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Farhad Reza, a pace-bowling allrounder, is the only new inclusion in an otherwise settled 15-member Bangladesh squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka

Mohammad Isam16-Aug-2012Farhad Reza, a pace-bowling allrounder, is the only change in an otherwise settled 15-member Bangladesh squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Farhad replaced Nazmul Hossain in the team that will also be touring Trinidad and Tobago in early September for a four-nation tournament, though it will play under the name of Bangladesh Cricket Board XI.Chief selector Akram Khan said Farhad’s all-round abilities led him to be picked. “We said ahead of the Zimbabwe tour [in June] that 90% of the team would be the same,” Akram told ESPNcricinfo. “We made one change to the squad that toured Europe by bringing in Farhad [Reza] in place of Nazmul [Hossain]. Farhad gives us a batting option down the order apart along with his role as a seamer.”Nazmul went wicketless in the two games he played during Bangladesh’s tour of Europe last month. Abul Hasan, who also didn’t pick a wicket in Ireland and the Netherlands, was preferred due to his extra pace. Farhad could have been chosen as a backup for Ziaur Rahman as it is unlikely for the team management to pick more than two seamers in Sri Lanka.Bangladesh toured Zimbabwe in June and Europe in July and played ten matches against Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands, giving the selectors ample opportunity to assess the T20 side. They picked new faces like Ziaur, Hasan and Anamul Haque while the team management also experimented with the batting order.Ziaur, who bowls fast-medium, was promising with his ability to play as a big-hitting floater in the middle order, as he showed during a quickfire 40 against Ireland. Mohammad Ashraful’s strike-rate – 91.20 in four matches in Europe – remains a worry but he did score enough runs to convince the selectors to retain him as an opener alongside Tamim Iqbal.

Bangladesh squad for World Twenty20

Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Ashraful, Junaid Siddique, Jahurul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Ziaur Rahman, Elias Sunny, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shafiul Islam, Farhad Reza, Abul Hasan.

Bangladesh’s fortunes will depend heavily on Shakib Al Hasan, who will continue to bat at No. 3 as he had done during the Europe tour. Shakib is currently recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him from the SLPL. He has started bowling in the nets and will be working closely with Saqlain Mushtaq, who has joined the Bangladesh coaching staff for four months as the spin-bowling consultant.Left-arm spinner Elias Sunny will be facing his first major Twenty20 challenge, having made a record-breaking debut against Ireland last month while Mashrafe Mortaza will have a key role to play as the most experienced seamer in the bowling attack.Bangladesh will take on New Zealand on September 21 before meeting Pakistan on September 25. Both matches will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Yorkshire have been dealt a blow after their captain, Andrew Gale, was ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken wrist

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2011Yorkshire’s hopes of avoiding relegation in the County Championship have been dealt a blow after their captain, Andrew Gale, was ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken wrist.Gale was hit in the nets by Oliver Hannon-Dalby and x-rays confirmed the severity of the injury which means he’ll be sidelined as Yorkshire try to retain their Division One status. They are currently eighth, four points behind Worcestershire who have a game in hand, and play Sussex this week in a vital game.”It hurt badly at the time but not for one minute did I think it was a break. I was happy to keep on batting,” Gale told the . “But Sunday morning I woke up and it had stiffened and I knew then something was seriously wrong.”Before this injury I’ve only ever missed one game through my career. When you look at it like that, I’ve been lucky to have got to the age of 27 without any serious injury. Given the situation we are in, though, this is awful timing.”Gale is Yorkshire’s second-highest Championship run-scorer with 769 at 40.47 in a season where their top-order has struggled. The loss of the captain has also been compounded by the absence of Jacques Rudolph who has been called away to a South Africa training camp.

