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England lose both openers after being set 297 to win the second Multan Test

Alan Gardner17-Oct-2024England 291 (Duckett 114, Sajid 7-111) and 36 for 2 need a further 261 to beat Pakistan 366 and 221 (Salman 63, Bashir 4-66)With a twinkle in his eye and a twirl of his moustache, Sajid Khan helped turn the Multan rematch Pakistan’s way. A first-innings seven-for was followed up by crucial lower-order runs to help set England a daunting target of 297 to win the second Test. Sajid then struck with his third ball to remove Ben Duckett, England’s centurion on day two and a key man in their hopes of a successful chase.Sajid may be an unassuming offspinner on paper, and something of an afterthought in selection – he described himself as “always the first to be kicked out” after taking four England wickets during the second evening to put his side on top. But with his shaved head, luxuriant facial hair and colourful celebrations he has brought some much-needed character to Pakistan’s attempts to break a winless run at home that stretches back to 2021.Having claimed three of the four England wickets to fall during the first hour on day three, securing a 75-run lead for Pakistan and personal figures of 7 for 111 – the best for an innings in Tests at Multan – Sajid came to the crease during the evening session with the scoreboard reading 156 for 8. England were eyeing up a chase in the region of 230-240, only for Sajid to join Salman Agha in putting on a bristling stand of 65, by far the highest of a day on which 16 wickets fell and the spinners prospered.Salman did the bulk of the scoring, making his third 50-plus score of the series to steer the target up towards 300, and England’s pain in the field was only increased by the knowledge that he could have been dismissed twice in single-figures. Brydon Carse was the unlucky bowler, as two chances went down in the space of three balls: Jamie Smith failing to hold a regulation nick behind the stumps before Joe Root shelled another to his right, the fact he was wearing a helmet and standing in close only partial mitigation.Pakistan’s recent issues in the third innings have been well-documented, failing to capitalise on positions of varying promise against Australia and Bangladesh, and it seemed as if they were primed for another stumble after losing three wickets to Shoaib Bashir to be 43 for 3 at lunch. Saud Shakeel helped steady things, although he too had a life off Carse as Root couldn’t get his hands up to a flashed cut at slip.When Shakeel was trapped lbw by Jack Leach, the first of three wickets to fall in the space of five overs after tea, England had hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly. But Salman immediately countered, hitting three fours from his next seven balls and going on to his half-century by lofting Leach clean over long-off for six. The ninth-wicket pair took less than eight overs to raise the 50 stand, as England’s target rose rapidly – eventually leaving them needing the second-highest successful chase in Pakistan, and by far their highest overall in Asia.Salman Agha made a vital contribution as Pakistan’s lead grew•Getty Images

