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Essex remain winless after 13-run loss in seesawing contest at Chelmsford

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay04-Jul-2025Jack Taylor’s second fifty in three matches made it three wins in a row for Gloucestershire to spark hopes of retaining the Men’s Vitality Blast.Gloucestershire had begun their defence with five straight defeats but victories over Kent Spitfires, Hampshire Hawks and now Essex have given hope they can sneak back to finals day via the back door.Captain Taylor had dragged his side to a par score of 184 with 50, to go with Ben Charlesworth’s 47 not out, before Josh Shaw’s three for 29 made sure the Eagles fell 13 runs short.The 2019 champions Essex remain winless, with their only points coming from a wash-out. They can now only get a maximum of 22 points with fourth placed Glamorgan already on 20 points.For the third home match in a row, Simon Harmer chose to bowl first but it was Gloucestershire who edged the powerplay.They managed 58 runs, par for the first six overs at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, but lost Miles Hammond just about caught at slip by a juggling Paul Walter and Cam Bancroft attempting back-to-back sixes.But Essex demonstrably won the middle overs by holding the visitors to just four boundaries from the end of the seventh over to the start of the 16th.Darcy Short failing to kick on from reaching 33 and Ollie Price barbequing himself didn’t help their cause, but tight bowling closed off their scoring options.Taylor’s hard running dragged Gloucestershire back into the innings before his hard-hitting got them closer to a defendable score.Firstly, he took Matt Critchley for three fours in an over and then he carted Luc Benkenstein for two huge sixes – one of which smashed a press box window.It helped the Gloucestershire skipper reach his seventh T20 fifty in 34 balls.A wicket in each of the last three overs kept the away side to 184, with Mohammad Amir taking two of them to return three for 33, while Charlesworth’s useful 31-ball cameo left him unbeaten on 47.In the two previous games at Chelmsford, Essex had been set targets of 221 and 220 and it had quickly been apparent the chase would be above them.On this occasion, they stayed in the fight despite losing regular wickets. Michael Pepper and Jordan Cox each went big then got out in the powerplay, while Dean Elgar suffered a tortured nine balls in a half-hour spell in the middle.Paul Walter threatened to be the man to put Essex in complete control with a spritely 39 but he and Benkenstein fell in the same Charlesworth over leaving the hosts needing 82 in eight overs.Critchley and Charlie Allison clubbed 21 and 17 off the 14th and 15th overs, but then Critchley was bowled by Shaw as the momentum swung like a Newton’s cradle.But Harmer clothed to point, Allison holed out, Noah Thain picked on long on, and Amir was run out as the game fell out of Essex’s grasp as Gloucestershire squeezed at the death.

Hardik hasn’t played any professional cricket since the Asia Cup in September, and will be hoping to prove his fitness ahead of the T20Is against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2025Hardik Pandya will appear for Baroda in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), India’s domestic T20 tournament, marking his first appearance in professional cricket since the end of September. National selector Pragyan Ojha is expected to be in attendance for the two games- against Punjab and Gujarat on December 2 and 4, respectively – to assess Hardik’s match fitness.Hardik’s last appearance was for India, at the Asia Cup, during their Super Fours match against Sri Lanka on September 26. He has been out of action since then owing to a left quadricep injury. He arrived at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, in Bengaluru, to begin his rehabilitation on October 15, and after a three-day break for Diwali, he has continued working with them on his fitness during the stretch from October 21 to November 29.He appears for Baroda at the SMAT with the BCCI selectors at the cusp of announcing the squad for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. ESPNcricinfo understands that the selectors are expected to name a squad for the series in the next couple of days. Hardik’s availability for Baroda, and whether he can appear for any further fixtures, will depend on if and when he is called up to join the India squad for preparation.Baroda lost their opening encounters against Bengal and Puducherry at the SMAT – by six wickets and 17 runs, respectively – but have bounced back to win against Himachal Pradesh.

