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Tim Bresnan made an unbeaten 72 to keep Yorkshire’s Championship hopes alive, as Nick Compton’s dropped catch cost Middlesex

George Dobell at Lord's21-Sep-2016
ScorecardHe may have scored two Test centuries and played a part in England series victories in India and South Africa but, around these parts at least, Nick Compton is in danger of being remembered as the man who dropped the 2016 Specsavers County Championship.Had Compton, in the slips, held on to the relatively straightforward chance offered by Andy Hodd on 22 off Steven Finn, Yorkshire would have been 87 for 5 and in danger of seeing their relatively long tail exposed. One of the runners in this three-horse race may well have fallen away.Instead, the chance went down and Hodd, in partnership with the wonderfully resolute Tim Bresnan, added 116 for Yorkshire’s fifth wicket to keep their side in the game. The extent of the dent put into Middlesex’s Championship aspirations remains to be seen but it may well be that Compton has inadvertently done his former club, Somerset, a huge favour. A future in ‘He should have gone to Specsavers’ adverts is unlikely to provide much consolation.Such a reputation would be harsh, of course. Compton played crucial roles in two recent victories against Durham and Nottinghamshire and may yet have a defining contribution to make here. But when title races become as tight as this – and this one is beautifully, breathlessly tight – the importance of such moments is magnified.The concern for both these teams is that their excellence – and this has been a terrific game of tough, high-quality cricket albeit one marked by some significant dropped catches – is in danger of cancelling each other out. While Somerset do battle with a foe currently boasting the resilience of a butterfly, these two teams are bashing each other into a double knockout.For victory alone is unlikely to be enough for Yorkshire. With Somerset seemingly on course for victory at Taunton, Yorkshire need to not only win but win with a minimum of four batting bonus points. They therefore have to score 350 (or more) within the first 110 overs of their first innings here. With 115 more runs required from 41 more overs and three bowlers with modest batting pretensions to come, much remains required of the two batsmen who will resume in the morning.That Yorkshire remain in the race at all is largely due to Bresnan. Having bowled with skill and persistence to help squeeze the life out of the Middlesex batting, he then produced his highest score of the campaign – and his fifth half-century – to take his side within sight of first-innings parity.It’s hard to imagine Bresnan pulling out of a game like this due to weariness or lack of focus. Indeed, you imagine he may well report for duty with an arm hanging by a thread or nursing a nasty attack of the bubonic plague. While there were some murmurs ahead of the game that he was a little high at No. 5 in the batting line-up, he justified his promotion with a mature innings featuring much patient defence and some fine shot selection.Six of his seven fours came on the off-side – a couple of meaty drives, a couple of beefy cuts and a well-judged reverse sweep the most memorable of them – with one laced through midwicket. Reflecting the improvement in his batting, he took his career average above 30 for the first time during the course of this innings and, if he makes the 100 his side probably requires, it will stay there.He came to the crease with the three batsmen above him in the order having failed to contribute a run. Toby Roland-Jones, comfortably the pick of the Middlesex seamers, had defeated Alex Lees with a full ball and drawn edges from hard-handed prods by Gary Ballance and Andrew Gale. By the time the previously fluent Adam Lyth played on in Steven Finn’s first over, perhaps slightly surprised by the pace of a fuller delivery, Yorkshire were 53 for 4 and in danger of seeing their challenge fall away.Had Compton been able to cling on to the chance offered by Hodd – instead he seemed to go at it with hard hands – Middlesex may have taken an unassailable advantage in this match. But, as the sun came out and the ball softened, so batting started to look a little easier and the teams go into day