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Gus Atkinson has found himself in the middle of a country versus county wrangle, the upshot of which will involve him playing for Surrey’s second XI rather than their first team, after he was omitted from England’s side to face India in the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford.Atkinson has not played competitive cricket since May, when he injured his hamstring during England’s one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge. Although he has since been deemed fit enough to return to the squad from the third Test onwards, even playing for his club side Spencer CC during the Saturday of the Lord’s Test, he has yet to feature.On Monday afternoon, the 27-year-old was put through his paces by men’s physical preparation coach Peter Sim and bowling consultant Tim Southee. However, with England 2-1 up in the series, the management have decided not to pick Atkinson for the Manchester Test, which begins on Wednesday.The soft outfield, coupled with the need to supplement the likes of Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and skipper Ben Stokes with a team-mate who can guarantee a certain number of overs, has meant that Atkinson will not be risked. Chris Woakes, who pulled up well a week on from the final day at Lord’s, has kept his place despite a current series haul of seven wickets at 56.42.Related

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• Bumrah to play fourth Test; Pant on track to keep as well

In the circumstances, England were keen for Atkinson to head north to Scarborough for Surrey’s County Championship match against Yorkshire. However, the county have opted not to include Atkinson into their XI. Instead, he will return to London to play for Surrey’s second XI in a four-day match against Somerset at the club’s LSE Ground in New Malden.Surrey’s reasons for not selecting Atkinson are the same as England’s, given he has not played a red-ball match in two months, and they may need to lean heavily on their bowlers given the Kookaburra ball will be in use for this round. They also have the depth not to need to risk Atkinson for this crucial fixture, with the defending champions currently leading Division One by just a point from Nottinghamshire.Jamie Overton, part of the squad for the first three Tests, will play his first Championship match since May. He will line up alongside stalwarts Jordan Clark and Dan Worrall, as well as Matthew Fisher, who has excelled with the Kookaburra, taking 10 wickets in the last two fixtures.Atkinson is currently on a two-year central contract, which means the ECB rather than Surrey pay his wages. Though England would obviously prefer Atkinson to play for the first XI, it is accepted that they cannot force counties’ hands when it comes to selection.Another of England’s omitted seamers, Josh Tongue – who played in the first two Tests at Headingley and Edgbaston – will feature for Nottinghamshire on days three and four of their Championship clash against Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl.

Centuries by Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon and Ashton Turner on debut have given Lancashire a chance of defeating Kent on the final day of the Rothesay County Championship match at Blackpool and thereby securing their first red-ball victory of the season.Replying to the visitors’ 374, Lancashire were 639 for 9 at the close after a day in which their batters savaged Daniel Bell-Drummond’s attack.Wells made 152, Bohannon 124 and Turner a career-best 154 on a day when their county amassed the highest total in matches between the sides.Lancashire will go into the final day with a lead of 265 and the decision facing stand-in skipper James Anderson is whether to declare overnight or club a few more runs before trying to force a win on a docile surface. The latter seems unlikely.In a first session slightly curtailed by a light shower, Lancashire added 105 runs in 30.5 overs for the loss of nightwatcher Tom Bailey, who had made 25 untroubled runs before he was lbw on the front foot to Joey Evison.Otherwise, the highlight of the morning was Wells reaching his third first-class century for Lancashire against Kent when he reverse-swept Jack Leaning to the third boundary. The Red Rose opener had faced 195 balls and hit twelve fours and a six.However, the first session proved to be merely the prelude to an even more severe assault on the Kent bowling in the next two sessions. After taking 24 balls to get off the mark, Josh Bohannon reached his fifty off a further 78 deliveries with an on-drive off Evison. In the next over Wells lost the ball when he walloped Matt Parkinson for a six over the wall at the South End to bring up his own 150.Next ball, however, the former Lancashire leg-spinner applied to balm to his wounded pride when Wells tried to repeat his previous stroke and was well caught by Wes Agar at long off for 152. That dismissal ended the opener’s enterprising 136-run stand with Bohannon and it left his side still 71 runs shy of Kent’s first innings total.Despite having made his runs in a minute short of six hours during which he hit 17 fours and three sixes, Wells’ dejection at his dismissal clearly suggested he thought he had missed a big opportunity to make an even bigger contribution. The cricket that followed supported that judgement.Ashton Turner joined Bohannon and the pair put on a further 174 runs either side of tea, with Turner making an immediate impact in his first innings for Lancashire, reaching his hundred off 117 balls with six fours and four sixes.Bohannon had earlier reached his century off 191 balls with a square cut off his old team mate Parkinson, having hit nine fours and three sixes but he was eventually caught by Agar off Jack Leaning’s off-spin for 124, having hit ten fours and four sixes in his 210-ball innings.Late in the day, Matty Hurst was bowled for 21 by Evison, who took his third wicket and finished with 3 for 61 from 21 overs on a day when he had plainly been the pick of the Kent attack.Eight overs before the close Turner was caught at long off by Leaning off Parkinson and Michael Jones fell to the same combination for 41, leaving the leg-spinner with figures 3 for 188 from 35 overs. Jaydn Denly took two late wickets.The problem now for Anderson and his bowlers is that this Stanley Park pitch still looks very flat and it will take all of Anderson’s wiles and a shrewd rotation of his bowlers to take ten wickets in one day, given that only 19 have fallen in the first three, five of today’s dismissed batsmen perishing to catches in the deep.

