Eleven players and support staff received their first dose, while two squad members received their second dose

ESPNcricinfo staff19-May-2021Thirteen members of West Indies’ red-ball training squad and management have received their vaccinations against Covid-19, CWI confirmed on Wednesday. The West Indies players and support staff are currently in a bio-secure bubble in St Lucia, preparing for the upcoming Test series against South Africa.In a statement, CWI said that they were able to secure Covid-19 vaccines for “all interested squad members” through the support of the Ministry of Health and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).”Immunization is one of the most cost-effective public health measures in the management of infectious diseases,” Dr. Sharon Belmar-George, St Lucia’s chief medical officer, said. “Cricket is an important sporting activity in the region and ensuring that it can be facilitated safely, is of importance to us in St. Lucia. We welcome the teams here and look forward to successful and safe activities over the coming weeks.”Eleven players and support staff received their first dose of the vaccine, while two squad members also received their second dose. CWI stated that several members of the training squad had already received their first doses in their home countries, and will receive their second dose later in the summer. Last week, the West Indies women’s squad had received their first doses of the vaccine while training in Antigua.West Indies are scheduled to host South Africa for two Tests, as well as five T20Is next month.

Eight unsigned players earn call-ups after impressing in Blast campaign

Matt Roller02-Jul-2021Jake Lintott, the Birmingham Bears left-arm wristspinner who signed his first professional contract earlier this year, has been signed by Southern Brave as a wildcard pick for the inaugural season of the Hundred.Lintott, 28, had played only four senior games a year ago, but has taken 19 wickets for the Bears with an economy rate of 6.60 since the start of the 2020 Vitality Blast season, and has earned a £24,000 deal as the final player in the Brave’s men’s squad.Dillon Pennington (Birmingham Phoenix), Sam Cook (Trent Rockets) and Leus du Plooy (Welsh Fire) have also earned wildcard deals on the back of impressive Blast seasons, as have Freddie Klaassen (Manchester Originals) and Ben Raine (Northern Superchargers).ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The two London clubs, Oval Invincibles and London Spirit, have opted for younger players: the Invincibles have signed Kent wicketkeeper-batter Jordan Cox, while the Spirit have signed Middlesex seamer Blake Cullen, who impressed Eoin Morgan in the early stages of the Blast.Raine, who has taken nine wickets and conceded 7.45 runs an over this season, was the first man picked up in the draft following a random draw.”There were a few nerves flying around leading up to this because I think every cricketer in the country wanted to be in the Hundred,” he said. “I thought I’d had a decent Vitality Blast with the ball so I was hopeful of getting a spot.”Looking through our team there will be a real Northern feel to it which will be nice. There’s a lot of Durham lads that I’ve played with and Yorkshire lads I’ve played against so there will be a bit of familiarity. It’s a good sign for the amount of talent in the region and I’m very proud to be picked up by the Northern team.Four other domestic players were also confirmed as replacements on Friday: Jordan Thompson replaced Olly Stone (injured) at Northern Superchargers; Sam Hain and Ollie Robinson replaced Wayne Madsen (injured) and Harry Gurney (retired) at Manchester Originals; and Will Smeed replaced Henry Brookes (injured) at Birmingham Phoenix.Related

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The news means disappointment for a number of county players, including Middlesex’s Stephen Eskinazi, the leading run-scorer in the Blast and second in the run charts last season. Chris Dent, Arron Lilley, Jack Leaning and Ed Pollock are among the batters to have been overlooked, while bowlers Graeme White, Dan Moriarty, Gavin Griffiths and Matt Milnes all missed out.There is still a possibility that a handful of unsigned domestic players will end up being involved in the competition. Teams will be able to sign partial replacements for players who are named in England’s Test squad to India and do not have red-ball central contracts – which will potentially include Mark Wood and Craig Overton – and there are injury doubts over a number of players with Hundred deals including Tom Abell, Pat Brown, Richard Gleeson and Liam Plunkett.Wildcard signings: Ben Raine (Northern Superchargers), Jordan Cox (Oval Invincibles), Sam Cook (Trent Rockets), Jake Lintott (Southern Brave), Freddie Klaassen (Manchester Originals), Blake Cullen (London Spirit), Leus du Plooy (Welsh Fire), Dillon Pennington (Birmingham Phoenix)

