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Dom Bess joins on loan as visitors are made to toil on hot day at Chelmsford

ECB Reporters Network25-Jun-2023Tom Westley and Dan Lawrence, England past and present, combined for an imperious double-century stand that put Essex firmly in control of the LV= Insurance County Championship match against Warwickshire.Lawrence, allowed to play by England on the proviso he is ready to scuttle down to Lord’s if required, when he will be replaced in the Essex line-up by nominated substitute Nick Browne, gave full range to his shots in an immaculate 152, his second century of the season.The third-wicket pair put on 227 in 59 overs of elegant stroke-play until Westley dragged Ed Barnard to short midwicket. His 193-ball 114 took his season’s tally to 739 runs, by far the most of any player in Division One.Matt Critchley upped the tempo with 47 from 43 balls in a 70-run stand with Lawrence, who finally departed after five and a half hours, 225 balls and 15 fours, a second victim for Warwickshire loanee Dom Bess. By the close, Essex had amassed 391 for sevenWestley had won the toss on a green-tinged Chelmsford wicket used previously for a one-day international between Bangladesh and Ireland, and consigned Warwickshire to a sweaty day under floppy sunhats in the field.The captain found himself at the wicket at the end of the first over after Feroze Khushi – replacing Browne at the top of the order – dabbed at a ball from Chris Rushworth and nicked behind.Lawrence joined Westley five overs later to resurrect Essex from 20 for two after Alastair Cook was tucked up by Hassan Ali and also went caught behind.Warwickshire had lost spinner Danny Briggs when he limped out of the Blast last week with a hamstring injury and acted quickly by bringing in Bess on loan from Yorkshire.Westley took a liking to the one-time England spinner and cracked two fours through the covers before bouncing down the wicket and striking him over midwicket for another boundary. Bess toiled in the sun and ended the first day of his Warwickshire spell with figures of 32-1-143-2.Westley passed fifty for the sixth time in the Championship this season when he drove his 72nd ball to mid-on for a single. It was marginally quicker – by two balls – than Lawrence’s third score beyond fifty this year.The partnership was worth 99 at lunch and clicked on to three figures from 150 balls straight after. By tea, another 128 runs were added in 34 overs.In between, Lawrence was showing what Essex will miss when he moves to Surrey at the end of the season. There was a glorious off-drive to the fence off Hassan Ali and then an effortless straight-drive off the Pakistan bowler.Warwickshire had also brought in the 30-year-old wrist spinner Jake Lintott at the expense of Olly Hannon-Dalby for only his second first-class appearance. Westley took a liking to him, too. Indeed, his 17th boundary, driven through the covers, took him to his century from 154 balls.Lawrence’s ton also came from 154 balls when he flicked Will Rhodes through midwicket for his 11th four.After Westley’s four-hour stay ended to the first ball after tea, Critchley took up the cudgels, punishing Barnard for his audacity in removing the captain with three boundaries in an over.A six straight back over Bess’s head by Critchley brought up the fifty partnership in just 10 overs. But the ball after he had deposited Lintott over midwicket for a second maximum, he presented the spinner with his first red-ball wicket by slashing a skyer to backward point. He later added Simon Harmer, caught behind, to return figures of 2 for 56In between, Bess took a debut wicket when he had Paul Walter chipping to short mid-on, but was then reverse-swept for the four that brought up Lawrence’s 150. However, Bess claimed Lawrence’s scalp when he flicked a catch off his legs

