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ScorecardIan Bell battled for more than two hours but could not prevent defeat•Getty Images

Ian Bell’s accession to the Warwickshire captaincy was not meant to turn out like this. Instead of an anticipated title challenge, he is now haunted by vague fears of relegation, unthinkable in April. Instead of an inspired return to the England side, he has made no immediate comeback to a deeply unimpressive England middle order and is so consumed by the job he has taken on late in his career that the runs are not coming easily.The Warwickshire captaincy was a childhood dream for Bell ever since he sprinted onto the outfield at Lord’s to celebrate the county’s 1993 NatWest Trophy win under the individualistic captaincy of Dermot Reeve. For a proven England player to return to the county ranks with ambitions so sharp, and good years still ahead, was something for Warwickshire to relish, but the job is proving an onerous one.Bell challenged Warwickshire to bat out the final day against Surrey – to chase 396 for victory, from 2 for 1 overnight, felt out of the question – but the day he called the biggest of the season fell Surrey’s way by 227 runs with 20 overs to spare. Surrey have passed Warwickshire in the table and have the look of an improving side with much to commend them. If either of the bottom two stir it is now Warwickshire and Durham who have most to fear.

Boys put their bodies on the line – Batty

Gareth Batty, the Surrey captain, praised his team commitment over the four days and especially their final-day efforts.
“It was a magnificent performance. I’ve just said to the boys in the dressing-room I couldn’t ask for any more from any individual which, from a captaincy point of view, is just a wonderful place to be.
“The boys have been absolutely magnificent for the last six weeks, today they were out there diving on a hard square and putting their bodies on the line. We are nearing that time of year where traditionally we are pretty good and we are showing it again. On the flatter pitches we are putting in some wonderful performances.”
Meanwhile Dougie Brown, Warwickshire’s director of cricket, was critical of his team’s batting.
“There were a number of soft dismissals today which we couldn’t afford as we were already behind the game due to our first-innings indiscipline. If you analyse the first five dismissals of our specialist batsmen today I think you would say there was ill-discipline attached to all of them. We need to find a way to apply all the things we do in practice in match-situations.”

At least Bell conceded his own wicket in most honourable fashion during a compelling duel with Gareth Batty, finally unpicked at short leg after making 32 in two-and-a-quarter stubborn hours, survival his only undertaking. He managed a couple of peaceful off-side drives, but the overriding image was of Bell under attack from an angry seagull as Batty squawked, flapped and smiled his way through his overs, finding substantial bounce and turn from a wearing final-day surface. This was surely the best 2 for 27 of the season, earned by 21 antagonistic overs. This has also been another excellent Edgbaston pitch.Surrey’s spin pair, Batty and Zafar Ansari, are both being monitored as potential England tourists in India and Bangladesh and they make a contrasting pair, not just because of offspin and slow left arm but in personality. Ansari has a stately stroll and flick back of floppy hair that smacks of old-time pedigree whereas Batty is waspish and combative, every grin – and he grins often when he is on top – the possible precursor to something more quarrelsome.Suggestions that a spinner fast heading towards his 39th birthday should add to his seven Tests, the last of them 11 years ago, naturally invite suspicion, but contenders are conspicuous by their absence and, if England opt for a specialist finger spinner then on this evidence Batty is better than anybody. That he would relish the challenge could be taken for granted.For the first 40 minutes of the morning, Bell’s call to arms was answered, but the loss of three wickets in six overs then told of a laborious day ahead. The nightwatchman Chris Wright backed up too far and Batty threw him out from mid-on with a celebratory speech of triumph. Varun Chopra, Bell’s predecessor, whose move to Essex has already been confirmed, edged Mark Footitt’s sixth ball of the innings to wicketkeeper Steven Davies. To lose Jonathan Trott, alongside whom Bell stood firm so often for England, was the biggest jolt of all, Stuart Meaker producing a good one to have him caught at the wicket.Three more wickets fell in the afternoon session, not just Bell, but Laurie Evans, who was forced back by Ansari and had his off-stump knocked out by one that turned. Rikki Clarke fell in the final over before tea, bowled as he offered no shot to Sam Curran. The tail succumbed easily enough after tea, the victory suitably confirmed by Batty when he had Oliver Hannon-Dalby lbw for nought, six Surrey bowlers taking wickets in a strong team display.Gareth Batty celebrates the wicket of Ian Bell•Getty Images

