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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:10

Manjrekar: India didn’t seem to have a Plan B

There is a lot to be said of Roston Chase. He’s languid at the crease. He plays late and close to his body. He wasn’t perturbed by a tough situation. And his timing stood out. Fifty years since it was last done for West Indies and a few days after the 80th birthday of the man who did it, Chase achieved the double of a century and a a five-for in the same Test. In the process he helped pull off an improbable draw: batting for survival, West Indies had lost four wickets in 15.5 overs on day four, but on the final day they gave up only two.Chase looked correct when he defended, graceful when he attacked and bloody determined all through. Sir Garry Sobers would’ve enjoyed a fellow Bajan emulating his feat with an innings like that.On a wet day four, along with 82.1 overs, it appeared West Indies’ fight had gone missing too. Their openers fell early, and in ungainly fashion. One senior player fell for a duck and another was a sitting duck against a short ball. It had become a walk in the park for India. This morning, however, they were stuck in the mud. The first 25 balls cost 40 runs. The fast bowlers were hit through the line and over the top. The spinners were hit against the turn. Chase had finally made it a contest. At tea, he had the favourites sweating. An hour and a half later, he made Virat Kohli concede and take the draw. The first draw at Sabina Park since 1998.India tried to bounce Chase, he pulled them away. India used reverse swing, he kept them out shortening his backlift. India tried to spin him out, but his open stance showed him exactly what was coming at him. On 99, he flicked a ball on his pads right through the man at midwicket, completed the single and celebrated his first Test hundred in his second Test match by crossing his hands in the shape of an X over his head. His coach and team-mates were clapping with gusto. Sir Viv Richards was up on his feet screaming “Roston!”From the other end, Jamaica’s own Jermaine Blackwood smashed 63 off 54 balls and the man who replaced him at the crease, Shane Dowrich, applied himself beautifully. He fell 26 short of what might have been a maiden Test hundred when umpire Ian Gould adjudged him lbw to Amit Mishra not spotting an inside edge.This was only the third time over the last 12 Tests that a Kingston crowd got to watch cricket on the fifth day. And while their numbers could have been better, their investment in the match couldn’t be faulted too much. One fan implored Dowrich to “come again” – meaning restart – after he turned his nose up at the turn a Mishra legbreak got. The outside edge evaded a diving Ajinkya Rahane at slip. Another boomed “good shot, good shot” when Chase drove R Ashwin down the ground. Among the fans was Sheldon Cottrell, who had completed his CPL stint last week, with a little girl next to him. They were all watching history.India bowled 88.1 overs. They conceded 340 runs and could get only two wickets. For the first time in nine days, their opposition was willing to give, well, opposition. Kohli began to chirp at Chase to see if he could be unruffled. Mishra fielded a ball that was pushed back at him and flung it back at the batsman in frustration. Things were getting out of hand. More accurately, West Indies were not giving anything away under the the kind of pressure where giving away an inch was as good as a mile. Chase and Dowrich raised the team’s first hundred partnership of the series at the rate of 3.77 runs per over. Chase and Blackwood had added 93 runs at 5.26 an over. This was not backs-to-the-wall batting. This was special.Those in the know say batsmen need to switch on and switch off. But it was difficult to say if Chase ever switched off. The smallest of smiles broke through when he secured his century; it was only his third in first-class cricket and this was only his 31st first-class match. He was batting like he had a 100 of each.Chase defied India when they had secured a lead of 304 runs, and then taken four wickets in only 15.5 overs on a rain-hit fourth day. With 98.1 overs on the final day, they were supposed to get back-to-back Test victories in a series away from home. Something that has not happened since 2005, against Zimbabwe. Dilute the equation to the top-eight teams, and you end up at 1986, against England.The bowlers did try. Mohammed Shami made the old and the new ball swing. Ishant Sharma kept squaring batsmen up. Ashwin couldn’t have one of his days – 30-4-114-1. Umesh Yadav and Mishra were disappointing, a combined 37-8-134-2.West Indies saw every ball that came down, inspected them carefully and then put them in their place. As good as the strokes themselves was the batsmen’s belief they could measure up.Blackwood showed it when he lifted Shami over his head for a six. When he leapt back, stood tall and hit Ashwin despite the extra bounce to the cover boundary. He became the first West Indian since Shivnarine Chanderpaul in 2014 to hit two half-centuries in the same match.Dowrich showed it when he lofted Ashwin over the long-on fence. When he used Umesh Yadav’s reverse swing to his advantage and flicked through midwicket and when he topped that by pulling the next ball to the boundary.Holder showed it when he blunted a brutal short ball from Shami, dropping his wrists but keeping his eyes on it to make sure he could control where it fell. He got to his fifty with a six against Ashwin.It was only the first time in West Indies’ history that their Nos 5 through 8 had scored 50 or more in the same innings. That’s so rare it has only happened five times in all of Test history.The man who inspired it all walked away unbeaten after an entire day’s play.