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2019Gloucestershire 172 for 7 (Salter 4-12) tied with Glamorgan 172 for 5 (Fakhar 58)Glamorgan’s Andrew Salter returned the superb figures of 4 for 12 in three overs, including a first-ball wicket and three more in the space of seven deliveries, but AJ Tye battled back for Gloucestershire to seal a thilling tie in the Vitality Blast clash at Cardiff.Gloucestershire, set a daunting 173 for victory following a brisk half-century from Fakhar Zaman and a turbo-charged 42 from 21 balls from Chris Cooke, suffered a terrible start when Miles Hammond was deceived by Salter’s offspin, knocking a simple catch back to the bowler off the first ball of the innings.Two overs later, the visitors lost their second wicket, when James Bracey was caught off Marchant De Lange on the midwicket boundary.Gloucestershire were 46 for 2 after six overs, but in the next over Michael Klinger edged Dan Douthwaite’s fifth ball to the wicketkeeper, and with Graham Wagg conceding just three runs from his first over, Glamorgan’s bowlers held the upper hand.After ten overs Gloucestershire required a further 100 runs, but Cockbain raised their spirits by taking 14 runs from Wagg’s third over before Salter burst back into the action, ending his stay for an aggressive 40.With five overs left, the visitors required 57, but Salter struck twice more in three balls to dismiss Higgins and Jack Taylor. Billy Root held on to a low catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Higgins before Taylor drove to long-on.Tye, however, was not done yet, and hauled Gloucestershire back into contention with a violent innings of 38 from 19 balls, including three fours and a six.He struck De Lange’s penultimate over for 19, though he was also dropped by Colin Ingram in the process, a simple chance at mid-off.
With 14 needed in the final over, Benny Howell smashed Lukas Carey for six to keep his side in the hunt, only to fall the next ball, but Tye scrambled Gloucestershire to parity with a brace of twos off the final two balls of the innings, and deny Glamorgan their first win of the Blast campaign.

Hardik Pandya is expected to be available for Titans, while Kings will be tempted to field both Rabada and Livingstone

Sidharth Monga12-Apr-20236:30

Will Punjab stick with Ellis and bench Rabada?

Big picture: Gujarat Titans look to bounce back

Rinku Singh did to Gujarat Titans an extreme version of what they did to teams last year. In fact, their next opponents, Punjab Kings, last year had every reason to believe they had done enough when they got Hardik Pandya first ball of the last over with 18 still to get, but Rahul Tewatia won Titans the match with two sixes off the last two balls.When Titans come up against Kings in Mohali on Thursday, they will have to quickly bounce back from the five-sixes finish from Rinku, which lost them what seemed an unlosable game. Kings, coming off a loss themselves, will try to cash in on any residual effect of the defeat Titans suffered.On the line in this match is a ticket into the early top three. Both teams have won two games each in their first three matches. Titans have looked the more formidable side, but Kings will look to use their home advantage to the fullest.

Team news: Liam Livingstone is here

After a long wait, Liam Livingstone is finally in Mohali and training at the nets. If he plays, this will be his first formal cricket match since he jarred his knee on Test debut in Pakistan in December. He should take Matt Short’s place in the XI. There might be temptation to play Kagiso Rabada, but Nathan Ellis has not done badly at all. If they bat first, Kings could think of bringing one of them in as Impact Player.Hardik Pandya was unwell and missed the last match, but should be available for this encounter.3:34

Dhawan and the difficulty of being an anchor batter in T20s

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Punjab Kings
In the last match, Kings started without Sikandar Raza to see if they could squeeze in Rabada during the second innings. A collapse with the bat meant Raza had to be substituted in. Now, though, Livingstone’s arrival could make Kings go with a more conventional side.Probable bat-first XI: 1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Sam Curran, 7 M Shahrukh Khan, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep SinghProbable field-first XI: 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Sam Curran, 6 M Shahrukh Khan, 7 Harpreet Brar, 8 Rishi Dhawan, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep Singh2:08

Moody: Vijay Shankar repaid Titans’ faith in him with an extraordinary performance

Gujarat Titans
Hardik should replace Abhinav Manohar in the bat-first XI while it remains to be seen if they show faith in Yash Dayal or give him a break after that fateful last over to Rinku. It is not a bad time to introduce the impressive left-arm spinner, R Sai Kishore. Their Impact Player scene seems sorted: Sai Sudharsan starts if they bat first, Josh Little if they field.Probable bat-first XI: 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 R Sai KishoreProbable field-first XI: 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Hardik Pandya (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Josh Little, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 R Sai Kishore

Stats that matter

• Livingstone has scored 119 runs off 69 balls against Rashid Khan: an average of 30 and a strike rate of 173.
• Mohammed Shami has never dismissed Shikhar Dhawan, who strikes at 149 against him.
• At 70.5%, the Kings top three have made the second-biggest contribution to their team’s total this IPL, behind only Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Their nine-wicket win in a rain-hit clash all but knocked Sydney Thunder out of contention

