s team has also thumped a neighbour today. Niiiice little operation you have got going between the two of you, no? Well done.Look, just have some mercy, no? Even your No. 8 has five Test centuries. Their No. 7 – this Dickwella fellow – has collected four more ICC demerit points than centuries.Look at your attack, also . You have R Ashwin who is the best offspinner India have produced. You have this crazy Jadeja fellow. Then if that’s not enough this wicked Bumrah character who will bowl full overs full of yorkers, and send some nasty bouncers, and if that wasn’t enough, bowl his vicious little cutters and slower balls. What a twisted mind this fellow must have. And fast-bowling uncle Shami to skid balls into the pads also. You saw, no? How he bowled one at off stump and got the Sri Lankan captain – their best batter – into such a tangle he edged it to the keeper?What will you do after this match? Go and throw some rocks at some puppies? Get together and poke fun at chubby children? Please stop. Please, please know when to stop.What?You’re doing what in the next week?You’re going to play them in a pink-ball Test?!With your attack? Against their top order? Get out. I can’t bear the sight of you. Get out of my room immediately.

How did a system as rigorous and mechanical as India’s generate such a free spirit?

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Mar-20222:57

Jaffer: Pant’s timing of counterattack was courageous

Early in the first session, while the crowd was still trickling in at Mohali, the ground announcer bellowed out instructions. “What a shot! Come on, say , shout !” This was whenever Rohit Sharma or Mayank Agarwal hit a boundary.Later, after India’s new No. 3 had got out following his important, but staid, 58: “What a beautiful half-century from Hanuma Vihari! Well done.”It is a phenomenon most emphatically seen in the IPL, where the guy on the mic is more drill sergeant than hype artist. Here is when you cheer, these are the chants we want you to scream, now is when you start the Mexican wave, this is the trumpet klaxon to which you give the pre-approved response. Don’t waste your neurons enjoying a whirlwind burst or a fierce spell on your own terms, and in case you feel yourself at risk of developing a personal connection with a performance – producing an original thought – we will be there in real time, in your ear, telling you how to feel about it.Over the past 15 years, as India have built a cricket ecosystem the scale of which has never been seen, assembling vast networks of coaches, trainers, and scouts, generated pathways and zonal academies, and on top of all that, commodified sport with a singular intensity, there are shades of mechanical brutalism to this vision.But then there is Rishabh Pant.Behind-the-stumps quipper. Hummer of spiderman theme song. But most of all, bat in hand, purveyor of pure adrenaline/mayhem/joy.Watch him run at Sri Lanka’s spinners to larrup them waaay over deep midwicket during that 13-ball stretch, in which he blessed us with 42 runs. Go back, check the highlights. At the moment of contact, his legs are skewed away, as if they have been invited to a different dance than the rest of him. The torso is half-keeling over like a party boat on choppy seas. That his is not a shackled, or even particularly methodical, mind is clear to anyone who has ever watched him roll out his fun. But that technique is, and perhaps can only be, homespun.Rishabh Pant is a spell-binding presence on a cricket field•BCCIFor all India’s moves towards mechanisation, this kind of thing they have tended to leave untouched. Oh, this is how you’ve played all your life? In games, on maidans, paper-ball matches in the hallway? Then ok, we will preserve.And it’s not like Pant has been untouched by the more refining influences of India’s vast organisation. It is, of course, the frenzy – the three sixes and four fours – that Mohali will remember. But before that, there had also been a 50 that came off 75, when he had blocked, left, picked his moments, and generally stooped to such prosaic endeavours as rebuilding, and consolidating. (Yuck.)But you don’t really want to read about that. And I definitely don’t want to write about it. The 42 off 13 balls, when there was no need to go on this kind of tear, save the fact Pant got caught up, and in turn, caught the rest of us up in whatever he was caught up, one flood of original thought setting in motion a multitude of others. Let’s revel: there were two hyuuuge hits over cow corner. A run-down and one-handedly deposit the offspinner into the sightscreen type maneuver. Rocking back, blasting through extra. A big mis-hit through the legside, the bat twirling (for joy?) in his gloves.Pant is not the only player in this India side that purveys this kind of visceral joy. There is, as one other example, Jasprit Bumrah. In earlier years, there was also true originals such as Virender Sehwag, and MS Dhoni, but then the India system from which they emerged was not the India that spat out Pant. Plus, even they didn’t do it quite like Pant has started to do it.Anyway, as all this havoc was being wreaked, the ground announcer who’d been on the crowd’s case all day went quiet, perhaps themselves acknowledging that now, they were redundant. In that 20-minute blitz, there was just Rishabh Pant swinging, or getting on one knee to shovel through square leg, gleefully pouring every atom in his body into his shots, looking as if he was having the time of his damn life.And there was us, kinda doing the same.