Ryan Harris, the injured fast bowler, is desperate to prove his fitness for the India one-day series in October so he can enhance his Ashes credentials

Peter English18-Aug-2010Ryan Harris, the injured fast bowler, is desperate to prove his fitness for the India one-day series in October so he can enhance his Ashes credentials. There were fears for Harris when he left England in July for knee surgery less than a year after a previous operation, but he has already started running and plans to be bowling in the next fortnight.”I’m definitely aiming for India,” Harris told Cricinfo. “I was hoping to be up for selection for the Test series but I’ve been told that’s a bit soon. I won’t have had the volume of bowling I’d need to go into a Test match, so I’m aiming for the one-day series.”Harris transformed into a dependable international bowler during a highly successful six-month run and is one of a core of fast bowlers on the comeback trail. Ben Hilfenhaus returned from knee tendonitis against Pakistan in England last month and Peter Siddle has been picked in Victoria’s Champions League squad for the upcoming event in South Africa.If Siddle goes well in that tournament he could also be a contender for a spot in the one-day squad for the three ODIs in India, which begin after the two Tests in the first half of October. Harris won his initial promotion due to Siddle’s injury but quickly became a valuable member of the limited-overs side, as well as appearing in his first two Tests against New Zealand.The knee injury was poorly timed, coming just before the Pakistan Tests, and he knows where he now stands in the pecking order. “At the moment, [Doug] Bollinger, Hilfenhaus, [Mitchell] Johnson, Siddle, I’m definitely behind those four and me and Clint McKay are vying for that next spot,” he said. “I always said I was in there as a replacement for those guys who were injured and those guys were doing pretty well before they were injured.”After the unscheduled lay-off Harris is “refreshed and ready to go”. He is pleased he got a longer break following a busy campaign, while being disappointed that the cartilage in his right knee forced him to give up his Test spot. “I really wanted to try and push through those Tests [against Pakistan] because I saw those as leading into this series against India and into our summer,” he said. “I guess when I look back now it has been good, but I look back to Christmas last year and I hadn’t played any cricket. So I was fresh and keen to play as much as I could.”Harris entered with consecutive five-wicket hauls against Pakistan in January and remained in form until the injury intervened following 10 wickets in the England series. In between those ODI engagements he collected nine victims in Tests at Wellington and Hamilton, an initiation which included bowling into a 100kph wind at the Basin Reserve.”That was probably the hardest spell of bowling in my career,” he said. “I wouldn’t take it back though. If it means bowling in a Test, I’ll do it.” The gutsy contribution earned him more respect than the batch of wickets.Over the past couple of years Harris has gained a couple of kilograms and a few kilometres of pace, putting him in the mid-140s. Add in some late swing and seam and he is an extremely tricky prospect. He will definitely be considered for the Ashes, although the selectors seem to be leaning towards an initial pace trio of Siddle, Johnson and Hilfenhaus.”The best thing for me is to hope I’m fit for India, and if I get picked for the one-day series to try my best over there and hopefully get back to where I was bowling,” Harris said. “If not, the season for Queensland looks exciting anyway. I’ll try to bowl my heart out there and be ready to go if someone isn’t performing or gets injured.” Just like he did last season.

“It’s a complex situation with what’s going on but the biggest positive can be that group of women being talked about,” the England captain said

Valkerie Baynes11-Jan-2025Heather Knight has urged the cricket community to lend its voice to the Afghanistan women’s team amid concerns that the group had been largely “forgotten” until a row broke out last week over the England men’s team playing Afghanistan at the Champions Trophy.England are due to play Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26 in their second match of the tournament and the ECB has faced calls from UK politicians to consider boycotting the match. UK prime minister Keir Starmer and ECB chief executive Richard Gould have called upon the ICC to show leadership on the issue.Women’s cricket in Afghanistan has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Further restrictions have included banning the sound of women’s voices from being heard in public.Related

• 'A real beacon of hope' – CA sees Afghanistan women's match as first step

• Knight: 'Scarred' Australia will come out 'really hard'