Sajid survived being caught at long-on, when Duckett was forced to throw the ball back in as he crossed the rope, then overturned being given out lbw to a Matt Potts full toss when UltraEdge detected an inside edge; he might have been out on 20, but with the DRS momentarily down, England couldn’t review for caught behind.Carse eventually broke through when Salman spliced a pull to midwicket, belated reward for the fast bowler’s perseverance and skill in demanding conditions, and Potts bounced out Sajid. But the spinner took centre stage again with the ball in hand, eyes bulging like a cartoon supervillain after Duckett had top-edged a sweep straight up to depart for a two-ball duck in the first over of the chase.Noman Ali then produced a beautifully flighted delivery to have Zak Crawley stumped by a distance, the opener collapsing to his knees even as he turned to see Mohammad Rizwan break the bails, as England slipped to 11 for 2. Ollie Pope and Root saw them through to the close but there was plenty of work still to be done on a pitch that has increasingly taken spin if England are to extend their winning run in Pakistan.It was all a far cry from the first Test at this ground, when only 13 wickets fell across the first three days – the count now up to 32 at the same stage in the pitch second’s incarnation.England’s prospects had been undermined by the four-wicket burst from Sajid on the second evening, and he did not have to wait long for his second Test five-for when play resumed. Carse holed out to long-on before Potts got in a tangle trying to work off his pads to be bowled between his legs. Noman then claimed his 50th wicket in Tests as Smith, looking to hit out in the company of the tail, could only miscue high to long-off.A last-wicket stand of 29 between Leach and Bashir cut into the lead, before Sajid’s seventh brought the innings to a close. It was then Pakistan’s turns to get the jitters, as the top three all departed in the space of 15 overs before lunch.Bashir had not enjoyed much success on tour to date but rose to the occasion after being thrown the new ball by Ben Stokes. His third over produced the breakthrough, with Abdullah Shafique adjudged to have feathered a catch behind down the leg side – although it took some lengthy deliberations by the third umpire, Sharfuddoula, after England had gone to the DRS. Shafique’s dismissal brought an end to Pakistan’s opening stand at 9 – the ninth time in ten innings that he and Saim Ayub have failed to reach double-figures together.Shan Masood did not last long, squared up by one that ripped away off a length to hit the splice for a sharp catch to Pope, in close under the helmet at second slip. There was turn and bounce aplenty for England’s spinners and with the final delivery before the break, Bashir dislodged Ayub, who propped forward to provide a simpler chance to Pope.Pakistan needed solidity and they got it in the form of three dogged stands in the 30s featuring Shakeel. The debutant Kamran Ghulam provided further signs of his ability, following his first-innings hundred, before being trapped plumb lbw by Leach. Rizwan then resumed his battle with Carse, eventually falling to him for the third innings in a row after England got the ball to reverse swing. Whether they can reverse the course of this Test may depend on keeping Sajid from top billing on day four.

Management cautious about allrounder’s workload but hopeful she’ll be fit come January

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2024Freya Kemp could yet play a full role in the Women’s Ashes in the new year, according to England’s captain Heather Knight, despite flying home early from their tour of South Africa in order to manage her recovery from a long-term back injury.Kemp, 19, claimed two wickets with her left-arm seam across the three matches of last week’s T20I leg of the multi-format series, and bowled her full allocation of overs in their emphatic nine-wicket win in Centurion on Saturday.Kemp has suffered two stress fractures of her back in recent years, the first of which prevented her from bowling competitively for 14 months, but Knight insisted her withdrawal from the ODI and Test squads in South Africa was due to a surfeit of caution, rather than a recurrence of the injury.”It wasn’t originally part of the plan,” Knight said on the eve of the first ODI in Kimberley. “We were hoping to have her available for all three formats but, obviously, with her history with back injuries, she’s someone that we have to manage quite tightly and really look after.”We’re gutted to lose her,” Knight added. “She’s a great person to have around the group, and obviously a hugely exciting prospect for us. But the right thing for Freya was to go home and have a little look at how her back’s going, and then hopefully build towards those Ashes.Related

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“We’re really hopeful that she’s going to be fit and available, but it’s a tricky one with stress fractures. You just have to be a little bit careful around loads. She was obviously able to partake in all three games, so that’s a good sign, but the decision was made that she wasn’t going to be in a place to be ready for the one-dayers and the Test.”England’s 3-0 win in the T20Is means they will guarantee themselves at least a share of the multi-format series if they can win the first ODI at Kimberley on Wednesday, with two further 50-over matches to follow in Durban and Potchefstroom, and the one-off Test beginning in Bloemfontein on December 15.With the Ashes looming in January, Tammy Beaumont and Kate Cross – England’s longer-format specialists – are back in contention, as Knight’s team seeks to finetune their 50-over plans after successful summer series against Pakistan and New Zealand. A used track is in prospect at the Diamond Oval, which is expected to offer less pace than was on offer in the final two T20Is.”We haven’t played a huge amount of ODI cricket recently, so it’s a format that I really enjoy playing,” Knight said. “Everyone’s pretty excited to get into the longer format, and have a little bit more time to execute your skills and build plans around one day game.””Obviously with the Ashes, we’re not looking too far ahead,” she added. “Continuing to have success on this tour is, naturally, going to be the way that we’re going to build into the Ashes. The focus very much on South Africa and what they’re going to bring against us tomorrow.”

