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Trent Boult has a bowl in the nets, but his participation in the first Test remains uncertain

Andrew McGlashan in Perth10-Dec-2019New Zealand are ready to embrace the “most extreme” conditions they could encounter in Australia, but don’t believe the pink ball will be toughest element of their challenge in the Perth Test.The forecast is for temperatures to top 40 degrees Celsius over the weekend, and while that is not unusual for cricketers around the world, New Zealand have only three days to prepare for the opening Test. Add to that the pace and bounce the Perth Stadium pitch is expected to produce, plus a chance of cracks opening up as the heat takes it effect.It doesn’t end there. There is the floodlight element, but with the game starting a 1pm local time there will only be a short window played in darkness, although the lights will start to have an effect around 5pm as shadows come across the ground.ALSO READ: New Zealand’s great chance to defy history in Australia“Coming to Perth is probably the most extreme [conditions] we will face, perhaps if it was Melbourne or Sydney it would be a little more like home, so good on them for bringing us over here first,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “This is a different challenge than we have had for a while, we’ve had a lot of success at home and we play well there generally, but Australia also came and beat us there a few years ago.”We’ve got to be careful that we don’t overstate what the pink ball might do at night. We start an hour earlier than most pink-ball Tests, so that’s an hour less in darkness, so perhaps a bigger factor may be the heat that we are going to face over the next four or five days and making sure we are aware of that. We’ve played in many different conditions so it’s not a surprise.”The Australians are taking the conditions in their stride and coach Justin Langer said they would “hopefully” have an advantage from it, but acknowledged that all players would be tested.”We are talking about elite athletes so they’ll be well prepared for it but there’s no doubt it will have an effect. If you’re a fast bowler or batting in a helmet for hopefully a long period of time being in 40 is like being in a sauna,” Langer said. “It will be a battle of endurance, fitness and skill and, again, that’s why we love Test cricket.”New Zealand are ranked second compared to Australia’s fifth but do not have history on their side as they aim for just their second series win in Australia following the 1985-86 victory. Asked whether he believed New Zealand had earned enough kudos for their climb up the rankings, Stead said the outcome of this series and the one to follow against India were important in making a judgement.”I think after this summer you’ll probably know a lot more,” he said. “When you look at the programme we have – England, Australia and then India – you’d argue they are up there with the best teams in the world. When we get to end of the summer I think it’s probably an easier time for me to answer that.” New Zealand had a daytime training session at Perth Stadium on Tuesday [they will train under lights again on Wednesday] and there was a scare when Ross Taylor took a nasty blow on the right hand from a throwdown. He immediately dropped his bat, ripped off the glove and left the net with the physio but he appeared to have escaped serious damage. An NZC spokesman said initial assessment suggested no fracture and there were no immediate plans to get it x-rayed.There was already a fitness battle going on with Trent Boult having his first bowl since arriving in Australia as he aimed to overcome a side strain. He sent down two spells during the session at decent pace, between them having a lengthy conversation with captain Kane Williamson, Stead and bowling coach Shane Jurgensen.”We’ve got to be really careful how we manage the next couple of days if we do think he’s going to start,” Stead said of Boult. “I don’t think [today] you’ll see him bowling 15 overs or anything, but he does need to be able to prove that he can get the intensity we want.”On some lively net pitches, Lockie Ferguson looked a handful, but he might need Boult to be ruled out in order to make his debut despite the attraction of his pace on the Perth Stadium pitch.”I think most wickets will suit Lockie,” Stead said. “He’s certainly got pace and we are acutely aware of that and he’s got a very good red-ball record. The hard thing for us is how he fits into the team, we’ve had some success with guys who have been consistently there.”The pace would suit him, no doubt about it, people want to see the ball flying around – look at Australia’s attack, they are built around [Mitchell] Starc, [Pat] Cummins and [Josh] Hazlewood – so if he gets a go it will be exciting.”