three with the game all but even.Hodd played Ollie Rayner especially well. Refusing to let him settle, he scored at almost a run-a-ball off him, hitting him off his line with reverse sweeps and punishing him if he dropped short. Even after he departed, beaten by a full one from Roland-Jones that he tried to force, Rayner was unable to gain much purchase from the dry-looking square and was twice thrashed for sixes – one drive, one pulled – by David Willey. Though Willey also departed before the close, Azeem Rafiq gave Bresnan good support to keep Yorkshire’s hopes just about alive. Still, 350 looks some way distant.”We just tried to take the game situation – and the table situation – out of it,” Bresnan said. “We tried to focus on little goals: ten runs at a time. They bowled really well at us for a little spell and made it really tough for us. But cricket is about little battles and we managed to overcome that challenge and kick on.”With the clientele we’ve got in dressing room we never say never. We’ve managed to win from some unbelievable positions this season and if we can get up to 350 we’ll be in a good position. We’ve got 40-odd overs left to get 350, which should be plenty of time. We’ll just take it in tens.”Yorkshire’s bowlers were little short of magnificent in the morning session. While Jack Brooks, as accurate and whole-hearted as ever, finished with career-best figures of 6 for 65, he would be the first to admit he was the beneficiary of a sustained performance by all five seamers that never allowed Middlesex to score at even 2.5 an over. It was relentless in the way Test bowlers tend to be relentless: building pressure; forcing batsmen to earn every run. Even with little help from the pitch or the overhead conditions, they were so disciplined that Middlesex were never able to get away from them. Yorkshire aren’t giving up on their status as champions without a hell of a fight.Eventually that pressure showed. Nick Gubbins, perhaps mindful of Middlesex’s sluggish run-rate and keen to gain at least a third batting bonus point, was drawn into a loose drive that ended his fine innings, before James Franklin edged a good one that demanded a stroke. Unsure whether to go for a third batting point or deny Yorkshire a third bowling point, Middlesex blocked for a while only to then give it away when Tim Murtagh slogged to mid-off with just 20 balls left before the cut-off. It may yet prove to be crucial. In all, Middlesex were able to add only 62 runs for the loss of five wickets in 26.3 overs in the morning session. Without Gubbins’ century – and the dropped catch that allowed him a life on 22 – they would have had no answer to Yorkshire’s fine attack.”We’re in a dogfight, but we’re hanging in there,” Brooks said. “We didn’t let them get away and we’re still in there fighting. Bressy has worked his way up from eight to five with his batting and he’s probably been our best bowler in this game as well after coming in as fifth seamer. It shows what a world-class bowler he is.”The equation for Middlesex is, at least, simple. If they win this match, the Championship is theirs. The winning bit is far from guaranteed, though.”It’s nicely poised,” Roland-Jones said in understated fashion afterwards. “We’re trying to treat it as if it’s any other game when it’s obviously an experience you want to be part of and it’s quite high pressure.”You try not to pay too much attention [to what has been happening at Taunton], but of course you see it there. Our attitude coming into the game was to win it. If you come into the last game and dangle the carrot that if you win it you win the Championship, you take that. It’s not a bad place to be.”It will probably be no consolation to any of the sides that fall short – and truly, all three deserve better than disappointment – but the quality and intensity of this encounter reflects wonderfully well on English cricket. Perhaps familiarity has invited a certain complacency (if not contempt) to England’s first-class competition but if we still value developing Test players we will tinker no further with this great competition. The 9000 or so spectators who have attended over the first two days know this already; it’s a shame not all those inhabiting the ECB offices just beside the Nursery Ground share their enthusiasm.