The Supreme Court has asked the Lodha Committee to re-examine the recommendation relating to the presence of two franchise representatives on the IPL Governing Council. The BCCI had strongly objected to the recommendation, saying that the presence of franchises’ representatives would amount to conflict of interest as the Governing Council takes influential decisions that directly affect the teams.”The BCCI contends that the induction of the nominees from the franchisees is impermissible because important matters like players-retention policy, posting of umpires for IPL matches, etc are deliberated upon and decided by the Governing Council itself,” the two-judge bench of the court said in its judgement on Monday, which made it mandatory for the BCCI to implement virtually all the recommendations proposed by the Lodha Committee. “There is therefore an evident conflict of interest between the nominees of the IPL franchisees on the one hand and their role as members of the Governing Council on the other.”In May, former BCCI president Shashank Manohar had expanded on why the BCCI felt the presence of the franchises’ nominees on the Governing Council amounted to clear conflict of interest. Manohar pointed out that one big reason the BCCI got itself embroiled in a slew of legal issues was the presence of former BCCI president N Srinivasan, the owner of Chennai Super Kings, on the IPL Governing Council. “I should not judge on a matter when I have an interest in it. That is the basic rule of law,” Manohar said.Having the franchise nominees on the Governing Council would amount to violating the principles of “institutional integrity”, the BCCI legal counsel had said during the court hearings.The objective of this particular recommendation, the Lodha committee had said, was to bring more independent voices to the Governing Council. The council, it said, should comprise of nine members: three ex-officio members (the BCCI secretary, treasurer, and the CEO), two representatives of the members of BCCI to be elected by the General Body, two nominees of the franchises, one nominee who is the Comptroller and Auditor General’s representative on the Apex Council (the proposed body that would replace the Working Committee, the BCCI’s highest decision-making body), and one nominee from the players’ association. It was also recommended that the nominees of the franchises rotate annually.The court pointed out that “independent voices” was the objective, but contended that the Lodha Committee was not definitive on whether the IPL franchises needed to have a seat on the Governing Council. “All that is said is that the Governing Council [so far] has denied any role to the franchisee companies, and that there is no independent voice in the Governing Council which is dominated by the full members of the BCCI and two former cricketers,” the court said.The court did concede, however, that there was an element of conflict, as raised by Manohar and BCCI. “The Committee does not appear to have addressed the question of conflict of interest in the event IPL franchisees place two nominees in the Governing Council. There is prima facie a possibility of conflict of interest arising out of [this]. Be that as it may, we do not consider it necessary to finally pronounce on this aspect, which can be better left to the Committee to re-examine in the light of what has been observed earlier.”The court made it clear that if the Lodha Committee were to rule out the possibility of conflict of interest on re-examing the recommendation, it would accept it. “We make it clear that if upon reconsideration of the matter the Committee takes a view that the induction of the nominees of the franchisees will not result in any conflict of interest, it shall be free to stick to its recommendations in which event the recommendations shall be deemed to have been accepted by this Court to be formalised and carried out in such manner as the Committee may decide.”

