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The programme to introduce those incarcerated in state and federal prisons to the game won the ICC Development Initiative of the Year award for 2024

Firdose Moonda12-Sep-2024Ask a cricket newbie what they find most intriguing about the game and their answer is likely to be something about how two teams can play for five days with no winner, or the lbw law. But for a group of people at Mexico’s National Commission of Physical Culture and Sport (CONADE), it was an entirely different thing.”One thing they liked in particular was how the umpire’s decision is always respected and never questioned,” Craig White, secretary of the Mexico Cricket Association (MCA) says. “They liked that discipline element.”Consider that this is a country where football referees once went on strike in protest over player behaviour, and the admiration for the umpire having the final word may start to make sense. It could also explain why they decided to include cricket as part of an extracurricular prison programme, which has won the ICC’s Development Initiative of the Year Award in 2024.Related

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Why prisons? With more than 230,000 people currently in jail, and some of the highest levels of crime in the world, they are a grim reality in Mexico. And the incarcerated, while denied the rights of the free, also need to return to society, and partly, their period in prison is about preparing them for that.Why cricket? The idea took shape in October 2021, when the MCA stepped in to host the ICC America Women’s T20 regional qualifier in place of the USA at a time when Covid-19 travel restrictions were still in place. Members of Mexico’s sports ministry were invited to watch the event at the Reforma Athletic Club in the municipality of Naucalpan, north west of Mexico City, and given a special cricket demonstration. Four months later, the MCA was invited to present a two-day workshop to the sports ministry . “We sort of taught them the basics of batting, bowling, fielding,” White says. “There was one guy in particular, Eduardo Acevedo [chief of department, CONADE], who took cricket and ran with it. He proposed it as part of the physical activity in prisons.”Initially the MCA, which is an entirely volunteer-run organisation, just provided equipment, in the form of plastic cricket sets and advice – but within a few months they were going into prisons to run sessions. Currently they have eight trainers involved in the project.A game in progress at the Reforma Athletic Club, one of Mexico’s oldest and most active cricket venues•Fernando Llano/Associated PressOne of the volunteers is Mexico women’s international Anna Septien, who is also the MCA’s treasurer and development officer. Septien had never been in a prison before. “I’ve learnt that prisons in Mexico have a lot of opportunities for integral development like yoga, knitting and sports,” she says. “The sports ministry certifies the prisoners and teaches them how to be physical trainers. When they get out, they will have this title and they will have the opportunity to work. When you’ve been in prison, you have all this stigma and it’s difficult for you to find opportunities, but this could provide an alternative opportunity for a job.”The volunteers work in four low-to-medium risk prisons in Mexico City, the country’s capital, and CONADE also has cricket programmes in two maximum-security federal prisons in the northern states of Durango and Coahuila. Both male and female prisoners play cricket, sometimes together. They have had to adapt the game to the time and space they have available, and have even created their own scoring system.”It depends on the prison, in terms of the kind of places that they play,” Septien says. “Some are on concrete, some on grass, which can be more soil than grass in many cases, and some on basketball courts.”The prisoners only get an hour of free time each per day and so they can’t always have 11 players on the team – it depends on how many are allowed to come out at the time decided. So they have made tweaks to adjust: everybody gets three chances to bat; if the ball hits the wall, it’s a four. “It’s not perfect cricket but they are trying. And for those of them whose rooms are underground, it is the only time they see daylight,” Septien says.For her, the experience of going into prisons has been both confronting and surprising. While she understands that some of the people she is dealing with are dangerous, she has learnt that they are not that different. “You expect to feel [a certain way] before you go there, and some of them do have a harsh or scary look about them, but I have to say I’ve never been in another place full of robust and big men and felt more respected,” she says. “And you know, we are all just one action away [from being in their shoes].”The humanity of the project has been highlighted in the early results of the programme. “We have heard from the government that some of the kids of the prisoners have heard that their parents are playing cricket and they have expressed an interest in becoming involved,” she says. “And we have been told that conflict in the prisons has been lowered and that is a good outcome. We are promoting cricket as a peaceful and inclusive sport.”Cricket is played in four state prisons in Mexico City and two maximum-security prisons in Durango and Coahuila•Mexico Cricket AssociationThe hope is that when these prisoners move back into communities, they will be able to spread the game by working in coaching or training roles. “Cricket is a new sport. They won’t have competition because no one else teaches cricket. So they could do that in their region. That’s the idea.”But cricket is, in fact, not that new to Mexico. The country was one of the first outside England to play the sport. It arrived in the 1820s, with those who travelled there from England to work in the silver mines, and was also reportedly played by the Emperor Maximilian; there is a photograph of him playing a Sunday game. When Mexico became a republic for the second time in the late 1860s, work and investment opportunities drew expats from Britain and Australasia, who provided patronage for the game.Cricket continued to be played in elite circles up until around the Mexican Revolution and the First World War shortly after, when many expats went home, which led to a drying up of interest in the sport.The game did not ever trickle down to the common man, who had little time and almost no access to cricket, and that has not changed much. As things stand, in a country of 127.5 million, Septien estimates that there are “less than a thousand cricket players”, and that the sport is played mainly in three cities. But there is room for expansion and some readily available facilities to support it.The Reforma Athletic Club has been a cricket venue since 1894, and one of the highest in the world. At 2300 metres above sea level, it sits more than 500 metres higher than Johannesburg and is a third as high as Mount Everest. It hosted the 2021 women’s T20 regional qualifier, although Mexico was not a participant. That could change in coming years, with Mexico putting an emphasis on growth in the women’s game in particular.Not only does the MCA have an ambitious plan to establish cricket in all 32 Mexican states by 2030, it also hopes to make cricket the No.1 girls’ sport in the country in the same time frame. So maybe if you ask a cricket newbie whether they’ve heard of the Mexican women’s team in a few years’ time, you will be surprised at the answer.

