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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDevendra Bishoo’s fourth five-for gave West Indies a handy lead•WICB Media/Brooks LaTouche Photography Ltd

In a Test match being played in fast-forward mode, 11 wickets fell on the second day at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo as West Indies surged into the ascendancy. Legspinner Devendra Bishoo was the catalyst for the turnaround, scything through Zimbabwe’s top order to finish with 5 for 79.His first ball of the morning was hit for six, but Bishoo soon found his rhythm. In an unbroken 23-over spell on either side of lunch, he undid all of the hard work done by Zimbabwe’s bowlers, with spin, bounce and accuracy. The hosts were bowled out for 159 during the extended post-lunch session, and by the close West Indies had stretched their lead to 148, with Kraigg Brathwaite and Kyle Hope adding an unbeaten 63 for the second wicket.For a while, it appeared that Zimbabwe might continue to chug along gamely despite the early loss of Solomon Mire. But once Bishoo settled, West Indies made regular inroads as Zimbabwe lost 9 for 68 from a comfortable 91 for 1.Hamilton Masakadza, who had muscled Bishoo’s opening delivery over long on for six, could not smother the turn of a fizzing legbreak and feathered an edge through to wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich for 42 – the highest score of Zimbabwe’s innings. Brendan Taylor’s second coming then lasted all of seven deliveries before he reverse swept Bishoo into Jermaine Blackwood’s hands at slip, the fielder having moved in anticipation of the stroke.With his dismissal Zimbabwe slipped to 93 for 3, and Sean Williams endured a working-over against the pace of Shannon Gabriel as the hosts went into the lunch interval without further loss. At that point, the innings – and the match – was still in the balance, but the afternoon belonged entirely to West Indies.Bishoo’s effort was well backed up by the pace attack, who utilized the dryness of the surface to extract significant reverse swing. Kemar Roach had a flat-footed Sean Williams caught behind wafting lazily at one that left him off the track, while Jason Holder, hiding the shiny side of the ball in his hands during his run-up, castled Malcolm Waller with one that hooped in from outside off to beat a loose defensive poke. Between times, Bishoo bowled unchanged and found regular success against an increasingly jittery middle order.Sikandar Raza looked a little ungainly against the quicks, and positively frenetic against spin. He might have been stumped very early on, had the ball not deviated off his elbow and away from Dowrich, but kept using his feet and eventually swiped underneath a flighted delivery to top-edge a catch to Gabriel at long off.That gave Bishoo his third, with Zimbabwe still 96 in arrears. Straight after the afternoon drinks break, he had his fourth, finally getting the better of Craig Ervine with one that went straight on with the arm to beat the left-hander’s sweep and strike him right in front of middle stump. With Bishoo ragging it square from one end and the pace attack reversing the ball from the other end, full capitulation from Zimbabwe seemed only a matter of time.Regis Chakabva flapped a half-hearted cut tamely to backward point to give Bishoo his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket – and his third away from home. When Graeme Cremer inside-edged a drive off Holder Zimbabwe were 147 for 9. The last pair of Chris Mpofu and Kyle Jarvis added just 12 more before Mpofu nicked off to a length delivery from Gabriel.Brathwaite and Powell strode out to open the batting a second time inside two days with the opportunity to bat Zimbabwe out of a match. They weathered steady new-ball spells from Kyle Jarvis and Christopher Mpofu, but when spin was introduced Powell fell almost immediately, playing inside a delivery from Cremer to see his off stump disturbed.West Indies were 25 for 1 then, and with both Cremer and Williams gaining alarming turn and bounce, Zimbabwe were not yet out of the match. Hope was offered an early reprieve when a tough chance went down at short leg, but soon got his feet moving and repeatedly shovelled the spinners into the leg side. Brathwaite, similarly legside in his technique, was also unafraid to loft the ball and cracked Cremer over long on for six early in his innings.Neither he nor Hope gave Zimbabwe much of a sniff thereafter, and though there was still turn on offer in the afternoon it seemed some of the bite had gone out of the track. But there is still an awful lot of time left in a match during which 21 wickets have already fallen – and all but seven of those to spin. With a little more hard work, West Indies are one or two sessions from closing out the first Test.