Match facts

Sunday, June 19
Start time 1300 local (1700GMT)1:15

South Africa riding high before Australia game

Big Picture

The points table for this series would be best read by Richie Benaud: 2-2, 2-2, 2-2. That is to say, Australia, South Africa and West Indies have each won two and lost two. Not only that, but after the first two legs of the series in Guyana and St Kitts, every team has beaten every other team once and no more. That will change in Barbados on Sunday, when either Australia or South Africa will jump ahead on the points table and give themselves a strong chance of qualifying for the final.South Africa enter this match buoyant after posting 343 for 4 in their most recent match, a thrashing of West Indies at Warner Park. It was a win centred around Hashim Amla’s century, although Imran Tahir ended up Man of the Match for his seven-wicket haul. Australia are coming off a loss to West Indies in St Kitts. During that match the captain Steven Smith tweaked his quadriceps, and he did not train on Thursday or Friday in Barbados. However, the Australians are confident Smith will be available for Sunday’s game.As a side note, remarkably this is the first ODI to be held at Kensington Oval for more than five years. The most recent was played on May 2, 2011, when West Indies beat Pakistan in a rain-affected game. In fact, if you were to look at the results of the five most recent ODIs at Kensington Oval, Australia’s World Cup final win over Sri Lanka in 2007 would be part of that list. Only four ODIs have been played in Barbados since that final nine years ago. This is Australia’s first one-dayer at the venue since that final with its bad-light fiasco.

Form guide

Australia LWLWL (last five completed games, most recent first)
South Africa WLWLW

In the spotlight

It is only this year that Usman Khawaja has finally been given a decent run at ODI cricket, and his numbers keep growing. A maiden 50 came in New Zealand in February, then 59 against South Africa in St Kitts, then 98 against West Indies at the same venue. Opening in the absence of the injured David Warner, Khawaja has the perfect opportunity to build innings of substance. He just needs to shake off the fielding woes that afflicted him in the previous game, when he dropped two straightforward chances in the first 10 overs.Imran Tahir not only claimed the best figures by a South African in an ODI on Wednesday, he also became the fastest South African to reach the milestone of 100 ODI wickets. Nobody in world cricket has taken more ODI wickets in the past three years than Tahir’s 91 at 24.60, and it is perhaps surprising that he is not ranked higher than No. 5. Given Australia’s well-documented struggles against spin, Tahir will fancy his chances of adding a few more victims to his collection in this game.

Team news

Nathan Coulter-Nile will make way for Mitchell Starc, as Australia continue to manage his workload. Glenn Maxwell, too, is set to return after he was picked in the 12-man squad on the eve of the game in place of Travis Head. Maxwell was dropped for Australia’s two matches in Basseterre after scores of 0 and 3 at the start of the series. The Australians appear confident that Smith will play but if he were to miss out, George Bailey would likely captain the side.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodSouth Africa’s bowling coach, Claude Henderson, floated the idea of playing three spinners in Barbados, but after their comprehensive win in the previous match they may wish to use the same XI.South Africa (possible) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

There was some grass evident on the Kensington Oval pitch in the lead-up to the match, but it is expected to be a good batting surface. The players will also need to adjust to the bigger boundaries after the much smaller Warner Park in St Kitts.

Stats and trivia

• No team in this tournament has yet won consecutive matches
• Mitchell Starc needs five wickets to reach 100 in ODIs, and if he does so in his next four games he will be the quickest man in history to the milestone

Quotes

“I know it’s all precautionary and he’ll be ready to go for Sunday’s clash. I’m sure he’s raring to go and to hit a few cricket balls.”
“Barbados, I’ve been told, is a better batting wicket with a bit more bounce. I also believe the boundaries are also a bit bigger. Who knows, do we go in with three spinners, is that an option?”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJason Roy celebrates as he completes his century•Getty Images