Oval Invincibles knocked out after failing to defend 134 at the Ageas Bowl

Matt Roller16-Aug-2021Southern Brave knocked Oval Invincibles out of the Hundred and secured their own spot in the knockout stages, with Alex Davies and Colin de Grandhomme’s innings of 40 not out sneaking them across the line in a nervy chase of 135.Jake Lintott, the left-arm wristspinner, set up their win by upstaging Invincibles’ overseas spin pair of Sunil Narine and Tabraiz Shamsi. On a used pitch, Narine and Shamsi returned combined figures of 0 for 61 in 40 balls in the run chase; Lintott, the 28-year-old who only turned pro earlier this year and was a last-minute wildcard pick in Brave’s squad, managed 3 for 14.Lintott pegged Invincibles back after a flying start – they were 46 for 0 after 16 balls – but Alex Blake’s 44 not out ensured they had something to bowl at. Brave lost three early wickets in the chase and struggled to score freely, but a calm, unbroken stand of 67 between Davies and de Grandhomme sealed the win, with Davies pulling Reece Topley for six to get them across the line with five balls to spare.Brave started the season with consecutive defeats, replicating their head coach Mahela Jayawardene’s template from his time at Mumbai Indians, but have won all five of their completed games since then, four of them at home. They will play Trent Rockets in Friday’s eliminator if Birmingham Phoenix beat Northern Superchargers on Tuesday night; if Phoenix lose, Brave will go straight into Saturday’s final.Jacks in a box
This was the eighth game that the Ageas Bowl’s central hybrid pitch had been used across the Hundred, and it had something in it for everyone. The artificial weave meant there was good bounce for the quicks but that some balls sat up nicely from a length, and the spinners found some grip throughout.The result was that the best time to score runs was the Powerplay, a fact Will Jacks recognised very early on. He teed off, sweeping and slog-sweeping two fours and six off Danny Briggs in the second set of 10 and then went after Tymal Mills – just as he had in an abandoned T20 Blast game at The Oval earlier in the summer.He hit Mills for two sixes over the leg side, with a top-edged four sandwiched in between. When he carved George Garton away over point, he was on 39 off 12 balls, with Oval flying on 46 off the first 16.Garton, spinners take over
After a bright start, the lights went out on the Invincibles innings, as they suffered a slow-motion collapse of 53 for 7 in 58 balls through the middle phase. Garton struck twice in consecutive balls, having Jacks caught at deep midwicket then inducing a top edge from Colin Ingram thanks to extra bounce from back of a length, and then the spinners rolled into action.First, Briggs cramped the strike-starved Jason Roy for room, bowling him via the pad with the first ball after the Powerplay, and then Lintott sprung into life by angling the ball across Invincibles’ batters. All three of his wickets came through googlies, as he bowled the reverse-sweeping Sam Billings, had Laurie Evans caught behind, and watched Tom Curran slap a cut straight to point.Blake sprung into life at the death, further denting Mills’ figures and hitting Chris Jordan for two fours and a six in his 44 not out, but he admitted at the interval that Oval were under-par. “We just didn’t play smart cricket,” Billings said afterwards. “We batted very poorly. All we needed was to take it deep and all of a sudden you’re looking at 150-plus.”Defiant Davies
Brave lost their two overseas openers inside 11 balls, with the in-form Quinton de Kock cutting Topley straight to point and Paul Stirling getting a leading edge after failing to read a Curran slower ball. They then lost their captain, James Vince, who was skewered by Davies and run-out scrambling to make his ground at the non-striker’s end.Davies was under pressure – “it doesn’t help when you run the skipper out,” he joked afterwards – but ran brilliantly throughout his innings, facing only five dots and working the ball into gaps in recognition of the fact that Brave needed a significant partnership to get them across the line. He added 36 with the pinch-hitting Garton, who largely struggled for timing but smashed two sixes before he was run out looking for a third after Evans had slipped on the boundary rope but then recovered brilliantly.That brought de Grandhomme to the crease, who had managed only 16 runs in the tournament to date in five innings. Like Davies, de Grandhomme ran well, pushing for twos and rotating the strike so that Invincibles could not line a bowler up. He pulled Topley and Shamsi for sixes, keeping the required rate in check.Topley delivered a waist-high no-ball that went for two runs and then two overthrows with 15 needed off 10 which crushed any hope of an Invincibles fightback; instead, they are left to reflect on a season that included a perfect home record but disappointing performances in their three away defeats.

