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Mominul Haque finished unbeaten on 87 in the second dig but Bangladesh did not last even 50 overs

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Mar-2024Mominul Haque resisted for 148 deliveries, making 87 not out, and he had the company of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shoriful Islam for significant partnerships. But Sri Lanka’s quicks nevertheless hunted down the last five fourth-innings wickets and finished the job midway through the second session of day four, with Kasun Rajitha completing a second career five-wicket haul to finish with figures of 5 for 56.Rajitha dismissed Taijul Islam lbw in the third over of the day with a delivery that jagged back at the batter, then later in the morning session had Mehidy out driving to break the most substantial stand of the innings. He completed his five-for with a double-strike soon after lunch. Shoriful Islam had defied Sri Lanka for 41 deliveries, but provided a simple caught-and-bowled chance when he attempted to drive Rajitha on the up. Next ball, Rajitha delivered a beautiful fourth-stump length delivery to Khaled Ahmed, who nicked behind.Lahiru Kumara was the only other bowler to strike on day four, when he had No. 11 Nahid Rana caught off the shoulder of the bat to end the match, and hand Sri Lanka a 328-run victory, their second-biggest margin by runs. The quicks took all 20 opposition wickets, which a Sri Lanka attack had not done since the mid-1980s. This reflected the nature of the Sylhet surface, but also the skill and intensity of Sri Lanka’s seamers.Bangladesh had begun the day in dire shape, at 47 for 5, but will nevertheless be disheartened at not being able to make Sri Lanka work harder, particularly as rain was forecast for late in the afternoon. They were all-out for 182 after having been bowled out for 188 in the first innings. They did not last 50 overs in the second dig, and aside from Mominul no one passed 35, or batted for more than 50 balls.Mominul Haque was the brightest spot with the bat for Bangladesh in the second dig•AFP/Getty Images

Mominul was outstanding for his part, however. He was fluent right through the day, driving through the covers and through point with special skill, while he also elegantly negotiated the bouncer barrages that Sri Lanka’s seamers sent at him. With the late cut also a productive stroke, he found 59 of his 87 runs on the off side. He should have been out on 64 when he toe-edged a ball on the way to the keeper, but Sri Lanka chose not to review. For much of the day, he was also turning down singles so as not to expose tailenders early in the over, though this was far from a uniform approach.There was no sustained period in which Mominul appeared uncomfortable; some of his stroke-play was gorgeous.Mehidy was Bangladesh’s next-best batter. He’d survived a big lbw appeal and review against Rajitha soon after coming to the crease, but eventually began to look a more secure figure. He increasingly began to look for driveable balls, hitting several boundaries this way. But this would also be his downfall, when he was caught at second slip off the outside edge.As with Sri Lanka’s last tour of Bangladesh, when Asitha Fernando (injured for this tour) and Rajitha shone, Sri Lanka’s Test seamers have imposed themselves again, picking up all 20 wickets in the match.

They did not take long on the fifth morning to pick up the remaining three Bangladesh wickets

Madushka Balasuriya03-Apr-2024Despite some dogged resistance from Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sri Lanka needed just a little over an hour on the final morning to take the last three Bangladesh wickets and secure a resounding 192-run victory in Chattogram. The result meant Sri Lanka swept the series 2-0, but more importantly, collected vital World Test Championship points that see them go up to joint-third on the table. Bangladesh, meanwhile, dropped to eighth.The visitors went about wrapping up this game much like they had approached the rest of the series – by sticking to their plans. While conditions were still pretty good for batting, the odd ball spitting off the surface along with the uneven bounce on offer meant it was just a matter of being patient. So while Mehidy showed glimpses of enterprising strokeplay mixed with resolute defence, Sri Lanka were always in the hunt at the other end.Taijul Islam was the first to fall, to Kamindu Mendis, driving at one that gripped and spun away from. The edge was snaffled expertly by Nishan Madushka at gully – the latest in a series of great close-in catches by the Sri Lanka opener.Hasan Mahmud showed good defensive aptitude for a short period after that, but once the new ball was taken just before the drinks break, the death knell began to toll. It was here that Lahiru Kumara took over, rifling a sharp bouncer that Mahmud could only fend to Madushka at short leg, before doing in Khaled Mahmud with a searing yorker.Mehidy was stranded at the other end on 81 off 110, wondering what might have been had the rest of Bangladesh’s batters offered a similar fight.For Sri Lanka, Kumara ended with figures of 4 for 50. Kamindu, meanwhile, finished with a career-best 3 for 32 to go along with his unbeaten 92 in the first innings, which saw him take home both Player-of-the-Match and Player-of-the-Series awards. As for Sri Lanka’s seamers, they ended the series having taken 33 of the 40 available opposition wickets.

