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ScorecardDavid Payne claimed 5 for 36•Getty Images

Seam bowlers continued to dominate on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship match between Gloucestershire and Leicestershire at Cheltenham.David Payne finished with 5 for 36 as Leicestershire were bowled out for 218 in reply to the hosts’ 183, having begun the day on 122 for 5. Angus Robson top scored with 62, while Ned Eckersley and Ben Raine made important contributions.When Gloucestershire batted again there was more evidence of swing and seam movement as they progressed to 133 for 4 before rain brought play to a premature conclusion. Skipper Michael Klinger was unbeaten on 43, with Chris Dent having made 34. Neil Dexter claimed 2 for 11 to match his first-innings figures and the home side were precariously placed with a lead of just 98 going into the third day.The morning session saw the pitch still offering plenty of assistance to the bowlers after 15 wickets had fallen on day one. Leicestershire’s remaining batsmen had to show application to gain a slender, but useful first-innings lead of 35.Left-armer Payne took the last three wickets of the innings, sending back Clint McKay, Richard Jones and Charlie Shreck, having bowled without much luck on the previous evening.Robson, unbeaten on 49 overnight, had reached a battling half-century off 148 balls, with nine fours, before falling to Craig Miles, having added 73 for the sixth wicket with Eckersley, who also went to Miles, having faced 106 balls and hit three fours.At one point, Leicestershire looked well placed at 201 for 7, but Payne then ensured their advantage was a small one, wrapping up the tail with three wickets in as many overs.Lunch was taken at the change of innings and Gloucestershire made a solid enough start, with openers Dent and Will Tavare wiping out the deficit. But with the total on 39, Tavare edged Charlie Shreck through to Mark Cosgrove at second slip and departed for 18.Graeme van Buuren made only 3 before being bowled driving at Raine and it was 80 for 3 when Dent fell to a superb low catch by Cosgrove in the slips off Dexter.Hamish Marshall, playing his last Championship innings at Cheltenham before leaving Gloucestershire at the end of the season, also went cheaply to Dexter, edging to Robson at first slip. But Klinger showed his quality by stemming the tide and was unbeaten on 32 at tea, which was taken with Gloucestershire 113 for 4 and leading by 78.Jack Taylor followed his first innings half-century by helping his skipper add a further 20 runs after the break when rain started falling at soon after 4.30pm. It was light drizzle to start with, but when it became more persistent umpires Michael Gough and Graham Lloyd called play off for the day at 6pm.

Abahani Limited captain Tamim Iqbal has lauded his team-mates for producing a comeback midway through the Dhaka Premier League’s first phase, which ended up giving them their 18th title. Four hours after they beat Prime Bank Cricket Club by 115 runs in Mirpur on Wednesday, the BCB’s decision to give Abahani and Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club one point each confirmed Abahani’s title. It meant they would get 23 points, two more than Doleshwar.Abahani started their campaign with three wins in their first four games, but then lost three matches in a row against Legends of Rupganj, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Kalabagan Cricket Academy in the space of a week in mid-May.At that stage, Abahani were in genuine danger of missing out on a Super League place but they won their next four games to confirm a place in the last six and launch a title charge in one of the most tightly-contested Dhaka Premier League seasons of the past decade.Tamim said the key to Abahani’s success was the turnaround, as well as Shakib Al Hasan’s arrival after his IPL campaign with Kolkata Knight Riders. Shakib made 210 runs and took 16 wickets in eight matches, including a blazing half-century and a five-for against Mohammedan in Abahani’s record-breaking 260-run win. He also took a four-wicket haul against Prime Bank in the first phase and made fifties against Rupganj and Doleshwar.”It has been a massive turnaround for us,” Tamim said. “We had some wins at the start of the season but as the tournament progressed, continuous defeats put pressure on the team. At one point it was even tough for us to qualify for the Super League. All the players put in a big contribution behind this success, especially Shakib who joined us midway into the tournament. He had a great involvement in the team, especially with the bowling unit. He encouraged our struggling bowlers.”Tamim had special praise for Mosaddek Hossain, the young batsman who bailed out Abahani time and again from tight spots. His six and four off the last two balls won them the game against Doleshwar. Against Rupganj, he struck 73 and took five wickets and in Abahani’s last game against Prime Bank, Mosaddek struck a quickfire 78 in support of Tamim, who scored a century. He ended the tournament with the highest batting average, 77.75, among batsmen with more than 600 runs. He also took 15 wickets, and won three player-of-the-match awards.Tamim said he was disappointed that Mosaddek’s brilliant performance was overshadowed by the talk about alleged favouritism surrounding Abahani.”Mosaddek had an incredible tournament,” Tamim said. “He has very bright future. But the negative discussion about Abahani shadowed Mosaddek’s performance. I think he has a brain of a 45-year old person, and I hope he will meet his ambition of playing in the national team one day.”Mosaddek had to work hard for scoring those runs. Our bowlers had to work hard for picking wickets but people and the media were only talking of the negative things, which disappointed me.”Tamim accepted the Tk 1 lakh ($1,276) fine for his outburst against the umpires in the Super League match against Doleshwar.”I accept the punishment which the board decided for me. As I have said earlier, it was not right for me to react in such a way with the umpires. I will take lesson from this. I have to be a good human first both on and off the field. What I did that day was wrong.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:40