Brad Haddin has said he has no regrets about the way his Test career ended, when he was not reinstated after stepping down from the Lord’s Test to be with his ill daughter

Brydon Coverdale09-Sep-20151:21

‘Really only hoped for a few games at SCG’ – Haddin

Brad Haddin has said he has no regrets about the way his Test career ended, when he was not reinstated after stepping down from the Lord’s Test to be with his ill daughter. That decision effectively spelled the end of Haddin’s days as an Australia player, and on Wednesday he confirmed that he was now officially retired from international cricket.While it was fully expected that Haddin, 37, would depart after the Ashes tour, it had appeared likely when the campaign began that he would remain the incumbent gloveman throughout. However, he withdrew from the second Test at Lord’s to be with his four-year-old daughter Mia, who was receiving treatment in a London hospital.Mia had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer when she was only 17 months old, and Haddin had missed the 2012 tour of the West Indies to remain home with his family at the time. In announcing his retirement at the SCG, Haddin said he had no regrets about his decisions and knew that he was unlikely to be recalled after standing down during the Ashes.”I’m not dirty … I’m no different to any other parent in Australia,” Haddin told reporters in Sydney. “Everyone puts their family first and I have no regrets about doing that.”To me, it wasn’t a choice. I remember saying to [wife] Karina at the hospital that I’ll never play again. She said there was still three Tests to go but cricket is a big business/sport and I’d put myself in a position where I was vulnerable because I walked away. I could live with that because I was needed somewhere else and it was a place that was far more important for me.”My family needed me at that time and the reality is I was unable to take the field for Australia with the 100% focus I needed. I understood the consequences that went with my decision; I put myself in a position to lose my spot and I don’t regret that, not one bit. I wouldn’t change one thing because I don’t regret one thing that happened.”Haddin’s wife Karina and children Mia and Zac were at the press conference at the SCG on Wednesday, and Haddin said Mia’s health was heading in the right direction.”Mia needed surgery [in Sydney] a couple of weeks ago,” he said. “She had some internal bleeds … but everything is going in the right direction. She’s a normal four-year-old girl and the surgery will allow for her to enjoy a better quality of life.”Haddin’s retirement means he will finish his career with 66 Tests to his name, along with 3266 runs at 32.98 and 270 dismissals. That places him fourth on the Australian Test wicketkeeping tally, behind Adam Gilchrist, Ian Healy and Rod Marsh.His successor, Peter Nevill, played well on debut at Lord’s, and Haddin said it was apparent when the team headed to Derby for a tour match ahead of the third Test that the selectors were leaning towards retaining Nevill. Haddin said he spoke to national selector Rod Marsh to ensure that Nevill was given enough of a chance in Derby to prepare properly for the Test.”I’ve been in cricket long enough to know when you’re about to be dropped because people start talking to you differently,” Haddin said. “I remember saying to ‘Nev’, ‘I’m not playing in this third Test, you’re in’ and he said ‘no, no’ but I said I’d ask Rod because we needed to sort it out. Pete hadn’t kept much in England and I thought if he was playing in the Test he’d need to get used to the conditions.”What was meant to happen was Rod said we’d share the keeping in that match and I said ‘Rod, I’ve been around for 15 years, if you want me to go out and give you the energy, the perfect keeping game, I’ll go and do that but if you know what’s going to happen cut the bullshit and tell us – don’t play one off against the other because you know after 15 years what I can do’.”In the end I made the call. I’m not there to muck around, we were there to play for Australia and we had to prepare the best we could and that meant Nev had to keep. My thought was we were halfway through an Ashes series and this idea about one of us keeping for the first 30 overs when they knew what the decision was, well I thought let’s get on with it, you’ve made your decision and that’s how it unfolded.”Haddin said now was the perfect time to retire from internationals and first-class cricket, although he will play on for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League. The Sixers confirmed in a press release on Wednesday that Haddin was still a key member of their squad for this summer.”I’ve only ever wanted to play at the SCG. It’s great to be here today to make my announcement,” Haddin said. “I came to the realisation after Lord’s. I’ve had a privileged run, but I lost the hunger on the Ashes tour. It was an easy decision to retire.”