A record-breaking partnership between Rehan Ahmed and Lewis Hill gave league-leading Leicestershire a dominant position at the end of the second day of the Rothesay County Championship match against Lancashire at the Uptonsteel County Ground.Ahmed, with his first-class best of 136, and Hill, whose 119 was his first three-figure score for two seasons, put on 256 for the third wicket, a championship-best for Leicestershire’s third wicket against Lancashire, beating a record dating back to 1929.Lancashire’s bowlers stuck at their task, picking up seven wickets throughout the afternoon and evening sessions, but a half-century from all-rounder Ian Holland helped the Foxes close with an intimidating 251 run lead.They also picked up all five batting bonus points, completing a maximum bonus point return from the game.The partnership between Hill and Ahmed, not out overnight on 29 and 26 respectively, was all the more admirable for the fact conditions at the start of play were very much in the bowlers’ favour, the previous day’s sunshine having given way to overnight rain and heavy cloud cover.The two right-handers faced a real battle for the first hour, with Lancashire seamers Tom Bailey and George Balderson both beating the bat on several occasions. No chances were created however, the nearest either batsman coming to dismissal being when Ahmed called Hill through for a single that would have sent his team-mate back to the pavilion had Josh Bohannon’s throw not missed the stumps by a whisker.Hill’s determination to be positive paid off however, notably when he walked down to the pitch to Will Williams and lofted the New Zealand-born seamer for the sweetest of straight sixes. Ahmed, while being impressively determined in defence, also began to unveil some characteristically flamboyant shots: both feet were off the ground when he flayed consecutive short deliveries from Anderson Phillip to the cover boundary before going to his 50 by whipping the same bowler through square leg.Hill was keeping pace, reaching his 50 with a top edged cut that sailed high over the slips. If that was unorthodox, two perfectly timed on-drives had the purists purring. By lunch 130 runs had been added to the score and the Lancashire attack was looking understandably deflated.They looked even more so an hour into the afternoon session, when Hill and Ahmed cut loose. They passed the county’s championship record third wicket partnership against Lancashire, 163 compiled by Walter Bradshaw and Norman Armstrong in 1929, and then the first class record of 165, compiled rather more recently by Ben Slater and Colin Ackermann in the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 before Ahmed was first to a hundred – his second against Lancashire in as many matches.It came with a cut down to third, his 14th four, and occupied 164 balls. Hill followed, his century coming off 150 deliveries and including 14 fours and the six, and both accelerated thereafter before Ahmed sliced at drive at the left-arm spin of Tom Hartley, giving Keaton Jennings a straightforward catch at short third man.Hartley also picked up the wicket of Hill, caught behind cutting at a ball which bounced more than he expected, before captain Peter Handscomb edged an Anderson Phillip out-swinger to Jennings at second slip.A partnership of 76 between Holland and Ben Cox pushed Leicestershire close to 400 before Holland, Logan van Beek and the tail steered the Foxes past 450.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson is set to miss the team’s IPL 2025 fixture against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Jaipur on Saturday with an abdomen injury.Vice-captain Riyan Parag will lead RR, while 14-year-old left-hand batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi is one of the options to replace Samson in the XI. If he does play, he will make history as the IPL’s youngest debutant. RR don’t have another opener in the squad apart from Suryavanshi, though they could bring in Shubham Dubey or wicketkeeper batter Kunal Singh Rathore and play a makeshift opener.Samson, who played as a batting impact player alone in RR’s first three matches while recovering from a finger injury, sustained an abdominal strain during their seventh game of the season against Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 16. He was forced to retire hurt after scoring 31 off 19 balls, and RR eventually lost the match in a Super Over. Parag, who had captained RR for the first three games this season, will take charge again.Suryavanshi, who turned 14 on March 27, made headlines at the IPL 2025 auction when, at just 13 years old, he was signed by RR for INR 1.1 crore to become the youngest player to earn an IPL contract. He had already represented India Under-19 as an opener by then, smashing a 58-ball century in a four-day match against Australia Under-19. He went on to play a key role in India’s run to the final of the 2024 Under-19 Asia Cup, where he scored 176 runs at an average of 44. He also has a triple-century to his name – an unbeaten 332 – in the Randhir Verma Tournament, an U-19 competition in Bihar.Related