The visitors hung on by two wickets to draw the Dubai Test, as Pakistan applied immense pressure in the final hour

The Report by Danyal Rasool11-Oct-2018Never mind the last over. This was never meant to go to the last session, with Pakistan having left 140 overs for themselves to bowl Australia out. But Australia, spearheaded by a superhuman effort from Usman Khawaja, who batted for 302 balls, and captain Tim Paine at the end, kept Pakistan out, ensuring a draw that simply wasn’t an option for much of this match. It required Nathan Lyon batting with his captain for the last 11 overs, when it looked like the visitors would succumb after Khawaja had been dismissed, but Paine and Lyon rallied. As Pakistan prowled, Paine dug deep.The records might be meaningless to an Australian side playing to salvage their reputations after the disaster of Cape Town a few months ago. After that, Paine said he wanted to captain an Australia side the fans could be proud of. It’s taken no more than one Test match to achieve that, with Australia summoning all their powers of grit and fortitude to ensure that they would make the opposition earn a win over their dead bodies. As it was, Australia remained alive, just, and Pakistan, having dominated for such large periods in the match, had nothing to show for it.But there were records made and records broken along the way. This was the second-highest fourth-innings score by a visiting team in Asia in history. Khawaja, who scored 141, surpassed the record for the highest-ever fourth-innings score by an individual batsman, going past Younis Khan’s 131 in 2010. Australia played one ball short of 140 overs, longer than they’ve ever batted in the fourth innings of a Test. All that work to ensure the series remained 0-0. How’s that for fighting spirit?It really wasn’t meant to be so difficult for Pakistan, who needed just seven wickets today to complete what looked like a routine win. But Khawaja and Travis Head carried on from where they had left off yesterday, batting 49 overs together and keeping Pakistan wicketless all morning to begin raising hopes, however faint, that a draw was possible.Draws between these two sides don’t come too often; the last one was 20 years and 20 Test matches ago. Pakistan looked like they were on their way again after Mohammad Hafeez – who in hindsight was perhaps a little underused – trapped Head in front two overs after lunch.Marnus Labuschagne never appeared set against the spinners, as Yasir began to look more potent than did at any point all match. He finally got his first wicket as the debutant went back to a delivery that went straight on, and was trapped plumb in front of middle.Even Tim Paine, who in the end was the man holding back a Pakistan surge, seemed particularly vulnerable for the first half hour in the middle, never quite sure of his footwork, or of which ball to leave. But some of Khawaja’s confidence rubbed off on his captain. As Paine began to get set, Pakistan found themselves having to break down the third significant partnership of the innings, with time running out.There was little drama for the first 90 minutes or so after tea, but Yasir finally broke through Khawaja’s vigil with a googly that the left-hander, for once, failed to sweep effectively. That brought Mitchell Starc to the crease, and gave Pakistan fresh hope. Within 13 balls, Pakistan had Australia eight down, and with Australia still needing to bat almost 13 overs, Pakistan were on course yet again.Crucially, though, Paine still hung around. In Lyon, he found a man able to shut out pressure, and simply focused on the task at hand. So comfortably did Lyon hold his end up that Paine never really looked to farm the strike. For a captain just two matches into the job, it is an ideal way to set the tempo for his tenure, as he embodied the virtues he wants his side to embrace, and played the game (in its true rather than vapid sense) hard but fair.The team spirit of Australia had been visible all game, even on the first two days when Pakistan’s batsmen were grinding them into the dust. The shoulders never dropped, the fast bowlers kept their pace up, and the spinners’ lines never wavered. Australia were fully focused on the task at hand, right until Paine blocked Yasir Shah’s final delivery, forcing Sarfraz to pull out the stumps and offer him a handshake.If Paine’s request to start the match with handshakes had seemed a little contrived to Sarfraz, the Pakistan captain reciprocating the gesture at the end would have been out of nothing but respect.

The spoils were shared in Cardiff where the match was abandoned after 17.2 overs of Glamorgan’s innings

ECB Reporters Network15-Jul-2017
ScorecardJacques Rudolph was leading Glamorgan to a hefty total•Getty Images

The spoils were shared in Cardiff where the match was abandoned after 17.2 overs of Glamorgan’s innings which was set to leave a demanding target with Jacques Rudolph unbeaten on 65 off 37 balls.Despite a 35-minute delay because of rain before the start there was no reduction in overs and, after winning the toss, Somerset, who had lost their previous nine games in the competition, elected to bowl first.They quickly gained success when Lewis Gregory, with the second ball of his first over, had David Lloyd caught behind. Aneurin Donald, however, was soon into his stride, pulling Craig Overton for four, before sweeping him over the wicketkeeper for six.Colin Ingram, who scored a 46-ball century against Sussex last week, then struck Tim Groenewald for fourteen runs in an over, which included a huge six fourteen rows back into the members enclosure.Somerset took their second wicket when Donald skied Gregory to mid-on after scoring 24 from 13 balls, but Ingram kept attacking, hitting Allenby for another six, before he was caught on the midwicket boundary for 39 from 21 balls.Glamorgan were 92 for 3 at the halfway stage, but then lost their fourth wicket when Andrew Salter was well held by Max Waller off his own bowling.Rudolph and Chris Cooke maintained the momentum with a rapid partnership of 52 in 4.2 overs, which ended when Cooke struck a full toss from Groenewald to mid-off.Rudolph then reached his fifty from only 28 balls, which included four fours and two sixes, with Glamorgan reaching 158 for 5 after 16 overs but after eight deliveries the rain returned.