Galle plays host to the first Test of the series which brings spin bowling to the fore again

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Jan-20251:34

Smith on captaincy: I understand what’s needed at certain times in subcontinent

Big Picture: The Warne-Muralidaran trophy is back

Australia’s Test series in Sri Lanka often seem to have a touch of the dramatic about them. Last time Australia were in Galle, Sri Lanka saw the greatest mass protests in the country’s history, while the teams battled out a 1-1 series. In 2016, Australia had nosedived spectacularly against spin, Rangana Herath gobbling up their top order en masse.Over the years there have been series-ending fielding collisions, such as in 1999 in Kandy when Jason Gillespie broke a leg and Steve Waugh broke a nose, Shane Warne triggering one of Sri Lanka’s most painful 90s collapses to clinch victory in a game Australia were losing, and Sri Lanka producing one of their most infamously dry surfaces in Galle in 2011. Where Sri Lanka have never won a Test in Australia, these teams tend to be more evenly matched in Sri Lanka.Related

• Smith says Australia need to 'be proactive' and find ways to score on Sri Lankan pitches

• 'Be brave': Australia consider mid-match flexibility to batting order

• Injured Nissanka likely to miss first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia

• Can Kamindu overcome fresh hurdles after a stellar 2024?

• Head to replace Konstas as opener against Sri Lanka

And so it shapes up again. Australia are coming off their big Border-Gavaskar Trophy win, of course. Through their 3-1 win in that series, they also booked their World Test Championship final spot. They are missing regular captain Pat Cummins, who is on paternity leave, but have a seasoned leader in Steven Smith.Sri Lanka had had a decent Test year in 2024, until the disappointing series in South Africa to finish it off. But they will feel as if their Test team is building to something – maybe mounting a more serious campaign in the next WTC cycle, in which they appear to have a relatively easy schedule.It will likely come down to spin in Galle. This surface doesn’t appear to be the dryest one the ground has turned out, and may stay together a little longer than usual, owing to January’s cooler weather. But it is likely to take substantial turn from day three onwards. Expect plenty of sweeping and reverse-sweeping, and catchers around the bat as the match wears on.

Form guide

Sri Lanka: LLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: WWWDLCaptain Steven Smith, senior spinner Nathan Lyon and selector Tony Dodemaide take a look at the pitch•Getty Images

In the spotlight: Nathan Lyon and Prabath Jayasuriya

A track that tends to start off dry, a sea breeze that helps sap what little moisture there is in the pitch, footmarks to bowl into from as early as day two sometimes – Galle is basically spin-bowling paradise. As such, how well your lead spinner goes in a Galle Test goes a long way to deciding the outcome.It is a track Nathan Lyon will know well. Not only did he get a five-wicket haul on debut here in 2011, he also took a match-winning 9 for 121 from the first game in 2022, when Australia last visited. He has 21 wickets from seven innings at this venue, with an average of 27.61. Expect this group of Sri Lanka’s batters to attempt to attack Lyon, particularly in the first innings. Sri Lanka’s easiest path to upsetting Australia’s bowling plan is to unsettle Lyon.Prabath Jayasuriya had also made his debut in Galle, and he has dominated as few spinners ever have at this venue. He’s got 71 wickets at an average of 21.78 at this venue, and the key to much of that success has been his devastating straight ball, as well as his control. With Sri Lanka’s remaining frontline spin options lacking in experience, the hosts will look to Jayasuriya to define the back half of these Tests.

Pitch and conditions: Some rain around

There’s a little unseasonal rain around in Galle, but rare is the Galle Test that even goes into the last couple of sessions, even if there are interruptions along the way. Dhananjaya de Silva said he expected the surface to be decent for batting to begin with. Temperatures are forecast to hover around 30 degrees celsius.Prabath Jayasuriya has an incredible record at Galle•AP

Team news: Who will be SL’s opener?