Nannes: Dhoni’s batting in last over was bizarre

This wasn’t the deadest of dead rubbers. Two knocked-out teams – Rising Pune Supergiants and Kings XI Punjab – were desperate not to finish at the bottom of the pile. It ultimately boiled down to 12 off the last two balls, with MS Dhoni, the fading star, facing off against Axar Patel, the rising star. Dhoni unleashed his attacking avatar to bring back memories of his heyday; his back-to-back sixes over midwicket delivered Supergiants a sensational four-wicket win in Visakhapatnam.The final over began with Supergiants needing 23. M Vijay’s key men in the end overs – Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma – had bowled out. Axar was in the hot seat. Dhoni may have struggled for timing and power throughout the season, but this wasn’t beyond him.He flatly refused a single after mis-hitting the first ball – a short fizzer – to deep midwicket. The next ball – a wide bouncer down leg side – was well stopped by Wriddhiman Saha. The second legitimate ball was fired too full and Dhoni’s responded with a mighty club over long-on. The next one was darted short and wide outside off as Dhoni slapped it to sweeper cover, where Hashim Amla dived full-length to his left to save a certain boundary. Dhoni, in anticipation of a four, was unmoved and Supergiants missed out on two runs. It was clear he backed himself to finish it off.Axar then sent down a short ball outside off, which Dhoni flat-batted over cover for a one-bounce four to reduce the equation down to 12 off two. The Supergiants captain sealed it with twin sixes and finished with 64 not out off 32 balls. He later said it could have been the “kind of game the team wanted to win to get into the knockouts.”Dhoni had joined Thisara Perera in the 14th over after Supergiants were reduced to 86 for 5 in a chase of 173. Perera was the first to tee off with three boundaries off fast bowler Kyle Abbott in the 16th over. Then, when Sandeep missed his yorker by an inch of two, Dhoni smeared two off-side fours in the 18th over to bring the equation down to 29 off 12 balls.A ball later, Thisara swung wildly only to nick Mohit behind. Dhoni carved the third ball away for four, but Mohit hit back to give away only one run off the next three balls – a cutter and two pinpoint yorkers. As it turned out, Mohit’s variety wasn’t enough as Kings XI were left to rue what could have been, considering how well they started with the ball.The seamers stuck to disciplined lines and lengths and subdued Ajinkya Rahane and Usman Khawaja. Gurkeerat Singh Maan reaped the rewards with his handy offspin when he dismissed Saurabh Tiwary and Khawaja in the 12th over.Gurkeerat’s role wasn’t just to bottle up the runs with the ball. Earlier, he had brought up his maiden IPL half-century, which included three fours and three sixes. His 58-run stand for the third wicket with Vijay helped lay the platform for Kings XI’s eventual total of 172 for 7.While Vijay took his time early on, Amla did the early running with three whipped fours, including two in the first over off Irfan Pathan. Vijay shifted gears when he slammed seamer Deepak Chahar for successive boundaries in the fifth over. Amla brought up Kings XI’s first fifty-plus opening stand in the last seven matches with a lofted cover drive for six.The subsequent introduction of spin, however, applied the brakes on the innings. While R Ashwin claimed 4 for 34, his best IPL figures, Adam Zampa enhanced his growing reputation with 1 for 32. He got the ball to turn, bounce, and dip, even as Vijay completed his fourth half-century in eight games as Kings XI captain.A slog to a straighter one from Ashwin bowled Vijay by the 16th over. Kings XI then plundered 48 off the last four overs, but they were left with the wooden spoon for the second successive season.

