All posts by csb10.top

India need seven fifth-day wickets to beat England at Edgbaston and head to Lord’s with the series level. It would be a first Test win as captain for Shubman Gill, who followed his 269 in the first innings with 161 in the second, declared at drinks to set a world-record target of 608, then watched Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep prise out England’s top order.The fourth day was dominated by intrigue about the timing of India’s declaration, which arrived far later than many expected and left England facing an ideological problem. After a single draw – and that one prompted by two days of rain – in the last three years, would they finally tone down their approach with the bat and accept that winning was off the table?The answer will only become clear tomorrow, with two of the three wickets that fell on Saturday evening owing to Akash’s skill rather than their batters’ attacking intent. By the close, Ollie Pope was clinging on after a working-over from India’s seamers, and the notion that England could score more than 500 runs on the final day seemed academic.Siraj had Zak Crawley to thank for his early strike. Crawley endured a miserable day, dropping a catch to reprieve Rishabh Pant, and after playing out a maiden in the first over of England’s second innings – as though setting the tone for a more watchful approach – he was suckered into a hard-handed drive which flew to slip.Deep was sublime with the new ball, adding two second-innings wickets to his four in the first. He cramped Ben Duckett for room with a ball that angled into the left-hander from around the wicket and then decked in off the seam to induce a chop-on, then found late movement away to beat Root on the outside edge and clean him up.India came close to a fourth wicket, with Pope characteristically frenzied early in his innings, and the only blemish on their bowling effort came in the form of two burned reviews in the first ten overs. But if Gill is still getting to grips with the DRS, he has proved across these first two Tests that he is a far, far better player than his average heading into this tour might have suggested.Gill’s latest hundred – his third of the series, and eighth overall – came wrapped in gift wrap, and adorned with a gold bow. He scored more than half of his runs off England’s spinners, who hardly turned a ball between them on a lifeless pitch, milked singles at will with the field spread, and treated occasional bouncer barrages with utter disdain.He seized his opportunity to reassert his dominance after grinding England into the dirt in the first innings, and broke a number of records along the way. Gill is the first player in the format’s history, spanning more than 2,500 matches, to score 200 and 150 in the same match; only once has a batter scored more than his 430-run aggregate in a single Test.Akash Deep was terrific with the new ball•Getty Images

Gill had walked in to the backdrop of gloomy skies on the fourth morning, after Brydon Carse had induced an outside edge from Karun Nair, and survived an lbw review off his sixth ball thanks to an inside edge. But he was soon into his work, playing late to steer boundaries away behind square on the off side, and after a sharp first spell, the stiff Carse was not seen again.After KL Rahul, who batted fluently for 55, was cleaned up by Josh Tongue’s full outswinger, Pant made his intentions clear by charging down the pitch to slap his fourth ball back over Tongue’s head for six. Dropped on 10 by Zak Crawley, Pant threw his bat – quite literally, twice losing grip of it – during his 65, flogging both Tongue and Shoaib Bashir.Ben Stokes ran out of ideas – and fit bowlers – as the same pair toiled away after the lunch break. The wisdom of Tongue’s short-ball ploy to Gill was proven by a flurry of six, four and four off consecutive balls, followed by another six and a flat-bat for four in his next over which took him past 50.Pant’s dismissal – caught at long-off, while his bat flew to midwicket – brought some respite, with Ravindra Jadeja curiously ponderous after a promotion to No. 6. But Gill marched relentlessly on, nudging Bashir off his hips to reach his third hundred in four innings before hitting Chris Woakes’ first three balls after tea for six, four and four.Jadeja had 25 off 68 at tea but switched gears straight after, skipping down and launching his first ball of the evening session back over Bashir’s head for six. He celebrated with his trademark sword-swish after cutting Joe Root for four to reach fifty, while Gill freed his arms by launching Root and Bashir into the stands.Gill miscued a return catch to Bashir on 161, but the declaration was still on ice: Nitish Kumar Reddy walked to the crease to pantomime boos from the Eric Hollies Stand, then a chant of “boring, boring India”. After Reddy holed out second ball, Washington Sundar lofted over cover to take the lead to 600; when the clock ticked past five, the signal finally arrived.