Shoulder injury will likely rule batter out for six weeks

Andrew Fidel Fernando15-Jul-2021Kusal Perera is almost certain to be out of Sri Lanka’s series against India, after picking up a shoulder injury. The team has not divulged the exact nature of the injury, nor withdrawn him officially, but a team doctor says he’s likely to be out for six weeks.Although Perera is no longer captain, having been replaced in that role by Dasun Shanaka following the contracts standoff between the players and the board, he remains one of Sri Lanka’s key batters in the top order. He is, in addition, the team’s primary wicketkeeping option, with Niroshan Dickwella still suspended over his breach of the team bio-bubble, in Durham. Perera’s probable absence, as well as that of Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka (all of whom bat in the top five) means that Sri Lanka will only have what is essentially a second-string top order.Although Perera has not been in particularly good form recently, he has been one of Sri Lanka’s best batters. He was one of Sri Lanka’s three half-centurions in the ODI series, against England, and struck his team’s most-recent century, when he hit 120 off 122 balls to lead Sri Lanka to their only win in a three-match series against Bangladesh.Sri Lanka have not officially named their squad yet. The first of three ODIs against India, who are fielding a second-string side, is scheduled for Sunday.

That said, the senior paceman doesn’t expect Australia to play the same four-man attack all summer

Alex Malcolm17-Nov-2021Australia vice-captain Pat Cummins feels he is as fresh as he has ever felt coming into a Test series, but says he would be surprised if the side persists with the same four-man attack through all five Ashes Tests, something they did against India last summer.Cummins returned to Australia and into hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast on Tuesday with the majority of the triumphant World Cup-winning squad to begin their Ashes preparation.He hasn’t played a first-class match since February. Cummins has also only featured in seven T20s since April having opted out of the limited-overs tours to the Caribbean and Bangladesh during Australia’s winter. He also missed the second half of the IPL prior to the World Cup to be home for the birth of his son.Australia will only have one three-day intra-squad match to prepare for the first Ashes Test starting December 8 but Cummins has no concerns about his personal preparation.”My body feels as good as it has in a couple of years. There’s no niggles,” Cummins said. “I think the first, I guess, benefit of the short spells is we’re all feeling really fresh. I always feel like it’s better to be underdone than overdone coming into a big Test series.”For now it’s just trying to work back from that day one, get a few good bowls in, I think. We’ve got access to quite a few centre wickets. So we’ll have three, four, five centre wickets where we try and have relatively big days, you know, bowl a couple of spells on those days. And we’ll be ready to go. And we had a similar prep last year and all felt really good going into that Adelaide first Test.”Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc played all four Tests against India last year, but the plan backfired as the trio tired on the final days in Sydney and Brisbane and were unable to bowl out India in either game as the visitors produced a famous come-from-behind series win.Australia rotated their bowlers heavily in the 2019 Ashes series using Peter Siddle and James Pattinson as specialists in those conditions. Cummins was the only one of the five Australian fast bowlers used in that series to play all five Tests and he expects that there will be some rotation again this summer.”When someone’s I guess rested it is normally more to it than just purely workload,” Cummins said. “There’s always niggles and small little injuries that we’re dealing with, basically after every single Test match.”The great thing is we’ve got a huge stable of fast bowlers. So yeah, I don’t think it’ll be a huge issue if someone’s not able to get up for a Test or someone’s just red-lining a little bit. Someone else can slot in.”I’d be surprised if the same four bowlers were used for all five Tests. That’s pretty rare, especially the five-Test match summer. But I certainly won’t be putting my hand up to be rested unless I’ve got something going wrong.”Pat Cummins hasn’t played a first-class match since February 2021•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Jhye Richardson is firming as a certainty to play a part in this Ashes series having not played a Test match since 2019 when he dislocated his shoulder in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup and Ashes tour.Michael Neser has also been a constant presence in Australia’s Test squads in recent years and could also make his Test debut this summer despite coming off a hamstring injury.”I think both can slot in really well,” Cummins said. “It might be like-for-like maybe in some regards. I’d say probably Jhye, especially last week, I only saw a little bit but apparently, he bowled beautifully up here at the Gabba.”It’s really great to see him back around the squad. He was on the verge of a World Cup and an Ashes series a couple of years ago before having a shoulder injury, so it’s great to see him get back and bowling well, fully fit, and hopefully he kind of starts off where he left off against Sri Lanka a few years ago.”Chairman of selectors George Bailey confirmed Australia would have a squad mentality after announcing the 15-man Ashes squad for the first two Tests as well as an Australia A squad on Wednesday. Bailey was also impressed by Richardson’s form leading into the Ashes series following his Player of the Match performance for Western Australia against Queensland at the Gabba last week where he took eight wickets including 5 for 23 from 22.2 overs in the second innings.”Getting pretty excited by Jhye,” Bailey said. “One physically, I think he looks as strong as I’ve seen ever seen him.”He’s had a couple of niggles, and he’s worked his way back from those so he’s starting to build some resilience into his body, still a young body.”I think he’s worked his way into the last three shield games quite nicely, but one particular spell I think it was the morning of day [three], a really impressive spell early on, I think he ended up ended up getting the wickets of Marnus [Labuschagne] and Joe Burns, who both commented that it was it was impressive quality.”

