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The opening batter leaves South Australia after eight years

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2023Jake Weatherald will look to make a fresh start to his state career after moving to Tasmania on a two-year deal from South Australia.Weatherald, 28, did not play for South Australia since last December having stepped away from the game to manage his mental health early in the BBL.”I’m really excited and grateful to the Tigers for this opportunity,” Weatherald said. “I’m obviously also incredibly thankful to South Australian cricket for giving me my start and my initial opportunity, but I’m looking forward to embracing a new environment and continuing to learn so I can continue to grow my game in the coming years.””I’m 28 and think I still have the opportunity to take my game to another level, so I’m looking forward to getting that journey underway in Hobart shortly.”Weatherald has scored 3837 first-class runs at 34.25 with nine centuries – including one in what became his last appearance for South Australia which came against Tasmania – alongside 1383 List A runs at 36.89 and strike-rate of 91.16.He will remain with Adelaide Strikers in the BBL where he has two more years on his contract.At Tasmania he will add to the team’s top-order options which includes Australia A duo of Caleb Jewell and Tim Ward.”We’re really excited about securing Jake’s services for at least the next two years,” Jeff Vaughan, Tasmania’s head coach, said. “It was a really great opportunity that came to us during the contracting period that can only be seen as win-win for both parties.””We think Jake can bring some valuable experience and cricket IQ to our top order across both the white- and red-ball formats of the game but is also at an age where he can continue to develop his game and improve.”Tim Nielsen, SACA’s head of performance, thanked Weatherald for his eight years with the state.”Jake has been a big contributor to Redbacks cricket for many years and we thank him for all his efforts,” he said.”Jake identified a fresh start as an important part of his career moving forward and SACA are supportive of this new, exciting opportunity in front of him.”The most important thing for Jake is that he is happy, healthy and playing cricket and we hope this new chapter goes well for him.”Earlier this month South Australia secured left-arm quick Spencer Johnson on a three-year deal, fighting off interest from Queensland for the bowler who is gaining interesting from the national selectors.South Australia, along with the other states, will confirm their full lists for the 2023-24 season in the coming weeks.

Virat Kohli feels he is playing his “best T20 cricket again”, following his back-to-back IPL tons

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2023Virat Kohli feels he is playing his “best T20 cricket again”, having scored back-to-back hundreds at the end of the league stage of IPL 2023, and helped Royal Challengers Bangalore to 197 for 5 in their must-win game against Gujarat Titans. Kohli’s unbeaten 101 off 61 balls steered RCB, especially in the last six overs of the innings, after they were 133 for 5; he put together 64 runs off the last 34 balls with Anuj Rawat to give his side a formidable total.When asked by Ravi Shastri after the innings how he’d felt at the crease, Kohli said: “Ya, I felt great. A lot of people feel my T20 cricket is declining, but I don’t feel like that at all. I feel I am playing my best T20 cricket again. I’m just enjoying myself, this is how I play T20 cricket. I look to hit gaps, hit a lot of boundaries and the big ones in the end if the situation allows me to.”Strike rates, all those kind of things like I said in the past as well… You have to read the situation and rise up to the occasion when the situation demands, and that’s something I take a lot of pride in doing, and I’ve been doing it for a while now. I feel really good with my game at the moment and how I’m batting out there in the middle.”Kohli overtook his former RCB team-mate Chris Gayle for most centuries in the IPL and became the third batter to score consecutive hundreds in the IPL after Shikhar Dhawan (2020) and Jos Buttler (2022). Later in the night, Shubman Gill too joined that club.Kohli and Faf du Plessis gave RCB a rapid start with an opening stand of 67 in 7.1 overs before RCB lost three wickets – including those of du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell – to Titans’ spinners in the space of 13 balls.”Spin wasn’t easy to get away and I think the strength of a lot of our fast bowlers is also taking pace off,” Kohli said of the score they finished on and the conditions. “There’s enough in this pitch for our bowlers to make a dent through the [chase], and hitting big shots as you saw in the middle overs wasn’t as easy when the field spread out. So you have to hit a lot of gaps and run twos. If we can cut down those boundaries and now allow them to run twos from those gaps, then it’ll be a very difficult chase.”But Gill’s unbeaten 104 off 52 made sure that was not the case, knocking RCB out of the tournament as Titans chased down their target in 19.1 overs.”Obviously very disappointed,” du Plessis said after the game. “You get to the last game of the campaign, you want to make sure you get through. But we played a very strong team tonight, Shubman Gill played an amazing innings to get a hundred. We were a little bit off in one or two areas and when you are playing a team like this, they will capitalise on it.”The conditions were really wet in the second innings but I think it was also wet in the first innings with a lot of moisture from the rain [which delayed the start by 55 minutes]. So we changed the ball three times, there wasn’t a lot of grip in the second innings. But I thought 195 was a good score, Virat played an unbelievable knock to give us a chance, but we needed that wicket of Shubman to feel like we were really in the game.”One of the biggest positives for RCB this season was the opening partnership of Kohli and du Plessis. The pair added 939 runs in 14 innings, equalling Kohli and AB de Villiers’ record of most runs by a pair in a T20 tournament, set in IPL 2016.”He [Kohli] has played really good cricket throughout the season,” du Plessis said, “and as a partnership, I think there was not one game where we didn’t score 40 for the opening stand [they failed to add 40 in four out of 14 innings]. So that was really pleasing for both of us that we got the team off to a really good start. But it just shows you Virat has got a lot left in the tank in T20 cricket; he is playing really well still.”