Bell was omitted by England after averaging barely 20 in his last 23 Test innings, nine of them single figures. The Warwickshire captaincy seemed a perfect challenge and he has thrown himself into it with gusto. He could have taken quite a narrow role, concentrating on making runs, changing fields and preserving energy to keep his England ambitions alive. Instead, his authority is strikingly wide for a captain. For a player who has not skippered since age-group cricket – apart from a stand-in appearance or two – it must be particularly burdensome.He is taking a central role in recruitment and was influential in the signing of Olly Stone from Northants, a bowler who – if he stays fit – can bring new verve to their attack. Warwickshire’s academy, too, must surely be something that troubles him because he came that way himself, but it has not produced a player of substance for Warwickshire since Chris Woakes a decade or so ago. To lose Woakes regularly now to England – a consummate professional who would naturally buy into his ideas – has been a deserved career progression for Woakes, but ill-timed for Bell as he seeks to implant his beliefs on a squad that is arguably too unwieldy and too set in its ways to respond in the way he wishes.

ScorecardSamit Patel helped Nottinghamshire to a lead•Getty Images

Just when it seemed summer had finally broken out, a blanket of cloud settled over Trent Bridge to enliven the day with a touch of spectator disgruntlement as umpires Alex Wharf and Martin Saggers called time on Neil Wagner’s attempt to prise out Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel through an exploration of old-fashioned leg theory.Bowling from the Pavilion End, the New Zealand fast bowler had aimed a series of short-pitched deliveries intended to cramp up Patel and positioned fielders in close catching positions on the leg side. The tactic was producing debatable benefits. Despite light gloomy enough to require the floodlights to be switched on, Patel had found the boundary twice in four deliveries with a couple of wristy flicks and didn’t appear to be in particular difficulty.Yet as the lights began to appear brighter against the greyness of the sky, a debate began in which the umpires offered Lancashire the usual option of continuing with slower bowlers only. This was declined and the players walked off to the noisy displeasure of the Radcliffe Road Upper, which was understandable given that they could see an hour’s potential play disappearing on a day mercifully free of rain.There should be no blaming the officials in these circumstances, though. They have a duty of care to the batsmen. What’s more, there had been a number of short-pitched balls from the Pavilion End that had failed to get up, including one that Wagner himself had inadvertently ducked into the night before.In the event, the players returned with only four overs lost of a second day that followed the pattern of the first after Lancashire’s first innings had ended with the 11th ball of the morning. Where the visitors had been 109 for 1 after the opening session on Sunday, Nottinghamshire were 120 for 1; at tea the home side were 212 for 4 compared with Lancashire’s 192 for 4.The crucial difference is that Nottinghamshire lost only one more wicket after tea and, with a lead of 27, a third batting point secured and Patel still with a batsman for company, have an opportunity to give themselves a margin to work with on the third dayLancashire, for their part, will feel they could have bowled better. After Imran Tahir’s top-spinner had trapped Matt Parkinson leg before to claim the final Lancashire wicket, Nottinghamshire openers Steven Mullaney and Jake Libby were able to progress as briskly as Tom Smith and Haseeb Hameed had at the corresponding stage of the Lancashire first innings. The two approached the task with a positive mindset from the outset, pouncing on anything wide or overpitched on a surface where the ball tended to sit up to be hit.Mullaney, pulling, had an escape on 33 when Parkinson spilled what should have been a straightforward catch on the square-leg boundary off Kyle Jarvis and Libby edged the next delivery between second and third slips. But Lancashire’s only breakthrough before lunch came when Mullaney bottom edged a cut shot against Jarvis into his stumps.Libby completed a half-century from 88 balls but Nottinghamshire’s batsmen proved no more capable than Lancashire’s of turning solid starts into substantial scores. The right-hander, who made his second first-class century during an early-season loan spell at Northamptonshire, had not added to his 54 at lunch when he feathered a catch to wicketkeeper Steven Croft off Neil Wagner.Lancashire bowled better lines in the afternoon but Nottinghamshire will feel nonetheless that there were some wasted opportunities. Greg Smith was beginning to strike the ball cleanly, pulling Jarvis for four but was leg before when the next delivery arrived fuller and straighter.Brendan Taylor could consider himself a little unfortunate. He launched a couple of huge sixes off Parkinson, a young legspinner who gives the ball some air and a good tweak, but got into a pickle against a short ball from Jordan Clark that was among those that climbed less than anticipated and was caught at short third man off something resembling his uppercut, although possibly an unintentional one.That wicket made the middle session Lancashire’s but although Michael Lumb was another who failed to build on a solid start, the partnership between Patel and Riki Wessels added 62 in what remained, with eight overs ultimately lost.