Kent’s Sam Billings returned from the migraine which had laid him low for two days to defy Durham, and their record-breaker Graham Onions, in the Specsavers County Championship match at Chester-le-Street.Set a more than challenging target of 371 in 56 overs, there were 28 overs left when Billings went in at 74 for 5. But while four more wickets fell he remained unbeaten on 70.There were six overs left when Onions pinned Adam Milne lbw to break the record of 518 first-class wickets for Durham, held since 2002 by left-arm seamer Simon Brown.That brought in Imran Qayyum, but he was well protected by Billings and faced only two balls before edging the first ball of the penultimate over to Paul Collingwood at first slip off James Weighell.Last man Mitch Claydon, who defied his old teammates when Kent also hung on with nine wickets down at Canterbury, survived the over and Billings then kept out Onions.Kent closed on 184 for 9, leaving Durham to rue their belated declaration and accept their frustrating fate in a match which lost four sessions to the weather.Kent skipper Sam Northeast followed his 110 out of 206 in the first innings by making 67 of the first 112 runs. He was sixth out, inside-edging a drive at Keaton Jennings into his stumps, with 15.2 overs left.Kent coach Matt Walker said: “We were surprised they batted on after lunch. We thought 300 was enough on a pitch which had enough in it for a quality bowling attack. I thought they would have wanted 65 overs, but it nearly worked for them.”With Worcestershire winning we would have liked to have a crack at a target, but 370 was too many.”In terms of the situation and the way he has been feeling for the last two days that’s as well as I’ve seen Sam Billings play in four-day cricket. He didn’t feel right after day one and still wasn’t 100 per cent today, but he showed great character and skill. To see us home was an excellent effort.”Durham coach Jon Lewis said: “We played a lot of good cricket in the match and we’re on a good unbeaten run, so we didn’t want to give them a chance.”When you have a side nine down questions are always asked about the declaration, but the outstanding first spells by Onions and Rushworth probably worked against us. We were hoping Kent would feel under pressure to go for it, but it knocked the stuffing out of them.”Sam Billings staved off Durham with nine down•Getty Images

After passing 1,000 championship runs in the morning, Paul Collingwood batted on for 7.3 overs to add 62 after lunch before declaring on 359 for seven.Following Worcestershire’s win the belief was that Kent would have to go for it to retain any hope of promotion. But it was out of the question once they lost both openers without a run on the board.Onions struck with his first ball, having Sean Dickson caught behind and in the next over Daniel Bell-Drummond went the same way to Chris Rushworth.On ten, Northeast edged Rushworth past Collingwood’s left ear at first slip and had progressed to a 69-ball half-century by the time Billings joined him and played a few shots of his own. The wicketkeeper hit ten fours in his 72-ball half-century.In the morning Tom Latham completed his second century in three games for Durham. He survived a sliced drive to Joe Denly at gully off the luckless Milne on 65 and was becalmed in the 90s, tied down by Claydon, before a back-foot four through the covers took him to his hundred off 221 balls.After resuming on 49, Graham Clark progressed solidly to 86 before skying an attempted pull off Claydon to end a stand of 180 and bring in Collingwood, who got off the mark by driving left-arm spinner Imran Qayyum over long-off for six.On 20 he lifted the same bowler to the mid-wicket boundary to reach the 1,000 target, but was bowled for 35 when he went down the pitch to Qayyum.In the post-lunch thrash Latham departed for 119 when he was caught one-handed above his head by the 6ft 6in Zak Crawley at extra cover. Ryan Pringle hit an unbeaten 30 off 23 balls and the declaration came when Mark Wood was bowled by Denly for 24.When Wood had Crawley caught behind with the second ball after tea he looked a possible match-winner. But in his comeback match after a six-week absence with the latest of many injuries he left the field shortly afterwards.