Australia have confirmed that Travis Head will open the innings, displacing Sam Konstas from that position. They are pondering their attack though, and could go in with as many as three spinners – Todd Murphy potentially joining Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann. They will likely have Josh Inglis and Beau Webster – who bowls spin as well as seam – in the lower middle order.Australia (possible): 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt.), 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Beau Webster, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Mathew Kuhnemann, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott Boland/ Todd MurphySri Lanka have a decision to make around their attack as well – whether their second seamer will be Vishwa Fernando or Lahiru Kumara. They also have to replace the injured Pathum Nissanka at the top of the order. Oshada Fernando is his likeliest replacement.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Oshada Fernando, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt.), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Prabath Jayasuriya, 9 Nishan Peiris, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Lahiru Kumara/Vishwa Fernando

Stats and trivia: Smith 10,000 watch

• Steve Smith is one run away from completing 10,000 in Test cricket. He’d be the fourth Australia batter to the milestone, after Alan Border, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting.
• Prabath Jayasuriya took 12 wickets for 177 in the one Test he’d played against Australia – on debut in Galle.
• All up, Australia have won three of the six Tests they’ve played in Galle, losing two and drawing one.

Opener gives squad a boost after tough tour of India, as England build towards Australia opener

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-20252:28

Buttler: ‘We’ve done plenty of training throughout the tour’

England’s Champions Trophy prospects have received a boost after Ben Duckett was given the all-clear, following a left groin injury sustained during last week’s ODI series against India.Duckett’s form at the top of the order had been one of the positives for England in an otherwise disappointing campaign. He made two half-centuries across the T20I and ODI series, in which England won just one of the eight matches, but contributed regular strong starts in the powerplay, alongside Phil Salt, which whom he made three consecutive fifty stands.However, Duckett appeared to tweak his groin while fielding in the latter stages of India’s innings in the final ODI at Ahmedabad on Wednesday, and was visibly hampered while making a boundary-laden 34 in England’s subsequent innings.However, with England having decamped to the UAE ahead of their Champions Trophy campaign, scans on Duckett’s groin have revealed no significant issue, and an ECB press release declared him “fit and available” for England’s tournament opener against Australia in Lahore on February 22.England are due to arrive in Pakistan on February 18, and the news is a welcome boost given the squad’s other injury concerns. They have already lost Jacob Bethell to a hamstring injury, with Somerset’s Tom Banton drafted into the squad as a replacement, while Jamie Smith has not featured since the third ODI on January 28 due to a calf injury.Ben Duckett was in form during the India tour without converting his starts•Getty Images

There are concerns among the fast-bowling contingent too, with Brydon Carse managing a toe injury and Jamie Overton affected by a hamstring issue. Jofra Archer is also nursing a cut hand.The squad has had to ride out criticism of their training methods, too, with Kevin Pietersen particularly outspoken about their lack of net practice during the ODI series.Renewing his attack on X on Thursday, Pietersen said that injuries are part and parcel of sport, adding that that was not what was stopping “batters from batting against net bowlers and learning the art of playing spin”.However, Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, rejected the “factually incorrect” take on England’s preparations, and insisted that his team was on track to compete strongly at the Champions Trophy.”Guys have come from a lot of cricket and keeping guys fresh is just as important, especially when you have injuries,” he said. “We’ve done lots of training. We have had injuries in the camp so we’ve backed guys off a little bit to make sure we had a fit team.”

Pakistan captain scored just 46 runs off 77 balls during a middle-overs slowdown which cost his side

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-20251:31

Urooj Mumtaz: Rizwan chewed up too many dot deliveries

The loss to India has all but pushed Pakistan out of their home Champions Trophy, and it had a lot to do with a middle-overs slowdown. They ended the first ten overs at 52 for 2, but the next 14 overs netted them just 42 runs. Urooj Mumtaz lay the blame squarely on captain Mohammad Rizwan, who, she said, had played too many dot balls in that period.”Rizwan, time and again, is at fault of chewing up too many dot deliveries. Then there is one release shot that comes out,” she said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day. “He was on 40-odd from something like 70 deliveries at the point where he looked like taking another release shot. He was 30 off 68 [24 off 53] at one point when he hit that one four. Saud [Shakeel], on the other hand, is not the normal aggressor; it is Rizwan who is normally the aggressor when he does get going and does get set.”During the period in question [overs 11 to 24], Rizwan faced 45 deliveries, and 29 of those were dots. He didn’t hit a single boundary, and got only 16 singles. Eventually, Rizwan struggled his way to 46 off 77 balls. He fell when he skipped down the pitch to try and loft Axar Patel, but missed and was bowled.Related