Dooley suffered a stroke while on holiday and had emergency surgery in Honolulu before being airlifted to Brisbane where she remains in hospital

Alex Malcolm20-May-2024Melbourne Renegades and South Australia wicketkeeper-batter Josie Dooley is in hospital in Brisbane after suffering a stroke while on holiday to Hawaii which left her in intensive care for more than two weeks.Dooley, 24, was on vacation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in April when she suffered a stroke. The South Australia Cricket Association released a statement on Monday detailing Dooley’s condition.”On 15 April Josie was on the Hawaiian island of Kauai when she suffered a stroke as a result of hydrocephalus and was required to be air lifted to Honolulu to receive urgent neurosurgical treatment,” the statement said.”Following surgery, Josie remained in the neurosciences ICU of the Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu for 18 days before progressing to a neurosurgical ward where she remained for a further 12 days.”Once she was fit to fly, Josie was medically evacuated to her hometown of Brisbane where she was readmitted to hospital.”Hydrocephalus is a neurological disorder caused by an abnormal build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles (cavities) deep within the brain.”Josie is making progress in her recovery and would like to thank her family, friends and teammates for their love and support over this challenging time,” the statement continued. “The Dooley family request privacy at this time.”Her WBBL club, Renegades, added: “Like many in the Australian cricket community, the Melbourne Renegades are thinking of our beloved team member, Josie Dooley, as she faces her current health battle.”Josie is a much-loved member of our playing group and a favorite with our fans. We see her strength, dedication and spirit during the WBBL and we know this will guide her through this challenge.”Dooley plays for South Australia in the WNCL competition and for Renegades having started her WBBL career in her hometown with Brisbane Heat in 2018-19 where she played nine matches. She has gone on to play 65 matches for Renegades in the WBBL.She also started her WNCL career with Queensland in 2018 as a teenager before moving to South Australia ahead of the 2020-21 season. Dooley has represented Australia at Under-16 and Under-19 level and played Australia A. She also played for the Governer-General’s XI against England in 2017.

White Ferns mums unite as batter prepares to tour England five months after giving birth

Valkerie Baynes06-Jun-2024Lauren Down always planned to return to cricket after becoming a first-time mother and now, just five months after giving birth, she intends to cement a place in New Zealand’s top order, starting with the upcoming ODI series in England.Down, 29, welcomed daughter Ruby into the world in early January. She last travelled with New Zealand as part of their T20 World Cup squad in South Africa nearly a year earlier and this week returned to the ODI squad for three matches against England starting in Durham on June 26 saying that a cricket comeback was “always in the back of my mind”.”I knew that, one, I wanted to be a mum and have a family but, two, that I still wanted to give cricket a good crack and I was hoping that if everything went well with giving birth and through the pregnancy that I would be able to return,” Down said. “Fortunately the comeback has gone pretty well so far. It’s been tough at times and physically a bit draining, but it’s been really good and it’s nice being a mum and still being able to play cricket as well.”My partner, I’m very fortunate with him that he can stay at home and help look after Ruby while I’m training and it makes this whole journey a lot easier. There’s been some sleepless nights and then getting up and trying to do a little bit of training, which is a little bit harder than normal, but when you come home at the end of the day and see a little smiling face, it all feels worth it.”Related

