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South Africa prepare for spin-slaught in Tests against Pakistan

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South Africa are expecting a slew of spin when they begin their World Test Championship (WTC) title defence in Pakistan later this week and stand-in captain Aiden Markram is confident his players are ready.Though this South African unit has not played red-ball cricket together since the previous WTC final in June, some of their players were involved in a two-Test series in Zimbabwe in June-July and others have been at the county championship. Their main preparation took place over the last two days at a training camp in Pretoria, where they tried to replicate the home advantage Markram believes Pakistan have every right to exploit.”If it’s your home game, you can pretty much prepare whatever wicket you’d like to prepare. That’s how I see it,” Markram said ahead of the team’s departure on Monday. ” Ultimately, if it’s going to be extreme like it was in the English series, then it’s going to be difficult for both teams from a batting point of view. For us as a squad, we’ve just got to be happy with what we have, whatever the conditions look like and to back whoever it is on the day to get the job done. So I’m not too fussed by it.”Markram’s reference to “the English series,” harks back to this time last year, when Pakistan hosted England. After losing the first Test, Pakistan won the next two on pitches that turned square after using everything from industrial fans and heaters to windbreakers to dry out the surfaces. Those games were played in Multan and Rawalpindi. South Africa will play in Lahore and Rawalpindi, where 29 of 31 wickets in the England Test fell to spin.No pitch in South Africa can behave that way but they tried at the High Performance Centre. “There’s three pitches that are spinning quite a bit and two out of those three are really exaggerated,” Markram said. “The one that’s a little bit in between is still sharp spin but slightly easier to bat on. And then we’ve got one strip in the middle as well where it’s pretty normal. We try to keep it as dead as possible but it’s not always that easy, just to have the ball squat a bit low. It’s difficult to do that on the Highveld, but we’ve tried our best. We’re trying to tick all the boxes.”South Africa have also picked a spin-heavy squad, which includes left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy and offspinners Simon Harmer and Prenelan Subrayen. “They’re all quite different. If you look at the two off-spinners to start with, Simon and Subs, especially having faced them now where it is spinning, it’s two completely different challenges they throw at you. That’s something great to have as a squad,” Markram said. “You don’t really want similar types of spinners. They are each quite different, different paces, different types of spin in terms of side spin and overspin and stuff like that, which reacts differently off the wickets. They’ll play a massive role for us there if what we’re expecting is going to be the case.”South Africa’s first-choice spinner Keshav Maharaj will only join the squad for the second Test, when they will have four specialist spin options. They will not, however, enjoy the return of their regular Test captain Temba Bavuma, who was ruled out of the series with a calf injury. While Markram is used to standing in for Bavuma, and did on South Africa’s tour to Bangladesh last year, making up for Bavuma’s place in the batting order is not as simple.As South Africa’s leading run-scorer of the last WTC, Bavuma provides stability and experience at No.4, which South Africa will have to find elsewhere. One replacement option is Dewald Brevis, who debuted in Zimbabwe and has an aggressive approach across formats.”He’d definitely be an option, especially with the way he plays spin,” Markram said. “If the conditions are going to be exaggerated, he can quickly change the momentum of the game doing what he does and playing the way he does. He’ll be a definite consideration.”He won’t be the only one. South Africa have also recalled Zubayr Hamza, who recently played for the A side against New Zealand A and scored a second-innings hundred in the first match, and WTC squad member Tony de Zorzi, who proved his credentials in the subcontinent with 177 against Bangladesh last year. “He played incredibly well in Bangladesh and scored big runs there, where it was also quite challenging. So I don’t think it’s necessarily that Dewald is a dead-given straight swap, but I’m very sure he’ll be in the conversation.”The first Test of the series starts in Lahore on Sunday.

Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen grind Kent into the dirt

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Kent 117 for 2 (Dawkins 53*, Morley 2-45) trail Derbyshire 698 for 6 dec (Reece 211, Madsen 198, Andersson 85) by 581 runsDerbyshire plunged the knife deep into the Kentish ribcage on day two of their Rothesay County Championship match at Canterbury.They posted the second-highest score ever made at The Spitfire Ground when they declared on 698 for 6, before reducing Kent to 117 for 2 at stumps, a deficit of 581.Luis Reece and Wayne Madsen made a stand of 358 eclipsing the Derbyshire record for a third-wicket partnership in first-class cricket. Reece made 211, his highest first-class score, while Madsen fell for 198. Martin Andersson then blasted 85 from 75 balls and Anuj Dal was unbeaten on 52 when the declaration came.Kent’s openers initially responded well, reaching 111 without loss, before Jack Morley took two late wickets to finish with 2 for 45. He bowled Ben Compton for 46, then had nightwatcher Michael Cohen caught and bowled for four in the final over. Ben Dawkins was unbeaten on 53.Kent members have endured too many days like this in recent seasons, with the permanent injury crisis forcing the permanently makeshift bowling attack to toil for hours while the opposition batters tick away landmarks.Derbyshire were 389 for 2 overnight and while Reece and Madsen enjoyed the race to get to 200, home fans were reduced to applauding the occasional maiden or gallant bit of fielding.When the stand passed 292 Madsen had broken his own record, the previous mark for the third wicket being the partnership he’d shared with Shan Masood against Sussex in 2022.Reece was dropped on 196 by Ollie Curtiss, an admittedly violent drive off Joey Evison, but Matt Parkinson then broke through with a full toss that hit Madsen on the knee and got him lbw.That left them stranded, two runs short of the all-time record stand for any wicket, the 360 put on by Reece and Harry Came against Glamorgan in 2023.Reece nudged Parkinson for a single to bring up his double ton, then flicked Ekansh Singh for four to beat his previous high score of 201.Curtiss dropped Martin Andersson, off Parkinson, at first slip when he was on 14, but the bowler struck again in his next over when he had Reece caught by Ben Compton on the boundary, leaving the visitors on 550 for 4 at lunch.Brook Guest was the only batter not to fill his boots, run out by Ben Dawkins for 9, but Andersson blazed away until Curtiss had him caught at deep backward-square by sub Mo Rizvi.When the declaration came it was the second-highest first-class total by a team at Canterbury, behind only Northamptonshire’s 722 for 6, posted earlier this season.Home morale was partially restored by the way their openers responded. Kent were 42 without loss at tea, however and Dawkins hit Morley for two sixes off three balls before a delivery from the same bowler reared up and hit him on the grille.He was able to continue after a concussion check, but with the light deteriorating play was suspended at 5.22pm. Play resumed after a 28-minute delay, allowing Dawkins to reach his 50, before Morley turned one down the slope to bend back Compton’s off stump.Cohen then had a moment of madness, driving the penultimate ball of the day straight back to Morley.

Hazlewood: England will bring an 'unbelievable' batting line-up for the Ashes

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Josh Hazlewood is expecting to play a Sheffield Shield match in the lead-up to the Ashes in November as he prepares to counter an “unbelievable” England batting line-up, which he believes will be strongest they will have brought to Australia during his career.Hazlewood recently played five out of the six white-ball matches against South Africa having sat out the T20I series against West Indies following the Tests while Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have not featured in the last few weeks. Hazlewood won’t be in action on the field in September but wants to keep getting miles in the legs ahead of the first Test in Perth rather than having extended downtime.”It felt like over the last 12 months, the best way for me to go about it is just keep on ticking over, keep playing, not having too long off bowling,” Hazlewood said at an event to promote Play Cricket week. “I find…getting back to that intensity and volume is quite tough for me. So if I can just keep staying up there, match intensity as long as I can, then that’s sort of the best way for me to go about it.”Related

  • Harry Brook is going to the Ashes with a clear mind, but how will he fare there?

