Daryl Mitchell’s record runs for New Zealand, and other stats highlights from the hosts’ 3-0 sweep of the visitors

Sampath Bandarupalli28-Jun-2022England’s hat-trick of 250 chases
England completed a clean sweep against New Zealand with successful chases in all three matches – 277 at Lord’s, 299 at Trent Bridge and 296 at Headingley. It was the first time a team won chasing 250-plus targets in three successive Tests. It was also the first instance of a team winning three times while chasing 250-plus targets in a Test series.England’s chases at Trent Bridge and Headingley this series came at a run rate of 5.98 and 5.44 respectively, both being the fastest 250-plus chases in Test history.The England-New Zealand series also became the first Test series with three successful chases of 250-plus targets by both teams involved. In fact, there has been only one previous instance of three 200-plus chases in a series – between Australia and West Indies in 1951-52, where the hosts won twice and the visitors once.England’s fast-scoring rates
England set new benchmarks with their scoring rates in this series as their run rate of 4.54 across the three matches was the highest for any team to have batted five or more times in a Test series. Their aggressive batting took over from the chase at Trent Bridge, where they scored 299 in only 50 overs, the second-fastest Test innings of 300-plus balls.ESPNcricinfo LtdTheir scoring rate in Headingley was quite close to a limited-overs game, as they scored 656 runs across both innings at 5.4, the highest run rate for any team in a Test match (with a minimum of 500-plus runs). England’s run rates in Headingley were 5.37 and 5.44 respectively, both among the top seven fastest Test innings in terms of run rate.Bairstow’s mayhem
England’s high scoring rates coincided with Jonny Bairstow’s destruction in the last three innings of the series. Bairstow scored only 25 runs in the first three innings, but in the following three knocks, he registered the second-fastest fifty, the second-fastest century and the second-fastest 150 for England in Test cricket. England’s run rate crept well over five in all three of those innings.ESPNcricinfo LtdBairstow finished the series with 394 runs at a strike rate of 120.12. It is by far the highest for any batter to have faced 300-plus balls in a series.Ben Stokes is second on this list, scoring 411 runs at 109.01 against South Africa in 2016. Bairstow’s strike rate is also the second-highest by any player with 300-plus runs in a series, behind only Shahid Afridi’s 121.32 against India in 2006.ESPNcricinfo LtdMitchell stands tall
Daryl Mitchell was the star for the visitors with the bat on the England tour, scoring 538 runs, the most by a player in a three-match series for New Zealand. His tally was also the fourth-highest in a Test series for his country. His three hundreds on the tour were also a New Zealand record, equaling Andrew Jones and Ross Taylor.ESPNcricinfo LtdMitchell scored only 13 runs on the opening day of the series, but by scoring 50-plus in the remaining five innings, he became the first New Zealand batter with five consecutive 50-plus scores in Test cricket. Mitchell’s 538 runs are also the second-highest by a batter in a series where their team got swept. Brian Lara holds the record, having scored 688 runs in their series defeat of 0-3 against Sri Lanka in 2001.New Zealand’s pair of hope
Tom Blundell played a crucial role in Mitchell’s success with the bat, with long partnerships for the fifth and lower wickets throughout the series. The duo added 724 runs in six innings, the highest by any New Zealand pair in a Test series. They also became the first New Zealand pair to share four century stands in a series, and only the fifth pair overall.They faced 1417 balls together, the second most by any pair in a Test series (where balls data is available).ESPNcricinfo LtdMost of the runs scored by New Zealand in this series came from the partnerships of these two batters. They contributed 37.9% of New Zealand’s series aggregate. Only one pair in a three-plus match series made a higher contribution to their team. Australia’s Warren Bardsley and Charles Kelleway added 484 runs against South Africa in 1912, equivalent to 43.8% of the team’s runs in the series.