Pakistan’s high-risk, high-reward tactics finally bore fruit after two failed attempts as the Salman Agha-led side stormed to a nine-wicket victory against New Zealand in an enthralling battle that saw 411 runs being amassed at Eden Park. Hasan Nawaz’s maiden T20I century outplayed Mark Chapman’s 94 as Pakistan chased down 205 in just 16 overs and kept the five-match series alive at 1-2.Pakistan backed their new openers Nawaz and Mohammed Haris in the post Mohammed Rizwan-Babar Azam era and they repaid the faith by putting up a 74-run opening stand off just 35 balls to lay the perfect foundation for the chase. Salman capitalised on the flying start to score 51 not out and was involved in an unbroken 133-run second-wicket stand. Nawaz, who was coming off two successive ducks, blazed away the fastest hundred by a Pakistan batter in T20Is, off just 44 balls, in a sensational chase.

Chapman powers New Zealand

Chapman’s blistering knock off just 44 balls set New Zealand up for what seemed like an above-par total at the innings break. After losing Finn Allen for a three-ball duck in the first over by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tim Seifert (19 off nine) and Chapman pushed New Zealand past early jitters. Seifert fell to Haris Rauf in the fifth over but Chapman didn’t slow down.He pulled and hooked the short balls, brought out beautiful cover drives against seamers and punished loose deliveries from Abrar Ahmed and Shadab Khan. He brought up his fourth half-century against Pakistan off 29 balls. This was also his first T20I fifty in almost a year.Mark Chapman kept up his stunning form against Pakistan•AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan got the much-needed breakthrough in the tenth over when Daryl Mitchell (17 off 11) chased a wide delivery of Shadab and miscued to Rauf. Chapman kept finding boundaries, however, even when Pakistan captain Agha brought himself on and leaked 13 runs off his only over.His strong bottom-hand and exceptional placement saw him smash 11 fours and four sixes. He was eventually deceived by an Afridi slower ball in the 13th over.Pakistan fought back with quick wickets including two double-wicket overs from Rauf and Abrar but Michael Bracewell’s 31 off 18 ensured New Zealand crossed 200.

Pakistan’s blazing start to chase

After two disappointing outings, Haris and Nawaz gave the visitors a dream start. Haris began with two sixes off Kyle Jamieson’s first over of the innings and followed it up with two fours against Jacob Duffy. Nawaz had a tough time early on with his timing but still found boundaries through streaky edges. Pakistan reached their joint-fastest team fifty in men’s T20Is, in four overs.Duffy removed Haris for a 20-ball 41 with a bouncer in the sixth over and Pakistan ended the phase with 75 for 1, their highest powerplay total in men’s T20Is, moving past the 73 they scored against England in 2016.

Nawaz takes off, Agha supports

Nawaz rode his luck but made sure to hang around. He was not particularly convincing against short balls early on but he was able to see the balls more clearly as the innings progressed. Though he started the chase playing second fiddle to Haris, Nawaz took charge after the powerplay.His first confident strike came against Ish Sodhi in the seventh over, when he picked a loopy googly and clubbed it over long-on for a six. He brought up his maiden T20I fifty off 26 balls in the ninth over and propelled Pakistan to 124 for 1 at the halfway stage.Nawaz was dropped on 68 by Sodhi off Ben Sears’ bowling but New Zealand couldn’t do much on a batting-friendly pitch with dew also making the task hard for the bowlers. Nawaz eventually hammered ten fours and seven sixes in his 45-ball stay.Unlike Nawaz, Agha was precise and clever in his batting that fetched him six fours and two sixes. The duo scored 65 runs in the last four overs of the chase to take the team home early.Nawaz brought up his century off the penultimate ball, before Pakistan completed the fastest 200-plus chase in men’s T20Is.