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There is no timeline yet on Samson’s return to fitness. He is RR’s second highest run-getter this season with 224 runs in seven innings at an average of 37.33. Apart from Samson and RR’s top-scorer Yashasvi Jaiswal (233 runs in seven innings), no other batter has crossed 200 runs this season, and they are languishing at eighth position on the IPL 2025 points table, avoiding last place only on the basis of NRR. After Saturday’s fixture, RR’s ninth game is on April 24, an away fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

Half-centuries from Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh helped Lucknow Super Giants put on 203 for 8 against Mumbai Indians on Friday in IPL 2025. MI captain Hardik Pandya took a five-for for the visitors after winning the toss and choosing to bowl.Marsh survived a caught-behind chance in the first over of the game. But the bowler Trent Boult and his team-mates didn’t hear it, and the opener capitalised in a 69-run powerplay where he hit nine fours and two sixes.The introduction of left-arm wristspinner Vignesh Puthur accounted for Marsh before a slower bouncer from Hardik reduced the in-form Nicholas Pooran’s promising start to a cameo. Rishabh Pant’s lack of form continued as he, too, fell to a slower short ball from Hardik.After going on the attack during Pant’s stay, Markram went back to playing second-fiddle with Ayush Badoni’s entry. Badoni bought some time but got going later on to post 30 off 19 balls. He was out caught behind playing the scoop a ball before the death overs began. LSG made 90 for 4 in the middle (7-16) overs.Markram reached his fifty off 34 balls, which was off the 98th ball of the innings. He fell to Hardik, who bowled two overs at the death in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. A couple of boundaries from David Miller in the final over took LSG past the 200-mark before Hardik helped himself to two wickets to complete a five-for, the first by a captain in IPL history.

While Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) regained the dazzling batting form they had lost somewhere on their trip to Mumbai, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting continued to be lackluster as they slumped to their third loss in a row after starting IPL 2025 with a mammoth 286. Four days after being skittled for 116 by Mumbai Indians, KKR posted a stiff 200 for 6, led by a 29-ball 60 from vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer and an unbeaten 17-ball 32 from Rinku Singh. Venkatesh and Rinku enabled KKR to finish with a bang – they scored 78 runs in their last five overs – after Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi set things up with a third-wicket stand of 81.SRH were punished for being sloppy in the field more than a few times, and managed just 120 in reply after the KKR quicks took their mighty top three down in just 13 balls. Last year’s runners-up slumped to the bottom of the table while the defending champions jumped five places from last to fifth.Related

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Travis Head fell cheaply for the second time in a row against Vaibhav Arora, as in the IPL final last year, while Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan managed just 2 each. The eight runs scored by SRH’s top three was their second-worst start in the IPL. In last year’s final, their top three – though Kishan wasn’t part of it – had managed just 11.SRH barely recovered from 9 for 3 and slipped to 66 for 5 and eventually suffered their biggest defeat by a runs margin in the IPL.