The India coach thinks his side conceded too much ground too quickly on day one, putting them irreversibly behind in their bid to secure the Test mace

Shashank Kishore11-Jun-20232:12

What’s ailing India’s batters?

India head coach Rahul Dravid was point-blank in his assessment that the 469 they conceded after electing to bowl on a “green wicket” put India on the back foot. It meant playing catch up for the rest of the WTC final at The Oval.”It wasn’t a 469 wicket,” Dravid told Star Sports, after Australia wrapped up a 209-run victory. “On the first day, last session, conceding 157 [for no wicket] was disappointing. We knew the lines and lengths we needed to bowl; the lengths weren’t bad, but we went wide with our lines, gave a lot of room to Travis Head, he capitalised and we fell behind.”That said, Dravid also rued India’s dismissals late on the fourth day in a chase of 444. Rohit Sharma was out sweeping Nathan Lyon, Cheteshwar Pujara out to an attempted ramp and Shubman Gill caught in the gully to a contentious catch that elicited widespread debate.Related

• Shastri: You've got to miss IPL to have 20 days of prep for WTC final

• Rohit: 'There was no lapse of concentration; we wanted to bat in a different way'

• Cummins: 'Test matches are our favourite format. This win has got to be right up there'

• 'Why cannot it be March?' – Rohit questions WTC final scheduling and venue

• Boland breaks India's resistance as Australia claim WTC title

“Yesterday I felt on this wicket, we played three-four shots, we could’ve been a bit careful,” Dravid said. “It was tough, [but] there was hope. However far behind you are, you always fight. In the two years, we’ve had situations where we’ve been behind but have made comebacks.”The good thing was we were behind for two days in this Test but didn’t give up and fought well. We needed an exceptional performance, a big partnership [on the final day]. We had the players, but they [Australia] had the upper hand, they bowled well, got a couple of wickets and it can happen.”

Why did India choose to bowl in the WTC final?

