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The pair shared an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 76 off 46 balls to successfully chase down 138

Firdose Moonda30-Mar-2024Eighteen-year-old Vishmi Gunaratne scored her first T20I half-century as Sri Lanka levelled the three-match series against South Africa with a seven-wicket win in Potchefstroom. Gunaratne and Kavisha Dilhari shared an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 76 off 46 balls to successfully chase 138 after South Africa opted to bat first under stand-in captain Nadine de Klerk. This was Sri Lanka’s fourth-highest successful chase.Laura Wolvaardt, the regular skipper and match-winning centurion from the first match, was ruled out through illness but Anneke Bosch proved to be a handy replacement. She scored 50 off 32 balls and had support from Marizanne Kapp, with whom she put on 58 for the second wicket. South Africa were 84 for 1 in the tenth over when Bosch was dismissed, sparking a collapse. They lost their next seven wickets for 47 runs.The squeeze was started by Sri Lanka’s captain Chamari Athapaththu, who finished with 1 for 18 and an economy of 4.50, and the advantage was pressed home by seamer Achini Kulasuriya, who took 2 for 26. South Africa will be concerned with the three run-outs in their innings and that no one outside the top three, other than de Klerk, reached double figures. Debutant Karabo Meso, who is 16 years old and was part of the Africa Games squad that won the silver medal in Accra earlier this month, was dismissed for a second-ball duck by Athapaththu, who did more of a job with the ball than bat.Athapaththu was caught behind by Meso off Tumi Sekhukhune for 6 to leave Sri Lanka in early trouble on 25 for 1 after five overs. South Africa kept the pressure on through Chloe Tryon, who conceded just 4.66 runs per over, and bowled Harshita Samarawickrama at the halfway stage, with Sri Lanka still 82 runs away from victory.Gunaratne also saw experienced No. 4 Hasini Perera dismissed for 1 but held her own and struck eight fours on her way to 50 off 52 balls to put Sri Lanka within touching distance of the win. She went on to add another four and the only six of the Sri Lankan innings off what turned out to be the penultimate ball of the match. Sri Lanka reached the target inside 19 overs to leave the series balanced at 1-1 ahead of the decider in East London on Wednesday.

They won by eight wickets in the fifth T20I to reduce the margin of the series defeat to 4-1

Mohammad Isam12-May-2024Brian Bennett’s all-round show and Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten 72 helped Zimbabwe seal a consolation win in the T20I series against Bangladesh. The visitors won by eight wickets in the fifth T20I to reduce the margin of the series defeat to 4-1.Bennett bossed both powerplays. He struck a breezy 70 in the chase after he took two wickets in the Bangladesh powerplay, finishing with 2-20. Raza finished the game with his first half-century on tour after four low scores.Mahmudullah’s 54 kept Bangladesh in shape after they slipped to 15 for 3. It was his second half-century this year, as he strengthened his case to be part of Bangladesh’s middle-order for the T20 World Cup. He shared a 69-run fourth wicket stand with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who also showed some form with his 36. Zimbabwe’s bowling, however, kept the home side in check, especially in the first few overs when they bowled two maiden overs.

Bennett strikes early

Bennett and Blessing Muzarabani stifled Bangladesh during powerplay. Muzarabani got Tanzid Hossain to top edge a slog in the second over, before Bennett removed Soumya Sarkar and Towhid Hridoy in successive overs. Sean Willams took the simple catch from a Soumya dab, at point. Hridoy was caught behind, unable to correctly judge the bounce of the ball as he went for the square cut. Bennett and Muzarabani also bowled a maiden each as the home side slipped to 15 for 3 in the fifth over.

Mahmudullah rebuilds

Mahmudullah countered Zimbabwe’s dominance with three fours in the first four balls he faced. He started with a sweep, before hitting Bennett for a cover drive and finishing with a slice through point. He added 69 runs for the fourth wicket with Najmul Hossain Shanto. Luke Jongwe dropped Shanto on 25 at short third-man after the batter miscued a hoick against Wellington Masakadza.Mahmudullah helped Bangladesh recover•BCB

Shanto slammed Masakadza for his first six but his attempt at a repeat off the next ball went straight to Ryan Burl at deep midwicket. Mahmudullah launched Bennett over long-on for his only six, as he added 39 runs with Shakib Al Hasan for the fifth wicket.Johnathan Campbell’s brilliant running catch from deep midwicket cut short Shakib’s 17-ball 21, before Muzarabani had Mahmudullah caught at cover for 54.