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Down said she also felt blessed to have two other mums to lean on for advice, the now-retired Amy Satterthwaite and Lea Tahuhu, who are expecting their second child before Tahuhu links up with New Zealand for the T20I leg of the England tour, starting on July 6.”I’m obviously really fortunate with Amy and Lea having little Grace and they’ve been through this journey already, so I’ve definitely lent on them a lot during my pregnancy and also now coming back and talking to them about what worked for them and what challenges they faced,” Down said. “I’m very lucky to have Lea around the group still as well.”Your body goes through a whole lot of change through the pregnancy and then slowly trying to work back into things and get back to the fitness I was at beforehand, it’s been a bit tough being at the bottom of the pack in the running sessions with the White Ferns girls, but I know I’ll get back there and it’s been nice just to be back with the group and training again.”While Down has had to work hard to regain her fitness levels in a relatively short period of time, she is well versed in managing a comeback.She missed the home ODI World Cup in early 2022 after fracturing her thumb while fielding in a bilateral series against India just before the tournament. She had only been back training for about a month following that injury when she was selected in New Zealand’s squad for the Commonwealth Games but pulled out to prioritise her wellbeing, later saying she had put too much pressure on herself to be back in time, hoping not to miss a second big tournament that year.This time, Down is ready to return, and she will only play the ODIs in England.”Time away from the game was actually quite nice, it was refreshing and then it just sort of made me hungry to get back and just want to get back into the fold as soon as I could,” she said. “I knew it was going to be tight in terms of timeframes getting back for this England series, but I just wanted to give myself the best chance that I could to put my hand up and fortunately I’m able to get on the plane next week.”I missed the girls a lot. I think I probably watched every ball of every game when I was on leave and it was great to sit back and watch the girls as a fan, but I definitely missed everyone and I’m really glad to be back now.”In her 28 ODIs to date, Down has batted between No.1 and No.7, the majority in the top three and she is keen to stay up the order in both formats going forward, having largely batted at No.5 and No. 6 in her 13 T20Is so far.”I’ve floated a little bit up and down the order throughout my career so far but, coming back into the fold, I’m hoping to sort of bat around the top order and try and cement a spot up there in both formats would be ideal,” she said.”One thing I’ve been working on is trying to open up that 360-degree game and try and access different areas to help score and that sort of thing. It’s definitely something the team and then myself as well have been working on.”Earlier this year, New Zealand lost a home T20I series to England 4-1 and won just one of their three ODIs. Immediately afterwards, captain Sophie Devine said she expected her squad to be “absolutely flogged” during a set of training camps ahead of the return tour as they looked to build on the gains she saw in that series.Three training camps later, head coach Ben Sawyer said his players had worked hard on their fitness and effort in the field with “numerous PBs” achieved in the gym.On Down’s return, he said: “She spoke to us after having the bub and wanted to get back into it and be considered for selection so we’ve looked at her these last couple of camps and she’s going really, really well. She’s earned a spot back up there at the top of the order and I think especially in ODI cricket, she’ll be a real force for us up there. I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do on the UK tour.”

Wood and Woakes also got among the wickets to bowl out WI for 282 but Seales struck late in the day to keep England at bay

Valkerie Baynes26-Jul-2024Flashes of West Indies fight saw them end the opening day of the third Test at Edgbaston just about even with England, but the tourists’ challenge is to turn the glimmers of hope they’ve shown since the start of the second Test into match-turning moments.Fifties from Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder led what appeared to be a below-par first innings 282 in the face of some excellent bowling by Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes. But then Jayden Seales grabbed two of the three England wickets to fall late on a day that yielded 13 in all to level things up.West Indies’ spirited first innings at Trent Bridge, which put them narrowly in front of England, momentarily erased memories of their capitulation at Lord’s. But their second-innings collapse in the second Test relegated all their good work to hope-for-the-future status and much of this first day’s play of the third Test felt like mini versions of that story.Related