Nottinghamshire have confirmed the return of Australia A seamer Fergus O’Neill for the first half of both the 2026 and 2027 seasons.O’Neill claimed 21 wickets at 17.90 in four matches at the start of the 2025 summer, helping set Nottinghamshire on their path to winning the County Championship. He had been expected to make a return and the club have now announced that he has signed a two-year deal.While O’Neill was only eligible for a short-term visa last season, limiting him to a four-week stint, changes to the UK’s visa rules to cover appearances in first-class cricket mean he will be available for the first block of Championship games from April through to June.It was O’Neill who purchased the “MOM” blazer that became a feature of Notts’ title win, and he will now be back to help with the defence.”I’m keen to come back and make sure our momentum keeps rolling,” O’Neill said. “Trent Bridge is a great place filled with great people, where I’ve had success.”With all the success I had, and we had as a team, it was a simple decision for me to sign on for not just one, but another two years. Success is what I play for, so for as long as I’m a part of Nottinghamshire, I’ll be putting my best foot forward for us to win another Championship title.”O’Neill has twice been picked for Australia A, including on their recent tour of India, and has started the Sheffield Shield season in good form, with 15 wickets at 21.80. He could come into contention for the Ashes, although is currently behind the likes of Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser among back-up quicks.”Every now and then, you seem to sign a player who fits into the team perfectly, and Fergus was that man last year,” Nottinghamshire’s head coach, Peter Moores, said. “His impact on the field was clear for everyone to see, though it was his impact off it that also made a real difference.”His energy and excitement to play were infectious, as was belief in his own ability. That belied spread into everyone else in the team and was a real catalyst at the start of our season.”His ability to move the ball laterally and control line and length were perfect for English conditions, and it’s great news that the change in regulations will allow him to take on a fuller role next season.”We can’t wait to get him back to continue the promising start he has shown to his Notts career and to positively influence the defence of the title.”Notts have also secured the services of South Africa Test wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreynne for 2026. Verreynne, who has enjoyed productive spells at Notts in each of the past two seasons and hit the runs that secured the title, is expected to be available for a full summer of County Championship due to South Africa’s limited international commitments.

Big picture

If recent form is anything to go by, Australia have been bossing ODIs like, well, the world champions, whereas New Zealand, ranked fourth in ODIs, have a forgettable streak coming into this World Cup. Australia have won their last nine ODI series, last going down in the ODI leg of the 2023 Ashes in England, brushing teams aside both at home and away. They have been touring India almost every year in recent times, their top players have been getting used to the conditions in the WPL for the last three years, and they even played a three-match series in north India as a warm-up for this World Cup, which they won 2-1.Related

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New Zealand have no such records or achievements to show for. Jogging their memory back to the 2022 World Cup will only bring back disappointing recollections as they finished sixth out of eight teams in a home World Cup, they were rolled over for 128 by Australia for a 141-run thrashing in Wellington, and they haven’t played an ODI in six months.But they had shown last year that form and records are not much to go by. New Zealand entered the T20 World Cup with 10 consecutive losses in the format but went on to lift their maiden T20 World Cup with a stellar all-round show in alien conditions in the UAE. And they have a big chunk of players from that campaign to turn things around this time: captain Sophie Devine, former captain Suzie Bates, leader of the pace attack Lea Tahuhu, ace allrounder Amelia Kerr, among others.These two teams will clash it out at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, which is known for its flat tracks and will host its maiden women’s international on Wednesday.

Form guide

Australia WLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand WWLLL

In the spotlight: Alyssa Healy and Sophie Devine

The last time Alyssa Healy turned out in a World Cup, she finished the 2022 edition by smashing back-to-back centuries in the semis and final to help Australia lift their record seventh title. Things are a lot different this time; it’s her maiden ODI World Cup as captain, after Meg Lanning’s departure, and she has just returned to action after a long injury layoff of a stress fracture in the foot. She got in the groove of international cricket with modest scores of 1, 30 and 9 in the recent bilaterals in India, but would want to use the big stage to get some runs going on a flat pitch. She averages 31.40 against New Zealand with a strike rate of 89.97 against New Zealand much lower than her overall ODI strike rate of 97.90, and New Zealand would want to keeps those numbers down on Wednesday too.This is going to be Sophie Devine‘s farewell ODI series, only available for T20Is after this. Having led her side to T20 World Cup glory less than 12 months ago, she wants to end her ODI career with a double and her all-round skills could play a major role, starting Wednesday. She comes into the tournament after a rich run of form in the Hundred and bucket loads of experience of Indian conditions, having first toured the country back in 2007 when she was just 17.2:19

