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Legspinner Amit Mishra has said he was very pleased with his showing on a difficult track in India’s warm-up game against West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI in Basseterre. Mishra, who took four wickets in the one innings India bowled in, said the pitch was very slow, making it easier for the batsmen to cope with whatever he threw at them, but he persevered with varying his deliveries and that worked for him.”I am happy with my performance as bowling on this track was very difficult,” Mishra told . “To get my bowling rhythm back on a slow batting track is a good sign. I was trying to vary my speed and was looking to confuse the batsmen. I didn’t want them to know at what speed I was bowling. I was also mixing up my deliveries, bowling straighter ones in between and turning the rest. I am very happy that on a slow wicket I could dismiss four batsmen.”Mishra’s 4 for 67 included the wickets of opener Rajendra Chandrika and No. 4 Jermaine Blackwood off consecutive deliveries after the pair had added 122. Mishra said working with India’s new coach, Anil Kumble, a legspinner himself, also helped him deal with the conditions. “Anil is with us and his experience is going to matter a lot. He has played here and he kept telling us about the conditions. We will utilise his experience and form a strategy together.”There were many things that he told me, like my bowling technique, landing and finishing. Looking at the wicket, he told me what are the areas where I can bowl, and the kind of fields that I could set on a slow wicket.”Mishra also had words of praise for the way captain Virat Kohli functions. “Virat Kohli is a positive person and he has created a similar positive environment within the team. He always supports me. There are no boundaries. Whenever I want to share something with him, I am free to express my opinion. He tells me, ‘You’re a wicket-taking bowler and that is what you must do. You stay positive and stick to your strengths. Do not think about anything else.'”India are scheduled to play one more warm-up match against the WICB President’s XI, a three-day game at the same venue, which starts on July 14. That will be followed by the first Test which begins on July 21 in Antigua.

Big picture: Winner faces India in semi-final

On Wednesday, Chloe Tryon and Marizanne Kapp were on the opposite sides of the Holkar Stadium. Tryon was lofting throwdowns inside out from the practice nets towards the main pitch while Kapp was taking some high catches on the other side of the ground. Tryon and Kapp were on the same side and made vital contributions in the only ODI South Africa have won against Australia. They could once again be key in South Africa’s last league game of the Women’s World Cup, against the same opponents.This is a top-of-the-table clash. Australia are yet to lose a game, on 11 points, while South Africa are on 10. The winner on Saturday will go to Navi Mumbai for the semi-final against India, while the loser will head to the Guwahati semi-final, where England will be waiting.Related

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An Australia vs South Africa fixture has been an anomaly in women’s cricket. Before they played a multi-format series at the start of 2024, both the teams had last played a bilateral series in 2016 (only ODIs). Their meetings have often been restricted to ICC tournaments, where Australia have emerged victorious every single time – until the T20 World Cup semi-final last year.In the ODI World Cup in 2022, South Africa had done well to post 271. However, their sloppy fielding – they dropped four catches – meant Australia comfortably aced that chase, with Meg Lanning’s century eclipsing Laura Wolvaardt’s 90.This South African unit, though, not only knows how to reach knockouts but also keeps its nerves in check. That was on show in the two chases in Visakhapatnam in this World Cup, where they hunted down 252 against India despite being 81 for 5, and then chased 233 against Bangladesh from 78 for 5. This is not to say that only the lower order has fired for them. As many as five South Africa batters have scored 150 or more in the competition.4:19

Healy, Knight, Mandhana, Devine, Dottin – analysing the best six-hitters

However, Australia could pose a completely different challenge to them on Saturday. There are question marks over Alyssa Healy’s fitness, but Australia have shown they can line up strongly even without her. One thing that Australia promise is being relentless. They keep coming hard and offer little respite, be it with bat or ball. Annabel Sutherland will be crucial to their all-round excellence: she has been superb with both bat and ball in the tournament so far, while being supported by the spin battery.Australia are dominant. However, they will know that South Africa are a team with pedigree, as recent ICC tournaments show. At stake is not just the top spot in league standings but a semi-final in Navi Mumbai on a truer batting surface than Guwahati (plus an extra day in hand before a knockout match).

Form guide

Australia WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa WWWWW

In the spotlight – South Africa vs legspin

South Africa have been quite good against legspin in the last two years. Since the start of 2023, their top five averages 44.76 against that style of bowling. This is telling, because only Pakistan have faced more legspin bowling in this time (917) than South Africa (883). Australia average more (47.09) against legspin but their top five has faced only 491 such deliveries. Tazmin Brits, Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp and Laura Wolvaardt all average over 58 against legspin in this period. Brits and Luus also score quite quickly, and only have two dismissals each against legspin.2:11

The big question – Is Healy fit?