She last played for India in 2014, and returned to the limelight in the WPL a decade later

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2025India left-arm spinner Gouher Sultana has announced her retirement from all forms of the game. She played 50 ODIs and 37 T20Is after making her debut in 2008, and last represented India in April 2014. Thereafter, Sultana came back into the limelight a decade later when she featured in the 2024 and 2025 WPL seasons.”To have represented India at the highest level – in World Cups, tours and battles that tested both skill and spirit – has been the greatest honour of my life,” Sultana wrote in her retirement announcement on Instagram. “Every wicket taken, every dive in the field, every huddle with my teammates has shaped the cricketer and the person I am today.”Sultana finished with 66 ODI wickets at an average of 19.39, the third-best for any India bowler to have taken at least 50 wickets in the format.Related

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Sultana played in two ODI World Cups, in 2009 and 2013, and picked up 12 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 30.58. She also played in three T20 World Cups from 2009 to 2014, and took seven wickets while going at an economy rate of 5.81.Sultana was signed by UP Warriorz (UPW) ahead of WPL 2024. She played two matches in the tournament, going wicketless across five overs. In 2025, Sultana again played two games for UPW, and only got to bowl the one over.”There were times when I thought of quitting – seasons I didn’t do well, my mental health was affected,” Sultana told ESPNcricinfo before her comeback tournament in 2024. “But then even when I was about to give up, I was like, ‘No, this shouldn’t be the end. I want to end it the way I want it.’ It was not to prove anything to anybody, but I enjoyed playing and I still enjoy playing. That’s the primary reason I am still here.”Sultana, 37, is also a BCCI Level 2 coach.

Jess Jonassen claimed three wickets as Melbourne Stars’ poor season continued

AAP22-Nov-2024Brisbane Heat secured a WBBL finals spot with a nine-wicket win over the Melbourne Stars in a rain-affected fixture.Heat’s bowlers ripped through Stars’ top-order batters in a match reduced to seven overs a side at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field. Stars made just 46 for 6 after losing their initial four wickets in a three-run span – Heat duo Lucy Hamilton and captain Jess Jonassen took two wickets each in 10 balls.Related

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Heat cruised to 47 for 1 from 5.2 overs – they can’t miss the finals and remain a strong chance of pinching top spot from ladder-leaders Sydney Thunder. They joined Melbourne Renegades on 12 points, one behind Thunder.Renegades play Thunder on Saturday in their last game before the finals while Heat’s last match is against Sydney Sixers on Sunday.After heavy rain delayed the start on Friday night, the last-placed Stars scored 21 for 0 from their initial two overs. But Heat’s 18-year-old quick Hamilton – who destroyed Stars five days ago when taking 5 for 8 – again turned tormentor.She claimed two wickets in three balls and, next over, skipper Jonassen collected two more.Heat were untroubled in their run chase: Grace Harris set the tone by smacking the first three balls of the innings for four. She and sister and Laura Harris put on 34 for the first wicket as Heat cruised to victory.

With one eye on the 2027 Test tour of India, selectors have shown some of their cards on how the future Australia Test team could look

Andrew McGlashan09-Jan-2025Nathan McSweeney’s second call in three weeks from chair of selectors George Bailey was much better than the first one.After being ruthlessly cut from the Test side against India following the Brisbane match, paving for the way for Sam Konstas’ momentum-shifting debut, McSweeney is back in the fold for the Sri Lanka series having been selected in a squad that has a youthful flavour.”Obviously [it was] nice news after a bit of a chaotic couple of months,” McSweeney told reporters at Brisbane airport. “It was a bit of nicer call than the last one. I will take heaps of learning from my experiences in my first three Tests and hopefully learn from that if I get the opportunity to play over there I play really well.”It would need a reshuffle of the batting order for McSweeney to return to the side in Sri Lanka, which is not out of the question with Travis Head an option to open although there will also been a keenness to get subcontinent cricket into Konstas, but even if he doesn’t play it is notable that he has been recalled swiftly.Related