The new regime and not being captain anymore has brought him liberation and, perhaps, self-discovery

Osman Samiuddin06-Jul-2022Joe Root got England underway on the fifth morning at Edgbaston with a little nudge off his thighs to square leg for a single. It was almost exactly the shot with which he began England’s final day in the chase at Lord’s against New Zealand earlier this summer. It is a trademark Joe Root shot.He has an entire family of back-cuts, from the angled-bat dab down fine to the more vertical open-faced glides square and everything in between: these are all trademark Joe Root shots.The Joe Root off-drives are a trademarked range, housing the bog-standard drive through extra cover, leaning lithely into the shot, the square-driving on one knee or going straighter, body and bat moving into the ball with the practised ease of a dancer.Related

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The clips he works through midwicket – also a Joe Root trademark. The pull shot: trademarked; the back-foot punch, on his toes, as elegant as a yoga pose; the little drop to the off for a quick single; these are all shots that are identifiably Joe Root’s but if so many shots are identifiably Joe Root’s, then can any one shot be truly his? And if not, where does that leave us?With the best batter in the world at this moment.One sense that is common with great batters in their very best periods, as with Root now, is that every great innings acquires this inevitability. Of course, they scored a hundred and of course, they did it the way they did it, the way they always do it. It’s them, that’s what they do. After a time, pitches, bowlers, situations, and even results can become irrelevant.Or rather than an inevitability, is this what it must be like to see (rather than hear) an echo? Every subsequent great innings is the echo of an original great innings the batter has played, except unlike with sound, there’s no loss of vividness.With Root, most innings drive home the universal observation about his batting, that the first time you look up at the scoreboard after he has come in, he is already on 20-something and nobody is quite sure how he got there (hint: those trademarked shots).But the reality for most batters has always been that the first part of any innings is the most difficult time. They are lining up actions, making sense of the surface, getting their body aligned, making sure the feet are light, the arms loose and a central equilibrium holding it together. They are trying to tune themselves out from the outside noise but also tuning themselves to the task at hand.There’s no standout metric that illustrates the point of Root’s starts – the best one is that his dismissal rate in the first 20 balls (among batters who’ve played at least 100 innings since Root’s debut) is the sixth lowest. Even the caveat that he has played a lot in England, where top-order batting is basically about negotiating the early dismissal, doesn’t save this from being underwhelming. But that only speaks to a broader point about Root, because by the time you’ve read the last two paragraphs, he’s already on 23.

With Root, most innings drive home the universal observation about his batting, that the first time you look up at the scoreboard after he has come in, he is already on 20-something

For all that England’s batting has been this summer – and aside from being astonishingly successful, it’s still not clear precisely what it is – it has been underpinned by the presence of Root. He is the one who was there when none of this was there, and he’ll be the one still there when all this isn’t. That he has bookended the wild last few weeks with fourth-innings hundreds in a big chase is perfect.And the Edgbaston hundred was every bit as significant as Lord’s hundred. England had lost three wickets in two runs in a matter of minutes, Virat Kohli was all over them and India were threatening to recreate The Oval. Lose Lord’s and who knows whether this happens. Lose this and face the questions, or at least the smirking reminders that against the best attacks, this isn’t going to work.Root’s response was to lead England as he was always meant to: with bat. In the first 15 overs of the stand with Jonny Bairstow, a period in which the game was at its tightest, Root took 60% of the strike. That might not appear a very lopsided proportion but imagine the strong temptation to let Bairstow take over and really barrel his way into that target?Instead, Root gamed it out. Enough singles to not let the score stagnate (but not so many that anyone noticed he was already on 20-something), keep out what you can, put away what you can. Jasprit Bumrah got too straight, away to the midwicket fence; Mohammad Shami gave him a fraction on length, dabbed through backward point. Root survived a tight lbw shout, next ball he shuffled out – another trademark – and clipped Shami through midwicket.From the other end, Ravindra Jadeja was gaining control. Post tea, he had figures of 6-2-9-0 into his spell, drying up England’s runs from over the wicket. Root had reverse-swept twice to try to break the stranglehold, without success. In the seventh over of Jadeja’s spell, he finally paddle-swept him twice, each for four; in his next, he swept him conventionally for another. Boom, Bumrah and Shami seen off, now Jadeja; by the next over, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur were bowling.He can be a rock star too•PA Photos/Getty ImagesThis wasn’t what England had done previously; this was Root doing what he does. He referred to conversations in the dressing room about recognising moments when the pressure had to be absorbed, before ruthlessly turning it around – a bit of nuance not often talked about over these Tests.Once that period broke open, the inevitability crept back in: of a Root ton and more improbably of another big England chase. On the final morning, Root got through the 90s with, in order, a glide off the face through third man, a clip off his pads and a late, late dab so fine it bounced in front of and then over second slip – all for four. If Root were to sleepwalk his way through the 90s, this is the route he would take as he knows it so well.Eventually, England chased down the total in a much more calculated and less bludgeoning way than at Trent Bridge and Headingley. They were more inevitable about it and at the centre was Root.All that said, it has been a fascinating summer in the career of Joe Root. He feels like a kid again and because he has never knowingly not looked like a kid, the youthfulness is assumed to be in his batting. The new regime yes, no captaincy also yes. Together it has brought liberation. His strike rate has always been healthy but this summer, he has been striking at 19 runs more per 100 balls.Also, perhaps, self-discovery. At Trent Bridge, he played shots that are unusual for him in Tests and urged a rewriting of the coaching manual. After Edgbaston, he half-joked he was caught between the grounding of the old Yorkshire way of orthodox batting and the entreaties of his captain to be a rock star. But he has clearly been re-thinking, or rather re-assessing, more seriously the contours of Test batting.”It’s scripted out how you need to play in Test cricket,” he said when asked about dealing with the stifling orthodoxy around the format. “Sometimes being unpredictable is very difficult to bowl at. Sometimes the gaps are bigger, and you know where the ball is going to be because of generally how sides bowl for long periods of time. There have been occasions this summer I might have played some unusual shots. But they’ve felt like pretty low-risk options in the moment.”It’s not as if no one has ever come upon this truth before. Virender Sehwag, as just one, understood this from the moment he started playing. In Root’s case, it could even be argued he has returned to it, given his once burgeoning white-ball game. Remember that, unlike his great contemporaries, he rarely gets to exhibit his (still considerable) white-ball skills anymore.He has played seven ODI innings since becoming a world champion three years ago; he hasn’t played a T20 outside the Blast in over three years. The absence has steadily dimmed the cachet and robbed him of a global, all-format sheen (while, by contrast, Steven Smith and Kane Williamson faced off in the last T20 World Cup final). If nothing else, this summer has been a righting of that.