A third IPL franchise owner has emerged victorious in the ongoing Hundred sale with the Sun Group, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, making the highest bid to buy a stake in Northern Superchargers, whose host county is Yorkshire.ESPNcricinfo understands that the Sun Group have agreed to buy 100% of the franchise: both the ECB’s 49% stake, and Yorkshire’s 51% share. The Superchargers are the first team to be sold outright, with host venues retaining a share in the first five franchises sold.The Sun Group’s valuation of Superchargers was £100 million, with two other parties understood to have been involved in the auction. Both Yorkshire and Sun Group have to finalise the agreement within eight weeks of the end of the Hundred sale.Yorkshire will keep 80% of the revenue from the sale of their 51% stake, which will provide the club with an injection of around £40m. Colin Graves, Yorkshire’s chairman, predicted last year that the club would soon be “fighting for its survival” due to debts of more than £20m, of which around £15m is owed to his family trust (which is managed by independent trustees).The Superchargers will be the third T20 franchise team in the Sun Group’s portfolio. They acquired Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2012, who went on to win the IPL in 2016 and finished as runners-up last year. In 2023, they added Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who have won the SA20 title in its first two editions.The Sun Group is owned by Kalanithi Maran, an Indian media baron, who successfully bid for the IPL franchise after the BCCI terminated the ownership contract of the previous Hyderabad-based team, Deccan Chargers, in 2012.Related

• Yorkshire to start clearing debts of £25 million as Hundred money lands

• Can Travishek, Klaasen, Reddy and Cummins push SRH to go one better?

• Ben Stokes to miss Hundred ahead of legacy-defining Ashes winter

• Surrey to retain majority stake in Oval Invincibles as negotiations with Reliance begin

• Ends justify the means for ECB as Hundred's millions prepare to roll in

Sanjay Patel, Yorkshire’s chief executive and the Hundred’s former managing director, said in a statement: “We are delighted to be entering into an exclusivity period with the Sun Group, and will be continuing our conversations with them in the coming weeks with a view to setting the Northern Superchargers up for long-term and sustained success.””Having been in consultation with them for some time now, it is clear that they are aligned to the values and future direction of the club and will play a huge part in ensuring we can go on to achieve great success in the coming years. Today is clearly a huge milestone for Yorkshire CCC, the Northern Superchargers and the Sun Group, but it is worth stressing that there is a lot of detail to be discussed alongside further due diligence and legal processes before a contract can be signed.”The Superchargers are yet to win the Hundred in either the men’s or the women’s competition, with both teams finishing fourth in 2024. Their men’s team is coached by Andrew Flintoff and captained by Harry Brook, while the women’s team recently appointed Lisa Keightley as Dani Hazell’s successor. Mickey Arthur has also taken over as their new director of cricket this year.Pat Cummins captained Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL final last year•BCCI

The Sun Group joins owners of two other IPL franchises – RPSG Group (owners of Lucknow Super Giants) and Reliance Industries Limited (owners of Mumbai Indians) – who made the highest bids to buy stakes in Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles respectively.There could be at least one other IPL owner, the GMR Group, the co-owners of Delhi Capitals, who are also widely expected to buy a stake in Southern Brave after securing a deal to buy host county Hampshire last year.The other successful bidders to date are Cricket Investor Holdings Limited (a Silicon Valley tech consortium spearheaded by Nikesh Arora) at London Spirit; tech entrepreneur and Washington Freedom owner Sanjay Govil at Welsh Fire; and Knighthead Capital at Birmingham Phoenix.Warwickshire confirmed that Knighthead are their preferred investor on Wednesday. Chief executive Stuart Cain said: “We’d said at the start of this process that we wanted an investor committed to invest in the region and be with us for the long term, to make a real difference. I believe we’ve found that in Knighthead and we look forward to working with them during this exclusivity period.”The total valuation of the six franchises so far is close to £800m, with Trent Rockets and Southern Brave yet to be sold.Feb 5, 1800 GMT – This story was updated several times, including to add Yorkshire’s comments.