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Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis’ 76-run opening stand preceded a collapse of 5 for 39 in 7.2 overs. Then there was the sixth-wicket union between Holder and Joshua Da Silva, worth 109, undone by Woakes and Atkinson rediscovering the swing which had disappeared for part of the day.But there was a twist, with both England openers removed with consecutive balls and nightwatcher Mark Wood also falling as the home side went to the close on 38 for 3, trailing by 244 runs.Seales had Zak Crawley out edging to Holder with his 12th ball and Alzarri Joseph, who had spilled a return catch off Ben Duckett in the previous over, had him out chopping onto his stumps with the first ball of his next. Wood followed, edging Seales to Holder at second slip as England were given plenty to think about overnight.With the ball 61 overs old and the pitch unresponsive, Woakes conjured enough movement to be hopeful with a fuller one angling down the leg side which beat Da Silva and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, who parried it away for four byes. With the next, he rapped Da Silva’s front pad with another fullish delivery that looked as though it was going down the leg side.Jason Holder raised a battling half-century•Getty Images

Then, bingo. Woakes enticed a loose waft from Da Silva with a back-of-a-length delivery that pitched outside off and then moved away from the right-hander as he looked to thread it through backward point but instead edged to Smith one run shy of his half-century. It was a crucial wicket for England after West Indies had recovered from 115 for 5.From there, Woakes had the ball properly swinging again, and he grabbed his third wicket with an outswinger which Alzarri Joseph skied straight to Ben Stokes at mid-off.Atkinson chimed in with his third, a beauty to remove Holder, the ball pitching on middle and swinging away as the batter tried to play across the line and had his off stump dislodged. Holder’s slow-motion trudge off the field was the perfect illustration of West Indies’ mood at that point.Atkinson then removed Gudakesh Motie with a short ball which had the batter ducking and thrusting his bat above his head, the ball sailing over a jumping Smith as Joe Root took a stunner diving across from slip and flinging out his hand, where the ball miraculously stuck.Shoaib Bashir, the off-spinning star of England’s second-Test victory took the last wicket when Shamar Joseph hit high down the ground and Crawley, running round from long-off, took the catch.Earlier, Louis had faced 22 balls to get off the mark, striking Atkinson through cover point and running two. But, after the first hour, West Indies were 49 without loss, having won the toss.Brathwaite moved to 49 guiding a full Stokes delivery past point and brought up his half-century with a single next ball. It was his first fifty in nine Test innings since July last year.Mark Wood’s searing yorker flattened Kirk McKenzie’s middle stump•Getty Images

But Atkinson made the initial breakthrough, drawing an edge with a short ball that was moving away as Louis prodded behind to Smith. For the fifth time in as many Tests innings in his fledgling career, Louis reached double figures but he is yet to pass the 27 he made on debut in the first match of this series at Lord’s.Wood’s pace wasn’t quite what it was at Trent Bridge but it caused West Indies enough problems.Brathwaite was left doubled up after a nasty knock to the box by a short ball. Then, after Kirk McKenzie had struck three boundaries in four Atkinson deliveries, Wood removed him for 12 in his next over, flattening his middle stump with a 91mph inswinging yorker.Atkinson grabbed his second wicket on the stroke of lunch as Alick Athanaze bottom-edged a short ball which stayed low onto his off stump and West Indies went to lunch at 97 for 3.Two early wickets in the afternoon session kept the hosts on top. Brathwaite had added just five runs after lunch before he was caught behind down the leg side attempting a pull shot off a Wood shorter ball. Adding to West Indies’ woes, replays suggested that the catch had come off Brathwaite’s right glove, which was off the bat handle at the time.Just two balls later, Kavem Hodge errantly left a Woakes delivery which angled in towards middle and off stumps and straightened slightly to crash into the top of off.