From Mithali Raj to Yuvraj Singh, everyone took part in the celebrations after India’s CWG 2022 semi-final win over England

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2022

What a nail-biting finish! That was a special final over from @SnehRana15. The fiery knock from @mandhana_smriti set the tone and @Deepti_Sharma06 chipped in with crucial all-round contribution. Top stuff #TeamIndia, all the best for the final. Let's go for the . #CWG2022 pic.twitter.com/HqUZIg47JV

— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) August 6, 2022

And has anyone hit more sixes in their first T20I innings than Tristan Stubbs’ eight?

Steven Lynch02-Aug-2022England hit 20 sixes in the first T20I against South Africa. Was this a record? asked Derek White from England

Those 20 sixes in the first T20I against South Africa in Bristol last week was easily an England record, surpassing 15, which they had achieved five times, including twice in successive matches against West Indies in Bridgetown in January. But it was short of the overall mark: Afghanistan’s batters hit 22 sixes in their 278 for 3 – the joint record for any senior T20 match – against Ireland in Dehradun in February 2019. There have been three cases of 21 sixes in a T20 international innings, and another of 20.How many players with at least ten Test appearances have finished their career with their batting average being better than at any point beforehand? asked Kunjal from India

If we look at the men whose average at the end of their final Test was higher than at the end of any of their previous matches, there are eight (plus three current players) who averaged 30 or more. The most matches involved was 29, by Seymour Nurse of West Indies, who finished with an average of 47.60, helped by 258 in his final Test (against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1968-69), and India’s Irfan Pathan (31.57). The old England opener Jack Russell averaged 56.88 – his highest – after his tenth and last Test, in which he scored 140 and 111 against South Africa in Durban in 1922-23. Note that Mushfiqur Rahim, who made 198 runs for once out in his most recent match (against Sri Lanka in Mirpur in May), currently has a higher average – 37.93 after 82 Tests – than after any of his previous matches, as does Ravindra Jadeja (36.56 after 60).The list changes if you consider the average after every individual innings, as the figure can drop after a lower second knock. The most innings then is 50, by the South African opener Eric Rowan, who signed off – aged 42 in 1951 – with an average of 43.67. Pathan is next (40 innings, average 31.57), while the West Indies wicketkeeper Gerry Alexander took his average to a career-high 30.03 with 73 in his 38th and last Test innings, against Australia in Melbourne in the final chapter of the exciting 1960-61 series that began with the first-ever tied Test, in Brisbane. The highest average involved for anyone with ten or more innings is Russell’s 56.88 from 18, although Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi currently averages 58.83 after ten, but will presumably appear again.Tristan Stubbs hit eight sixes on his T20I debut in Bristol. Has anyone managed more than this? asked Henry Oldfield from England