Fast bowler impresses in game of more than 400 runs by keeping a clear mind amid chaos

Matt Roller10-Jul-2022Few venues in world cricket have as intimidating a reputation for T20 bowlers as Trent Bridge. The pitches are flat, the outfield is scorched and the boundaries are unforgiving: there is one relatively long pocket, where sixes require a 75-metre hit, but the square boundaries barely measure 65 metres.In that context, England’s decision to pick an extra batter in this game – they dropped Sam Curran for Phil Salt – was a gamble, one which was vindicated by their 17-run win. The combination of Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali’s spin, sharing the fifth bowler’s allocation, was hammered, taken for 67 runs in their four overs, but Reece Topley’s spell of 3 for 22 proved decisive.Topley was the only bowler on either side to finish with an economy rate below 7.5 and was rewarded with the player-of-the-match award. ESPNcricinfo’s impact algorithm suggested that Suryakumar Yadav was the best performer by a considerable distance, but also that Topley’s wickets – he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer – were worth considerably more than the scorecard showed.Topley’s method was simple, hitting hard lengths and looking to cramp India’s batters for room. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, only two of his 24 balls were fuller than a good length, with the vast majority bowled into the pitch while varying his speeds. “The batters came off and said that changes of pace into the middle of the wicket were the hardest to face,” he explained.He struck twice in the powerplay, including with his first ball when Pant inside-edged a length ball into his pad and through to Jos Buttler, then with the last ball of his second over as Sharma failed to pick his slower ball and dragged a pull straight down deep midwicket’s throat. At the Ageas Bowl he had bowled three overs in the powerplay but Buttler saved his third for the 12th, when he conceded only five singles.When he returned for his final over, India needed 66 runs off the last 30 balls to seal a series sweep. Yadav was flying, dominating a partnership worth 119 in 10.1 overs with Shreyas. Buttler needed a wicket, and Topley delivered: Shreyas scurried outside leg but Topley followed him with a short ball, cramping him for room and inducing a feather through to Buttler.The rest of his over was just as cagey: he conceded just a single from four balls to Dinesh Karthik, repeatedly foxing him with his hard lengths, and while Suryakumar dabbed his last ball away for four, he had pushed the required rate up past 15 an over, which would prove insurmountable.Some cricketers spend every waking hour thinking about the game but Topley, by his own admission, is not like that. He admitted himself that he is “not a massive cricket-watcher” and was taken aback by Suryakumar’s innings, full of “some amazing shots – shots I haven’t seen before”, but he stuck to his clear plan, seemingly helped by his ability to switch off and “isolate every ball”.Related

Virat Kohli's nine-ball buy-in shows India's new way is here to stay

Bhuvneshwar Kumar 'very surprised' to see white ball swing for long

Malan 77 helps England weather Suryakumar 117

Suryakumar Yadav's pyrotechnics leave Trent Bridge in awe, solidify spot for T20 World Cup

“Bowling these days is a bit of a thankless task but you’ve just got to put your hand up and be brave,” he said. “One day it doesn’t go your way and you’re the villain and you have to get yourself up for the next game to try and be the hero. Bowlers nowadays have almost got more to learn mentally about T20 cricket – perhaps more than the skills.”There’s other games where things don’t fall your way and you get 1 for 40, or whatever. You’ve got to ride the high when things fall your way because the game is pretty fickle and there’s a lot of days where it doesn’t.”Topley did not feature for England at last year’s T20 World Cup but has taken the opportunities that have come his way this year: first in Barbados against West Indies and now against India: he has seven wickets in six T20Is this year, with an excellent economy rate of exactly seven an over.He is part of the squad that will play next week’s ODIs against India and is now certain to win further chances against South Africa. He bowls in the mid-80s mph (130s kph) and generates steep bounce thanks to his height, which could be an asset in all phases of an innings in Australia come this year’s World Cup.”Since the start of this year, I think I’ve taken all the opportunities that have come my way,” he said. “But [with a] new coach and a new captain, there’s new people to try and impress. In my head, it’s back to square one – try to impress the right people. But ultimately it’s about getting wins as a team and trying, with every game, to work out how we’re getting one step closer to trying to win the World Cup in October.”