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu02-Feb-2019Sydney Sixers 1 of 85 (Vince 43*, Hughes 41*) beat Sydney Thunder 6 for 128 (Green 34*, Abbott 2-23, T Curran 2-32) by nine wickets with nine balls to spare (via DLS method)
A cohesive bowling effort, led by seamers Sean Abbott and Tom Curran, secured Sixers’ spot in the semi-finals and all but knocked out the Thunder in the Sydney Smash at a packed SCG. After the bowlers cleverly exploited a two-paced pitch to limit the Thunder to 6 for 128, rain interrupted Sixers’ chase multiple times and the target was ultimately revised to 84 in 12 overs. Sixers’ England recruit James Vince peeled off this third 40-plus score in four innings, in an unbroken 85-run stand with Daniel Hughes, to overcome the rain and steal the Thunder.While the Sixers can enjoy more than a week off before they head to the MCG to face the Melbourne Stars in the last league match this season, the Thunder will have to beat table leaders Hobart Hurricanes in their final league match on next Saturday and hope that the Stars lose their last three games, to sneak into the semi-finals.Hit the deck
Left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshuis fed Thunder captain Shane Watson with a brace of full balls on the pads, which were nonchalantly picked away over the square-leg boundary. Abbott also fed Watson with a leg-stump full-toss, and watched it disappear to the square-leg boundary. He then shortened his length in the same over and had 19-year-old Jason Sangha ramping a catch to Steve O’Keefe at third man.Curran also hit similar hard lengths – neither driveable nor pullable – and shackled both Watson and Callum Ferguson, restricting the Thunder to 1 for 38 in the Powerplay. Left-arm spinner O’Keefe then got a full ball to grip, turn, and bounce past the outside edge of Watson in a two-run over. Something had to give, and that something was Watson nicking Curran behind for 28 off 24 balls.Spin to win
O’Keefe then combined with teenage legspinner Lloyd Pope and ran rings around the Thunder middle order. Ferguson could have been dismissed on 20, when he weakly slog-swept O’Keefe against the break and skied it into the Sydney sky, but wicketkeeper Josh Phillipe dropped the swirling ball near the square-leg region. Ferguson added only six runs to his tally before O’Keefe dangled one up wide of off stump and had Ferguson holing out to deep midwicket.Sean Abbott celebrates the wicket of D’Arcy Short•Getty Images

New Zealand allrounder Anton Devcich held on, limpet-like, but struggled to find the boundary. Against O’Keefe and Pope, he mustered only 15 off 16 balls. It was Abbott who made the incision when he returned and made Devcich miscue a scoop to short fine leg. At 4 for 90 at the start of the 16th over, Thunder’s innings desperately needed a finishing kick, and Chris Green provided that with a 22-ball 34. No other batsman in the match had a greater strike rate than Green’s 154.54. He struck three fours but it was his six hard-run twos that stood out. Curran later closed out the innings with his crafty variations, including the yorker and the back-of-the-hand slower ball.Vince, Hughes, rain… No Thunder
The Sixers got off to the worst possible start in the chase, Josh Phillipe falling to a hare-brained mix-up off the first ball. Green followed it with four successive dots in the second over to give his side hope. However, Vince dashed them with two monster sixes off legspinner Jonathan Cook and seamer Gurinder Sandhu. Rain then appeared and reappeared as Ferguson hoped that it would break the Sixers’ momentum. No way. While Vince continued to tee off against pace, Hughes attacked Thunder’s gun bowler Fawad Ahmed to coolly finish off the game, with nine wickets and nine balls to spare.

Pakistan’s first-class cricket is set to return to a model featuring both regions and departments

Umar Farooq24-Jan-2023The Pakistan Cricket Board has invited the country’s private and government departments besides three military institutes to be part of the domestic circuit. The PCB has initiated a restructuring of domestic cricket, and a return to the 16-team hybrid first-class model featuring both regions and departments.The PCB has already abolished the previous six-team model after the completion of the 2022-23 season in the first week of January.”The Pakistan Cricket Board has formally written to 27 leading departments, seeking their interest in participating in the PCB Domestic Cricket Season 2023-24, which will start in August,” the PCB confirmed through a press release. “In the letters, the PCB has not only invited the departments to confirm their participation in the upcoming season at their earliest convenience [which] can help them prepare the season’s calendar but has also encouraged them to set up strong cricket sides, assuring them maximum coverage and publicity through the traditional and new media.”Related

• Pakistan might rest Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to manage workloads

• Kieron Pollard, Haris Sohail, Ben Cutting among picks at PSL replacement draft

• Umar Gul: We need departmental cricket back in Pakistan

• 'There's been famine for the last four years' – Najam Sethi out to revive domestic cricket in Pakistan