The 21-year-old South African Tristan Stubbs did hit eight sixes in his valiant innings of 72 from 28 balls in Bristol the other day. While it was his first innings in T20Is, it wasn’t quite his first match; he played two against India in June without getting to the crease. In any case, the record for a T20I debut is ten sixes, shared by two men: Ravinderpal Singh for Canada against the Cayman Islands in Bermuda in August 2019, and Leslie Dunbar for Serbia against Bulgaria in Corfu two months later. JP Kotze smote nine sixes on debut for Namibia against Botswana in Windhoek in August 2019.The record for a Test-playing nation is six, by Australia’s David Warner against South Africa in Melbourne in January 2009 – a debut also notable for the fact that Warner was almost unknown, as he had not even played a first-class match at that point.Duanne Olivier has a strike rate of 35.3 in Tests, the second best of all time among bowlers who have bowled at least 2000 deliveries•AFP/Getty ImagesIs it right that Duanne Olivier has the best bowling strike rate in Tests? asked Johannes Vetter from South Africa

It’s true that the South African fast bowler Duanne Olivier has the best strike rate in Tests among current bowlers (given a minimum of 2000 balls bowled). He has taken 59 wickets in 15 matches so far, at a rate of one every 35.3 balls; the only man ahead of him over a complete career is the 19th-century England bowler George Lohmann, who took a wicket every 34.1 deliveries. Currently in fifth place is Olivier’s team-mate Kagiso Rabada (40.7), while Dale Steyn’s 439 Test wickets came at the tremendous rate of one every 42.3 balls.Was Sam Northeast the oldest man to score a quadruple-century in first-class cricket? asked Lakshmi Patankar from India

Sam Northeast, who scored a county-record 410 not out for Glamorgan against Leicestershire at Grace Road last month, is now 32. The only older quadruple-centurion was Brian Lara, who was 34 when he reached 400 for the second time, during the Test against England in Antigua in 2004. Slightly more surprisingly, perhaps, Lara’s effort in that game was also, at 773 minutes, the slowest first-class quadruple; Northeast is next with 603. However, although it’s difficult to be absolutely certain, it looks as if Lara was also the quickest to the mark – in the course of his unbeaten 501 at Edgbaston in 1994 he reached 400 in 367 minutes. The youngest to score a first-class 400 was Pakistan’s Aftab Baloch, aged 20 in 1973-74. For the list of the highest first-class scores, click here.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

They’re inexperienced, they’ve had some drama, but Pooran believes the team understands itself better now

Alex Malcolm04-Oct-2022Shimron Hetmyer made headlines for missing his flight to Australia. But spare a thought for those who made it.

While part of West Indies’ T20 World Cup squad arrived in Australia on Saturday, those that played in the CPL final made the exhausting 35-hour journey from Guyana to the Gold Coast, via New York, Dubai and Brisbane to arrive at the team hotel late on Monday night ahead of their first match of the tour on Wednesday.All 14 members of the squad, with Shamarh Brooks still to arrive, fronted up to their first training session in Australia as a group on Tuesday afternoon. West Indies could be forgiven if they sleepwalk their way through the two T20Is against Australia.”It’s definitely tough,” West Indies Nicholas Pooran said in pre-match press conference. “We’ve been playing a lot of cricket for the year.”It’s difficult. It’s a challenge. But we are professionals. At the same time our main focus is obviously the World Cup qualifiers first. We have an opportunity to play against Australia, [but] we need to be smart as well. Our number one priority is obviously getting ready for our qualifiers. In saying that we will use these games here … obviously we want to win but we need to be smart as well. We need our players fresh and ready for when that qualifiers start.”Related