Alastair Cook has backed Chris Woakes and Nick Compton to deliver in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Durham

George Dobell at Chester-le-Street26-May-2016Alastair Cook has backed Chris Woakes and Nick Compton to deliver in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Durham, but admitted that both players need a performance to retain their places beyond the series.Woakes comes into the team in place of the injured local hero Ben Stokes. But while Cook has confirmed that Woakes is likely, fitness permitting, to play in both the remaining Tests of the series, he also admitted that he had yet to settle in Test cricket.Woakes’ current Test record – he has taken eight wickets in six Tests at an average of 63.75 and he averages 21.50 with the bat – is modest. But, over the last two rounds of Championship matches, Woakes has taken career-best bowling figures of 9 for 36 against Durham and scored the ninth first-class century of his career against Nottinghamshire. Cook hopes, therefore, that he enters this Test with confidence soaring and insisted that he was highly rated by his colleagues.”He is another one of those guys we have not seen the best of in international cricket,” Cook said. “There is no doubt in my mind that facing him in the nets, seeing him bowl for Warwickshire or knowing his character that he has a lot going for him. He is really respected.”He just needs that performance to make him feel settled in the side and help him feel he belongs in international cricket. I have no doubt about that. I am really excited about him playing and he has the next couple of games with Ben out. He can make future selection really hard.”Cook admitted there had been a temptation to select Jake Ball, the in-form Nottinghamshire seamer who has taken 21 Championship wickets at a cost of 22.28 this season. But England enjoy the depth that fielding an extra allrounder gives them and feel that Woakes is a closer like-for-like replacement for Stokes.”We enjoy playing with this balance of the side,” Cook said. “We know Ben balances the side really well, but he could get injured [again] and obviously we need the competition in that all-rounder place.”Ben is going to be a big loss for us. But injuries are part and parcel of a side and we need to know we can play without him. Chris has that opportunity to fill the all-rounder role and Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow go up a spot in the batting, so it gives them more of an opportunity.”While Cook said Stokes’ operation had “gone well” he also cautioned against rushing him back into action and suggested it was too early to say whether he would be fit for the start of the Test series against Pakistan.Compton, meanwhile, has averaged 27.22 in the five Tests he has played since coming back into the side in South Africa. In that time, he has scored one half-century from nine innings with most recent six innings bringing 15, 26, 0, 19, 6 and 0. He admitted on Wednesday that he was playing for his international future.Cook agreed with that view, but offered encouragement over his ability to perform under pressure.”It’s quite refreshing he has come out and said it in one way,” Cook said. “You are always under pressure playing for England because of the competition for places. People want to take his place. That is the nature of the beast.”We know he is a good player,” he added. “There’s no doubt about that, you see his record in first-class cricket over the past five years, he is right up there in the run-scorer’s chart. He made an important 80-odd in South Africa in tough conditions, he battled hard and set up that win, and he scored two hundreds already so he can play at this level.”He knows, like all of us, he is a score away and he will need a score. But this is a good place to do that.”Cook also said that the team management had discussed batting Moeen at No. 6 in the hope of coaxing more out of his batting. In the end, though, they decided to keep Bairstow one place ahead of him, with both moving up one position.”We did discuss leaving Jonny at seven,” Cook said. “I just thought that was a bit complicated; a bit funky.”I imagine it is hard for Mo, a guy who has batted at the top of the order ,to bat lower down and I don’t think we have seen the best of Mo’s batting. It’s an area where we can unlock a bit more. He has played some brilliant innings for us, those partnerships with Stuart Broad against Australia were devastating against high-quality bowling. He is a brilliant cricketer and I think he will get better and better.”