In the new structure, eight regional teams and eight department teams will play in the premier first-class tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Every season, the regional and department teams finishing bottom get relegated and two toppers (one region and one department) from the Grade 2 tournament will be promoted. Although the 2023-24 season effectively starts in August, the Pakistan government had given the new head of the PCB, Najam Sethi, 120 days (starting from December 21, 2022) to reset the set-up and go back to the 2014 constitution.Racing against time, the PCB management committee is making every effort to return to the previous model, reviving the 97 districts that make up the 16 regions. There are around 3200 clubs already functioning across the country and are the major feeders of players into the regional system.The Pakistan government recently removed Ramiz Raja and his Board by revoking the 2019 constitution the PCB was operating under and brought back Najam Sethi to head the management committee, giving it full executive powers to work on reviving the constitution of 2014. Aside from the changes in the board and its structure, that constitution will also bring back department sides into the domestic circuit – they had been removed in 2019 after former Pakistan captain Imran Khan became the Prime Minister of the country (the PM automatically becomes the PCB’s patron).Umar Gul and Misbah-ul-Haq were among prominent voices calling for department cricket to be reinstated•Getty Images

Even though the PCB has reached out to the departments, it’s not clear if the departments are willing to revive their teams in the current economic climate. There might not be much appetite for such organisations to hire a squad of cricketers. A number of department sides had shut down their sporting operations even before Imran’s changes, with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and United Bank Limited (UBL) among the prominent ones to do so.PM Shahbaz Sharif, the PCB’s current patron-in-chief, had already issued a directive in October last year to all 18 government departments/institutes to restore the governance of their sports structure in Pakistan and restart the financing of sports departments. The pick-up on that has been slow – ESPNcricinfo understands that Ramiz Raja as chairman had written to private banks to ask about reviving their teams but they had shown little interest. Various government departments are dependent on government budgets and haven’t allocated a budget since the PM’s notification.Several government departments that function autonomously – such as State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Sui National Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Sui Southern Gas (SSG), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) – can easily allocate funds though it’s unclear if they see it as a priority. The PCB’s letter is an attempt to know their intentions. It is understood that not all 27 departments will be willing to return but the PCB requires at least 16 in the system under its proposed domestic structure. PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars are among the private teams willing to launch a team in the Grade 2 set-up to complement their player hunt program.According to the 2014 constitution, the Board of Governors (BoG) will have ten members including four regional representatives (the top four teams from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy), four representatives of service organisations (the top four department teams) and two members to be nominated according to the patron’s discretion. To form a Board the PCB also needs to have an active domestic circuit.The abolition of departments in 2019 led to resentment in the cricketing community of Pakistan. A group of former board members and cricketers including Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Gul have been urging the government to revert to the previous domestic structure that included departmental teams such as Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), SNGPL and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The model introduced on the insistence of Imran led to a large number of players losing their livelihoods from their employment with departments.

Zimbabwe’s batting has let them down on the tour so far, while the home side have gained valuable insights into their bench strength

The Preview by Liam Brickhill13-Oct-2018

Big Picture

South Africa have gained significant insights into their bench strength in the last two weeks of white-ball experimentation. They have had a look at 22 players, four opening pairs, umpteen seam options and both of their frontline wristspinners, while also managing to win every match.That they have done so even when several of the pitches played on have been unsuitable for South Africa’s push towards increased aggression with the bat in limited-overs cricket, speaks to the gulf between these two teams. Zimbabwe have been good enough to put themselves in strong positions, but have lacked the ability to land the killer blow with the ball, or counterattack effectively with the bat.That might not have been the case had Zimbabwe been able to draw fully from the reserves of talent that the country has produced. How would South Africa have dealt with Blessing Muzarabani’s height and pace on capricious early season pitches? Might Sikandar Raza have added a little more backbone to the middle order?Those questions are, perhaps, academic. This is the hand Zimbabwe have been dealt, and while Raza will be back in action in their next tour to Bangladesh later this month, it will be years before Muzarabani plays international cricket again, if ever, having signed a three-year deal with Northamptonshire.That’s not to say there have been no positives for the visitors on this tour in the absence of those two. Brandon Mavuta has emerged as a player of great promise, and the bowling has generally been good throughout. But it’s never all clicked at once, and Zimbabwe’s batting has repeatedly let the team down.South Africa will face sterner challenges from Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka this summer, but this series has given them the freedom to chop and change, and by then they will have a better idea of which combinations suit them. Zimbabwe, too, have learned a little about their own strengths and weaknesses, and they have one more chance to get it right.