A record opening stand has powered England to an overwhelming victory in the second ODI of the Royal London series against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.Alex Hales and Jason Roy both thrashed centuries as England completed a ten-wicket win with 95 balls remaining. It is just the sixth such victory England have achieved in their ODI history and the highest score against which any side has achieved it. It is the fifth time Sri Lanka have been defeated by ten wickets in an ODI.Their stand was not only a record for England’s opening pair – overhauling Vikram Solanki and Marcus Tresocthick’s 200 partnership against South Africa in 2003 – but the highest for any wicket in ODIs by England batsmen. Previously, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott – who put on 250 together against Bangladesh here in 2010 – held the record.England have suffered often at Sri Lankan hands in ODI cricket. Apart from the 2006 ODI series which Sri Lanka won 5-0 – including overhauling England’s apparently impressive 321 at Leeds with 12-and-a-half overs to spare – there have been memorable, and critical, defeats in the last two World Cups.But, at the ground where England’s ODI revolution started just over a year ago, they demonstrated that the balance of power may have shifted with a devastatingly one-sided victory. This Sri Lanka side, missing the world-class stars with which they had become familiar, lacked the batting firepower to make first use of an excellent surface and the bowling potency to prevent England’s batsmen from galloping to victory.Not for a moment did it appear that Sri Lanka had set a competitive target. And while Hales and Roy played themselves in relatively calmly – both men took 55 deliveries over their first half-century – the manner with which they pulverised the Sri Lankan bowling once set was reminiscent of the punishment that used to be handed out to English bowlers by Sanath Jayasuiriya on a regular basis.At one stage they struck four sixes in succession – Hales punishing Seekkuga Prasanna for three sixes and two fours in five successive balls – as they made use of an impressively hard, true wicket to skip down the pitch and hit over the top. Both men registered their highest ODI scores, with Roy making his first half-century in eight ODI innings and Hales making his sixth fifty-plus score (and second century) in seven successive ODIs. It is England’s first victory in five ODIs, following three defeats in a row in South Africa and Tuesday’s tie at Trent Bridge.Hales, using his reach to drive four of his sixes and slog-sweep two more, took just 36 balls over his second 50, while Roy, with four straight sixes, demonstrating both bat-speed and power, took 37. Sri Lanka’s frontline spinners took much of the flak, conceding 140 runs – including eight sixes – in 16.1 overs. It made it entirely understandable that one of the umpires, Bruce Oxenford, utilised an arm guard on his left arm to protect him should a ball be thrashed in his direction.Hales gave one clear chance, Danushka Gunathilaka at point missing a simple chance when the batsman had 126, but by then the game was all but decided.It was Roy who claimed the man-of-the-match award. As well as his century, he played a significant role in two run-outs, first swooping at backward point, picking up the ball in his left-handed, transferring it to his right and throwing down the stumps with a direct hit to dismiss the dangerous Kusal Perera, before managing another good pick-up and throw to punish Dinesh Chandimal’s attempt to set off for an optimistic single.It was part of an improved performance in the field from England. Although Hales, at second slip, was unable to cling on to a tough chance offered by Gunathilaka off Chris Woakes on 5, Adil Rashid delivered another well-controlled 10 overs of leg-spin (he has now conceded just 70 runs in 20 overs this series), Jonny Bairstow impressed the sell-out crowd with his outrageous pace and powerful throw as a boundary sweeper and David Willey held a brilliant catch at mid-on. He originally appeared to have misjudged the catch with some confusion as to whether to leave it to Hales, at mid-off, but, at the last moment, he launched himself full length and clung on to the ball.It all meant that Sri Lanka limped – both literally and metaphorically – to a total that always looked well under par.While Angelo Mathews passed a fitness test before the toss, he looked someway below his best and, when Chandimal also required on-field treatment having appeared to suffer a hamstring strain, it left the pair limited in both mobility and in terms of their speed between the wickets. Mathews was later unable to bowl, while Chandimal was unable to keep wicket and was replaced behind the stumps by Perera.The pair added 82 in 16 overs for the fourth wicket – easily the highest stand of the Sri Lanka innings – but, bearing in mind that England scored 408 in the last ODI on this ground (against New Zealand in June 2015), it always looked too sedate to prove match-winning. At one stage, they had to be content with 25 runs in succession picked up in singles.It could have been worse. At 191 for 7 in the 41st over, it seemed Sri Lanka might struggle to bat out their 50 overs. But a late rally from Upul Tharanga, becoming accustomed to his new role in the middle-order, and Suraj Randiv, who came into the side in place of seam-bowling allrounder Dasun Shanaka, at least gave Sri Lanka a chance.The pair thrashed 44 from the last four overs of the innings with Tharanga reaching a 46-ball half-century (with five fours and a six) and Randiv paddling, squirting and sprinting his way to 26 from 27 balls.Victory means that England have also taken an unassailable 13-3 lead in the Super Series. With three ODIs and one T20I to play, there are a maximum of eight points to play for in the rest of the series.

