The team lived down to expectations and now face the usual cycle of politicking and recriminations

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Nov-20232:35

Maharoof: Sri Lanka’s batting has been a massive letdown

At no point in their final league match, against New Zealand in Bengaluru, did Sri Lanka seem like they could win it. At no point across this World Cup campaign have they seemed like serious contenders.It used to be true of Sri Lanka that they would frequently be under-rated ahead of major tournaments. In the years in which Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara formed the core of one of smartest attacks in white-ball cricket, theirs was the team that carved joyous arcs through the competition – Kumar Sangakkara its run-scoring engine room, TM Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene the batters who provided the high notes, Angelo Mathews a force in the lower-middle order.Related

Mahela Jayawardene turns focus on domestic pitches after Sri Lanka's World Cup flop

'Didn't expect him to have such a good World Cup' – Jayawardene on Madushanka's chart-topping haul

Court issues stay order to prevent Ranatunga-led interim committee from taking over

Sports minister looks to replace SLC officials with Ranatunga-led interim committee

Boult all but leads New Zealand into semi-finals; SL's Champions Trophy hopes fade

So much has passed in Sri Lanka cricket since then that those days feel like they were several lifetimes ago. In any case, this team arrived in India with expectations already low; the shellacking they had received at India’s hands in the Asia Cup final having sent what hopes there had been into a nosedive. And yet, they have still found ways to underwhelm, losing to teams they have never lost to in World Cups before, crashing to seven defeats in nine games.Unlike say for England, the reasons for whose unraveling takes a little investigation, Sri Lanka’s woes are more obvious. In no particular order: The top order has been fragile, with only two batters averaging more than 35. They have struggled to get middle-overs wickets, averaging 51.65 between the 11th and 40th overs, while conceding 6.19 runs per over; Maheesh Theekshana’s lack of penetration playing a serious part. They have been thin on death-overs firepower (a long-standing problem made more acute by the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga). They have dropped more catches than almost any other team this tournament, their completed catch percentage down at 70.21% – the worst for any team. They have had a rough time of injuries (but then when does a Sri Lanka team not?)As the men’s team slid to another deflating defeat, the news cycle at home was aflame with every kind of opinion, voiced chiefly by politicians. There were suggestions of pro-India conspiracies, opinions about how this team was being led, players that should be scoring more runs or taking wickets, selectors accused of favouritism.While a parliamentary session abounded with loud and emphatic evidence that Sri Lankan politicians know very little about cricket, there was also a reminder that this does not stop them from intruding on the sport. On Monday the sports minister sacked the entire cricket board and installed an interim committee led by Arjuna Ranatunga, yes, but which also contained two sons of politicians, with no known cricket or administrative experience. One day later, this committee was struck down by the courts, and the old board reinstated.For these kinds of people, Sri Lanka’s on-field losses serve only as opportunities to gain political capital. The same crowd has been jockeying for position for decades, board members forever in the laps of politicians, politicians making hugely publicised “interventions” when they feel the national mood will tolerate it.New ideas? A taking stock of global standards and a sober restructuring of domestic cricket to bridge skills gaps? A long-term strategy to spread the game more meaningfully in a country in which you basically have to live in Colombo to play senior cricket? These are topics frequently ignored in favour of self-serving speeches and comments.A tenth-wicket stand of 43 was Sri Lanka’s best of the innings against New Zealand•Associated PressSome have long said that we are witnessing the slow death of a once-great cricketing nation. The men’s team has not, after all, made a single ICC tournament semi-final since 2014, up to which point they had been a dynamic and steadfast presence in the knockouts.But to begin printing eulogies is also glib, because Sri Lankan cricket is not without signs of periodic regeneration. In this tournament, Dilshan Madushanka has broken out, as has Sadeera Samarawickrama and, to some extent, Pathum Nissanka. Between these three, plus the likes of Kusal Mendis, Hasaranga, Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage, Sri Lanka have the core of a team that could play one more ODI World Cup cycle, maybe two.More broadly, the women’s team has had its best year ever in 2023. An aging Chamari Athapaththu still carries them, but team-mates have begun to support her more readily.But we are in an era in which Sri Lanka fans have begun to subsist on the meagrest positives. A magic ball there, a spectacular innings here, a furious chase two months later. A couple of young players coming through, even though the team is failing. It’s not just the men’s team that is failing to match the excellence it once embodied; everyone’s standards have fallen.What it is that Sri Lankan cricket needs has been detailed on these pages on many occasions, the first and most important of which is a complete restructuring of domestic cricket, and far greater investment into the domestic game.What Sri Lanka is getting instead is a parliament that has lost the faith of its public (as polls have said outright and last year’s mass protests strongly suggested) quarreling over the running of SLC, which is an institution that inspires even less faith. Who will emerge in charge of SLC over the next few weeks remains to be seen. Right now, it is all a whirl.But the country’s cricket has been through enough cycles of this now, and it is difficult to be hopeful about meaningful change. The men’s team has just wrapped up its worst World Cup campaign of Sri Lanka’s professional era. But then they were never expected to make the semis anyway.