ScorecardRoss Whiteley’s blitz won it for Worcestershire [file picture]•Getty Images

Worcestershire Rapids kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the NatWest T20 quarter-finals with a five wicket victory over local rivals Birmingham Bears after some explosive hitting from Ross Whiteley.The Rapids ended a run of five successive defeats in completed matches and completed a double over their neighbours to retain the Norman Gifford Trophy.Some explosive hitting by Ross Whiteley enabled the Rapids to reach their 165 target with four balls to spare.He showed the form which brought him 29 sixes in last season’s competition in smoting an unbeaten 42 off 20 balls with four sixes and three fours.Now the Rapids must now defeat Derbyshire Falcons in their final North Group match and hope other results go their way if they are to reach a fourth quarter-final in five years.In contrast, Birmingham’s colossal collapse when baqtting meant they have now lost three matches in a row in the competition to undermine their own hopes of a last eight spot.Dougie Brown, Birmingham’s director of cricket, said: “It wasn’t a case of the game drifting away. We were masters of our own demise again. We were last week as well. We lost eight wickets for 19 runs from a real position of authority.”Worcestershire were immediately on the back foot as they lost three wickets inside the first four overs.Tom Kohler-Cadmore clipped Rikki Clarke into the hands of deep mid wicket, Joe Clarke played on to Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Joe Leach sliced Recordo Gordon to backward point.Brett D’Oliveira, who this week earned his first England Lions call-up, and skipper Daryl Mitchell tried to repair the damage as their half century stand came up in seven overs.The Rapids needed 95 off the final 10 overs and Mitchell targeted the first over from Aaron Thomason to increase the tempo, striking two sixes as the all-rounder conceded 19 overs.The return to the attack of Clarke ended a stand worth 76 in nine overs as D’Oliveira skied a comfortable catch to Josh Poysden at backward square leg.Mitchell reached his half-century off 29 balls with two sixes and four fours but Clarke also brought about his downfall on 61 as he drilled a catch to Sam Hain at mid off. But then Whiteley moved into overdrive with support from Ben Cox to turn ther game in ther Rapids favour.Birmingham appeared to be heading for a score in excess of 200 after reaching 120 for 1 in the 12th over.But a dramatic collapse saw nine wickets fall for just 35 runs and the Bears were bowled out for 164 in 19.3 overs.Australian wicket-keeper Matthew Wade led the initial onslaught for the visitors in his second T20 appearance for the Bears.He raced to a half century off just 23 balls with the aid of three successive sixes over long on off spinner D’Oliveira in an over costing 25 runs.Wade and Sam Hain plundered 103 in just nine overs for the second wicket. But the Rapids struck back once Wade, having made 74 off 32 deliveries, was caught by Rhodes at long-on off Ed Barnard.Rhodes then came into the attack and in his second over picked up three wickets as Laurie Evans, Hain (46) and Clarke all perished to the off spinner.Ateeq Javid was run out attempting a second run in the next over from Rhodes before Mitchell pulled off a fine one-handed catch at mid wicket to account for Jeetan Patel.Rhodes finished 4 for 13 from three overs in only his second T20 appearance before Henry polished off the innings with two wickets in his final over of his current spell at New Road.

Batsman Lahiru Thirimanne has left Sri Lanka’s ongoing tour of England after sustaining a lower-back strain, which restricted his movement. Wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella, who was in England already with the A team, has joined the national squad as Thirimanne’s replacement. Thirimanne played all three Tests, but had not played in the ODIs – against Ireland or England – on the tour.Angelo Mathews and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal are nursing hamstring injuries, but have been named in the XI for the third ODI in Bristol. An SLC statement said seam-bowling allrounder Farveez Maharoof is also “sporting an injury to his left hand”, though he too continues to play.Dickwella had been in Sri Lanka’s Test squad, but did not play a game. He has played one ODI – in India in 2014 – four Tests and three T20 internationals.