Ashley Giles’s disclosure at a Lancashire members forum that Andrew Flintoff is unlikely to play any cricket for Lancashire this season should surprise no one

Paul Edwards28-Apr-2015Ashley Giles’s disclosure at a Lancashire members forum that Andrew Flintoff is unlikely to play any cricket for Lancashire this season should surprise no one.The demands made on current players, even T20 specialists, are not easy to balance with a host of media appearances and the player himself said at the end of the Big Bash that he was struggling to square his many other commitments with the regimen of a professional sportsman.Even at Lancashire, the county represented with such distinction by that mighty trencherman Jack Simmons, chip-van tours and cricket no longer mix.Old Trafford coach Giles was already finding it difficult to contact Flintoff and had opted to send him texts, facts which scarcely suggest a very close relationship between the pair.Moreover, the player himself had been forthright in his criticism of his county during a winter in which a number of loyal servants, including Academy Director John Stanworth, had been made redundant. That might also have made a return to the staff pretty difficult.This summer Flintoff has a stand-up tour arranged in addition to his TV commitments and whatever other bookings and his representatives accept.Lancashire supporters will therefore have to content themselves with their memories of his three appearances in the 2014 NatWest T20 Blast, the last of which took place in the final at Edgbaston when his eight-ball 20 not out just failed to secure the trophy for his team.From there, there was a Big Bash season where Flintoff was a popular figure at Brisbane Heat but he made more of an impact as a commentator than a player and he conceded when it was all over that the end of the road was nigh.It is surely pretty unlikely that any other county will offer Flintoff a T20 contract, although the temptation to ask Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie whether he has considered the possibility may be too delicious to resist.

A sizzling counterattack by New Zealand captain Ross Taylor produced a high-speed century that was the spark that led to an improved display from the visitors on the opening day of the second Test against India

The Report by Sharda Ugra31-Aug-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRoss Taylor got to his hundred at over a run a ball•Associated Press

A sizzling counterattack by New Zealand captain Ross Taylor produced a high-speed century that sparked an improved display from the visitors on the opening day of the second Test against India. At stumps, New Zealand, who had elected to bat, were 328 for 6. Led by Taylor’s incandescent 113, New Zealand’s batsmen had, in the course of a single day, scored more runs than they had in both innings in Hyderabad.Play was stopped due to bad light and eventually called off for the day about half an hour before the scheduled close, the umpires offering light to the batsman after Umesh Yadav bowled half of his first over with the second new ball. Kruger van Wyk and Doug Bracewell strode off, van Vyk batting on a deftly engineered 63 and Bracwell on 30. The two had found themselves at the crease after Taylor’s departure, and within an hour had put on 82 for the seventh wicket.Taylor’s seventh Test century formed the bulk of the New Zealand batting effort. It was buffeted by two fifties, one by Martin Guptill at the top of the order which ended in dismay and the other by keeper van Wyk. It ensured that New Zealand could dismiss the innings and 115-run defeat in Hyderabad as a nightmare that need not be repeated.After the departure of New Zealand’s top three batsmen before lunch, Taylor let his aggression and intent take over. It was a fearless innings, the runs scored both robustly and in fine style. Taylor slog swept Ashwin for six before the lunch interval and when he returned, cranked the scoring up a gear. The India bowlers were hit all around the Chinnaswamy Stadium, with lusty slog sweeps, crisp straight drives and spanking shots through cover. New Zealand, or rather Taylor, was scoring at nearly seven runs an over in the hour after lunch. The hardworking Ojha was punished with four boundaries in his second over after lunch, Zaheer for two including a disdainful straight drive in his second spell, Ashwin was guided fine down to the boundary past leg slip. Taylor got to his century in 99 balls, cutting Ojha to the point boundary and two balls later, hit him down the ground for his second six over long-off.For a captain who had a miserable first Test – losing the toss, dropping catches in slip and scoring nine in two innings – Taylor’s innings on Friday was a more just exhibition of his batting abilities. On New Zealand’s miserable tour of the West Indies in July, it was Taylor who had scored the sole New Zealand century, in the fourth ODI in St Kitts. New Zealand’s previous Test century had come six months ago from Kane Williamson in a drawn Test against South Africa in Wellington.Taylor’s innings lit up the Bangalore crowd that grew through the day; his aggressive mode of batting had also been welcomed at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, when he had played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. The reception he received after his hundred against India, also, didn’t lack in either enthusiasm or warmth.

