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India captain fined and receives four demerit points for her outbursts during the final ODI vs Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-20232:13

Mandhana: Hopefully we’ll have neutral umpires next time

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur is set to miss the first two matches of the Asian Games, having been suspended by the ICC for breaching the code of conduct during the final ODI of the Bangladesh series.Harmanpreet, who had reacted angrily to her dismissal by smashing the stumps after being caught, pleaded guilty to two different charges pressed by the match referee Akhtar Ahmed.In a media release on Tuesday, the ICC confirmed that Harmanpreet received three demerit points relating to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision”. Harmanpreet becomes the first women’s player to be handed a Level 2 sanction since the ICC started listing code of conduct breaches publicly in 2016. The India captain was also fined 50% of her match fee for the same offence.Harmanpreet also received a separate Level 1 penalty along with a fine of 25% of her match fee and one demerit point for “public criticism” of match officials, having described the umpiring in the Bangladesh series as “pathetic”.As per the ICC’s rules, when a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they are converted into suspension points. Anything in the range of four to seven demerit points equates to two suspension points i.e. a ban from one Test, two ODIs or two T20Is, depending on which comes first in the player’s schedule.The last time Harmanpreet earned a demerit point was during the semi-final of the 2017 ODI World Cup against Australia. After working legspinner Kristen Beams through midwicket, she was involved in a mix-up with Deepti Sharma before they completed the double that brought up Harmanpreet’s century. Instead of celebrating the milestone, Harmanpreet flung her helmet to the ground and fired verbal volleys at Deepti. Harmanpreet was found guilty of a Level 1 offence, which she had accepted.After the game in Dhaka, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana supported Harmanpreet’s actions by saying her captain disagreed with the umpire’s call and that led to an angry reaction. Mandhana also said she expected “neutral umpires” to be present when India tour Bangladesh next time.Players breaking the stumps – either with the bat or by kicking them – while reacting to umpiring decisions is a rare occurrence in top-flight cricket. Coincidentally, the most recent case also happened in Bangladesh: in 2021, Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan was suspended for three matches and fined US$ 5800 (approx.) during a Dhaka Premier League T20 match between Abahani Limited and Mohammedan Sporting Club.India women’s next campaign will be at the Asian Games in Hanghzou in China between September 23 and October 8. India will be fielding both men’s and women’s teams at the Games, which features the T20 format.

Wicketkeeper says future looks bright after ODI debuts for Mahika Gaur, Lauren Filer and Maia Bouchier

Valkerie Baynes11-Sep-2023Amy Jones has credited an injection of energy brought by England’s three debutants in their opening ODI against Sri Lanka with turning the hosts’ results around after their disappointing T20I series defeat.Mahika Gaur, the 17-year-old left-armer who played 19 T20Is for UAE before making her England debut during the T20 leg of Sri Lanka’s visit, claimed three wickets upon being handed her maiden ODI cap in Durham on Saturday.Fellow seamer Lauren Filer, meanwhile, had the visitors just as flummoxed by her searing pace as the Australians were during the Ashes Test earlier in the summer. Playing her first ODI at the weekend, 22-year-old Filer also took three wickets, including two in two balls, as England romped home by seven wickets to go 1-0 up in the series.”It feels like youth often brings energy and we’ve seen that with the girls that have come in,” Jones said. “They’ve really brought a buzz around them and just a real excitement to play for England, which we all have, but it just looks a bit different when you’re a bit younger.”They really pick people up around them as well. I think English cricket’s in a great place and to see all this competition for places is only a good thing.”As a player, when you are given opportunities like this, it can put a bit of extra pressure on you, especially as a young player, thinking, ‘when other people come back, am I still going to have a place?’ and it can be very easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself. So it’s been so pleasing how they don’t seem to be feeling the pressure. Whether they are or not, they seem really cool. They’re just enjoying it and it’s reflected in their performances.”Related