Guernsey left-arm spinner Max Ellis teamed with Thomas Kirk at first slip for four dismissals on the way to bowling out Nigeria for 99, setting up a ten-wicket win at St Saviour on Tuesday. Kirk also claimed another catch at slip for medium pacer Luke Nussbaumer to take five grabs in a stellar individual fielding effort. All ten wickets for Nigeria were either bowled, lbw or caught between first slip and gully as they lasted just 34 overs after choosing to bat first on a sunny and cloud-free morning.It could’ve been even worse for Nigeria with No. 3 batsman Salako Abdulazeez put down on nought by wicketkeeper Jason Martin, diving to his left across Kirk to spill a one-handed effort in the third over off Newey. Abdulazeez wound up making 20, one of three players to reach double-figures while three deliveries down the leg side that went to the boundary for five wides were part of Guernsey’s 22 extras conceded, joint second-highest score of the innings behind opener Joshua Ayannaike’s 26.Ellis entered in the 18th over and struck with his fourth ball, clipping the edge of Leke Oyede for 3 and continued to rip out the middle and lower order to finish with figures of 4 for 9 in nine overs including five maidens. It followed on from Nussbaumer’s incisive spell that wiped out the top order and resulted in 3 for 13 off four overs.Matthew Stokes and GH Smit began cautiously in pursuit of the target, especially after both were dropped in the slips on 9 and 1 respectively inside the first six overs off opening bowlers Okpe Issac and Chimezie Onwuzulike. They were going at barely above three an over through the first 12 before Stokes started to come out of his shell with a pair of sweeps to the square leg boundary against spinner Sesan Adedeji in an 11-run over to take the score to 48 after 13.Smit cracked three boundaries in the 16th and Stokes did the same in the 18th to take the score to 98. A sliced two past gully five balls into the 19th by Smit ended proceedings ahead of the scheduled lunch interval as Smit finished on 38 with six fours while Stokes walked off unbeaten on 48 with eight boundaries. Stokes has 126 runs so far in three innings at this tournament and has been dismissed just once.Hosts Jersey defeated Tanzania by 85 runs at St Clement behind an unbeaten century and two wickets from left-arm spinning allrounder Ben Stevens. Jersey captain Peter Gough opted to bat first at the toss and struck 47 in an 87-run opening stand with Nat Watkins before making way for Stevens in the 18th over. Stevens teamed with Cornelis Bodenstein and later Corey Bisson for a pair of half-century stands on the way to making 103 not out off 88 balls.The left-hander brought up his first fifty off 61 balls – with his fourth boundary in the 42nd over – then accelerated dramatically to club 51 off his next 27 deliveries, with only four dot balls in that stretch. On 93 at the start of the final over, Stevens struck his third six and then followed it with a two to bring up three figures as Jersey ended on 273 for 5.Tanzania posted their highest score of the tournament so far in reply, batting out all 50 overs to end on 188 for 8, but scoring at three per over through the first 35 overs they were never a serious chance of overhauling the target especially once star allrounder Kassim Nassoro fell to Ben Kynman for a top score of 42 to make it 106 for 5.Stand-in captain Shaheed Dhanani, deputizing for the omitted Hamisi Abdallah, also made 42 before being bowled by Charles Perchard, one of two wickets for the medium pacer in the final over of the match.At St Martin, Oman cantered to victory over Vanuatu by nine wickets with 9.2 overs to spare. Zeeshan Maqsood followed up his half-century against Jersey on Monday with an unbeaten 130 off 138 balls to spearhead the chase of Vanuatu’s respectable total of 204 for 7 after the Pacific islanders opted to bat first.Vanuatu did themselves no favours in the field though, dropping Maqsood twice in the slips in the opening three overs off Nalin Nipiko and Callum Blake before the allrounder had reached 15. They entered the day already behind the eight ball with leading pace bowler Patrick Matautaava ruled out with a left quadriceps injury and things got worse later on when Nipiko, who took the new ball in Matautaava’s place, walked off halfway through the innings with a left groin injury. Both Matautaava and Nipiko remain in doubt for Vanuatu’s final two fixtures against Tanzania and Nigeria.Earlier, Nipiko made a valiant unbeaten 93 off 108 balls, but Vanuatu struggled to maintain momentum – their best partnership was 44 runs for the fifth and eighth wickets – with Oman’s attack taking wickets at regular intervals at the opposite end. Rajeshkumar Ranpura took 2 for 37 to lead the attack with Munis Ansari having a rest day following his career-best 5 for 27 against Jersey.Tuesday’s results moved Guernsey to 3-0 and they’ll take on 2-1 Jersey on Wednesday at St Martin in a pivotal showdown that could determine promotion berths for Division Four a day ahead of the end of the group stage. Wins by Guernsey and Oman, who face Tanzania at St Saviour, would clinch promotion to Division Four for both sides.A Jersey victory over Guernsey though could leave the door open for a three-way tie between the three sides at 4-1 if Guernsey goes on to defeat Oman on the last day of group play paired with a Jersey win over Nigeria. In such a scenario, the tiebreaker to decide the two teams promoted would be decided by net run rate. After three rounds of play, Guernsey holds a +0.141 advantage over Oman and a +1.099 advantage over Jersey. Vanuatu and Tanzania sit at 0-3 and have already been eliminated from contention for promotion while Nigeria at 1-2 is also a threat of being relegated.