Malan has previously been batting coach and assistant coach of the New Zealand men’s team

Sreshth Shah04-Jan-2022South Africa-born Heinrich Malan, the 40-year-old former allrounder who has had extensive coaching stints in New Zealand, will succeed Graham Ford as full-time head coach for the Ireland men’s team.Malan is expected to take up the role in March (subject to work permit approval) for three years. He holds a Level 3 Coaching Certificate from Cricket South Africa and his recent coaching stints across 11 years include being the assistant coach and fielding lead for the New Zealand men’s team. He was also the head coach of New Zealand A, and has also held the batting coach role with the senior men’s team.While Malan officially succeeds Ford to the full-time role, he will actually take over from interim head coach David Ripley. Ripley, the former Northamptonshire boss, has accompanied Ireland to their tours of the USA and West Indies after Ford resigned due to fatigue arising from operating in a Covid-19 world.Malan, a former middle-order batter and medium-fast bowler, played first-class cricket in South Africa from 2005 to 2009, and has earned considerable success as a coach outside the New Zealand national team too. Under his coaching, Central Districts Stags won the one-day competition (Ford Trophy) in 2014-15 and 2015-16, the first-class competition (Plunket Shield) in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and the domestic T20 competition (Super Smash) in 2018-19. After switching to Auckland Aces, he won the 2019-20 Ford Trophy as coach.In a press release issued by Cricket Ireland, Malan also credited Ford for creating the “building blocks in place” that will help the men’s team progress further under his coaching.”My coaching philosophy has certainly evolved over time and I am very keen to get to know this group of players and staff to collaboratively shape our environment through the way we want to operate on a daily basis,” Malan said. “The ‘wheel’ in Irish cricket is turning nicely for the stage it is at, but this point in time is a great opportunity to review what – and how – we are operating to not only grow the wheel, but make that wheel turn quicker.”While I came up through the South African system, the opportunity to move to New Zealand in 2013 really enhanced my coaching experiences and created opportunities to progress my coaching career. Hopefully, I can share these experiences and help our players improve and compete consistently across formats. And that is the key – to create greater consistency of performance over the long term.”Richard Holdsworth, the high performance director at Cricket Ireland, said that Malan’s reputation as an innovative coach with an interest in sports science played a role in his appointment. The short-term goal for Ireland, according to Holdsworth, is making greater strides in white-ball cricket.”Despite coming from outside the Irish system, Heinrich clearly articulated an understanding of the Irish cricket identity, and is determined to succeed in bonding the senior squad around these ideals, then flow those ideals down the pathway system,” Holdsworth said. “He fully understands the development stage we are at as a new Full Member, and is clear on the goals of the organisation – but is committed to working hard on building a skilled and confident squad that is competitive with the world’s leading sides.”After the ODI series against USA was called off due to a Covid-19 outbreak in both camps, Ireland are now set to play West Indies in Jamaica for three ODIs – part of the ODI Super League – and one T20I. Malan will join the Ireland set-up in March, just before the team tours Zimbabwe for a series that was postponed from last year.