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Such travel can often leave an individual dazed and confused when they wake up in a strange hotel room, needing a moment to clarify where they are and how they got there.West Indies find themselves in a strange hotel room right now. The two-time T20 World Cup champions, once giants of the format, now find themselves ranked seventh in the world and facing a qualifying fight against Scotland, Zimbabwe and Ireland just to make it the Super 12 section of the tournament later this month.These are unfamiliar surrounds for a team whose current squad features just five players who were part of the previous T20 World Cup. The legendary figures of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo have left the international stage while Andre Russell and now Hetmyer are personae non gratae. That is 2217 games of T20 experience missing, albeit from a side responsible for the current qualification predicament they face. That number does not include Sunil Narine’s 435 games of experience that mysteriously remain missing from international cricket. Fabian Allen and Hayden Walsh have also been overlooked.Picked in their place is a man who has played just four domestic T20s, and none since 2016. Yannic Cariah, a 30-year-old legspinner from Trinidad, made his ODI in August but heads to the World Cup having not even been contracted to play in the CPL.There is some tournament-winning experience in Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis. Pooran and Jason Holder bring vast global experience while Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell and Alzarri Joseph arrive carrying outstanding form from the CPL.Courtesy the BBL, players like Jason Holder have plenty of Australia experience•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaBut the squad is not the fearsome force it was not so long ago. From the outside looking in, it is hard to fathom where West Indies find themselves. But Pooran believes the team is acutely aware of their surroundings and what needs to be done.”It’s a new generation for us,” Pooran said. “Some of them this is their first World Cup as well. We spoke about obviously being here for the first time. We are not coming here as the defending champions anymore. We obviously had a bad World Cup last year. We’re starting from the bottom. We have to obviously take the harder road first, which is the qualifiers and our number one priority at the moment.”But [it is about] roles and responsibility and accountability. We sat down and spoke to players about which parts of the game you are responsible for. Starting with it in practice, we want to have the right mindset. I think once we can perform our roles to the best of our ability, then everything else is going to take care of itself. And we’re not talking about winning or losing but we’re just talking about having a chance in a cricket game and that’s all that matters.”Making West Indies’ challenge even harder is the combined inexperience in Australian conditions. West Indies have not played an international match in Australia since the Sydney Test in January 2016, with Holder the only squad member to have played in that game. Their last ODI in Australia was during the 2015 World Cup and they have only ever played three T20Is in Australia, the last of which was in 2013. Charles is the only squad member to have played in that game. Aaron Finch and Josh Hazlewood, the latter who made his T20I debut, are the only remaining Australian players from that match at the Gabba, which the West Indies won comfortably.There is some BBL experience in the ranks, with Holder and Pooran having played at Metricon Stadium before for Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars respectively in one of the greatest-ever BBL matches in 2020.”I absolutely love my experience in the Big Bash with Melbourne,” Pooran said.” I think that’s one of my best T20 innings so I’ll always remember that.”But experience is not what this West Indies team wants to lean on against Australia on Wednesday and in the upcoming World Cup.”We understand that we don’t have as much experience in the room,” Pooran said. “But we have been playing cricket together for the entire year so we do understand each other a little better now.”But the culture is just all about love. Being a family. Actually looking out for each other and being in this together. This entire year we have been through our ups and downs. We’ve been all over the world. We’ve been losing cricket games. We have been winning games and we have been performing as a group.”We have stuck together and we’re here today and obviously we’re here to fight again.”

And what’s the lowest all-out total in a Test without a duck?