Bangladesh’s growth as a Test team – both home and away – in recent times has given them the confidence to pick 20 wickets against Australia, according to captain Mushfiqur Rahim. He further said that this was the best time for them to face Australia, having undergone much improvement since the last time Bangladesh hosted them, almost 11 years ago.Beating England at home in the second Test last year and Sri Lanka in their 100th Test in March have been the latest examples of Bangladesh’s progress, particularly at home where they have been consistent in Tests since 2010. They started by being competitive against England that year and then pushed West Indies, New Zealand and Pakistan. They also swept Zimbabwe clean in 2014 while rain helped them draw Tests against India and South Africa in 2015.”In the past, we couldn’t take the home advantage whether as a batting unit or [through] our spinners,” Mushfiqur said. “The visiting team had world-class spinners and batsmen which ended up helping them more. But in the last two-three years, we have been able to do the same. So now, we have the confidence that against a team like Australia, we can play well. We have a number of talented spinners, experienced allrounders and batsmen. I think this is the best time to play against Australia. We have to hope that everyone is fit and we start well.”Mushfiqur said that overseas Tests this year provided him with much-needed knowledge and helped his bowling attack gain experience. Pace bowlers Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Mustafizur Rahman, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Rubel Hossain have been rotated on form, fitness and conditions. But Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan have enjoyed a more consistent run, playing all five Tests while left-arm spinner Taijul Islam featured in only two.Mushfiqur said that if he has the full squad available for the Australia series, Bangladesh can put together a combination that is capable of taking 20 wickets in a Test.”Our bowlers didn’t really get pitches suited to their style in New Zealand, India or Sri Lanka,” he said. “They took a lot of lessons from those conditions. We also need to consider the gaps between our Test series. In almost every series, we end up with a new bowling combination.”If we can work with the current bowling unit for at least the next two years, it will help them settle into their roles. I believe we have the variety in Mustafizur, Taskin, Taijul, Miraz and Shakib to take 20 wickets. We also have Rubel, Shafiul and Subashis.”These bowlers are also getting batting lessons as the team management looks to go all out for batting consistency in their line-up. Mark O’Neill, Australia’s former first-class cricketer turned coach, will be working to improve Bangladesh’s tail-end batting for the series next month.”I liked speaking to him [O’Neill]. He is reminding us of our basics,” Mushfiqur said. “He is working on the lower-order batsmen, who have a role in a Test match. Many teams have lower-order batsmen with an average of 20, so this will help us in the long run. It will help us win or save a Test. As our head coach said, someone new like him may catch something that all of us have missed in our technique.”The captain was also pleased with the training programme set up by the management, comprising a two-month long schedule. Those programmes start off with a focus on fitness before moving on to long hours in the nets. The team moved to Chittagong over the weekend where they will also play a three-day practice match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, the venue for the second Test against Australia from September 4.”It is a big opportunity for us to train at the ground where we will be playing the Test,” Mushfiqur said. “Our spinners are also getting an idea about the surface in Chittagong, since the soil content is different from Dhaka. They will know their lengths better.”The practice match is an opportunity for us to find out how our Test XI will be, and I am hoping everyone takes it seriously. I have not seen such a training camp in the last 12 years, and I hope we can make the best use of it.”