All the statistical highlights from the thrilling Centurion Test

Namooh Shah29-Dec-20248.0 South Africa’s win-loss ratio in Tests in Centurion is the highest for a team at any venue for a minimum of 20 matches, followed by Pakistan’s 7.6 in Karachi.2 – South Africa’s two-wicket victory is only the second time that they won with two or fewer wickets remaining.31 not out by Kagiso Rabada is the third best score of a No.10 batter in the fourth innings of a winning Test. The top two scores in this list were registered more than 100 years ago.Related

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1 – For the first time in their Test history, South Africa’s ninth and tenth-wicket stands added 40-plus runs three times. Overall, it was the eighth time this has happened in Test cricket.139 – Number of runs added by the ninth and tenth-wicket stands of South Africa (51*, 47, 41) in the Centurion Test is the second highest by them in winning cause.51 – Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada added 51 for the ninth wicket, which is the seventh highest unbroken partnership for the last two wickets in a winning cause in Tests.1 – Mohammad Abbas’ figures of 6 for 54 is the best by a Pakistan bowler in South Africa. Four other Pakistani bowlers have also taken six-wicket hauls each in South Africa.3 – Abbas’ figures in the fourth innings is also the third best for a bowler and best by a Pakistani in a losing Test since 1948.16 Number of Test wickets taken by South Africa bowlers, who did not share the new ball. It’s also the most by them, going past their 15-wicket mark, against England in Johannesburg in 2020.

With Perry, Patil and Asha all recuperating from injuries, RCB’s chances once again hinge on in-form Mandhana

Sruthi Ravindranath11-Feb-20253:58

‘RCB will be heavily dependent on Mandhana’

Where RCB finished in WPL 2024Champions. Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Delhi Capitals in the final to win their first-ever title. They finished third on the points table in the league stage and won the eliminator against Mumbai Indians to make the final.What’s new in WPL 2025?RCB have been hit by player unavailability and injury concerns heading into the season. Sophie Devine is on a break, left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux is out injured and Kate Cross has withdrawn from the season for injury rehab. Their star allrounder Ellyse Perry also recently sustained a hip injury during the Ashes but she has arrived in Bengaluru ahead of the team’s departure to Baroda. Spinners Asha Sobhana and Shreyanka Patil have been recuperating from injuries and haven’t played international cricket since October 2024. Devine, Molineux, Perry and Asha had all played crucial roles in RCB’s win last year.Related