• Ankle problem makes Cummins a doubt for Champions Trophy

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• Connolly, McSweeney, Kuhnemann included for Sri Lanka tour

“I think it shows the character that we’ve seen and the sort of person he is, the way he responded and spoke so well about it publicly pretty soon after it happened and jumped straight back into performing for the Heat,” Bailey said.McSweeney has previously traveled to the MRF Academy in India to further his education against spin and expects to have to use a different set of skills than works for him in Australia should he get an opportunity.”It’s a great challenge no doubt, but one I have planned for and will be ready for no doubt,” he said. “Playing spin in Australia has to be very different to playing spin over in Sri Lanka. I’ve worked out a method in Australia that has worked for me in my Shield career but will definitely have to work out a new one to be a good player over there.”In the official release, Bailey had talked of the tour as a chance for players to “grow their games in the subcontinent” with a view on the years ahead, although later insisted that qualification for the World Test Championship final, with the 3-1 series margin over India, had not changed the selectors’ thinking over who went on this trip.Nathan McSweeney had a tough initiation to Test cricket•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

“I know there’s been a lot of speculation around that [WTC qualification], but we view every Test tour and Test match as being really important,” Bailey said. “So for us, it was more around structuring up two or three different ways of what we thought the first XI may look like.”But there is certainly evidence of the next generation being unfurled with McSweeney (25) joined by Konstas (19) and the uncapped Cooper Connolly (21). Todd Murphy, who has six Tests under his belt, is also just 24. Call-ups for Glenn Maxwell (36) and Peter Handscomb (33) would not have brought a sense of forward planning, although Handscomb was very close and remains on standby.While it is not rubberstamped that Konstas retains his spot as an opener, it would be a way to help fast-track his education at Test level in what are likely to be spin-friendly conditions with an eye on the 2027 Test tour of India.”What we have seen is he’s a quick learner, absorbs a lot of information,” Bailey said. “So [we are] expecting him to get a lot out of it. From his spin play in Australia and the opportunities he has played in different parts of the world, we think he’s got a game that’s well suited and a technique that can stand up. That’s one of the exciting things about this tour. We’ll learn a bit more about his game in different conditions to what he’s just faced in Australia.”Connolly, meanwhile, has been selected after just four first-class matches which have brought three half-centuries, including 90 on debut in last year’s Sheffield Shield final, and he has yet to take a wicket in the format with his left-arm spin. However, the selectors have been encouraged by his big-temperament which has already earned him four white-ball appearances.”Technically, we like it. Temperament, we like. Character, we like. Clearly, skill set, there’s a lot to like there as well,” Bailey said. “On the first-class front, there’s not a great deal of games behind him, but he is one that’s been around that one-day group. We have in the past used that as a stepping stone at different times to see a player a bit more, find out a bit more about the way they play. He was obviously the beneficiary of that. He’s someone that we’ve had our eye on for a period of time.”

India captain Shubman Gill was visibly upset with the ball they were given by the umpires after the second new ball had to be changed in the first hour