• Healy cleared to resume keeping but tight schedule a challenge

Some 22 women contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board before the Taliban took control fled to Australia and are now based in Melbourne and Canberra. A number of them will play for an Afghanistan Women’s XI against a Cricket Without Borders XI in a T20 match at Melbourne’s Junction Oval on January 30, the same day England and Australia begin their Women’s Ashes day-night Test at the MCG.Knight, England Women’s captain, plans to meet a number of exiled players, who are now based in Melbourne, when they attend the second Ashes ODI at Junction Oval on Tuesday.”I think it’s a really good thing that people are talking about it and it’s been in the news again because honestly, I think it’s been forgotten a lot which is a really bad thing,” Knight said. “Obviously, it’s a really complex situation with what’s going on but I think the biggest positive can be that group of women being talked about.”They’re playing a game at Junction the first day of our Test match so I’d love to see that broadcast far and wide. Let’s get that voice out there that those women are playing cricket, which is a really cool thing. I think that could be a really positive message from a pretty heartbreaking situation going on in their home country.”

“People forget I’m still only 21, so hopefully got plenty of cricket to come and the way I see it, I’m just getting started”

Andrew McGlashan10-Oct-2023When you knock AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle off their perch life can become a bit of a blur, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that for Jake Fraser-McGurk his feat in Adelaide a few days ago, where he scorched a 29-ball hundred, was still sinking in.Fraser-McGurk’s astonishing display at Karen Rolton Oval shaved two deliveries off de Villiers’ 31-ball hundred against West Indies in 2015 as the fastest List A century, and also bettered by one Gayle’s 30-ball T20 effort against Pune Warriors in IPL 2015 meaning Fraser-McGurk holds the fastest hundred in the professional game.”I had no idea [about the record]. I was just trying to hit the ball to the boundary,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I came off and a few of the boys said you’ve broken a few records and the one that sticks out is AB against West Indies, I remember watching that innings, it was incredible.”Related

• Fraser-McGurk and Bartlett handed Australia ODI call-ups

• Jake Fraser-McGurk's 29-ball ton breaks AB de Villiers' List A record

• Who is new world-record holder Jake Fraser-McGurk?

• Tasmania hold off Fraser-McGurk's record century to take victory

The onslaught began when Fraser-McGurk took 32 off Sam Rainbird’s second over. He passed fifty off 18 deliveries and needed just 11 more to reach the century. In all, he struck 13 sixes, and 23 off the 38 balls he faced before finding deep midwicket went to the boundary.”I was seeing the ball so clearly and everything felt a lot slower than usual, I was in that zone, that mental state, which is something as a batter you try and be in every single time but it’s rare,” he said. “To finally have that happen is very pleasing.”The mind-boggling display has come early in a new phase of Fraser-McGurk’s career following a winter move from Victoria to South Australia, although he will remain with Melbourne Renegades for the BBL. After making headlines as a 17-year-old when he scored half-centuries on both his List A and first-class debuts, it has been a tricky journey in the early years of his career.”It’s tough leaving your home and all your friends,” he said. “I’ve played a lot of cricket with the Victorian boys throughout my junior career. I’ve got lifelong friendships with those blokes but just felt I needed to be a bit selfish and do what’s best for me, get some more opportunity elsewhere, and South Australia came calling and took that with open arms. They’ve been absolutely brilliant.”He was particularly full of praise for batting coach Steve Stubbings – “up there with one of the best I’ve had, everything is so clear with him” – but he continues to lean heavily on his long-time coach Shannon Young back in Victoria.While the innings against Tasmania took things to a different level, Fraser-McGurk had given a hint at his batting mindset this season with a combined tally of 66 off 43 balls in the Sheffield Shield match against the same opposition, which followed two brisk 2nd XI scores against Queensland.”Every time you go out you have to adapt to conditions, but I usually do go out there and bat with some positive intent and try to get the game on my terms,” he said. “It’s a new process I’m working on, still learning and trusting, watching the ball incredibly hard, being calm and having full confidence in myself that I can play the shot I want to each delivery.”Having struggled to kick on from his promising debuts as a 17-year-old, Fraser-McGurk admitted to having doubted himself at various stages but believes that having started so young can make it easy to forget his game is still developing.”You have that thought in the back of your head when you think you aren’t really up to it when you’re not doing well,” he said. “I started pretty well in both debuts and was thinking it could only really go up from there being a naive young kid. I’ve been around for a while, but some people forget I’m still only 21, so hopefully got plenty of cricket to come and the way I see it, I’m just getting started.”I’ve caught myself a few times thinking this is so hard, but then I realise where some other greats of the game were at my age. Steve Smith was a bowler at my age and now he’s one of the best batsmen in the world, so things like that, you have to realise you’ve got plenty of time.”But it never means taking a backward step or stop working as hard, just means you have time to figure out your craft and now hopefully getting that score away, it can be a bit clearer for me.”