On Saturday, they will be faced with one of the most economical bowlers at this World Cup in Alana King. She has six wickets so far, but her X-factor has been the control she affords Australia in the non-powerplay overs. Against England, she was at her stingy best, which allowed other bowlers to pick up wickets from the other end. Australia also have another legspinner in Georgia Wareham, who has three wickets in the two matches she played when they rested Sophie Molineux. King has eight wickets in four ODIs and averages 13.25 versus South Africa. Before the Ashes where she took a five-for, her best bowling figures (4 for 26) came last year against South Africa.

Team news: Is Healy fit?

Alyssa Healy did a few rounds of the outfield before a half hour batting stint in the enclosed nets. Tahlia McGrath said Australia are taking it day by day with their captain, who missed the previous game with a minor calf strain. Beth Mooney did her wicketkeeping drills before nets on Friday. Is that an indication Australia don’t want to risk Healy before the semi-final?Australia (probable): 1 Georgia Voll, 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Annabel Sutherland, 5 Beth Mooney (wk), 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath (capt), 8 Sophie Molineux, 9 Alana King, 10 Kim Garth, 11 Megan SchuttSouth Africa are one of the two teams to use all 15 players in the squad. They could bring back seamer Masabata Klaas instead of offspin-allrounder Nondumiso Shangase against Australia. They could also bring back Anneke Bosch, who scored 44 in South Africa’s only ODI win over Australia and also scored an unbeaten 74 against them in the T20 World Cup semi-final last year.South Africa (probable): 1 Laura Wolvaardt (capt), 2 Tazmin Brits, 3 Sune Luus, 4 Annerie Dercksen, 5 Marizanne Kapp, 6 Karabo Meso (wk), 7 Chloe Tryon, 8 Nadine de Klerk, 9 Nondumiso Shangase/Masabata Klaas, 10 Ayabonga Khaka, 11 Nonkululeko MlabaMasabata Klaas might slot into the side•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Pitch and conditions

A fresh pitch will be used and this one will also be a black-soil surface. But a day out from the contest it had a lot of barren patches and very little green grass on it. Indore will be hot and humid, but there is a spell of thunderstorm in forecast in the afternoon. However, similar weather was in forecast for the last game on Wednesday, but rain did not make an appearance. Friday morning in the city was cloudy before Australia trained under the hot afternoon sun.

Stats and trivia

• Both Marizanne Kapp and Megan Schutt have 38 wickets in ODI World Cups. Only Lyn Fullston (39) and Jhulan Goswami (43) are ahead in the list of most wickets in the competition
• Australia’s batters have scored five centuries at this World Cup, the most for them in a single edition
• Among those with at least 150 runs at this World Cup, Nadine de Klerk’s strike rate of 150 is the best, followed by Alyssa Healy’s 131.25
• South Africa registered their first ODI win against Australia in February 2024 in their 17th attempt

Quotes

“We’ve been here for six weeks now. The fact that it’s South Africa doesn’t change much from our prep. We’ve been pretty consistent with how we prepare for teams. So, we looked at South Africa in detail this morning. We match up pretty well and are pretty thorough in our plans. Even though we haven’t played a lot against them, we feel as though we’re really well planned and prepared.”
“They are the best team in the world, it is very difficult to beat them. You have to do the basics really well. The team that does the basics better for longer and stays in control for longer becomes successful. Even when they were in difficult situations, they found a way to put the other team under pressure. Just doing the basics well and sticking to what we do well should give us the best chance.”