The batter did not field in Canberra and both teams have an eye on the upcoming World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2022Australia may take a cautious approach with Beth Mooney in the second ODI but they are in no mood to let up on England despite the Ashes having been retained.For those involved in the 2017-18 series there are memories of how England were able to fight back to level the contest at 8-8, something Australia are determined not to let happen again.”We didn’t finish off as well as we would’ve liked,” Rachael Haynes said of 2017. “We played some good cricket but we just opened the door and it felt like we allowed them to finish pretty strongly, I guess walk away feeling like they drew the series. From our point of view we want to make sure that we win.”However, they are unlikely to take a risk with a key player as the departure date for the World Cup approaches. Mooney, who has returned to action remarkably quickly after a fractured jaw, did not field in Canberra due to some quad tightness after her 73 had anchored Australia to what proved a match-winning 205 on a tricky surface.Related

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The squad departs for New Zealand two days after the Ashes concludes, and will undergo 10 days hard quarantine which adds to the complexity for anyone who is carrying an injury into the tournament.”I wouldn’t be surprised if our staff took a little bit of a conservative approach with Moons just given how crucial she is to our line-up,” Haynes said. “I don’t think they’ve selected the team yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was rested just to make sure she’s raring to go with what’s ahead.”If Mooney does sit out it could open the door for a return for either Annabel Sutherland or Nicola Carey unless they call in someone from outside the Ashes squad.Although both teams have insisted their focus has remained firmly on the Ashes, Haynes would not be surprised if a few different combinations are tried out. The two teams face each other in their opening World Cup match on March 5.”It’s sort of a bit of a tricky time because you want to make sure you’re peaking at the right moment,” Haynes said. “You don’t want to peak too early and then all of a sudden you get to a World Cup and run out of gas.”It might even be interesting to see how both teams approach these last couple of games. Whether there’s a bit of cat and mouse in terms of how they mix up their attacks or lineups in general in teams. It could be something that each opposition does.”After the first ODI, England captain Heather Knight conceded her team had not seized the chances that had come their way but they are determined to leave their mark on the series.”We feel like we’ve played some good cricket on this tour so far but it’s about getting over the line and we haven’t quite been able to do that which is frustrating,” Anya Shrubsole said. “There’s still a chance to level up the Ashes if we win the next two games…It’s not what we came to do, we came to win the Ashes but there’s still a huge amount to play for in this series and with the World Cup around the corner.”After the England A portion of the tour concluded in Canberra, Lauren Bell, Georgia Elwiss, Eve Jones and Emma Lamb have stayed with the England squad for the final two ODIs. The World Cup squad will be announced on February 9.