Travishan flop in big chase

There was no venom in the pitch, no unplayable bounce or movement either, but the SRH top order had no answers for the KKR pace attack, even though Mitchell Starc is no longer part of it. Head skied the second ball to mid-off, Abhishek edged a slower one from Harshit Rana in the second over to slip, and Kishan smashed one to cover where Rahane pouched a sharp catch on the tumble to delight the home fans. Nine for 3 could have become 9 for 4 had Andre Russell held on to an on-drive from Kamindu Mendis at mid-on and made it a double-wicket maiden for Arora. Russell, however, redeemed himself when he got the next wicket as soon as the powerplay ended, having Nitish Reddy caught at long-on. Arora picked up his third eventually, getting the big scalp of Henrich Klaasen for 33 when he returned for his second spell.1:10

Do SRH need to rethink their batting approach?

In between, Reddy showed glimpses of his ball-striking talent, Mendis heaved a couple of sixes on the leg side off Russell, and Klaasen tried to take the game deep even as the asking rate climbed past 15 an over. Rahane stifled SRH with five overs in a row from Sunil Narine and Varun Chakarvarthy, from the eighth to the 12th, which went for just 33 and brought two more wickets, before Arora removed Klaasen and Varun nearly scalped a hat-trick in the 16th over. SRH were eventually bowled out for 120, again raising question marks over their batting approach.

Narine, de Kock fall cheaply again

Even though the Eden pitch didn’t have the spice that was offered by the Wankhede’s in KKR’s last game, they lost their openers cheaply again. Narine fell to another yorker, edging one behind this time, for 7, and Quinton de Kock pulled a short ball to deep square leg for 1 off 6 as KKR crawled their way to 17 for 2 after three overs. They got a lift thanks to the Mumbai duo of Rahane and Raghuvanshi, who between them struck four sixes in 14 balls to help KKR end the powerplay on 53 for 2. Rahane smashed three of them, even before hitting his first four, peppering the leg-side boundary with two pulls and a majestic flick behind square.Venkatesh Iyer crashed 60 off 29 balls•BCCI

Ansari pulls things back

Cummins brought on spin as soon as the field spread out and rookie legspinner Zeeshan Ansari rewarded his captain by stifling the set batters with turn, flight and different lengths to concede just 25 runs in three overs on the trot while the quicks continued to leak boundaries from the other end. Ansari conceded just one boundary off his first 14 deliveries, that too off a misfield from Reddy, before Raghuvanshi carted him for a six and four when he erred too full. Ansari, however, fought back with Rahane’s wicket for 38.

Venkatesh, Rinku power KKR to 200

SRH could have had two in two had Reddy not put down Raghuvanshi at the rope on 43. Raghuvanshi made them pay with a cover drive for four later in the over and brought up his second IPL fifty in the next. His luck finally ran out against the ambidextrous Sri Lanka spinner Kamindu Mendis, and when Harshal Patel held onto an excellent catch that he dived for after running in from deep point.KKR were going at just over eight an over after 13 overs, with two new batters in the middle. Harshal and Simranjeet Singh slowed them down further by taking the pace off the ball, but the trick didn’t work for too long. Rinku and Venkatesh took off once they got their eyes in and powered KKR to their first 200 total of this campaign. Rinku started the carnage with three consecutive fours off Harshal in the 17th while Venkatesh reeled off two in the next over, which Rinku finished with a towering six over long-on. Venkatesh then turned his purr into a roar in the penultimate over. Even though Cummins tried his cutter, a slower bouncer and a yorker among other things, Venkatesh went 4, 6, 4, 4 and brought up a 25-ball fifty before blasting Harshal for a six and a four at the start of the final over. He holed out next ball, and Harshal conceded just three off the last three, but the damage had already been done.