‘NZ might find it tough switching to ODI mode’

Team news: one concern for New Zealand

Australia’s full squad trained on Tuesday evening under the lights after a few injury concerns to Phoebe Litchfield (low-grade quad strain), Annabel Sutherland (hip soreness) and Darcie Brown (back spasms) during the recent bilateral games against India, and Ellyse Perry was down with an illness during the warm-ups. Vice-captain Tahlia McGrath, however, confirmed on Tuesday that everyone in the squad will be available for selection. What mix of spinners and pace bowlers they finalise is the only question that remains, as Sophie Molineux returned to action after a knee surgery, in the warm-up against England, and Australia could think about leaving out one of the legspinners – Alana King or Georgia Wareham – to make place for her.Australia (probable): 1 Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Beth Mooney, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath, 8 Sophie Molineux, 9 Kim Garth, 10 Alana King/Georgia Wareham, 11 Megan SchuttNew Zealand have one injury concern and Devine intentionally kept her name under wraps at the press conference on Tuesday. Their line-up is otherwise a great blend of youth and experience and if that mysterious player with a niggle is also fit on Wednesday, they won’t have too many headaches for the final XI. Devine also didn’t rule out uncapped 22-year-old left-arm spinner Flora Devonshire making her ODI in their opener.New Zealand (probable): 1 Suzie Bates, 2 Georgia Plimmer, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Sophie Devine (capt), 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Isabella Gaze (wk), 8 Eden Carsen, 9 Jess Kerr, 10 Flora Devonshire, 11 Lea Tahuhu2:02

McGrath on playing NZ: ‘We know each other’s game really well’

Pitch and conditions

The curator at Indore has decided to roll out a flat track for its maiden women’s international, testified by both Devine and McGrath after they saw the pitch. They had no hesitations to call it “an incredibly flat” pitch which has the makings of a “run fest,” as is often the case there in men’s white-ball matches. Indore has been muggy in the lead up to this game, with plenty of clouds spread across and the sun appearing in parts. Temperatures are unlikely to cross 30 degrees Celsius but it could feel a lot worse with the humidity when the match starts, for the fielding team.