Hampshire 290 for 6 (Adams 107*, Taylor 60*, Kemp 50) beat Surrey 287 (Chathli 81, Monaghan 55, Davies 4-39) by four wicketsHampshire will face Lancashire in the final of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup women’s competition after Georgia Adams’ century bested Surrey in the gloom.Captain Adams led from the front with an outstanding unbeaten 107 from 101 balls for her second ton for Hampshire, with Freya Kemp’s ballistic half-century and Mary Taylor’s match-securing 60 not out.It meant that Surrey’s 287, headlined by Kira Chathli’s 81 and flanked by a fifty for Alice Monaghan, wasn’t enough – as Hampshire booked their place in Sunday’s final at Utilita Bowl with 17 balls to spare.Hampshire are hoping for a Metro Bank double – with their men in final action the previous day – while Lancashire could add to their Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup from earlier this season.Surrey built their testing total around three substantial partnerships of 81, 89 and 60, with Chathli and Monaghan striking half-centuries.Skipper Bryony Smith was classily castled by Freya Davies in the fourth over, but Monaghan – against her former team – and Emma Jones built the foundations.The pair made their names as bowlers but have turned themselves into genuine top-order allrounders, with aggressive styles that pile the pressure onto the bowlers.Jones was smartly caught behind by Rhianna Southby and Monaghan top-edged in quick succession, but Alice Davidson-Richards and Chathli restored batting supremacy in an innings-defining 89-run stand.Davidson-Richards’ off-stump was sent AWOL by Naomi Dattani, but Phoebe Franklin added another 60 with Chathli to lead the middle-overs charge.She bullied the bad balls with eight boundaries, with her first One-Day Cup half-century coming in 55 balls, to add another cherry onto a fine personal summer.Hampshire fought back in the backend of the innings to keep Surrey under 300, led by Davies’ excellent 4 for 39 and Bex Tyson’s 2 for 39.The hosts always had the threat of rain hovering over the chase, with heavy dark clouds constantly threatening to dump on Utilita Bowl. As such, keeping up with the DLS par score was crucial, while wickets would be decisive.Hampshire losing both openers inside four overs made the job immediately more difficult – Southby slapped to deep square leg, while Maia Bouchier was caught at mid-off a ball after being dropped at mid-on.But Kemp arrived to turn the situation around. The England allrounder demolished 50 in 26 with a brutal display of hitting, with seven fours and a pair of sixes.She got Hampshire 10 runs ahead of the par score, but when she was bowled going back to Kalea Moore, the par rocketed from 77 to 103.Adams, who had simply given Kemp free rein, now took control and pulled her side back to within touching distance of the rate with her standard range of ground strokes and gap finding.Abi Norgrove’s tame chip to short midwicket once again put Hampshire 30 runs short, with play suspended for 20 minutes by rain.Nancy Harman was leg-before on the other side of the delay, but Adams gained stickability from Dattani, with whom she put on 53, and then Taylor.Taylor has continually proven herself a useful lower-order batter but belied her List A best of 21, and with the unflappable Adams, the pair strode to the winning line with a century stand.It was befitting for Adams to cut the winning runs for her 11th boundary.Adams – who won three Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy titles with Southern Vipers under the guidance of Charlotte Edwards, now the England Women’s head coach – was keen to add more accolades with her new, rebranded team.”We had so much success with the Southern Vipers but having the opportunity to get some silverware for Hampshire would be incredible,” Adams said. “The team as gone through a bit of a transition. We lost our head coach at the start of the season and have a load of younger players who have put in shifts throughout the season.”She was also keen to ensure that the final provided a victorious swansong for Davies, who will retire after that match to pursue a career in law.”In my head I said I didn’t want to say goodbye to Freya Davies yet,” Adams said. “She is retiring at the end of the season so let’s give her a send off. Hopefully she can sign off by lifting a trophy in Hampshire colours. She has been an integral part of the group and been a legend for us since signing. She has been an amazing sounding board for me.”We started our cricketing journeys together at Sussex. I have seen her blossom and thrive into one of English cricket’s most versatile bowlers. It’ll be sad to see her go but hopefully we can give her the send off she deserves.”

Brendon McCullum says he has identified areas where England must improve ahead of the Ashes after a thrilling series against India ended 2-2 courtesy of what the head coach believes was a deserved win for the tourists in the fifth Test at the Kia Oval.India completed their fightback from 2-1 down in a remarkable 56 minutes of play on the 25th and final day of this Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series, securing a six-run win, their narrowest victory by runs.It meant England missed out on a first series win over India since 2018, which was also the last time they triumphed in a five-match series. They have yet to record a series win over India or Australia under McCullum and Ben Stokes’ leadership.Related

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With England next in action in September for white-ball series against South Africa and Ireland, there is time to decompress. McCullum, as over-arching coach since the start of the year, will be across both challenges. But his immediate focus, once the dust has settled, will be to pore over the last seven weeks to see what worked and what did not. Fine-tuning ahead of the first Ashes Test in Perth come November will be his primary aim.”We’ll let this one sit, we’ll digest it,” McCullum said. “We’ll be able to pick out what has gone well then start to work out how we can keep improving so, when we do arrive out in Australia, we give ourselves a huge chance.”We’re in the middle now, halfway through what we knew was going to be an unbelievable 12 months of Test cricket. We know we’ve got some room to improve.”You’re always learning any time you get to see guys having to dig deep and go to places they’ve maybe not been before.”There’s lots to pick out as we give ourselves time for this to digest and work out areas we can look to improve for our next challenge. Ultimately, I’m really proud of the guys and their efforts. It’s been a combative series, it’s taken its toll with injuries, some of the best players have gone home injured.”To sit here at 2-2, yes, you’re disappointed but you’re proud of the efforts.”Brendon McCullum will oversee the England debrief after India fought back for a 2-2 draw•Getty Images