So far in the Champions Trophy, New Zealand are doing all their usual things well – fielding nicely, finding top-order runs, finishing strong. They also have the bowling resources to adapt to Dubai’s surfaces, Glenn Phillips feels.The final group match of the tournament is not a live match exactly. New Zealand and India are both through to the final four, and their semi-final locations are set (New Zealand will definitely play theirs in Lahore, and India theirs in Dubai). The match will, however, decide whom they play – whoever wins plays Australia.Perhaps more vitally, however, a run in Dubai gives New Zealand a chance to become familiar with this set of Dubai conditions. Most of their players will have played at this venue previously, of course. But these are substantially used surfaces following the ILT20 and India’s first two games, in which the surfaces were on the slower side.Related

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“It comes down to the execution on pitches like this,” Phillips said. “We’ve got two really good spinners [Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell], and then allrounders in myself and Rachin Ravindra to be able to offer overs if we’re needed.”And then we’ve got three high-quality pace bowlers – Matt Henry nips it on glass, and our two big tall boys [Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke] that have got variable bounce and in Pakistan have been quite tough to play. I think that covers our bases quite nicely.”New Zealand are also the only team in the semi-finals who will play four matches in four different venues. Australia have played two in Lahore already, and will play a third match there if New Zealand win on Sunday. South Africa have played two in Karachi so far. New Zealand began in Karachi against Pakistan, went to Rawalpindi and beat Bangladesh there, before travelling to Dubai for this game. Being adaptable, though, has been one of New Zealand’s hallmarks in big tournaments over the last ten years.New Zealand had also won the pre-Champions Trophy tri-series in Pakistan, defeating Pakistan and then South Africa in Lahore, before beating Pakistan in the final in Karachi. They then beat the hosts in Karachi to kick this tournament off.2:30

Does Daryl Mitchell slot back into NZ’s XI?

“I think the beauty of Pakistan is every pitch we’ve played on has been significantly different to the last and I think that’s been great preparation for us coming over to Dubai, knowing that the pitch is going to be different again,” Phillips said. “We’ve had a lot of different situations, we’ve had balls that have spun, we’ve had surfaces that have been flat and fast, and boundaries that are small.”This ground presents us with a different challenge of being potentially a little bit slower, more void of grass and maybe slightly slower outfields. So I think we pride ourselves on trying to be as adaptable as possible.”Phillips mistakenly initially thought there was no reserve day for the semi-final due to be held in Pakistan, which would have allowed the group-topper to progress to the final more smoothly. But there is a reserve day for the semi-final in Lahore, and it is only after a no-result across two days that the topping of the group becomes relevant to progressing to the final.He maintained, nevertheless, that there was incentive to finish at the top of the group by beating India.”Finishing in the top spot goes with a great deal of confidence going into the semi-finals,” he said. “At the end of the day, we always, in a tournament like this, go out to win every game possible and momentum is a strange thing in cricket especially.”

Afghanistan dragged themselves to a position of advantage on an attritional third day, with Rahmat Shah’s gritty century, his third in Test cricket, headlining their much improved batting display from their first innings.On the second day where 13 wickets fell, Afghanistan conceded an 86-run first-innings lead to Zimbabwe and lost three wickets before wiping out even half the deficit.But on Saturday, Rahmat, with help from Shahidullah and debutant Ismat Aslam, stretched Afghanistan’s lead beyond 200 with three wickets still remaining, before rain forced early stumps.For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani added two wickets to his overnight tally of two, while Richard Ngarava struck twice, including the prized scalp of Rahmat, but they know with Ismat still at the crease along with Rashid Khan, who is capable of scoring some quick runs, they are going to be staring at a steep chase on a pitch where batting fourth is a daunting proposition.Afghanistan’s innings revolved around two partnerships. The first was a 67-run stand between Rahmat and Shahidullah that saw the visitors take a 50-run lead by the time it was broken.The pair got together after Afghanistan lost two wickets in the first hour of play while still 17 runs behind.From the way Rahmat started the day, it was evident he wanted to bat long for Afghanistan to get into a winning position. He played out 19 balls before scoring the first run off his bat on the day.Ngarava removed the nightwatcher Zia-ur-Rehman the very next ball, and dismissed Afsar Zazai soon after.This prompted Rahmat to take the initiative as he punished two consecutive bad balls from Muzarabani – a full toss and a half-volley – with drives down the ground for boundaries.There was a short rain delay that followed, after which the two dealt in singles till Afghanistan were in the lead in the 30th over.Rahmat and Shahidullah took on Sikandar Raza and Newman Nyamhuri for two boundaries off the next two overs before Rahmat brought up a half-century off 99 balls. The boundaries kept coming as the two trudged along to lunch with a 39-run lead.In the fourth over after tea, a smart piece of captaincy brought about Shahidullah’s downfall.Blessing Muzarabani accounted for two more wickets on Saturday•Zimbabwe Cricket