Bennett cracks on

After impressing with the ball, Bennett got Zimbabwe off to a flyer with the bat. He struck Mahedi Hasan for two fours in the first over. He then smacked Mahedi for two sixes and a four in his next over, before hammering Saifuddin for two more fours in the fourth over.Shakib getting Marumani stumped in the fifth over slowed down Zimbabwe before Raza slammed Saifuddin over midwicket for his first six. Bennett went past his previous best in T20Is with a six off Rishad Hossain, before reaching his fifty in the 12th over.He struck two more sixes to take his tally to five sixes, before holing out to Saifuddin for 70 off 49 balls. He also struck five fours.

Raza nails down the chase

Raza, who supported Bennett in the 74-run second wicket stand, continued with the big hits after the opener’s departure. He struck Saifuddin for two fours in the 16th over. It left Zimbabwe with 32 needed off the last four overs. He reached his fifty off 41 balls, reaching the mark with a four off a pull.Raza then deposited Saifuddin for a huge six over midwicket, following it with a six over long-off, and a four. He finished on an unbeaten 72 off 46 balls with four sixes and six fours. Campbell was unbeaten on eight runs, hitting the winning runs in the 19th over.

She took three wickets and scored 58 off 43 to quell Pakistan’s challenge in Karachi

Danyal Rasool28-Apr-2024Another dominant all-round performance from Hayley Matthews helped West Indies women take a 2-0 series lead against Pakistan in Karachi. Muneeba Ali had scored a half-century earlier in the evening, but Matthews registered figures of 3 for 25 to stall Pakistan’s innings and keep them to a below-par total. She then doubled as match-winner with the bat, too, her 58 off 43 all but ensuring the visitors’ chase would be a straightforward one, and that Pakistan would continue to remain winless.Related

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Having missed out on chasing a near-identical score in the first T20I, Pakistan opted to bat first this time, only to see their innings fall into early peril. Gull Feroza struggled to get the ball off the square in a tortuous 29-ball 14 with Chinelle Henry in particular causing her considerable trouble. She struck to remove Sidra Ameen early, with the pressure of run-scoring falling onto Muneeba, and as a result, Pakistan limped to a mere 33 in the powerplay.Muneeba injected some impetus into the innings, but her 47-ball 55 was the only Pakistan effort that went at better than a run a ball. An encouraging third-wicket partnership with Nida Dar was felled at a crucial moment in the 16th over, just as Pakistan may have felt they had the platform to launch at the death. A masterful final over by Matthews saw three wickets fall and just five runs scored as Pakistan’s effort ended tamely, the home side hobbling to 121 on a pitch that looked like it offered significantly more.Muneeba Ali was the only Pakistan batter to strike at better than a run a ball•PCB

Matthews aside, though, West Indies never really managed to get on top of the Pakistan bowlers either. The visitors did get off to a fast start, flying to 38 in the first five, but it was something of a one-woman show, with Matthews striking all five of West Indies’ boundaries in this time. When the spin trio of Nashra Sandhu, Tuba Hassan and Nida Dar came on, Pakistan briefly regained some control, with West Indies reduced to scoring at just over six an over for the next six overs.But it was wickets Pakistan needed, and West Indies were never required to take the risks that gave them a glimpse. By the time Sadia Iqbal prised Matthews out, West Indies needed just 34 to win, and had more than seven overs to do it in. When Shemaine Campbelle was cleaned up by Tuba, there may have been the faintest glimmer of hope for the home side, but the visitors were much too clinical, and had run Pakistan out of road by then. When Chedean Nation sealed the win with a boundary, both sides were going through the motions, and there was a sense of a formality being completed.The third of five T20Is is on 30 April in Karachi, with a win for West Indies guaranteeing a series victory.