Asked about India’s decision to bowl first, Dravid said overhead conditions played a big role in that. As it turned out, barring the first hour, the rest of the Test was played in glorious sunshine with temperatures touching 30 degrees C on the fourth and fifth days.Most of this WTC final was played in glorious sunshine•Associated Press

“In the [first] morning, there was a lot of grass, the overhead conditions were cloudy and, in England, we felt batting gets easier – even on the fourth and fifth day, there wasn’t much happening,” Dravid said. “Lot of teams win the toss and field. At 70 [76] for 3, we felt it was a good decision, but the complexion of the game changed in the two sessions after that.”Had we restricted them to 300-odd, it would’ve been a good score, we would’ve still been in the game, and it would’ve been a tight third and fourth innings. It’s one of those things in England. Last year at Edgbaston, the fourth innings became easier, and England chased 380 [378] easily. We knew 444 is a lot of runs, but if we kept them to 320, we could’ve chased it.”Dravid was then asked if he felt the top five needed to do better. While he agreed the “legends” would be the first to be disappointed with their own returns, he cited how the dip in averages over the last two years was also a reflection of tougher pitches.”The same boys have won twice in Australia, won Tests in England,” Dravid said. “Yes, they will agree this wasn’t up to their high standards but we’re working on it. Some of the wickets have been challenging. This was a good wicket, but some other conditions haven’t been easy.”Every game is important in the WTC. You need points, can’t play for draws. So everywhere, even in India, the wickets have been tough. You have to factor this in while looking at averages. It’s not just ours, but yes, we need to work on it. If we give bowlers runs to play with, we can win Tests.”

Do India need to move away from spin-friendly home tracks?

On the point of “tougher pitches”, Dravid was asked by Harbhajan Singh if India needed to re-look at their policy of tailoring tracks to suit their spinners at home, which brought with it the inherent risk of batters being undercooked against quality pace abroad. While Dravid agreed pitches that turned from the first ball weren’t ideal, the nature of the WTC and the pressure to win meant they needed to take risks, he said.”Nobody wants wickets to turn from the first ball and turn square, but certainly when you’re playing the WTC and playing for points, as it gets to the back end of it, everyone expects you to qualify, everyone wants you to quality, everyone wants to come to games like this [final]. In situations like that, at times, you have to take a few risks.”We’re not the only team taking risks. You look at the wickets in Australia, look at the wicket in Brisbane [when South Africa toured last year], Australia also used to play on wickets that lasted five days, but now they’re also playing on wickets that are lasting three-four days in their own country.Scott Boland, a big thorn in India’s side this Test, in the process of bowling KS Bharat second ball of day three•Bipin Patel

“When you’re looking at the WTC, you’re looking at qualification. Sometimes the pressure is on you to get points in every single game, and sometimes it can get quite tough. Sometimes, wickets have become result-oriented. While I agree some of the wickets in India have been difficult, it’s sometimes a risk we all have to take.”

Was there enough time between IPL 2023 and WTC final?

India came into this Test on the back of a staggered week-long preparation. With the IPL only having finished on May 29, several first-choice players only linked up with the squad a week prior to the Test. After a short camp in Arundel, India began training in London from June 3 only. Dravid was again point-blank when asked if this was ideal.”I am never going to be happy with the prep as a coach, but that’s a reality I’m faced with…we are faced with,” he said. “Schedules are so cramped and tight. When you’ve been playing international cricket, if you’re here three weeks before the tour and play two side games, you’re going to be better prepared.”We don’t have that, got to do what we can, but no excuses, no complaints. I want to congratulate Australia. They played better than us for five days. We don’t need to make excuses, we need to look at ourselves, see what we can get better at, what we can improve on, and that’s a constant effort.”

Zampa, who was Stars’ stand-in captain last season, requested a trade to Renegades back in February

Alex Malcolm08-Jul-2023Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades have completed the long-touted BBL trade that will see Australia legspinner Adam Zampa and Victoria wicketkeeper Sam Harper swap clubs for the upcoming season.News had broken back in February that Zampa had requested a trade from Stars to cross-town rivals Renegades, despite being the stand-in captain at Stars last season in the absence of injured skipper Glenn Maxwell.Renegades were prepared to trade Harper, who has been their wicketkeeper since their title-winning season in 2018-19. He had been an inconsistent contributor with the bat having been shuffled around various positions in Renegades’ top-order but he was coming off one his better BBL seasons last year making three half-centuries in 12 innings, striking at 141.17.Related