• Teenage quick Mahika Gaur dreams of finishing matches like the other Mahi

• Capsey, Gaur shine in the wet to help England clinch rain-affected win

• Mahika Gaur hits her straps as England's next generation step up

• Gaur, Filer enjoy dream debuts as England stroll to seven-wicket win

• Amy Jones completes Perth Scorchers' overseas signings

Jones took five catches in the match, becoming the first England wicketkeeper to do so in a women’s ODI, including three off Filer, as Sri Lanka were bundled out for 106 in 30.2 overs.In reply, Tammy Beaumont and Emma Lamb broke the back of the paltry run chase with an opening stand worth 61 runs and 24-year-old batter Maia Bouchier, England’s third ODI debutant for the match having previously played 22 T20Is, struck the winning runs with a boundary off Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu in a run-a-ball 17 not out.”She’s great fun to keep to with that extra pace,” Jones said of Filer. “It was quite a slow wicket, I thought, a bit of bounce but not particularly fast up in Durham, so I was really excited when she came on to bowl and still found the carry and pushed me back a bit further.”With a bowler like Lauren, you just feel like you’re getting a catch every ball. I really enjoy keeping to her and was impressed. She’s got something that not many people have in the pace that she has, so she’s definitely an impact player.Gaur claimed the prize wicket of in-form Athapaththu in her third over and then bowled opener Anushka Sanjeewani with an excellent inswinger to reduce Sri Lanka to 26 for 2 before claiming the final wicket of the innings.”I thought they were great,” Jones said. “Mahika, until this series, I’ve never faced her or kept to her or anything, so it feels like she’s just shot up out of nowhere. But I’ve been so impressed, as has everybody. Something different being a left-hander and her height, but she swings the ball so well and she’s really consistent for a young player too. I’m really excited to see where she can get to in her career.”Jones was also backing her side to maintain their momentum heading into Tuesday’s second ODI in Northampton, followed by the last match in Leicester on Thursday.”There was a big ask for energy going into the 50-over games, having not played the longer format in a while and at the end of the season,” she said. “There was a real focus from Lewy [head coach Jon Lewis] making sure that when we’re in the field, we’re fizzing the ball back to me and we are just showing so much energy and I think that really helped as a focus.”As a group we were really disappointed with how the T20s went. Going into any series, when you go in as favourites especially, you want to get the job done and convincingly as well. So to lose those two games definitely it was disappointing. It was really key for us to put in a good performance in Durham and stamp our authority onto the ODI series.”

Three balls into his fifth over, he felt pain in his left side and immediately headed off the ground

Alex Malcolm06-Feb-2024Australia quick Lance Morris suffered a left side strain during the third ODI against West Indies in Canberra, leaving him in doubt to tour New Zealand with the Test squad later this month.Morris had taken his first two ODI wickets in a fiery spell to leave West Indies in tatters, before they were eventually bowled out for 86. But three balls into the fifth over of his first spell, having claimed 2 for 13 with a maiden, he felt pain in his left side, and immediately grabbed his cap and headed off the ground to get assessed.Cricket Australia confirmed shortly after that Morris had suffered a left side strain, and would head for a scan at some stage to determine the extent of the injury.Related

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“He just said he had a bit of pain in the side and was struggling a bit, so he’ll get a scan in the next 12 to 24 hours and we’ll know more then,” captain Steven Smith said. “He was probably a little bit nervous the other day making his debut, but he was starting to get some nice rhythm.”He’s been great around the group, for over a year now he’s been there or thereabouts and it’s great to see him get a couple of games in.”It leaves Morris in doubt for the two Tests against New Zealand, the first of which starts in Wellington on February 29, although there was a chance Morris would not be required despite travelling with the Test team through the early part of the Australian summer.Morris is yet to make his Test debut but was carefully managed through the early part of the home season to be fit for the Pakistan Test series. However, he was not required to play, as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood played all five Tests against both Pakistan and West Indies without issue.Morris’ injury comes after Australia’s other back-up Test paceman Scott Boland suffered knee soreness during Victoria’s Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne this week, although he was able to bowl in the second innings after getting assessed.Australia are expected to name their Test squad for the New Zealand series later this week.

India captain dismisses talks of complacency in the wake of India’s 2-0 series loss