Phoenix to play Southern Brave in eliminator; Oval Invincibles head straight to Lord’s final

ECB Media15-Aug-2024Birmingham Phoenix will meet Southern Brave in The Hundred Eliminator at The Kia Oval on Saturday after a nine-wicket victory over Manchester Originals.Moeen Ali’s side came out on top in a 30-ball-per-side match at Edgbaston, earning themselves the point they needed after rain delayed the start.Phoenix chased down their target of 42 with ease, Jamie Smith depositing Fazalhaq Farooqi over the boundary twice in the first five balls to set the tone for the chase.After a quieter second five from Farooqi, Ben Duckett smashed Tom Aspinwall’s first ball for six and then hit three of his next four to the boundary as the rain teemed down in Birmingham, the umpires remaining unmoved, determined to see the game to a result.Smith (14) was caught on the cover boundary by Sikandar Raza off Scott Currie, but Duckett (22*) and Moeen (6*) knocked off the remaining seven runs required with eight balls to spare, the skipper securing the win with a six off Currie over fine-leg.Winning the toss and bowling first, Birmingham Phoenix struck early, Kiwi speedster Adam Milne removing Matthew Hurst from the second legal delivery of the match when the young Lancastrian skied a chance to Liam Livingstone at mid-on.Milne’s compatriot Tim Southee took the second set and was immediately smashed into the stands by Phil Salt. He was then sliced over short-third by Max Holden from the final ball of the powerplay as the Originals took their score to 15 for 1.At the halfway point of the innings, the Originals were 22 for 2, Salt (12) mistiming a cross-bat shot off Milne from the 15th ball of the innings to give Livingstone his second catch of the evening.Sean Abbott then accounted for Paul Walter (1), caught at deep cover, to make it 24 for 3. Holden (15) continued to swing hard, the left-hander top-edging Southee for another boundary, but his luck soon ran out when he failed to go over mid-off as Livingstone held onto a third catch.Chris Wood closed out the innings, conceding just three runs and taking the wicket of Raza, caught by Jacob Bethell at deep midwicket as Originals closed on 41 for 5, hitting just one six in their innings.Phoenix had just 42 to chase to earn a trip to South London and they did it with ease, ensuring Andrew Flintoff’s first year as Northern Superchargers Head Coach would end with a fourth-place finish.Meerkat Match Hero Milne, who took 2 for 8, said: “To come out of the shortened game and into The Hundred Eliminator is very good for us.”There was a little bit of swing and seam so it was nice to use that first up, but in these shortened games anything can happen, so [you] just mix it up.”Anytime it’s moving around off the straight it’s nice. There’s been lots said but as a bowler it’s nice to have a little bit going your way sometimes in these shorter formats, there can be flat wickets and not much movement, so it’s nice to see a bit of swing and seam occasionally.”