Little more than a week ago, England’s coach, Trevor Bayliss, stated that playing eight batsmen was “almost a waste” and amounted to “papering over the cracks” and “saying we’re not confident with our batting line-up.”Yet on Wednesday Joe Root, the England captain, admitted England were considering playing eight batsmen. Dawid Malan, Root said, may come into the side, shunting Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali back to No. 7 and No. 8 respectively and provide more batting depth. A final decision will only be made having inspected the pitch on Thursday morning and ascertained how much value could be gained from playing two spinners.Little more than a week ago, Bayliss talked of Liam Dawson as England’s “first choice spinner,” described Moeen Ali as “a batter who bowls a little” and suggested the balance of England’s side “you could pretty much pick on any type of wicket.”Yet on Wednesday it became plain that Dawson’s place was on the line, that Moeen was still first choice spinner and that the balance of the side could easily change.On Tuesday, England’s assistant coach, Paul Farbrace stated that Mark Wood would “have to be managed carefully” and that there may be times when he is considered for “only two games in a four or five match series.”Yet the week before, England picked him for back-to-back Tests despite his injury record – he has undergone three ankle operations in the recent past – and his going into the second Test with a sore heel. “He went into that last game with a sore heel,” Farbrace said on Tuesday. “He could have easily pulled out and said he wasn’t fit.”All of which raises the questions about the consistency, vision and progress of the England management. It is increasingly hard to avoid the conclusion that, in red-ball cricket at least, they have made no progress at all. Not with finding a balanced side, not with helping new players settle and not with preventing a recurrence of familiar mistakes.For here we are, going into the third match of a series, with the possibility that the England side will contain three debutants.To some extent that is down to injuries.But only to some extent.It would be disingenuous to pretend that Gary Ballance – or Keaton Jennings, for that matter – had made his position in the top three safe. And it would be disingenuous to pretend that Wood or Dawson have made their places their own, either. More than two years since Bayliss took over as coach, nearly every hole that existed in the England line-up then remains now. They are still a talented, exciting, flawed team in development. And the mixed messages coming from the management can be doing nothing to aid clarity.For all that, it is possible England might stumble across a balanced line-up on Thursday morning. If Malan is given a cap – and it still seems slightly more likely that Dawson will retain his spot on an Oval surface that has provided some assistance for spinners this season – England will lengthen their batting line-up and add just a bit of solidity to a team that has been rather stronger on style than substance.While they will lose a left-arm spin option it might be compensated, in part, by the addition of two more part-time spinners in Malan and Tom Westley.The one consistent message that has come out of the England camp this week is the sense that they let themselves down a bit at Trent Bridge. They feel, as Root put it, that they are “a better side than we showed last week.” They are smarting from the defeat and itching to make amends.But for all they claim, as Ben Stokes did on Tuesday, that it was something of an aberration – “We have had one poor performance,” he said. “We have a good performance we are the best team; we have a bad performance we are the worst team. It’s quite hard to win with you guys sometimes” – it’s not entirely true. England have actually won only one (and lost six) of their most recent eight Tests. And if they lose at The Oval, they will have won none of their four most recent series. It is a record that suggests they are what they were in early 2015: a talented side, yes, but one in development and one with holes to fill.As they go into this Test, the sense is growing that it is not just a couple of the players – notably Jennings and Dawson – who are fighting for their future. If England continue to suffer from batting frailty – and this South African attack looks well-capable of exposing any weakness – the questions about Bayliss might start to mount, too. He is all but certain to lead England into the Ashes but he will do so with more confidence and credibility if one of these major series can be won ahead of them. All of a sudden, this Oval Test is looking like a pivotal game for England in particular.

ScorecardLewis Gregory’s innings helped stave off defeat•Getty Images

The Somerset tail saved their side from defeat in a last-session thriller at the Ageas Bowl as Hampshire ran out of time two wickets shy of victory in their Specsavers County Championship match.The Division One strugglers had collapsed to 79 for 6, despite Steven Davies’ scoring 47 of those runs in a valiant attempt at a chase, but were bailed out by Tim Groenewald, Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton as they held on over the course of the final hour.Hampshire had declared on 95 for 5 during a rain break to set up the thrilling, topsy-turvy finale, as they set Somerset 131 to win in 31 overs. And captain George Bailey’s decision appeared to be impeccably judged as Gareth Berg took two wickets in an over.The fast bowler was helped by a stunning diving catch by James Vince in the covers to get rid of Marcus Trescothick. Three balls later, he kissed the edge of Adam Hose’s bat to offer a caught behind for Lewis McManus.The new pink ball appeared difficult to play as it swung and seamed, with play-and-misses a regular sight. James Hildreth was the next to depart as Kyle Abbott finally got his first wicket of the match with a well-directed full delivery.Steven Davies had been elevated up the order to open in the hope of quick runs and he provided with 47 from 40 balls. But wickets continued to fall around him as Eddie Byrom stuck around for a 28-ball 15 before Ian Holland bowled him for his fifth wicket of the match.Tom Abell followed in the next over as he attempted to play a reverse sweep, but only looped up a catch to Rilee Rossouw at first slip. Davies then played one shot too many to drive Holland on the up to Bailey in the covers.Groenewald and Gregory blocked out 7.5 overs before the latter was lbw to Berg leaving an in-ducker. Then Groenewald edged Abbott behind with seven balls to go but Overton and Josh Davey survived with the nerves jangling.The draw leaves Hampshire level on points with Yorkshire, but above them in third due to their win at Headingley earlier in the season, while Somerset remain second from bottom and in deep relegation trouble.Earlier, the afternoon session had progressed the game nicely with the remaining Somerset wickets of Davey and Jack Leach falling in 37 balls.Hampshire, who boasted a 64-run first innings lead, then proceeded to lose two quick wickets of their own, openers Jimmy Adams and Liam Dawson falling before the tea interval – the former run out from point, with the England international clean bowled by Groenewald.Vince and Rossouw put on 33 in quick time, with the pair finding the boundary more comfortably than anyone else in the match. But Gregory had the South African edging to first slip Hildreth, who spectacularly caught low to his right. Then Vince, caught behind cutting, and Bailey, foolishly run out in a mix up with Sean Ervine, fell in consecutive balls.As the rain fell, Hampshire elected to declare for the second time in the match but they could not force a positive result with the game eventually ending at 9.35pm.