After a Player-of-the-Match performance in her comeback game, she revealed that she’s picked up advice from Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant among others

S Sudarshanan23-Jun-20223:48

Rodrigues: ‘I’ve understood my game better in last few months’

Jemimah Rodrigues has seen more ups and downs in the last couple of years of her cricket career than a rollercoaster. She was benched during the first ODI in England last year and the T20I series that followed, before missing the ODIs against Australia and returning for the T20Is Down Under. Despite impressive outings in The Women’s Hundred as well as the Women’s Big Bash, the 21-year-old missed the flight to the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year.She continued to work hard away from the spotlight and it showed as she amassed 243 runs in six matches of the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy at an average of 60.75 and a strike rate of 167.58 while captaining Mumbai to the quarter-finals. She then followed it up with attention-grabbing performances in the Women’s T20 Challenge.Related

• WBBL: Jemimah Rodrigues moves from Renegades to Stars for 2022-23 season

• Rodrigues: 'My game is not very flashy, but I don't have to be someone else'

• Harmanpreet: 'When I lead, I feel more involved in the game'

• Navgire, Meghana, Rodrigues knocks provide relevance to Women's T20 Challenge ahead of big-ticket season

• Rodrigues, spinners script comfortable win to put India 1-0 up

Playing her first international match since October 2021, Rodrigues contributed a crucial knock of 36 not out off just 27 balls against Sri Lanka in the first T20I in Dambulla to help India start their tour with a win.”My height is the same but mental thing has changed a lot. In the last few years, from the last Sri Lanka tour, the journey hasn’t been very smooth and there have been a lot of ups and downs,” Rodrigues said after her Player-of-the-Match performance.”I also had the opportunity in the last few months to talk with cricketers like Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant and others. They actually told that these moments define you and prepare you for something greater that’s coming. If you look at it [in a] negative way it is not going to help. But these are the moments that define you as a cricketer. I was blessed to speak to them and some of our team-mates.”I have become calmer in this time and have understood the value of having good relationships… my family who have been there. The last few months have helped me understand even my game better. This is the cricketer’s life – nobody’s life is smooth and what I am learning is to get better every time.”Her entry on Thursday was sandwiched between the dismissals of set batters Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur on a slow pitch that was not conducive to strokeplay. The ball was not coming on to the bat and the spinners, led by the experienced Inoka Ranaweera, were making merry in stifling the batters.But Rodrigues wasted little time and got going off the fifth ball she faced, dabbing it past the wicketkeeper against Ranaweera. The confidence was back.Jemimah Rodrigues got going with a late-cut boundary off Inoka Ranaweera•Sri Lanka Cricket

“I am back in the Indian team after 4-5 months. I was very pumped up today and wanted to give my best,” she said. “Anytime you wear the India jersey you are naturally pumped up and this is something that always works for me. I love to be aggressive.”After getting the late-cut first boundary, I felt much more confident because I was a bit nervous coming back in after a long time. That boundary got me going.”The steer past the keeper aside, Rodrigues used the sweep shot – both conventional and slog – to good effect against the spin to score freely, playing just eight dot balls during her stay. She played the sweep on seven occasions and scored 14 runs with the shot.Rodrigues, who averages over 75 and has a strike rate in excess of 150 in T20Is in Sri Lanka, credited the conditions in Mumbai – where she comes from – for her success in the island nation.”These are very similar tracks to [the ones] back in Mumbai,” she said. “In Mumbai, you get the turning tracks, slow tracks, and I am a good sweeper of the ball because of that. So being in Mumbai has helped me tackle these conditions and adjust my game to these conditions.”India scored 53 off the last five overs of their innings and that was all thanks to the unconquered 32-run stand between Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, which included a 20-run final over. Apart from four boundaries, the partnership involved a lot of chuckles and cheering as the momentum shifted from Sri Lanka towards India.”Deepti coming in and hitting those three consecutive boundaries removed all the pressure,” she said about the allrounder’s eight-ball 17, “because firstly it wasn’t an easy wicket to bat especially for a new batter coming in and getting those boundaries was where the momentum changed and our bowlers got a target to bowl freely.”The chuckles were about ‘Shot Deepti! Let’s go!’ whenever she hit. And [when I ended] it off with a six, Deepti started cheering for me and the roles changed, but it was fun.”