“If people want to call us chokers or not, that is out of our control. But I promise you, we are going to the game to win the game,” Coetzee says

Firdose Moonda15-Nov-202313:33

Steyn: If South Africa win the semi-final, they can go on and dominate the final

Rassie van der Dussen was 10. Gerald Coetzee was not even born. So it’s hardly surprising that the 1999 World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Australia at Edgbaston is not part of the memory bank of either the oldest or the youngest members of this South African side.”I don’t remember too much,” van der Dussen said in Ahmedabad, after South Africa ended their league campaign with a victory over Afghanistan. “But looking at that team and by outside accounts, they had a lot of what we have as a team. They obviously had a really good chance to win the World Cup, and I think we have a good chance as well.”In the immediacy of a press conference situation, van der Dussen made a comparison which may yet come back to haunt him, but if you really listen to him, you’ll realise he doesn’t care. “You know what, on the 19th of November we’ll be where we need to be, whether it’s lifting the trophy or not,” he said. “It’s fine, whatever happens, will happen.”Related

• In-form South Africa face serial winners Australia with history on their shoulders

• Bavuma on semi-final availability: 'I'm quite confident but it's not a unilateral decision'

• Business as usual? Contrasting histories prompt different semi-final views for SA, Australia

• Rabada: 'We want to win and we'll fight tooth and nail for it'

• Aus vs SA: Why Starc and Jansen should be in the firing line

You don’t have to believe that is actually “fine” (and why would you, given that we’ve been told most people who answer a question with the word fine don’t actually mean things are fine), which is also fine. But you will have to acknowledge that it seems a mature enough approach for someone who is part of a team that plays for a country which is nothing short of desperate to win the World Cup.Since 1999. In the 24 years that have passed since then, not one of them has gone by without South Africans wondering when a trophy will come home. Even in years with no World Cups, because those were times when planning would be done for World Cups. Then there was 2003 and 2007 – and that semi-final against Australia, when South Africa were 27 for 5 at one stage, does not make it into the highlights programmes – and 2011 and 2015 and many other T20 World Cups that we are not going to rehash here. And you’re sure to find someone who remembers something about everyone of those defeats whether they were chokes or blow-outs or just fairly normal events like a team losing a match (because someone has to, you know).”How many World Cup semi-finals have you watched South Africa play in,” Coetzee was asked, also after the Afghanistan game.His answer was emphatic: “One.”Which one? “2015.”6:18

Rabada: ‘I still do exactly what I would do while opening the bowling’

That’s the most recent ODI one South Africa played in and could easily have put an aspiring cricketer from the losing side off. Especially a player like Coetzee. He was also a competitive school swimmer, so he had other options, but he preferred team spirit to the silence of the deep blue sea and doesn’t remember the match that the South African team tried to forget with the same pain. “That’s the beauty of sport. That’s why people keep coming back to watch it and why we want to be put in those positions.”Don’t get smarmy and ask if Coetzee means South Africa want to fumble in the field and lose with a ball to spare but recognise that he means players live for big moments and pressure situations. “As we always say, if you come to a World Cup and you want to be in the final, you have to win the semi-final.”That is stating the obvious but considering it is where South Africa have historically slipped up, it probably needs to be said. The same applies to the opposite, because that’s what South Africa have not done. Dale Steyn told ESPNcricinfo how the players “tried to move on as quickly as we could,” and left the pain of that night to fester for far too long. This team has already started talking about both outcomes, in what appears to be normal and healthy terms. “Of course we are speaking about winning but we understand it’s a difficult game and there is no dishonour in losing,” Coetzee said. “We are coming to play. What happens on the day is out of our control. If we lose, we lose. If people want to call us chokers or not, that is out of our control. Someone has to lose. But I promise you, we are going to the game to win the game.”And therein lies the real message for those who talk about the 2023 semi-final being an opportunity for South Africa to get over what happened more than two decades ago: perhaps they don’t need to. That team is not this team. That story is not their story. That baggage is not their baggage. They are connected by the colours they wear and the place they represent but they are, in personality, in outlook and in playing style, different and this team is intent on making the most of every moment they have to be themselves.”The time we’ve had together the last eight to 12 weeks will go down as probably some of the best team environments and times I’ve had in my career. And those memories are special already,” van der Dussen said. “Whether we win or not, whatever happens will happen, and we’ll definitely go away from here with fond memories.”