Stats and trivia

Derbyshire 377 (Andersson 105, Chahal 6-118) and 52 for 4 trail Northamptonshire 550 for 9 dec (Broad 171, Keogh 125*) by 121 runsAllrounder Justin Broad hit a brilliant 171, his second score in excess of 150 this month amid a Northamptonshire run-fest against Derbyshire at Wantage Road as the hosts racked up a mammoth 550 for nine declared.Returning from a wrist injury, Broad struck 18 fours and a six, following his maiden first-class ton, 157 not out at Canterbury at the beginning of July. On a day of records, his 171 was the highest score ever made by a number seven from any team against Derbyshire.With Rob Keogh also striking an excellent unbeaten 125, the pair put on 208, the highest seventh-wicket partnership for Northamptonshire against Derbyshire as the visitors’ attack wilted in the afternoon sunshine.Luis Reece was the pick of Derbyshire’s bowlers, finishing with figures of three for 114.Northamptonshire declared 173 ahead and reduced Derbyshire to 52 for four at stumps, Indian legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal picking up two wickets in two balls. It leaves the visitors with a mountain to climb on a pitch offering turn and bounce, still trailing by 121 at the end of day three of this Rothesay County Championship fixture.Earlier, resuming on 265 for five, Broad and George Bartlett extended their sixth-wicket partnership to 127, also the highest for Northamptonshire against Derbyshire. But after posting 66, his highest score this season, Bartlett was trapped lbw by a Ben Aitchison delivery which nipped back and kept low.Broad and Keogh though looked relatively untroubled by a lacklustre Derbyshire bowling display throughout the morning as they focused on building a partnership and taking a first innings lead, picking up a handful of boundaries along the way. Broad, 64 overnight, deployed the pull against Zak Chappell and on drove handsomely, while Keogh swept and reverse swept against Joe Hawkins’ spin.Broad lunched nervously on 99, but despite flashing outside off stump against Martin Andersson after the break, he took a single off Hawkins to celebrate his first century at home.With the scoring rate accelerating, Keogh drove Andersson sweetly through midwicket to reach his second successive half-century off 112 balls and crunched Andersson through extra cover to bring up the 100 partnership and put Northamptonshire ahead. Broad then punched Blair Tickner down the ground for another boundary.Derbyshire plugged away, trying several short-term experiments to try to force a breakthrough. Andersson bowled consistently wide outside off-stump to Broad, while Aitchison reverted to bowling spin. Then for Chappell, three fielders were stationed in the area between mid-on and short midwicket.But Northamptonshire’s batters continued unabated, Keogh cutting Tickner to backward point to bring up the 150-partnership before passing the previous highest seventh-wicket stand (163) by Josh Cobb and David Willey at Derby in 2015.Frequent Northamptonshire milestones continued to keep the public address announcer busy, Keogh turning Andersson away for two to bring up his century, Broad taking a single next ball off Hawkins to reach his 150.In a scrappy passage of play before tea, Derbyshire’s tired fielders shelled three catches, but picked up one vital wicket in between. First, Keogh, on 101, swept Hawkins firmly to short midwicket where Madsen put down a straightforward chance. Then after Broad smashed Reece through extra cover, Caleb Jewell dropped one at backward point off an attempted reverse sweep.Undeterred, Broad and Keogh celebrated their 200 partnership, Broad swinging Reece for six into the sightscreen as Northamptonshire accelerated further. Broad’s 273-ball knock finally ended though when he hit Reece down the ground again but was caught just inside the ropes.George Scrimshaw won an immediate reprieve when Aitchinson failed to hold a one-handed grab at first slip off Reece. But his intentions were evident as he quickly went on the offensive against Hawkins.Tickner struck after tea castling Scrimshaw with a full and straight delivery, but Keogh found good support from Liam Guthrie (22), Northamptonshire declaring when Hawkins had the Australian caught hitting down the ground.Derbyshire’s reply started ominously when Jewell flashed outside off, Ricardo Vasconcelos snatching the ball at first slip.Promoted to opener Zak Chappell made 22 before Chahal’s double strike. First Chappell reverse swept straight to backward point, then Harry Came was lbw playing back to a slider. Finally skipper Wayne Madsen edged Keogh to Broad at first slip to further compound Derbyshire’s woes.

There will be no DRS for the one-off Test between South Africa and England in Bloemfontein, the first women’s Test in South Africa in 22 years. The match will be the only one out of the 21 internationals played by both men and women in South Africa this home summer without DRS.This was the first season where DRS – a technology that costs millions of dollars – was used for women’s bilateral internationals in South Africa. CSA said it has opted to prioritise DRS in white-ball women’s internationals for now.”The inclusion of the DRS for the ongoing inbound tour against England was agreed upon at the planning stage of the tour, noting that it will be the first time it was used for women’s bilateral tours in South Africa in recent history,” Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of national teams and high performance, said in response to a query about the absence of DRS for the Test.”The white-ball formats were prioritised with regards to DRS for this tour as it directly impacted the Proteas Women’s rankings in T20I cricket and the Women’s Championship as well as the overall CSA strategy for the senior women’s national team.”While the development of the red-ball format is important, it is worth noting that resources are currently being directed at the white-ball formats due to the significance of ODI and T20I cricket in the current women’s international cricket landscape.”South Africa had already qualified for the ODI World Cup before the series against England but aimed to finish as high on the Women’s Championship points table. In the ICC rankings, they are currently ranked fourth in ODIs and fifth in T20Is. There was one instance during the ongoing England tour when DRS malfunctioned. In the third over of South Africa’s chase in the first ODI in Kimberley, Tazmin Brits was pinged on the pad by Lauren Bell and was given out lbw. She wanted to review the decision but could not because the technology was down.ESPNcricinfo understands that, in a home summer where India men’s T20I series was the only profit-making visit, the expense of using the technology was deemed too much for this match. This, despite CSA announcing a profit of US$45.6 million from the last financial year and benefiting from two successive years of India visits.The Test match will be produced on a budget with only seven manned cameras (some matches are broadcast with as many as 30) and two run-out cameras on one side of the field (as opposed to the usual four, two on each side). That means that if there is a fielder in the way of a run-out decision on one side, the TV umpire may not be able to make a decision.The two on-field umpires for the match – Kerrin Klaaste and Lauren Agenbag – will be officiating a Test for the first time.DRS has become the norm in international cricket but there are still matches played without it. At this year’s men’s ODI World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, DRS was only in place from the Super Six stage. There was no DRS at this year’s women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers in the UAE, or in the recently completed Ireland Women’s tour of Bangladesh.