Legspinner Anisa Akter Soba picked up 4 for 25 as Bangladesh beat Scotland by 17 runs in Bangi to become the second team after Australia to reach Super Six from Group D. Scotland also confirmed their spot after Australia beat Nepal later in the day.After being sent in, Bangladesh found themselves on 50 for 5 after ten overs. Afia Ashima and captain Sumaiya Akter then added 38 in 33 balls to give the innings some stability. Ashima fell for 21 but Sumaiya stayed unbeaten till the end, scoring 28 off 36 balls to take the side to 120 for 9.In response, Scotland were 19 for no loss in four overs before Soba bowled Emma Walsingham for 11. In the same over, Pippa Kelly was run-out. Wicketkeeper Pippa Sproul and captain Niamh Muir put the chase back on track by adding 50 in 60 balls, but after Muir fell for 22, none of the incoming batters could cross even 5.Sproul tried to keep Scotland in the contest with her 43 off 41. But Soba ended her resistance and then went on to take two more wickets as Scotland could manage only 103 for 8.New Zealand bowled out Samoa for 40•ICC/Getty Images

After defeats to South Africa and Nigeria, New Zealand secured a spot in the Super Six stage with a drubbing of Samoa in Kuching.In a rain-affected 17-over game, New Zealand were in trouble with the bat at 12 for 3. But Eve Wolland and Anika Todd added 55 for the fourth wicket to steady the ship.After Todd fell for a 19-ball 27, it was on Wolland to hold New Zealand’s innings together. She hit two fours and two sixes before she fell for 48 off 43 in the final over, helping New Zealand get to 107 for 9. For Samoa, seamer Olive Lefaga took three wickets and Verra Farane took two.The total proved to be more than enough, as New Zealand skittled Samoa out for just 40, with no batter reaching the double digits. Rishika Jaswal and Tash Wakelin claimed three wickets each while Sophie Court picked up two.Davina Perrin smashed 74 off 45 balls•ICC/Getty Images

Davina Perrin’s 45-ball 74 helped England beat USA in a top-of-the-table clash in Group B.Sent in, USA mustered 119 for 5 from their 20 overs, with captain Anika Kolan top-scoring with an unbeaten 46 off 42. Prisha Thanawala and Trudy Johnson struck twice each for England.England didn’t get off to the best of starts, with opener Erin Thomas out for a golden duck off the second ball of the chase. But, it was one-way traffic thereon with Perrin and Johnson putting on a 117-run stand that took them two runs short of the target. England captain Abi Norgrove had to just hit the winning run off the first ball she faced, with Johnson finishing unbeaten on 44.Both England and USA have qualified for the Super Six stage.Caoimhe Bray hits over off in her 34-ball 45 as Nepal wicketkeeper Alisha Yadav looks on•Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Caoimhe Bray led Australia‘s strong showing with the bat as they knocked out Nepal, paving Scotland’s way into the Super Six. She hit 45 off just 34 batting at No. 4 before cameos from Hasrat Gill (21-ball 30 not out) and Chloe Ainsworth (16 not out off just 9) helped Australia to 139 for 6.Nepal captain Puja Mahato picked up three wickets for 31 runs but her team could not pose a challenge with the bat. Mahato’s 18 off 42 balls was the most by a Nepal batter on the day, and the only one in double digits as they crawled to 56 for 8 in their 20 overs. All of Gill, Juliette Morton and Lily Bassingthwaighte returned two wickets apiece.Ireland celebrate after knocking out Pakistan•ICC/Getty Images

Over in Johor, a strong all-round show from Ireland helped them eke out a 13-run win in a rain-affected contest to knock Pakistan out of the competition. In a match reduced to nine overs per side, Alice Walsh’s attacking innings at the top set the tone for Ireland, who made 69 for 5 in their allotted overs. Walsh scored 31 off just 19 with five fours.Set a revised DLS target of 73 in nine overs, Pakistan struggled for rhythm and were kept to 59 for 7 with Ellie McGee picking up two wickets while Freya Sargent and Lara McBride returned one each. Pakistan’s innings also featured three run-outs, including that of captain Komal Khan.South Africa, led by Seshnie Naidu and wicketkeeper Karabo Meso, celebrate a Nigerian wicket•ICC/Getty Images

In Kuching, South Africa registered a comfortable win over first-time World-Cuppers Nigeria in another rain-hit contest. Asked to bat first, South Africa could only score 49 for 2 in their eight overs; their opening partnership was worth 41 off 43 balls. Captain Lucky Piety was the only wicket-taker for Nigeria, picking up two wickets in two balls.Nigeria could only manage 24 for 8 in their 66-run chase with none of the batters crossing Piety’s six. Legspinner Seshnie Naidu returned two wickets for one run in her single over while captain Kayla Reyneke also picked up two wickets in her two overs for South Africa. Wicketkeeper Karabo Meso also put up a show as she effected three dismissals.Thanks to their win over New Zealand earlier in the competition, though, Nigeria also ensured qualification for Super Six.