All the important numbers from the first Test between England and New Zealand

Sampath Bandarupalli05-Jun-2022277 – The target chased by England in the first Test is the third-highest successful chase by any team at Lord’s. West Indies had hunted down 342 against England in 1984, while England successfully chased 282 against New Zealand in 2004.ESPNcricinfo Ltd210 – Runs scored by England after the fall of their fourth wicket. These are the ninth-most runs scored by a team in a successful run chase, after being four down. These are also the second-most runs that England have recorded after losing four wickets in their fourth innings, behind the 232 they scored from 31 for 4 in pursuit of 263 against Australia in 1902.1 – Joe Root became the first player to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs in Test cricket within ten years of making his debut. It took Root nine years and 174 days to reach the 10,000-run mark, since first turning out for England in 2012. He is also the second England player after Alastair Cook (12,472 runs), to reach the milestone.ESPNcricinfo Ltd120* – The stand between Root and Ben Foakes is the second-highest unbroken partnership for the sixth wicket or lower during a successful fourth-innings chase in Test cricket. The highest is a sixth-wicket stand of 189 between Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga, against Zimbabwe in 1998.15 – Test hundreds for Root in England, the joint-most for any batter in the country. Graham Gooch, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook also have 15 Test tons in England.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – Root’s unbeaten 115 at Lord’s is his maiden hundred in the fourth innings of a Test match. His previous highest score in the fourth innings was 87 against Australia, during the 2013 Adelaide Test.3 – Players to score a century in the fourth innings of a successful run-chase at Lord’s. Apart from Root’s 115 in the first Test, the list includes Gordon Greenidge’s 214* against England in 1984, and Nasser Hussain’s 103* against New Zealand in 2004.14.56 – The partnership average for the first four wickets in this Test, the fifth-lowest in a Test match, since 1960 (matches where the first four wickets fell in all four innings). It is also the second-lowest average in the last 20 years, behind 10.56 during the Bridgetown Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka in 2018.

And which bowler has taken the last wicket most often to win a Test or an ODI?

Steven Lynch20-Sep-2022I was wondering about the biggest difference between player numbers in the same Test team. I wondered about Jimmy Anderson, then remembered Brian Close! Is he the record-holder? asked Brian King from England
In the final Test against South Africa at The Oval last week, Jimmy Anderson (who was cap No. 613 in 2003) played alongside debutant Harry Brook, England’s No. 707. That’s a difference of 94 (including the special cap No. 696 given to Glamorgan’s Alan Jones, 50 years on from his appearance against the Rest of the World in 1970).I was surprised to discover that there are actually 73 combinations from all countries that equal or beat 94, including a difference of 122 between Brian Close (England’s No. 344 in 1949) and Mike Selvey (466 in 1976). But top of the list is the Yorkshire and England allrounder Wilfred Rhodes, who was cap No. 121 when he made his Test debut in 1899. During his final series, in the West Indies in 1929-30, the 52-year-old Rhodes played alongside Leslie Townsend (No. 254), a difference of 133. He also played with Bill Voce (253), Freddie Calthorpe (252) and Les Ames (244), so occupies the first four places on this particular table.The record for a side other than England is a difference of 98, between Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies cap No. 204) and Shai Hope (302), against Englandin Bridgetown in May 2015. It was Hope’s first Test, and Chanderpaul’s 164th and last.How many Test matches have been shorter, in terms of balls bowled, than the one that’s just finished at The Oval? asked Michael Templeton, and many others
The third Test between England and South Africa at The Oval last week was over in just 909 balls, the shortest Test with a positive result anywhere since February 2021, when India needed only 842 deliveries to polish England off in Ahmedabad.It was the shortest completed Test in England since 1912, when the match against South Africa at The Oval lasted only 815 deliveries. The shortest anywhere was the match between Australia and South Africa on a rain-affected pitch in Melbourne in 1931-32, which was done and dusted in 656 balls.For the full list, which also includes drawn Tests (look down the fifth column to see when there was a winner), click here.Which bowler has taken the last wicket most often to win a Test, or an ODI? asked Ahson Atif from India
There’s a tie at the top of this list for Tests, as two bowlers have taken the match-winning (final) wicket on 22 occasions: R Ashwin for India, and Australia’s Shane Warne. Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker Muthiah Muralidaran comes next with 18, ahead of his compatriot Rangana Herath with 14, and Waqar Younis on 13.Things are more clear-cut in one-day internationals: Wasim Akram took the last wicket to win a match no fewer than 27 times, well clear of Murali and Glenn McGrath (21). Waqar, Lasith Malinga and Shahid Afridi all did it on 20 occasions.Arthur Milton (left) had one international cap in football and Mike Smith (right) played one rugby union international for England•S&G/PA Photos/Getty ImagesWhen was England’s batting in a Test opened by a football and a rugby international? asked George Clarke from England
This unusual double happened in the third Test against New Zealand at Headingley in 1958, when Mike Smith faced the new ball with Arthur Milton, who went on to score a century on his debut.Even though he wore spectacles, Smith had played one rugby union international for England, against Wales (who won 8-3) at Twickenham in 1956. “I played as an outside centre during my final year at Oxford,” he said. “But I had a poor game and was not selected again.” Milton – a nippy winger for Arsenal, and later Bristol City – won one England football cap, in a 2-2 draw against Austria at Wembley in 1951. “The attack was spoiled by the relative failure of Milton on the right,” concluded the Times. “The occasion and the tension generally were too much for him.”I noticed that Yuzi Chahal batted only once in his first 13 T20Is. Has anyone batted less often? asked Arun Nissar from India
You’re right that the Indian legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal batted only once in his first 13 T20 internationals – but there is someone who didn’t bat at all in his first 13: the Afghanistan seamer Fareed Ahmad, who didn’t bat until his 14th such match, in which he made 24 not out. Despite that promising start, he’s batted only once more in six further matches.Chahal has now played 66 T20Is, and got to the crease only four times. That’s easily the fewest innings by anyone who played so often – next comes another legspinner, New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi, who batted 12 times in his first 66 T20Is. At the other end of the scale, David Warner has played 91 T20Is so far, and batted in all of them.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Pre-tournament expectations from the venue have taken a beating after an India-Pakistan clash that was all about pace, bounce and swing