Steven Lynch13-Sep-2022Both captains in the Afghanistan-Pakistan match at the Asia Cup were out first ball – has this happened before? asked George Nixon from England
Mohammad Nabi and Babar Azam were the two captains who departed first ball in last week’s match between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Sharjah. There has been one previous instance in T20Is: earlier this year, when Sweden played Greece in a regional World Cup qualifier in Vantaa (Finland), both Abhijit Venkatesh and Anastasios Manousis collected golden ducks.It’s also happened once in ODIs, in the match between India and West Indies in Visakhapatnam in December 2019, when Virat Kohli and Kieron Pollard were both out first ball (Kohli was dismissed by Pollard). In all, there have been 12 ODIs and 13 T20Is in which both captains were out for ducks.Is it right that a Test match was also interrupted when the Queen’s father died, back in 1952? asked Lalith de Silva from Sri Lanka
The events of the just-completed Test at The Oval, when the second day was called off to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II, did indeed mirror the events when she came to the throne 70 years earlier in 1952. Back then her father, King George VI, died on February 6, while England were starting the fifth Test of a tour of India, in Madras. The second day was blank, as a mark of respect, but play resumed on February 8. India eventually completed an innings victory, their first Test win in 25 attempts spanning almost 20 years.When was the last time someone bowled four or more maidens in a one-day international? asked Azweer from India
I suspect this question arose out of Sean Abbott’s eye-catching figures for Australia against New Zealand in Cairns last week – he finished with 5-4-1-2. The last man to deliver four maidens in an ODI innings before that was the Bangladesh slow left-armer Nasum Ahmed, with 10-4-19-3 against West Indies in Providence (Guyana) in July.There have been two instances of a bowler sending down eight maidens in an ODI innings. The great Indian left-arm spinner Bishan Bedi had figures of 12-8-6-1 against East Africa at Headingley during the first World Cup in 1975, while the West Indian medium-pacer Phil Simmons returned a miserly 10-8-3-4 as Pakistan were skittled for 81 in Sydney in 1992-93.In women’s ODIs, the Trinidadian offspinner Carol-Ann James has a record that will be impossible to beat, unless there’s a change in the regulations. Playing for West Indies against Denmark in Beckenham during the 1993 World Cup in England – a 60-over tournament – she bowled 11 maidens, finishing with 12-11-4-1. Denmark made 76 in 52.1 overs, 24 of which were maidens.Wally Hammond (front row, second from right) played alongside a record 225 debutants during his Test career. Here, at Old Trafford vs India in 1936, three newbies turned out with him: Laurie Fishlock, Alf Gover and Arthur Fagg (back row, first, third and fifth from right)•Getty ImagesWho has played alongside the most debutants in Tests – is it Sachin Tendulkar? asked Nitin Karmarkar from India
As Sachin Tendulkar played more Tests than anyone else – a round 200 – it’s reasonable to think he might be top of this list… but actually he comes in second: Tendulkar appeared with 213 debutants in Tests, but England’s Wally Hammond racked up 225, from 115 fewer appearances. Three other long-serving England players come next: Frank Woolley, who played only 64 Tests, featured alongside 169 debutants, Godfrey Evans (91 matches) 161, and Len Hutton 156 in 79 Tests.Tendulkar does lead the way in all formats, having appeared alongside no fewer than 343 debutants in all. Next come Sanath Jayasuriya and Mohammad Azharuddin with 261 apiece, one more than Mahela Jayawardene.What’s the lowest all-out total in a Test or a first-class match without a duck? asked Martin Chandler from England
The lowest Test total not to include a duck is Australia’s 75 against South Africa in Durban in 1949-50 – a match they ended up winning, despite conceding a first-innings deficit of 236. Set 336 to win, Australia skated home by five wickets, with Neil Harvey making a superb undefeated 151. The first-class record dates back to a match in New Zealand in 1891-92: Taranaki’s total of 39 against Hawke’s Bay in Napier included seven scores of 1, but no ducks.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Babar Azam will be leading Zalmi after switching over from Kings, who have Shoaib Malik back

Danyal Rasool10-Feb-2023Karachi KingsCaptain: Imad Wasim
Coach: Johan Botha
Batting Coach: Ravi Bopara
Assistant Coach: Michael Smith
Full squad: Imad Wasim, Haider Ali, Andrew Tye, Mohammad Amir, Imran Tahir, Matthew Wade, Shoaib Malik, Aamer Yamin, James Fuller, James Vince, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Akhlaq, Irfan Khan Niazi, Qasim Akram, Mohammad Umar, Sharjeel Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Ben Cutting, Musa Khan, Faisal AkramLast season: sixth
Just because a calamity can be foretold doesn’t mean it can be prevented. Kings’ 2022 squad looked unbalanced and disjointed from the outset, and that is exactly the way it played out across the season. Mohammad Amir was injured early, there were few good spin options, and almost no batting firepower to speak of. All that combined for the worst win-loss record in the history of the PSL, as Kings won just one match and lost nine.Related