• Melbourne Renegades secure Nathan Lyon for three years starting BBL 13

• Joel Paris moves to Melbourne Stars in the BBL

• Early start, early finish for the BBL might see overseas players stay longer

• Boland returns home to Melbourne Stars in BBL

• Melbourne Stars' Zampa requests trade to crosstown rivals Renegades

The trade couldn’t be completed until after the BBL’s contract embargo ended in June. Zampa’s move is even more interesting given the furore created by his failed attempted non-striker run out of Renegades quick Tom Rogers during last season’s Melbourne derby.”Making a cross-town move is always going to raise some interest, it was a difficult decision, but I felt like it was the right time of my career to make a move,” Zampa said. “One of the things that really attracted me to the Renegades was the fact that two of my best friends play for them in Kane Richardson and Nic Maddinson, it’s not often that you get to my age and you get that opportunity to play with your two best mates.”The Renegades were a pretty natural fit for me, as well as having close friends in the squad and I really enjoy my time in Melbourne over summer and love playing at Marvel Stadium.”The way that they’ve been building up the list has been pretty exciting, there’s a really good blend of experience with some talented young players – hopefully I can play a part in their growth too.\Seb Gotch looks on as Sam Harper cracks a pull•Getty Images

“I’m sure the move will add a little bit more spice to the Melbourne Derby, we had two pretty good games last year and I’m sure it’ll be the same again with a bit of player movement.”Stars were pleased to gain Harper despite losing one of the world’s best T20 legspinners, having struggled to find a local wicketkeeper-batter since Seb Gotch suffered a career-ending finger injury.”We’re thrilled to be able to secure the services of Sam, who is an outstanding person and we’re looking forward to seeing him behind the stumps in BBL13,” general manager Blair Crouch said.”Last year Sam also showed he is more than capable with the bat and was the Renegades second highest run scorer behind Aaron Finch.”This trade has allowed the club to sign a number of quality players, as we saw with Scott Boland last week and we’re looking forward to announcing more of those signings in the coming weeks.”

Hardik Pandya’s tactical acumen will be tested once more as India look to bounce back from 2-0 down

Sruthi Ravindranath07-Aug-20235:55

Jaffer: I’d pick Yashasvi Jaiswal and give Kishan a break

Big Picture – Can West Indies seal the series?

West Indies, 2-0 up with three T20Is remaining, have the chance to win their first series of two or more matches against India, in any format, since 2016. They also have the chance to complete back-to-back T20I series victories for the first time since 2017. If they manage to pull it off, it will be a massive confidence boost for West Indies, who will be co-hosting a T20 World Cup less than a year from now.Whether they can seal the series on Tuesday may come down once again to how they tackle India’s spinners, which they did quite well in the first two matches.

Pooran fined for umpire criticism

Nicholas Pooran has been fined 15% of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the second T20I against India. Pooran was found to have breached Article 2.7 which relates to public criticism in relation to an incident occurring in an international match. The incident occurred following the review of an lbw decision in the fourth over of India’s innings. Pooran criticised the umpires for having to use up a player review for a decision that he thought was not out.
Pooran admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction of a reprimand that was proposed by match referee Richie Richardson. One demerit point has also been added to Pooran’s disciplinary record.

At the forefront of their success has been Nicholas Pooran, who, along with Shimron Hetmyer, has been tasked with taking on India’s wristspinners. Pooran has done the job to perfection, leading the counterattacks on both occasions. The bowlers have also been on point with their execution, mixing it up on pitches that have been two-paced.West Indies have also come out on top in the game of nerves so far: while their bowlers closed out the series-opener on Thursday, their batters did the same in the second game after the team had lost four wickets for three runs in a space of 13 balls. While the likes of Rovman Powell and Hetmyer have offered Pooran support with the bat, West Indies will expect more runs from their top three.Related

• Powell: 'Series will be decided by how WI play spin in middle overs'

• Chahal ready to grab his ODI chance if and when he gets it

• India need to cut long tail short to find T20 success

• Tilak: 'I'm here because of IPL and just playing with that confidence'

India, meanwhile, have mostly been let down by their batting. While their long tail has been an issue, their top and middle order, barring Tilak Varma, have struggled to get going on the sluggish surfaces.