ScorecardAneurin Donald made a half-century to keep Glamorgan afloat•Getty Images

Glamorgan ended the second day of their Specsavers County Championship Division Two match at St. Helen’s in Swansea on 225 for 6, a first innings deficit of 117.Due to a combination of rain and bad light – in stark contrast to the first day – no play was possible before lunch. However, when play got underway just before 2.30pm, Glamorgan’s openers Jacques Rudolph and Nick Selman came out showing a real attacking intent, reaching 23 without loss inside the third over.Things quickly changed, however, when Selman played a loose shot to Cameron Steel at point off Chris Rushworth. The Australian-born youngster was unable to rediscover the form which led to his first first-class century at St. Helen’s last year, when he carried his bat on his way to 122 against Northamptonshire, the first Glamorgan batsman to do so since Matthew Elliott at Cardiff in 2004.A second wicket soon followed, Rudolph finding Paul Collingwood in the slips, Glamorgan finding themselves 39 for 2. Colin Ingram joined Will Bragg at the crease needing just 39 to reach 1,000 runs across all formats this season. The South African fell 21 runs short of the milestone, giving Collingwood a second catch at slip off Coughlin for 18.More composure was evident with Aneurin Donald and Bragg at the crease, before the latter needlessly skied one to Rushworth at mid-on off James Weighell’s bowling and Glamorgan were once again struggling at 92 for 4. New batsman David Lloyd could have gone third ball, but a simple chance went begging for Ryan Pringle at slip.Having restricted Glamorgan to 112 for 4 at tea, it took just 10 balls into the final session for Durham to pick up their fifth wicket, as David Lloyd was removed by ul Collingwood at slip off Paul Coughlin for 16.Donald had reached his half-century off 74 balls before a one-handed mid-wicket catch by Keaton Jennings off James Weighell brought an end to a 42-run partnership.Andrew Salter joined Chris Cooke at the crease and an unbeaten partnership of 58 saw Glamorgan through to the close of play after the latter had reached his half-century off 83 balls, having hit eight fours along the way.