With Muzarabani testing him outside off from around the wicket, Craig Ervine brought on a silly point fielder and the next delivery, Shahidullah fended at a length ball in the corridor to offer the simplest of chances to Takudzwanashe Kaitano at silly point.Zimbabwe knew they had to capitalise on the opportunity, and put the screws on Afghanistan.Ismat, who was out without scoring in the first innings, copped a blow on the helmet trying to duck under a Muzarabani bouncer that stayed low and needed multiple check-ups from the physio over the next few overs.Rahmat survived an lbw chance when Raza, who toiled away for 23 wicketless overs in the day, got one to spin in sharply to strike his pad only for the umpire to turn it down. Rahmat responded by dancing down the track and lofting him down the ground for a boundary before he took a hit on the shoulder from an Ngarava short ball.But the two were unfazed and went about steadily increasing Afghanistan’s lead. Rahmat brought up his century with a single of Nyamhuri off 209 balls, following up on his double in the first Test.Ismat, who was on 16 off 46 at the point, then started to shift gears with two boundaries off Nyamhuri before tea.After tea, there were 11 consecutive overs of spin, but Raza and Bennett couldn’t break through or keep the scoring rate down to apply pressure.As soon as the new ball became available, Zimbabwe found some immediate chances. Ngarava drew the edge from Ismat but he was dropped by Ervine at first slip, when he was three runs short of his fifty. One over later, Ismat brought up a half-century.The set batters used the extra pace of the new ball to cash in on a few more boundaries before Muzarabani finally broke the stand on 132 – the highest for the seventh wicket for Afghanistan.Muzarabani got a length ball to seam in past Rahmat’s inside edge and hit his back pad. Rahmat wasn’t best pleased when the umpire ruled him out leg before, but with no DRS available in this series, he had to walk back after a marathon innings.Rashid then quickly moved to 12 off as many deliveries, hitting Nyamhuri through midwicket for a boundary off what proved to be the last ball of the day before the players were called off for rain.

New Zealand withstood the sublime genius of Rishabh Pant to enter uncharted territory: a whitewash of India in India in a series of three Tests or more. Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips combined for nine wickets to defend 146 despite Pant’s 64 off 57 that took them from 29 for 5 to 106 for 6. Ajaz ended up with an 11-wicket haul, becoming the most successful visiting bowler at a single Indian ground.Apart from poor batting, of course, India were also left looking at a contentious DRS call from the third umpire Paul Reiffel. Pant had all the momentum with India taking six singles and two boundaries in the first two overs after lunch, but New Zealand managed to get a decision overturned in what appeared a desperate review. Pant had padded up to Ajaz after being beaten in the air, was given not-out on a bat-pad catch, the third umpire on first viewing seemed to be ruling that the murmur of UltraEdge came from the bat on the pad. Eventually, though, a possible deflection after the sound signature convinced the third umpire to overrule the on-field call.Related

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Take nothing away from Ajaz, though. Born in Mumbai, representing New Zealand, having taken an all-10 on his previous trip, Ajaz was having an ordinary series when he came into the final Test. Even though he found his groove post lunch on day two, taking five wickets in the first innings, even though he had taken three early wickets in the second innings, he was playing a different Test against Pant.At the moment of the Pant wicket, Ajaz had bowled 167 balls to rest of India for 112 runs and nine wickets, but 41 balls to Pant had gone for 75 runs. Pant was in the middle of an audacious effort that defied the treacherous conditions, asked for by the team management and duly delivered to them.The problem with batting on such tracks is the vast margin for errors bowlers have. Even if you bowl a rank long hop, you can protect the boundaries with in-out fields because the ball comes off the pitch at varying pace. Pant’s genius lay in still managing to manipulate shots enough to beat the deep fielders. A swivel almost onto the stumps to hit squarer. A collapse onto the knee to sweep finer. Almost always sweeping himself off his feet to impart that extra bit of power. All this while maintaining an 84% control rate at lunch.When Pant was not on strike, though, Ajaz was unplayable. Ever since lunch on day two, he bowled perfect lengths and carried it into the second innings. He bowled on a good length, drawing forward-defence from the batters without letting them reach the pitch of the ball.Rishabh Pant wasn’t happy with the review that sent him back•BCCI