Form guide

West Indies WWWLW (Last five completed T20Is; most recent first)
India LLWWL

In the spotlight – Hardik Pandya and Kyle Mayers

India captain Hardik Pandya has exuded cool-guy energy despite the losses. “It is what it is,” he said, rather philosophically, after their loss on Sunday. While he’s found his bowling rhythm, his batting has not reached its usual level, and he’s also been under scrutiny for his tactics on the field. In the first T20I, Hardik gave the last over of the powerplay to Axar Patel, despite the in-form and left-handed Pooran’s presence in the middle; that over ended up costing 14 runs. In the second T20I, Hardik did not bowl out his best bowler – Yuzvendra Chahal – during a nail-biting chase when West Indies’ lower order was struggling. The constant presence of left-handers at the crease also meant Axar ended up playing as a pure batter in the second T20I, after being taken for 22 runs in two overs in the first game.Ishan Kishan and Ravi Bishnoi might be under pressure to keep their places in India’s XI•AFP/Getty Images

Kyle Mayers had a superb IPL season, but he’s not been able to replicate that form while playing for West Indies. After a middling ODI series, he’s made 1 and 15 in the first two T20Is. His T20I average is currently 20.75. West Indies have continued to show faith in him despite this, and he will hope to contribute consistently in the top order, which has been one of the team’s weak links in this series.

Team news – Will India bring in Yashasvi Jaiswal?

The hosts are unlikely to make too many changes to their winning combination.West Indies (probable): 1 Brandon King, 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Johnson Charles (wk), 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Rovman Powell (capt), 7 Jason Holder, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Obed McCoyWill India consider bringing in Yashasvi Jaiswal to lengthen their batting? They could bring him in for Ishan Kishan, who has averaged 12.12 in eight T20Is since the start of this year, considering they have another wicketkeeping option in Sanju Samson. India may also want to bring back Kuldeep Yadav – who was out of the second T20I after being hit in the nets – if he’s fit. Ravi Bishnoi, who replaced him, went wicketless for 31 runs.India (probable): 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Ishan Kishan/ Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Sanju Samson (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mukesh Kumar

Pitch and conditions

The surface for the second T20I at Providence Stadium was a slow one, and it’s likely to remain that way; expect spin and slower balls to have their say once more. The weather is expected to be cloudy with a chance of rain in the afternoon.

Stats and Trivia

• Pooran has scored half-centuries in his last three T20I innings at the Providence Stadium
• Yuzvendra Chahal took 28 wickets in 26 T20Is at a strike rate of 19.1 across 2021 and 2022. In 2023 so far, he has eight wickets in six games at a strike rate of 12.7.

Quotes

“We decided on just looking at some players’ workload [for the West Indies T20I series], that we wanted to make sure that they get enough break time and manage them. I definitely fall in that [category] as well. There is another reason to come here [to the USA]. Because you know the World Cup is coming. In June [2024], there will be the T20 World Cup happening in this part of the world. So I’m pretty sure everyone is excited.”

Australia were propelled by a team effort as they turned to their part-time spinners to squeeze a little more juice out of this warm-up

Danyal Rasool03-Oct-2023Australia beat Pakistan by 14 runs in the sides’ final warm-up game before the World Cup, propelled by a team effort with bat and ball. In a game that Australia controlled significantly more than the scoreline suggested, Australia posted 351 and struck early several times, before a Babar Azam-Iftikhar Ahmed partnership dragged Pakistan back into the contest.Winning the toss and batting first, David Warner’s 33-ball 48 got Australia off to a flier, but Pakistan struck repeatedly through the middle overs to peg them back. Hasan Ali was economical up top but it was Usama Mir who took the wickets, while Mohammad Nawaz played his usual, reliable role of container.Related

• 'The top four is a small goal' – Babar wants Pakistan to go all the way at the World Cup

• Light on spin, heavy on confidence – Australia enter familiar territory

• Australia 'very much consider' Maxwell as frontline spin option

• Will this be the last World Cup that is this big a deal?