ScorecardOn the eve of the 20th anniversary of Darren Stevens’ first-class debut, the Kent allrounder put the finishing touches on a performance to confirm that age is just a number. With scores of 68 and 71 not out under his belt, he picked up his 14th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket to helped Kent to an emphatic 226-run win.Sam Northeast, unable to fathom just how a 40-year-old, who had to battle to secure a new contract at the end of last season, could carry on this way likened him to Benjamin Button. And as long as Stevens is enjoying his cricket – how could he not after days like this? – he will continue to stick two fingers up at Father Time.Northeast, who had a strong match himself with an unbeaten 173 and some sharp captaincy, left Hove on Sunday hoping for a bit of cloud in the morning. Someone upstairs was listening.At 9am the skies were blue but, by the time the players had walked down the stairs from the dressing rooms to the middle, clouds had taken over. Then, moments after Ajmal Shahzad guided Wayne Parnell to Joe Denly at point for the final wicket, the sun returned to illuminate Kent’s celebrations. Kent’s second victory in as many matches saw the visitors move to second, a point behind Nottinghamshire in the early Division Two standings.The damage was done by Stevens in the morning session, Sussex limping to lunch on 93 for 6. The hosts actually started pretty well in their pursuit of 427, following Kent’s overnight declaration: Harry Finch and Chris Nash put on 59 between them, hitting boundaries at will. Nash, in particular, looked in good touch, putting Mitchell Claydon into the Pavilion at square leg for six. Then Stevens happened.Replacing Matt Coles from the Sea End, Stevens, who turns 41 at the end of the month, took four wickets for seven runs in 25 balls to blow Sussex’s top order to bits. Claydon then interrupted the procession before Delray Rawlins gave Stevens his fifth wicket, edging behind when trying to leave. Not for the first time, Ben Brown was the only Sussex batsman to emerge unscathed from a humbling defeat. He registered his second fifty of the match – from 51 balls – and finished undefeated on 69.Kent got their tactics spot on. Northeast reckoned the pitch had only got better to bat on – a point he made after his unbeaten 173 – and knew he would have to box smart. It paid off.With Sean Dickson unable to field with a shoulder and hamstring complaint, Adam Ball, an excellent close catcher, was pulled out of a 2nd XI match and stationed at first slip. While he dropped the first chance that came his way, diving to his left after an edge from Stiaan van Zyl, he made amends soon after to remove the same batsman for a four-ball duck. He then caught Jofra Archer to give Coles his second wicket of the innings.Pressure was applied with close fielders: Will Gidman, often at third slip, donned a helmet so that he could step up a few paces into a position Joe Root has fielded in for England, termed “Suicide Gully”. When David Wiese was playing his shots, Daniel Bell-Drummond was stationed out on the hook and, soon enough, took the first chance that came his way. Marginal gains contributing to a major win.Northeast was bullish afterwards: “We’re an ambitious group of players who want to be playing Division One cricket – there’s absolutely no doubt about that. If we keep playing like this, we’ll be very close.”Meanwhile, Sussex have confirmed they are “in the process of registering” Angus Robson. The batsman, who was released by Leicestershire earlier this season, could come into the first-team squad for Sussex’s next match against Nottinghamshire, which starts on Friday. While there is no doubt Sussex possess game-changing batsmen, particularly in white-ball cricket, the introduction of a top-order player like Robson will add much-needed stability to their four-day line-up.

Following the drawn Test in Ranchi, Virat Kohli has hailed Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha for overcoming a difficult situation and taking India to a position from where they could have won the match. When Saha joined Pujara in the post-tea session on day three, India were 328 for 6 in reply to Australia’s 451. They went on to add 199, and India eventually declared with a 152-run first-innings lead.Australia were four down and still trailing by 89 runs at one stage on the fifth day, with more than two sessions of play still left, but India couldn’t quite push on and win, with Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh batting out 62 overs while adding 124 for the fifth wicket. Kohli said he wasn’t surprised Australia, the world’s second-ranked Test side, fought the way they did.”Everyone has to take responsibility equally on the field and our players want to do that,” Kohli said in his post-match press conference. “Conditions were such in the first innings