Bangladesh need to wait for another two days to know if he’ll be ready for their World Cup opener on June 7

Mohammad Isam02-Jun-2024Bangladesh will have to wait for another two days to know whether Shoriful Islam can take part in their first match of the T20 World Cup against Sri Lanka on June 7. Shoriful split the webbing between his index and middle finger on his left hand during Bangladesh’s warm-up match against India in New York on Saturday.During the last over of the first innings, the left-arm fast bowler tried to stop a drive from Hardik Pandya and was hit on his bowling hand. He looked in pain and was immediately rushed off the field by Bangladesh team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan.Later, BCB’s chief physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury said that Shoriful needed six stitches on the injured area.Related

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“Shoriful suffered a split injury between the index and middle finger of his left hand while trying to stop a ball in his last over,” Chowdhury said. “After initial medical attention, he was taken to Nassau University Medical Centre. The hand surgeon administered six stitches. We will visit him again after two days. We will know then how much time it will take for Shoriful to return.”Shoriful will have six days to recover as Bangladesh now head to Texas for their opening game. Returning figures of 1 for 26, he was one of the few bright spots for Bangladesh in the warm-up game that they lost by 60 runs. With Taskin Ahmed also recovering from a side strain, the team will be without their frontline quicks if Shoriful is out of their first game.

Dominant displays with bat and ball, including Jofra Archer’s successful Hundred debut

ECB Media24-Jul-2024Southern Brave 139 for 3 (Vince 56, Hughes 45) beat London Spirit 138 for 9 (Dawson 45, Overton 3-16) by seven wicketsA superb display from Southern Brave’s lethal seamers and a ruthless run-chase orchestrated by James Vince ensured the men’s competition’s inaugural winners prevailed against London Spirit at Utilita Bowl.Invited to field first, Brave’s attack dominated the opening stages, with left-arm spinner James Coles inducing a miscued lofted drive from Adam Rossington for the first wicket.Craig Overton took the catch and Overton then took centre stage, picking up the next three wickets – all to outfield catches – to rip through the Spirit’s middle order.England superstar Jofra Archer touched 90mph in his first appearance in The Hundred – a spell that went for just nine runs – while Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan provided ferocious back-up.When the Guyanese overseas star Shimron Hetymer skewed Mills to backward point, the Spirit were tottering on 49 for 5 from 48 balls.Thereafter Andre Russell joined Spirit skipper Dan Lawrence, signalling his intentions by clubbing his first delivery to the fence. After launching a short ball from Archer for the first six of the match, Russell then handed Archer his first wicket, Russell’s upper cut picking out Overton at deep third.Jordan burst through to trap Lawrence for an enterprising 38 (30), leaving Liam Dawson to offer spirited lone resistance at the death. Dominating the latter stages, Dawson took 14 runs from the final three deliveries, his unbeaten 45 (19) giving the Spirit impetus going into the run-chase.Any optimism was short-lived. Vince stroked four boundaries in his first five balls to set Brave on their way and in partnership with the left-hander Daniel Hughes, the pair put on 95 for the first wicket.Jofra Archer finally played his first game in the Hundred•Harry Trump/Getty Images

Hughes nicked Ravi Bopara to Rossington behind the stumps for 45 (31) but Vince went to his fifth half-century in the competition’s history and despite Vince lofting a catch to long-off with the score on 117, the final 22 runs were negotiated with little undue fuss. Needing 139 to win, the Brave eased home with 11 balls to spare.Meerkat Match Hero Craig Overton said: “It was a pretty good surface, it did a little bit with the new ball, and we wanted to make it as hard as possible, bowling with no width, and it came off today.”We’ve got some decent pace in our boys, so I knew their batters would be coming at me a bit more, so I knew I had to be on it and hit my lengths. Sometimes it might play in my favour and today it obviously did.”It’s massive to start well in this competition, there’s only seven games in the group stage so you need to start well.”Vincey is a phenomenal player and he’s done it for years in the Vitality Blast, he’s carried that form into The Hundred and it’s nice to see him back in form today.”