Defeat deals heavy blow to Sunrisers’ hopes of reaching semi-finals

ECB Reporters Network04-Sep-2024Chloe Skelton’s five-wicket haul propelled Western Storm to victory at Radlett and dealt a severe blow to Sunrisers’ hopes of reaching the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy semi-finals.Off-spinner Skelton finished with 5 for 29 as the home side were rolled over for 150, having earlier played a valuable role with the bat in support of Amanda-Jade Wellington’s counter-attacking 45 not out that lifted Storm to a competitive total of 180.Sunrisers looked on course to chase that down through Cordelia Griffith (39) and Alice Macleod, with a season’s best of 48, only for Skelton to turn the contest back in the visitors’ favour.Storm’s success was only their fourth of this year’s competition and left Sunrisers needing to win their final fixture away to Southern Vipers to maintain their chances of advancing to the knockout stage.Having won the toss, Sunrisers inserted the visitors and immediately seized control of the game, although it took them until the ninth over to make inroads when Kate Coppack took a tumbling return catch off Sophia Smale’s leading edge.Emma Corney and skipper Sophie Luff made steady progress, guiding their side to 61 for 1 before the introduction of Sophie Munro, who yorked Corney for 29 in her first over and finished with 3 for 42, triggered a clatter of wickets.Luff was bowled leaving a slower delivery from Eva Gray that seamed back to hit her off stump and a miserly second spell from leg-spinner Jodi Grewcock yielded two wickets as Storm slumped to 115 for 8.However, their prospects were salvaged by the tail, with Skelton and then Ellie Anderson providing staunch support for Wellington’s spirited counter-attack to extend the innings by a valuable 65 runs.The Australian steered Munro to the point boundary to bring up Storm’s 150 and drilled her next ball over the top for six as she and Anderson frustrated the home side in a partnership of 41, the highest of the innings.Abtaha Maqsood eventually finished off proceedings in the 47th over, bowling Anderson with a flighted delivery to leave Wellington five short of her half-century – but having done enough to lift Storm morale.That received another boost at the start of Sunrisers’ reply when Anderson dismissed both openers cheaply, with Jo Gardner picking out the midwicket fielder before Grace Scrivens played around one and was bowled.When Skelton had Grewcock caught behind off her fourth delivery, the home side were wobbling at 44 for 3, but Griffith adopted a pugnacious approach, pummelling Anderson for successive off-side boundaries.In tandem with MacLeod, Griffith got Sunrisers back on track with a partnership of 46 from 58 balls and looked comfortably set on 39 when she swung Skelton into the hands of deep midwicket.But MacLeod took up the baton, hitting confidently over the infield and took the total past 100 by dispatching Wellington to the rope as well as taking successive leg-side boundaries off Smale.A half-century seemed to be MacLeod’s for the taking until she was thwarted by a stunning one-handed catch from Alex Griffiths at short cover – and that proved to be a turning point.Storm’s spinners pressed home their advantage, with Skelton capturing three of the last four wickets to complete the win with 10.3 overs to spare.

England captain says line has been drawn under “blackface” issue ahead of Bangladesh challenge

Andrew Miller04-Oct-2024Heather Knight, England’s captain, says that the challenge of leading her team into the Women’s T20 World Cup has her full focus, and insists that “the line has already been drawn” on the disciplinary measures taken against her for a historic “blackface” photograph that appeared on social media recently.Knight, 33, was last week reprimanded and given a suspended £1000 fine by the Cricket Discipline Commission, after a compromising fancy-dress photograph surfaced on Facebook, dating back to a party in 2012, when she was 21. While it was accepted by the Cricket Regulator that there was “no racist intent in her conduct”, Knight said in a statement that she was “truly sorry” and had “long regretted it”.Now, speaking on the eve of England’s T20 World Cup opener, against Bangladesh in Sharjah on Saturday, Knight turned the focus squarely to the task at hand for her team, as they seek to improve on their semi-final finish at the last event in South Africa two years ago, and land their first ICC global title since 2017.Related

