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He suggested the looming five-Test series played a part in the issue quickly being put to bed

Andrew McGlashan06-Nov-2024David Warner has called on Cricket Australia to fully explain what happened when the ball was changed on the final day of the Australia A-India A game in Mackay.The Indian players, particularly wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, were angry when a different ball was handed to them by the umpires before play. Audio picked up over the stump microphone heard umpire Shawn Craig saying there were scratches on the previous one and telling Kishan he would be put on report for calling the decision “stupid.”Related

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“You scratch it, we change the ball,” Craig said. “There will be no more discussion, let’s play.”Hours after the game finished, a CA statement said the ball had “deteriorated” and that no further action would be taken. “Both teams’ captain and manager were informed of the decision prior to the start of play,” the statement added.Warner, who said he was not across the whole incident but had seen the exchanges in the middle, suggested the issue had been “squashed” ahead of the imminent arrival of India for the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”The ultimate decision is with CA isn’t it?,” Warner said. “I think they have obviously squashed it as fast as they could, given that India is coming out here this summer. But if the umpires deemed something happened, I am sure there will be a follow up. I think the umpires or the match referee should be standing here answering questions.””I think the match referee should be coming out and addressing his own staff which are the umpires. And if they’re sticking by the umpire’s decisions, you have to stand up for that. That’s obviously a statement CA have to release. I have not seen anything.”It’s understood there is no footage available of anything untoward being done to the ball.Under the laws, a five-run penalty is imposed if the umpires change the ball after they consider it to have been unfairly altered. However, the CA playing conditions include an extra clause which mean the umpires can make a change without implementing penalty runs if it’s unclear how the ball came to be damaged.Warner’s comments came on the day he was unveiled as Sydney Thunder captain following the overturning of his lifetime leadership ban imposed for his role in the Newlands ball-tampering scandal in 2018.”The punishment that was handed down was there for a reason and I thoroughly accept that,” he said. “You’re always going to be disappointed that you can’t lead but what was done was done and I moved on from that.”But I get the opportunity to lead the Thunder and share my wealth of knowledge about the game and hopefully some of the youngsters can come ask me some questions after the game, decisions that I’ve made or some errors that I might have made and have that confidence and hopefully one day they can grow into a captain as well.”

Only an improbable NRR swing can deny champions an automatic return to Lord’s after 22-ball win

ECB Media25-Aug-2025Oval Invincibles all but booked their place in The Hundred Final at Lord’s next Sunday, with a crushing victory over London Spirit in a one-side Bank Holiday clash at the Kia Oval.Sam Billings’ team will be there, barring a run-rate miracle later this week, without the agonies of going through Saturday’s Eliminator, having won the toss and chosen to field against their London rivals.Their day started on the back foot, as Jamie Smith launched into a habitual powerplay onslaught. He sent the first two balls of the match from Jason Berhrendorff to the boundary, but he was then out for 28 from the 20th ball of the innings, having faced 15 of them. The game never looked quite so easy after that, the highlights being a stunning one-handed catch from Will Jacks to get rid of Surrey teammate Ollie Pope from a Sam Curran slower ball, and rapid cameos from Jamie Overton and Ryan Higgins, who exactly matched Smith’s stats despite a slow start. The two put on a tournament-high sixth wicket stand of 54.A total of 152 for 7 seemed a little below-par on a decent surface, but a first-baller for Tawanda Muyeye gave the Spirit hope. Then Jacks and Jordan Cox put on 64 in 35 balls, Jacks taking the lead with some clean striking, a 92-metre maximum over extra cover off Overton the standout moment of his 27-ball 45.Sam Curran joined Cox, so often a profitable partnership this year, and they eased their way towards their target before the Spirit’s most successful bowler, Liam Dawson, tempted Curran with a wide one that he skied to point. Cox (47 from 27), the competition’s leading run-scorer, hit Overton for six and four before he was castled trying to ramp the same bowler.But that merely brought in Donovan Ferreira who again showcased his muscular hitting, ending with 24 off 9 as the Invincibles booked their passage to the final (barring an almost impossible 200+ swing) by six wickets with 22 balls to spare.Of his catch, Meerkat Match Hero Jacks said: “We were struggling to see the ball today, so I picked it up late, pure luck!”And of the batting effort: “It felt brilliant with the bat, the wicket only got better as the lights came on and Coxy made it easy for me. We’ve been looking for that top spot, we know how important it is to get straight to the final and to be able to watch the two teams play the night before. We’ve still got things to improve on… but we’re looking forward to Sunday.”

Chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain paid tribute to Shakib and said Mehidy has been picked in a batting-centric role

Mohammad Isam29-Sep-2024Bangladesh’s selectors have recalled Mehidy Hasan Miraz to the T20I squad for the three-match series against India starting next week. Mehidy played the last of his 25 T20Is in July last year, missing Bangladesh’s last 24 matches in that format while being a key allrounder in the two longer formats.There were also recalls for opener Parvez Hossain Emon and left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan.Related

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Shakib Al Hasan is the big absentee but this was expected following his announcement on Thursday that he was retiring from both Tests and T20Is. Soumya Sarkar is the other player who featured in the T20 World Cup earlier this year who has been left out.Chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain paid tribute to Shakib, saying Bangladesh would have a tough time replacing him, and hoped Mehidy could step up to a batting-centric role in Shakib’s absence. Ashraf explained that Mehidy had been picked to bat higher up the order without a set bowling role.”The great Shakib Al Hasan has already announced that he has played his last T20I for Bangladesh,” Ashraf said. “We don’t have anyone to replace his experience and performance but we feel that Mehidy Hasan Miraz is a good batter who can handle the middle order. Mehidy can play as a batter. We didn’t pick him in the previous [T20] World Cup as we usually feel that he has a strong role as an allrounder in Tests and ODIs.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We didn’t feel his bowling was a great option in the powerplay in T20s. We didn’t want to disturb his rhythm in the other formats. This is why he wasn’t in our T20 World Cup plans, which we had clearly communicated to him. We are hopeful of seeing him higher in the order, just above the finisher’s role.”The new role will be quite a challenge for Mehidy, who currently has 248 runs in 20 T20I innings at an average of 14.58 and a strike rate of 118.66, with a highest score of 46. He has opened the batting twice, and batted once each at Nos. 5 and 6.Ashraf said that Parvez, the left-hand opener, impressed the selectors in various camps during the off-season. He added that Rakibul got the nod due to an injury to left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam.”We have made changes in the opening, middle order and spin attack while keeping the pace attack intact,” Ashraf said. “We have brought in Parvez Hossain Emon in Soumya Sarkar’s place. We have observed him in the recent camps. He is part of our future plans. Rakibul has taken Tanvir’s place, as the latter is recovering from a broken hand. Rakibul is useful with the new ball.”Ashraf said the selectors still believe the veteran Mahmudullah can do a job in the T20I side, despite his mixed-bag performance in the T20 World Cup earlier this year. “We have our future squad in mind,” he said. “We will give value to experienced players. We have belief in Mahmudullah. The captain will have all the options for combinations in this squad.”Bangladesh’s T20Is against India are in Gwalior (October 6), New Delhi (October 9) and Hyderabad (October 12).

Bangladesh squad for T20Is against India

Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Litton Das, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rakibul Hasan.
IN: Parvez Hossain Emon, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rakibul Hasan
OUT: Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan.