The middle-order specialist hopes to play his first T20I since November 2019 on the tour of New Zealand

Alex Malcolm11-Feb-2021Ashton Turner is learning not to judge his performances as harshly while playing the most difficult of T20 roles, as he tries to reclaim a permanent spot in the middle order of Australia’s T20I side.Turner appeared to be the answer to the national side’s long-standing middle-order woes in limited-overs cricket when he played one of the best innings by an Australian at No. 6 in ODIs, against India in Mohali in 2019.That was just his second ODI, having played only five T20Is prior. The era of Australia shoe-horning dominant domestic openers into middle-order roles looked over as Turner was a specialist showing why specialists are needed.But he has played just four ODIs and six T20Is since for his country and has batted only six times in those ten games. Shoulder surgery following a bizarre IPL, a horror run with other injuries and illnesses, a severe dip in domestic form and a lack of opportunity have all conspired to leave him in the international wilderness for over 12 months.Turner’s inclusion in the squad for the T20I tour of New Zealand may have surprised a few given his raw numbers this BBL. But such is the nature of the role he plays at No. 6, that 228 runs at 22.80 with no half-centuries aren’t numbers he can be judged by.Only Jordan Silk made more runs batting at Nos. 5-6 in the BBL and of the four players who scored 200 runs or more, only Daniel Christian had a better strike rate than Turner’s 155.47.Turner, 28, himself is starting to judge his own performances differently as he prepares for a return to international colours.”I think that when I first started playing Big Bash cricket and domestic cricket I probably didn’t know how to judge my performance,” Turner said. “When I first came into the team I was batting at No. 6 in a really strong team for the Perth Scorchers. I was probably a bit harsh on myself. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t scoring as many runs as guys who were opening the batting.”As I’ve got older and a bit wiser and a bit more experienced, I probably have different KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for myself. I hold myself to different standards. Opening batters want to go out and be the leading run-scorers in the tournament. I think for me it’s about doing what the team needs and it’s about trying to have an impact in the game whether it be two balls at the end of the innings or I get to face 20 balls, that can determine how much of an impact I can have.”I don’t train for as long in T20 cricket but it’s at a real intensity”•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