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Rizwan had slog-swept Kuldeep Yadav for four off the first ball he had faced. His next boundary only came on the 49th delivery he faced off Ravindra Jadeja in the 25th over. Another – the third and last – came off Jadeja in the 27th. When he was dismissed by Axar in the 34th over, Rizwan’s partnership with Shakeel was worth 104, but it had taken 144 balls.”I think Rizwan, in his 46 off 77 – strike rate of 59 – just wasn’t good enough because we’re talking about a team where the best batter in the team [Babar Azam] is obviously out of form, hasn’t been churning out those big runs… and he got out early,” Mumtaz said.”Imam [had] that unfortunate run-out. So it was down to Rizwan as captain to put his hand up and show that brave attitude. Maybe even not just trying to botch everything down, but maybe just better strike rotation, [the lack of] which I thought was a massive fault, and probably applied a little bit more pressure on Saud as well.”

Fraser-McGurk roared back to form in T20s with a blistering 88 off 38 balls that was studded with 11 sixes

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2025Finn Allen smashed his second straight 50-plus score, Jake Fraser-McGurk roared back to form, and fast bowlers Xavier Bartlett and Haris Rauf picked up four wickets apiece to lead San Francisco Unicorns to their second win on the bounce in MLC 2025. Unicorns posted a 200-plus total for the second game in a row, after their record-breaking 269 for 5 in the opening game of the tournament, and it proved to be too much for Los Angeles Knight Riders as only two of their batters scored over 30.It was Fraser-McGurk this time who led Unicorns’ charge with a blistering 88 off 38 balls that was studded with 11 sixes and just two fours, and it came after he had tallied just 61 runs in his last seven T20 innings at an average of just 8.71, which also included him getting dropped from the Delhi Capitals (DC) playing XI in the IPL. Against LAKR, however, he and Allen hammered 121 runs in just 55 balls for the second wicket – including a powerplay of 76 for 1. The highlight in that phase was the four consecutive sixes Fraser-McGurk smashed off Shadley van Schalkwyk in the fifth over that went for 25. After a rare boundary-less seventh over for just four runs from Sunil Narine, and seven more in the next bowled by Jason Sangha, Fraser-McGurk and Allen got back to smashing the ball around before Allen holed out to long-on off Narine for 52 off 27.Fraser-McGurk replied with three more sixes in the 13th over after he had brought up his 21-ball fifty, before he too handed a catch, to mid-off against van Schalkwyk. The top order had set the stage as Unicorns were going at over 12 an over when Fraser-McGurk fell with the score on 167 with 39 balls to go. The LAKR bowlers pulled things back after that as Unicorms lost four wickets and managed just 52 runs thereafter. They lost Hassan Khan, Corey Anderson, Bartlett and Brody Couch in the space of three overs, which included a double-wicket over from Ali Khan. Rauf struck a six and a four in the last two overs to stretch them past 200 and post a challenging total.The LAKR chase was dented twice early on with the wickets of openers Andre Fletcher and Alex Hales in the first 21 balls. No. 3 Unmukt Chand kept them going with a 30-ball half-century to post 66 in the powerplay. He lost his partner Nitish Kumar in the eighth over to Hassan that ended a quick stand of 46 off 24. Chand and Matthew Tromp then managed just 33 runs off the next 30 balls that saw three boundary-less overs on the bounce. Chand took off again with a four and a six in the next two overs before Rauf roared with a seven-run double-wicket over that saw Chand and the powerful Andre Russell walk back, the second dismissal coming through a 146km thunderbolt that rattled the stumps. LAKR were five down and needed 107 from 42 balls, which proved to be too stiff. Saif Badar scored 17 off eight balls and Narine, the captain, smoked 27 off 13 before Rauf struck with another double-wicket over that virtually ended the chase in the 19th over.