But Pakistan’s bowlers lost momentum through the death overs against a fierce onslaught by Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis, with 126 runs coming off the final 12 overs. Cameron Green, too, tucked in towards the death with Mohammad Wasim and Haris Rauf coming in for particular punishment, with the allrounder reaching an unbeaten 50 off the last ball of the innings as Rauf leaked 97 in 9 overs.Pakistan began brightly but soon ran into trouble. Imam-ul-Haq was undone by a lovely seaming delivery from Pat Cummins, while Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique fell to ungainly slogs. Marnus Labuschagne, who took three wickets, opened his account by removing a promoted Shadab Khan early, and as the run rate dropped, Pakistan were in trouble at 83 for four.Mohammad Nawaz kept Pakistan in their big chase against Australia with 50 off 42•Getty Images

But instead of finishing the game off quickly, Australia decided they wanted to squeeze a little more juice out of this warm-up. The next 20 overs or so saw them turn to the part-time spin of Labuschagne and Maxwell, and the even more part-time spin of Steve Smith and David Warner. The latter nearly picked up Iftikhar with a rank full toss, but once Josh Inglis shelled that, carnage ensued.Warner went for 41 in his two overs, and the two piled on 144 in just under 18 overs before Iftikhar finally holed out to the straight boundary. Babar Azam, who looked in sublime touch, gave way once he reached an unbeaten 90, but with 87 required off 13 overs, Australia began to get serious again as Cummins returned, removing Salman Ali Agha in his first over. Pakistan continued to chip away thanks to a half-century from Nawaz, but Australia burrowed ever further into the tail with wickets.With 21 to get in the final three overs and one wicket in hand, Cummins turned to Labuschagne once more. He conceded six off his first three balls, before a Hasan Ali slog found Mitchell Marsh at long-off, ending a chaotic game where Australia wrapped up a win that might easily have been more comfortable, if they so wanted.

Ashutosh’s record fastest T20 fifty, Ravi Teja’s six-wicket haul, Parag’s four half-centuries in a row the highlights of the competition so far

Abhimanyu Bose24-Oct-2023The 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy got underway last Monday and most of the teams have played five rounds of matches so far. There have been plenty of exciting performances and records broken, including one that was long-standing and rather iconic. Let’s look at how the first week of the tournament has gone down:

Abhishek powers high-flying Punjab

Punjab began the season like they ended the last – with a defeat to Saurashtra, but have since been dominant in in Ranchi, racking up four wins on the trot to go top of Group C. Abhishek Sharma has been at the heart of Punjab’s hot streak, with his 112 off 51 deliveries, along with Anmolpreet Singh’s 26-ball 87 powering them to a mammoth total of 275 for 6 against Andhra in their next game. This is the highest team total in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history, going past Mumbai’s 258 for 4 against Sikkim in 2019.Abhishek went on to hit 82 off 38 as Punjab racked up another 200-plus total against Railways in another resounding win before smashing 53 off 26 in their chase of 94 against Manipur.Related

• Ashutosh Sharma breaks Yuvraj's record for fastest T20 fifty by an Indian

Abhishek made another score of 112 – this time off 56 deliveries against Gujarat, and is leading the run charts.

Ashutosh zooms past Yuvraj with record fifty

Railways’ Ashutosh Sharma broke Yuvraj Singh’s record for fastest T20 fifty by an Indian off just 11 deliveries in their win against Arunachal Pradesh.On any other day, Upendra Yadav’s unbeaten 103 off 51 from No. 4 would have been the highlight of the day, but Ashutosh stole the show, smashing eight sixes and a solitary four in an innings that lasted 12 deliveries. He now has the record for the second-fastest fifty in all T20s.