Joe Root has become England’s top run-scorer in Test cricket, overtaking Alastair Cook when he reached 71 with a straight drive for four on the third morning of their first Test against Pakistan.Root acknowledged the landmark with a wave of his hand – and then his bat – to England’s players and coaching staff, who stood to applaud him on the dressing-room balcony at the Multan International Cricket Stadium. He started this tour 70 runs behind Cook’s career aggregate of 12,472, and went clear of him by driving Aamer Jamal down the ground.Last month, Root surpassed Cook’s record for the most Test centuries by an Englishman with twin hundreds against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. He has now drawn clear of Cook for total runs, too, and has moved into fifth on the list of all-time leading run-scorers in Test cricket. He was more than 800 runs behind Rahul Dravid, in fourth, when he overtook Cook.Root went past Cook’s tally of 33 Test centuries with twin tons at Lord’s•AFP/Getty Images

Root is still more than 3,000 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar’s world record, but Cook believes he has every chance of breaking it. “I can see him overhauling Sachin Tendulkar’s record,” Cook told the BBC. “When I retired, I thought there was every chance that my record will be broken. I thought only the effects of captaincy and the hunger that takes out of you would stop him. I think the fact that Ben Stokes has taken over the captaincy has helped Root.”You could say Sachin is still the favourite, but [only] just. He’s been so lucky with injuries. All great players who played for a long time have been lucky with injuries. You just never know what’s around the corner, but it has to be something like it that could stop him. But I don’t see that happening for Root to lose that hunger and ability to keep driving himself forward for the next couple of years.”The only slight hurdle in his way will be the Ashes series – there is always something happening around the series. It’s in 14 months’ time and there’s always a story about the damage that happens or doesn’t happen around every Ashes series. I’d give Sachin 51% and Root 49%. But I would be betting on Root to do it.”Related

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Speaking ahead of the first Test, Root had played down the significance of the record. “The only reason it’s on my mind is because people keep asking me about it, to be honest,” he said. “I see myself playing Test cricket for a lot longer. It’s not like I’m going to get to a certain mark or a number and say, ‘Right, I’m done now.’ I just want to keep enjoying the game, keep playing.”With Ben Duckett unable to open the batting on the second evening in Multan and Ollie Pope deputising for him, Root was batting a spot higher than usual at No. 3. Having walked out to bat in the second over of England’s innings, Root combined with Zak Crawley and Duckett – who recovered overnight and came in at No. 4 – for century partnerships, as England chipped away at the deficit.Root made steady progress on the third morning, reaching 50 for the 99th time in his Test career when inside-edging Naseem Shah through square leg on the stroke of the drinks break. On 65, he survived an lbw shout when struck on the pad by Aamer Jamal, which Pakistan reviewed unsuccessfully; four balls later, he secured the England record.

England 22 for 0 (Duckett 13*, Lawrence 9*) trail Sri Lanka 236 (de Silva 74, Rathnayake 72, Woakes 3-32) by 214 runsDhananjaya de Silva justified his own decision to bat first with a gutsy 74 from 84 balls, while Milan Rathnayake followed his captain’s lead with a startlingly composed knock of 72 from 135 balls, the highest by a debutant at No.9 in Test history. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, however, even those exceptional efforts couldn’t quite atone for a dreadful top-order collapse that had handed England control of the first Test by stumps on day one at Emirates Old Trafford.By the time Vishwa Fernando was last man out, run out for 13 from 61 balls in an innings that echoed his famous tail-end defiance in partnership with Kusal Perera at Durban in 2019, Sri Lanka had been bowled out for 236 in gloomy half-light that had caused England to rely exclusively on spin bowling for the final hour of their bowling stint – an early challenge for Ollie Pope’s tactical acumen on his first day as Ben Stokes’ captaincy stand-in.And, even though that total was seemingly below-par on a hard and dry surface that Pope anticipated would stay true for the first half of the match at least, it was riches compared to what had been anticipated after the first half-hour of the contest. At that point, Sri Lanka’s innings had been in tatters at 6 for 3 after seven overs, with all three wickets falling in the space of ten deliveries to Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes.Related