Shashank Kishore07-Aug-20245:39

India’s batting (except Rohit’s) against spin a sign of concern

“We need to talk about it.”That was India captain Rohit Sharma when asked if being spun out on dry Colombo surfaces to lose the ODI series against Sri Lanka 2-0 was a result of their lack of application against the turning ball. India lost 27 wickets to spin, the most by any team against this variety in a three-match series.”I don’t think it’s a concern,” Rohit said after India’s first ODI series loss to Sri Lanka since 1997. “But it’s something we need to look at seriously, into our individual game plans. We were definitely put under pressure throughout the series. We need to look into it, do something differently, need to talk about it and come back with different plans.”Rohit struck two half-centuries and was comfortably India’s best batter in the series. He provided barnstorming starts to every run-chase, but once the field spread, the ball got older and began to take turn, it became difficult for batters to maintain that tempo. Especially new ones. India’s middle-order were unable to find a way past this problem.In the series opener, India lost 5 for 57 after racing to 75 without loss chasing 231. On Sunday, they collapsed from 97 for 0 to 147 for 6 in a chase of 241. On Wednesday, Rohit struck 31 of the 37 runs for the first wicket before they lost 6 for 45.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Were India complacent?”It’s a joke,” Rohit responded. “When you’re playing for India, there’s no complacency as long as I am here captaining the team. It’s not going to be the case. You come here trying to win every game, give your best and find answers, but yes, we were outplayed. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due, Sri Lanka played better cricket than us.”India lost all three tosses and ended up chasing. In all the games, the amount of turn on offer under lights made batting progressively tougher. On Wednesday, with the series on the line, India strengthened their batting by including Riyan Parag in place of a second fast bowler in Arshdeep Singh.Related

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This meant Shivam Dube had to share the new ball with Mohammed Siraj. Rohit explained the shake-up in the bowling was dictated largely by the conditions, but also to an extent borne by the need to give some of the younger players opportunities. Parag, who impressed in the T20I leg of the tour with his assortment of legspin and offspin, was the pick of India’s bowlers with 3 for 54 on ODI debut.”We looked at the conditions and thought taking pace off is an ideal combination,” Rohit said. “Having said that, we also have a lot of players waiting in the wings. We have to look at some of the guys who haven’t got an opportunity. All in all, we didn’t play good cricket throughout the series, hence we stand here.”Were there any positives?”A few, like how our spinners bowled,” Rohit said. “But even though you want to look at the positives, I feel there are a lot of areas we need to look at rather than the positives. We will go back, chat about what we need to do when we come up in conditions like this.”India don’t play an ODI series until January against England leading into the next major global event, the Champions Trophy in 2025. They also have a longish break and don’t play international cricket until late September, when the home Test season kicks off with a series against Bangladesh.”A series loss doesn’t mean the end of the world,” Rohit said. “These guys have been playing good cricket for the past few years. Yes, we will lose a one-off series here and there, what’s important is how we move on from this and how we can come back.”

Both captains played down the significance of Rashid Khan’s absence, with the Afghan spinner being rested

Mohammad Isam12-Jun-2023Bangladesh captain Litton Das believes their experience will give them the edge over Afghanistan in the one-off Test in Dhaka that begins on Wednesday. Litton is standing in for the regular captain Shakib Al Hasan who is out with a finger injury. His opposite number, Hashmatullah Shahidi, is also making his captaincy debut after being appointed two years ago.The other similarity between the two captains is the absence of their best bowler, respectively, from their attacks. While Shakib is out for a few weeks with the injury, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has rested Rashid Khan “to prioritize his long-term fitness”. Litton played down Rashid’s absence although the legspinner took 11 wickets in the only Test between the two sides four years ago. He said that Bangladesh’s maturity in Tests will keep them ahead of the visitors.”We will take them as seriously as we would have done with Rashid in their team,” Litton said. “Our last Test was in April after which we played a white-ball series. We play a lot of Tests, which gives us the advantage over them. It gives us a better level of maturity in this format. We don’t have a great idea about them. They play a lot of ODIs and T20s, which makes it hard to judge them in Tests. We have a plan in our mind, and if we can execute it, we will get a good result.”Related

• Bangladesh, Afghanistan meet amid rains as solitary Test struggles for significance