India will start training in Chepauk on September 12 ahead of their first Test against Bangladesh, who will begin training on September 15

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2024India’s red-ball players are scheduled to begin their training at Chepauk on September 12 ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh, starting September 19. Bangladesh, meanwhile, will start training at the same venue on September 15.The BCCI is yet to name the squad for the Two-Test series against Bangladesh. The announcement is likely to happen after the first round of the Duleep Trophy, to be played from September 5 to 8 in Bengaluru and Anantapur. In action will be Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh and KS Bharat, among others.Many other Test hopefuls, such as batters Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, B Sai Sudharsan, and bowlers R Sai Kishore, Saurabh Kumar and Yash Dayal, will be in action in the domestic season-opener.Related

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India are set to begin their long Test season, all part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, with two matches against Bangladesh, with the second Test in Kanpur. The series concludes on October 12 after three T20Is. Following this, India will play three Tests against New Zealand at home before travelling to South Africa for five white-ball matches and then go on to Australia later in the year for five Tests.India’s last Test series was against England in February-March at home which Rohit Sharma’s men won 4-1. Since then, there has been the IPL and the T20 World Cup, in the USA and the Caribbean, which India won, and white-ball series in Zimbabwe and in Sri Lanka.Bangladesh, meanwhile are coming off a historic Test series sweep against Pakistan in Rawalpindi and will be keen to take this confidence forward to Chennai.The 2-0 scoreline in Pakistan has lifted Bangladesh to No. 4 on the WTC table with 45.83 percentage points. India, meanwhile, are at the top of that table with 68.52 percentage points and will be hoping to strengthen their position in the series against Bangladesh.

Essex skittled Notts for 96 in their first innings before the visiting captain’s century earned back some respectability

ECB Reporters Network11-Sep-2024Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer shared nine first-innings wickets as Essex skittled Nottinghamshire for 93 on a morning of utter carnage at Chelmsford.Seam bowler Porter took his third five-wicket haul of the season, and second in consecutive Vitality County Championship matches, to finish with 5 for 35, season’s best figures that included three wickets in five balls.Simon Harmer also claimed his best bowling figures of the summer with 4 for 16 from 12.5 overs and then took the first two wickets of Nottinghamshire’s second innings. Allied with a season’s best 51 in Essex’s 457, it was a welcome return to form for the off-spinning all-rounder who has been dogged by persistent injury.Nottinghamshire’s inability to cope with Porter’s pace and Harmer’s guile on a wicket that had become less benign overnight, left them 364 runs adrift on first innings. When they followed on, captain Haseeb Hameed led the fightback with a patiently crafted unbeaten 100 from 151 balls and put on an unbroken 131 with Joe Clarke (62 not out) for the third wicket. At the close, Nottinghamshire were 180 for 2, still 184 runs from making Essex bat again.It was the perfect repost from Essex on the day the ECB confirmed their 12-point deduction after opening batsman Feroze Khushi was found to have used an illegally-sized bat in the reverse fixture at Trent Bridge in April. It does, however, end their dwindling hopes of challenging for the title.Nottinghamshire’s first innings fell apart spectacularly on a sunny, though chilly morning as 48 for 1 became 93 all out, with nine wickets clattering in 87 minutesThere was no sign of what was to come in the first half-hour as Ben Slater and Freddie McCann added 31 to their overnight score. But then Harmer came on and struck first ball when McCann moved forward half-cock and was the first of five LBWs in the morning. Harmer had two of the next three wickets to fall as Ben Slater was snaffled at slip and Jack Haynes was the second lbw victim.In between Porter replaced the unlucky Sam Cook, who had discomforted McCann on several occasions and might have had something to show for a venomous opening spell had Matt Critchley not dropped Joe Clarke at gulley. It did not prove too expensive as Porter had Clarke pinned lbw in his first over.Nottinghamshire’s South African wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne came out all guns blazing, reverse-sweeping Harmer for four and driving Porter over the long-off boundary. However, his nine-ball cameo ended on 12 when he drove Porter uppishly into the covers.Lyndon James departed to a stunning full-length dive low to his left by Michael Pepper to spark Porter’s three-quick-wicket burst. Luke Fletcher, first ball, and Liam Patterson-White fell lbw before Harmer wrapped things up by having Rob Lord caught at bat-pad.Following on, Hameed and Slater looked comfortable for a dozen overs after lunch before Slater misjudged a delivery from Harmer that beat the outside edge and bowled him. The teenaged McCann was bamboozled for a second time by Harmer, the sixth player to go lbw during the day.Hameed was particularly strong off the back-foot, punching the ball through extra cover for a succession of boundaries, and reached his sixth fifty-plus score of the season from 70 balls. That Nottinghamshire made a better fist of it in the second innings was illustrated by the fact they had overhauled their first-innings total by tea for the loss of just two wickets.Hameed found a willing partner in Clarke and the pair steadied things by putting the first fifty of their stand in 14 overs, taking another 15 for the second fifty. As confidence grew, Clarke came down the wicket and smashed Harmer over midwicket for six on the way to reaching his half-century from 105 balls.A quick single took Hameed to three-figures just before stumps off his 151st ball.