Australia allrounder set to play T20 group stage as well as two rounds of Championship

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2025Will Sutherland, the Australia allrounder, has agreed to join Yorkshire as one of their overseas players for the Vitality Blast. The 25-year-old will also be available for two rounds of the County Championship in June/July.Anthony McGrath, Yorkshire’s new head coach, had previously tried to bring in Sutherland when in charge at Essex, only for a back stress fracture to rule him out of a stint at Chelmsford during 2023. Sutherland signed to play for Somerset last season but was forced to withdraw with another back injury.Sutherland, who has been capped twice in ODIs, will join up with Yorkshire in May for the start of the Blast and play the entire group stage, as well as being involved for Championship fixtures against Nottinghamshire and Essex.Related

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“Yorkshire are a Club with big ambitions, and I want to do all I can to contribute to a successful year,” Sutherland said. “I know how hard the guys will have worked to get promoted last season and I’m looking forward to putting in the hard yards with the team.”I’ve worked closely with Mags [McGrath] and Mick [Lewis, Yorkshire bowling coach] previously over in Australia so the opportunity to join them both again was one I couldn’t turn down.”Headingley and its atmosphere is famous in Australia, and I can’t wait to experience a Roses game. I know it’s the first fixture so many look out for, and I was no different.”Captain of Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash, Sutherland has taken 36 wickets in 63 appearances with an economy of 8.80. He strikes at 134.32 with the bat, and made his highest T20 score earlier this month – 70 off 45 balls – to help his side beat Perth Scorchers.McGrath said: “Will is someone I have admired for a long time and feel he can add something extra to our bowling attack for that middle period of the season as well as offering us an added dimension with the bat.”I know the Australian selectors think highly of him, and they know a thing or two about allrounders, so I am confident Will can hit the ground running and deliver for us in both red and white ball games.”Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, added: “Will is an immense talent. His record is impressive, and I’m delighted that we have got his signing over the line.”Having discussed this opportunity with Will over recent weeks, it quickly became clear that he was aligned to our philosophy for the year ahead and his ambitions matched ours. We look forward to welcoming Will to Yorkshire.”

A superb batting effort from Fraser-McGurk, Porel and Stubbs took Capitals to 221

Abhimanyu Bose07-May-20243:17

Why the decision to give Samson out was the right one

Sanju Samson’s 46-ball 86 went in vain as Delhi Capitals’ 221 proved to be too much for Rajasthan Royals to chase. Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed shared six wickets between them as DC successfully defended their total after being asked to bat, subjecting RR to their second defeat on the trot.Jake Fraser-McGurk and Abishek Porel set up DC’s batting effort as they both hit rapid half-centuries.R Ashwin, who had come into the game with two wickets in the season, returned a three-wicket haul to slow DC down, but Tristan Stubbs once again provided the hosts with a powerful finish to take them to a total beyond RR’s reach.

Fraser-McGurk, Porel bedazzle

Fraser-McGurk walked in to bat with an average of 57.33 and strike rate close to 300 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. To stop him, Trent Boult started from around the wicket to try and keep him quiet. For one over, it worked.But when Boult returned for his second over, Fraser-McGurk met him with a loft down the ground for six before hitting him for two more fours in a 15-run over. He then tore into Avesh Khan, starting his first over with three consecutive fours and finishing it by going 6, 4, 6 to bring up his half-century off 19 deliveries.Ashwin struck in the final over of the powerplay when Fraser-McGurk thrashed a low full toss straight to cover. Shai Hope was then run-out at the non-striker’s end as Sandeep Sharma got a hand to deflect Porel’s straight drive on to the stumps.But Porel did not let DC’s momentum slip, racing to a 28-ball half-century of his own. He took on Riyan Parag and Yuzvendra Chahal to keep the boundaries coming. Even after Axar Patel fell in the tenth over, Porel took 27 runs off the next two overs. But in the 13th, he became Ashwin’s third victim of the night.

Stubbs provides the finish

When Rishabh Pant fell to Yuzvendra Chahal in the 14th over, DC faced a slowdown as Stubbs began slowly. Between the 14th and 17th overs, DC added just 22 runs with Stubbs on eight off 11 balls. But Stubbs changed it around when he took on Chahal in the spinner’s final over. His assortment of sweeps helped take 16 run off Chahal’s final over.Gulbadin Naib was out to Boult next over, but Impact Player Rasikh Salam hit two scoops to take DC past the 200 mark. Stubbs then hit back-to-back sixes to start the final over to ensure DC finished beyond 220.