Match facts

Saturday, May 21, 2016
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)

Big Picture

As the race for the playoffs intensifies, there’s going to be a race at the bottom of the table too – for who will not finish last. Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Supergaints will kick off the weekend double-bonanza with their last games of the season. Both sides’ journeys have had several similarities, but there was contrast in their respective previous matches.Supergiants created a cavity in Delhi Daredevils’ chances of qualifying with a 19-run win in a rain-hit match. Ashok Dinda’s swing fetched him three wickets in a frugal spell, Adam Zampa and R Ashwin found substantial turn, and Ajinkya Rahane scored at the top, as usual. Supergiants handed an IPL debut to Deepak Chahar, and might consider giving chances to their other unused players – Ishwar Pandey, B Aparajith and Ankush Bains.Going by form, Kings XI appear weaker, and their confidence would have been dented further after being pummelled by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kings XI’s batsmen were never the incisors of their jaw and they were blunted further by almost being bowled out in a 15-over match. Bowling had been their core competence and that too took a beating in their previous two matches. Kings XI will now need more than a root canal to rise from the bottom.Apart from pride and the two points to play for, both teams can bring out their fearless and unrestrained games to ensure they don’t finish last.

Form guide

Rising Pune Supergiants WLLLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Kings XI Punjab LLWLW

In the spotlight

Adam Zampa, in his first IPL season, has chewed his way to the top 15 wicket-takers’ list despite having played just four matches. He has extracted turn, flighted the ball and hasn’t given batsmen much room. He also has the only five-for of the season; his best of 6 for 19 coming against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Zampa has 11 wickets in all at an economy rate of 6.38, and has struck every seven balls. He could prove to be dangerous against Kings XI too, who have only one frontline left-handed batsman – David Miller.Hashim Amla has batted five times in IPL 2016, but has only one substantial score. Even that 56-ball 96 was eclipsed by a solid show by the Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen in Mohali, only five days ago. With an in-form M Vijay as his opening partner, Amla would want to end his first IPL sojourn with another strong show before heading to the West Indies for a tri-series.

Team news

After giving Chahar a chance in their previous match, Supergiants could draft in a few more of their inexperienced players, or even consider bringing back Peter Handscomb or Albie Morkel.Rising Pune Supergiants (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Saurabh Tiwary/B Aparajith, 4 George Bailey, 5 Thisara Perera, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Irfan Pathan/Rajat Bhatia, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Ashok Dinda 11 RP Singh/Ishant Sharma/Ishwar PandeyAs if to give competition to Supergiants’ injury list, Kings XI recently bid goodbye to Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, who are back in Australia. They could bring back Anureet Singh after KC Cariappa leaked 55 in three overs against Royal Challengers.Kings XI Punjab (probable): 1 M Vijay (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 4 Farhaan Behardien, 5 Gurkeerat Singh, 6 David Miller, 7 Kyle Abbott, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Mohit Sharma 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Anureet Singh/KC Cariappa

Pitch and conditions

Cyclone Roanu, which is causing devastation in Sri Lanka, is hovering around the Bay of Bengal, not far from Visakhapatnam. Even though the sun is expected to come out on Saturday, rain interruptions cannot be ruled out.

Stats and trivia

• M Vijay is only the second Kings XI captain to hit three 50-plus scores in a season after Adam Gilchrist in 2011
• Adam Zampa’s bowling average of 7.54 is the best for any bowler to take at least 10 wickets in an IPL season

Form guide

Sunrisers Hyderabad: lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 14 runs, lost to Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets, beat Delhi Daredevils by nine wickets.
Kolkata Knight Riders: beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets, beat Kings XI Punjab by 31 runs, lost to Mumbai Indians by 102 runs.

Big Picture

In any tournament, the ideal scenario for a team would be to have qualified for the playoffs before the final round of fixtures. If that’s not possible, the next best case would be to have your fate dictated by your own performance, instead of depending on other results. Sunrisers Hyderabad have the former and Kolkata Knight Riders, the latter, going into the final weekend of league matches. KKR will make the playoffs if they beat Sunrisers, simple. But the likelihood of qualification gets increasingly complicated if they can’t.KKR have picked up their momentum in the second half of the season to the point that they’ve won four of their last six matches. Their desperation has also been evident in this period, such as when captain Dinesh Karthik yelled vehemently at Kuldeep Yadav after a misfield in the previous game or when Chris Lynn tenaciously suggested he “didn’t want to leave it to anyone in the end” in their chase against Rajasthan Royals. Now, the final hurdle awaits.For Sunrisers, their diligence and preparedness early in the season was a pointer of just how to start the IPL. They won nine of their first 11 games, affording them room for error, workload management and experimentation towards the end of the season. However, Sunrisers have also lost their previous two games. So, they’ll want their momentum back in the final league game. They’ll have less than 48 hours to do so, following a night game in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Previous meeting