Shiv Thakor, the Leicestershire allrounder, has been ruled out of the England Under-19 tour of South Africa with a broken finger

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2013Shiv Thakor, the Leicestershire allrounder, has been ruled out of the England Under-19 tour of South Africa where he was captain after sustaining a broken finger in the opening match of the trip.He is expected to be out of action for six weeks after suffering the blow against a Western Cape Invitation XI. In the first innings of that match he made 30 then took 2 for 11 but did not bat in the second innings.Oli Stone, the Northamptonshire player, will replace Thakor as captain for the remainder of the tour and Thomas Alsop, from Hampshire, has been named as the replacement batsman. Alsop is part of the Under-17 squad and trained with the U-19s at Loughborough before the tour.Jamie Overton, the Somerset bowler, will be added to the squad for the one-day series next month after being released from the England Performance Squad fast bowling programme.The two-match Test series begins on January 27 in Cape Town.

Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald buried Sydney Sixers in an avalanche of big hits to set up Melbourne Renegades’ second successive win, moving them into the top half of the Big Bash League table for the first time

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jan-2012
ScorecardAndrew McDonald hit seven sixes and no fours in his 60•Getty Images

Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald buried Sydney Sixers in an avalanche of big hits to set up Melbourne Renegades’ second successive win, moving them into the top half of the Big Bash League table for the first time.Chasing a challenging 162 to win, the Renegades were given a power-packed start by Aaron Finch who clubbed Brett Lee for a six over square leg in the first over, en route to 25 off 15 balls. Glenn Maxwell failed at No. 3, bringing McDonald to the crease in the fifth over, and thereafter the innings steadied itself before taking off in style.No boundaries were scored in the six overs following Maxwell’s exit, as the asking-rate mounted to leave the Renegades needing 97 off the last 10 overs. McDonald had nudged his way to 10 off 18 balls by then, while Hodge was on 25 off 24. The scene rapidly changed colours thereafter, with McDonald signalling the end of the cease-fire by launching Stuart MacGill over long-on for two sixes in the 11th over.A six each came in the next two overs, before Hodge plundered Lee for three fours in the 14th over, reducing the equation to 51 off six overs. Hodge proceeded to thump Dominic Thornely for two more sixes in the next over, before McDonald turned his guns on Steve Smith, slugging him for three sixes. The ferocity of the assault meant that Renegades were home with 14 balls to spare. In all, McDonald hit seven sixesin 60 off 37 balls, while Hodge cleared the ropes three times in his 72.The Sixers would have expected a closer contest after hustling their way to 161 in the first half of the game. Dwayne Bravo’s early exit was overcome by a chirpy 46-run stand between Michael Lumb and Nic Maddinson. As is his wont, Shahid Afridi produced the breach, getting Maddinson stumped for 29. Smith kept the momentum going, but Shane Harwood removed him just as he began to look dangerous. The closing flourish came from Moises Henriques, who hit three fours and a six in 40 off 31 balls, but his fireworks fizzled in front of the fusillade that was to follow.

Gautam Gambhir is not a sure starter for the crucial Boxing Day Test in Durban. He was hit on his left hand, around the knuckles area, and it has swollen a bit

Sidharth Monga in Durban25-Dec-2010Gautam Gambhir is not a sure starter for the crucial Boxing Day Test in Durban. He was hit around the knuckles of his left hand in the first Test, and it has swollen a bit. He had batted in the nets all three days of India’s training leading into the Test. What is a concerning bit of news for India, though, is that the swelling seems to have grown on the match eve, and Gambhir spent a long time in the nets sitting on an ice box, with an icepack on his left hand.If Gambhir doesn’t make it, M Vijay will be his natural replacement. Looking at the contingency, India chose to give Vijay a long hit in the nets on the eve of the match. Vijay has done well in the past as a back-up opener, even when he has been called up on short notice. His last effort as replacement opener was 139 against Australia in Bangalore, which contributed to India’s 2-0 series win. For somebody who always gets called up on short notice, Vijay has a healthy average of 42.41 in eight Tests. If he gets picked, though, this will be Vijay’s biggest Test, on a green, rock-solid pitch, with overhead conditions likely to contribute to swing and seam movement.India trail 1-0, and South Africa are looking to close out this series before they enter the next year.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has denied reports that Ottis Gibson, England’s bowling coach, is to resign his role and take up a position as coach of the West Indies