They have a chance to win the T20I series, while SL will look for amends after being bowled out for 94

Mohammad Isam15-Jul-2025

Big Picture: Sri Lanka out to stop Bangladesh’s comeback

Bangladesh have twice levelled with Sri Lanka on the white-ball leg of this tour. They failed to keep the momentum in the ODI series after winning the second game, and crashed in the third encounter by nearly 100 runs. Bangladesh have now set up the T20I series similarly, by winning the second game to make it 1-1. Now’s the chance to make amends.Bangladesh’s 83-run win against Sri Lanka in the last game was only their second T20I victory in eight games in 2025. But they did get a good idea of their best approach in the format: a team-wide performance rather than bank on individual brilliance. In a team lacking superstars in any format, they have to build a unit with several performers.Litton Das returning to form will certainly encourage the team. The Bangladesh T20I captain struck 76 off 50, his first half-century after 13 innings. The numbers might suggest he played an anchor role but he was attacking in both partnerships with Towhid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain. Bangladesh will look for a similar approach, with at least two or three sizeable partnerships, and a big finish to their batting innings.Related

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• Litton, Shamim lead Bangladesh's rout of Sri Lanka

• 'I have to do it every day' – Shamim on mixing the mercurial with the mundane

The action now returns to the R Premadasa Stadium where in the night games the pitch currently has a batting-first score similar to that of the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Bangladesh wouldn’t mind the familiarity.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have to bounce back from getting bowled out for 94, their lowest T20I total at home. They could take a leaf out of their ODI series playbook when they lost the second game, but then roared back with a victory. For that to happen, they would need their top order to step up again, the way Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka set up their first T20I win.Captain Charith Asalanka has to also ensure his XI is balanced and not too lopsided with bowling options. He would also expect runs from Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando, while the likes of Dasun Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne have to contribute with the bat. Asalanka has been missing Wanindu Hasaranga, as legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay hasn’t quite delivered in the series so far.Bangladesh’s spinners, though, will keep posing a challenge. Rishad Hossain had a three-wicket haul after a seven-month gap in T20Is. It is shaping up to be a climactic tour finale for both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Form guide

Sri Lanka LWWLL (Last five completed T20Is, the most recent first)

Bangladesh WLLLLKusal Mendis has been in fine form across formats against Bangladesh•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Kusal Mendis and Towhid Hridoy

Kusal Mendis has been Sri Lanka’s standout performer in the last four weeks across formats. The most admirable part of his batting has been his pacing in each format. He tore into Bangladesh’s attack in the first T20I in Pallekele, making light work of the 155 target. His 8 in the second game therefore came as a surprise, particularly when he was run-out running languidly. Kusal has the opportunity to sign off on this tour emphatically.Towhid Hridoy made just 31 in Bangladesh’s win in Dambulla but he provided crucial support to Litton in their third-wicket stand. Hridoy has a middle-order role that requires him to bat in different gears, similar to Mushfiqur Rahim’s for much of his white-ball career. Hridoy is therefore filling into big shoes, while also growing as a cricketer. Increasingly, opposition bowling attacks are taking him seriously enough to look for holes in his batting. Hridoy has all the shots in the game, though sometimes his choice and timing of those shots get him into trouble.