• Litton to captain Bangladesh in Afghanistan Test, in Shakib's absence

• Rashid Khan rested for Afghanistan's one-off Test against Bangladesh

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said that they will miss Rashid, but they have options in both the pace and spin departments to make up for his absence. He said that legspinner Izharulhaq Naveed, who impressed during last season’s Big Bash League, could step up”It will be challenging. We all know that Rashid is one of the main bowler in our team. He did very well in the past in Test matches. Still we have another option like wristspinners and they will perform well .”He (Izharulhaq) played good cricket. He played in the Big Bash. T20 cricket is different. He did very good in the past in age-group cricket also and so he will be one of the biggest star in future for Afghanistan.”I think both Shakib and Rashid are rested. We have good quality players and we have good quality players, and other options to win the game for us and I think that would be the point,” said Shahidi.He was also confident that even if Mirpur dished out a greenish pitch, Afghanistan had the pace firepower to take advantage of it. “I think we saw the pitch today and they made it green and that’s fine for us because we have good seamers and we have good spinning options as well so we will be thinking of our own strength and what we have and what we have to work and we are ready for everything,” said Shahidi.Litton countered the point by saying that they wanted to challenge themselves on a green wicket in Mirpur, having played on raging turners here for most of its existence. “Mirpur has had a turning wicket for most of the time. We want to challenge ourselves on a grassy pitch. We want to see how we can survive here and play a long innings.”It is quite normal to want to play on an even wicket. We also have a quality pace attack. You would need five bowlers on such a wicket too. This is what I prefer,” said Litton.He will be Bangladesh’s 12th Test captain and although it is a stopgap option, Litton believes that he has been helping out in the field as a wicketkeeper for quite some time. Litton made 800 runs last year, only the third Bangladeshi to reach that landmark in a calendar year in Tests. But there’s still some concern about his conversion rate.”I have been doing this in the field for a long time, so it is not really a major challenge. I will have to run things in the field. There’s a ‘captain’ added next to my name. As for my batting, it is important to have the focus. It helps you read the game better. When I get into that mindset, I want to play a big innings,” he said.As for Afghanistan’s batting, Shahidi has to bank on memory, and recent white-ball form. “We have batsmen that we can trust. They did well in the past. We also have someone who played good cricket in ODIs recently – Ibrahim Zadran. Rahmat Shah is doing well. I scored a double-hundred in the last Test against Zimbabwe.”We have other promising batsmen also and I believe our batsmen will do very good and we will keep improving day by day and match by match in batting department.”

India A declared at 380 for 3 in the final session, setting up a massive target of 488

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2024Tilak Varma and Pratham Singh scored centuries each to stretch India A’s lead and further put them in a strong position against India D on Saturday. From the overnight score of 115 for 1, when they had a lead of 222 runs, India A posted 380 for 3 on the third day before declaring in the final session to set up a target of 488. India D were 62 for 1 at stumps and were 426 runs behind India A.Resuming from 59, Pratham brought up his second first-class hundred off 149 deliveries and stitched a 104-run stand with Tilak for the second wicket. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar dismissed Pratham for 122 in the 60th over. But Tilak played the long innings and put India A in control. Only one wicket fell in the morning session as India A piled on 145 runs to take lunch at 260 for 2.However, India D struck immediately after lunch as Riyan Parag fell to Saurabh for 20. India D’s bowlers were then made to toil as Shashwat Rawat joined Tilak. The left-handed duo shared an unbroken stand of 116 runs for the fourth wicket. In the second session, Tilak converted his half-century. He hit a total of nine fours in his 193-ball stay, out of which six were scored between the cover and the long-off region.Rawat ticked along briskly, notching up seven fours to remain unbeaten on 64 off 88 balls before India D declared in the final session. In contrast to Tilak, Rawat targeted the leg side, hitting three fours towards long-on and one through midwicket.In the fourth innings, Khaleel Ahmed struck in his second over to opener Atharva Taide for a duck. However, that did not slow India D down as Ricky Bhui, at No.3, scored an unbeaten 44 off 52 at stumps. Bhui slammed eight fours and a six while his partner Yash Dubey was unbeaten on 15 off 60. The pair added 61 runs for the unbroken second-wicket partnership.

It will be the first women’s T20 tournament to be held in Bangladesh; could kick off at the end of the ongoing BPL

Mohammad Isam17-Jan-2025The BCB will be launching a maiden Women’s Bangladesh Premier League (WBPL); it is likely to be held soon after the ongoing men’s competition ends on February 7. According to Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, the BCB director, it will be a three-team competition, with each team playing the others twice for a total of six league games followed by the final.”The board has been thinking about the various ways that we can take women’s cricket forward,” Fahim said. “Whether we can do a T20 competition for women was in our thoughts. We have decided today that we will do the Women’s BPL.”Fahim said the BCB is in talks with some of the men’s BPL franchises regarding ownership of the women’s teams, and that a couple of owners have shown interest.”We have already spoken to a few BPL franchises, who have shown interest [in owning women’s teams],” he said. “We want to see how a women’s tournament has an effect on our T20 cricket. We are hopeful that it will help our women’s game progress.”Fahim said that only allow one overseas player will be allowed in the playing XI, with the squads having a maximum of 15 players each.”We won’t take many overseas players due to the financial constraints,” he said. “Four overseas players puts financial pressure on the teams; perhaps they don’t want to take that pressure. We want to give more opportunities to our domestic cricketers. We want to add competitiveness.”It will be the first women’s T20 tournament to be held in Bangladesh. Women cricketers in the country play the one-day league in Dhaka, and the BCB recently launched a women’s three-day competition.