Samson stands up to DC’s bowlers

Khaleel Ahmed had Yashasvi Jaiswal miscuing to mid-off in the first over of the chase, but Samson kept motoring on in the powerplay. Khaleel, Ishant Sharma and Mukesh all bore the brunt of Samson’s assault as he raced to 41 off 16. His runs helped RR finish on a strong 67 for 2 after six overs, losing Jos Buttler to Axar in the penultimate ball of the powerplay.Kuldeep then gave away just 11 runs off his first two overs as Samson and Parag trudged along in a 36-run stand that came off 31 balls. Salam’s slower ball ended the partnership when he castled the in-form Parag for 27.Samson had made just eight runs off nine balls in the partnership with Parag, and the dismissal appeared to bring out a sense of urgency in the RR captain. A six off a free-hit against Kuldeep that brought up his half-century was followed by two sixes and a four off the next over, bowled by Salam. A 17-run over off Ishant was followed by a wayward one from Khaleel, who bowled four wides in a row.But with the momentum just shifting towards RR, Mukesh had Samson hole out. Hope took a catch running to his left from long-on and almost tripped himself on to the boundary rope. After the third umpire confirmed that it was indeed out, Samson went to the umpire in protest but had to keep walking.

Kuldeep wraps it up

With RR still ending 60 off 26 balls, Shubham Dubey’s big shots off Khaleel briefly gave them hope, but Kuldeep’s double-wicket 18th over gave a knockout blow.He first had Donovan Ferreira trapped lbw off a skiddy delivery that was given not-out initially. Then, he tossed up his final ball of the spell wide outside off stump, and Ashwin miscued his slog. He finished with 2 for 25 in four overs, leaving RR needing 37 off the last 12.Salam and Mukesh closed it out, and DC moved to fifth on the points table with their third home win in a row.

The main focus on Saturday was to give a lot of batting practice to the bowlers

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-20252:01

How might India shape their attack for second Test?

Jasprit Bumrah returned to the nets on Saturday during India’s optional training session and bowled for at least half an hour. A decision on whether Edgbaston will be the second of the three Tests he will play is yet to be taken. On Friday, Bumrah didn’t bowl in the nets, but on Saturday he went full tilt. The final call on Bumrah’s involvement at Edgbaston will involve how he feels about his body going into the Test.Except for the centurions – captain Shubman Gill, vice-captain Rishabh Pant, openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal – from the first Test, everybody turned up for the optional training session.The main focus in the nets on Saturday was to give a lot of batting practice to the bowlers after India endured collapses of 7 for 41 and 6 for 31 in Leeds. The last four partnerships aggregated 18 and 29. On their last two tours to England, India’s last four partnerships averaged 19.11 in 2021 and 16.35 in 2018. India will be striving to get similar contributions from the lower order.Related

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A usual trend in Test cricket is that home lower orders tend to contribute more than their counterparts, largely because of familiar conditions and the superior depth in their own bowling, which means visiting attacks are likelier to tire out or lose sting sooner. Be it through their own bowling or some contributions of their lower order, India’s recent years of being competitive outside Asia and the West Indies featured their lower order matching the home lower orders.India will now take a day off on Sunday before returning for an exhaustive training session on Monday. On the day before the match, they will take it easy. Most likely, only the batters who want throwdowns will turn up. Fast bowlers likely to play the Test on Wednesday will likely take Tuesday off.