Team news: Sri Lanka may need batting depth

Sri Lanka could bring in Dunith Wellalage in place of Chamika Karunaratne, while Avishka Fernando’s place is under the scanner.Sri Lanka (probable XI): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kusal Perera 4 Avishka Fernando, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Chamika Karunaratne/Dunith Wellalage, 8 Maheesh Theekshana, 9 Jeffrey Vandersay, 10 Binura Fernando, 11 Nuwan ThusharaLitton Das finding form will encourage Bangladesh•AFP/Getty Images

Bangladesh are likely to go with the same team that helped them level the series.Bangladesh (probable XI): 1 Parvez Hossain Emon, 2 Tanzid Hasan, 3 Litton Das (capt, wk), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Jaker Ali, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Pitch and conditions: Bowling first a no-brainer

The side batting first in night matches has lost nine out of the last ten T20Is at the R Premadasa Stadium. The average batting first score in these ten matches has been 125 runs, much lower than Pallekele and Dambulla where the first two T20Is were played. There are forecasts of some rain in the evening too.

Stats and trivia: Good omens for Bangladesh

• Sri Lanka’s 94 all out against Bangladesh is their lowest T20I total at home. The previous lowest was 99 against Pakistan in Hambantota in 2012.
• Bangladesh snapped a six-match losing streak with their 83-run win in Dambulla. This was their sixth losing streak of six T20Is or more.
• The R Premadasa Stadium is among Bangladesh’s favourite overseas venues in T20Is, having won three out of seven matches there.

Maharaj, who last held the spot in November 2023, returned to the top following his five-for in the first ODI against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2025South Africa left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has displaced Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana as the No. 1 men’s ODI bowler, following his five-for in the first ODI against Australia in Cairns.Maharaj, who last held the spot in November 2023, returned to the top after gaining two places to move ahead of Theekshana (second) and India spinner Kuldeep Yadav (third). The 35-year-old picked up career-best ODI figures of 5 for 33 which gave South Africa a 98-run win and a 1-0 series lead.Among the South African batters, Aiden Markram moved four spots up to No. 21 and Temba Bavuma five spots to No. 23 following their respective half-centuries in the first ODI.Related

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• Road to 2027: Questions for Australia and South Africa

• Maharaj's masterful maiden ODI five-for hands South Africa 1-0 series lead

• Maharaj shakes off T20I snub with statement white-ball display

Following the recently concluded ODI series against Pakistan, West Indies captain Shai Hope jumped two spots to No. 9 on the batters’ list. Hope finished as the top run-scorer in the series with 207 runs, helping West Indies win the series 2-1. His team-mate Jayden Seales moved 15 places up to 18th in the bowling rankings following his ten wickets in the series.Following the T20Is between Australia and South Africa preceding the ODIs, fast bowler Nathan Ellis entered the top ten among bowlers, moving three places up to No. 9. Ellis picked up 3 for 31 in the third T20I to help Australia seal the T20Is 2-1. Josh Hazlewood, who picked up the most wickets for Australia in the series, rose two spots to 18th.South Africa’s hard-hitting batter Dewald Brevis jumped nine spots to equal 12th on the list for T20I batters following his superb efforts in the series. Brevis scored 125 not out off 56 in the first T20I and followed it up with 53 off 26 in the second.

James Sales’ maiden List A century sets up Northamptonshire’s first win of the campaign

