All posts by csb10.top

Karun Nair on Friday broke the world record for most List A runs without being dismissed, while guiding Vidarbha to an eight-wicket victory over Uttar Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Nair, who smashed 112, set a new record of 542 runs without being dismissed, going past former New Zealand allrounder James Franklin, who in 2010 had managed a streak of 527 runs without getting out. Other prominent names in the list are: Joshua van Heerden (512), Fakhar Zaman (455) and Taufeeq Umar (422).The knock was his fourth hundred of the season – and third on the trot – as he helped Vidarbha overhaul UP’s 307 for 8 in just 47.2 overs. Nair’s unbeaten streak began on December 23, when he first blasted 112 off 108 balls against Jammu & Kashmir. He followed it up with an unbeaten 44 in a small chase against Chhattisgarh. He then made a season-high 168 not out against Chandigarh, helping Vidarbha chase down 316 in 48 overs, before finishing 2024 with another unbeaten ton – 111* against Tamil Nadu.On Friday, Vidarbha ended at 313 for 2 as Yash Rathod also made an unbeaten 138 off 140 balls. He and Karun shared a massive 228-run stand for the second wicket.The victory also enabled Vidarbha to position themselves comfortably as the top team in Group D with 20 points from five games ahead of second placed Tamil Nadu (14) and UP (14), who are on third.

Keep an eye on Nitish Kumar Reddy this series, says Morne Morkel. India’s bowling coach is hopeful that the bowling attack they have brought over to Australia can cause problems, especially with the conditions in Perth.Morkel has had his work cut out over the past few days, overseeing a set of bowlers who haven’t had a lot of experience playing Test cricket. India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah and his usual new-ball companion Mohammed Siraj had a good workout under the sun at the Optus Stadium nets but their support acts – the uncapped duo of Reddy and Harshit Rana along with two-Tests old Prasidh Krishna – have a stiff challenge, replicating the success they have had at the domestic and India-A levels on a full-fledged Test tour. Morkel has been helping bridge that gap by sharing his own experiences of playing in Australia.”It’s great to have them around in the squad,” Morkel said of Prasidh and the other specialist fast bowler in the squad, Harshit Rana. “I think they add a lot of variation to their attack, especially Harshit, who bowls at a good pace, finds a way to also extract some bounce out of the surface.Related

• Perth pitch prep: 'Big-snake cracks' unlikely after unseasonal rain

• Labuschagne wants to do a Pujara on India

• India's likely XI: Rahul to open, Padikkal No. 3, Jurel in middle order

• Why Australia vs India is Test cricket's premier rivalry

“It’s their first tour, Prasidh had a bit of experience with India A tour where he had a bit of game time, but for Harshit it’s a bit of an unknown. My message to him was just, when I toured my first time here, playing in Australia, an intimidating place, to listen to the stories, take their advice. But for me it’s just staying in your own bubble and finding those experiences, work them out for yourself.”[Reddy] is one of the young guys that we’ve mentioned, he’s got that sort of batting, all-round ability. He’ll be a guy that can sort of hold that one end up first. He hits the bat a little bit harder than you think. So on these sort of conditions where there might be a little bit of seam movement up front, especially the first couple of days. He’ll be a very accurate wicket-to-wicket style of bowler. It’s a lovely opportunity for him to hold that allrounder spot.”Any team in the world always wanted the allrounder to take that load off your fast bowlers, just to give them an extra bit of breathing time. So how we use him, how Jasprit is going to use him, with maybe the spinner, to give himself, whoever’s going to be the other quicks, time to catch their breath a little bit is going to be important. He’s a guy that is a player you can keep your eye on in this series.”0:56

Perth Test: Who is Manjrekar’s pick for the third quick?

India’s batting may also be reliant on some of their newer players coming through, if Devdutt Padikkal makes it at No. 3 and Dhruv Jurel at No. 6.”It’s going to be great learning for these guys,” Morkel said. “It’s young guys that can come up and front up against a quality Test bowling pack. Australia’s not going to bowl you many bad balls, but in saying that, you know, there’s good leadership within the group that can help and settle the nerves for that. So I think as a group we’re all excited for the challenge, we know what’s sort of to come, we know the wicket’s going to be fast, it’s going to be bouncy, and it’s up to the individual now to formulate their game plans, and get themselves in a mental sort of battle state, that for the next 43 days it’s going to be a tough cricket.”