Mumbai Indians’ third IPL title was a product of a united group combining teamwork with intelligence, their captain Rohit Sharma believes, and this was best exemplified by their plucky one-run win over Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 final on Sunday night. While Mumbai’s earlier title wins in 2013 and 2015 were driven by strong individual performances, Rohit took pride in how the latest conquest was achieved by a collective assault.”I personally feel it is how you prepare at the start of the tournament – getting your combinations right and going on to the field is the most critical part of winning the tournament,” Rohit said. “Individual brilliance can win you a few games, but what is required to win this championship is team unity, team work and intelligence.”We spoke about it at the start of the tournament. If you look at the first two titles we won, we probably had one batsman in the top five [leading run-getters]. We didn’t have [even] one batsman in the top-five this time which is a little bit sad, but that goes to show that different individuals have come up at different times and taken up responsibility. That is the hallmark of this team, especially this year.”We’ve never relied on one individual to win us the game. Today was the perfect example. The bowling unit came in together. Again, we have got a few youngsters, a few inexperienced players and a few legends in our bowling unit. It was a combination of both, and we gelled quite nicely. We mixed it up nicely.”In their previous two finals, Mumbai set a target and let the bowlers do their thing. So when Rohit elected to bat on Sunday night, they were merely sticking to a tried and tested template.”In a big game, it’s good to put runs on the board,” he said. “The history at this place is such that there have been 200 runs scored in an innings and also just 140. So if you don’t bat well, you won’t make a big target.” There was acknowledgement in the team talk at the halfway mark that, with 130, they had given themselves only a below-par total to defend. But, that wouldn’t deflate their morale.”I don’t think we applied ourselves too well. Our target was between 140 and 160. If we had tried to overreach to 180, then you could’ve been bowled out for 120,” Rohit said. “So our talk was that we try and make 140 so we may even get to 160. One-hundred and sixty on this wicket would’ve been a match-winning score, as you saw.”When you are playing on a slow pitch, it’s important to believe you can defend any target when you are fielding. So that was the talk when we came into the change room after our poor batting display. We spoke about how we played our last game against one of the better batting units in the tournament – KKR – and bowled them out for 105 [107]. Why can’t we do it here? The guys knew the challenge but they rose to the occasion”.Mumbai’s defence began in nervy fashion with a few fielding lapses. The most glaring mistake was made by Krunal Pandya, who fluffed a simple chance offered by Ajinkya Rahane, who was then on 14, at short extra-cover in the fourth over. Rahane went on to make 44. Rohit said the team had to regroup at the first strategic time-out and address the anxiety. The message was simple: don’t overreach, just force the batsmen to make mistakes.”When you are defending such a low target, it’s so important for the fielders to try and create some magic – taking a brilliant catch or stopping those crucial runs,” Rohit said. “We spoke about it in the change room that we wanted to add 20 runs extra with our fielding. But yeah, the first ten overs we were a little sloppy in the field.”These things can happen, sometimes you are so nervous you try and overdo it. [During] the break we had after six overs, we just got together and asked everyone to be calm. You can’t come and play your shots; it’s such a slow wicket. We always had that belief that things can change anytime.”We had to stay in the game for 20 overs. [It] didn’t matter if they create a partnership for 10 overs or whatever, we wanted to stay in the game. One wicket here and there and things can change. And that’s exactly what happened. We squeezed in and spinners came in and bowled those dot balls, created pressure, which made them play big shots. That’s where they made mistakes.”Rohit Sharma: ‘We always knew we had a great backup in Johnson’•BCCI