The scoreline mimics the 2023 home Ashes, and though England came from behind two years ago to secure a draw, there were parallels to this summer against India with some of the moments the hosts let slip.Dropped catches cost them in the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford, which ended in a draw, and at the Kia Oval. But perhaps the most painful will be a collapse of 7 for 66 in pursuit of 374 after Joe Root and Harry Brook had taken England to 301 for 3 in the chase.McCullum was reticent to dwell on the missed opportunities, something he chalks up as the cost of playing a high-calibre team who were able to rally after those reprieves. He did concede the catching was particularly below par; England dropped six catches in India’s second innings of 396, which ended up costing them 152 runs.”We didn’t catch very well in this game but have caught really well over the last few years,” he said. “Sometimes dropped catches happen and one leads to another. If we had held our catches maybe we would have been stood on the other side of the result. That’s life, there’s so many little things in the game we could pick out and have huge impacts. We are a good fielding unit and had a bit of an average performance in this Test.”We threw everything at them. It was testament to how stoic they are as a team. We knew when they turned up in England it would be a very stern challenge and we’d have to play excellent cricket to get the result we wanted.”Ultimately I thought it was an absolutely unbelievable series to be part of. It had confrontation, it had stalemates, it had passion and it had some sub-par performances under pressure as well.”The way India were late on in this Test, Mohammed Siraj has the absolute heart of a lion to bowl 90mph in his 30th over of his fifth Test match. It’s quite an incredible effort.”As much as we got ourselves in a winning position this Test match, I feel like they deserved to win. They played better cricket.”

Kieron Pollard’s all-round performance of a 36-ball 50 and bowling figures of 1 for 12 in two overs kept MI New York in the hunt for a playoff spot in MLC 2025 as they defeated bottom-placed Los Angeles Knight Riders by six runs.Pollard came in at 63 for 4 in the tenth over of the first innings and hit four sixes and one four to give MINY a fighting total of 142 for 9 although he had little support from the remaining batters, except Nicholas Pooran’s 24-ball 30 from No. 3. MINY’s batting was wrecked by Shadley van Schalkwyk taking 3 for 24 with support from Jason Holder (2 for 28) and Corne Dry (2 for 25) to leave LAKR chasing 143.However, even that target proved difficult to chase for LAKR as they finished on 136, six runs short, despite losing only four wickets. Openers Alex Hales produced a sluggish 21 in 26 balls and Andre Fletcher was out for a 10-ball nine. Even though Sherfane Rutherford scored a 28-ball 29 and Unmukt Chand hit a 48-ball 59, they couldn’t keep up with the game’s equation that left them needing 21 off the last two overs.Pollard dismissed Rutherford in the 19th over and LAKR retired out Chand at the end of the same over. But with 16 needed off the final over, new batters Andre Russell and Holder could not take them over the line with Ehsan Adil holding his nerves with the ball.The defeat was LAKR’s eighth in nine outings while it was MINY’s third win in nine games.

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, said he had apologised to his players for his show of frustration on the third evening in Multan, at the point that the second Test against Pakistan began to slip out of his team’s control in a spate of dropped catches and fielding lapses.Stokes, back in the side for the first time in nine weeks after a hamstring tear had ruled him out of their home series against Sri Lanka as well as last week’s first Test, told Sky Sports that he had behaved like a “tired and grumpy old man” when bawling out his players at a critical juncture of Pakistan’s second innings.The flashpoint came in the midst of a wholehearted spell of reverse-swing bowling from Brydon Carse, who had just dismissed Mohammad Rizwan for the third time in the series to raise England’s hopes of restricting Pakistan to a sub-150 second-innings total.Two overs later, however, with Salman Agha in his sights, Carse suffered two drops in the space of three balls – first as Jamie Smith spilled a regulation nick behind the stumps with Salman on 4, and then again on 6 when Joe Root, standing unusually close at first slip, couldn’t close his hands around a fenced edge off the back foot. Salman would go on to make an innings-defining 63 from 89 balls.Then, when Jack Leach fumbled at point to give away an unnecessary single in Carse’s subsequent over, Stokes let out a roar of exasperation – which, while understandable in the circumstances, was out of character for a captain who has extolled a blame-free environment in the course of his two-and-a-half year reign.Related