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What has changed this season?Where do you start? Well, only one place, really. Babar Azam is no longer part of Kings, having moved to Zalmi during the trading window last November. He is the highest run-scorer in PSL history – aside from being the biggest name in Pakistan cricket at present – but that doesn’t necessarily mean his absence will spell disaster for Kings. One of their most enduring problems last season was the inability to get off to quick starts, and while Babar may be prolific, he is not as pacy up top as most T20 sides would want.But it is Kings’ inability to adequately bolster their batting firepower that remains their biggest concern. James Vince will likely take Babar’s place as opener, though his partial availability means Sharjeel Khan might need to provide most of the powerplay fireworks. In the middle order, Haider Ali and Ben Cutting, both of whom have PSL pedigree but have since fallen out of form, will need to come good.Shoaib Malik has returned to Kings from Peshawar Zalmi•PSLThe partial unavailability of Tabraiz Shamsi, another key player, spells trouble for Kings, who are, once more, short of high-class spin options. Joe Clarke has been replaced by Matthew Wade, who Kings showed enough faith in to pick in the Platinum Category. Shoaib Malik, too, has returned to Kings from Zalmi, with Imran Tahir and Andrew Tye the other high-profile signings.Player to Watch
Middle-order bat Tayyab Tahir was named Player of the Match in Pakistan’s One Day Cup – their premier 50-over domestic competition – final last month for hitting 71 in a win for Central Punjab, for whom he cracked 573 runs – the most by any batter – in the tournament. Those efforts earned him a maiden call-up to the national side, as he was also the third-highest run-scorer in the National T20 Cup last year, striking at just under 139. In a Kings side with limited power in the middle order, his contributions could be vital.Overall, by some distance, Kings’ is the oldest squad in the league; there are five players aged 35 and over. The timeless Imran Tahir, now 43, will need to shoulder much of the spin-bowling responsibility, and whether or not this season is a bridge too far for him might well determine how Kings go this season.Key stat
There are only two men over the age of 40 playing the PSL this year. Both – Imran Tahir and Malik – belong to Kings. No other side has a player over the age of 38 in their squad.Babar Azam has moved over to Zalmi from Kings•Pakistan Super LeaguePeshawar ZalmiCaptain: Babar Azam
Coach: Daren Sammy
Batting Consultant: Kamran Akmal
Full squad: Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Aamer Jamal, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Haseebullah Khan, Khurram Shahzad, Richard Gleeson, Peter Hatzoglou Sufyan Muqeem, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Usman Qadir, Jimmy Neesham, Haris SohailLast season: Eliminator
Zalmi faced an uphill struggle to guarantee playoff qualification given how the first half of their campaign went. They sat fifth after their first six games, having won just two matches until then and needing four successive wins to guarantee qualification. But a late-season surge thanks to a number of individual performances in key games ensured they achieved just that, ultimately finishing in third place. In the playoffs, though, that run came to an end in the first Eliminator, as Islamabad United pipped them in a thriller.What has changed this season?
Babar arrives and immediately takes over the captaincy, and how Zalmi and Babar work together would be fascinating. After seven seasons at Kings, a franchise that has been inconsistent throughout its history, he arrives at one which has sustained success; Zalmi are the only PSL side never to miss out on the playoffs.However, Zalmi have lost out on a number of power hitters that shone at crucial stages in 2022. Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali and Liam Livingstone have all left, as has Malik. It places significant responsibility on two young local batters in Mohammad Haris and Saim Ayub, each of whom enjoyed breakout seasons in the last 12 months.Veteran Wahab Riaz, 37, will still be around for Zalmi•AFP/Getty ImagesBut in the West Indies duo of Sherfane Rutherford and Rovman Powell – the latter only partly available – as well as big-hitters Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jimmy Neesham, they might just have replaced them adequately enough.The bigger concern might lie in the absence of premium fast bowlers, with the possible exception of Wahab Riaz, the 37-year old Zalmi veteran. Offspinner Mujeeb ur Rehman will only be partly available too, while Richard Gleeson will come in to cover while Powell is absent. Salman Irshad, Arshad Iqbal and Usman Qadir will have to ensure Zalmi’s bowling isn’t a pushover, while 18-year old left-arm spinner Sufiyan Muqeem might also get a chance.Player to watch
Saim Ayub made his PSL debut aged 18 in 2021 at a time when the big stage perhaps came too quickly for him; he scored 114 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of only 108.57. But in the National T20 Cup last year, he was the second-highest run-scorer with 416 runs at a much-improved strike rate of 155.12. He followed it up with 461 at 107.20 in the Pakistan Cup, and won a contract at the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on the back of his form. Still just 20, Zalmi’s roster offers him a glistening opportunity to light up the PSL this time around.Key stat
Zalmi now have the highest wicket-taker in PSL history in Riaz (103), as well as the most prolific run-scorer in Babar (2413).