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• Jayasuriya: 'Karunaratne is a strong-minded player. He can do something major on this tour'

The first blow was landed by Atkinson, who had limited Dimuth Karunaratne to a solitary scoring stroke in his first 17 deliveries, only for the batter to fluff his first shot in anger, a swish across the line to a well-directed lifter. Four balls later, Nishan Madushka’s early discipline also deserted him as Woakes served up a juicy outswinger that he could only scuff straight to Joe Root at first slip, who clung on in the heel of his palms.And with the final ball of the same over, Woakes had his second courtesy of a ghastly misjudgement from Angelo Mathews. The hero of the 2014 series win was gone for a five-ball duck, burning a review in the process as he offered no stroke to an inducker that was shown to be hitting the top of middle.Kusal and Chandimal showed some gumption in a limited counterattack, with the first five boundaries of the innings all coming in the space of 12 balls, four of them to Kusal off Matthew Potts, whose wide angle into the stumps offered the chance to free the hands through the off-side, and who would finish as the attack’s weakest link with 48 runs from his nine overs.But, after limping to drinks on 37 for 3, there was another challenge waiting for the second hour. Wood tore into his opening spell with typical gusto, and struck with his seventh ball – a gruesomely quick lifter to Kusal that crashed into his left thumb and looped to Harry Brook at second slip. Much like the snorter that broke Kevin Sinclair’s wrist in the West Indies series, Kusal left the crease wringing his hand, and looking in urgent need of an ice-pack at the very least.Out came de Silva to shore up the listing innings, but with lunch approaching, his measured stand of 32 in seven overs with Chandimal was undone in cruel and unusual fashion. Shoaib Bashir entered the attack for an exploratory pre-lunch spell, and struck in his second over with an unplayable daisycutter, reminiscent of Nasser Hussain’s viral moment against Carl Hooper in Trinidad in 1998. Though Chandimal gambled on the review, hoping against hope that he’d been struck outside the line, Bashir’s sheepish appeal and celebration could have told him everything he needed to know.That would, however, be the nadir of Sri Lanka’s innings. De Silva himself grew into his role either side of the lunch break, farming the strike well in between a diet of eight well-struck boundaries, each of them showcasing his sharp footwork and delicate balance, not to mention his pre-toss faith in the surface’s true nature.Though there would be some more guileless dismissals to come – with both Kamindu Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya snicking off with uncertain footwork after Woakes and Atkinson had varied their lines and lengths – Rathnayake would not prove quite so gullible in his shot selection.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Despite channelling a bashful schoolboy while being presented with his Test cap by Kumar Sangakkara before the start of play, Sri Lanka’s debutant was more than man enough to withstand England’s eager attempts to dislodge him. His first role was to act as de Silva’s doughty sidekick, which he did to superb effect, picking off the first of his four fours in an eighth-wicket stand of 63.And then, when disaster had seemingly struck just before tea, with de Silva fencing a Bashir offbreak to Lawrence at leg slip to leave his team on 176 for 8, Rathnayake took up the cudgels for his team with impressive results. Despite boasting a previous best of 59 in 52 previous first-class innings, he picked the perfect moments to cut loose, first with a lusty swing over long-on to reach his half-century, and then a sweet drill over long-off to move along to a new career-high.England did at one stage attempt to bring Wood back into the attack to break up his burgeoning 50-run stand with Vishwa, but with his jumper halfway over his shoulders, the umpires stepped in to insist that the light was too poor for the pace bowlers. And though it took a while, Bashir eventually did the needful, tempting Rathnayake into one lofted launch too many, as Woakes back-pedalled at mid-off to end his fun.With half-an-hour to the close, Sri Lanka also turned instantly to slow bowling as the reply got underway, with two spinners sharing the new ball in a men’s Test in England for only the second time since 1970. With Lawrence opening the batting in place of Zak Crawley, he and Ben Duckett showed the probable riches still on offer in the surface, in clattering along to 22 for 0 in four overs.Prior to the start of play, both sides lined up on the outfield for a tribute to the late Graham Thorpe, who died on August 4, aged 55. England will be wearing black armbands throughout the match in memory of an England great who averaged 44.66 in a 100-Test career, and went on to play a key role as a batting mentor to many of the current team, including Pope, Root and Stokes.