India waiting on Gill’s fitness

Morkel also said that the fitness of batter Shubman Gill, who hurt his left thumb while fielding in the pre-series intra-squad match, is being tracked on a day-to-day basis.”Shubman is improving every day, obviously picked up a nasty blow in the mock game, in the squad game. I think with him it’s going to be a day-to-day sort of process, fingers crossed for that improvement, but I think they’ll wait, [and not] make a call with him up until the morning of the [match].”Gill was present at training on Wednesday but that was the extent of his participation even as the rest of the squad got in a full workout under the sun. He just hung out with Rishabh Pant for a while and then left. The chances of him playing in Perth in two days’ time are still slim. Padikkal, who has been added to the squad now after being asked to stay back in Australia following his work with the India A team, is shaping up as a stop-gap No. 3 batter.

Australia vs Pakistan

Dubai, 6pm local timeAustralia squad: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia WarehamPakistan squad: Muneeba Ali (capt & wk), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tasmia Rubab, Tuba Hassan, Fatima Sana (unlikely starter)Related

• 'Situation bowling' the secret to Sadia Iqbal's rise to the top

• Australia soar and surge after digging deep in Sharjah

• Fatima Sana to return home from World Cup after father's death

Tournament form guide: Table-toppers Australia are coming off of big wins against Sri Lanka (by six wickets) and New Zealand (by 60 runs) and are the only unbeaten team in Group A. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in their tournament opener and lost to India in Dubai and currently third on the table.News brief: A personal tragedy has all but taken out chances of Pakistan captain Fatima Sana playing on Friday. With her departure to Karachi, Muneeba Ali is expected to fill in the role. Diana Baig – if fit to play – could replace her. But Sana’s shoes will be tough to fill as she is the joint-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan so far and her strike rate of 153.57 is by far the highest within the side. Despite the batters’ willingness to be aggressive, they have put up totals of 116 and 105 for 8 and will have to push past that if they are to challenge Australia.Beth Mooney has made forties in Australia’s first two games•ICC via Getty Images

Australia have stood up to their champion billing and are currently on a hot streak of 13 straight wins in T20 World Cups since 2020. They have beaten Pakistan 13 times in T20Is and have never lost a game. Another win will all but confirm their spot in the semi-finals. Dubai could be a welcome change in venue for Australia, after playing both their games in Sharjah where the pitch and outfield were slow. Grace Harris, who replaced Darcie Brown against New Zealand, might have to make way for the pacer as Australia bat deep.Player to watch: Nida Dar is the only Pakistan batter to have gone past 20 in both games this tournament. She is the stabilising force at No. 5. She bowled just under five overs and has gone at an economy of 4.55 but is yet to pick up a wicket, something she would like to change against Australia. Beth Mooney’s forties in both games at Sharjah took Australia home in a modest chase and set the platform to post the highest total in the venue so far this tournament. A friendlier pitch in Dubai will add to the run tally and raise her boundary count if she can get off to another start.

Big picture: Who cares wins

Australia have been lambasted in some quarters for supposedly “not caring” about the ODI format following their shock 2-1 loss to Pakistan. They are fielding an equally diminished T20I side with three first-choice T20I bowlers, the permanent T20 captain Mitchell Marsh and their best T20 opener Travis Head unavailable. It gives Pakistan the chance to complete a rare white-ball series double in Australia, with the same set of fast bowlers minus Mohammad Hasnain set to be unleashed on the same fragile batting unit in the three-match series starting Thursday.But the immediacy of results in T20I cricket are of even less importance to Australia than the ODI series was. This series is part of the early build-up towards the 2026 T20 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics after their experienced group was bounced out of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Super Eight phase.Related