A typically-clinical bowling performance from Sunrisers, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Billy Stanlake, restricted KKR to 138 for 8 in the reverse fixture, at the Eden Gardens. Kane Williamson anchored the chase with a 44-ball 50 to lead Sunrisers’ cruise, winning with an over to spare.BCCI

Likely XIs

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Shreevats Goswami (wk), 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Siddarth KaulKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Dinesh Karthik (capt & wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Shubman Gill, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Mitchell Johnson/Javon Searles, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Shivam Mavi

Strategy punt

Rashid Khan, Sunrisers’ best bowler this season, has struggled against left-handers. He has an economy rate of 10.1 and concedes a boundary every four balls against them. Against right-handers, those numbers improve drastically: an economy rate of 6.1 and a boundary conceded every 8.7 balls. Therefore, there may be a case of leaving Nitish Rana as a floating option, to come in when Rashid comes on if possible. Albeit left field, could there be a case of promoting Piyush Chawla as a second pinch-hitter in that scenario?

Stats that matter

• Williamson has an outstanding strike rate of 150.3 in the middle overs (overs 7 to 15) this season. His death-overs strike rate, by comparison, is just 132.6.
• In the IPL and T20Is since 2015, the average winning score batting first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium is 139 for 8.
• Karthik has an average of 81.5 in chases this season. He has scored 245 runs batting second, with a highest score of 45 not out.

Fantasy pick

Shakib Al Hasan is a valuable T20 player, and arguably an even more valuable fantasy selection. His utility increases at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium because of the sluggish nature of the pitch, which means both his bowling and batting add value.

Rajat Patidar, the 2025-26 Duleep Trophy-winning captain, hailed the “great character” shown by Central Zone not just in the final but throughout the tournament. He particularly heaped praise on the two spinners, Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain, who shared 16 wickets between them in the final as Central Zone won their first Duleep Trophy title since 2014-15 by defeating South Zone by six wickets.”They have played a lot of matches together, Kartikeya and Saransh [for Madhya Pradesh] and they have the skill and are very difficult to play on this pitch,” Patidar said after the game. “The track was really good to bat and our bowlers dominated and made it tough for the other team. That was a positive sign.”It’s been a flawless tournament for Central Zone, where they cruised through the quarter-final against North East Zone and the semi-final against West Zone, qualifying for the final by virtue of gaining first-innings leads. Then, in what had been a high-scoring tournament, Central Zone bowled first in the final and skittled South Zone for just 149, which paved the way for a comfortable win on the final day.Related

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“This wicket was slightly dry, and that is why we decided to bowl first,” Patidar said. “We wanted to bowl them out in the first innings as early as possible. That was our aim and it made the game easier.”We predicted that it would help the fast bowlers, but I wanted to give one spinner at least an over to see how the pitch is responding. I realised there was more help for the spinners rather than the fast bowlers.”L Balaji, the South Zone head coach, meanwhile, lamented the first-innings collapse and missing out on a few runs in the second as the major reasons behind his side’s disappointing performance. Chasing 65 on the final day, Central Zone lost three early wickets but despite the surface doing plenty of tricks, the chase was never going to be daunting.”The last day panned out to be bowler-friendly. Had we got more runs in the first innings or the second, had the partnership [between Ankit Sharma and C Andre Siddarth] been extended, it would have been a solid game,” Balaji said. “[A target of] 150 would have been an ideal kind of fourth-innings target for the bowling unit to fight hard.”Kumar Kartikeya kisses the Duleep Trophy silverware•PTI