Alex Malcolm25-Oct-2022Shan Masood had never played at the MCG until Sunday night against India. Part of his preparation for the famous ground was reading ESPNcricinfo’s piece on how to play at each of the venues hosting this T20 World Cup.But what he read, which included expert observations from Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey, and what he faced were two entirely different things.”It was completely different to the article I read from Cricinfo on the MCG,” Masood said after the match. “The MCG had the highest economy rate, so I thought yes, we’re in for a belter of a wicket. But there was grass, it was lively, it was fresh and as a batter, you don’t expect that in T20 cricket, but once you’re in the arena, you have to figure a way out.”Welcome to the MCG in October. The numbers Masood referred to were from men’s T20s since the start of 2020. Those numbers said fast bowlers had been more expensive at the MCG than anywhere else in Australia over the last two years and spin had been the handbrake.ESPNcricinfo LtdBut the caveat is that none of the 25 matches played in that timeframe were played in October. None were played in November. Only two were played in December. The rest were played in January and February, the warmest months of the year in Melbourne, and after the Boxing Day Test.Test cricket has been the priority each year for curator Matt Page ever since he took over the job following the MCG pitch’s nadir of 2017-18. The drop-ins have been rebuilt and the preparation has been completely overhauled.Leaving grass on has been his new mantra prior to Boxing Day. But once the Test is over, Page shaves the grass off to produce great run-scoring pitches in the BBL.This time last year Page was preparing a track for Sheffield Shield cricket. It had 12mm of grass on it and five batters were hit in the head on one of the liveliest MCG tracks in recent memory.Now he is trying to prepare world-class T20 tracks in one of the wettest Octobers Melbourne has seen in recent times.Herein lies the challenge for the four sides that will play there for the first time in this tournament on Wednesday. No one quite knows what to expect or how to play on a surface with more grass than normal. If Sunday’s India-Pakistan epic is any guide, swing, seam, pace and bounce will rule the roost while spin and slower balls, normally a staple at the MCG for bowling teams, could be completely neutralised.Afghanistan’s captain Mohammad Nabi has plenty of recent BBL experience at the venue, having played three games in the last three years for Melbourne Renegades. But he has never seen an MCG pitch so green.”Yes, at that time in Big Bash, it was drier,” Nabi said on Tuesday. “The ball swings early on for one or two overs, but after that it will be a little bit slower, [some] help for spinners, and the ball won’t swing that much.”But here the pitch is new and also a little bit green, as well, and also the weather is cold.”It will be a huge challenge for Afghanistan against New Zealand’s high-quality attack, who made a mess of Australia on a good batting track at the SCG last Saturday night. Trent Boult, who will play for Stars this summer in the BBL, is licking his lips having seen what Arshdeep Singh was able to produce against Pakistan.”I believe we’re on a new strip again,” Boult said. “It did look like there was a bit of pace and bounce in the surface which is always exciting as a fast bowler.”Both Afghanistan and New Zealand will have the benefit of watching what unfolds in the game prior to theirs, with Ireland facing England first up in the afternoon.Trent Boult is excited by the prospect of pace and bounce at the MCG during New Zealand’s game against Afghanistan•ICC/Getty ImagesSpare a thought for Ireland. Having handled West Indies with aplomb, they were undone by Sri Lanka’s well-rounded attack on a fresh Hobart pitch. They now have to face the likes of Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Mark Wood on a pitch that could offer as much swing and seam as Bellerive and a lot more pace and bounce. Ireland’s coach Heinrich Malan noted what a huge challenge it would be given their inexperience in the conditions. But they had learned from the Hobart experience and from watching India-Pakistan about how to approach their batting.”I guess if you look at T20 cricket, especially in Australia, the powerplay is important, but the powerplay is not the be-all and end-all,” Malan said. “It’s what happens in that middle block. I guess it’s scoring runs but not getting out in the powerplay, which then allows you to move through that middle block.”England’s captain Jos Buttler revealed that the unknown of the conditions had reinforced the need to be adaptable.”Work out what’s happening really quickly,” Buttler said. “In Perth, it felt like the ball was swinging around. [Fazalhaq] Farooqi was getting it to move both ways, and it felt like you have to change your approach initially and give some respect to those conditions and play accordingly.”On another day, the pitch will feel great, and there won’t be any swing, and then you change your plan.”Ironically, England’s best experience to draw upon this week might be the Boxing Day Test last year where three of England’s T20I top six played and Wood bowled a handful of frightening spells in a match that lasted two-and-a-half days.India’s captain Rohit Sharma explained that the MCG track had played like a Test-match pitch on Sunday.”The first four or five overs was brilliant to watch, honestly,” Rohit said. “For a little while it felt like a Test match because of the way the ball was moving around and the carry in the pitch, as well. It was a good cricketing pitch.”As of 3pm on Tuesday, with the stinging sun shining on a 23-degree Melbourne afternoon with 77% humidity and clouds looming, the full square covers were already on the MCG playing surface.Like everything else in this World Cup so far, Wednesday at the MCG will be another case of expecting the unexpected.