Strikers described it as “a difficult decision” after veteran middle-order player was their leading scorer last season

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2022Adelaide Strikers have parted ways with reliable middle-order batter Jon Wells citing a shift in list management strategy.Wells played 68 matches over five seasons with Strikers and was the club’s leading scorer in BBL 11 making 501 runs at a strike-rate of 128.79 with four half-centuries including 62 not out from 47 balls in the Striker’s Challenger loss to Sydney Sixers.Wells, 33, sits fourth on the list of all-time leading runscorers in the BBL behind Chris Lynn, Aaron Finch and, Glenn Maxwell, having begun his career at Hobart Hurricanes.”This is a difficult decision, however with the uncertain nature of overseas player recruitment in the current landscape, the depth of young talent and a need to consistently evolve as a team, the Strikers remain committed to doing everything possible to build a team contending for titles,” a Strikers statement said.Strikers coach Jason Gillespie paid tribute to Wells. “Wellsy is a brilliant cricketer and I cannot speak highly enough of what he has brought to the Strikers in his time here,” he said. “You know when he walks to the middle that he will give everything for the team, and more often than not he delivers exactly what is required.”We thank Wellsy for always being that calm head for us, and for being a leader both on and off the field. I know Wellsy will continue to succeed at any challenge thrown his way.”

New Zealand rebound from their opening-day loss to notch up two successive wins

Annesha Ghosh10-Mar-2022New Zealand 260 for 9 (Satterthwaite 75, A Kerr 50, Vastrakar 4-34) beat India 198 (Kaur 71, Tahuhu 3-17, A Kerr 3-56) by 62 runs
After their opening-day loss to West Indies, New Zealand have now bounced back to win two in a row. Their latest, by 62 runs over India in Hamilton, came on the back of impressive half-centuries from Amy Satterthwaite and Amelia Kerr.Amelia also took a three-for with the ball, as did Lea Tahuhu, with India folding in 46.4 overs without even threatening to make a fist of their chase. Only Harmanpreet Kaur stood tall amid a collapse. She made 63-ball 71 before being the eighth Indian wicket to fall. For New Zealand, this was a continuation of their domination over India, who were beaten 4-1 in a bilateral ODI series last month.Just like in the previous game at the venue, between Australia and England that yielded 608 runs, Thursday’s fresh surface encouraged stroke-making. Satterthwaite led the charge with the bat, adding two vital fifty stands – with Amelia and Maddy Green – and a 49-run fifth-wicket partnership with Katey Martin.India’s decision to bowl – seemingly mindful of dew, which didn’t eventually play much part in the proceedings – didn’t pay off. New Zealand posted 51 for 1 in the powerplay, with just the loss of Suzie Bates. The former captain, who made 78 in the previous game, enjoyed the rub of the green early as a thick edge off Meghana Singh flew over the slips.Three balls later, though, a drop-and-run call from Devine had non-striker Bates run out for the second time in three innings, thanks to a superb direct hit at the wicketkeeper’s end by Vastrakar from cover.Captain Sophie Devine then launched a minimal-risk offensive, punishing the slightest width on offer and erroneous lengths without breaking a sweat. She clubbed two back-to-back fours in Meghna’s second over. Two more, off consecutive deliveries, came in the next over, this time off Jhulan Goswami.First-change, left-arm spinner Gayakwad then came agonisingly close to providing further inroads when she drew Kerr into the sweep when she was on 7, but Yastika Bhatia, who replaced Shafali Verma in the XI, shelled what was a tough chance at deep square leg.New Zealand had just lost the set Sophie Devine, in the 11th over, when Satterthwaite walked in. A run-a-ball 67-run third-wicket stand between her and Amelia then helped the hosts dictate terms. Amelia then brought up her maiden World Cup fifty, and her fifth on the bounce against India.Kerr, however, was trapped lbw soon after by Gayakwad. The onus then fell on Satterthwaite to take the hosts to a formidable total. And she delivered, with a fluent 75, at a ground she averages at over 104. Her nine fours, 31 singles, and four twos helped keep the run rate above four through the major part of her stay in the middle as India struggled to tighten the scoring areas against the left-hander.Martin’s innovations helped keep New Zealand’s scoring rate up in the initial part of the final 10 overs. With Satterthwaite she added 49 for the fifth wicket as the home team set themselves up for a 250-plus score.Vastrakar oscillated between extraordinary and sloppy in the field, conceding a four through her legs and then dropping Martin on 27 after handing India an early advantage with Bates’ run out. She rounded out her outing with a flurry of wicket-taking yorkers, and Goswami India’s with a five-run over where she bowled Martin to become the joint-highest wicket-taker in women’s ODI World Cups.Harmanpreet Kaur thrilled fans briefly with a counter-attack after her half-century•AFP via Getty Images