• Pakistan quicks set up famous series win in Australia

• Connolly ruled out of Pakistan T20I series with fractured hand

• CA CEO defends selectors' decision to rest players from ODI decider

The winds of change have already swept through during the five T20Is they played in the UK against Scotland and England. Josh Inglis is now the permanent wicketkeeper and will be stand-in captain for this series, as he was for the final ODI in Perth. He is also key pillar in the top four and looks set to bat at No. 3 after making a stunning century in Scotland in that position.Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk get to open together in T20Is for the first time having alternated as Head’s partner in the UK. Fraser-McGurk batted at No. 3 in his last T20I in England and made a half-century. He will be far more comfortable in the shorter form than he was in the ODIs but his method against the moving and bouncing new ball will be tested again by Pakistan’s quicks as he vies with Short to be Head’s permanent partner in T20I cricket.Nathan Ellis and Xavier Bartlett will make long-awaited returns from injury and get a chance alongside Spencer Johnson to bed down a place in Australia’s next generation T20 attack. Cooper Connolly won’t get the opportunity to play his first T20I at home after breaking his hand in the Perth ODI. Josh Philippe comes into the squad.For Pakistan, it will be their first T20I since failing to make the Super Eight at the T20 World Cup in June. The RizBar style of cricket received intense criticism in the wake of that World Cup with Babar Azam losing the white-ball captaincy to Mohammad Rizwan. Any changes to their style of cricket and long-term planning for 2026 and 2028 have been shelved after Gary Kirsten’s resignation with Jason Gillespie in temporary charge. Pakistan did not need to show any upped aggression with the bat in the ODI series given it was won off the back of a superb fast bowling performance. They will undoubtedly look to replicate that bowling success in the T20I series against a similar Australia top-order.How they structure the batting remains to be seen with Saim Ayub not named in the squad after opening in their last T20I alongside Rizwan and making 82 and 42 in the two ODI wins in Adelaide and Perth. Pakistan also hardly used a fifth bowler in the ODI series but will likely need a fifth and sixth options in the T20Is.

Form guide

Australia: LWWWW (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan: WWLLLStrike-rate watch: what tempo will Babar Azam play with in this series?•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Tim David and Babar Azam

Tim David is in an interesting phase of his career. At 28, the T20 gun for hire has come off the boil as a finisher in recent times in what is a brutally difficult role to be consistent. He remains a key part of Australia’s middle-order in the shortest form but the team hierarchy identified that he was underused in the World Cup and would like to let him face more balls to give him more time to get set before the final overs launch. He batted at No. 5 once in the five games on the recent UK tour. He may get an opportunity in that slot during this series.Babar Azam is still the No. 4-ranked T20I batter in the world but his strike-rate was a focus of attention in the wake of the World Cup failure. Where he bats in this series remains to be seen but he will be freed up. He looked in good touch in the ODI series but was not under any scoring rate pressure in those games. It will be interesting to see whether he can go up the gears in the T20Is or whether he sticks to his methods.

Team news: Injured quicks return for Australia

Australia will have at least three forced changes from their last T20I in September with Head, Connolly and Cameron Green all unavailable. Glenn Maxwell returns after resting from the T20I portion of the UK tour. Ellis, Bartlett and Johnson are back from injury to join Sean Abbott in the squad. Three of those four will form the pace attack alongside Adam Zampa with some rotation likely to occur across the three games.Australia (probable): 1 Matt Short, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Josh Inglis (capt/wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Tim David, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Nathan Ellis/Sean Abbott, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Spencer Johnson, 11 Adam ZampaPakistan are set to make at least five changes from the side that last played in the T20 World Cup in June. Only Rizwan, Babar, Usman Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf remain in the squad from that XI.Pakistan squad: Mohammad Rizwan (capt/wk), Abbas Afridi, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wk), Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan.

Pitch and conditions

There has only been one professional game at the Gabba so far this season and it was a WBBL fixture. It was one of the highest scoring games of the season and both sides expect a good white-ball pitch with more pace and bounce for the fast bowlers. It will be warm and humid though so the ball will likely swing. There is also the small threat of rain and a thunderstorm in the forecast.

Stats and trivia

• Since the famous 2021 semi-final in Dubai, the two sides have only met once in T20I cricket and it was a one-off game in Lahore in 2022 that was tacked onto the tour schedule so late that Marnus Labuschagne was selected to play his only T20I to-date after playing the ODIs.
• Pakistan have never beaten Australia in Australia in T20Is. They have played four and lost three with one no result.
• Inglis will be Australia’s third T20I captain in as many games after Head and Marsh captained the previous two. It is the fourth time Australia have had three different leaders in consecutive T20Is after instances in 2022-23, 2016 and 2007. It is also the second time Australia have had four different T20I captains in a calendar year after Matthew Wade captained a game in New Zealand in February.