Big picture: Two teams on an upward trajectory

Sri Lanka’s men are third on the World Test Championship table, with a win percentage of 55.56, and South Africa are right on their heels, on 54.17. Both are in striking distance of a top-two finish, for which presently, there are five serious contenders – India, Australia, and New Zealand being the other three.Ordinarily, this is enough to make this a tilt worth watching (there are distractions such as some Border-Gavaskar Trophy, plus a New Zealand vs England series elsewhere, apparently), but there are further layers of dramatic potential here. Sri Lanka, if you remember, are the only Asian team to ever have beaten South Africa at home in a series, back in 2019. Seven players from this current Sri Lanka squad had played roles in that 2-0 sweep.And in Durban, Sri Lanka have never once lost a Test, having played three there. In fact, they have won their two most recent games at Kingsmead, Rangana Herath’s wizardry having delivered their first triumph on South African soil back in 2011, before the Kusal Perera special sent them screaming to one of the most miraculous wins in Test history in 2019.Related

• Sri Lanka's batting vs South Africa's bowling in the race to WTC final

• Embuldeniya and Oshada Fernando return for Sri Lanka's Tests in SA

• Bavuma, Coetzee, Jansen return for SA's home Tests against Sri Lanka

• Bavuma battles 'mental demons' as he returns from lengthy injury layoff

• South Africa not pushing for green tops for massive home season

But while the Sri Lanka team of that 2019 tour were held together by hope and kinesiology tape, this one seems to be building to something? (We ask tentatively, as this is a strange assertion to make for Sri Lanka teams over the last decade.) So far this year, they have won six Tests, the most impressive of which was their victory at The Oval. And they have what is increasingly beginning to seem like a seam-bowling outfit. Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, and Lahiru Kumara are the likely starters. But they have others like Kasun Rajitha and Milan Rathnayake who have had good showings in overseas conditions too.South Africa, meanwhile, are on an upward trajectory of their own. They’d sent what amounted to about an E-team to New Zealand for a pasting in February, but since then, their big dogs back in the XI, have won away series in West Indies and Bangladesh. They’re at the start of their home summer now, so presumably they are overflowing with confidence. The one wrinkle in all of this is that they haven’t especially loved playing at Kingsmead over the past 15 years. Since the start of 2010, they have lost five matches to the two they have won at this venue. While South Africa quicks revel in the extra bounce their home surfaces usually deliver, the coastal venues, and this one in particular, tends to play slower and lower in comparison.On top of which, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has said that they will not be requesting made-to-order green tops on this tour, which will please Sri Lanka’s batters especially. That doesn’t mean there will be no bounce or movement. Shukri Conrad, South Africa’s head coach, said he expected “some good pace” at Kingsmead. But expect the surface to take turn on the later days, especially. South Africa have some skillful seamers, but their spin attack will be tested here too.

Form guide

South Africa WWWDL
Sri Lanka WWWLL (Last five completed matches, most recent first)Keshav Maharaj could end up playing a big role for South Africa in the home summer•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Keshav Maharaj and Kamindu Mendis