Sidharth Monga11-Jul-20255:19

Kumble: There can’t be so many ball changes in a Test

The Dukes balls were at the centre of attention once again as India were unhappy with the replacement ball for the second new ball, incredibly just 10.3 overs into its life on the second morning of the Lord’s Test.The difference in results was stark. Jasprit Bumrah had wreaked havoc with the original ball, taking three wickets in his first 14 deliveries, but India went the rest of the first session without another wicket despite bowling to England’s Nos. 7 and 9. After plenty of remonstrations the ball was changed once again, 48 balls after the first ball change.The second new ball, which went out of shape in just 10.3 overs and didn’t pass through any of the rings on the gauge, had swung 1.869 degrees and seamed 0.579 degrees on average. The replacement ball swung 0.855 degrees an average and seamed 0.594 degrees. More than the data perhaps it was the softness and the age of the ball that irked India.Bumrah said he didn’t want to invite sanctions but also later said he didn’t remember having to ever get the ball changed on his previous two tours of England.Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad, who has been a critic of the balls used in England since 2020, said on the broadcast that the replacement ball looked like it was 18-20 overs old. He also expressed his displeasure on X.”The cricket ball should be like a fine wicketkeeper. Barely noticed,” Broad wrote on X. “We are having to talk about the ball too much because it is such an issue & being changed virtually every innings. Unacceptable. Feels like it’s been five years now. Dukes have a problem. They need to fix it. A ball should last 80 overs. Not 10.”Former England captain Nasser Hussain said there was a “serious issue with the Dukes ball” but felt they were also changed “too often” as players search for the perfect ball.”The first thing is that there’s a serious issue with the Dukes ball,” Hussain said on . “Both captains talked about it before the game. We’ve seen it in this game: in this session, it’s been changed twice. We’ve seen it in the last few years, really, the Dukes ball going out of shape.”The second point at play here is that I think the ball is changed too often. I think we’re getting a bit precious about cricket balls. In the history of the game, the cricket ball gets old, and the cricket ball gets soft. I think we’re getting a bit addicted to having the perfect cricket ball for 80 overs.”The third thing at play is that they got through in that first hour and Bumrah was unplayable … I looked up from my laptop at the back of comms box and went, ‘They’re changing the ball: why would you change the ball that is doing something to a random box of balls?’ You know nothing about that, you know everything about this … I get why they’re getting upset – it did look older, it did look softer — but why change? Why take the gamble? I thought that was a real bizarre thing to do when you’ve got something, especially in this time when the Dukes ball is so all over the place, when you’ve got something, stick to it. They didn’t.”The Dukes ball has been in the eye of a storm since 2020 as it has been going out of shape and soft too soon. The ECB’s decision to introduce Kookaburra balls for four rounds of County Championship matches has also brought the Dukes ball in focus.This series has featured regular complaints from the fielding captain – starting as early as the first session of a Test – and regular ball changes around the 43rd over. During this series, a combination of pitches and the balls has resulted in dramatic results. Wickets have come at an average of 86.09 between overs 31 to 80, the highest average in England since we have maintained ball-by-ball records. It is also marginally the third highest in all Test series we have ball-by-ball-records for, overwhelmingly behind Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan in 2008-09 and trailing Zimbabwe’s tour of New Zealand in 2000-01 by just 0.57.

India will face the winner of Thursday’s clash between Bangladesh and Pakistan, while Sri Lanka are out of contention now

Karthik Krishnaswamy24-Sep-20251:20

Chopra: Very little the bowlers could do against Abhishek

India are in the final of Asia Cup 2025, where they will meet the winner of Thursday’s Super Fours clash between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Sri Lanka are out of contention, and their game against India on Friday is now a dead rubber.India sealed their place in the final with a 41-run win over Bangladesh that was, for the victors, both comfortable and discomfiting. Bangladesh never really looked in contention at any point during their chase of 169, with their limitations as a T20 side exposed by the depth and variety of India’s bowling. But they would feel they should have made a much better fist of that target, after their bowlers had done brilliantly to haul India back when Abhishek Sharma had seemingly put them on course for 200 and beyond.Related

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• Shaheen Afridi brushes off criticism as Pakistan eye Asia Cup final

Abhishek continued his magnificent tournament, following up his 39-ball 74 against Pakistan with a 37-ball 75, but India struggled when he wasn’t at the crease.Their innings followed a pattern not unlike Pakistan’s against their bowlers on Sunday: a strong start followed by a dramatic slowdown when the ball became older and harder to time. India scored 95 runs in overs 3-11, when Abhishek ran rampant, and just 73 runs in the 12 overs either side of that stretch.In the end, Abhishek’s innings proved the difference between the teams. Bangladesh didn’t have anyone in their line-up with that level of relentless boundary-hitting ability, even if Saif Hassan showed the promise in their ranks, hitting five sixes in a 51-ball 69.