Quotes

“T20 cricket is obviously a totally different format, so I guess we’ll take our learnings from the ODI series and the information we gathered on the bowlers and their batters. But it’s a clean slate, new format. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Victoria duo Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb have sent very timely reminders of their talents to Australia’s selectors with twin centuries for Victoria against Tasmania at the Junction Oval on the opening day of the Sheffield Shield season.With Cameron Green’s availability for the Test series against India still unknown due to a back injury and Steven Smith’s Test batting position also unclear, Harris put forth an early case to be reinstated as Australia’s Test opener by making 143, his 29th first-class century. Meanwhile, Handscomb is less likely to be considered for the upcoming Test series, but did his chances of earning a spot on the January-February Test tour of Sri Lanka no harm with 129, his 26th first-class hundred and his fifth in 2024.The pair put together a near-faultless 239-run third-wicket stand, having come together at 22 for 2 after Ash Chandrasinghe and Campbell Kellaway both fell cheaply to Gabe Bell. But having put Victoria in a superb position at 261 for 2 with just under 30 overs left in the day, the pair was unable to kick on to massive scores, as Tasmania’s bowlers fought back late in the day to leave Victoria 330 for 7 at stumps.Harris, though, continued his love affair with the Junction Oval, scoring his seventh Shield century at the venue. His ground average of 69.84 in 12 matches compared to his average of just 33.30 at Australia’s five major Test venues has raised questions about his credentials for a Test recall. But this was one of his best on a surface that provided plenty of assistance to Tasmania’s seamers in the first session after the visitors had won the toss and elected to bowl.Harris scored with typical fluency, but he looked especially assured with his alignment and decision-making around the off stump. He drove and cut the ball powerfully when opportunities presented without taking on too much risk in the first two sessions in particular. But after play he played a straight bat to talk of Test selection following Green’s injury.”Everyone keeps asking me that,” Harris said. “Probably in the past, it’s weighed on my mind a lot more than what it is at the moment.”I’m just sort of playing it as it comes at me. I think last year was a good lesson for that. I’ll just keep playing whatever I’m playing and trying to put some runs on the board.”I think it’s always helpful if you get runs early in the season, to sort of kick-start your season a little bit. But, yeah, just focus on what I’m doing here.”Handscomb provided the perfect foil, and continued the outstanding form he displayed in the recent county championship season with Leicestershire, where he scored three centuries and averaged 74.50 in division two. He accumulated runs with characteristic calmness, and allowed Harris the freedom to expand when the pitch settled after lunch.Post tea, Harris looked to put the foot on the accelerator and tried to hit left-arm orthodox spinner Matthew Kuhnemann out of the attack. Harris launched the three-Test spinner twice over deep midwicket, with the wind at his back, before skying a catch to mid-off trying to go a third time in four balls, handing Kuhnemann his first Shield wicket for his new state after moving from Queensland.Victoria’s progressed slowed significantly after Harris’ fall. Beau Webster picked up his first wicket of the new season shortly after when Tom Rogers was caught behind for just 1 on Sheffield Shield debut.Handscomb and Sam Harperthen shared a 45-run stand for the fifth wicket, but only scored at just over two runs an over as Kuhnemann and Brad Hope bowled tidy spells. Harper had a scare when he was struck on the helmet attempting a pull shot. There were concerns initially given Harper’s concussion history, but he was cleared to continue with a new helmet.Handscomb was then caught and bowled skillfully by Hope on 129, before Tasmania took the second new ball late in the day. Bell returned with Lawrence Neil-Smith to pick up two more before stumps and leave the game nicely poised.