Paul Collingwood has played down England’s growing injury list ahead of the first Twenty20 international on Friday

Cricinfo staff11-Nov-2009Paul Collingwood has played down England’s growing injury list ahead of the first Twenty20 international on Friday following the side’s four-wicket defeat against South Africa A in Bloemfontein.England went into the match without their three frontline quicks with James Anderson (knee), Stuart Broad (shoulder) and Graham Onions (back) all on the sidelines. With Andrew Strauss not considered for the Twenty20 team it left Collingwood only 11 fit players and towards the end of the game Graeme Swann also left the field with a tight thigh.However, Swann’s problem was said to be minor and the medical staff were not overly concerned, while Anderson and Onions are expected to be in contention to face South Africa at the Wanderers. Broad, though, is struggling to recover in time for the Twenty20 matches and is unlikely to be risked before the one-day series begins at the end of next week.”I think he [Broad] is going to be doubtful. I mean it’s pretty much going to take a miracle if he’s going to be fit for the Twenty20s,” Collingwood told reporters. “He has been very sore on the shoulder there, but he’s progressing well, so hopefully he’ll be available for the first one-dayer.”Jimmy’s just a little bit stiff in the right knee, but again he should be fit for Friday and Graham Onions will come back into the reckoning as well. [Swann] came off with a stiff side, but he’s spoken to the medical staff and they don’t seem to be too concerned.”After a promising opening to the tour, with two convincing warm-up victories against the Eagles and Warriors, this is a more familiar feel to England’s overseas expeditions with defeat against a second-string side and a list of injury worries. At the same time South Africa were hitting their stride against Zimbabwe, but Collingwood has his fingers crossed that the team have got their bad performance out of the way.”I’m hoping tonight is just a blip. We’ve done a lot of good stuff so far on this tour,” he said. “Obviously Twenty20 cricket’s a different format of the game – you’re a bit more rushed out in the middle. We’ll obviously come out of this, we’ll learn from it, we’ll discuss it before Friday and hopefully put on a better performance.”I never like losing, but I think sometimes it is going to be a little bit of a reality check as well. Tonight we got one of the disciplines wrong. That’s the area we’ve got to bounce back from and do better on Friday.”

Cameron Bancroft took a blinding catch at slip on the final day to cap a fine match

AAP29-Oct-2023Joel Paris ripped through South Australia’s batting to take a career-best 11 wickets for the match, bowling Western Australia to a 200-run Sheffield Shield win in Adelaide.After WA declared overnight and set South Australia 355 on the final day to win, Paris claimed figures of 5 for 39 to have the Redbacks all out for 154.Paris took the first two wickets, before coming back to finish the job early in the final session. No South Australian passed 30 in their second innings, as they surrendered inside 63 overs.Related

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After taking 6 for 74 in the first innings to have the Redbacks all out for 264, Paris was a handful on Sunday in his first Shield match of the summer due to a hamstring injury.While his career has been stalled by injury in recent years, Paris has never been far from selectors’ thoughts after playing two ODIs for Australia in 2016.So highly is he regarded, he was told during this year’s Ashes to be ready to join the squad as cover for Mitchell Starc if the left-armer went down with injury.The 30-year-old set the tone early when he drew South Australian opener Kelvin Smith’s edge, discarding him for a duck. Paris also had Daniel Drew caught pulling, superbly taken by Hilton Cartwright with one arm above his head at midwicket.Liam Haskett made an impact on the final day against South Australia•Getty Images