Her departure will be the second big blow for UPW who are already without their full-time captain Alyssa Healy because of injury

Vishal Dikshit18-Feb-2025Chamari Athapaththu is set to miss the final phase of the WPL for UP Warriorz (UPW) to join Sri Lanka on a white-ball tour of New Zealand starting March 4 in Napier. Athapaththu’s departure will be the second big blow for UPW who are already without their full-time captain Alyssa Healy because of injury.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that as of now, Athapaththu is going to be available for UPW until February 26, which is four more games for them, before she tends to national duties. After their game on February 26, against Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru, UPW will fly to Lucknow for the final league phase of the tournament where they will play three home matches. They have played just one game so far and they left Athapaththu out of the XI in that clash they lost to Gujarat Giants.Athapaththu was named captain of Sri Lanka’s 16-member side released by SLC on Monday and the squad is scheduled to leave for New Zealand on February 22 for three ODIs and as many T20Is.Allrounder Amelia Kerr is the only New Zealand player in the WPL this season and she, unlike Athapaththu, is going to miss the bilateral series next month to play the entire WPL, including the knockouts if MI qualify for those again. If MI make it to the final, scheduled for March 15, Kerr will also miss the first two T20is slotted for March 14 and 16 in Christchurch. Last year too, Kerr had skipped the home bilateral T20Is against England to be available for the entire duration of the WPL.In 2024, the calendar clash between the final leg of WPL and the T20I series in New Zealand had become a much bigger issue when England captain Heather Knight (RCB) and Lauren Bell (UPW) had opted out of WPL completely to represent their national team. Coincidentally, Athapaththu had replaced Bell for UPW then.However, since then boards like the ECB have assured their players they won’t schedule international games during the WPL, which is set to move from the current February-March window to January-February 2026 onwards, according to the new women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP). To avoid such clashes between international series and other T20 leagues, the Hundred (August) and the WBBL (November) have also been given separate windows in the FTP that runs till 2029.

Hosts wrap up their seventh victory of the season with a day to spare

ECB Reporters Network11-Sep-2024Sussex are closing in on a return to Division One of the Vitality County Championship after wrapping up their seventh win of the season with a day to spare against Glamorgan.Having established a first-innings lead of 305 they bowled Glamorgan out for 218 to win by an innings and 87 runs at Hove.The second division’s leading run-scorer Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson scored half-centuries but Sussex’s relentless attack kept chipping away. There were three wickets each for Ollie Robinson, Henry Crocombe and off-spinner Jack Carson, the second division’s leading wicket-taker who took his tally to 45.Glamorgan had batted again after finally dismissing Sussex for 491 and Jaydev Unadkat made the breakthrough in his first over, Asa Tribe collecting a pair when he under-edged the Indian left-armer.Carson bowled just three overs after lunch before going off for treatment to a bad back and in his absence Robinson stepped up to bowl an excellent nine-over spell during which he had Ingram dropped at slip by Tom Alsop on 36.But it was Crocombe who struck in his third over when Billy Root, promoted to opener, played on and lost middle and off stumps.Ingram took his aggregate for the season to 1170 runs at an average of 97.5 and had moved onto 71 when Carson produced a fine delivery which turned and Ingram, aiming to drive down the ground, got a leading to cover.Glamorgan skipper Sam Northeast, coming in at No. 6 after spending time off the field with an elbow problem, became Crocombe’s second victim when he took on a well-directed short ball and picked out James Coles who didn’t have to move to take the catch at deep backward square.Carlson and Kellaway added 57 but Sussex were revived after a brief stoppage for rain. In the second over after the resumption Kellaway missed a reverse sweep and Carson struck again in his next over when Carlson, who had lodged his eighth fifty of the season, was caught at short leg propping forward to a ball which turned sharply.Carson bowled 16 overs in tandem with slow left-armer James Coles to get Sussex’s over-rate back down and, having done so, Robinson was summoned to sweep away the rest of Glamorgan’s resistance, pinning Chris Cooke with his second ball back and bowling James Harris and Andy Gorvin in the space of 17 balls before Crocombe wrapped things up when he plucked out Dan Douthwaite’s middle stump.Earlier, Tom Clark completed his third first-class hundred and first since May 2022 before Sussex were bowled out 40 minutes before lunch for 491.Clark and skipper John Simpson extended their sixth-wicket stand to 213 when Simpson, who’d added five runs to his overnight 112, missed a sweep at off-spinner Kellaway looking to accelerate the scoring rate.A sweep off Kellaway for his 11th boundary took Clark to a 220-ball hundred made in four-and-a-half hours and he finished unbeaten on 112 while Kellaway completed a maiden five-for in only his fourth first-class match when Robinson missed a paddle sweep.