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay15-Aug-2025Northamptonshire 321 for 8 (Sales 117, Robinson 63, Broad 59) beat Durham 171 (Raine 31*, Chahal 3-30) by 150 runs A superb maiden List A century from James Sales – 117 off 110 balls – set Northamptonshire Steelbacks up for a first Metro Bank One-Day Cup win in four games this season, by 150 runs at the expense of Durham at the Banks Homes Riverside.The young Steelbacks side kick-started their Group B campaign following a No Result and two defeats as they successfully defended a commanding 321 for 8 total. Durham, meanwhile, suffered their third defeat in five to threaten their chances of a top-three finish for knockout qualification.Having elected to bat, Northamptonshire were advanced by centurion Sales, who was well supported by New Zealander Tim Robinson’s well-paced 63 off 69 balls and Justin Broad’s more aggressive 59 off 45.Durham then lost early wickets and never realistically threatened. They were bowled out for 171 inside 32 overs. Indian Yuzvendra Chahal finished with 3 for 30 from six overs of leg-spin.Sales, who hit his three sixes down the ground off spin and seam, was strong on both sides of the wicket as he accelerated through his innings having come to the crease at 31 for 1 in the ninth over.The 22-year-old right-hander batted through until the 48th over when he holed out to wide long-on against Ben Raine’s seam.New-ball duo Mitchell Killeen and Paul Coughlin struck twice apiece, but Durham relinquished control of the innings from 35 for two in the 10th over.Killeen had bowled captain Lewis McManus, Coughlin had Ricardo Vasconcelos caught behind by debutant 17-year-old wicketkeeper Robbie Bowman.Sales shared century partnerships for the third and fourth wickets with overseas Robinson and Broad en-route to his fifty off 65 balls and his century off 101.He dwarfed his previous List A best score of 35, though has three Championship hundreds to his name through last season and this.Durham, missing linchpin wicketkeeper-batter Ollie Robinson because of a family funeral, failed to gain control with the ball on the same pitch used for Tuesday’s defeat to Middlesex when the visitors chased an English List A record 388.This pitch was good, but it wasn’t the absolute featherbed of a couple of days ago.The home side lost Coughlin to a suspected shoulder issue having bowled nine overs.The Steelbacks were excellent having failed to reach 230 in either of the first two games played, and they continued their good work when it came to the defence, reducing Durham to 49 for four inside 11 overs.Left-arm quick Liam Guthrie struck twice, as did Luke Procter with his seamers. Alex Lees, Will Rhodes and Colin Ackermann all fell.But the headline dismissal was the first – four for one at the start of the second over – when ex-Northamptonshire opener Emilio Gay was trapped lbw stuck on the crease for a second golden duck in as many matches following disappointment against Middlesex.This was Gay’s first appearance against Northamptonshire since leaving Wantage Road late last summer.And when South Africa Test batter David Bedingham, on 30, miscued Broad’s fifth ball to mid-off, it felt like a decisive blow at 78 for five in the 15th over.Debutant Bowman encouraged for 27 and George Drissell bettered that with 30. But they fell to the spin of Rob Keogh and Yuzvendra Chahal as the score fell to 150 for seven in the 29th.Chahal forced a discomforted Coughlin to miscue to cover before bowling Killeen as he struck twice in the 31st over.Seventeen-year-old debutant off-spinner Nirvan Ramesh then wrapped things up with his maiden first-team wicket, Archie Bailey caught behind. He bowled a tidy 4.2 overs for 23.

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Xande Silva is very nearly ready to become a senior star at West Ham United.

The forward, just 21, has been at the club for under a year, joining from Benfica in 2018.

But he has already shown flashes that he is more than ready to make the permanent step up to the first-team.

In just seven Premier League 2 games this season, he has scored seven goals and has an international pedigree to boot.

He has played for Portugal at every level from Under-15 to Under-20, scoring for every single one of them.

Silva, who can play as a striker or on either wing, was handed his debut by Manuel Pellegrini against Burnley earlier this season, coming on for 17 minutes of the 2-0 defeat.

And though he was unable to hit the back of the net, Silva expressed his determination to get back into the first-team as soon as possible.

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Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “I’m very happy as it’s a dream come true.

“We are disappointed with the game but we are still fighting for more. I work every day for this. It was close to being a goal. I tried my best, but I’ll have to wait for the next game.

“I was waiting for the opportunity and the opportunity came to me and I enjoyed it, but what I’m saying is we are still working for the next games.

“It’s a dream because this is the best league in the world and every kid in the world wants to play in this league.”

He subsequently started in the 2-0 win over Birmingham City in the FA Cup, playing 79 minutes.

Marko Arnautovic, when motivated and fit, is surely the first-choice forward at the club but the likes of Javier Hernandez, Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez are largely interchangeable in the pecking order.

Pellegrini bringing Silva through against Burnley and Birmingham may well have been a warning to those on the fringes, that there is a kid waiting in the wings hungry to take their place.

He will surely make his first Premier League start for the club soon – Silva is more than ready, and looks a truly mouth-watering prospect for Hammers fans to fawn over.