One of the key architects of Mumbai’s successful night with the ball was Mitchell Johnson. Entrusted with defending 10 runs off the last over, Johnson conceded four runs off the first ball but hit back with the wickets of Manoj Tiwary and Pune captain Steven Smith off successive deliveries. With four required to win off the last ball, Johnson held his nerve.”Mitchell McClenaghan, who was playing well for us, was injured and unfortunately he couldn’t find a place in the finals, but we always knew we had a great backup in Johnson, who is again a proven customer,” Rohit said. “He has done it for Australia and Mumbai as well. He has been in this atmosphere as well. I could happily rely on him when I needed him the most. The last over was very crucial. Steven Smith was set, batting really well. So is Dan Christian, he has played against him on many occasions.Rohit also lauded the Pandya brothers – Krunal and Hardik – for contributing in every facet of the game. While Hardik has played the finisher’s role and scored 250 runs at a strike rate of 156.25, Krunal has clicked with both bat and ball in the tournament. He made 243 runs from 11 innings with the bat and picked up 10 wickets while being the team’s second most economical bowler behind Harbhajan Singh. In the final, it was his 38-ball 47 that nudged Mumbai towards a decent total following which he bowled a typically tight spell of left-arm spin.”I think both Pandya brothers have something special in them,” Rohit said. “When you see them on the field, they are so excited to play the game. They want to contribute in some or the other way. It’s just not about bowling or batting; they contribute in fielding as well which is such a critical part in this format.”Krunal has become mature now. Last year he was nervous to start with. Now he knows he is a core member of the squad. He just goes out and plays freely. He has got no pressure. Of course, if you drop the catch, there is a chance of coming back and bowling a good over. That’s exactly what he did.”

Ishan Kishan is focused on the present, and wants to enjoy every opportunity he gets, irrespective of the level he is playing in.He’s currently captaining Jharkhand in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy, and began with a back-to-the-wall century, his ninth in first-class cricket, to rescue his side after the top order wobbled against Tamil Nadu on a greenish surface in Coimbatore.Kishan ended the opening day unbeaten on 125, having faced 183 deliveries. This helped Jharkhand end strongly on 307 for 6, with the pair of Kishan and Sahil Raj having added an unbroken 150-run stand for the seventh wicket.Related

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“At this stage, I need to be very smart,” he said after the day’s play to . “You need to understand the importance of the Ranji Trophy. You need to understand the importance of these matches when you play against big teams.”Kishan walked out to bat at No. 5, with Jharkhand in trouble at 79 for 3 just after lunch. He buckled down for a better part of the next two sessions, shelving the big hits for a large part. That he hit only two sixes in his innings is some indication of the restraint he showed.”You make so many mistakes initially in your career and then later you realise the real meaning of experience,” he said. “You have to be in the middle and only then you can change the game.”I was checking the wind when the left-arm spinner was bowling. I really wanted to go hard against him. But looking at the scoreboard, six wickets down did not feel right for me. I did it [bat with caution] once in the Irani Cup and here in the Ranji Trophy, where I’m the experienced and the only India player in the team, my job was to ensure we were batting at stumps.”I was actually wanting to go for sixes. But the situation demanded otherwise. This comes with experience. When you play enough matches, you understand sometimes that singles are more important than sixes and over a period of time, your mindset changes. A partnership was important to make their bowlers tired.”Kishan has had a decent build-up to the season. After a short county stint with Nottinghamshire, where he hit 77 and 87 in two innings, he was in line to be recalled to the India squad for the fifth Test against England at The Oval as a cover after Rishabh Pant’s injury.However, Kishan suffered bruises from an e-bike accident in the UK around the same time. Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan was eventually picked as cover, with Dhruv Jurel as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in Pant’s absence. Upon his full recovery, Kishan featured for Rest of India in the Irani Cup earlier this month, prior to the start of the Ranji season.”Whenever I go in with a target, I just do very badly,” Kishan said. “I just do something which is not important. So let’s not keep any target this season. Just keep on batting. If you are in the middle, you will get as many runs as you want. That’s the only goal for me.”