Cameron Bancroft also took a great catch off Paris, fully outstretched to his left at second slip to remove Jake Lehmann for 6.If Paris was Western Australia’s best in the match, Bancroft wasn’t far behind with 57 in their first-innings 241 before he hit an even 100 in the visitors’ second dig.Considered third-in-line at the start of the summer to replace the retiring David Warner after the Sydney Test, Bancroft is now averaging 92.50 this season.With his fielding also on song, he is making a compelling case to move ahead of both Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw in the eyes of Australian selectors.”He’s doing all he possibly can do at the moment,” WA coach Adam Voges said. “He was outstanding all of last season, he has started this season like he did last year. He is the premier, form batsman of the competition.”After Bancroft’s neat work in the field, Paris then returned to finish the match after tea when he took the edges of both Harry Conway and Wes Agar.WA’s other left-armer Liam Haskett took 3 for 31, while spinner Corey Rocchiccioli claimed 2 for 59 in the side’s second Shield win of the summer.The loss marked South Australia’s second defeat in three games to start the season, leaving them in fourth spot on the ladder.”It’s pretty disappointing,” coach Jason Gillespie said. “In three Shield games, we’ve had seven individual scores above 40. We just can’t keep having these performances. We need to be better.”

Conway will see a hand specialist in Wellington as New Zealand try to lock in selections amid high churn

Andrew McGlashan23-Feb-20241:36

Phillips on Ben Sears: ‘Fantastic to have such young talent coming through’

Devon Conway remains a doubt for the opening Test against Australia in Wellington next week and will see a hand specialist to ascertain the extent of the damage he suffered to his left thumb during the second T20I at Eden Park.Conway suffered the blow in the second over of the match when he took a sharp delivery from Adam Milne down the leg side. He was briefly treated on the field before deciding not to continue and Finn Allen took the gloves for the rest of the innings.Related

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Conway went to hospital for x-rays and did not bat during New Zealand’s chase. He was cleared of “an obvious fracture to his left thumb” but was ruled out of the final T20I and returned home to Wellington on Saturday for further assessment.”There is a little bit of concern because we are not 100% sure yet exactly how it’s going to respond over the next three or four days,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “[We’ve] still got a little bit of time and at the end of the day think it will come down to pain management and what he can do in that space around making sure he feels comfortable at the crease.”It’s still a little bit unknown. Last night he had some strange things going with his thumb, it was clicking a little bit…but at this stage he has been cleared of a break which is great. He’ll see a hand specialist tomorrow in Wellington and we’ll find out more then.”There was a more encouraging prognosis for Rachin Ravindra after he sat out the second T20I with knee soreness. He remains with the squad but is unlikely to be risked in Sunday’s match with an eye on the Test series.Devon Conway went off after he was struck on the left thumb•Getty Images

“Not as much concern around Rachin,” Stead said. “He does have a bit of a niggly left knee. Think it’s unlikely he will play tomorrow with the Test matches in mind, but we are very confident that he will still progress well to be right for that first Test match. He’s slightly better today than what he was yesterday which is the encouraging signs we want.”Conway is penciled in to open the batting in the Test series while Ravindra is also a lock for the XI after he converted his maiden Test hundred into 240 against South Africa recently.If Conway is ruled out, Will Young would be his likely replacement at the top of the order. Young is the reserve batter in the Test squad and can cover a variety of positions. He came into side against South Africa in Hamilton as a middle-order replacement for Daryl Mitchell but can also opening the batting. Conway does not keep in the Test side with that role belonging to Tom Blundell.Tim Seifert, who himself was initially ruled out of the T20I series with an abductor injury, has been called back into the squad as Conway’s replacement for the last match of the series while Jacob Duffy has been added as fast-bowling cover. One more batter will be added after the conclusion of today’s Ford Trophy final in Christchurch.Ahead of the first Test, both Mitchell (foot) and Matt Henry (hip) are progressing well in their recoveries. “Very confident they’ll be good to go,” Stead said.Kane Williamson’s partner, Sarah, gave birth to their third child, a girl, earlier this week which ensures he will be available for the Test series having missed the T20Is.In terms of the T20I series, Stead was not overly concerned by New Zealand falling 2-0 down given the opening game went down to the last delivery then Conway’s injury meant they had to reshuffling the batting order in Auckland.”T20 cricket is pretty fickle, and that first game could have easily gone the other way,” he said. “You move on very, very quickly. We want to take the learnings and make sure we put them into practice, but there’s still a lot of good things that have come out of the last two games.”Ben Sears, for example, I thought was fantastic, a young guy early in his career. Thought Lockie Ferguson in the two games has bowled superbly well and looked somewhere back to near his best which is really exciting to see.”We are pretty realistic. Yes, we didn’t get the result we wanted last night but there are a number of guys who will come back into our side as well around the World Cup which will make a big difference in terms of experience.”