With both KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the second Test, the hosts have to make some big selection decisions

Alagappan Muthu29-Jan-202411:42

Newsroom: How do India replace Jadeja and Rahul?

On the back of a loss to start the series, India have lost their best batter from the Hyderabad Test and one of their biggest match-winners at home to injury. KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja have been ruled out of the second Test in Visakhapatnam which starts on Friday and India face a bit of a challenge in balancing their XI, starting with…

Who is the new No. 4?

Shreyas Iyer, probably. He did not cover himself in glory in the second innings – but then again none of the Indian batters did. When the loss became a possibility, the pressure seemed to get to them and the aggression that they showed that threw England spinners off their lengths in the first innings vanished. India will need someone in the top four who can do that and Iyer is as good an option as they’ve got right now. Because all of a sudden, after Rohit Sharma at the top, the experience that India can call on in their batting line-up has fallen into a crater.

Who replaces Jadeja

Kuldeep Yadav is the frontrunner. He has three five-fors in eight Tests. He has been in fine form in limited-overs cricket, displaying the very trait that is essential in the longer format – accuracy. That along with the X-factor of his wristspin made him a tempting option even in Hyderabad but India went with Axar Patel because they wanted the batting depth. Now with Jadeja out, their hand has been forced.Related

• Jadeja and Rahul ruled out of second Test against England

• Bumrah reprimanded for physical contact with Pope during Hyderabad Test

• India slide to fifth on WTC table after defeat to England in Hyderabad

• India fall short in the Hyderabad sweep-stakes

India have called up two other spinners to the squad as well – Saurabh Kumar, a veteran from domestic cricket and an ever-present in the India A squad, and Washington Sundar, a decent left-hand batter which helps when you’re playing an opposition with two left-arm spinners, one of whom has just made history.The trouble with replacing Jadeja is that he is among their best bowlers and their best batters in the recent past. Kuldeep and Saurabh will give India reliability in one discipline – at least in terms of trusting them to bowl a ton of overs – but not in the other. Washington is the other way around. He has almost as many fifties as he has wickets in Tests.

Rajat Patidar vs Sarfaraz Khan

Patidar would be the front-runner considering he was already in the squad as Virat Kohli’s replacement, but is there place for Sarfaraz as well in the XI? India need batting depth and those two have been on the fringes of selection for a while.Patidar is known for his big-match temperament. And Sarfaraz, who was due in Bengal to play for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy but is now another step closer to making his long-awaited international debut, tends to score lots of runs quickly. One of them is almost certain to make it to the XI in Visakhapatnam, but if India choose to replace Jadeja with Kuldeep then they might consider picking both Patidar and Sarfaraz to shore up the batting.Playing both of them, though, will mean India have to drop the fifth bowler and go with a four-man attack. Mohammed Siraj bowled only four of the 64.3 overs in the first innings and seven of 102.1 in the second, so will India borrow from England’s playbook and pick just the one fast bowler?

India’s besieged leader is discovering how much scrutiny there is of every move made by every captain who goes up against Bazball

Alagappan Muthu01-Feb-20241:27

Manjrekar on the lack of runs from Gill and Iyer

It cannot be a pleasant experience, going up against Bazball.Pat Cummins was essentially eviscerated when he deployed a deep point in the first over of the Ashes in 2023.”I must admit I’m not a huge fan,” Ricky Ponting said.”It feels a bit un-Australian,” Alastair Cook said.”They have been the first to blink,” Eoin Morgan said.At times, it feels like there is more judgment lashed out in the course of a Bazball Test than in a whole season of Real Housewives.India are the ones being picked apart right now, in a way that they really haven’t been for more than a decade of playing on their own turf. The weight of all that history is falling on Rohit Sharma’s shoulders. He has now lost as many Tests at home as his predecessor, except his ledger says seven matches in charge. Virat Kohli’s says 31.