“Guys who are batting in the middle order – 5, 6, 7 – you probably won’t see too many of those guys at the top of the run-scoring charts. But quite often you will see those guys batting in real high-pressure situations with four runs to win off the last ball or situations like that. I probably judge myself more on how I perform in those situations than I do on averages or anything like that.”In Turner’s six international innings since Mohali, he has only been dismissed three times. In his last six T20Is, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, he only batted thrice making scores of 1, 22 and 8 without being dismissed, with the last two coming in successful chases as Australia went undefeated in the two series.”I take a lot of confidence out of the times I have played really well for Australia,” Turner said. “I know my best is good enough. The challenge for me is being more consistent with that and being able to replicate my best days again and again. That’s something that I’ve been working really hard at over the last 12 months and hopefully, you can see that on show in this series.”Turner has more experience batting at No.5-6 in all T20 cricket than any of the candidates that Australia are looking to use in the upcoming series. He also has a better strike rate than all bar Josh Philippe, who has only batted in the position 10 times in all T20 cricket compared to Turner’s 61 innings in those spots.That vast array of experience and specialisation in the role has also helped Turner learn to tailor his preparation for it.”Quite often the role of a middle-order batter is to walk out and you might have to try and find a boundary in your first or second ball and that’s something that you don’t prepare for in red-ball cricket and I like to think my training reflects that,” Turner said.”I don’t train for as long in T20 cricket but it’s at a real intensity. It’s certainly a skill to be able to walk out to bat and to be able to not face dot balls, be able to score really quickly, and potentially find the boundary early. But sometimes it’s a skill to be able to get off strike and get your mate who is going really well at the other end on strike and being really adaptable. Sometimes you might be chasing a low target, sometimes you’re chasing a big score and that dictates how you need to play. I like to think that my training reflects all situations but I certainly do prepare really differently for white-ball cricket compared to how I prepare for red-ball cricket.”His bowling will also be significant for his selection chances. Despite bowling just 5.3 overs in the recent BBL, he has fully recovered from his shoulder issues and with Australia having two specialist spinners in Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa, who both predominantly turn the ball away from right-handers, having Turner and Glenn Maxwell’s right-arm offspin in the playing XI provides captain Aaron Finch with a full board of options if specific match-ups demand it.”I’m confident in my bowling,” Turner said. “I’ve had some issues with my body in the past and that has meant that I’ve had a couple of years where I haven’t been able to bowl at all or as much as I would have liked. But that being said, I was probably just a victim of us having a quality bowling line-up in the Big Bash this year.”I’ve been bowling a lot at training and I still feel really confident in my skills.”

A maiden T20I win over Afghanistan could boost morale for struggling side, while Afghanistan could look to test bench strength in dead rubber

The Preview by Mohammad Isam19-Sep-2019

Big picture

This game is the first of two dead rubbers in this tri-series, but try telling that to Hamilton Masakadza. This will be his last international match and, having contributed for so long to Zimbabwe cricket, a win over a side that has totally dominated them in T20Is will make for a sweet exit.Afghanistan, on the other hand, will once again rely on their heavy hitters and their spin attack to stop Zimbabwe, a formula that has worked on each of the eight occasions the teams have met in this format. In this series, Asghar Afghan, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi have scored most of the runs but Afghanistan will also hope to see Hazratullah Zazai recover from a batting slump. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who impressed on his debut earlier in the tri-series, would look to bounce back from the first-ball duck in the second game.Among their bowlers, Mujeeb Ur Rahman stopped Bangladesh in their tracks with his maiden four-wicket haul in the previous game, also his T20I best. Fareed Ahmad, the left-arm quick, also looked impressive, although medium-pacer Karim Janat hasn’t been among the wickets.Zimbabwe haven’t had as many impressive individual performances. Richmond Mutumbami did justice to his call-up against Bangladesh on Wednesday with a half-century but his efforts did not have an impact on the result. Ryan Burl, who made a quickfire fifty in the first game against Bangladesh, has struggled for consistency, as has Regis Chakabva. And the side’s senior batsmen, including Masakadza, haven’t scored enough to put pressure on the opposition.They have some variety in their bowling attack but apart from Kyle Jarvis, the others haven’t quite stepped up. Neville Madziva, Ainsley Ndlovu and Sean Williams will look to do a better job with the ball.

Form guide

Afghanistan WWWWW (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LLLWL

In the spotlight

Like his team, Hamilton Masakadza, too, has had a rough time in the tournament, scoring only 62 in three innings so far. In his final match, a big knock from the Zimbabwe captain could well have a big impact on the morale of the side.Getty Images

With two matches to go before the final, this would be the right time for Hazratullah Zazai to get back among the runs. The opener hasn’t scored a fifty in his last 14 international innings, after his 67 against Ireland in March this year