A spirited USA unit knocked over Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma early on in the chase of 111, before India got the job done to book their Super Eights spot

Shashank Kishore12-Jun-20241:08

Is Arshdeep now India’s No. 2 in the pace attack?

USA had several things going against them.The conditions: Before today, they’d never played at Nassau County Stadium; this was India’s fourth game at the venue.Personnel: Monank Patel, the designated captain, was out injured.The toss: Rohit Sharma called correctly and asked USA to bat in seaming conditions.Experience: A motley crew with day jobs against cricketing royalty.It had all the makings of a one-sided fare. Except, it was anything but.At one stage, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both dismissed by Saurabh Netravalkar, and India 15 for 2 in chase of 111, USA dared to dream.When Rishabh Pant was castled by Ali Khan, thirty-thousand screaming fans, many of them Indian-Americans, gave more wings to those dreams.This was now USA’s game to lose.But in Suryakumar Yadav, India had a crisis man who bailed them out of choppy waters. He was helped along by Shivam Dube during the course of a half-century stand that proved to be a game-changer.India are now through to the Super Eights, but USA are still very much masters of their own fate; a win over Ireland, even a washout, will see them through, ahead of Pakistan whom they famously beat in a Super Over thriller last week.On a day when he did most things right, Saurabh Netravalkar shelled a chance to hand Suryakumar Yadav a vital life•ICC/Getty Images

Netravalkar’s Gibbs moment?

Fifty-three needed off 45.USA were bowling cutters into the pitch. Suryakumar was struggling to hit the ball off the square, and was trying to manufacture strokes. Most times, it comes off. Here, it wasn’t.An over after nearly getting bowled trying to sweep Corey Anderson off his length, he tried to open the bat face to play his trademark loft, only to slice the ball high. Saurabh Netravalkar circled under it after doing exceedingly well to get to the ball running back from short third, but couldn’t hold on to the chance.The superhero who could not put a foot wrong until then was human, after all.

Netravalkar’s dream beginning

Virat Kohli first. Rohit Sharma next.The ball that felled Kohli in the first over was a dream delivery. The batter nicking off with a perfect away-going delivery that had him jabbing. It was only Kohli’s second golden duck in T20Is.The ball that got Rohit was somewhat similar. Except it was a lot closer to the stumps and had Rohit turning the face of the bat to take the leading edge. At mid-off, Harmeet Singh, Rohit’s school junior by a few years, ran back and held on.India were shell-shocked at 15 for 2, which soon became 44 for 3 when Rishabh Pant was out to one that skidded low and through his defence.Rohit Sharma walks back after becoming Saurabh Netravalkar’s second victim•Getty Images

Suryakumar, Dube dig in to allay nerves

It was almost as if the reprieve of Suryakumar deflated USA.Suddenly, Aaron Jones was switching fields every ball, running up to have a chat between deliveries, all of it playing into the hands of the batters. Twice, USA were warned about delaying the game by not beginning their next over within their 60-second allowance. When they erred for a third time, the umpires awarded five penalty runs to India.From 35 off 30, India now needed a run-a-ball 30. It didn’t matter then that Dube had at one point been struggling on 5 off 14, or that Suryakumar was far from his 360-degree mode.In the 17th over, India truly broke the stranglehold when Suryakumar picked Shadley van Schalkwyk’s medium pace for a lofted six over extra cover and a trademark flick over his shoulder for four off back-to-back deliveries.