This was Ireland’s first T20I win against South Africa and second overall against them in internationals

Firdose Moonda29-Sep-2024
Ireland beat South Africa for the first time in a T20I after posting their highest total against them and successfully defending it in Abu Dhabi. In the process, they became the first team to win a match batting first at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in the last eight T20Is at the venue.In what was a family affair, Ross Adair grabbed the early headlines when he scored a 57-ball hundred, his first in T20Is – and Ireland’s third century in the format – before his younger brother, Mark Adair, took 4 for 31 to seal the win.Ross set the tone when he shared Ireland’s second-highest opening stand in the format – 137 – with his captain Paul Stirling, who scored his first fifty in 21 T20Is. Their start meant Ireland were on track for a score above 200 but lost 6 for 43 in 32 balls to leave some runs unscored. Still, they asked South Africa to complete the highest successful chase in T20Is at this venue and they made a fist of it.Reeza Hendricks scored his second successive half-century Matthew Breetzke his first but Ireland struck often enough to ensure the required run rate got too big on South Africa’s middle order. They needed 108 off the last 10 overs, with nine wickets in hand, and 53 off the last five overs, with seven wickets in the bank, and that is when Mark Adair struck. He went around the wicket to Tristan Stubbs, who pushed at a wide ball and was caught behind. That sparked a collapse that saw South Africa lose 5 wickets for 25 to fall 11 runs short.

Ross Adair rides his luck

Take nothing away from Ross’ innings, which was an exhibition of all-round hitting, but he will know he should have been out not once, not twice, not three, not four but five times. He offered South Africa a first chance on 19, in the powerplay, when he was cramped by a Lizaad Williams short ball and miscued a pull to deep square leg. The catch was taken but Williams had overstepped and Adair batted on.Then, in the 14th over, immediately after Stirling was dismissed, Adair, on 78, hit Wiaan Mulder to Williams at deep backward point. Williams got both hands to it but palmed the ball over the boundary rope to send Adair into the 80s. Adair swung wildly at the next ball and hit it straight up but Ryan Rickleton couldn’t make enough ground to take the catch. And the ball after that, Adair was at the non-striker’s end when Harry Tector called him through for a single and then changed his mind. Patrick Kruger could have run Adair out but he missed his throw from extra cover. Adair had not quite had enough of danger and in the next over, on 90, he offered Kruger a return chance but it just went over him and Adair kept going. He brought up 100 off 57 balls and finished with nine sixes, the most by an Irish batter in the format.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

SA strangle Ireland in end overs

In the first match, South Africa gave away only six runs in the last two overs of the Ireland innings to leave them short of a par score; this time they gave away only 19 in the last three overs to keep Ireland under 200. Lungi Ngidi, who has been excellent on the tour, started the squeeze with an over of slower balls. That included a ball that completely foxed Neil Rock, who was far too early on his shot, and took out his middle stump. Ngidi finished with an analysis of 1 for 23 in four overs. Kruger bowled the 19th, which started with a run-out as Mark Adair was scrambling for a second run and was also peppered with pace-off. And Williams was given the last over by which time South Africa incurred an over-rate penalty and had to have an extra fielder in the ring. Still, he did not concede any boundaries as he stuck to yorker lengths.

Humphreys belated birthday gift

Left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys turned 22 on Saturday and celebrated with a trip to the Abu Dhabi Louvre but the real gift came 24 hours later when he took his first wicket of the series, and it was a big one. After conceding 26 runs in his first three overs, Humphreys was given the 14th over to finish and he made a big incision. With 66 needed off 39 balls balls, Aiden Markram premeditated a reverse-sweep but did not account for the change of pace from Humphreys. He sent the ball down quicker, it beat Markram and bowled him. Humphreys finished with 1 for 30 and left South Africa’s middle order with too much to do.