Form guide

South Africa: WWLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)Zimbabwe: LLLLL

In the spotlight

Quinton de Kock‘s keeping over the last two games has been virtually flawless, but his batting has been a little off, with scores of 5 and 26. While he remains South Africa’s first-choice keeper, there will inevitably be a little pressure on him with Heinrich Klaasen in the squad and hitting the ball cleanly in the middle order. A commanding knock in the final T20I would certainly help de Kock cement his place ahead of South Africa’s trip to Australia at the end of the month.Hamilton Masakadza has made four scores in the 20s on this tour, repeatedly getting himself in and then getting himself out before he can make the sort of contribution that his team so sorely needs. He admitted as such in his post-match interview on Friday, and as Zimbabwe’s leading run-scorer in this format, the team needs more from their captain.

Team news

South Africa’s plan was to give every player in their squad at least two matches over this series, and after the last match captain Faf du Plessis suggested that he might be the player to miss out in the final game to ensure they’re able to do that. Without du Plessis, JP Duminy will captain and South Africa will have a little more space to tinker with their middle order.South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Gihahn Cloete, 3 Heinrich Klaasen, 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 JP Duminy (capt), 6 Christiaan Jonker, 7 Robbie Frylinck, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Junior Dala, 10 Dane Paterson, 11 Tabraiz ShamsiNeville Madziva is the only member of Zimbabwe’s T20I squad not to have got a game on this tour, and he could slot into their lower middle order in place of Elton Chigumbura, who seems horribly out of form with the bat. Zimbabwe may also look to swap Wellington Masakadza for Tendai Chisoro, who failed to take a wicket in either of the first two games.Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Solomon Mire, 2 Hamilton Masakadza (capt), 3 Brendan Taylor (wk), 4 Tarisai Musakanda, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Peter Moor, 7 Neville Madziva, 8 Wellington Masakadza, 9 Brandon Mavuta, 10 Kyle Jarvis, 11 Chris Mpofu

Pitch and conditions

It’s very early in the season, and while this ground is traditionally thought of as one where plenty of runs can be scored, the two provincial games played here last week suggest that there could be a good battle between bat and ball. Both Easterns and Boland were bowled out in the 50-over game, while neither side reached 300 in the three-day match. Come Sunday, there should be something in it for the bowlers.The weather may also have an impact. It’s expected to be cloudy and cool, with the possibility of a thunderstorm in the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• This will be the first T20I between Full Members to be played at Willowmoore Park.
• The last time South Africa and Zimbabwe played here, in an ODI in 2010, South Africa soared to 399 for 6 and then bowled Zimbabwe out for 127 to secure their biggest ever win in the format.
• Hamilton Masakadza became the first Zimbabwean to score 1,500 runs in T20I cricket on Friday. No other Zimbabwean has yet reached 1000 T20I runs, and Masakadza also has the most fifties for his country in this format.

Quotes

“Guys are getting starts, but it’s about building on those starts. We’ve continued to lose wickets at the wrong times.”
“If you look at the all round batting unit, there are seven or eight batters in the mix for the World Cup and all the guys have done well at different times.”

Action shifts to Mount Maunganui with the series now a two-match contest

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2022India’s white-ball tour of New Zealand began with the first T20I in Wellington being washed out without a toss.Both sides were consigned indoors due to continuous rain. Barring a very short dry spell, it was wet throughout.That was disappointing news for the fans in attendance at the Sky Stadium, which was set to host its first men’s T20I match in 20 months.Even while it was drizzling, on-field umpires Chris Brown and Wayne Knights seemed to be inspecting the outfield to gauge the earliest time a match could start once the rain stopped.However, that never happened, with the game called off at 8.52pm local time, roughly 54 minutes before the cut-off time for a five-over shootout.The T20I series now moves to Mount Maunganui for the second match on Sunday, after which the teams will move to Napier for the third T20I on Tuesday.A young India squad is being led by Hardik Pandya for the T20I series with many senior players rested. New Zealand are competing without Martin Guptill and Trent Boult with both sides looking to move on from their respective semi-final defeats at the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Pakistan have issues with their bowling, their batting and their fielding to address in a winner-takes-all game against a hungry Bangladesh