****

Jasprit Bumrah is getting serious reverse-swing.When he takes out Ben Duckett, India are asked to huddle up by their captain. A few moments previously they’d seen the big screen show that they’d made a mistake not going for DRS. Now it has been rectified. The batter who had been reprieved is gone. But Rohit wants to make sure his team seizes the opportunity. He refocuses them. The front of his trousers is stained red. He’s been the one taking care of the ball, keeping one side rough and the other shiny.Rohit Sharma got a lot right in Hyderabad, but the result amplified everything he got wrong•Associated PressAfter looking rather docile for 18 overs, India pick up two wickets in 2.1. It is their most electrifying passage of play and Rohit is a big part of it.He puts a lot of thought into his decisions. He keeps the field up to start the Test match and only after a few boundaries start flying does he ask for more cover. He tries to curb the threat of the sweep and reverse-sweep with in-out fields, having a man catching for the top edge and a man sweeping to stop the boundaries. He tries to enhance the threat of his two left-arm spinners and their natural variation by deploying them at the press box end, because the ball is keeping low from there. But he misses some stuff too.

****

R Ashwin is in the middle of a lovely spell. He bowls a maiden to Ben Stokes, working him around the crease by varying his flight. The over – the 31st – ends with a generously tossed-up ball that is defended confidently. The next one begins in similar fashion, except this ball dips on the left-hander, rags past his outside edge and nearly has him out stumped. England are still trailing by 36 runs. Stokes falls in the course of this unrelenting examination.In this six-over spell, Ashwin bowls 27 dots, concedes 10 runs off the bat, and produces a false shot once every 3.14 deliveries. Rohit takes him out of the attack.Perhaps he reasons that with two right-handers now at the crease – Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes – his left-arm spinners might have a better chance of pressing the advantage. Except that isn’t how it turns out.The tea break comes and goes and Rohit still doesn’t turn to the bowlers who have, thus far, looked the most likely to take a wicket – Ashwin and Bumrah. It brings back memories of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion, where on the second day he had opted for Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna to start proceedings after lunch and they gave away 42 runs in eight overs.

****

There is a line between being bold and being rash and Stokes somehow keeps moving it for England. He keeps faith in Tom Hartley, sinking overs into him, even when he’s being hit around the park, because he is going to have to bowl again and he isn’t going to get better hidden away in the outfield.Zak Crawley got the same unflinching support and he repaid it with a phenomenal 189 in the Ashes. There’s pride in Stokes’ voice when he discusses his openers now. A smile tugs at his lips almost as if he’s picturing it all in his head. “Balls that Zak plays on the front foot, Duckett plays on the back foot. So it’s very tough, I think, for bowlers to settle into a rhythm and settle into a line or length against those two.”Nearly every punt Ben Stokes took in Hyderabad came off•Associated PressIts blue-sky thinking. And it keeps coming off. Ahead of this tour, Stokes looked at one of England’s most prolific run-getters and went, nah, you’re my allrounder. “When Rooty [Joe Root] walked off with four-for [in Hyderabad] I did say to him, “see, I told ya I’d make a bowler out of ya.”When success plays out in those terms, a captain doing the little things right, like helping take care of the cricket ball, starts to fade into the background.

****

A lot of Rohit’s tenure, including in the white-ball formats, has been hampered by key players missing out due to injury. It was a point of such consternation that he brought it up when asked about a lack of ICC silverware when India were in the West Indies last year. He was annoyed that he didn’t have always have access to a full squad.Here, in this series, he’s been better at rolling with the punches. He’s everywhere at India’s first training session in Visakhapatnam. First, he’s batting. Then he peels his pads off and goes to study how the rest of his men are doing. He has a lot of time for Sarfaraz Khan and some last-minute advice for Yashasvi Jaiswal. He claps the bowlers on when they create opportunities. He doesn’t look like a guy who’s even the slightest bit unhappy with his situation.”After the [first] game, the atmosphere is absolutely relaxed,” KS Bharat says. “They just told us not to panic, which we are not. The instruction is very clear. It’s a long Test series, and we have played a lot of series like this in the past and we as individuals have to focus on good things and which we want to do in the coming games and everything is chill and relaxed. We are definitely looking to play good cricket as a team, that’s the message from the captain and the coach and we are very confident about it.”Stokes proved last week that a captain’s belief can sometimes be enough to compensate for his players’ inexperience. It could be Rohit’s turn this week.

And was James Anderson the oldest player to feature in a Test at Lord’s?