Mark Adair magic

After dismissing Stubbs, Mark Adair opened up South Africa’s middle order and then dismantled it in the 19th over. South Africa needed 23 runs off the last 12, and Mark Adair sent down a slower ball to Mulder, who hit straight up and Adair took it on himself to complete the catch. Two balls later, Breetzke tried to swat Mark Adair through the leg side but sent the ball straight to Harry Tector at long-on. Mark Adair closed out his over when Nqaba Peter hit him to extra cover, where Stirling took a diving catch to put Ireland in the pound seats. Graham Hume had 17 runs to defend off the last over and picked up two wickets in the process of doing that.

Salman Agha and Aamer Jamal both scored fifties but could not prevent England’s march to victory

Alan Gardner11-Oct-2024From the unthinkable to the inevitable. Pakistan became the first team in Test history to lose by an innings having scored 500 in their first attempt, as England wrapped up victory inside the morning session on day five at Multan. Jack Leach finished with four wickets, a century stand between Salman Agha and Aamer Jamal not enough to save Pakistan from an unwanted record.Their fate had been effectively sealed when they slumped to 82 for 6 in blameless conditions on the fourth afternoon, any sense of fight crushed beneath the weight of England’s 823 for 7 declared. Salman and Jamal did their best to salvage some pride, putting on 109 for the seventh wicket – but Pakistan were so far adrift, despite posting an imposing 556 in the first innings, that it was not enough to make England’s batters put on their pads again.Defeat extended a horror run for Pakistan under the captaincy of Shan Masood to six in a row, and twisted the knife into an abysmal home record that has seen them winless since February 2021.With Pakistan a man down in the absence of the hospitalised Abrar Ahmed, England only had to remain patient and wait for an opening. Leach provided it with his fourth ball, after Ollie Pope had opted to bowl pace for much of the first hour, Salman trapped lbw by one that would have gone on to hit leg stump. Two wickets in the space of four balls then completed the victory, only England’s second by an innings in Asia.Jack Leach claimed the final three wickets to seal victory•Getty Images

It was set up by a record-breaking performance with the bat, Harry Brook’s triple-hundred and 262 from Joe Root helping England to post the fourth-highest total in Tests. And while the pitch continued to play pretty well even into the fifth day, with just the occasional assistance from the widening cracks, Pakistan’s initial collapse in the face of a 267-run deficit left the outcome a formality.Resuming on 152 for 6, there was more gutsy resistance from Salman and Jamal. Memories of Salman’s first-innings hundred, when he skipped along close to a run a ball as Pakistan’s total mounted, had been eroded by the match situation but he showed an ability to apply himself in more straitened circumstances, a tickled boundary off Gus Atkinson taking him to fifty for the second time in the match.At the other end, Jamal found himself in the crosshairs of Brydon Carse’s short-ball attack. A blow to the helmet required a visit from the physio and a concussion test but he continued to front up, putting several bumpers away to the boundary on the way to a second Test fifty. Carse kept coming, with a gloved pull flying over the head of Jamie Smith, before Pope put down what should have been a regulation catch after Jamal top-edged to square leg.In between, Leach had provided the breakthrough when he beat Salman’s inside edge, the dismissal confirmed on review. Shaheen Afridi was in no mood to hang around, flat-batting his third ball, from Carse, down the ground. But Leach clung on to a sharp return chance and then Naseem Shah walked past one to be stumped, as England closed out one of their most remarkable wins – not just of the Bazball era, but of all time.

“Whether it’s a pink ball or a red ball, the difference is really in the mind,” batting coach Nayar says

Alagappan Muthu29-Nov-20241:25

Pujara: ‘Nothing later than No. 3, KL has to bat in the top order’