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  • Australia's next opener? Weatherald enjoying cricket 'like I did as a kid'

  • Mark Wood targets Durham return in build-up to Ashes

Hazlewood, who played four Tests during the 2023 Ashes, is expecting a tough challenge from the England batting line-up. At times in the recent India series they showed a more nuanced approach rather an all-out attack, before falling to six-run defeat at The Oval. A 7 for 66 collapse triggered by a stroke from Harry Brook promoted significant debate after a spectacular hundred.Brook, currently the No. 2-ranked Test batter behind Joe Root, will be on his first Test tour of Australia and in nine T20Is in the country in 2022 had a top score of 20. His first-class experience is limited to one England Lions outing in 2021 and how he adjusts to conditions will be key to the team’s prospects. So, too, the performance of Root who has yet to score a Test century in Australia where he averages 35.68 from 14 matches.Josh Hazlewood expects Harry Brook to play without any baggage in Australia•AFP/Getty Images

“England has obviously been quite flat wickets recently, the last few years, and it’s been a really dry summer as well, so they are probably starting to get tired and spin now,” Hazlewood said. “I think [Brook] will adapt. He’s a good player. He’s at the top of the rankings for a reason, and he’ll be a tough challenge.”When [Root] first came out, it was a little bit of a different attack. It was probably [Mitchell] Johnson and [Ryan] Harris and [Peter] Siddle. Gaz [Nathan Lyon] has been around a long time now, so he was probably there, but we sort of just jumped on the back of that”I think a fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier. There’s no baggage behind him and he can just come out and play with freedom as he does. Joe’s probably in the form of his life as well. So they’re an unbelievable batting line, to be honest. The top seven have done really well…so it’s a challenge.”Asked whether it will be strongest batting up England have sent to Australia in recent times, Hazlewood said: “Yeah, definitely.”Australia have a three-match T20I series against New Zealand in early October then India visit for ODIs and T20Is ahead of the Ashes. It remains to be seen how Hazlewood’s schedule will be juggled to allow him a red-ball outing – the fourth round of Sheffield Shield matches starting on November 10, when New South Wales play Victoria at the SCG, may be too close to the start of the series – but he is keen to have the opportunity to replicate long-form intensity.Last season Hazlewood played one game for New South Wales ahead of the India Test series, and though he went wicketless across 24 overs against Queensland he was Australia’s best bowler early in the opening Test in Perth before his series was disrupted by injury. This winter, however, he was able to play all four Tests against South Africa and West Indies, albeit the workload on bowler-friendly Caribbean surfaces was not extreme.”The Test [only] guys will play more than one [Shield game]. They’ll probably play two or three, but everyone’s on different programs,” he said. “I used it last year and I’ve sort of found that it’s very beneficial. Time on the field, multiple spells in a day, it’s sort of hard to replicate it at training. So, to get that before a Test series is pretty pivotal, I think.”

Nuwanidu century secures draw for Sri Lanka A

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Sri Lanka A 272 (Dinusha 105*) and 280 for 3 (Nuwanidu 104*, Rathnayake 56*, Sooriyabandara 56) drew with Australia A 486 (McSweeney 94, Scott 94, Philippe 85, Perry 61, Weatherald 54, Dinusha 4-97)Australia A and Sri Lanka A ground out a tame draw at Marrara Stadium in Darwin as Nuwanidu Fernando hit an unbeaten century.In reply to Australia A’s 486 after making 272 in their first innings, the Sri Lankans dug in to finish on 280 for 3 when the match was called on Wednesday afternoon.Related

  • McSweeney anchors Australia A as he bids for second chance

  • Scott and Philippe leave Australia A scenting victory

Fernando made a superb unbeaten 104, including seven fours and three sixes, ably supported by Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Pavan Rathnayake.The Australia A bowlers were unable to make major in-roads after securing the wickets of openers Lahiru Udara and Kamil Mishara.Fernando and Sooriyabandara starred in a 113-run partnership for the third wicket, before the latter was caught by Nathan McSweeney off the bowling of Liam Scott.It gave the home side a glimmer of hope, but Rathnayake had other ideas, digging in with the centurion to end any chance of an Australian victory.Sonal Dinusha had an impressive match for Sri Lanka, scoring an unbeaten century in the first innings then taking four wickets.The second four-day match begins on July 20. It is expected that Australia A will include legspinner Tanveer Sangha who was called into the squad as a replacement for the injured Jack Nisbet.