Bangladesh begin brightly

Bangladesh could have dismissed Abhishek for 7 off 8 in the third over, had the wicketkeeper held on to an edge off Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who came into an XI with as many as four changes, and bowled brilliantly with the new ball, swinging it prodigiously while also hitting the deck hard.The wicketkeeper who shelled that chance – and Bangladesh’s captain on the night – was Jaker Ali, standing in for Litton Das who was ruled out with a side strain.That moment ended the first chapter of this match, which Bangladesh dominated without quite being able to separate Abhishek and Shubman Gill. Tanzim had beaten Gill’s bat twice in the first over, and left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed had used his swinging arm ball cleverly to take the ball away from Abhishek’s hitting arc in the second. By the end of the third over, India were still going at less than a run a ball.

Abhishek and Gill take over

Gill began the counterattack by stepping out to the first two balls of the fourth over and hitting Nasum for four and six. That began a torrent of boundary-hitting that Bangladesh seemed powerless to stop. Abhishek looked unstoppable once he got to grips with the conditions, hitting Mustafizur Rahman for two sixes in the fifth over, peppering the off-side boundary with four fours off Mohammad Saifuddin in the sixth, and carrying on in similar vein beyond the powerplay.In all, Abhishek hit five sixes and jumped to joint No. 7 on India’s all-time T20I six-hitting charts. He has now hit 58 sixes in just 21 innings; Suresh Raina, with whom he drew level, hit 58 in 66 innings.2:57

Chopra questions India’s batting order logic

Experimental India slow down

India were 112 for 2 at the start of the 12th over, and Bangladesh seemed powerless to stop Abhishek. But they did, via a run out manufactured by Rishad Hossain’s brilliance at backward point. He dived to his left to stop a dab from Suryakumar Yadav and sprang up, ready to throw in one motion, leaving Abhishek with little chance of regaining his ground at the non-striker’s end.That moment changed the complexion of the game, exposing India’s middle order to an issue that has troubled every line-up in these conditions in the UAE – the difficulty of starting innings against the old ball. Bangladesh’s bowlers did their bit too, with Mustafizur, Tanzim and Saifuddin finding plenty of purchase with their slower cutters and with Nasum varying his pace cleverly, and India only scored 56 runs across their last nine overs. Hardik Pandya, who was out off the last ball of the innings for 38 off 29, did the bulk of the scoring.India’s slide looked worse for coming against the backdrop of batting-order changes that didn’t come off on the day. India promoted Shivam Dube to No. 3, and sent in Hardik, Tilak Varma and Axar Patel above Sanju Samson, who did not get to bat at all.Handshakes all around after India completed an easy win•AFP/Getty Images

Saif wages lone fight as Bangladesh fade away

Bangladesh seemed in with a real chance at the halfway mark, but the required rate kept slipping further and further away from their reach. Jasprit Bumrah, once again bowling three overs in the powerplay, struck in his first over, and looked close to unhittable with the new ball, finding prodigious swing and at one stage beating Parvez Hossain Emon’s bat six times in eight balls.And then, just as Emon had seemed to shrug off that early struggle with a six off Bumrah and a pair of swept fours off Varun Chakravarthy, he fell while miscuing a slog-sweep in Kuldeep Yadav’s first over, the seventh of the innings.Then it became a game of two ends. At one end, Saif showed off his hitting range, particularly off Axar whom he hit for three sixes. At the other, batters came and went, with Jaker’s run-out dismissal in the 13th over, while trying to steal a quick single to get Saif to his fifty, effectively bringing Bangladesh’s challenge to an end.All that remained was for Kuldeep to pull off his customary two-wickets-in-two-balls trick, for India’s fielders to shell a series of catches to extend Saif’s innings into the 18th over, for Bumrah to come back and pick up a second wicket, and finally for part-timer Tilak to roll his arm over and end the match with three balls to spare.