Clouded and untrusting of his methods, Warner now has the lowest average of any opener to have batted at least 15 times in India

Alex Malcolm17-Feb-20232:35

Chappell: Khawaja was proactive, and frightened the Indians a little bit

David Warner sat in the rooms in the fading light at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The heavy Delhi smog surrounding the ground was perhaps matching some fog in his mind. He didn’t field during the nine overs the India batted, feeling unwell after copping several nasty blows while batting.Warner was peppered by Mohammed Siraj, hit once on the elbow and once on the helmet. Oddly, he received more medical attention on the elbow than the head. He looked like a shadow of the man who had taken on Anrich Nortje’s 150kph thunderbolts six weeks back at the MCG on his way to a knock of 200.He looked tired, slow, and late on the ball. The typical Warner sharpness, the intent to score was not there. He laboured again as he had done in the second innings in Nagpur. He took 21 balls to get off the mark, and when he did, that came via an outside edge. He made just 15 off 44, with two of his three boundaries coming while fending at the ball.Related

Lyon, Head give Australia edge in one-innings shootout

R Ashwin and the story of a most magical over

Khawaja and Handscomb fifties give Australia a chance

Head recalled for bowling ability, Kuhnemann leapfrogs struggling Agar

Warner had fallen in similar fashion to the first innings in Nagpur: Mohammed Shami angled one in from around the wicket, and Warner was caught on the crease. Except this time he played inside the line and edged behind, having played outside the line and lost his off stump last week.It is interesting comparing Usman Khawaja and Warner’s batting methods and mindsets. Two men of the same age – 36 – who grew up together in Sydney playing in the same junior teams. One looks calm, content and clear with his plans and his process, and is playing accordingly. The other looks clouded, uncertain and untrusting of his methods.Khawaja top-scored with 81 in Australia’s seemingly under-par total of 263, and showcased the clearest example in the series so far of the proactivity and bravery Australia’s batters have been seeking. The visitors have talked a lot – both publicly and privately – about each batter owning an individual method and mindset in India, in terms of both training on it and then implementing it in the Tests.Khawaja is very rarely the last player in the nets at training, but he was on Wednesday at Australia’s main session. Right at the end of the session, he asked coach Andrew McDonald to throw a spinning ball at him in such a way so he could work on skipping down and hitting inside out over wide mid-off. He then did that to R Ashwin in the first hour in Delhi, charging out of his crease and lofting him gloriously into the stands for six.Usman Khawaja showcased the proactivity and bravery Australia’s batters have been seeking•Getty ImagesHe also unfurled a stack of sweeps and reverse sweeps to find the rope as he scored with freedom against both the quicks and the spinners. Khawaja did have some luck: he was dropped at short leg, where the ball was dipping on Shreyas Iyer, and had numerous inside edges miss the stumps. But his luck ran out when he fell to a stunning catch from KL Rahul. However, his positivity and proactivity was rewarded with more loose balls than what his opening partner Warner was offered. Khawaja spoke after play about the clarity of mind that he has right now.”I just play by feel,” he said. “I play by what I think is right for the wicket. I don’t go out there thinking I want to play a certain way. I just feel how the bowlers are trying to bowl to me and then I read the game from there. So it’s as simple as that. And that’s pretty much what I did today.”Warner, on the other hand, spent all of the Nagpur centre-wicket practice on Monday shoring up his defence to spin. He was working on getting a bigger stride in to smother the turn. But unlike in the lead-up to Nagpur, he hit very few balls ahead of the second Test. He had a short hit on Wednesday and did not train Thursday, having hit for longer than any Australian on the last training day before the first Test. Warner has been anything but consistent in his preparation on this tour, as he continues to search for answers for his Test malaise in India.Warner now has the lowest average of any opener to have batted at least 15 times in India. He tried to trust his defence for 44 balls on Friday. But Warner hasn’t made his name on his defence. His defence has always gone hand in glove when he has been positive with his footwork, strokeplay and mindset. He has 25 Test hundreds, and has been one of the best Test openers of his generation by being positive and proactive.