Smart stats

• Ross Taylor’s century is his seventh in Tests and his third against India. He is one among five New Zealand batsmen to score three Test centuries against India.

• Taylor’s strike rate of 88.97 during his knock of 113 is his second-highest for a fifty-plus score. It is also the fifth-highest strike rate for a visiting batsman in India (centuries only).

• The 107-run stand between Taylor and Daniel Flynn is the fourth-highest fourth-wicket stand for New Zealand against India. It is, however, their highest fourth-wicket stand in India.

• The 82-run stand between Kruger van Wyk and Doug Bracewell is the fifth-highest seventh-wicket stand for New Zealand in India.

• Pragyan Ojha, who picked up 4 for 90, became the first specialist Indian spinner to open the bowling in a Test. The last Indian spinner (non-regular spinner) to do so was ML Jaisimha in 1969.

• New Zealand’s run-rate at the end of 80 overs (3.95) is the fourth-highest for a visiting team in Tests in India. The highest (80-over run-rate) is Australia’s 4.28 in Nagpur in 2004 followed by Sri Lanka’s 4.11 in Mumbai (Brabourne) in 2009.

It was vital for New Zealand that their batting continued forcefully, after Martin Guptill had shaken off the early dismissal of Brendon McCullum in the morning. Guptill played the aggressor in his 63-run second-wicket stand with Kane Williamson. After being troubled by Ojha and dropped off Zaheer on 17, Guptill found his groove, his innings resolute in judgement and positive in strokeplay. He struck three boundaries off Yadav in a single over and two off Zaheer, including a cracking backfoot drive through extra cover. Less than half an hour before lunch though, Ojha pulled in the fielders, tossed one up and lured Guptill. It was the perfect bait: the ball didn’t turn, Guptill’s intended shot on the on-side ended up in Gautam Gambhir’s hands at midwicket. Despite India’s slow bowling tradition, Ojha was the first specialist India spinner to open the bowling in a Test match, and took four of the six New Zealand wickets to fall today.Taylor, who owned the second session, was out in the fifth over after tea, forced to sweep against Ojha with the off side plugged. The ball was tossed up and Ojha hit Taylor in front of off and middle. His innings of 113 off 127 balls had slowed down only at the fall of Daniel Flynn’s wicket, bringing to an end New Zealand’s biggest partnership on this tour: 107 runs for the fourth wicket. Flynn had hung on gamely over an hour for 33, but for the third time in three innings, was leg before trying to sweep Ashwin. The loss of James Franklin – he hit a full toss from Ojha to a diving Suresh Raina at midwicket – had New Zealand stuttering at 215 for 5.But inspired by Taylor’s bold batsmanship, the undefeated 82-run seventh-wicket partnership between van Wyk and Bracewell added 32 runs in five overs following the captain’s departure. Van Wyk’s was an innings almost patented by chirpy, pocket-sized keepers; he was only 12 when Taylor was out and took charge, happy to have the quicker bowlers bowling at one end. Zaheer Khan was guided past slips, van Wyk taking 13 off the 16 balls he faced off him, and the quick-but-struggling Yadav went for 14 runs in six balls, including two fours an over. The partnership took New Zealand past 300, but they will be sobered by the knowledge that in the previous Test held in Bangalore in 2010, Australia had scored over 400 in their first innings and still lost.

A round-up of the matches on the first day of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup in Karachi