Molineux ruled out of New Zealand tour in Ashes concern

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Australia have a fresh injury concern ahead of the Ashes with Sophie Molineux ruled out of the women’s ODI tour of New Zealand with a knee injury.Already sweating on the fitness of captain Alyssa Healy and her sore knee, Australia suffered more bad news on Saturday in the form of Molineux’s injury.Related

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The finger-spinner has battled knee issues this summer, missing some WBBL games with the Melbourne Renegades to manage pain in the joint.She played in the last two of Australia’s 3-0 series sweep over India, but pulled up sore following the last victory in Perth on Wednesday.It means she will now skip all three ODIs against New Zealand this month, with bowling-allrounder Heather Graham to take her spot four weeks out from the Ashes.The games double as the team’s last before next month’s multi-format Ashes series, where Australia will aim to retain the trophy for a fifth straight time.”Sophie Molineux has been withdrawn from the NZ Series due to knee soreness,” Cricket Australia said in a statement. “Heather Graham will join the squad in New Zealand on Tuesday, following Tasmania’s Women’s National Cricket League matches against New South Wales in Hobart.”Georgia Wareham would be the most likely player to come into Australia’s XI for the first ODI against New Zealand on Thursday, after she was left out of the final two games against India.In better news for Australia, Healy is at least a confirmed attendee on the New Zealand trip. Australia’s captain missed the three ODIs against India through her own knee injury, after also missing the end of the T20 World Cup with a foot issue.Healy’s return will create a potential headache for selectors given Georgia Voll’s impressive start to her international career against India.Voll made scores of 46 not out, 101 and 26 while deputising for Healy at the top of the order, after a breakthrough WBBL with the Sydney Thunder.But Voll is at risk of being squeezed out of the ODI side in New Zealand, with Healy expected to slot back into opening alongside Phoebe Litchfield.It means the only way Voll would remain in the first-choice XI is if selectors opt to bat her down the order and make the bold call of leaving out a more established player.

Russell, Shreyas Iyer, Starc unlikely to be retained by KKR

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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are unlikely to retain their title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer and star allrounder Andre Russell ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and uncapped fast bowler Harshit Rana are set to be the franchise’s four retained players.They are also unlikely to retain Mitchell Starc, who they had bought for the record price of INR 24.75 crore at the IPL 2024 auction. Starc had a poor league phase in IPL 2024 before playing vital roles – 3 for 34 and 2 for 14 – in KKR’s victories in Qualifier 1 and the final.There is also a possibility that KKR will retain a second uncapped player in Ramandeep Singh, an explosive batter in the lower middle order. If they do so, then they will have only one right-to-match option left to use at the auction on a capped player, in case they want to buy back either Iyer, Russell, or Starc.October 31 is the deadline by which the ten franchises have to submit their lists of retained players to the IPL. The teams have been allowed to retain up to six players ahead of the mega auction before the 2025 season, of which a maximum of five can be capped internationals and two can be uncapped players. While the IPL has set minimum deductions from the auction purse for each player retained – INR 18 crore for the first player, INR 14 crore for the second, INR 11 crore for the third, INR 18 crore for the fourth, INR 14 crore for the fifth, and INR 4 crore for an uncapped player – the franchises are free to pay more or less than those amounts to their retained players.Related

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  • KL Rahul unlikely to stay with LSG; set for mega auction

  • LSG set to retain Pooran, Mayank and Bishnoi for IPL 2025

  • How many players can a team keep? And at what cost?

While the individual amounts for each of KKR’s likely retentions are not yet known, they will lose at least INR 47 crore for four players (including one uncapped) or INR 51 crore for five players (including two uncapped).The big development in the KKR camp is the possible release of Iyer, their captain, and Russell, who has been with them since IPL 2014. Iyer was their most expensive purchase at the 2022 mega auction (INR 12.25 crore – $1.633 million approx. at the time) when KKR were on the hunt for a new captain. Russell had been retained for INR 12 crore ahead of that auction.Iyer led KKR to the IPL title in the 2024 season, scoring 351 runs at a strike rate of nearly 147, their first triumph since 2014. While he will be optimistic about attracting sizeable bids at the mega auction considering a few franchises might need a captain and a top Indian batter, Russell will also be a huge draw. He scored 222 runs at a strike rate of 185 last season and took 19 wickets, three of which came in the IPL final.Among the players retained, Narine, Rinku and Varun have all played vital roles for KKR over the last few seasons. Narine, who was retained for INR 6 crore ($722,000 approx. then) in 2022, was the Most Valuable Player in 2024 for his explosiveness at the top of the order and his 17 wickets at an economy rate of 6.69. Varun, who joined the franchise in 2020 and was retained in 2022 for INR 8 crore ($1.066 million approx. then), has 41 wickets (8.09 economy) in the last two seasons, the most by any bowler. Rinku, whose IPL performances catapulted him into the India T20I team, has a strike rate of 207.97 since 2022.Rana is emerging as promising fast bowler and is part of India’s Test squad for the upcoming tour of Australia, while Ramandeep’s IPL and domestic performances earned him a spot in India’s squad for the recent Emerging Players Asia Cup in Oman.