“Three innings is not enough. There’s still a long way to go in this Test series. I’m looking forward to what may happen.”Usman Khawaja is backing David Warner to hit back on the India tour

And Khawaja disagreed that Warner had gone into his shell on this tour.”He hit two fours of Ashwin last game before he got out lbw, so he was showing some aggression,” Khawaja said. “It’s never easy out there, especially starting out, even if you’re opening. So I was lucky today. I got a couple to get me going. Sometimes you don’t get that, and it can be very hard.”Three innings is not enough for me. I think there’s still a long way to go in this Test series. I’m looking forward to what may happen. Dave has been such a terrific player for such a long time. Every time his back is against the wall, he produces something. So we’ll see.”And there is no word yet on Warner’s health following his stint off the ground.”I think the medical staff will have to assess tomorrow,” Khawaja said. “He is a little bit weary at the moment. He obviously got a knock to the arm and then to the head, and the head has made him a little bit weary at the moment and hence why he didn’t come out to field. I think the medical staff will have to figure out what happens from here on in.”The last time Warner was weary in a Test was when he walked off the MCG with full-body cramps after a back-to-the-wall double-century. He is weary in body and mind right now in the Delhi gloom too, but with only 26 runs in three innings on the India tour.

On the eve of a T20 World Cup, England allrounder knows it’s ok to put herself first

Valkerie Baynes10-Feb-2023Success looks a little bit different for Nat Sciver-Brunt these days.If she learned anything from taking time out of the game last year to care for her mental health and wellbeing, it was how to become – selfish is too strong – willing to put herself first.In fact, many lessons came from that time, including how to develop strategies to ensure she doesn’t reach “boiling point” again. But as she prepares to take England into a T20 World Cup campaign as Heather Knight’s deputy and her country’s most influential player of the previous, turbulent year, the consummate team-player knows she has to take care of herself.Sciver-Brunt enjoyed a successful return from her three-month absence to be England’s leading run-scorer on their combined ODI-T20I tour of West Indies and Player of the Series in the 50-over format. After a conversation with Knight following that tour, Sciver-Brunt decided she was ready to resume the vice-captaincy duties she had kept on hold initially when she made her playing comeback. After a half-century as England beat hosts South Africa in an official warm-up game ahead of the World Cup (she didn’t bat or bowl during a five-wicket win against New Zealand on Wednesday), all is going well so far.”Taking myself out, it’s not really a thing that I’ve had to do previously in my career,” Sciver-Brunt told ESPNcricinfo after the second warm-up game at Western Province Cricket Club in Cape Town. “I’d always try and give my everything to the team and for us to win, to the group, so actually taking the time to think am I going to be okay with it? Is it going to affect my performance, that was really what I wanted to try and figure out and I was happy that I was in a place where it wouldn’t.”I didn’t know how it was going to go. Before the tour I didn’t want my expectations to be that I want to make a score in every game or I want to take wickets. It was more about me feeling comfortable on the pitch and able to contribute in that way, not skill-wise or numbers or anything but yeah, was I able to be part of the group and enjoy myself. So success looked a bit different.”Success does look different now. Obviously you want to win and you want to perform for your team and everything like that but being okay for myself was more important.”Related

• Sciver-Brunt must put England back in business

• 'I perform well when I enjoy myself' – Renuka sticks to her strengths to create a stir

• Who, when, where – All you need to know about the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup

• Suzie Bates: 'I'm really aware that every opportunity now could be my last'