Derbyshire Falcons missed out on a Metro Bank One Day Cup quarter-final even though David Lloyd and Anuj Dal starred in a thrilling four-wicket win at Chester-le-Street, a game which also featured a maiden List A century for Durham’s Scott Borthwick.Derbyshire did all they could today, but they missed out on qualification for the knockout stages due to Hampshire having a superior net run rate after they beat Middlesex, while Durham, who needed to win today to progress, are also out of the competition.Borthwick (104) anchored the Durham innings and at one point it looked like the hosts would post a big score, but a good fightback from Derbyshire with the ball led by teenager Harry Moore (3 for 45) restricted the hosts to 253 all out.The visitors’ chase started well with Lloyd (63) and Harry Came (45) putting Derbyshire in a good position, but four wickets from Ben Raine gave the hosts some hope, however Dal (25*) and Zak Chappell (22*) wrapped up the victory for the visitors with seven balls to spare.Derbyshire won the toss and elected to bowl first at a sun-soaked Seat Unique Riverside in a pivotal clash as both sides still had quarter-final aspirations prior to this match.Derbyshire suffered a big blow early in the match as Sam Conners went off injured after his first over, with 17-year-old Moore getting an earlier introduction than expected and he picked up the first wicket of the day as a leading edge from Lees found its way back to the hands of the young bowler.Jones and Borthwick recovered from the early loss of Lees and Borthwick picked up three consecutive boundaries from Dal’s opening over to put the pressure on the visitors.Dal bounced back as Jones edged one behind to Brooke Guest for 25 after a sustained period of economical bowling from the all-rounder. Colin Ackermann came to the crease and combined well with Borthwick and the latter reached his fifty from 71 balls to leave the hosts in a good position at the halfway point of the innings.Derbyshire then got a much-needed breakthrough as Zak Chappell bowled Ackermann for 42 after an 85-run partnership between the Dutch international and Borthwick.Borthwick then hit the first maximum of the match, a booming straight drive over Samit Patel’s head, but wickets continued to fall at the other end as three Durham batters fell cheaply, but Borthwick remained at the crease and reached his maiden List A century from 119 balls.The left-hander didn’t last much longer as Patel bowled him for 104 with a beauty to leave the hosts in a spot of bother at 212 for 7. A 30-run cameo from Haydon Mustard briefly helped Durham recover but they finished on 253 all out.Derbyshire started their chase in a calm and collected manner amid some testing new ball bowling.Came looked in good touch from the start of his innings with one of his best shots being a lovely clip off the legs for four while Reece joined in as he pulled one for four.The pair saw Derbyshire through the powerplay unscathed, with the openers growing in confidence with every ball. They made 74 before Durham struck as Raine bowled Reece for 37 with a beauty and the Durham bowler then removed the dangerous Guest for a three-ball duck.Came and Lloyd joined forces at the crease for the visitors and laid the building blocks of a partnership before Lloyd took a liking to the bowling of Borthwick, with the Derbyshire man picking up back-to-back boundaries from the leg-spinner.Durham had a chance to make the crucial breakthrough but Lloyd was dropped by substitute fielder Daniel Hogg on 47 and he then reached his fifty from 58 balls. However, the hosts didn’t have to wait much longer for the end of the partnership as Came departed for 45 and became Callum Parkinson’s first List A wicket for Durham.Parkinson then struck again as Lloyd departed for 63 and Raine then removed Aneurin Donald for 23 to give the hosts some hope. Raine picked up his fourth as he removed the experienced Patel, but Chappell and the impressive Dal saw their side home with a partnership worth 46.

South Africa allrounder Chloe Tryon and Australia allrounder Erin Burns have joined Guyana Amazon Warriors ahead of the 2024 Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL).Stafanie Taylor, who captained the Amazon Warriors to the final of the tournament last season, has been retained alongside Shabnim Ismail, Karishma Ramharack, Shemaine Campbelle, Natasha McClean and Shakera Selman.They need seven more players to complete their 15-member squad. Six of them will be picked from the WCPL draft which is due to be held in July and one other – the last remaining overseas pick – will be confirmed before the start of the new season.Tryon has represented South Africa in 98 T20Is, making 1136 runs and taking 35 wickets. She is currently with the national team on tour in India. Burns brings the experience of playing 162 T20s – 117 of which were at home at the Women’s Big Bash League, where she’s represented Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes. She has scored 2429 runs and picked up 80 wickets and was part of the Barbados Royals side that became champions last year.This year’s WCPL will be held in Trinidad from August 21 to 29, with all seven matches played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. The tournament is in its third season and will be contested by Trinbago Knight Riders, Amazon Warriors and Royals.