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“I actually apologised to the group up there last night,” Stokes said afterwards. “It’s the first time in my captaincy that I’ve let my emotions show in my body language, with how I was feeling as the game was unfolding. I owned up to that, and I’m very annoyed at myself for letting that out.”It’s something that I don’t want to do, or be seen to be doing,” he added. “No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are out in these subcontinent conditions, because they don’t come along that often. So I apologised to the group and said that was poor of me. I was a tired and grumpy old man last night. You won’t see that happen again.”Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, admitted he had been surprised that Stokes had felt it necessary to speak out on the matter, but put his annoyance down to the passion that epitomises his character. Without it, he said, Stokes could not have driven himself back to full fitness so soon after suffering a serious hamstring tear.”I was a bit surprised, but we all know how passionate Ben is, and how much it means to him to play for England,” McCullum told Sky Sports. “We’ve seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from the injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe, and in extreme conditions of 40 degrees.”I think maybe that’s where some of that frustration led to, certainly it wasn’t directed at any of the players,” he added. “It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game and to impact on it. But look, he’ll be better for the run. And I thought in the second innings [where he made 37 from 36 balls] he looked like he had that method where he could put pressure on the opposition. He’s at his best when he’s doing that.”Stokes himself acknowledged that the challenge of getting back to match fitness had been a tough one, having played no competitive cricket since tearing his hamstring while batting in the Hundred in August.”I’ve worked so, so hard to get fit for this Test match, but nothing can prepare you for standing out on the field in hot weather,” he said. “Training doesn’t do that, so it was great to be able to get through this Test match, it fills me up nicely going into next week, and it was nice to get some overs under the belt as well. That was the one thing which I felt like I was lacking. But obviously, when you get into the game, and you feel like it’s on the line, nothing can stop me from doing that.”In a match dominated by spinners, with Pakistan’s Sajid Khan and Noman Ali becoming the first bowling pair to share all 20 wickets since 1972, both Stokes and McCullum agreed that Carse’s luckless display had been one of the outstanding aspects of the contest. He finished with match figures of 5 for 79 across 29 overs, bowling with heart, pace and skill throughout, while also contributing a spirited innings of 27 from 32 balls on the final morning.”He’s been fantastic,” Stokes said. “He’s shown in these two games why we picked him in all formats, not just Test cricket, going forward. He just keeps charging in, ball after ball, spell after spell. Obviously, when the ball starts reverse-swinging, he comes into the game even more. Having his batting ability down the order again is massive for us. He’s been really good, and he’s going to raise his stock even higher than what it was already.”Ben Stokes disappointed after being stumped for 37•Getty Images

McCullum agreed Carse had been the “standout” of England’s attack. “I wouldn’t say he surprised me, because he came with the reputation of someone that could bowl good pace with a big heart, to keep charging in with some steepling bounce,” he said. “To be able to do it in England is one thing, to do it on a surface which didn’t offer a whole lot for fast bowlers is simply outstanding. We’re trying to build a battery of fast bowlers, and Carse has certainly put his name into that.”As a former Test wicketkeeper, McCullum also defended Smith’s display in the wake of his costly lapse on the third evening. After three sharp takes in the first innings, it was a rare blemish in what has been a fine start to Smith’s England career, while his twin scores of 21 and 6 amounted to his smallest contribution with the bat in course of eight Tests.”You will not get a tougher set of conditions to keep wicket on,” McCullum said. “Jamie’s very disappointed about dropping that catch. But you take that out, I thought his keeping was as good as I’ve seen in these conditions, particularly from a foreign wicketkeeper.”He’s just continuing to impress, and obviously in both innings, he’s trying to put pressure on the opposition on that surface, which is very difficult, but that’s his natural game. He’s turning into a really big player for us.”But that’s where you got to have the ability to turn the page pretty quickly as well, because if you ever let your mistakes dictate your attitude and your confidence, then you’re in for a hell of a time. Mistakes in this game are going to be part of it, but 99% of what Jamie has done in this Test match has been absolutely outstanding. And that’ll be the message to him.”