• An indicator of the lay of the land and a boost for South Africa, the country

Sciver-Brunt admits that the desire to always do her bit for the team had made stepping away for herself very difficult. But in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bio-secure bubble touring that followed – an away Ashes campaign, an ODI World Cup (where she was key to England’s runner-up finish) and a home Commonwealth Games – she felt she had little choice but to stop. Speaking to the England Women’s team doctor, though, gave her reassurance.”It was a weird place,” she reflected. “I’d not really felt like that at all in my life before. Normally I don’t want to miss anything, I don’t want to let anyone down. I don’t want to not be there for everyone. And so realising that allowing myself to leave or take myself out of it was the hardest thing to get over because I’ve never really gotten to that point before or felt like that at all.”Once I did go home, it just felt like it was the right thing. I might have got home and thought, ‘I feel fine, I should go back,’ but taking myself out of it and getting home, then I knew that it was definitely the right thing to do. Allowing myself to take myself out, it was a weird thing because in our team that’s not really happened before and I don’t like to miss things. I want to do absolutely everything that we need to do in order to play, so my mentality is not usually, ‘this isn’t right, I need to step back.'”Someone else who knew things weren’t right was her wife and team-mate, Katherine Sciver-Brunt.”Because I’m such a sort of steady character, Katherine can tell when I’m not right as well,” Sciver-Brunt says. “So she sort of knew that I wasn’t okay. Having that person there who, almost she knows me better than I know myself, was good to have, someone there, like, batting for you, basically.”The couple recently switched to using their married name ‘Sciver-Brunt’•Getty ImagesThe couple recently switched to using their married name while playing and will wear shirts to reflect that for the first time while in South Africa.”Everyone already knows we’re married so it’s not like, ‘oh, hi, it’s obvious now’, but it’s something nice to represent us both on the pitch,” Sciver-Brunt says. “And yeah, having a bit of Brunt in my bowling is definitely a good thing!”Katherine, who turns 38 in July, was rested during India’s tour of England late last summer and she wasn’t part of the ODI squad in the Caribbean, but she returned for the T20I part of that tour and is now primed for what could well be her last World Cup.Katherine was part of the England side which won the T20 crown in 2009 and finished runners-up to Australia in 2012, while Sciver-Brunt has twice played in losing finals against Australia, in 2014 and 2018. Sciver-Brunt also scored a gallant 148 not out as England lost the ODI World Cup final to Australia last year. But one result sticking in England’s craw in the lead-up to this event is their washed-out semi-final at the last T20 World Cup in Australia, where India advanced as group winners instead and lost to the hosts in the decider.So when Sciver-Brunt says through clenched teeth and raised eyebrows, “I don’t want to be runner-up anymore” it doesn’t sound like a predictable, throw-away line uttered by an athlete on the eve of a tournament. It sounds and looks like a pledge. And again, when she says: “I’d like to be in the final.””Especially in T20, we always seem to sort of do well and then get to the end and something happens, rain, or we don’t play as we have been playing,” she says. “There’s a lot of us who have experienced those tournaments who are, ‘right, I just don’t want to it do anymore’. We must go for it!'”As a team, we are in a really good place and I think the way that we want to play, as long as we’re able to put that into practice on the pitch and do it against the best teams, I think we’re in a really good spot to make the knockout stages. We say in tournaments you don’t want to think too far ahead and try and keep the next game in your mind as much as possible so I guess that’s what we’ll do. I think I once the tournament starts, it’ll go so quickly that all you can focus on is the next match. But at the moment, I’d like to be in the final.”

They were slow, they were steady, they refused to take any risk and they might still end up winning the game

Danyal Rasool29-Dec-2022There’s only one thing to do when Pakistan lay out pitches as flat as these. Attack with the bat, attack with the ball, attack with the field, and attack with the declarations. Be prepared to lose the game if you really want to win it. Send the Nighthawks in, be unpredictable with the bowling changes, surprising with the selections, funky with the fields. Attack the danger, go faster through the smog.It sounds crazy, at times a shade arrogant. It can chafe. But, as Brendon McCullum walked away with the first ever 3-0 clean sweep by a visiting side in Pakistan, the series trophy stowed away in England’s luggage was vindication of that strategy’s success. A plan that works, after all, will always win out, no matter how ornate, intricate and sophisticated Plans B, C, and D look on paper.Related