Cricinfo staff23-Jan-2010The England and Wales Cricket Board has denied reports that Ottis Gibson,
England’s bowling coach, is to resign his role and take up a position as coach of the West Indies.This was in response to a report on the Radio Jamaica website which claimed that the station had been “reliably informed” that Gibson “is set to arrive in time to take up the job before South Africa’s tour of the Caribbean in May.” The report also stated that David Williams, the current West Indies coach who took over on an interim basis after John Dyson’s exit, is to be Gibson’s deputy.But an ECB spokesman told :”We are certainly not aware of this and no deal has been agreed.”Gibson, 40, played two Tests and 15 one-day internationals for West Indies before his nomadic career took him to Glamorgan, Staffordshire, and three South African provincial sides. Frustrated by niggling injuries, he took up coaching and found work with the ECB before returning to the game with Leicestershire in 2004. He then moved to Durham for two successful seasons before his retirement in 2007, and was named as England’s bowling coach for the tour of Sri Lanka that autumn. He was credited for playing a major part in England’s Ashes success last summer.

“It’s hard to take, because I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to deserve not being on that plane”

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2025Kate Cross has revealed that she is “struggling to get [her] head around” her “savage” omission from England’s squad for the 50-over World Cup in India.Cross, 33, has been a regular in England’s ODI side since the last World Cup and took her 100th career wicket in the format earlier this summer. But she was dropped during their series against India last month and was left out of the squad altogether on Thursday as a result of England’s decision to pick an extra spinner for subcontinent conditions.”It’s hard to take, because I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to deserve not being on that plane,” Cross said on , her podcast with Alex Hartley. “Everyone that is a current player who doesn’t get selected is going to disagree with selections and going to think that they should be there.Related

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“But what I’m really struggling to get my head around is it all feels like it’s happened so quickly that I’ve just clearly fallen out of favour with Lot [England coach Charlotte Edwards]. That’s a hard bit to get my head [around]. If I’d had 14-18 months of being pretty average at cricket and not performing in an England shirt, then I think I’d understand it a bit more.”I guess to an extent I have, because I didn’t have the best summer in an England shirt and I had a really tough winter and missed out a lot through the back injury. But I think leading into that, I definitely didn’t feel like I wouldn’t be on the plane. Being in the best XI [is] a different conversation, but [not even] being on the plane… It feels savage.”Cross was first left out by Edwards for a rain-reduced game against India at Lord’s – she is not involved in England’s T20I set-up – and did not regain her place for the series finale in Durham. “There’s so much for me to get my head around, and I haven’t processed it,” she said. “It’s still really raw.”England have only picked three frontline seamers for the World Cup in Em Arlott, Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer, with captain Nat Sciver-Brunt on track to recover from injury in time to offer another option.”It’s what you sign up for,” Cross said. “You don’t get to have those amazing highs without having these real lows, but it doesn’t make the lows any easier knowing that they’re going to be there. I probably had a good indication that I wasn’t going to be in this, or it would be tough to come back from being dropped in that last game… But it doesn’t make it any easier.”

“I felt we were 15 or 20 runs short on a pitch that wasn’t as bad as we played in the first ten overs”