Buttler powers England to 2-0 series lead after bowlers limit West Indies again

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Jos Buttler rampaged into form in his second innings back in charge of England’s T20I side, a brutal 83 off 45 balls helping to clinically ice a chase of 159 and give the tourists a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.Batting once again at No. 3, Buttler followed up the good work of his bowling attack by peeling off the 26th 50-plus score of his career in T20 internationals, eight fours and six sixes ringing off his bat during a century stand with Will Jacks that saw England cruise to their requirement with more than five overs to spare.Having again won the toss and opted to bowl, England made good use of the conditions to leave West Indies three down in the powerplay, Saqib Mahmood striking twice to continue his prolific start to the series. Rovman Powell provided some ballast for West Indies with a 41-ball 43 but Romario Shepherd was the only other batter to reach 20 as Dan Mousley, in his second T20I, and Liam Livingstone shared four wickets.Although England then lost their centurion from Saturday’s successful chase of 183, Phil Salt, to the first ball of the reply, Buttler and Jacks dispelled West Indies’ hopes of making a game of it with a domineering stand of 129 from 72 balls. Both fell in the same Shepherd over but there was no reprieve forthcoming for West Indies.Hosein’s opening salvo
Only three times had a score of 150 or less been defended in T20Is at Kensington Oval – and none since 2010. West Indies clearly needed to make early inroads with the new ball, and they couldn’t have gone any better in that regard. Akeal Hosein gave his first ball some air, found a little turn, and Salt’s aggressive thump went straight to hand in the covers. Buttler was then late in jabbing down on Hosein’s fourth delivery, the ball deflecting off the toe of the bat before bouncing over the stumps. Might the pitch still be tricky to master?Buttler serves up a classic
The short answer was: no. Jacks did the early running, picking off boundaries against Matthew Forde and Hosein, with Buttler scoring just three runs off his first 10 balls. Back-to-back fours off Forde followed, before Jacks deposited Hosein over long-off. England were beginning to feel a little more comfortable as Shepherd came on to bowl the final over of the powerplay – and they were metaphorically in a deckchair sipping from a cold bottle of Banks by the end of it.Jacks again took the lead, clubbing four high over mid-off, before ceding the stage to Buttler. His first of three consecutive boundaries was something of an ungainly hack that spun away to the rope at deep backward point, but that was followed up by emphatically drilling Shepherd’s slower ball over the sightscreen, then walking across to the change of length and flipping four more over the head of short fine leg, as England reached the end of the powerplay on 56 for 1.Another bludgeon down the ground off Gudakesh Motie meant a replacement ball had to be sent for, and Buttler went to a 32-ball half-century by smashing Roston Chase into the crowd in the 10th over of the chase. Terrance Hinds, making his debut for West Indies, was collared for 15 runs as England brought up their 100 in the next, before Buttler went 6-6-4 against Chase. He fell in the next over, three balls after Jacks – and one ball after being dropped in the covers. But the finish line was already in sight for England, Livingstone creaming four boundaries in 11 balls and sealing the result with a six.Mahmood in the mood again
There was early evidence of some juice in the pitch, with Bridgetown having been lashed by rain during the morning, as Evin Lewis edged Jofra Archer fortuitously wide of slip while attempting to leave in the first over. Brandon King was in no mood for sighters, though, and tried to thrash his second ball from Mahmood over the top: the ball stood up just enough off the surface to send a spiralling leading edge to mid-off.Archer had Lewis prodding and poking in the channel, before producing a brute of a lifter to flick the glove through to Salt. And although Mahmood struggled at times to control the amount of movement on offer, conceding 10 wides in his opening three-over burst, he picked up his fifth powerplay wicket of the series when beating Chase on the inside to win an lbw decision that was backed up on DRS as umpire’s call. West Indies were 35 for 3 inside the fourth over – marginally better off than their start to the first T20I, but not by much.Powell powers the revival
West Indies needed a partnership and they got one from Powell and Nicholas Pooran – but it was not fluent. Pooran soon opted for seeing off the new-ball pair, given the movement on offer, while Powell was also circumspect, seeing off a maiden from Sam Curran in the eighth. The pair put on 35 from 43, with just a boundary apiece, before Pooran was lured from his ground by Livingstone, whose flighted offbreak left the West Indies No. 3 stranded.Powell had crabbed his way to 18 off 28 before he found his range, panning Livingstone over the midwicket rope for the first six. He lost another partner in Sherfane Rutherford, England reviewing successfully for lbw, and then somehow managed to muscle Rashid on to the rope at extra cover, despite aiming down the ground. Another boundary at the end of the over brought up West Indies’ 100; but just as Powell appeared set to unleash through the death overs, he was undone by Mousley’s 116kph/72mph yorker, which dipped under the bat to hit middle stump and give the 21-year-old his maiden international wicket.Windies tail wags
The hosts only managed three boundaries between the end of the powerplay and the start of the 15th over, but after Powell’s dismissal, the lower order heaved away to good effect. Motie made good use of the extra pace Mousley put on the ball to thrash two fours in three balls, before Shepherd took back-to-back boundaries off Archer and crunched Curran down the ground. Forde also found the ropes three times in six balls, all them sweetly struck, while Hinds hit his second ball in international cricket for four – Mousley’s final over costing 15, including five wides down the leg side.

Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer star as Brave get over line in Super Five

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Birmingham Phoenix 126 for 7 (Livingstone 55) tied with Southern Brave 126 for 6 (Vince 43, Milne 3-18)
Super Five Southern Brave beat Birmingham Phoenix in a thrilling Super Five contest at the Kia Oval to book their place in the Hundred final at Lord’s.Chris Jordan was the match-winner in a nerve-shredding encounter, hitting 10 from three balls after Jofra Archer had limited Phoenix to a total of 7 from their Super Five.Liam Livingstone had looked set to take Phoenix to final with 55 off 34 balls, but when he fell in the final set of his side’s innings, Akeal Hosein defended three from three to bring around the first-ever Super Five in ghe Hundred.In the first innings of the match, James Vince made 43 for Southern Brave and Leus du Plooy 39. Jordan struck two sixes in the final set bowled by Sean Abbott which would ultimately prove crucial – a taste of things to come from the bat of the England allrounder.Phoenix’s run chase got off to a slow start but with contributions from captain Moeen Ali and Jacob Bethell the Birmingham side began to close in on the target.Livingstone was in full control – hitting Archer out of the ground – but his dismissal and some late drama saw the scores level at 126 apiece.Batting first in the five-balls-per-side contest, Livingstone was unable to atone for his late dismissal – falling first ball, flashing a full toss from Archer to backward point.Bethell smashed the second ball wide of long-on for four, but no more boundaries were forthcoming – leaving Jordan and Kieron Pollard needing to surpass 7 to make Lord’s.Jordan got a slice of luck to inside-edge his first delivery for four behind square on the leg side, and followed up with a two and a four to see Brave make the Hundred final for the second time.Meerkat Match Hero, Archer, said: “Just relieved to be honest, I thought I’d given it away in that second to last over.”On his last three deliveries, he said: “You’ve just got to commit to it. Some days it happens for you and some days it doesn’t and I’m just glad today is one of the days that it worked for me.”We’ve got 11 match-winners and the guys that are not in the XI are match-winners themselves, so the team has so much talent it doesn’t matter what team we put out there, I back the guys all the way.”