that it wasn’t easy for the bowlers, the pitch was very good. It played very well in the first two innings. In the second innings, [Australia] batted well so it ended in a draw.”But where we were in the first innings, 450 [451] was the [Australian] score and we were 320-odd for 6. From there to make 600 was a very difficult task. We put ourselves in a position to win, so we feel it was a very good effort from us to get into a winning situation.”But then again, if you are playing against the No. 2 side, you will expect that they will come out and fight, not just roll over. Everyone has his point of view. We will look at our positives and we are happy with where we brought the game to after just one innings. We didn’t need to bat in the second innings. But they had to play for a draw. Like I said, they will look at their positives, we will look at our positives and move forward. There is still one match to go, both [teams] will give it their best.”Kohli said the bowlers had struggled to extract help from the pitch when the ball grew older and softer, but did not want to stress the point and take credit away from Handscomb and Marsh.”They batted very well,” Kohli said. “Four down by lunch, and after that they didn’t lose a wicket in the entire session. So credit to them, when someone plays well, you have to give them credit, we understand that.”But we are also very happy with our efforts. [Ravindra] Jadeja’s bowling was outstanding in this match. All the bowlers bowled very well but Jadeja in my opinion was standout. If you look at his economy, on this pitch it was high-class bowling and showed why he is the joint No. 1 bowler [in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers] alongside Ashwin.”Kohli: ‘Saha is one guy who is always willing to do anything for the team’•Associated Press

Pujara won the Player-of-the-Match award for his innings of 202 off 525 balls, which was the longest ever by an Indian batsman (in Tests with ball data available). That knock took Pujara’s tally for 2016-17 to 1259 runs at an average of 66.26.”You know, sometimes I really feel bad for him,” Kohli said, when asked about Pujara’s contributions through the season. “People don’t understand his importance so much in this team and what a valuable player he is for us. He is the most composed player we have in the team, he is willing to grind for his runs, he doesn’t mind batting under pressure, he likes to take a challenge of batting.”So someone like that is priceless to have in the team. When the pressure situation comes up, he is someone who will put his hand up and play long for the team and hold up one end, which I think is a great quality in him. This season he has been outstanding. I don’t know the number of runs he has scored but he has contributed throughout. He has not been spoken about much or has been in the focus too much but he deserves much more than that. People need to stand up and take notice of what he has done this season, he has been outstanding with the bat and hopefully he will continue that in the last Test.”Saha, Kohli said, was similarly underappreciated. “See, Saha’s knock again was brilliant for us. He’s always stood up when the team needs him and this game was no different. His partnership with Pujara was the reason we had a go at winning this Test. A lot of credit goes to him also.”Again, [he has] not been mentioned too much but he deserves a lot of credit. He’s one guy who is always willing to do anything for the team. Wherever we ask him to bat, he bats. He has no problems in batting after [R] Ashwin, before Ashwin, whenever we want him to do it. He plays any kind of role – positive, defensive, you know, whatever we ask him to do, he never says no.”So you really really feel glad for a guy like that. He’s willing to do anything for the team and put his best foot forward. As I said, I’m really happy he performed in a big pressure match, in a difficult situation and put us in a position to have a shot at winning the game.”Mohammed Shami, who has not played for India since suffering a leg injury during the Test series against England, is making a phased return to action. He bowled in the nets in the lead-up to both the Bengaluru and Ranchi Tests, but has not been named in India’s Test squad yet. He has also played 50-over games for Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and on Monday took four wickets in the tournament final against Tamil Nadu. Kohli said he hadn’t spoken to the selectors yet about Shami’s availability for the fourth Test in Dharamsala, but hinted that it could happen.”Yeah, Shami also we sent him to play [the Vijay Hazare Trophy] because we saw him bowling 10-12 overs in a go, and we wanted to give him some match practice.” Kohli said. “I don’t know [about his selection], I haven’t spoken to the selectors still. All kinds of possibilities approaching the next Test.”