The Preview by Mohammad Isam25-Sep-20182:02

Manjrekar: Pakistan will have a slight edge

Big picture

Unpredictable sides make for great knockout games, so the Bangladesh-Pakistan encounter in Abu Dhabi, which will determine India’s opponents in the final, is unlikely be any different. Pakistan can be a dangerous side in crunch situations while Bangladesh would see making the Asia Cup final a big step in their progress as an ODI force, especially with the World Cup now eight months away.Not making the final would be seen as a backward step for Pakistan’s ODI set-up, especially after their Champions Trophy triumph last year. But so far their average Asia Cup campaign goes with their recent trend of extreme highs and lows from series to series. In October last year, they beat Sri Lanka 5-0 before being blanked 5-0 by New Zealand. They beat Zimbabwe 5-0 in the last ODI assignment before the Asia Cup where they have won against Hong Kong and Afghanistan, but lost both times to India and comprehensively so.Mohammad Amir going wicketless in his last six ODIs has been surprising, while Hasan Ali, the only quick bowler picked in every game in the Asia Cup, has taken three wickets at 51.66 each. Shadab Khan therefore has to take up responsibilities against a Bangladesh batting line-up that can be susceptible against legspin.Pakistan would also have to pick up their fielding, having dropped too many catches in their last two matches against Afghanistan (five) and India (three). On top of these bowling and fielding woes, Pakistan also needs runs from three batsmen among their regular top six.Fakhar Zaman, who made a record 210 against Zimbabwe in July, has so far made just 55 runs in the tournament. Captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Asif Ali have made 58 and 46 respectively, in the four matches so far. Runs have mostly come from Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq, but against Bangladesh’s efficient bowling line-up they cannot afford a top-order collapse or a poor finish.Bangladesh are at times susceptible in their death bowling aside from Mustafizur Rahman, whose skillful mix of slower balls, yorkers and bouncers troubles big-hitters. Mashrafe Mortaza and Mehidy Hasan Miraz often keep it tight in the first Powerplay while Mustafizur, Shakib and Rubel keep the run-rate down in the middle-overs.But Bangladesh become a stronger bowling unit when they post at least a competitive total. Liton Das’ 41 would be encouraging for the team management but his opening partner in the last three games, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, has made a poor start to his ODI career with just 20 runs.As a result, Imrul Kayes, who made 72 batting at No. 6 for the first time in his career in the previous game, may be sent to No. 3 with Mohammad Mithun reverting back to No. 5. It would mean they have two senior batsmen in Imrul and Shakib in the top four, while the in-form Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah have the capability to stop a batting collapse or, in a better situation, go after the bowling in the last 10 overs.Neither team can however be assured of everything going to plan. They are unpredictable and at times flawed, which usually makes for gripping viewing.

Form guide

Bangladesh WLLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LWLWW

In the spotlight

Mustafizur Rahman’s last-over heroics handed Bangladesh the win against Afghanistan, and bowling in the last five overs is fast becoming his biggest strength. In the last three years, he has been one of only two bowlers to have an economy rate of under six per over during that period in ODIs.Shoaib Malik has been Pakistan’s main scorer in the tournament, having made 181 runs in four matches. He would also want to improve his ODI record against Bangladesh, having scored just one half-century against them in 13 innings.

Team news

Bangladesh usually doesn’t make changes when they have just won a game, especially when they are playing at the same venue.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Liton Das 2 Nazmul Hossain Shanto, 3 Mohammad Mithun, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Imrul Kayes, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 10 Nazmul Islam, 11 Mustafizur RahmanBatting and bowling woes may tempt Pakistan into trying out Shan Masood and Junaid Khan for the first time in the tournament. But it also doesn’t mean the likes of Faheem Ashraf, Haris Sohail and Usman Khan can’t be hopeful of a place in the XI.Pakistan (probable): 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Sarfraz Ahmed, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Usman Khan, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pitch and conditions

Only Pakistan have won while chasing in Abu Dhabi in the four Asia Cup games held here so far, so it remains a bat-first ground. There will be no let-up in the heat.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have won 31 out of 35 ODIs against Bangladesh, but three of those four defeats came in the 2015 ODI series.
• Shakib Al Hasan’s direct hit that ran out Rahmat Shah in their previous game was only Bangladesh’s third run-out with a direct hit in the last 12 months. Shakib has two of them, Imrul Kayes the other.
• Shoaib Malik is 54 runs away from eclipsing Younis Khan’s 7,249 runs, which will take him to sixth place in Pakistan’s all-time ODI run-scorers list.