Steven Lynch16-Jul-2024Where do Gus Atkinson’s figures stand on Test debut for England? asked Terence Piper from England

Gus Atkinson, making his debut, rather upstaged the retiring Jimmy Anderson in the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s last week. Atkinson’s first-innings figures of 7 for 45 were the third-best on England Test debut, after John Ferris’ 7 for 37 against South Africa in Cape Town in 1891-92 (Ferris had previously played eight Tests for Australia), and Dominic Cork’s 7 for 43 against West Indies at Lord’s in 1995.Atkinson’s match figures of 12 for 106 have been bettered on England debut only by Ferris (13 for 91 in the match mentioned above) and the Kent left-arm seamer Fred “Nutty” Martin, who collected 12 for 102 against Australia at The Oval in 1890. Martin won only one more cap – in the same Cape Town game as Ferris played his only Test for England.Atkinson was only the sixth bowler – and the first for more than 90 years – to take two five-fors in his first Test for England, following Martin, Ferris, another Surrey fast bowler in Tom Richardson (5 for 49 and 5 for 107 against Australia at Old Trafford in 1893), Kent legspinner Charles “Father” Marriott (5 for 37 and 6 for 59 in his only Test, against West Indies at The Oval in 1933), and the Essex fast bowler Ken Farnes (5 for 102 and 5 for 77 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1934).Gus Atkinson dismissed Jason Holder first ball at Lord’s, and Holder then got Atkinson first ball too. How often has this happened in Tests? asked Martin Richardson from England

Helped by the Melbourne statistician Charles Davis, who has made a detailed study of old scorebooks, we came up with five previous instances of two players inflicting golden ducks on each other in the same Test before Gus Atkinson and Jason Holder did it last week at Lord’s.The first known instance was by the Hampshire fast bowler Christopher Heseltine and South Africa’s slow left-armer George Rowe in the first Test in Johannesburg in 1895-96; both were making their Test debuts.It didn’t happen again for nearly a century, before Kapil Dev of India and the Pakistan debutant Azeem Hafeez traded golden ducks in Bangalore in 1983-84. There was another case in Bridgetown in 1990-91, the players being Courtney Walsh of West Indies and Australia’s Bruce Reid.And there had been two previous instances in the current century: by Stuart MacGill of Australia and Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralidaran in a match in Galle in 2003-04, and by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and the man of the moment Jimmy Anderson for England in Centurion in 2015-16. We don’t have full ball-by-ball details for all Tests, so it’s just possible there may be one or two other instances.WG Grace, immortalised in sculpture at Lord’s, played his last Test at the ground when he was almost 48 years of age•Nigel French/PA Photos/Getty ImagesWas James Anderson the oldest player to figure in a Test at Lord’s? asked Ricky Dooley from Scotland

Jimmy Anderson was about two weeks short of his 42nd birthday (July 30) during last week’s Test against West Indies at Lord’s . Rather surprisingly perhaps, 20 players older than Anderson have appeared in a Test there, the most recent being 42-year-old Misbah-ul-Haq for Pakistan in 2016, when he scored 114, and led the team in a series of press-ups to prove his fitness.The oldest of all in a Lord’s Test was WG Grace, who was nearly 48 when he captained England against Australia in 1896. The great Surrey opener Jack Hobbs was also 47 when he played his last Lord’s Test, against Australia in 1930. Hobbs was 43 when he made 119 against Australia in 1926, but Australia’s Warren Bardsley, who was exactly one week older, set the age record for a Test century at Lord’s in that same match by carrying his bat for an unbeaten 193.Anderson is the oldest bowler of any significant pace to appear in a Lord’s Test, beating 40-year-old Geoff Chubb, who opened the bowling for South Africa in 1951, and took 5 for 77 in the first innings. Another South African, “Old Dave” Nourse, played at Lord’s in 1924, when he was 45, and sent down 15 overs of medium-pace without taking a wicket.Gus Atkinson’s name is now on the Lord’s honours board after his Test debut. Shamar Joseph got his name up at Adelaide and Brisbane after his first two Tests. Who’s on the most such boards around the world? Is it Jacques Kallis – 45 hundreds and five five-fors? asked Glenn Rogers from Australia

I don’t think all the grounds have physical honours boards for Test centuries and instances of five wickets in an innings. But assuming they did, Jacques Kallis would be on 29 such boards around the world – but he has to give best to Sachin Tendulkar, who scored hundreds at 31 different Test grounds.Rahul Dravid scored centuries at 26 different Test venues, while Muthiah Muralidaran took five-fors at 25. Next comes Alastair Cook with 24 – level, for now at least, with Virat Kohli, the only one of these who is still playing.I noticed that no new players made their Test debuts in the 2023 Ashes series. How many five-match series have there been with no debutants at all? asked Simon Harrison from England