West Indies head coach Stuart Law has said Carlos Brathwaite was left out of the squad for the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan to allow him to work on his fitness and bowling. Law also confirmed that the selectors had allowed Brathwaite to play in the IPL, which he personally believed was “a good thing”.”From [those who played] the series against England, Carlos Brathwaite has been left out. I thought the opportunity was there for Carlos to go away and work on a few aspects of his game, namely his fitness and bowling, and getting back to bowling how he wants to bowl. That’s why he’s been left out, and it’s just coincided that the IPL is there and we have no cricket after this IPL series and he hasn’t been part of the last Test series. So the selectors gave him the option of going to the IPL as well, which I think is a good thing. [He’ll] get to talk to guys like [Delhi Daredevils coach] Rahul Dravid, learn how to play spin, get plenty of practice, and work on his fitness and bowling.”Despite Brathwaite’s reputation as a devastating power hitter in T20 cricket, his numbers in ODI cricket have been disappointing throughout his career, both with bat and ball. In 23 ODIs, he has scored 270 runs at an average of 13.50, only once crossing 25 in an innings. In the same period, he has taken 21 wickets, averaging 47.47. In the recently concluded ODI series against England, which the West Indies lost 3-0, Brathwaite scored 12, 23 and 7 while failing to take any wickets, conceding 148 runs in the 24 overs he bowled.Law put down the omission of the other Brathwaite in the West Indies set-up – Kraigg – to a desire to see a more positive approach in the first Powerplay during an ODI. He has been replaced by Chadwick Walton, who scored three hundreds in his last five domestic games before being called up for the four-match T20 series against Pakistan, where he accumulated 80 runs in four innings.”We spoke to Kraigg after the last series and we’ve spoken to him since. We’re just looking for a bit more impetus at the top of the order in the first ten-over Powerplay. We need to make a bit more use of those overs, and Kraigg’s aware of that. It’s not like he’s never going to play for the West Indies in ODI cricket again. He’s got the opportunity to return to first-class cricket and score runs which he has done, and also a good opportunity for him to get in good nick and feel comfortable about his game before the Test series starts.”Chadwick Walton, I saw him for the first time in the flesh in the ODI series, he had an outstanding 50-over [regional] tournament. He also scored a hundred in the warm-up against England in St Kitts. So he comes in with form under his belt so I’m looking forward to seeing what he can offer in the first ten overs.”Law also lamented what he considered a failure on his side’s part to play to their potential in the T20I series, stressing that they had to become more consistent.”We underachieved during the T20 series. The second game was the one that we threw away. We got in the driver’s seat, got the total down to under a run a ball and unfortunately messed that one up. The fightback began in the third game where Evin Lewis basically took the game on single-handedly. In the last one we made poor decisions in the middle order. Players have got to start performing consistently.”The three-match ODI series between West Indies and Pakistan begins on April 7, with all three games to be held in Guyana.

South African players are likely to leave IPL 2017 after May 7 while the England players are scheduled to depart the tournament in two batches – a few after May 1 and the rest after May 14. Making players available and ready for the bilateral series – South Africa’s tour of England begins in mid-May – and the Champions Trophy, which starts from June 1 in England, is the chief reason why both boards want to pull out their players early.ESPNcricinfo understands that the IPL had informed the franchises about this in an email this week along with the final updated player roster for the auction on February 20.The franchises were also told that the BCCI is trying to discuss the issue with the Cricket South Africa to see if the South African players’ stay can be extended. It is not known whether either board will release players in the event their franchise makes it to the final on May 21.AB de Villiers (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Faf du Plessis (Rising Pune Supergiants), JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock and Chris Morris (Delhi Daredevils), David Miller and Hashim Amla (Kings XI Punjab) have been retained by their respective franchises, along with England’s Jos Buttler (Mumbai Indians) and Sam Billings (Daredevils).A total of 351 players, including 122 capped internationals, will feature in the auction, which will be held in Bangalore on February 20. Although franchise officials had earlier indicated that this season’s auction could be a short event, with teams trying to plug a few gaps, the likely early departure of South Africa and England players could impact the teams’ auction strategies.Of the 13 South African players who have entered the auction, CSA is interested specifically in the release of Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Farhaan Behardien, Wayne Parnell, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius. Except for Ngidi, who is recovering from a hip injury, the other six players are part of the limited-overs squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand.An official privy to the discussions between the BCCI and CSA said that it was a one-off situation which could not be avoided. South Africa’s tour of England will begin with two practice matches followed by the three-ODI series scheduled between May 24 and 29. The three T20Is and the four Tests will be played after the Champions Trophy. The official said that CSA is keen on getting the best possible preparation for the Champions Trophy, given the team’s record in ICC tournaments, and had thus sought an early release of its main players from the IPL.As for the England players, a few may leave for the two ODIs against Ireland on May 5 and 7. An official with one of the franchises said that prominent players like Buttler and some of the players who have entered the auction, like Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes, could leave after May 14 to prepare for the ODIs against South Africa.Morgan, Stokes and fast bowler Chris Woakes are part of the list of marquee players who have listed the maximum base price of INR 2 crore (approx US $298,000) for the auction. The other England players in the auction are wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow (INR 1.5 crore), opening batsmen Alex Hales and Jason Roy (INR 1 crore), and fast bowlers Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills (INR 50 lakh).