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore powered his way to a match-winning half-century as Somerset beat Vitality Blast South Group leaders Surrey by six wickets beneath the floodlights at Taunton.Set 183 to win, Somerset chased down their target with six balls to spare thanks to a forthright knock of 51 in 32 balls from Kohler-Cadmore, who hit three sixes and a trio of fours and shared in a crucial stand of 67 for the third wicket with Tom Abell.Academy product George Thomas impressed on his debut, raising an eye-catching 25-ball 40, while Sean Dickson scored a nerveless unbeaten 20 at the death to see Somerset home in front of a sell-out crowd at the Cooper Associates Ground.Surrey’s innings of 182 for 5 was built around a partnership of 107 in 12.2 overs between Sam Curran and Rory Burns. Returning from England duty, Curran raised 59 from 42 balls, Burns top-scored with 62 off 44 deliveries and Jamie Overton smashed a quickfire unbeaten 30 at the death.Somerset made light work of the chase to achieve an inside-the-distance victory that cemented their position in the top four and kept them on track for a place in the quarter-finals. Despite losing for only the second time this season, Surrey remain top of the table and on course to reach the knockout stages.Surrey won the toss, elected to bat and quickly plummeted to 24-3 inside four overs. Making his first T20 appearance at Taunton, Jack Leach saw off Dom Sibley, persuading him to hole out to Dickson on the mid-wicket boundary. Dickson again demonstrated safe hands when Will Jacks hoisted the next ball, sent down by Riley Meredith, to deep third man, while Laurie Evans miss-cued high to cover as Craig Overton made further in-roads.Curran and Burns made a decent fist of repairing the damage, advancing the score to 44 by the end of the powerplay, achieving a 50 partnership in 36 balls and lifting Surrey to 77 for 3 at halfway. Although boundaries were in relatively short supply by Taunton standards, the fourth wicket pair ran hard and Curran suggested a change in tempo when depositing Jake Ball over the long-on boundary for six and hoisting a Ben Green full toss high over square.With the innings still in the balance at 105 for 3 at the end of the thirteenth, Curran attempted to force the issue, going to 50 from 34 balls, guiding Meredith behind square to attain the landmark with his fourth four. Although less expansive in his approach, Burns nevertheless proved mightily effective, the former England man raising his 50 from 38 balls.Somerset badly needed a breakthrough and skipper Lewis Gregory obliged at the start of the seventeenth over, Curran finding Overton at long-on with the score on 131, having dominated a revitalising partnership. Burns departed in the penultimate over, offering a return catch to Ball, but former Somerset all-rounder Jamie Overton ensured there was no respite for the home side, mustering 2 sixes and a brace of fours in a hard-hit innings of 30 not out from 13 balls.Somerset needed to win to be sure of preserving their place in the top four and Tom Banton plundered three boundaries in one Tom Lawes over to set the tone. Encouraged by his partner’s example, debutant Thomas made a mockery of his rookie status by taking Dan Worrall for a six and 3 fours in an opening stand that yielded 42 in 3.2 overs.Surrey responded, Jordan Clark having Banton caught at mid-on for 17, but Thomas continued to take a liking to Worrall, harvesting another six and a further two fours off the Australian as Somerset advanced to 61 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.Chancing his arm once too often, Thomas hit Cameron Steel high to mid-on and departed for a 24-ball 40, having announced himself on the Blast stage in style. Tom Kohler-Cadmore now took up the cudgels, greeting the advent of Chris Jordan by hoisting the England man high over backward square for six as the home side continued to exert pressure. The Yorkshireman smashed a straight six and two fours off Lawes, whose first two overs went for 35, as Somerset moved menacingly to 104 for 2, requiring a further 79 off 10 overs.Kohler-Cadmore went to his half century via 28 deliveries and he and Abel raised a 50 partnership from 31 balls to bring the required rate down below eight an over for the first time. But Surrey refused to lie down, Jordan and Jacks removing Kohler-Cadmore and Abell in quick succession to ask questions of the home side.Casting all doubt aside, Dickson struck an authoritative 20 off 12 balls with two fours in partnership with Gregory, who contributed 12 off seven deliveries in an unbroken partnership of 34.