Wyatt powers England to biggest T20I win over New Zealand

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Danni Wyatt’s rapid half-century set England up for a commanding victory in the first of five T20Is with New Zealand in Southampton.Wyatt faced just 51 balls for her 76, which included 11 fours and a six, to lead England to an imposing total of 197 for 3 after the White Ferns had won the toss. She was well supported by a powerful 47 in 23 balls from Nat Sciver-Brunt and opening partner Maia Bouchier, who added 32 off 26. It was a class batting performance by England who manipulated the crease beautifully to time the ball and find gaps throughout their innings, producing their best T20I score against New Zealand and second-highest in the format on home soil.England experimented with four spinners and, between them, they took seven of the nine wickets to fall. The move worked not only from a result point of view as England wrapped up a 59-run win, but with their football side kicking off in a Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland at 5pm local time, they had only missed 26 minutes by the finish, with the score still 0-0. Legspinner Sarah Glenn finished with 3 for 16 and offspinner Charlie Dean took 2 for 28. Left-arm seamer Freya Kemp took a wicket with the last ball of the match in her return to bowling after battling a recurrence of a back injury.

Wyatt, Bouchier look nailed on

Captain Heather Knight said on match eve that England were keen to test potential T20 World Cup combinations and tactics during this series and they understandably stuck with an in-form Bouchier as opener alongside Wyatt. Bouchier enjoyed a breakout tour of New Zealand earlier this year and was Player of the Series in the home sweep of three ODIs.Wyatt crunched the first ball of the match, a short, wide one from Fran Jonas, through backward point for four and Bouchier chimed in three balls later with a sublime cut which rocketed through point. Wyatt struck two fours in three Sophie Devine deliveries to move England 52 without loss after six overs with both batters having already racked up five boundaries each. Bouchier threw her head back in frustration after she sidestepped to latch onto a Lea Tahuhu short ball but ended up picking out Georgia Plimmer at deep midwicket. But her efforts had helped England off to an excellent start in a 61-run opening stand with Wyatt, who forged on, hammering the first six of the day advancing to Eden Carson and sending the ball way over the rope at deep midwicket.

England get a little funky

If Wyatt and Bouchier looked nailed on at the top of the order, England played around with the middle order. Nat Sciver-Brunt, at No. 3, carried on the form she showed with an unbeaten 76 in the third and final ODI in Bristol on Wednesday. Sciver-Brunt struck back-to-back fours off Jess Kerr, pulled to the leg side and driven over extra cover, and three more in succession off Carson to take the partnership with Wyatt past 50, then 60 and keep England on track for a big total. Wyatt brought up her fifty off 36 balls with a single off Brooke Halliday. Carson couldn’t cling onto what would have been an outstanding catch at backward point when Wyatt was on 54, then Sciver-Brunt holed out to Amelia Kerr at midwicket off Carson.Freya Kemp, back in the side as an allrounder after playing as a batter only during a lengthy return from a back stress fracture, came in at No. 4 and made a valuable 26 from 17 balls. It wasn’t until Wyatt lofted Tahuhu’s slower ball high into the air and into the hands of Maddy Green just inside the boundary at deep square leg that Knight came to the crease. By that stage, Kemp was finding a nice rhythm and Knight simply played a supporting role as Kemp steered Amelia Kerr to the deep third boundary before lofting the same bowler effortlessly down the ground for a towering six, then drove Devine with authority through backward point.

NZ recover from shaky start

New Zealand were off to a disappointing start when Georgia Plimmer was run out for a third time on this tour, thanks to a pinpoint direct hit from Sciver-Brunt. Continuing their commitment to giving things a go with one eye on the World Cup, Linsey Smith, one of four specialist spinners in the England line-up, entered the attack in the third over. Despite being behind England at the end of the powerplay on 45 for 1, New Zealand held firm via Suzie Bates and Amelia Kerr. They brought up their fifty partnership for the second wicket via a Kemp misfield at midwicket which went for four followed by a single from Bates, which Kemp stopped. But, no sooner had they done so than Amelia Kerr picked out Bouchier at long-on to give Dean her first wicket.