Hampshire were bowled out for 226 in just 71.3 overs after being asked to bat first on a challenging Hove pitch on the opening day of their championship match against Sussex. That left Sussex to face 22 overs and by the close they had reached 42 for three as Hampshire fought their way back into the match.Not for the first time the Hampshire innings was held together by their captain Ben Brown, once a very popular player in Sussex colours. But even Brown needed some good fortune on his way to a 129-ball 71, and he was dropped behind by opposite number John Simpson off the bowling of Sean Hunt when he had scored just 18.At the start of the day just 15 points separated the teams between fifth and ninth places. And both Hampshire, in fifth position, and Sussex, just two points behind, started the match in search of reassuring, anti-relegation points.Hampshire, who made four changes, bringing in Ali Orr, Toby Albert, Bjorn Fortuin and Keith Barker, reached a diffident 81 for three at lunch against a rejigged Sussex seam attack which welcomed back Olli Robinson, Jaydev Unadkat and Sean Hunt.Sussex, who had lost their two most recent championship games by an innings, broke through in the sixth over when Fletcha Middleton, driving at a wide delivery from Unadkat, edged behind. It was 47 for two in the 14th over when former Sussex opener Orr clipped Hunt to short leg where Oli Carter took a very sharp catch, low down. And Robinson picked up his first wicket in his livelier second spell when, bowling over the wicket to the left-handed Nick Gubbins, he straightened one to have the batsman lbw.After the break the Hampshire batsmen found the going no easier on a rather sticky surface. The pitch – being used for the first time this season for a championship match – did not encourage strokeplay. Albert pulled left-armer Hunt through midwicket to bring up the hundred in the 35th over but when he attempted a similar stroke against Robinson he gloved the ball to slip.Tom Prest also perished as he attempted to be positive, clipping Fynn Hudson-Prentice to Daniel Hughes at midwicket. Fortuin played himself in but when he jumped down the wicket to drive Jack Carson through the on-side he was through the stroke too soon and chipped it back to the bowler.Hampshire put all their eggs in Brown’s basket, and the batsman gathered his runs with sweeps and nudges, mostly on the leg-side. But when he swept Carson for a single to reach his half-century it had taken him 105 deliveries. From 119 for five Brown led his side to partial recovery, but once he was eighth out at 215, sweeping Carson to square-leg, Hampshire’s resistance was broken.Conditions were no easier when Sussex batted. Tom Haines edged Kyle Abbott waist-high to second slip and Carter was bowled by a nip-backer from Keith Barker. Shortly before the close, James Coles, driving loosely, dragged a delivery from James Fuller onto his stumps.

Dhaka Metropolis thumped Rajshahi Division by ten wickets to start the NCL with successive wins. Left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan took career-best figures of 8 for 56 in the second innings, and combined with young left-arm quick Maruf Mridha, who had bagged 6 for 22 in the first, to sink Rajshahi.Asked to bat first, Rajshahi were bowled out for 77, with No. 10 Mohor Sheikh top-scoring with 19, as Mridha, Abu Haider and Anisul Islam Emon shared the ten wickets.Dhaka Metropolis replied with 233, as Shamsur Rahman, playing his 150th first-class match, top-scored with 64. Rajshahi were then shot out for 166, as Rakibul ran through their line-up. Dhaka Metropolis then got the required 14 runs in 2.1 overs.Pinak Ghosh’s unbeaten 62 led Sylhet Division to a six-wicket win against Chattogram Division in a low-scoring game. The left-hander took only 81 balls to get his runs in the 220-run chase, guiding Sylhet to their first win this season. The hosts reached the target in 40.1 overs, with Tawfique Khan also hitting a fifty.Earlier, Sylhet had fallen behind by 46 runs after they were bowled out for 152 in reply to Chattogram’s 198 in the first innings. Yasir Ali contributed the most runs for Chattogram as he scored 73, and that was followed by Ifran Hossain’s five-wicket haul. which kept Sylhet under pressure. Chattogram, however, couldn’t build on the first-innings lead, as they were bowled out for 173 in their second dig. Nayeem Ahmed and Rejaur Rahman took three wickets each for Sylhet.File photo: Ashiqur Rahman got his maiden first-class century•ICC/Getty Images

Ashiqur Rahman’s maiden first-class century helped Dhaka Division play out a draw against Rangpur Division at the BKSP ground. After rain wiped out the first day’s play, Rangpur were bowled out for 253 in the first innings. Left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam took four wickets for Dhaka Division.Ashiqur then struck ten fours and five sixes in his score of 129 off 186 balls. He added 204 for the second wicket with Joyraz Sheik, who made 87. Dhaka Division, however, slipped from 303 for 3 at one stage to be eventually bowled out for 327. Rangpur batted out the remaining 101 overs of the game, reaching 165 for 7 before it was called a draw. The veteran Naeem Islam stuck around for nearly five hours for his 75.Rain forced a draw between Khulna Division and Barishal Division in Khulna. Batting first, Khulna saw Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Amit Majumder and Mahedi Hasan score fifties, as they declared at 408 for 9. Soumya’s rough reaction after being run-out due to a mix-up with Anamul became a talking point during the game. He threw the bat as he shouted at Anamul for the calling.In reply, Abdul Mazid struck his 13th first-class century as Barishal finished on 287 for 3. Mazid struck 15 boundaries in his nearly six-hour stay at the wicket.