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“It was obviously something that has been ongoing the last couple of months and it is something, as far as I am concerned, that has been addressed, and something that was a long time ago, so it hasn’t been in my mind at all,” Knight said.”The line has already been drawn, in my opinion, so I am really excited, obviously, for what is to come. We have got super supportive group, there is no doubt about that, so yeah, I’m pretty happy to get cracking with the cricket.”England came through an unbeaten home summer, winning 13 out of 14 matches against New Zealand and Pakistan, with only a washout at Taunton denying them a clean sweep. In addition to Bangladesh, they will play against Scotland, West Indies and South Africa in the World Cup group stage, with their two likeliest rivals for the title, Australia and India, awaiting them in the other half of the draw.”Australia are going to be favourites, for sure,” Knight said of the defending champions, who have won six of the last seven stagings of the T20 World Cup, dating back to 2010. “Obviously, their success in this event has been huge, but we feel in a really good place. We’ve been playing some brilliant cricket, and while the first goal is to get out of the group stages, we’re pretty confident in what we bring. We believe we can beat anyone on our best day.”Much of England’s summer was spent honing a side that could compete in spinning conditions, with Bangladesh having been the World Cup’s original host country. The event has since moved to the UAE for security reasons, but Knight is confident that England’s spin contingent – led by the ICC’s No.1-ranked bowler in white-ball cricket, Sophie Ecclestone – will thrive at a tournament that, to judge by the tournament’s opening fixtures, already appears to favour slow bowling.”We feel very prepared for what we’ve got to come, and now it’s just about executing it and being really smart about how we do things in-game,” Knight said. “We’ve obviously got the quality spin attack. It’s been our big strength, particularly through those middle overs, how we really squeeze teams and try and rush them in that middle period.”England opted to overlook the extra pace of Lauren Filer for this tournament, instead relying on Lauren Bell as a sole specialist seamer, backed up by a trio of seam-bowling allrounders in Nat Sciver-Brunt, Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson. Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn also offer batting depth as spinning allrounders, meaning that England – on paper, at least – have an enviably versatile squad.”We’ve got really good options, which is the nice thing,” Knight said. “The depth that we’ve got allows us to play based on the conditions that we face, and the team that we’re playing against.”It’s not going to be easy picking the team, but we’re pretty set on the little tweaks that we might need to make to get the most out of the conditions and teams that we’re playing against.”There are going to be times where we are going to have to graft a little bit, the boundaries are big and there might be times when we get on slow wickets where we are going to have to adapt to what is in front of us and be really smart with how we go about things.”Both Kemp and Sciver-Brunt were managed back to bowling fitness during the summer, after coming through back and knee issues respectively. But Knight was adamant that each was in the right place to deliver a full all-round role for the cause.”The allrounders are the fittest in the team, because of the role they have to do,” she said. “Freya, in particular, she’s super impressive with how she’s come back from that [second] stress fracture, and the work that she’s put in to be in a place to perform, it’s been brilliant.”

England, meanwhile, will be looking to maintain their winning start to the tournament when they take on Scotland

Sruthi Ravindranath12-Oct-2024

England vs Scotland

Sharjah, 2pm local timeEngland squad: Heather Knight (capt), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni WyattScotland squad: Kathryn Bryce (capt), Chloe Abel, Abbi Aitken-Drummond, Olivia Bell, Sarah Bryce (wk), Darcey Carter, Priyanaz Chatterji, Katherine Fraser, Saskia Horley, Lorna Jack, Ailsa Lister, Abtaha Maqsood, Megan McColl, Hannah Rainey, Rachel SlaterTournament form guide: England have won both matches they’ve played so far – against Bangladesh and South Africa – while Scotland are coming into the match having lost all three of their games.News brief: These teams will be facing each other for the first time in T20Is. England are coming into this match after a gap of five days, having last played against South Africa on Monday.Scotland are out of the semi-final race. The Group B table has three teams – England, West Indies and South Africa – still in contention for the semi-final, with England having the lowest net run rate among them. England will be looking to improve their NRR with a big win.”There was a little bit of illness at one point but I think hopefully everyone will be available,” England captain Heather Knight said of player availability ahead of the match.This will also be Scotland wicketkeeper-batter Lorna Jack-Brown’s last international match.Player to watch: Danni Wyatt-Hodge has been solid at top of the order for England. Chasing a tricky target of 125 on a slow Sharjah pitch, with left-arm spinners bowling from both ends, she dropped anchor after the early loss of Maia Bouchier and stitched a 64-run stand with Nat Sciver-Brunt. She finished with 43 in as many balls, which followed her Player-of-the-Match performance of 41 against Bangladesh.Harmanpreet Kaur’s 52 took India to a win against Sri Lanka•ICC via Getty Images