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2024Faf du Plessis pointed to the faltering display with the bat in the powerplay as the reason for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s loss in the IPL 2024 opener against Chennai Super Kings.Du Plessis, the RCB captain, got off to a flier after electing to bat in Chennai, smashing seven fours in the first three overs. But du Plessis fell to Mustafizur Rahman in the fifth and RCB slumped from 41 for 0 to 42 for 3 soon after.”Unfortunately, we lost a little bit too many wickets in that first seven overs, which meant that the guys needed to bat a little bit and stable the innings again,” du Plessis said on the official broadcast after the game. “And, at the end, I felt we were 15 or 20 runs short on a pitch that wasn’t as bad as we played in the first ten overs.”When you play here, you feel like you have to almost get ahead of the game a little bit in that first six overs because CSK is a very good team in the middle overs. For so many years, they squeeze you with the spinners.”Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik’s 95-run stand helped RCB fight back from 78 for 5 and finish with 173, a score that Karthik, at the halfway mark, suggested was under par. That proved correct as CSK won with eight balls in hand.Rachin Ravindra’s flier handed CSK a 62-run powerplay, but RCB struck back with a few wickets to have CSK at 110 for 4 in the 13th over. That’s when Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja got together. Dube was peppered with short balls – the IPL has a new two-bouncers-per-over rule – a ploy that got him out of his comfort zone. But he didn’t give it away.”We were always a little bit behind in terms of trying to get ahead of the game,” du Plessis said. “They were batting at a place where they were always still in front of the game even though we were pulling it back. We were trying to somehow find some opportunity to get wickets.”Obviously, Dube there you could see, with the short ball, he wasn’t comfortable with that. So, just trying to expose [the weakness] and trying to get some wickets through the middle overs. But at the end, it showed it just was not enough runs.”

Adil Rashid spins a web to restrict Pakistan before ODI champions England take T20 crown too

Matt Roller13-Nov-20223:33

Fleming: Pakistan made ‘massive mistake’ in last four overs

England became the first team to hold both men’s World Cups simultaneously, sneaking past Pakistan in a tense run chase to win the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup final at the MCG by five wickets with an over to spare.Ben Stokes, England’s match-winner in the 50-over final three years ago, anchored another run chase and ground out his first half-century in T20 internationals in the format’s biggest game. He had battled to 24 off 34 balls, but a late flurry of boundaries removed the scoring pressure.The game changed in the 13th over of England’s chase when Shaheen Shah Afridi slid forwards to complete a catch off Shadab Khan, dismissing Harry Brook. Pakistan’s celebrations were cut short when they realised that Shaheen had jarred his right knee, which had once threatened to rule him out of the tournament.He received some treatment and attempted to return for his third over with 41 needed off 30 balls, but pulled out of his run-up once, then sent one down to Moeen Ali at 71mph/114kph. Iftikhar Ahmed completed his over and Stokes targeted him: he miscued him just short of long-off, but then slapped him through cover for four and launched him back over his head for six.When Moeen started the next over with back-to-back boundaries off Mohammad Wasim, the required rate was below a run a ball. Wasim returned to york Moeen, but Stokes crashed him through cover then hauled him through the leg side to secure England’s title.Sam Curran was adjudged player of the match as well as tournament•AFP/Getty Images

Curran strikes early – and late
England primarily used Sam Curran at the death throughout this T20 World Cup but his role shifted slightly in the knockout stages. Chris Jordan’s inclusion, replacing the injured Mark Wood for the last two games, meant Curran bowled a second powerplay over in both the semi-final and final.It proved crucial. Pakistan started slowly after being asked to bat first on a slow pitch, with Mohammad Rizwan’s slog-swept six off Chris Woakes their only boundary in the first four overs, and Curran – in his second over – struck as Rizwan looked to up the tempo, inside-edging a booming cover drive onto the base of his leg stump.Curran returned at the death and had both Shan Masood and Mohammad Nawaz caught by Liam Livingstone at deep midwicket, using the MCG’s vast square boundaries to his advantage. He finished with remarkable figures of 3 for 12 across four boundary-less overs, winning awards as both player of the match and the tournament.Liam Livingstone completes a catch to send Shan Masood back, his first of three in the death overs•Getty Images