Quotes

“Pakistan are a tough cricketing nation and want to put things right. I did read some comments from Mickey Arthur about some of their tactics and that’s the very reason I am trying to not give our tactics away. But I know what he wanted his bowlers and batsmen to do and they did not do it in those games. They are a good team and they can very much bounce back.”

Indian captain achieves a career-high 937 points, the 11th best of all time; Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah also move up

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2018India captain Virat Kohli moved back to the top of the ICC Test rankings for batsmen after his Man-of-the-Match performance at Trent Bridge. He has amassed a career-best 937 rating points and is one point shy of breaking into the top 10 batsmen in rankings history.Donald Bradman is No. 1 having achieved a rating of 961 points in February 1948 followed by Steven Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting (both on 942), Peter May (941), and Garry Sobers, Clyde Walcott, Vivian Richards and Kumar Sangakkara (all on 938 points).Virat Kohli on top of the world•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Kohli is placed 11th on that list after his knocks of 97 and 103 in Nottingham as India beat England by 203 runs to make the series scoreline 2-1 with two Tests to play. He had previously reached the top of the rankings after the first Test at Edgbaston, before ceding it to Smith after low scores in the second Test at Lord’s.Among other Indian players who made big moves in the rankings were Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.Pandya moved up 23 places in the bowlers’ rankings to No. 51 after taking five wickets in six overs on the second day at Trent Bridge. He occupies the same spot on the batsmen’s charts after his second-innings fifty to set up India’s declaration. Those performances have placed him at No. 17 on the allrounders’ list.Bumrah, who sat out the first two Tests with an injury, took a five-wicket haul in England’s second innings and is now at No. 37 among the bowlers after just four Tests.For England, the biggest move was made by Jos Buttler, whose second-innings 106 took him up 22 places to be No.47 among the batsmen.

Topley to fly home, where he is set to have surgery on his ankle

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Oct-2022England have drafted Tymal Mills into their T20 World Cup squad after Reece Topley was ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury.On Tuesday, the ECB said that Topley had “rolled his ankle” after standing on a boundary cushion during a fielding drill ahead of their final warm-up match against Pakistan in Brisbane the day before. The prognosis was initially hopeful ahead of England’s tournament opener against Afghanistan on Saturday in Perth, but the injury is worse than expected and Topley has sustained ligament damage.Topley will fly home to England, where he will undergo surgery on the injury. His absence is a significant blow for England: he is their leading wicket-taker in men’s T20Is in 2022 and can bowl at the death as well as providing an attacking new-ball option in the powerplay.”Devastated,” Topley wrote on Instagram, “but wishing the boys the best of luck and backing them to put in an amazing performance at this World Cup! Thanks for all the messages, I feel so lucky to have people sending so many messages of good wishes.”As ESPNcricinfo revealed, Mills has beaten fellow fast-bowling reserve Richard Gleeson to the call-up on account of his previous tournament experience. He performed well at last year’s Men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, with seven wickets at 15.42 and an economy rate of 8.00 in the four games he played. His participation in that tournament was cut short by a thigh injury and, as it happens, Topley was the one to replace him in that 15-man squad.Related

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Mills also has a bank of experience in Australian conditions, with previous Big Bash League stints for Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes and Perth Scorchers. He offers a valuable option for captain Jos Buttler, with his speed and nous, particularly at the death, having performed the role admirably in the previous T20 World Cup.However, Mills has not played any cricket since August 10 after an operation to fix an issue with his right big toe that blighted his 2022 summer. The last of his 13 T20I caps came in July, against India at the Ageas Bowl, taking 1 for 35 from three overs. Having tried to manage the toe injury without surgery, a decision was made to operate in the middle of August after his first appearance in the Hundred for Southern Brave against Birmingham Phoenix.Mills spent the seven-match tour of Pakistan at home getting up to speed before joining the squad in Australia. He has so far participated fully in all net sessions ahead of the tournament. England’s next training day is Thursday.Luke Wood, the Lancashire left-arm seamer who made his international debut in Pakistan last month, has been added to England’s touring party as a travelling reserve, cutting short a holiday as a result. The ECB said he would “join the England party in due course”.