Aaryan Sawant’s 130 and Archie Vaughan’s five-for has South Africa U19s on the ropes

ECB Reporters Network05-Feb-2025South Africa U19s 224 & 145 for 8 (Rowlers 71, Vaughan 5-18) lead England U19s 353 (Sawant 130, Fonseka 52, Rossouw 5-74) by 16 runsEngland Men U19s were closing in on victory after a dominant third day of the second Youth Test against South Africa Men U19s in Cape Town.Aaryan Sawant’s maiden century in an England representative shirt helped the Young Lions to a first-innings lead of 129 before skipper Archie Vaughan’s five wickets reduced the hosts to 145 for 8.Vaughan’s side fell just one wicket short of victory in the first Youth Test last week, but took control of this contest on the back of Sawant’s patient 130.The Middlesex right-hander, starting the day on 83, reached his century from 255 balls and after almost six hours of batting before he was the victim of another unlucky run out.Sawant’s dismissal went viral on social media last week when he was run out after a sweep cannoned off the helmet of Jorich van Schalwyk at short leg and back onto his stumps.This time the 19-year-old watched on in disbelief as Bandile Mbatha dropped a return catch that deflected off the bowler’s leg and then onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Sawant again out of his ground.Crucially, Sawant had added 127 for the ninth wicket with Alexander Wade (49 not out) by then and the Young Lions were bowled out for 353 to pocket their 129-run first-innings lead.The value of that partnership was reinforced when a Tazeem Ali direct hit from square leg ran out Van Schalwyk before the Warwickshire leg-spinner had Muhammad Bulbulia, who scored a century in the first Youth Test, leg before.Vaughan then turned the screw as South Africa Men U19s lost 5 for 37. The Somerset all-rounder took all of the wickets in the collapse on his way to figures of 5 for 18 from 13.5 overs.Vaughan secured his fifth wicket from what was the final ball of the day when Jason Rowles looped an edge to Ben Dawkins at first slip after a defiant 71.

Afghanistan lost their last six wickets for only 21 runs, crumbling swiftly on a slow and used Sharjah surface