Ravi Teja wrecks Chhattisgarh

In this season’s best bowling display so far, medium pacer Ravi Teja ran through Chhattisgarh to finish with figures of 6 for 13 as Hyderabad bowled their opponents out for 97 in Jaipur. It was also his first five-wicket haul in T20s. Hyderabad eventually got there in 16 overs without much difficulty.Yashasvi Jaiswal is Mumbai’s leading run-scorer so far this season•AFP/Getty Images

Mumbai, Vidarbha and Kerala remain unbeaten

Defending champions Mumbai got off to the perfect start, winning all five of their matches to be top of Group A. They had a close encounter against Baroda, but all of their other wins were quite comfortable. Yashasvi Jaiswal has shown good form for them, hitting two half-centuries. Hyderabad and Baroda are hot on their heels, though, with four wins each.Kerala have also had a perfect start to their campaign, with centuries from Vishnu Vinod and Rohan Kunnummal the highlights of their five wins on the trot. Services nearly spoiled their party in their second game but Kerala managed to eke out a one-run victory. Himachal, with 16 points, are in second place in Group B, while Riyan Parag’s four consecutive half-centuries in Mumbai have helped Assam stay in contention with 12 points along with Chandigarh and Odisha.Both Punjab and Goa have 16 points and occupy the top two positions in Group C, although Punjab have a much superior net run rate. Saurashtra, Gujarat, Andhra and Railways all have 12 points each and are right behind the two leading teams.Vidarbha, with four wins in four, lead Group D, despite having played a game less than Bengal, who sit in second place with 12 points. Jharkhand are third, also with 12 points, and they too have played one fewer game than Bengal.Delhi had a game washed out, but won all of their other four matches and lead Group E. With 18 points in the bag, they have a huge lead over Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, who have 10 points each.

Naveen will instead take part in the SA20 league, which runs almost concurrently with the ILT20

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Dec-2023Naveen-ul-Haq has been banned by the UAE’s ILT20 for 20 months for breaching his player agreement with Sharjah Warriors when he “refused to sign the retention notice” for the second season of the tournament, to be played in January-February next year.The decision effectively bars Naveen from playing in the ILT20 in 2024 and 2025, but he has signed with Durban’s Super Giants – owned by the group that owns IPL team Lucknow Super Giants, of which he is a part – in the South African SA20 league, which will be played almost concurrently with the ILT20.Warriors, who had signed Naveen on for the inaugural edition of the league in 2023, had “earlier this year sent him a retention notice on the same terms and conditions,” an ILT20 statement said. “Sharjah Warriors approached the ILT20 to intervene in this dispute. The ILT20 first initiated a mediation process through an independent third-party mediator, however the mediation failed.”The league’s disciplinary committee, comprising ILT20 chief executive David White, head of security and anti-corruption Col Azam, and Zayed Abbas, member of the Emirates Cricket Board, heard the points of view of both Warriors and Naveen and examined the evidence before them before communicating their verdict.”We do not take pride in making this announcement but all parties are expected to comply with their contractual commitments and recognize that non-compliance can cause damage to the other party,” White said. “Unfortunately, Naveen-ul-Haq failed to honour his contractual obligations with the Sharjah Warriors and as such the league had no option but to impose this 20-month ban on him.”The disciplinary proceedings against Naveen were conducted in a transparent manner and both parties involved were given opportunities to prepare and present their submissions.”Naveen was one of the better performers for Warriors in the 2023 season, finishing as their joint-highest wicket-taker (11 wickets) along with Junaid Siddique. Warriors, however, had a rough time of it, winning just three of their ten games to miss the playoffs.

The batter was initially given caught at slip before returning to the crease on another action-packed day

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2023Sam Harper’s record-breaking century helped Victoria to a 38-run lead over South Australia on day two of their Sheffield Shield match, but Jake Fraser-McGurk’s maiden first-class hundred rescued the home side after a bizarre reprieve.After belting the third-fastest Shield hundred in history during some early evening fireworks on Tuesday, Harper kept going on Wednesday morning. He was eventually out for 151, the best score of his first-class career, as the visitors were all out for 278.Related