Rohit Sharma has said that “three hours of bad cricket” does not define this Indian team and it would be unfair to judge his players on the basis of that.”I am not going to look too much into this Test match honestly because those three hours [when India were bowled out for 46] are not going to dictate what this team is,” Rohit said after India lost the first Test to New Zealand by eight wickets. “Even here, there are a lot of good things that happened as well along with the three-four hours of bad cricket.”I think it’s important to keep a consistent message in the group, which is that whenever we are put under pressure, we try to make a way into the game in whatever possible way – that is what we have been talking about.Related

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“And we really found a way to come back into this game with the bat in the second innings. Of course, we lost a Test match. That’s why it probably won’t make sense what I am talking about. But I honestly feel there have been a lot of good things that happened in this game. So it’s just about keeping a very calm atmosphere, not to send panic messages.”After conceding a lead of 356, India made a sterling comeback in the second innings with Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal giving them a good start before Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan’s partnership took them forward. And when Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz joined forces, India started dreaming of the unimaginable – a win.While that didn’t happen, Rohit was proud of India’s fightback.”It was brilliant, especially being behind in the game, it is easy to let the game drift away, but that is not what this team is all about. This team wants to stay in the game as long as possible and not give it to the opposition that easily. After day one [two], obviously nothing went our way. We got bowled out for 46 and then they were 190 [180] for 3 and for us the start of that second [third] day was very important, to not let them get too far ahead.Sarfaraz Khan played the way he knows best•AFP/Getty Images

“But that partnership between Rachin [Ravindra] and [Tim] Southee actually just went a little ahead than what we thought. But again, in the second innings with the bat to come out and play like that, it felt like we were ahead in the game at one stage. We didn’t feel like we were 350 [356] behind and that is something that I am really proud of.”When the guys are showing that kind of attitude on the field with the bat, it shows that the mindset is very clear, and the guys want to go out there and play with freedom and try and see how we can put the pressure back on the opposition. All in all, I thought, except that first couple of hours, three hours, I thought we played a very good Test cricket.”It was not just the amount runs India scored in their second innings but also how they went about it, scoring at close to four runs an over throughout their innings. When Sarfaraz and Pant were together, they added 177 runs for the fourth wicket off 211 balls. Sarfaraz struck 18 fours and three sixes in his 150, and Pant smashed nine fours and five sixes during his 99.Rohit said India are not going to change their aggressive attitude, irrespective of whether they are ahead in the game or behind.”When we are behind the game, that is where you want to press your pedal even more, and try to make an impact, try to not let the opposition know that we are under pressure or we are behind the game. When you are actually behind, you want to try and do extraordinary things and play without any fear. It’s one thing to talk about it, but actually we went out there and played some fearless cricket.”Some of the shots some of the guys played in the middle knowing that we were 350 behind shows what we have been talking about and what they want to do out there. And that is how it’s going to stay here.Rachin Ravindra took the attack to the India spinners•AFP/Getty Images

“Even if we find ourselves ahead in the game, we are not going to change our attitude. And on the other side as well, even when we are behind the game, we are going to try to see how we can put the pressure on the opposition. Some of the Test matches we played recently show what I am talking about and that’s how it’s going to be.”We are not going to fear losing a Test match by changing our mindset. We want to have that consistent mindset of trying to find a way to win Test matches. Even though you are behind in the game, you have to find a way whether it is putting the bowler under pressure or putting the batters under pressure by doing different things.”India went in with three spinners – R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja – for this Test but the move backfired with the trio not being as penetrative as usual. A key reason behind that was Ravindra, who scored 130 of his 173 runs across two innings against spin at a strike rate of 100. Rohit accepted he was the difference between the two sides.”In the first innings, I thought whatever we could extract from the pitch, our spinners tried and did everything possible. But some of the shots Rachin played were really, really good and he played very good cricket. He played well against the spinners, they challenged him but you got to give credit to him.”He understood what our spinners were trying to do and didn’t back off from playing his natural game, which is what gave him the result against our quality spinners. Sometimes it happens where… not sometimes actually, there will be times when some of the batters who come to India will play well against our spinners.”We saw in the England series, in the first Test match, a couple of their batters got hundreds and even here, Rachin, [Devon] Conway, they played well, put our bowlers under pressure, spinners under pressure by playing different shots which can happen, which we are expecting as well from their batters.”Anyone who is coming to India now, they are trying to put the pressure on the bowlers by doing different things, different methods but we know exactly what we are supposed to do when a situation like that arises.”