Shubman Gill left one alone without covering the line of off, leaving himself open to the vagaries of the pitch. The ball didn’t turn, and took the off stump out. Virat Kohli was a sitting duck as he defended and edged into the big mitts of Dary Mitchell at slip. Ravindra Jadeja, who earlier completed his third career 10-wicket match haul and added 42 with Pant, finally got one that turned too much and was caught at bat-pad. Only Sarfaraz Khan’s wicket was a gift because of the gremlins in the minds. His two-ball innings consisted of two premeditated sweeps to what were otherwise boundary balls. One a single, and the other a full toss helped straight into deep midwicket’s welcoming hands.The openers fell to Matt Henry and Phillips. Rohit Sharma seemed like he wanted to get ahead of New Zealand while the roller’s effect was still fresh after New Zealand refused to get the pitch rolled as their last wicket added three runs to the overnight lead of 143. Two boundaries came, but the third attempt was to a ball not short enough, and Phillips caught the top-edged pull at midwicket.Phillips, who has far exceeded expectations as the second spinner of the side, continued the good work by not bowling any bad balls, and was duly rewarded by trapping Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw on the forward-defence.Pant, though, was playing a different game. His first thought was a boundary, then running, and then defence. He opened his account with a flat six back over Ajaz’s head. That forced Ajaz to bowl quicker and shorter to him, getting India a set of two bye boundaries. His reverse-sweeping got rid of short fine leg, and benefitted him when he top-edged a sweep precisely there.After losing Jadeja, he found the boundary two times in the last two overs before lunch to bring up his fifty and leave India hopeful of a miracle. Post lunch, New Zealand sat back. Six singles in the first over. Two fours in the second. Then came the desperate review, which turned it around for New Zealand again.Tom Blundell found something to celebrate with a superb catch off the R Ashwin glove on the reverse-sweep. Phillips found a moment to celebrate all the hard work when he bowled Akash Deep through the gate. Fittingly, Ajaz ended it all as Washington Sundar tried to slog him with not many options left.

Dale Steyn will work with some of England’s most promising young fast bowlers in South Africa next month, ESPNcricinfo can reveal. Steyn will be part of Andrew Flintoff’s coaching staff in his first tour as England Lions head coach, along with his former international team-mate Neil McKenzie.Steyn, who took 439 wickets in his stellar Test career for South Africa, will work with the Lions on a short-term basis. The ECB named a 19-man training squad at the start of the month, with the tour due to run from November 20 until December 14. It will largely consist of a training camp but will conclude with a four-day match against South Africa A in Western Province.The squad is packed with ten seamers, including two players with full international caps in Pat Brown and Josh Hull, and two others who were unused squad members this summer in Dillon Pennington and John Turner. The other six fast bowlers are Zaman Akhtar, Kasey Aldridge, Henry Crocombe, Tom Lawes, Harry Moore and Mitchell Stanley.Related

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Ed Barney, who replaced Mo Bobat as the ECB’s performance director earlier this year, said the seam-dominated squad reflected “England’s short and long-term needs” across formats. “Over half the squad consists of seamers, reflecting our continued focus on supporting these players to achieve their potential,” Barney said.McKenzie, the former South Africa batter, will oversee a group of batters which three recent members of the England Under-19s set-up in Freddie McCann, Ben McKinney and Hamza Sheikh. Dan Mousley will join the Lions tour after travelling to the Caribbean for England’s white-ball series, while James Coles, Matty Hurst and James Rew also feature.McKenzie was part of Flintoff’s coaching staff in his first role as head coach earlier this year, when he took charge of Northern Superchargers in the Hundred. He has also worked with South Africa’s national team and Desert Vipers, and was recently replaced as Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s batting coach by Dinesh Karthik.Karthik was another coach briefly brought into the Lions set-up on a short-term basis in India earlier this year, with the ECB seeking to harness local knowledge on development tours. It is understood that Jacques Kallis was also scoped out as an option for the South Africa camp, though is not expected to feature when a full list of coaching staff is announced later this week.