Rashid finds his form
It was a World Cup of two halves for Adil Rashid: he took combined figures of 0 for 89 in 12 overs across his first three appearances, but England insisted they were confident that he would come good when it mattered. He delivered in style, taking 1 for 16 and 1 for 20 against Sri Lanka and India, then made two crucial breakthroughs in the final.Mohammad Haris, Pakistan’s dangerous No. 3, ran down the pitch and tried to clear long-on off Rashid’s first ball but holed out to Stokes, and neither Babar Azam or Shan Masood could get him away. Instead, Masood took on Livingstone, crashing him back down the ground for four and then six to take 16 off his only over.But Rashid struck with the very next ball, Babar miscuing his googly back to him, and then delivered a wicket maiden as Iftikhar struggled to read his variations. He conceded his only boundary in his final over when Shadab slapped him back over his head during a stand of 36 with Masood – but regular wickets at the death restricted Pakistan to 137.Chaos in the chase
Heading into the final, one key battle stood out: England’s opening batters against Pakistan’s new-ball bowlers. Jos Buttler and Alex Hales had demolished India in their semi-final but Shaheen, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf stood out as the best pace trio in the tournament.Alex Hales was castled by a Shaheen Shah Afridi inswinger•ICC via Getty Images

Shaheen landed the first punch, ripping Hales’ middle stump out of the ground with a full ball that brushed his back pad on the way through, but Buttler countered: Naseem overpitched, desperate for another early wicket, and was pinged through the covers for consecutive boundaries.Phil Salt, batting for the first time in the tournament after Dawid Malan failed to recover from a groin strain, got two early boundaries away. But he picked out short midwicket off Rauf when looking for a third, who roared in celebration.Naseem’s second over was sublime, but somehow cost 11 runs despite him beating Buttler’s outside edge five times thanks to one wild ball down the leg side and an audacious, trademark scoop shot which flew away for six. Rauf reaped the rewards in the following over as Buttler edged behind, and England finished a chaotic powerplay 49 for 3.The Stokes show
With the required rate in check, Stokes and Brook opted to dig in for the next six overs, looking to minimise dot balls without taking undue risks. Both struggled for timing as the ball got older, and boundaries were hard to come by: Stokes scored a single run off his first nine balls after the drinks break, and was repeatedly beaten by Naseem in another brilliant over.Concerned faces all around as Shaheen Afridi stays down after pulling off a sharp catch•AFP/Getty Images

Stokes looked to have dug himself into a hole with 45 required off 31 balls, but cut the final ball of Rauf’s third over away for four to relieve some of the pressure and when Shaheen gestured to the dug-out that his night was over, he sensed an opportunity. He threw his head back in disbelief when he mistimed his first ball from Iftikhar, the part-time offspinner, towards Babar at long-off but it fell short, and he pummelled his final two balls to the boundary.With scores level after he had brought up his maiden T20I fifty with a slap through the off side, Stokes swung and missed at Wasim and then muscled him away for the winning run. As England’s bench ran onto the pitch in celebration, they did so with their legacy as one of the great limited-overs teams secured.

All squads will be revealed at the CPL draft that will take place on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2021Chris Gayle has returned to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for CPL 2021. The 41-year old adds more experience and firepower to a Patriots side that had already secured trades for Dwayne Bravo and Sherfane Rutherford from Trinbago Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors respectively.Gayle was supposed to turn out for the St Lucia Zouks in CPL 2020 after an acrimonious fallout with the Jamaica Tallawahs, but he eventually opted out of last season for personal reasons.Notably, Gayle had captained the Patriots to their first final in 2017, when they lost to the Knight Riders at the Brian Lara Stadium.Related

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Faf du Plessis, too, will return to the CPL after being snapped up by the Zouks. He had been part of the Patriots in CPL 2016, when he scored 179 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of less than 100. This season, however, he brings with him strong form, having rattled up 320 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 145.45 for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021, which was indefinitely suspended earlier this month after after a number of players and staff tested positive for Covid-19 amid a second wave of the pandemic in India.Meanwhile, Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan has re-signed with the Jamaica Tallawahs for the forthcoming season. He had been part of the franchise in 2016 and 2017 before moving to the Barbados Tridents in 2019 and winning the title with them.All squads will be revealed at the CPL draft that will take place on Friday. The tournament is scheduled to begin on August 28, with the final on September 19. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all games will be held in St Kitts & Nevis.