Guyana Amazon Warriors squad so far

Stafanie Taylor, Shabnim Ismail, Karishma Ramharack, Shemaine Campbelle, Natasha McClean, Shakera Selman, Chloe Tryon and Erin Burns

Josh Hazlewood has said Australia could try and manipulate any margin of victory over Scotland to try and knock England out of the T20 World Cup 2024 though his captain Mitchell Marsh could face a ban if found guilty of doing so by match officials.The exact sums won’t be known until England have played Oman and Namibia, and a defeat against either will end their campaign. But there is a good chance a scenario emerges whereby Australia could win their final group match by a narrow-enough margin to ensure Scotland go through at England’s expense on net run-rate, with the teams level on five points each.”In this tournament you potentially come up against England at some stage again,” Hazlewood said after Australia confirmed their Super Eight spot with a clinical win over Namibia before stressing any tactical decisions were not his to make. “They’re probably one of the top few teams on their day and we’ve had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament that’s in our best interest as well as probably everyone else.”It’ll be interesting to see. We’ve never really been in this position before as a team, I don’t think, so whether we have discussions or not, we’ll just try and play it again the way we did tonight. That’ll be up to [other] people, not me.”But if Australia decided to do so, they would risk Marsh being banned for up to two of their three Super Eight fixtures. He could be charged under Article 2.11 of the ICC’s code of conduct, which is designed to prevent the manipulation of games for “inappropriate strategic or tactical reasons… such as when a team deliberately loses a pool match in an ICC Event in order to affect the standings of other teams in that ICC Event.”The code of conduct clarifies it could also apply to “the inappropriate manipulation of a net run rate” and the captain would be held responsible, and charged with a Level Two offence. Depending on the severity of the offence, this could carry a minimum sanction of a 50% match fee fine, with a maximum of four demerit points and two suspension points – which would rule Marsh out of Australia’s first two Super Eight matches.In practice, it could be difficult for umpires to say categorically Australia had deliberately attempted to manipulate net run-rate, barring an obvious shift in tempo from a position of dominance. In any case, Andrew McDonald, Australia’s head coach, will consider resting players for the Scotland fixture with nothing on the line.Such a scenario would also revive memories of when Australia attempted to game the system at the 1999 ODI World Cup against West Indies with a go-slow batting performance to ensure they could take extra points into the Super Sixes.”Whether you get close and you just knock it around and drag it out,” Hazlewood suggested of how it could play out. “There’s a few options there but… to take confidence from winning and winning well, I think that’s almost more important than potentially trying to knock someone else out. They [England] have still got a lot to do on their behalf as well, so I think it’ll become clearer the closer we get to that sort of stuff.”Related

• Cummins: Australia would never have manipulated England's exit

• Michael Jones: 'If David Warner opens the bowling it'd be pretty funny'

• Matthew Mott hopes Josh Hazlewood's run-rate comments were 'tongue-in-cheek'

• England aim to revive rocky title defence against Oman

• Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins – A rotating carousel of pressure

With run-rates not carrying forward to the Super Eights in this tournament, there would be no damage to Australia’s hopes should they take their foot off the gas. On that factor, Hazlewood said he thought it was odd that no benefits were taken forwards from group-stage performances.”It’s a little bit strange that it doesn’t go through the tournament,” he said. “This is probably the first T20 World Cup I’ve played that’s set up this way, or first World Cup in general that’s set up this way, so it’s a little bit different. I think the work that you do in the round games and if you go through undefeated and have a good net run-rate, doesn’t really account for much once you’re in the Super Eights. So, yeah, it’s a strange one but that’s how it is.”For their part, Namibia could render all calculations unnecessary if they are able to pull off an upset in their final game against England although captain Gerhard Erasmus was remaining diplomatic in the midst of the Australia-England rivalry.”Obviously, also in the Australian press that will be pretty liked,” he said. “But for us, we’re pretty neutral so I can’t really comment on any of that. We’re here to continue playing at our best abilities. Unfortunately, as the captain I sort of have to say that we haven’t quite reached our full potential in this tournament.”I guess you’re all Aussies here [at this press conference], so you’re really cheering us on to maybe try and get that win. But I’d have to rein it back a little bit and say that we probably need to play our best cricket and nothing more than that.”