I was surprised to discover that apart from the 2023 Ashes, the only five-Test series which introduced no debutants at all was the Ashes in Australia in 2006-07. England could perhaps have done with some new blood in that one, which they lost 5-0! There are also two four-Test series with no debutants: England vs Pakistan in the summer of 2006, and the Pataudi Trophy series between England and India in 2011.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

There has been no real revenge narrative in the build-up despite the shadow of the 2023 World Cup final, but India will relish the chance to knock Australia out

Matt Roller23-Jun-20241:35

Kumble would rest Bumrah for Siraj against Australia

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth and Australia’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign was dealt a haymaker in St Vincent on Saturday night. After five wins from five, most of them comfortable, their first defeat of the tournament leaves them knowing that even a win over India in St Lucia on Monday might not be enough for them to qualify for the semi-finals.It will be their second fixture at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in this tournament but the circumstances could not be more different. They had already qualified from the group stages when they faced Scotland, with no incentive to win beyond pride and professionalism. Now, their attempt to unite the belts and become three-format world champions is at stake.Related

England's itinerary madness leaves no room for white-ball reboot

Scenarios: How Afghanistan's win opens up Group 1

Rain threatens high stakes India-Australia clash at T20 World Cup

Perhaps more so than any other team – even England and New Zealand – India would love to stop them doing so. They were beaten by them in both the World Test Championship final and the 50-over World Cup final last year, and while there has not been any real ‘revenge’ narrative in the short build-up, India will surely relish the chance to knock Australia out.Paras Mhambrey, India’s bowling coach, said they would focus on themselves in the build-up to the Australia game – even if the date November 19 still makes most India fans shudder. “A lot of these guys have played against [Australia],” Mhambrey said. “A lot of guys have played in the IPL. In terms of knowing what the approach is… I don’t think it’s going to change.”All what we can do is really focus on implementation of our plans, and the bottom line is execution. If you’re as close to [perfect] execution, you will win every game. It’s not about what the other opponent’s going to do yet. We know what kind of approach they come with. That’s the way they played in the past as well… If we’re as close to our plans [as possible] I’m pretty sure that we’re going to cross the other side.”Bowling coach Paras Mhambrey wants India to focus on their plans and execution and not worry about Australia•CREIMASAustralia have known their likely schedule for some time but they have been dealt a tough one: seven days of play, travel, play, travel, play, travel, play between the start of the Super Eight and a potential semi-final in Trinidad on Wednesday. Saturday’s game did not finish until after midnight, around 34 hours before the start of the India fixture – not that they are complaining.”Once the draw comes out you’re well aware of what you need to do,” Andrew McDonald, their coach, said after the defeat to Afghanistan. “We’ve got another challenge with a short turnaround [but] every team is facing that. It’ll be recovery mode tonight and tomorrow, give the boys a bit of space and we won’t drill into it too much tonight.”Getting that information into them will happen the morning of the Indian game, so there’s space. The boys know where we went wrong. They’re an experienced group. But there’s no doubt when we come back together the morning of the Indian game they need to be at our best, and to be at our best, we need recovery. If people don’t recover in time then clearly we’ll make decisions based around that.”The schedule has been tough on all teams in the Super Eight phase, with all eight playing three times in five days in at least two different venues. India arrived in St Lucia on Saturday night and turned down the chance to train on Sunday after back-to-back games; if they reach the final, they will also have one fewer day to recover after the semi-final than their opponents. No team has it easy.1:49

Finch: Head vs Bumrah will be a great battle

“The tournament has definitely sped up with short turnarounds,” McDonald said. “It becomes a little bit attritional, there’s no doubt about that. We’ve just got to make good decisions around how our players pull up, and it’s no different to any other team. We’d like to think we’ve planned and prepared the players, who are physically prepared for the demands of it.”It could be a long day for Australia, whose progress to the semi-finals will almost certainly depend on the result of Afghanistan vs Bangladesh. That game will start in St Vincent around six hours after Australia’s match against India is over, giving Afghanistan – and Bangladesh, who can still mathematically qualify – the advantage of knowing exactly what they need to do.”You look at the other side of the draw: South Africa could lose one game and potentially could be staring at an exit, and it could be the same for us – or the same for Afghanistan or India,” McDonald said. “You know how tight it is when you get to the pointy end. There’s no doubt there will be plenty of discussions around net run rate, hypothesising around what it looks like.”Afghanistan plays Bangladesh in the last game. Is that an advantage? But ultimately, we’ve got to take care of what’s in our control and that’s India. [They are] no doubt one of the tournament favourites. We’d like to think we’re up there in the conversation but we’ve got to get to work on the next game and shift it pretty quickly.”Given this is the third Men’s T20 World Cup since October 2021, it is a surprising quirk that Australia and India have not met even once since 2016. India will hope that Monday morning’s game in St Lucia has a similar result to that heady night in Mohali.