India never quite looked the part to mount New Zealand a challenge in the chase. Dot-ball pressure induced opener Smriti Mandhana’s early dismissal to Jess Kerr, and the fall of No. 3 Deepti Sharma then saw them post their lowest ODI powerplay total since the start of 2017 (rain-interrupted matches excluded): 26 for 2. Bhatia’s promotion to the opening spot on World Cup debut, too, didn’t bring the desired results as she could manage only a 59-ball 28.Inside 20 overs, India’s top three – all left-handers – were back in the hut; Tahuhu, sensational with her mix of cutters, short balls and stock deliveries under lights, took out two of them: Deepti and Bhatia. Under a pile of pressure, India required 211 runs from 30 overs. Mithali Raj, dropped on 6 by Mackay off Tahuhu, and Harmanpreet Kaur reduced the deficit with a fourth-wicket 47 stand.India had only just begun staging a fightback when Amelia Kerr dented them further with a double-wicket third over. Raj was stumped off an orthodox legbreak and Ghosh lost the top of her offstump with a ripping wrong-un.On a hat-trick, Kerr brought five close-in fielders in but a loose delivery to the under-siege Sneh Rana meant the eventful over ended with an anticlimactic four. Not long after, off the final ball of her outing, did Tahuhu take out Rana, rounding out her exemplary returns with 10-2-17-3.Kaur’s late burst had an element of futility about it from the get-go given the required run rate had ballooned to over 10 by the 37th over. She strung a seventh-wicket 35 stand with Goswami but the prospect of a come-from-behind win for India was quashed when Amelia had Kaur caught at long-off.

“It’s pretty rare for a cricketer these days to get three months off, so I’m really going to make the most of it.”

AAP27-Mar-2022Australia legspinner Adam Zampa is confident his upcoming three-month break won’t leave him short of a gallop for this year’s T20 World Cup on home turf.Zampa is currently in Pakistan preparing for Australia’s three-match ODI series and one-off T20 clash. But with his wife due to give birth in June, Zampa is expected to miss the mid-year tour of Sri Lanka, which features three T20s, five ODIs, and two Tests.The T20 World Cup starts on October 16, and Zampa is confident he will have enough cricket under his belt despite the long mid-year break.Related

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“It’s pretty rare for a cricketer these days to get three months off, so I’m really going to make the most of it,” Zampa said ahead of Tuesday’s ODI series opener against Pakistan in Lahore.”Potentially the next game of cricket that I’ll have is the 100-ball competition [starting in August], and then we’ve got a lot of cricket after that. I sat down with [selector] George Bailey yesterday and there’s potentially 15 games of cricket for me before the World Cup.”There’s going to be a lot of rest coming up for me, but then definitely enough cricket before it gets real again.”Zampa played a key role in Australia’s T20 World Cup win in November, further cementing his status as one of the team’s most important white-ball players. But the 29-year-old says it felt vastly different earlier in his career.”I feel like I don’t have to look over my shoulder too much with selection,” Zampa said. “When you’re younger, you naturally probably look over your shoulder, you doubt yourself a lot more.”Aaron Finch has helped me massively with my game. He backs me in when I’m out there, and he lets me run my own show with my bowling, and has been really good with his own ideas as well.”I’ve been in this team for six years now. You never want to use the word comfortable, but I definitely back myself in a lot more these days.”I can go out there and maybe experiment and put things on the line for the team to try to do my role.”Australia are brimming with confidence after securing a 1-0 Test series win in Pakistan. But with stars such as David Warner, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Steven Smith all missing from the white-ball component of the tour, Australia face a challenge to come away with victory.”It’s going to be a difficult challenge,” Zampa said. “The plus that comes from that, as it always does when these things happen, is you build depth.”