No bowler in this match knows the Kingsmead surface better than Keshav Maharaj. He was born in Durban, has played all his first-class cricket for the KwaZulu Natal Dolphins, and averages 21.52 in Tests at the venue. Though he has 54 Tests on his resume now, he’s only played three in his hometown, though. Partly, this is down to Covid. But one of those matches was against Sri Lanka, on that 2019 tour, and he took three wickets for 87 runs in that match. This sounds like it wasn’t especially impressive, but when one of the greatest innings of all time is being played by the opposition, it’s not terrible. He is also five years down the road in his development now, and at 34, should be in his spin-bowling prime. How Maharaj fares against Sri Lanka’s batters will go a long way to determining this series, you suspect.When will the Kamindu Mendis fever dream end? Eight Tests in, he has five hundreds – in three different countries – and in September became the fastest player to 1000 Test runs in 74 years. That average of 91.27 has to come down at some point, surely? But then people said that about him when he was in England, in August. His average was only in the 80s then. Though he is an all-format player for Sri Lanka now, Kamindu’s prowess has been limited to Tests for now – he is only a decent white-ball player, though his being able to bowl with either arm is likely more useful in those formats. Can he take this rocket-fueled start to a Test career to a whole new continent? In any case, there has never been a Sri Lanka batter who has been this hot out of the gate.

Team news: Sri Lanka ponder attack

*South Africa named their XI on the eve of the Test and picked Gerald Coetzee over the left-arm spin of Senuran Muthusamy, to join the pace attack of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder, with Keshav Maharaj the lone spinner.South Africa: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Tony de Zorzi, 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Temba Bavuma (capt.), 5 David Bedingham, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Wiaan Mulder, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Kagiso RabadaSeven Sri Lanka players have been in Durban for at least two weeks, and they should have a full complement of cricketers to choose from. They have decisions to make on the bowling front. They will likely go with Milan Rathnayake, for the batting value he adds. But do they pick Vishwa Fernando or Lahiru Kumara? Vishwa brings in the left-arm angle and has had success in Durban. But Kumara has the pace to trouble batters.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dimuth Karuanaratne, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Milan Rathnayake, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Lahiru Kumara/Vishwa Fernando

Pitch and conditions: A wet start to the Test?

Some pace and bounce is likely early on, but if the sun falls on this Kingsmead pitch, expect it to become a little lower, and slower. Sun, though, might be in short supply early on in this match, with showers forecast for Wednesday, and overcast conditions predicted for Thursday.

Stats and trivia

• Maharaj’s best-ever figures have come against Sri Lanka – his 9 for 129 in the first innings at the SSC, in Colombo, in 2018.
• Kamindu Mendis’ away average so far, from nine innings, is 79.25. Five of those knocks came in England, where he averages 53.40, his lowest in any country.
• In the nine Tests these teams have played since the start of 2015, South Africa have won five and Sri Lanka four. All but two of these Tests were in South Africa.

• If Prabath Jayasuriya gets three wickets in Durban – his 17th Test – he will become the joint second-fastest bowler to 100 Test wickets, behind George Lohmann, who made his debut in the 19th century. Among players active since 1950, only Yasir Shah has done it in 17 Tests.
• Lahiru Kumara is also closing in on 100 dismissals. He’d be the fifth Sri Lanka fast bowler to the milestone, behind Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, and Suranga Lakmal.

  Quotes

  “Neil [McKenzie]) was good. He was with us for a week. It was a good week, and we got some points from him. We went to a lot of batting sessions with him. He’s a very good cricketer and a very open person, so we took a lot of his information. How do we adapt to this bounce? How do we adapt to these conditions? How do we adapt to this seam? How do we adapt to this ground condition? We took a lot of things.”
  *1100 hours: The story was updated after South Africa named their XI
  

Babar Azam’s dropping from the Pakistan squad has seen Fakhar Zaman entangled in a dispute with the PCB, with the cricket board issuing him a show-cause notice for a social media post. After news of Babar’s omission from Pakistan’s squad for the second and third Test broke, Fakhar took to X (formerly Twitter) before the PCB had officially announced the squad.He described the development as “concerning” saying “sidelining arguably the best batter Pakistan has ever produced” risked sending a “deeply negative message across the board”. He called on the PCB to “safeguard” players rather than “undermining them”.The PCB has taken strong exception to the post, telling ESPNcricinfo the batter had been issued a show-cause notice for bringing the game in Pakistan into disrepute. They have alleged that as a centrally contracted player, Fakhar had a responsibility not to make such comments against his employer in public. They are understood to be disappointed Fakhar did not raise any complaints privately.