Pakistan look to end miserable home Test season on a high

Report: Williamson 200* and NZ spinners put Pakistan under pressure

Williamson and Latham, the two constants of New Zealand cricket

Kane Williamson, the man who succeeded McCullum as New Zealand’s Test captain, though, has a sharp enough mind to see that his side – or Tim Southee’s side as it’s now become – doesn’t have the personnel to play in the same frenetic, slapdash manner as England. He might also have noticed that Pakistan don’t really know how to win Test matches at home right now. Their batting line-up is in transition, the bulk of their premier fast bowlers are injured and who keeps wicket has become part of a culture war that has very little to do with cricket.The last week at the PCB has seen one administration swept aside midway through its term and an older one rushed back in. They’re busy taking part in a tedious slanging match of accusations and rebuttals, counter-rebuttals and fresh accusations. In short, there is more than one way to beat Pakistan at the moment, and New Zealand need not rip up the Test guidebook to threaten a fifth straight home defeat on their beleaguered hosts.The third day was moving day, with New Zealand merely intent on ensuring they finished it having overtaken Pakistan’s first innings score. On the fourth, with Williamson well into three-figures and batting with the tail, there was a chance of morning fireworks as New Zealand pressed home their advantage and gave themselves as much time as possible to bowl out Pakistan once more. It was, England had repeatedly told us and showed us, the way to win here.Except, it would take 18 balls for the first run to be scored, and 50 for the first boundary. Williamson, and New Zealand, had no intention of offering up risk for theatre’s sake, and felt no obligation to play to anyone’s instant gratification. New Zealand have, after all, won just 15 Tests in Asia in 67 years. Twenty percent of those came under Williamson’s stewardship. He might never have played here before, but at this point, he has Karachi bending to his will, and he wants to ensure there is as much daylight as possible between his side and Pakistan before a final assault can begin.Kane Williamson remained defiant on the fourth morning as New Zealand’s lead swelled•Associated PressThe 17 overs in the first hour see just 29 runs scored; there are just 79 scored by lunch. Boundaries are as scarce as fully fit Pakistan fast bowlers at the moment, but, and this is the point, wickets are scarcer still. Ish Sodhi – equally disciplined – plays the innings of his life; the 180 balls he faces represent over 21% of his career count. Of the 193 balls in the first session, the pair defend or leave alone 136 – over 70%. In front of largely empty stands on a weekday, it’s not absorbing cricket, but then again, well played Test cricket can often be a difficult watch, particularly on turgid surfaces. These surfaces are especially turgid, and New Zealand are playing Test cricket especially well here.”Any time you go out to bat, you want to prepare as well as you can and try and commit your plans,” Williamson said. “That was the focus here in this match. It was nice to spend a lot of time out there with a number of other guys that made really valuable contributions. Coming into today, we knew we wanted to bat longer and get a few more on the board and the contribution from Ish Sodhi with the bat was really important. It was a nice first innings total and for us it’s lot of work to do and we know we got to take a few wickets tomorrow.”It’s hard to judge really, but for me it was nice to be out there, being a part of a number of partnerships that were really valuable for us getting a competitive total. It has put us in a reasonable position, but we know there’s a lot of hard work to do. In terms of a first innings total as a batting unit, we are pleased with the efforts, but we know that day five of any Test, so many things can unfold and we’re looking forward to that.”It wasn’t until tea that New Zealand finally declared, moments after Williamson had lofted Abrar Ahmed inside out with an exquisite shot that took him to 199, before a nudge to deep square took him to his fifth double-hundred. He is past McCullum now, and also, the first non-Asian batter to register three-figure scores in each of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the UAE.”It’s always a challenge to bat in Asia,” Williamson said, “Slightly different as well. All the countries and opposition are different. I wouldn’t put them all in the same group, but as a team we’re always trying to adjust to the conditions to put a good performance on the board. These were a good few days, but Test cricket going into day five, there’s a lot left in the match, so we’re very much focused on that.”It didn’t always feel like that when Williamson was out there batting. Even as New Zealand’s innings was drawing to a close and he was running out of partners, there was little urgency to get to the personal milestone, or finally get off the square and put Pakistan in for the 10 wickets they needed to take. The umpires even extended the middle session with New Zealand nine down, and yet Williamson was content to pad up to Nauman Ali’s legside drifters, and even played out a maiden against Abrar, exposing Ajaz Patel for a full over. It was all time that was being drained out of the game on a clock Pakistan were only too happy to watch run down.”We’ll have to see if we declared late,” he said. “We wanted to get a few more runs and see the way the pitch is deteriorating a little bit and getting a bit of assistance with the spin. It’s definitely deteriorated a bit, there’s a lot more rough as we saw towards the back end of our innings. There were a few more things to negotiate as a batter, a little bit of variable bounce. We’ll need a lot of hard work and some patience going into tomorrow to try and utilise the assistance off the surface as well as we can.”It’s all very far removed from the last visitors that showed up on these shores. New Zealand, though, don’t seem too bothered about running after the latest fad; indeed, they didn’t seem especially bothered by chasing after a victory here. And yet, with Williamson the master whisperer in that characteristically understated way, they might still end up wooing that victory to come to them.