South Zone’s team combination for the final was also a talking point. They went with three fast bowlers and one spinner in a bid to extend their batting line-up. It backfired with the Central Zone spinners finding plenty of purchase through the game, and the lone South Zone spinner, Ankit, bagging six wickets without any spin support from the other end.”We played three seamers in the previous game and wanted to stick with pretty much the same combination,” Balaji said. “All the bowlers bowled their heart out. Had we won the toss, the third seamer would have come into play. But I felt the boys did well selection-wise. We were consistent when it comes to the combinations.”Balaji also agreed that some of the shots played by the batters in the first innings “were a little bit unnecessary” as South Zone collapsed. But he was confident the experience of playing a major final would keep the players in good stead.”There are a lot of ifs and buts,” he said. “Shot selection-wise, some shots we could have been a little bit restricted. But on the field, when they are instinctively playing, you just have to give them the freedom to play their shot. But it was okay. This is a young batting unit and they will learn from this.”Balaji was also impressed by Siddharth’s temperament in the second innings. The 19-year-old fell for just 12 in the first innings but ensured he made up in the second, scoring an unbeaten 84. He stitched a 192-run seventh-wicket stand with Ankit, keeping the Central Zone players waiting.”We were put under pressure and he came up with a solid knock which we required at that time,” Balaji said about Siddharth’s knock. “That partnership was needed, and yes, coming not out is very important as a cricketer. He will learn. On the way, he will definitely learn a lot from this exposure and from this experience. I am sure he has got the talent to go higher.”

Northern Superchargers 193 for 5 (Malan 58, Crawley 45) beat Birmingham Phoenix 157 for 9 (Bethell 48, Livingstone 46*, Potts 3-26, Lawes 2-23, Rashid 2-26, Duffy 2-31) by 36 runsAn absorbing game in front of a capacity Leeds crowd finally went the way of Harry Brook’s Superchargers, who claimed top spot outright in the men’s Hundred following another scintillating batting performance against Birmingham Phoenix.In pursuit of the Superchargers’ 193 for 5 – the highest score in the men’s tournament since the 2023 season – a magnificent partnership of 80 in just 42 balls between Phoenix’s Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell briefly threatened to upset the odds, but the brilliance of Adil Rashid, who removed Bethell caught-and-bowled with 87 still needed from 38 balls, ultimately swung the momentum back to the home team.Livingstone kept swinging after Bethell’s departure but Rashid’s guile was too much for the Phoenix hitters. In a game dominated by the bat, on a flat pitch with a lightning fast outfield, it was the great legspinner who once again proved to be the difference, outfoxing Livingstone with his 17th delivery to settle the contest.The Phoenix top order again failed to fire, with three wickets falling in the powerplay – two of them to the excellent Matthew Potts, who finished up with three. Phoenix now face an uphill task to qualify for the latter stages of the competition.With the bat, the Superchargers’ superb top four were yet again irrepressible. Zak Crawley and Dawid Malan continued their fruitful opening partnership, adding 67 in 31 balls – Crawley was particularly savage on anything wide, racking up six fours and two sixes in his 23-ball stay – before Michael Pepper and then Brook took centre stage.Brook opened his account with an outrageous scoop for six off his first ball, and finished with 31 from just 14 deliveries as the home side added 40 in the last 20 balls.With three wins in four, Andrew Flintoff’s team are emerging as one of the teams to beat in this year’s tournament.Rashid, named the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “I thought we played exceptionally well. We put a great score on the board, which allowed us bowlers to go out there and attack to take wickets. We’ve got world class players all the way through and great firepower in the middle order.”I know their batters are going to come hard at me, so I need to be unpredictable and mix it up. It’s useful for me because I’ve bowled to a lot of these boys in the nets, so I know their strengths and weaknesses as well, which all plays a part. You’re always learning every day, and hopefully I’ll keep learning until the day comes when I hang up the boots.”

Pakistan women’s team have not received daily allowances during their ongoing training camp in Multan, which started on September 1. The women’s squad, which is at the camp ahead of Pakistan’s three T20I matches against South Africa next week, will receive allowances once the series starts.But the decision marks a change in policy from how the allowance structure was determined at previous camps, and is also in contrast to how it is handled for the men’s national team.In the past, ESPNcricinfo understands that the women’s team received modest daily allowances at training camps. This time, however, the PCB is providing accommodation as well as three meals to the members at the camp; at previous camps, three daily meals were not provided. A PCB official told ESPNcricinfo the board’s policy dictated that if three meals a day and hotel accommodation were made available, no daily allowances over and above that would be provided.Related