A young Indian side outgunned an experienced Bangladesh to start off the three-T20I series. Two debutants in their XI, only three men retained from the side that won the T20 World Cup earlier this year, but India were too good for Bangladesh, who wore the same look of the side from the World Cup.From the moment they lost Litton Das to a slog in the first over, Bangladesh never really looked like they had the batting for the Gwalior pitch with slightly uneven bounce and an accurate Indian attack. After Arshdeep Singh’s early strikes, Mayank Yadav started his international career with a maiden over before the returning Varun Chakravarthy scythed through the middle overs. Chasing a paltry 128, a dominant India got home with 49 balls to spare.

Arshdeep on the money

Leader of the attack, fast approaching the top of wickets chart for India, Arshdeep started on the money with just enough swing to keep the young Parvez Hossain Emon, one of the few new players tried by Bangladesh, honest. Das then opened the face for a four first ball, which led to short third going back and a fielder on the leg side coming up. He looked to play the field second ball only to be defeated by the angle of it. In his second over, Arshdeep had Parvez, who had whipped Hardik Pandya for a six, playing on. Bangladesh 14 for 2 in 2.1 overs.

Pace and mystery

Already behind the game, the combination of Mayank and Varun, high pace and mystery spin, was hardly the ideal one to force the pace against. Bangladesh’s only hope was ring rust: this was the first time Mayank was playing any competitive cricket since his injury during the IPL, and Varun was coming back to the India XI after three years. Neither of them was rusty.Varun Chakravarthy showed no ring rust on T20I return•BCCI

Varun created an opportunity second ball, but the other debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy lost the ball in the floodlights of the debuting stadium in Gwalior. Mayank bowled the last over of the powerplay, becoming the third man to start his India T20I career with a maiden. The other two are the current chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, who has fast-tracked Mayank, and Arshdeep.Soon the duo was rewarded with a wicket each. Towhid Hridoy, the beneficiary of the earlier drop, pulled Varun straight to long-on, and Mahmudullah spooned Mayank to deep point. They really didn’t have many options but to play these low-percentage shots as the runs were hardly coming.Varun continued to be incomprehensible, doing Jaker Ali in on the inside edge and Rishad Hossain on the outside.

No kick at the death

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was forced to play the anchor role, but even he fell to the introduction of the offspin of Washington Sundar, who denied him room and had him caught and bowled. Mehidy hasan Miraz prolonged the innings, but there was no impact to be had against the accuracy of Arshdeep, Pandya and Mayank at the death.Mehidy Hasan Miraz made 35 off 32 balls•Associated Press

None of the last seven overs yielded double figures as the wickets kept falling. Arshdeep ended the innings with the off and middle stumps splayed with a pinpoint yorker. He is now India’s fifth-most prolific T20I wicket-taker with 86 scalps, hot on the heels of the leader Yuzvendra Chahal at 96.

India end it in a hurry

The hosts were not going to be satisfied with just a win. They wanted a big win. Sanju Samson, with another shot at opening the innings in the absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, got off to a great start with two boundaries driven either side of the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Abhishek Sharma was less touch and more power as he took Taskin Ahmed down for a six and two fours in the second over. Almost as though he was on an adrenalin rush, he ran himself out looking for a non-existent single.India, though, continued to leave Bangladesh helpless. Samson kept driving down the ground while Suryakumar Yadav manufactured shots behind the wicket. The result was India’s best powerplay against Bangladesh in T20Is: 71, which is just the fourth-highest they have conceded in powerplays. His dismissal in the final over of the powerplay didn’t slow India down although Samson will be disappointed he fell to a hoick the first ball of offspin he faced. Both of them scored quick 29s.Pandya, 39 off 16, continued to have his way with Bangladesh, topping the chase with a no-look ramp over the keeper’s head.