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2011Abbottabad Falcons opened their Faysal Bank T20 Cup campaign with a dominant 72-run win over perpetual also-rans Quetta Bears. The victory was set up by opener Yasir Hameed’s maiden Twenty20 century, which propelled Abbottabad to the tall total of 190. Quetta bowled reasonably well in the first half of the innings, keeping Abbottabad to 74 for 2, but a 116-run unbroken stand for the third wicket between Hameed and Adnan Raees turned the game. Raees slammed 51 off 30 balls while Hameed’s 101 took him 65 deliveries. The Quetta chase lost steam early with the loss of opener Fareed-u-din in the second over. The other opener Bismillah Khan and the No. 3 Abid Ali both scored at below a run-a-ball when the asking rate was in excess of 10. When they were separated, Quetta were 72 in the 12th over, with the required rate above 14, which proved too tough a task for the remaining batsmen.The second game of the day followed a similar pattern to the first, with Lahore Lions piling on a big score that Hyderabad Hawks didn’t even look close to chasing. The Lahore openers laid the platform for the thumping 82-run win: Kamran Akmal was the initial aggressor, before Ahmed Shehzad joined in the rampage. The pair pummelled 116 in 12 overs, before an Umar Akmal cameo lifted the total to 194. Hyderabad’s openers began briskly but couldn’t maintain the tempo. By the 10th over, they were hopelessly behind, needing more than 12 an over, a rate which proved too much for the rest. Their lower order crumbled under the pressure to get quick runs and Hyderabad were bowled out for 112.Lahore Eagles kept their nerve in a frenetic final two overs to pip Karachi Zebras by two runs at the National Stadium in Karachi. The home side had the edge with seven balls to go, needing 11 runs with five wickets in hand. But Akbar-ur-Rehman was stumped off the bowling of Saad Nasim off the last ball of the 19th over to set up a tense final over. Anwar Ali managed seven runs from the first three balls and seemed to have taken the game away from Lahore, but he was run-out of the fourth ball of the over. With four needed from two balls, No.8 Farhan Iqbal took a single to leave Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria the task of getting the three runs needed for the win. Unfortunately for Karachi, Kaneria holed out to Hamza Paracha off the bowling of Emmad Ali to end the game and hand Lahore the victory.Lahore had made a quick start, with their openers adding 43 in 4.3 overs, but regular wickets stalled the innings before a flurry at the end – Junaid Zia made 22 from 12 balls and Ali Azmat an unbeaten 36 from 37 – took them to 143. That Karachi got so close was down to Hasan Raza and Faisal Iqbal, who added 95 for the third wicket before Rasa was run-out for 49. Faisal followed four runs later, caught of the bowling off Nasim for 47, to set up the thrilling finish.

Paul Stirling, the 20-year-old Ireland opener, played the innings of his life, smashing 177 from 134 deliveries to set up an easy win over Canada and tie the two-match ODI series

Cricinfo staff08-Sep-2010
Scorecard
Paul Stirling smashed a career-best 177 off 134 deliveries•Getty Images

Paul Stirling, the 20-year-old Ireland opener, played the innings of his life, smashing 177 from 134 deliveries to set up an easy win over Canada and tie the two-match ODI series in Toronto.Put in to bat, Ireland were given a strong start by Stirling and Andre Botha who added 91 in 12.4 overs. Stirling began hitting out in the third over, lofting and driving Harvir Baidwan for fours. He took medium-pacer Khurram Chohan’s fourth over for 14 runs, smashing him over long-on for six and then pulling and steering him for consecutive fours. He reached his fifty off 38 balls in the 12th over, guiding Balaji Rao behind point for four. Botha was dismissed in the next over for 28 and Canada managed to briefly rein in the scoring.Andrew Poynter and Stirling added 73 in 18.2 overs and by the time Poynter was dismissed, Stirling had moved to 96 off 90. A single off Chohan in the 34th over brought up his maiden List A hundred off 97 balls.Stirling warmed up for the Batting Powerplay by taking 14 runs in an over off left-arm spinner Parth Desai. Fifty-three runs came in the Powerplay, 38 of those from Stirling. Desai, who had bowled well in taking 1 for 31 in seven overs, went for 46 runs in his next three. With Stirling on 174 at the end of the 44th over, Sachin Tendulkar’s record ODI score was in some danger. However, Stirling hit a Baidwan full toss straight to point in the 45th over, after having struck 21 fours and five sixes. John Mooney’s late hitting took Ireland to an imposing 325.Canada rarely looked like keeping up with the asking rate, especially after being reduced to 34 for 2 in the eighth over. Despite a 79-run third-wicket stand between Ruvindu Gunasekera and captain Ashish Bagai, the run-rate hovered around five throughout the innings. Gunasekera top-scored again with 59 off 60 but he fell in the 24th over. Bagai followed in the 30th to make it 142 for 5, after which Canada needed a miracle.It wasn’t happening though, as offspinner Albert van der Merwe came up with a career-best performance of 5 for 49 and Canada were bowled out in the 47th over. Stirling was the deserving Player of the Match.