Team news

Having played their first two matches in the series with an unchanged XI, Afghanistan now have the luxury of two matches to test out their bench strength. Fast bowlers Dawlat Zadran and Naveen-ul-Haq, seaming allrounder Fazal Niazai and wicketkeeper Shafiqullah and left-arm spinner Shahidullah and Sharafuddin Ashraf are their options should they rest a few key players.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 3 Najeeb Tarakai, 4 Asghar Afghan, 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Karim Janat, 10 Fareed Ahmad, 11 Mujeeb Ur RahmanRichmond Mutumbami’s fifty should keep him in the side but Zimbabwe might consider recalling quick bowler Tendai Chatara and allrounder Tony Munyonga to bolster the bowling.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Brendan Taylor (wk), 2 Hamilton Masakadza (capt), 3 Sean Williams, 4 Regis Chakabva, 5 Tinotenda Mutombodzi, 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Richmond Mutumbami, 8 Neville Madziva, 9 Kyle Jarvis, 10 Ainsley Ndlovu, 11 Chris Mpofu

Pitch and conditions

In the match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury pitch offered runs to batsmen, who were ready to take time to assess the situation. There’s chance of a late shower on Friday evening.

Stats and trivia

• Masakadza will retire having played the most T20Is for Zimbabwe. He has missed only four of Zimbabwe’s 69 T20Is, all in 2015. He is also their highest run-getter in the format, with the most 50-plus scores and the most boundaries.
• Mohammad Nabi’s unbeaten 84 in Afghanistan’s previous game against Bangladesh is the third-highest score by a No. 6 batsman in all T20Is.

The apex court ruled that the domestic T20 tournament could proceed as scheduled with players registered under the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association alone

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2018The Tamil Nadu Premier League will progress as scheduled, but without any players from outside the state, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, the day the domestic T20 league will be starting.The has reported that a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Mishra said the tournament could proceed as per the schedule originally drawn up, but players registered to associations other than the TNCA could take part, as per the rules laid down the CoA. While Ranjit Kumar, the advocate for TNCA, argued that players had obtained NoCs from their respective state associations, Parag Tripathi, the CoA’s advocate, held that outstation players weren’t allowed as per the BCCI’s constitution.The TNPL organisers had mooted allowing each of the franchises to have up to two outstation players, which would have made for a total of 16 outstation players at most. The BCCI had held an SGM – which was later ruled invalid by the CoA – in which the members proposed allowing outstation players to take part in domestic T20 leagues with certain restrictions (capped players and those who had taken part in the previous edition of the IPL wouldn’t be allowed, and each player could only take part in two leagues).However, in an advisory sent to all state associations, the CoA nixed the idea. The TNCA then challenged that order, which is how the matter went before the Supreme Court.

The real Guyana pitch finally stood up today after going missing for the first ODI, even though Pakistan managed to reach 282 off the back of a century from Babar Azam

The Report by Danyal Rasool09-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA career-best unbeaten 125 by Babar Azam, followed by a clinical bowling performance, ensured Pakistan eased to a 74-run win to level the three-match series. Set 283 to win, West Indies wilted early despite beginning the chase with attacking intent. That purposefulness came at the cost of early wickets, with both openers back in the pavilion by the fifth over.

Momentum shifted in last 10 Pak overs – Radford

Toby Radford, West Indies’ batting coach, admitted that a momentum shift in the last 10 overs of Pakistan’s innings left his side with “50 runs” more than what they had aimed to chase. West Indies were beaten by 74 runs in the second ODI, collapsing for 208 in a chase of 283.
“There was a momentum shift in the last 10 overs of our bowling and fielding effort. I thought we bowled particularly well, specially the spinners in the middle,” Radford said. “Jason Holder was excellent upfront today. Babar Azam, a top-quality player, struck the ball at the back-end of the innings. And from thinking about chasing 230-240, we suddenly ended up having to chase 280. Probably, 50 more runs than we really wanted.”
Pakistan, led by an unbeaten 125 from Babar Azam and a quick cameo from Imad Wasim piled up 94 runs in the last 10 overs to surge to 282. By the 18th over of the chase, West Indies were 75 for 6, a result, Radford said, of not keeping to the plan of playing straight down the ground and keeping wickets in hand in a chase.
“We didn’t get the start we had been getting,” he said. “We were getting some really get good Powerplays in the first few games and also in the T20s recently but we lost early wickets, a few soft dismissals but a few guys got into the teens – tens, 12s and 15s – but didn’t go on and had soft ways of getting out. And I think what we did really well the other day was kept to a simple plan of playing straight up and down the ground, keep wickets in hand and then hit at the end.”