Australia vs India

Sharjah, 6pm local timeAustralia squad: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia WarehamIndia squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, S SajanaTournament form guide: Australia have three wins in three matches and are coming into this contest having comprehensively beaten Pakistan. With that win, they also all but sealed a semi-final spot thanks to their net run rate of 2.786. India have two wins in three games. In their previous match, they posted the highest total of the tournament so far – 172 for 3 – and in return bundled Sri Lanka out for 90 to post their biggest win by runs at the T20 World Cup.Related

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• Alyssa Healy feels pain as Australia face World Cup depth test

• Vlaeminck dislocates shoulder on T20 World Cup return

News brief: Australia have major injury concerns heading into the crucial clash. Just four balls into the match against Pakistan, Tayla Vlaeminck was out with a right shoulder dislocation. To make things worse, captain Alyssa Healy suffered “an acute right foot injury” while batting on 37 as she hobbled off the field with Australia needing 14 runs to win. Both players went for scans on Saturday.India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who had hurt her neck in the match against Pakistan, turned up with a pain-relief patch on the right side of her neck during the Sri Lanka match. She also didn’t take the field during the chase. Fast bowler Pooja Vastrakar bowled full-tilt before the Sri Lanka game but didn’t play.India will want a big win against Australia. If they win by more than 61 runs, they will move ahead of Australia, thereby automatically qualifying for the semi-final. In a case where India win by fewer than 60 runs, they will hope New Zealand win by a very small margin against Pakistan on Monday. For instance, if India make 150 against Australia and win by exactly 10 runs, New Zealand need to beat Pakistan by 28 runs defending 150 to go ahead of India’s NRR. If India lose to Australia by more than 17 runs while chasing a target of 151, then New Zealand’s NRR will be ahead of India, even if Pakistan beat New Zealand by just 1 run while defending 150.Overall, India have won just eight out of 34 T20Is they’ve played against Australia. Two of those wins came in the group-stage games of previous T20 World Cups, in 2018 and 2020.Players to watch: Two of their best batters finding their form bodes well for India heading into the big game. Harmanpreet and Mandhana’s collaborative effort against Pakistan boosted India’s NRR with the semi-final race heating up. Mandhana, after a cautious start to her innings, changed gears and took on Sri Lanka’s spinners to make 50 off 38 balls. Harmanpreet, continuing from where she’d left against Pakistan, played a classic, hitting eight fours and a six on her way to a 27-ball 52. It was just what India needed to reinvigorate their T20 World Cup campaign.

The matches are set to be played across Navi Mumbai, Vadodara and Rajkot

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2024West Indies and Ireland women are set for white-ball tours to India in December and January. The series, part of the 2022-2025 Future Tours Programme (FTP), will see India play West Indies in three T20Is in Navi Mumbai and three ODIs in Vadodara next month, followed by three ODIs against Ireland in Rajkot in January 2025. It will be Ireland women’s first-ever bilateral tour of India, and the teams’ first series against each other since 2006.The T20Is against West Indies are scheduled on December 15, 17 and 19 followed by the ODIs on December 22, 24 and 27. The three Ireland ODIs are set to be played on January 10, 12 and 15. Both ODI series will be part of the ICC Women’s Championship.With the next ODI World Cup set to be played in India next year, the hosts began their prep for the tournament with an ODI series against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, which they won 2-1, right after the T20 World Cup in October. They are also set to play three ODIs against Australia in Brisbane and Perth in December before the series against West Indies.Getty Images

India last played in Vadodara in 2019 in an ODI series against South Africa. Rajkot, meanwhile, will host India women after a gap of 14 years with their last match at the venue coming in January 2011 against West Indies.West Indies last played a white-ball series in India in 2016. They won the T20Is 3-0 and lost the ODIs 0-3.Ireland have lost all of the 12 ODIs they’ve played against India so far. The sides last met in the T20 World Cup in 2023, which India won by five runs.