Spinners come to play

Bates fell three balls later attempting a reverse sweep off Glenn and dragging the ball directly onto her stumps. Glenn was on a hat-trick after bowling Green first ball, a straight one that went through the gate and crashed in to middle stump. Halliday survived the hat-trick ball but Devine started walking before the ball even started to drop into the hands of Bouchier at long-on to give Glenn a triple-wicket over in the 10th with New Zealand floundering at 64 for 5. Having been rested for the third ODI, spin attack leader Sophie Ecclestone had Izzy Gaze stumped first ball as New Zealand lost five wickets for four runs in the space of 14 balls.It could have been worse had Glenn held a sharp return catch off Jess Kerr in the next over. Glenn, who had bowled with excellent control, saw another catch go down at short cover, where Dean dived and thrust out her left hand but couldn’t cling on.Sciver-Brunt spilled a return catch off Halliday, on 12, but Dean bowled Halliday in the next over for 17, ending a 43-run stand. Jess Kerr played defiantly for 38 off 26 balls, her highest score at international level, to be New Zealand’s second-highest run-scorer. Three more chances went begging in the penultimate over, bowled by Smith, the last quite blameless as Kemp did her best stumbling over the boundary rope but couldn’t parry it back to herself as she jumped back in. Smith finally had Jess Kerr out with her last delivery, caught by Sciver-Brunt at long-off.

Jonny Bairstow plays down Ashes flashpoint as England and Australia clash again

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Jonny Bairstow says he has no desire to revisit the controversial events of last summer’s Lord’s Test, as England and Australia prepare to do battle once more in the biggest contest to date of the T20 World Cup.Bairstow’s stumping at the hands of Alex Carey, on the final day of last summer’s second Test, is a central topic of the latest series of Australia’s fly-on-the-wall documentary “The Test”, which was released on Amazon Prime last month.The moment, which occurred during England’s final-day run-chase as Bairstow wandered out of his crease after ducking a bouncer from Cameron Green, sparked fury in the Lord’s pavilion, with some MCC members accosting the Australia players on their way up to the dressing-room as the teams left the field for lunch.The repercussions continued throughout a thrilling Ashes series, with England recovering from a 2-0 deficit after the Lord’s Test to square the series 2-2 thanks to nailbiting victories at Headingley and The Oval. And speaking on the eve of a crucial Group B clash in Barbados, Bairstow insisted that the incident had galvanised England into an on-field response.”I’ve not seen any of it to be quite honest with you,” he said, when asked if he’d been streaming any episodes of the documentary. “I’ve got other things that I watch on TV, I don’t need to sit and watch that in my hotel room.”You see enough cricket when you’re involved in it day to day and playing it. But I think that post that event, the way in which we as a side reacted to that was a real positive.”You look at the results after that thing that happened at Lord’s and I actually think that we finished that series a lot stronger than Australia did.Related

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“Look, I think the impact it had on us as a side, the Test side, was actually a very positive effect and you can make your own assumptions as to what effect it had on Australia and their individuals.”Mitchell Marsh, Australia’s T20 captain, was also involved in the latter stages of the Ashes, including a brilliant counterattacking hundred in the subsequent Test in Leeds. And as he recalled the febrile atmosphere at England’s grounds that summer, Marsh acknowledged that Australia’s reception in Barbados on Saturday might not be dissimilar.”I dare say this will be full and it’ll be mostly English fans, so it’ll be like playing at Headingley all over, or anywhere in England where you get sprayed,” he said.”But just the atmosphere, the vibe of the game, there’s always a lot riding on it. As a team we always want to challenge ourselves against the best. England have been exceptional in this format for a long period of time now, so there’s certainly going to be a lot on the game and we’re pumped.”The stakes for England in particular have been ramped up this week, following their washout against Scotland, which could leave their Super 8 qualification in jeopardy if Australia get the better of them on Saturday. Bairstow, however, wasn’t letting the permutations in Group B get the better of him.”It doesn’t derail us either way. We know we’ve got to win more games than we lose in tournament cricket,” he said. “A win puts you in a position in the group which is obviously more favourable but the other two games after this are must-win games anyway. But it would be good for momentum and confidence.”England versus Australia is always a great occasion. Two very good teams going toe-to-toe. It’s going to be an exciting spectacle. Hopefully it will be a fantastic atmosphere like it always is in Barbados and the best side will come out on top.”