In a bizarre departure from the approach that had been so successful for the home side in the first game, West Indies continued to press on rather than ensure they had enough wickets in hand for the closing stages. Inevitably, they kept losing wickets playing shots that weren’t so much attacking as they were rash, and before you knew it, they had slipped to 56 for 5, and the game was effectively over as a contest.After that, it was left to Pakistan’s spinners to asphyxiate what remained of the West Indies’ batting line-up. Jason Holder and Ashley Nurse gave the crowd – a large, expectant turnout in the wake of the first game’s heroics – some light entertainment with a breezy 58-run partnership, but even as the clouds gathered in the distance, lightning was never going to strike twice, as Hasan Ali finished with 5 for 38.Even as the game drifted off to its inevitable conclusion, captain Holder displayed his competitive spirit with a fighting half-century, his combination of sweet timing and incredible power making batting look a lot easier than it had seemed when those higher up the order had been in the middle. He gave Shadab Khan the respect he has indisputably earned with his performances over the last fortnight, but was at times disdainful of Pakistan’s storied pace bowling attack, never more so than when he dispatched Mohammad Amir for 16 in an over, smashing one six and two fours.Hasan – who bowled only five overs in the first game – was the pick of Pakistan’s pace trio, extracting nippy movement off a good length that particularly ruffled the right-handers. He was the one who ripped the heart out of the West Indies top-order, dismissing Shai Hope and Kieran Powell in quick succession; the one who ended Nurse’s spirited resistance, and the one who killed off the last vestige of West Indian hope when he got rid of Alzarri Joseph to end a 52-run ninth-wicket partnership. Fittingly, he was the one who accounted for Holder to seal the win, and a fully deserved five-wicket haul.Pakistan had earlier posted 282 despite looking horribly unconvincing with the bat for much of the first innings, a late surge ensuring they reached a total they would have gladly accepted just seven overs earlier, thanks largely to Babar. Batting again at No.3 after a head-scratching demotion last game, Babar formed the spine of the innings as batsmen around him struggled to build on starts. He held the innings together when it threatened to disintegrate, and provided the late fireworks when it looked like it might stagnate. A two-paced surface made batting challenging, as did a much-improved bowling performance from the hosts.Babar Azam carves the ball away during his century•AFP

This total had seemed well out of Pakistan’s reach until the last seven overs – in which 84 runs were scored. It was telling that West Indies’ worst spell of bowling came about just as Babar and Imad Wasim finally began to swing freely, to the extent that the crucial last over of the innings was left to medium pacer Jonathan Carter – no one’s first choice as a death bowler, or any bowler for that matter. Five of Pakistan’s six sixes came off the last three overs – two off the hapless Carter in a 50th over that cost 19.After an uncharacteristically brisk opening Powerplay during the first ODI, Pakistan quickly reverted to type today, their approach circumspect and their progress sedate. They continued their somewhat retrograde approach in the middle overs, the run rate hovering around 4.50 and, although their failure to accelerate could partly be attributed to the bowlers, it wasn’t as if Babar and Mohammad Hafeez broke their backs trying either. Hafeez, who found himself in the slightly unfortunate position of gaining more detractors than supporters after an 88-ball 92 during the first game, can certainly expect more criticism his way today after being stumped down the leg-side for a laboured 32 off 50 deliveries.Pakistan’s innings never seemed to move out of the third gear it had begun in, and just when an almost run-a-ball partnership between Babar and Sarfraz looked like getting them ready for the final push, the captain’s leading edge found mid-on. It was after that that Imad and Babar combined, and even they took a while before the innings took off, just as it felt the collective patience of Pakistan’s fans worldwide was beginning to creak. The momentum from those late overs continued into the second innings, and Sarfraz certainly wouldn’t mind it continuing for two more come the decisive game on Tuesday.