Northern Diamonds at last got their Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign up and running with a 13-run victory over fading Central Sparks at Edgbaston.Diamonds had lost their first five games but found their form to handed Sparks their third successive defeat after successfully defending a modest total of 137 for 7.The Diamonds innings was an extraordinarily lop-sided affair, featuring their second-biggest ever Charlotte Edwards Cup partnership followed by a collapse of six wickets for 17 runs in the 25 balls. Hollie Armitage (62 off 49 balls) and Sterre Kalis (43 off 39) added 97 in 76 balls but the rest of the rejigged batting order imploded against an attack led by Hannah Baker’s three-for.Sparks replied with 124 for 8. England star Amy Jones, on her first appearance of the summer, struck 39 off 30 but all six Diamonds bowlers took wickets in a compact team effort headed by Katherine Fraser’s skilful 3-0-12-1.After Diamonds were put in on a good batting pitch, Lauren Winfield-Hill fell in the fourth over when she chipped Charis Pavely to extra cover, but Sparks’ next breakthrough was a long time coming.Armitage worked the ball skilfully to leg to keep the scoreboard moving and punished anything loose on the way to a 41-ball half-century which she reached with her seventh four, lapped off Grace Potts. Kalls, who reached the crease with just 52 runs from her previous five innings, visibly grew in confidence after she settled and produced the shot of the day when she lifted Emily Arlott over extra cover for four.Arlott had her revenge later in the over though when Kallis was bowled through a cut – and the innings immediately went into freefall. Armitage fell next ball when a flighted delivery from Georgia Davis defeated an attempted pull. When Erin Burns charged and missed at Baker three wickets had fallen for three runs in 11 balls.Sparks took advantage of some frenzied attempts to find late boundaries as Bess Heath edged Katie George behind and Leah Dobson and Fraser were caught in the deep off successive balls by Baker.Sparks soon lost Abbey Freeborn, bowled middle stump by Rachel Slater. Davina Perrin and Jones added 42 in 29 balls before the former lifted Armitage to extra cover.Jones hoisted Slater straight for six and it appeared it was the England wicketkeeper’s day when she was dropped on 22 and 25, but there was no reprieve when she missed a pull at Sophia Turner (one of the drop culprits) and was lbw.Fraser added the important wicket of skipper Eve Jones, neatly caught by Dobson at deep midwicket in an excellent over which cost just two runs. That over left Sparks under pressure, needing 52 from six overs with two new batters at the crease.Katie Levick lured George down the track to have her stumped and had Courtney Webb caught at deep cover, and 18 from the last over proved far too many for the Sparks tail to find.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the two-Test series against Zimbabwe, which starts next Saturday. Keshav Maharaj will captain the team in Bavuma’s absence.Bavuma has not recovered from the hamstring strain he suffered during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia last week and will undergo further scans to determine the extent of the injury.The squad features five uncapped players as South Africa rest several all-format players including Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada. Fast bowler Lungi Ngidi is only available for the second Test.Related

• Glimpse into South Africa's future: Young squad set for Zimbabwe challenge

• Raza, Curran and Ngarava out of Zimbabwe vs South Africa Tests

• Brevis, Lhuan-dre Pretorius in SA Test squad for Zimbabwe series

Bavuma, who led South Africa to the WTC title, sustained the injury on the third day of the match. He was on six runs at the time and pulled up while completing a single. He received treatment on field and batted through to tea, where he was advised not to continue batting.After the game, Bavuma revealed that he went against medical advice because he did not want to give himself the option of not being in the middle at a crucial time in the game. In consultation with Markram, who agreed to downscale the tempo of his running between the wickets.Bavuma resumed his innings and saw South Africa through to the close of play. He finished on 66 as South Africa won by five wickets.South Africa’s next assignments after Zimbabwe, which Bavuma could be part of, are ODIs against Australia in August and England in September. Their next WTC campaign begins against Pakistan in October before a series in India in November. South Africa will not play any home Tests until October 2026, when they will host Australia. Bavuma has indicated he would like to continue playing until the 2027 home ODI World Cup, fitness permitting.This is the third hamstring injury Bavuma has suffered in less than two years. He was injured during the 2023 ODI World Cup and played the semi-final and then again during the Boxing Day Test against India that year. He has also had a series of elbow injuries and plays with a heavily strapped left elbow.South Africa squad: David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj (capt), Kwena Maphaka, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi (second Test only), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Lesego Senokwane, Prenelan Subrayen, Kyle Verreynne, Codi Yusuf