Shubman Gill must have wanted to feel good about himself before he got down to work. At the start of India’s training session in Canberra on Friday, he went around to the back of the nets facility, where only throwdowns were possible, and that too from about 10 yards, and for the first few minutes, he was totally freestyling. Big booming drives. Lovely back foot punches.After a little bit of this, he asked India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate to help him drill down on his defence. Now the balls were coming down on a good length and he focused on meeting them under his eyes. Somehow the sound off the bat was louder than he was trying to whack them. That left thumb that he injured in Perth doesn’t seem to be giving him a whole lot of problems anymore.Gill began with throwdowns from up close, then graduated to facing them off the sidearm and then capped it off by fronting up against Akash Deep and Yash Dayal at full speed. “He is batting right now and our physio will evaluate him and I will know his status after that,” the other assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said on Friday afternoon. “But from what I have seen, he is looking comfortable batting and he looks like he can bat [in a match]. He is batting in the indoor nets and we will know if he can play the practice match or not.”Related

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India arrived in Canberra on Wednesday night to a group of fans waiting for them at the airport. Then they hit up the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for a little “how do you do,” and under significantly overcast skies that did in the end bring rain that lasted almost right through the training session, focused on the challenge of playing against the pink ball. India will ramp up prep for the second Test in Adelaide with a day-night match against the Prime Minister’s XI which is scheduled to start on Saturday, but the weather forecast for it is pretty poor. The first day of the two-day game might well get washed out.Perhaps in anticipation of that, India’s batters got nice, long, sessions to get used to the pink ball and all the mischief it is capable of. Yashasvi Jaiswal had barely figured out what shot to play when he was rapped on the pads and he hated it. Standing there, with his legs crossed and his hand on his hip, he had to listen to Ravindra Jadeja gloat. “That ball swung away, didn’t it?” There was a hint of surprise in those words, and also of the challenge that now lies ahead of this team. Day-night Test matches are sometimes bowler-dominated affairs, especially in Australia.”Whether it’s a pink ball or a red ball, the difference is really in the mind,” Nayar said. “Of course, there is a bit of difference between the two – the colour is different, there is more lacquer – and we are lucky that we have got six-eight days to get ready. When we were in Perth, too, we were training with the pink ball. Rohit [Sharma] was training [with the pink ball] too. So we have started our preparations. We will continue to focus on our game, and do what we need to do.”India have only played four pink-ball Test matches so far, the last of which took place in March 2022. They will be back at the venue of 36 all out, but this time the vibe is completely different. The joy of Perth has seeped into the fringe players who are here as well, who began the day playing that game where you get a bunch of people around in a circle and try to keep a football from hitting the ground. Sarfaraz Khan had a bit of trouble with it and everybody piled on him, laughter ringing out over the delightfully intimate Manuka Oval, Sarfaraz himself joining in.1:21

Clarke: Australia has some work to do to keep Kohli down

Rohit was waiting in the tunnels at the Optus Stadium, greeting every Indian player that was coming back on a high after that 295-run victory last week. His return – after becoming father to a second child – has lifted the team even higher. Rohit had already begun playing against the pink ball in Perth and he backed that up in Adelaide, though he looked a little rusty in between bringing out some of his signature shots – including a pull on one leg, which he took care to keep down.”When Rohit Sharma is around, there’s a lot of laughing and joking around,” Nayar said, “So the morale and the environment is good. The morale is excellent anyway. Rohit wasn’t around initially, but he was very much with us [in spirit] all through. So there wasn’t much of a difference.”With a chill in the air, a song on the speakers ( by Glass Animals) and an image of Gandalf from frozen on the big screen, where all he could do was bob his head back and forth with a content smile (clearly he is a fan of the band), this felt like a session where the Indian team was slowly reacquainting themselves with the grind after a few well-deserved days off.Rishabh Pant spent virtually all of it running around the outfield. KL Rahul did 100-yard sprints over and over again. Virat Kohli attracted the attention of the fans who had come over to watch and what they saw was a perfectionist who yelled out in frustration when his drives resulted in edges, delighted in meeting it off the middle soon after and threw a thumbs up at Mukesh Kumar when he got the ball past his edge.Jaiswal, who perhaps did more work than most, switched priorities and tried his hand at fast bowling as training came to a close. Coming off a two-step run up from the boundary’s edge, he very nearly had Dhruv Jurel bowled on the leave, his hands flying to his head as the ball just whistled past the top of those bright yellow flexi cricket stumps. It didn’t seem like he enjoyed himself though. “Being a fast bowler is hard work, yaar,” he said to plenty of laughter and padded up again to face more throwdowns.