From the most runs scored in an over to the best match figures, this bunch comes with a glittering list of T20I accolades

Harigovind S23-Aug-2024 • Updated on 23-Oct-2024Most consecutive T20I wins: 14*With a seven-wicket win over Greece in the T20 World Cup sub-regional Europe Qualifier, Spain broke the record for the most consecutive wins in men’s T20Is. This was their 14th successive win, taking them past Malaysia and Bermuda’s joint record of 13. During their streak, Spain have beaten Isle of Man, Jersey, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic and Greece. Their last defeat was in November 2022 when they lost to Italy by 33 runs.Most runs scored in an over: 39A record that, until recently, was shared by Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Dipendra Singh Airee and Nicholas Pooran, now rests in the hands of Darius Visser, the Samoa batter who hit Vanuatu medium pacer Nalin Nipiko for six sixes in an over that went for 39 overall courtesy three no-balls. Visser ended up with 132 off 62 balls in a total of 174.Related

Samoa's Darius Visser breaks men's T20I records with 39 runs in an over

Estonia's Sahil Chauhan smashes quickest T20I century, off 27 balls!

Nepal's Airee makes history by smashing six sixes in an over

Most sixes in an innings: 18Estonia batter Sahil Chauhan smashed 18 sixes in his record-breaking 144 not out off 41 balls against Cyprus in June this year. During the course of his knock, he also broke the record for the quickest T20I century – off just 27 balls. Chasing 192, Chauhan helped Estonia knock off the target in a mere 13 overs.Best bowling figures: 7 for 8Malaysia medium pacer Syazrul Idrus made history when he recorded the first-ever seven-for in T20Is against China in July 2023. He finished with figures of 7 for 8 as China were bundled out for 23. Before Idrus, this record belonged to Nigeria’s Peter Aho who had taken 6 for 5 against Sierra Leone in 2021.Dipendra Singh Airee went where no other batter has gone in T20I cricket•Surjeet Yadav/Getty ImagesFastest fifty: 9 ballsNepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee smashed the record for the fastest T20I fifty against Mongolia. He got there off just nine balls, breaking the record previously held by Yuvraj Singh who had scored a fifty off 12 balls against England in the 2007 T20 World Cup.Highest team score: 344 for 4Against little-known Gambia, who had given walkover victories to their opponents in the first two matches of the T20 World Cup Africa sub-regional qualifiers, Zimbabwe ransacked 344 runs in 20 overs with Sikandar Raza raising their first ever century in the format. He got to three-figures in just 33 balls as records fell left, right and centre including most sixes (27) in an innings and most boundaries (57) in an innings.Fastest century: 27 ballsNepal’s Kushal Malla first broke Rohit Sharma and David Miller’s record of the fastest T20I century by getting there in 34 balls against Mongolia. Then Namibia’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton bettered it by one ball five months later against Nepal. Sahil Chauhan then needed just 27 balls to reach the three-figure mark against Cyprus.6:06

Highlights: Sahil Chauhan breaks record for fastest T20I ton (Credit: FanCode)

Highest score on debut: 108*For 14 years this record belonged to Ricky Ponting who had hit 98* in the first-ever T20I. It was breached three times in a span of four months in 2019 before Canada’s Matthew Spoors took the honours with an unbeaten 108 on debut against Phillippines.Most maidens in an innings: 4Lockie Ferguson’s four back-to-back maidens in this year’s T20 World Cup match against PNG caused quite the stir, but it wasn’t the first time such an event had occurred in T20Is. He equalled the record set three years previously by Canada’s Saad Bin Zafar who finished with figures of 4-4-0-2 against Panama in a T20 World Cup Americas Region Qualifier match.Youngest player*: 14y 16dRomania’s Marian Gherasim’s 14th birthday gift came in the form of an international debut against Bulgaria, making him the youngest player (*among those with an officially recorded date of birth) to debut in a T20 international game.Highest career average: 63.35*India’s Virat Kohli and Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan had been tussling for this record for a good three years. Enter Malawi’s Sami Sohail, who now has the highest average in T20I cricket history (for a minimum of 1000 runs, *as of the date of publishing).Oct 23, 2024 Updated after Zimbabwe’s record