A Brydon Carse century on his return after suspension was not enough to prevent Durham slipping towards likely defeat on the third day of the Vitality County Championship Division One match with Somerset at Taunton.The visitors began by adding 64 runs to their overnight first innings score of 272 for six before being bowled out for 336, Carse contributing a valiant 104 and Ben Raine making 62. Jack Leach finished with five for 124 off 41.1 overs.That gave Somerset a first-innings lead of 156. They declined to enforce the follow-on and posted 263 for five in their second innings, Tom Abell leading the way with top score of 56.After an hour’s delay for bad light, the home side declared, setting their opponents an unlikely victory target of 420 on pitch offering increasing assistance for the spinners. By stumps, they had stumbled to 15 for three and face a backs-to-the-wall final day.Durham began the morning session needing 71 runs to avoid the prospect of following on, with Carse, in his first game back after serving a three-month ban for historic breaches of betting rules, unbeaten on 59 and Raine 51 not out.The pair added 15, extending their seventh-wicket stand to 117, before Raine edged Leach into the bucket hands of Craig Overton, who claimed his fourth catch of the innings at slip.Seamer Kasey Aldridge then took a hand, sending back George Drissell, who fended a steeply rising ball to short leg, and Daniel Hogg, caught by diving wicketkeeper James Rew, to leave Durham 305 for nine.Carse had already cleared the ropes off Leach and went to his hundred with two more sixes off successive deliveries from Aldridge, having faced 161 balls and hit 11 fours and four maximums. It was a faultless knock by the England white ball international, but before he could face again, last man Callum Parkinson was caught at silly point off Leach to end the innings.Somerset’s second innings plan appeared to be to bat aggressively while Lewis Goldsworthy played an anchor role. Fellow opener Andy Umeed made a rapid 28 off 31 balls before lofting a catch to long-off in the penultimate over before lunch, Drissell taking the chance off Parkinson. At the interval, Somerset were 41 for one, with a lead of 197, and poised for an afternoon assault.Tom Lammonby launched it with 36 off 34 balls, looking in excellent touch until beaten by a perfectly pitched off-break from Drissell, which turned and clipped the left-hander’s off stump. Abell then added 36 with the patient Goldsworthy, whose 99-ball innings ended when he was caught behind, driving at Parkinson, having matched his first innings score of 38.Tom Banton provided just the acceleration his team needed, smashing two sixes in a Drissell over and also clearing the ropes twice off Parkinson as he raced to 46 off 28 balls before miscuing a catch to mid-off to give Carse a wicket. By then Somerset were 353 ahead at 197 for four.Abell was unbeaten on 45 at tea, which was taken at 209 for four. He reached a confident 69-ball half-century with an exquisite extra cover drive for four off Bas de Leede, but fell soon afterwards edging the same bowler through to wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson to make it 228 for five.Rew and Archie Vaughan had added a further 35 to take the lead past 400 when, with the floodlights blazing brightly, the umpires decided the light was too poor to continue. An hour later play resumed at 6.05pm with the declaration made and Durham facing a maximum of 13 overs before the close.They made a disastrous start against spin from both ends, Alex Lees calling for a quick single to cover off the first ball of the second over, bowled by Vaughan, and Ben McKinney unable to beat Abell’s throw to wicketkeeper Rew.Overton’s close catching prowess was evident again when Lees edged Leach to leg slip and departed for six. Then Vaughan bowled Scott Borthwick, turning the ball past his outside edge, to leave Durham with two nightwatchmen at the wicket and facing a massive uphill battle.

Rohit Sharma has hailed the processes and preparations India have gone through over the last few years, which culminated in them winning the T20 World Cup title in a tense final against South Africa in Barbados.”We wanted to win this, but I know to win a tournament like this, a lot goes behind the scenes,” Rohit said at the presentation ceremony. “A lot of effort, lot of minds need to come together, and I’m very, very proud of the bunch of boys that I have, and the management as well.”For giving us the liberty to go and play and execute and having that trust in each one of us. That has to start from the management, coach-captain, and the players go out there to do it. Throughout the tournament, we were fantastic.”Rohit praised India’s ability to come back from an extremely tough situation, when South Africa needed just 30 runs off 30 balls with six wickets in hand. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh pulled it back after that to secure a seven-run victory.Related