Off the first ball of the 19th, he got to a 49-ball half-century. The winning runs were hit one legitimate delivery later when Dube dug out a yorker-length delivery to long-off. It could have so easily been another knock that had Dube’s self-doubts spiralling, but that he dug in to remain unbeaten on 31 in what was a hard scrap should give him lot of confidence.

Arshdeep’s career-best has USA hobbling

The day began with a two-wicket opening over in which Arshdeep Singh swung the ball back in. Shayan Jahangir, replacing Monank Patel, was out lbw, and Andries Gous picked out mid-off attempting to pull a skiddy short ball.It wasn’t until Nitish Kumar and Corey Anderson added 25 off 18 heading into the final overs that USA had some injection of momentum that gave them a chance of getting towards 120.However, overs 16-18 scuppered those plans. Hardik bowled a wicket-maiden in the 17th, dismissing Anderson for his second wicket, and Arshdeep had Harmeet Singh – who had top-edged Bumrah for a six to get off the mark – caught behind.USA ended up with 110, which they’d look back at and wonder what could’ve been had they only got 10 more.

Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna have been ruled out of IPL 2024

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2024Rishabh Pant has been cleared to keep wickets for Delhi Capitals at IPL 2024 by the BCCI’s fitness and medical teams. Fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna, though, have both been ruled out of the tournament.There is, however, no update on KL Rahul, the designated Lucknow Super Giants captain. He hasn’t played since the first Test against England in January because of a quadricep tendon injury.The BCCI also said that Prasidh, who had surgery on February 23 on his left proximal quadriceps tendon, is set to begin his recovery at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. For Shami, who recently underwent surgery for a heel issue, there is no return date set. The BCCI’s medical team is monitoring his progress.Related

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The update on Pant came just a day after BCCI secretary Jay Shah had told the media that Pant was “batting well and keeping well,” and could be in contention for a place in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup in June.”If he can play the T20 World Cup for us, that will be a big thing for us. He is a big asset for us,” Shah said. “If he can keep, he can play the World Cup. Let’s see how he does in the IPL.”Pant, who last played senior cricket in December 2022, suffered a severe right knee injury that required a ligament reconstruction surgery, besides a fractured wrist and ankle in the car accident. Now with the BCCI’s green signal, Pant might return to action as early as March 23, when Delhi Capitals travel to Mohali to take on Punjab Kings in their opening fixture.In February 2024, Pant began match-simulation exercises in Bengaluru, and even played a 20-over practice game in Alur, Karnataka, under the supervision of NCA physios and trainers. At the time, Pant was understood to have experienced no discomfort while batting for the entire 20 overs, and the people monitoring him were believed to have been satisfied with his endurance levels. Pant, however, didn’t keep wickets back then, and was advised to resume that aspect of his training in March.Last month, Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal had announced Pant as the captain for IPL 2024 and said that Pant would play as a batter alone for the first half of the season. At the time, Jindal had said that “depending on how his body reacts, we will take a call for the rest of the IPL”.Mohammed Shami hasn’t played since the 2023 World Cup final•Associated Press

No return date yet for Shami and Prasidh

Shami’s complete unavailability will have come as a big blow to Gujarat Titans, who will be led by Shubman Gill after Hardik Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians. Shami picked up 28 wickets in IPL 2023 and won the purple cap for Titans as they finished runners-up to Chennai Super Kings.Shami’s last appearance was at the ODI World Cup final. Playing through pain during the tournament while taking injections to treat his ankle, Shami ended up with the most wickets at the World Cup.In January 2024, Shami had said he aimed to return for the Test series against England, but was subsequently ruled out of the entire Test series as well as the IPL following ankle surgery in February. He is also unlikely to be fit for the T20 World Cup.For Rajasthan Royals, it will be a second season without Prasidh. He missed out with injury in 2023 too. Prasidh picked up his latest injury during the Ranji Trophy season while representing Karnataka. He had played an important role in IPL 2022 for the Royals, with his 19 wickets in 17 games a key factor in the team’s run to the final that year.