Leg-spinner says qualifiers Scotland are keen to prove themselves on big stage

Valkerie Baynes20-Sep-2024Abtaha Maqsood was struggling to stay calm. Scotland were on the verge of qualifying for a maiden T20 Women’s World Cup and, for a little while, she couldn’t watch. What followed was the high point in what she describes as “one of the best months of my life”.Scotland’s eight-wicket defeat of Ireland in the semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi in May sealed their place in history. They were comprehensively beaten by fellow qualifiers Sri Lanka in the final but had secured a place on the big stage for the first time.A 49-run opening stand between Saskia Horley and Megan McColl, who went on to score a 47-ball fifty, set the foundation for Scotland’s pursuit of 111 after skipper Kathryn Bryce’s 4 for 8 had restricted Ireland to 110 for 9. Bryce’s unbeaten 35 saw Scotland over the line.Related

• FAQs: The first ever women's T20 World Cup at a neutral venue

• Sun finally rises for Sunrisers as Abtaha Maqsood seals victory at 21st attempt

• Bryce sisters to lead Scotland at Women's T20 World Cup 2024

• Women's T20 World Cup winners to get big increase in prize money

• Powerplay podcast: Abtaha Maqsood – Living the dream with Scotland

“I tried my best to stay as level as possible,” Maqsood told the ESPNcricinfo Powerplay podcast, as she recalled watching the run-chase against Ireland. “There was a point when we had quite a good partnership to start off with Megan and Saskia that I thought, ‘yeah, I think we might qualify here, I think this is it.'”I had to actually leave from the tent a little for a little bit just because I wasn’t very level at that moment. But when we finally found out it was just an amazing experience. I don’t think I can ever put that into words.”It was probably one of the best months of my life to be honest, and to run on and celebrate with the whole team with the Scottish flags and stuff, it was just amazing. It’s just so great to finally be here after 10 years of a lot of struggle and a lot of hardship.”Legspinner Maqsood finished the qualifying tournament among the top five wicket-takers, level on nine with Bryce and Ireland’s Arlene Kelly and behind only countrywoman Rachel Slater with 11 and Nasimana Navaika of Vanuatu on 10. Her best performance was 3 for 10 in Scotland’s opening match against Uganda, where Slater took a five-for.Getting to the World Cup is one thing, now Scotland are keen to show what they can do on the big stage.”Just getting to a World Cup is a huge statement, isn’t it? Nobody really expected it,” Maqsood said. “The experience is so important for a lot of us, especially because not all of us are professional cricketers, so it’s just a totally different thing for all of us.”But I guess we’re not just here to experience it. We’re here to compete. We’re here to show the world what our skills are and how good we really are. That’s really important for me, to just show the world that Scotland are here to compete. Obviously I’m very happy to be here, but we do really want to show the world what we can do.”Scotland are already in Dubai ahead of the World Cup which starts on October 3, acclimatising to the excessive heat with temperatures nudging 40 degrees Celsius. But conditions won’t be completely unfamiliar, with Scotland having played in the UAE both during qualifying and in the lead-up to that tournament. They played an ODI tri-series in Dubai immediately before the T20 World Cup qualifiers, with Maqsood taking career-best figures of 4 for 30 in the 50-over format against USA.Abtaha Maqsood celebrates a wicket with Scotland team-mates•ICC via Getty ImagesAs an Associate Member, Scotland has long had to contend with a lack of funding and fixtures, which is at the root of the hardships that Maqsood mentions when highlighting her team’s achievement in simply reaching the World Cup.”Fixtures is the main thing,” Maqsood said. “We’ve always struggled to be prepped for World Cup qualifiers because we just get thrown into it without much prep.”This time around we had quite a bit of prep. We were in the UAE for about two weeks beforehand and managed to get a lot of prep time in there and a lot of fixtures in, so we felt really good and momentum was in our favour. We were winning and we felt really good going into the tournament.”There’s been a lot of hardships in terms of trying to get fixtures and working around lack of funding and stuff. But yeah, just really glad to be here finally.”Maqsood believes the bigger, richer teams can play a part in helping smaller ones develop through the experience of playing against them.