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“We have played a lot of high-pressure games in the past as well and been on the wrong side of it as well, but guys do understand when the pressure is on, what needs to be done,” Rohit said. “Today was the perfect example of when the back is against the wall what is required.”We stuck together as a team, all of us, even though at one point it was looking South Africa’s way, but I thought overall as a group, on the field, we wanted this really bad. It’s very hard to sum up what we have been through for the last three-four years.”We worked really hard as individuals and as a team, a lot has gone on behind the scenes for us to be here today and winning this game. It’s not what we did today, it is what we have been doing for the last three-four years, that’s the result that has come for us today.”The Player of the Final award went to Virat Kohli, whose 76 helped India score 176 for 7 after they were 34 for 3 in the fifth over. He had endured a tough T20 World Cup until then, scoring only 75 runs in seven innings, but Rohit said the team never was in doubt that Kohli would come good.”Nobody was in doubt about Virat’s form,” Rohit said. “We know the quality he has, he has been on top of his game for the last 15 years, come the occasion we know big players will stand up. Virat was obviously holding that one end which was very, very crucial for us, and the others played around him. For us to get to that total was a team effort as well. We wanted somebody to bat as long as possible.”These are not the wickets where you can come and bat freely and keep the scoreboard ticking straightaway. We do understand that, and we wanted somebody to bat as long as possible and Virat did that perfectly. That is where experience, all the years he has played, comes into the picture. And the other guys played really well, Axar’s [Patel] knock of 47 was very crucial as well.”While India appeared to be ahead during large parts of South Africa’s chase, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen plundered 38 runs off the 14th and 15th overs, from Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, to turn the game on its head. But with 29 to defend of 30 balls, Rohit turned to Bumrah, who gave away just four runs in his third over and then just two runs in the 18th over to heap pressure on South Africa.Bumrah finished the T20 World Cup with 15 wickets, second only to Fazalhaq Farooqi and Arshdeep Singh, at an average of 8.26 and economy of 4.17 to earn the Player of the Tournament award. “I’ve been someone who has seen him for so many years, playing alongside him, even I don’t know what exactly is with him,” Rohit said. “I know exactly what he brings to the table, but how he does that is just masterclass to be honest.”And he backs his skills, which is more than enough and he’s a very confident lad, whatever he wants to do, he executed that to perfection. In one word, he’s a class act. And Hardik was brilliant as well, bowling that over, no matter how many runs is required to book that last over, nerves and all of that, I’m very proud.”

Gulbadin Naib, who orchestrated Afghanistan’s historic win against Australia, was a figure of relief when he collected his Player-of-the-Match award for his spell of 4 for 20. Drenched in sweat while sporting a beaming smile, he held the award while soaking in the feeling of “at last” beating Australia.”We were waiting [for this] for a long time. It’s a great moment not just for me but for my nation and my people,” Naib said at the presentation. “[It is a] big achievement for our cricket. I have no words to say but thanks to the fans for supporting our career and cricket journey. It’s a great teamwork, we worked hard for the last two months and the result is in front of you.”Thank god we at last beat Australia. It’s a great achievement for our cricket in Afghanistan. If you look at history of our cricket, it is not much. Last 10 years, we achieved a lot of goals. This is a big achievement.”Related

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Australia’s fourth-wicket pair of Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell were threatening to take the match away from Afghanistan in the 149 chase, when captain Rashid Khan turned to Naib for his eighth bowling option. Naib picked a wicket off his third delivery, removing Stoinis for 11. Bowling four overs straight, he then dismissed Tim David in this next over and then got the prized wicket of Maxwell, for 59, in the 14th to all but end Australia’s hopes.Naib thanked Rashid for trusting him in the crunch moments of the game and further said Afghanistan’s “journey starts now”.The win was sweeter for Afghanistan, who dealt with a heartbreak against the same opponents at the ODI World Cup last year. With Australia on 91 for 7, a one-legged Maxwell, battling severe cramps, took them to a stunning win with an unbeaten double-century.Naib expressed relief at the result in Kingstown that opened up Super Eight Group 1 standings.”We played very good cricket and in the first round we beat New Zealand,” he said. “Then [to beat] Australia is not easy. They are a world champion team and it is a big achievement for our cricket. We can carry this to the next level.”Our journey starts now. We are very lucky to have such a staff and management.”

Rashid Khan: ‘It’s something we missed in last two years’

After being asked to bat, Afghanistan were given a strong platform with an opening stand of 118 between Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran before they lost 6 for 23 with Pat Cummins picking up yet another hat-trick. Afghanistan were only able to post 148 for 6.Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put on another strong opening stand•AFP/Getty Images

Rashid said they were confident of defending anything over 130, adding the importance of having many allrounders in the team.”The thought was although we didn’t finish as well as we would have liked to, but this is how this wicket is,” Rashid said at the presentation. “The more important thing was that the opening partnership gave us the best start. That let us get to a total we had in mind. We all watched two games before, and on this wicket anything 130-plus we said we were capable of defending. We keep calm and have that belief.”The beauty of this team is having too many allrounders gives you options. As a captain, it makes it easy.”Beating Australia is a “great feeling” and will make Afghanistan fans “proud”, Rashid said.”It’s a massive win for us as a team and as a nation,” he said. “In the World Cup, beating champions is a great feeling. It’s something we missed in last two years – in 2023 World Cup and also in 2022 in Australia where we lacked some runs.”It is so much important for people at home and for everyone all over the world where Afghans are there. They were badly missing this win. I am sure they would be proud of this and would have enjoyed the game. It is just the beginning for us, big game next and we have all the chances of making the semis.”