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In theory, that remains true for the men’s side, too, but is rarely, if ever, put into practice. During the most recent men’s training camp, held ahead of Pakistan’s Test series against Bangladesh, the players were offered daily allowances over and above the accommodation and any food provided. However, three free full meals were not made available free of cost, with the allowances considered compensation in lieu of that. At previous camps over the years, the men’s side have almost always been awarded daily allowances, often with up to two meals freely available.It is not clear why the change in meal and allowance structure has kicked in for the women’s side, which has effectively seen a reduction in the recompense offered at training camps. At the Pakistan women’s camp in early April in Karachi, before the start of their white-ball home series against the West Indies, three full meals as well as some monetary daily allowances were provided to all participants. Thereafter, though, the PCB has deemed offering financial recompense surplus to requirements if three full meals are being provided.ESPNcricinfo understands the change in policy has left a number of the women’s players disappointed, with some believing being away from home for a camp merits beyond merely meeting the basic daily needs of lodging and food. There were hopes this would improve at future camps, with the women’s side gearing up for the women’s T20 World Cup, to be held next month.The situation arises at a time when the PCB’s scale of expenditure in other avenues of the game is at an all-time high, particularly in the form of stadium upgrades believed to cost the PCB tens of billions of rupees. The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is being rebuilt almost from scratch, with the National Stadium in Karachi also seeing a significant overhaul. There is some construction work due at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium too, as the PCB prepare to host the Champions Trophy in 2025, the first ICC event they are scheduled to host in nearly three decades.Meanwhile, the ongoing Champions One-Day Cup, the domestic 50-over competition, has also seen a large financial outlay. The tournament will see the PCB offer prize money of around PKR 49 million, nearly ten times what was on offer last year, and almost half of what the PSL made available earlier this year. The mentors for the five sides – all former cricketers – are also being paid huge salaries – approximately PKR 5 million per month in three-year deals that will, all told, cost the PCB around PKR 900 million in mentor salary payments.The women’s central and domestic contracts are also yet to be finalised and announced. Last year, 19 women were awarded central contracts from August 1 2023, due to run till June 30, 2025. However, they were to be assessed at the end of the first 12 months, with six further weeks having passed since that assessment date, with any revisions to the contracts still pending. The men’s central contracts, too, are well past their assessment date, and though they are expected imminently, there is no official word yet on when any changes will be announced.

Birmingham Phoenix gave themselves a healthy boost in their quest for the top three with a fantastic win against Northern Superchargers in The Hundred at Edgbaston on Tuesday.Phoenix dominated with the ball, blowing the visitors away for just 83, before knocking off the fastest chase in the history of the The Hundred men’s competition thanks to Ben Duckett and Moeen Ali.Northern Superchargers won the toss and chose to bat, with much excitement at the return of England Men’s Test captain Ben Stokes.Unfortunately for Stokes, he made an inauspicious start: made to wait 20 deliveries at the non-striker’s end before being bowled first ball by one that nipped back through the gate from Tim Southee.Birmingham’s Kiwi pace attack set the tone for Phoenix’s victory. Southee took a wicket with his first ball to dismiss Matt Short, before Adam Milne got rid of the dangerous Nicholas Pooran.Captain Harry Brook attempted to rebuild from 19 for 3, with Adam Hose, but even Brook found the pitch tough going as he succumbed to Chris Wood with the score at 36 for 4 halfway through the Superchargers’ innings.Superchargers’ cause wasn’t helped by a superb run-out from Duckett to remove Hose 10 balls later. Southee completed his sublime spell with 3 for 15 and his partner Milne 3 for 20 with the visitors bowled out for a meagre 83 – the second-lowest total in the Men’s Hundred competition.Duckett continued from where he left off for Phoenix on Saturday, racing to 43 from 20 balls, alongside opening partner Moeen, who was similarly speedy for his 37 from 21.Phoenix’s 10-wicket win dents Northern Superchargers’ hopes of making The Hundred Eliminator, while Moeen’s team have put themselves in the mix for the latter stages of the tournament as they leapfrogged their opponents into third after five matches.Meerkat Match Hero Southee said: “We assessed conditions reasonably quickly and the seamers hit a good length that proved difficult to play. It was a pretty clinical performance all round.”This is a great team to be a part of and I’m enjoying my time here. That goes a long way, and it is nice to chalk up another win.”A win like that can only do wonders for the confidence going into our next games, but we know we are heading to a different ground and different opposition, so we have to start again. There are no easy teams in this tournament so we should have another good couple of matches coming up.”