Himanshu Agrawal09-Nov-2024First, Afghanistan’s spin quartet ended with combined figures of 38-0-144-7. Bangladesh’s trio replied with 21.3-2-72-5. But where Afghanistan’s quicks bowled 12 overs for 108 runs without a single wicket, Bangladesh’s fast bowlers were more incisive with four wickets in 22 overs, which went for only 111. That was the difference in the end as Afghanistan fell 68 short in their pursuit of 253 and Bangladesh levelled the three-match series with one game to play.Bangladesh’s win was set up by captain Najmul Hossain Shanto’s 76. When Shanto fell on his 119th ball in the 41st over of the first innings, his innings appeared to be too slow. But the value of his runs was visible when the Afghanistan batters struggled to get going, justifying that batting wasn’t easy on a slow and used Sharjah surface. Six of Afghanistan’s top eight scored at least 14, but only one could go on to score a half-century. Rahmat Shah’s 76-ball 52 remained the highest.Afghanistan’s chase of 253 began in sedate fashion. The Bangladesh quicks started with tight lines and lengths with the new ball swinging, but their first two breakthroughs were down to some fantastic catches. Soumya Sarkar anticipated a ball rushing onto him at wide slip to have Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught off Taskin Ahmed, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz – at square leg – leapt and plucked one to send Sediqullah Atal back off Nasum Ahmed’s first ball.Atal departed for 39, ending a 52-run second-wicket partnership with Rahmat, but his dismissal started a sequence where Nasum and Mahmudullah kept a check on Afghanistan, conceding only 19 runs across the next seven overs.Mehidy took over captaincy duties after Shanto had to leave the field with a hand injury, and brought himself back to bowl in the 24th over. One over past the halfway mark, Afghanistan’s required rate had crossed six runs an over, and the slide began in the 29th.Mustafizur Rahman had Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi caught at fine leg for a 40-ball 17 and then Nasum bowled Azmatullah Omarzai for his second duck of the series with a beautiful ball which turned away to hit off stump.Three balls later, Rahmat paid the price for a mix-up with Gulbadin Naib, who pushed one to cover and called. With Naib watching the fielder, Rahmat was halfway down the pitch, and ultimately both ended up running towards Jaker Ali, the debutant wicketkeeper. Jaker, playing in place of the injured Mushfiqur Rahim, threw the ball to Nasum at the other end and Rahmat was well short.Thus, Afghanistan lost three wickets in the space of six deliveries, and although Naib swung his bat around for an entertaining 26, and added 44 for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Nabi, his dismissal left the rest with too much to do. They lost their last five wickets for only 21 runs and folded for 184 in 43.4 overs.That batting performance made Shanto’s half-century and Jaker’s death-overs batting cameo look even better. Bangladesh had lost Tanzid Hasan early in the afternoon, but Shanto and Soumya accelerated. Despite a Shanto slowdown after the powerplay, Bangladesh made 82 in 14 overs.However, it took a further 23 overs to get another 82 for Bangladesh, despite losing only two more wickets in that period. All four of Afghanistan’s spinners – Rashid, Nabi, Nangeyalia Kharote and AM Ghazanfar – operated during that phase, and conceded just two fours and a six.Rashid broke the 71-run second-wicket partnership between Shanto and Soumya when he trapped the latter lbw. Soumya, on 35, didn’t review despite a consultation, and later saw the replays show the ball had pitched outside the line.In all, Shanto took 75 balls to get to his half-century, which he completed halfway into the 28th over. Both Mehidy and Shanto struggled to put the Afghanistan spinners away, and had to rely on their running between the wickets amid a plethora of dots. In the 32nd over, Shanto was given out lbw on 55 off Ghazanfar, but he reviewed and overturned the decision.But Rashid broke the 53-run stand when he cleaned Mehidy up with a googly next over. With 12 overs to go and Bangladesh on 174, Bangladesh were on course for a strong finish but with Shanto slow but Kharote struck three times in the next three overs to dent their cause. Towhid Hridoy, Shanto and Mahmudullah all departed in quick succession.But Jaker and Nasum ensured Bangladesh would post a competitive score. The last six overs were taken for 60 runs, as Nasum started the fun with a slog sweep for six off Kharote. When Afghanistan switched to pace in the 47th over, Jaker bashed Fazalhaq Farooqi for back-to-back sixes, with one landing over the roof beyond deep midwicket. Nasum hit 25 at just better than a run a ball, while Jaker put the finishing touch. The debutant ensured Bangladesh crossed 250.

The series will be played from April 27 to May 11 in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2025Sri Lanka will host India and South Africa for a women’s ODI tri-series in April and May, the SLC announced on Thursday. This tri-series was not part of the Future Tours Programme originally.Each team will play the others twice – making it four matches per team – before the top two teams play the final. The series will start with hosts Sri Lanka taking on India. All of them will be day games, played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo from April 27 to May 11.Sri Lanka are currently on a white-ball tour of New Zealand, while most of India’s players are participating in the WPL at home. Some South African players are also at the WPL. Until this tri-series was announced, South Africa’s next international assignment was a tour of the West Indies in June.This tri-series will give the three teams extra prep time in the lead up to the ODI World Cup in October this year in India.Sri Lanka are currently the Asia Cup champions, while South Africa had reached the semi-finals of the last ODI World Cup, in 2022, after knocking India out in the league stages. India are, however, the highest-ranked of the three at third – South Africa are fourth and Sri Lanka seventh – in the ICC ODI rankings.

Sri Lanka women’s tri-series schedule

April 27, Sri Lanka vs India
April 29, India vs South Africa
May 1, Sri Lanka vs South Africa
May 4, Sri Lanka vs India
May 6, South Africa vs India
May 8, Sri Lanka vs South Africa
May 11, final