• Harper launches 64-ball century after Handscomb catch controversy

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Victoria were reeling at 29 for 4 before Harper went to work with a masterclass of controlled hitting.But former Victorian batter Fraser-McGurk was not to be outdone, hitting 101 from 106 balls to steer South Australia within distance of the tourists’ total.Fraser-McGurk, who left Victoria at the end of last season, was particularly impressive when you consider the Redbacks were in trouble at 16 for 4.However, he was involved in a strange incident when he had 19 and was initially given caught at slip off spinner Doug Warren. It was clear on replays that he had not hit the ball and, after starting to walk off, umpire Michael Graham-Smith changes his mind and Fraser-McGurk was recalled – to the frustration of his former team-mates.He made the most of it until carving Fergus O’Neill high into the off side shortly after reaching his century. This innings followed his spectacular record-breaking 29-ball Marsh Cup hundred earlier in the season.”I missed it by probably three feet, it spun a fair bit and I think it came off Sam Harper’s glove before Peter Handscomb caught it,” Fraser-McGurk told after play.”Sometimes they [opposition teams] are just like ‘yay’ … and it could have been not a serious appeal, but then the umpire’s starting to nod his head and I was a bit in disbelief. So I started walking off, then seconds later he changes his decision and the Vic boys weren’t too happy with that because they think they had a few unlucky decisions.” Cameos from Ben Manenti and Liam Scott helped South Australia reach 252, trailing Victoria by just 26.O’Neill continued his breakout season for Victoria, claiming his maiden first-class five-wicket haul by snaring 5 for 28 including removing Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey who behind from round the wicket for 1. Carey had been hoping for some time in the middle ahead of the series against Pakistan.He was given excellent support by evergreen veteran Peter Siddle, who caused significant issues for South Australia’s top-order by taking 3 for 53.In response, Victoria’s second innings got off to a rocky start as they had to negotiate a tricky period before stumps.Test contender Marcus Harris failed for the second time in as many days with the opener out to Wes Agar for 6. However, he will have another chance to impress the selectors when he plays for the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra next week.

It remains to be seen whether the young quick can play a role on the fourth day in Brisbane

Andrew McGlashan27-Jan-2024Shamar Joseph has been cleared of a fracture to his toe after retiring hurt following a blow from a Mitchell Starc yorker, raising the prospect that he could yet play a part on the fourth day at the Gabba as West Indies aim to defend 216 for a famous victory.Starc speared the delivery into Joseph’s boot and it was initially given lbw before the third umpire called a no-ball, but by then Joseph was already on the ground in pain. He quickly took off his shoe and sock as the physio came out and it was soon decided he couldn’t continue and was helped off the field. His retirement brought an end to West Indies’ second innings. After initially being iced in the dressing room, it was later confirmed he would be heading for scans and they brought good news later in the evening.Related

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“He will continue to be monitored by the medical team and assessed tomorrow,” a statement posted on X said.Shamar Joseph’s injury had left West Indies with just two frontline quicks, Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph, supplemented by allrounder Justin Greaves and the offspin of Kevin Sinclair as they tried to earn a first victory in Australia since 1997 in what would go down as one of the biggest upsets of all time. By the close they removed Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne to keep their hopes alive although Steven Smith was looking solid.Alazarri Joseph said they were all wishing for the best for Shamar, but had to focus on the task at hand and retained belief they could secure victory.”At the end of the day the game has to go on and we have a job to do. Can’t worry about who’s not there,” he said. “Think we bowled pretty well. It’s just for us to come tomorrow and keep pegging away. We still have eight wickets to get, you never know what could happen on the fourth day. As long as we bowl the ball in the right areas we can still win this game.””I like the fight the boys have put in with bat and ball,” he added. “We’ll take quite a bit of confidence from this series but the game isn’t done yet so there could be more.”Shamar Joseph became an overnight sensation on his Test debut when he claimed Steven Smith with his first ball in Adelaide and went on to finish with 5 for 94. He also impressed with the bat at No. 11, making 36 in his first innings.In Brisbane, he removed Alex Carey in the first innings as West Indies threatened to secure a big lead before Australia drew nearly level before declaring.