If not the remaining two Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests, then Australia’s visit to Sri Lanka will decide who meets South Africa at Lord’s in June 2025

S Rajesh29-Dec-2024

India

For India to be sure of qualifying, they need to win both their remaining Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Then they would finish on 60.53, which would be more than Australia’s 57.02 even if they were to win their upcoming two-Test series 2-0 in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s points ceiling for this cycle is 53.85 – a tally they would end up with if they were to sweep Australia at home.If India win one Test and draw the other, they’ll finish on 57.02; in such a case, they could lose out on the second spot to Australia, who would finish on 58.77 if they were to also win both Tests in Sri Lanka. For India to qualify with 57.02, Australia would need to get no more than 16 points in Sri Lanka (a win and a draw).A win and a defeat in Australia would put India on 55.26, which would leave them pinning their hopes on Sri Lanka beating Australia by at least a 1-0 margin.Two draws would leave India on 53.51. Sri Lanka can go past that with a 2-0 win, while Australia would need at least one win in Sri Lanka to beat it.If India draw a Test and lose the other they would finish on 51.75 and be out of the race; in such a case Australia would finish ahead of India even if they were to lose 2-0 in Sri Lanka.India still have plenty of work to do in Australia•AFP/Getty Images

Australia

If Australia were to win the Melbourne and Sydney Tests against India, they would be certain of qualifying for the WTC final – in such a case, they would finish on 57.02 even if they were to go on to lose 2-0 in Sri Lanka.A win and a draw against India would leave them ahead of India even if they were to lose both Tests in Sri Lanka, but then Sri Lanka could go past Australia with a clean sweep.If Australia were to win one and lose one against India, they would need at least one win in Sri Lanka to stay ahead in the race. The same applies if both Tests against India are drawn.If they were to draw one and lose the other against India, they would need two wins in Sri Lanka.Defeat in both Tests against India would push Australia out of contention.Sri Lanka cannot afford any more slips, and still need Border-Gavaskar Trophy results to go their way•Associated Press

Sri Lanka

The maximum Sri Lanka can finish on is 53.85, if they beat Australia 2-0. For that to be enough for a second-place finish, one of two scenarios have to play out in the remaining Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests:

• Both Melbourne and Sydney produce draws
• Australia win one of the two home Tests, while the other is drawn

In any other scenario, either Australia or India will finish higher than 53.85 and knock Sri Lanka out.

Sahan Arachchige has been called up as replacement as Theekshana will go for rehabilitation work

S Sudarshanan16-Sep-20232:29

Can Sri Lanka cope without Theekshana in final?

Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana has been ruled out of the final of the men’s Asia Cup against India because of a hamstring injury, but he will “definitely be ready” for the World Cup starting next month. Theekshana injured himself in Sri Lanka’s last-ball win against Pakistan.While captain Dasun Shanaka said Theekshana had a grade three injury, the chair of SLC’s medical committee said the bowler did not have a big tear and could have even been risked for the final on Sunday had a World Cup not been around the corner. The Sri Lanka selectors have, meanwhile, added Sahan Arachchige into the squad in place of Theekshana, who will return to the high performance centre to commence rehabilitation work.”The MRI scan is showing a tear – not a big tear,” Professor Arjuna de Silva, chair of SLC medical committee said. “Clinically Theekshana is okay though. He’s moving around and not feeling too much pain. He’ll definitely be ready for the World Cup. Actually if we didn’t have a World Cup coming up, we would have somehow tried to get him ready for tomorrow’s match. But we don’t want to take that risk. “Theekshana had hurt his right hamstring while sliding near the boundary against Pakistan on Thursday and was tended to by the physio. He still continued to bowl three more overs, hobbling to his bowling mark and seemingly dragged his right leg to the bowling crease as he ran in.He dished out a few half-trackers but was unlucky when an lbw appeal against Iftikhar Ahmed was not given. While he was getting his right hamstring attended to beyond the rope thereafter, he slammed the turf as the big screen returned three reds in the replays with ball-tracker after Sri Lanka decided against the review. He returned to bowl two more overs before being helped off the field.Sri Lanka could look to bring legspinner Dushan Hemantha into the XI in place of Theekshana for the final. Hemantha has so far played only two ODIs but is also a decent option with the bat with three first-class centuries and one List A hundred.With 31 wickets in ODIs, Theekshana is Sri Lanka’s most successful bowler in 2023. He is level with India’s Kuldeep Yadav and Nepal’s Karan KC and only Sandeep Lamichhane has more. With Wanindu Hasaranga already out of the Asia Cup with injury, Theekshana was key for Sri Lanka, especially since he also bowls with the new ball.Theekshana is now the latest in a long line of injured players for Sri Lanka, with fast bowlers Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara and Dilshan Madushanka all missing the Asia Cup in addition to Hasaranga.