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RCB have brought in England spin-bowling allrounder Charlie Dean as Molineux’s replacement, while Heather Graham and Kim Garth come in for Devine and Cross.Having released Heather Knight, Nadine de Klerk and Shubha Satheesh among others, RCB acquired four new faces during the auction: Prema Rawat, VJ Joshitha, Raghvi Bist and Jagravi Pawar. Medium pacer Joshitha is fresh off the U-19 Women’s World Cup win, while 20-year-old Bist recently earned her India debut. Legspinner Rawat, who was signed up for INR 1.2 crore at the auction, also showcased her big-hitting abilities in the Uttarakhand women’s T20 league. Offspinner Pawar meanwhile was key in Mumbai’s title run in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2023-24. Before the auction, RCB also traded in England opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge from UP Warriorz.RCB’s likely XI1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 S Meghana, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Raghvi Bist, 7 Shreyanka Patil/ Prema Rawat, 8 Georgia Wareham, 9 Kim Garth, 10 Kanika Ahuja, 11 Renuka SinghOther players: Ekta Bisht, Charlie Dean, VJ Joshitha, Jagravi Pawar, Asha Sobhana, Heather GrahamSmriti Mandhana has been in terrific recent form•BCCIKey players In the absence of several big names and a few injury concerns, RCB’s chances hinge on captain Smriti Mandhana’s form. Mandhana had a stellar 2024, and has started 2025 with scores of 41, 73 and 135 in the three ODIs against Ireland. She was the second-highest run-scorer for RCB last year behind Perry, with 300 runs in ten innings.Raghvi Bist is a perfect fit to provide the middle-order firepower along with Richa Ghosh. In the third T20I against West Indies in December last year, she ably supported on-song Mandhana and Ghosh by farming the strike and also scoring well-time strokes regularly while coming in at No. 4.Young one to watch: VJ JoshithaA swing bowler who is also a handy lower-order batter, Joshitha had an impressive U-19 T20 World Cup. In the domestic U-19 T20 Trophy in October 2024, she scored 144 runs at a strike rate of 175.60 and followed up with seven wickets in four matches to finish as the highest wicket-taker at the U-19 Triangular Series in December. In the opening match of the Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup against West Indies, she bowled a fiery opening spell, taking two back-to-back wickets in her second over to finish with figures of 2 for 5. She picked six wickets in the tournament.RCB’s league fixturesRCB will play the first match of the tournament, against Gujarat Giants in Vadodara on February 14. They’re then scheduled to play Capitals in a rematch of last year’s final on February 17 at the same venue, before moving to Bengaluru for fixtures against Mumbai Indians, UP Warriorz, Giants and Capitals for the home leg. They will then face Warriorz on March 8 in Lucknow and end the league stage by playing against Mumbai at the Brabourne Stadium on March 11.

Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon have more than 1500 Test wickets among them and are now looking to tick off another box: feature in a title-winning XI together

Andrew McGlashan08-Jun-2025They have 1508 Test wickets among them. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are among the finest bowling combinations that has played together in Test history.In 2024, Australia became the first team to field an attack with four bowlers having 250 Test wickets each when Hazlewood removed Alick Athanaze in Adelaide. At some point this year, they may field an attack where four of them have at least 300 wickets.Cummins needs just six to reach the milestone – he could well do that in the World Test Championship (WTC) final – while Hazlewood is 21 away, so the Ashes is perhaps more realistic for him. Starc is well past 300 and is 18 away from joining the 400 club. Lyon sits on 553 and is 11 away from becoming Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker of all time behind Shane Warne. For the record, the most Test wickets in an XI was the 1989 England had against Australia at The Oval in 2023.Related

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Barring late injury problems, the four of them are set to line up against South Africa at Lord’s – the 33rd time they will have done so, a mark of their longevity – where Australia will aim to defend their WTC title.Debates around the greatest Test attacks of all time need to be more nuanced – another Australian combination of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Warne often pips the current generation when the topic is raised even before expanding it to other nations – and there are duos and trios that has carried teams to fantastic heights. But this quartet has earned the right to be in the conversation, and perhaps will only truly be appreciated once the alliance starts to permanently break apart.Australia certainly haven’t been unbeatable when they have joined forces, with eight defeats scattered among the 32 Tests to date and South Africa winners on two occasions in 2018. For comparison, the McGrath-Lee-Gillespie-Warne combination played 16 Tests together for ten wins, four draws and two losses. A great West Indian quartet of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft were on the field together 11 times and lost once. The South Africa team that included Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Jacques Kallis lost just two of 18 Tests. There will be various other noteworthy combinations, but each of Australia’s four has a vast body of work that will stand the test of time.Pat Cummins is a master at hitting the top of off•AFP/Getty ImagesCummins is a supreme specimen of a fast bowler. Pitch off, hit off is one of his trademarks – Joe Root at Old Trafford in 2019 is never far from getting a run. Of bowlers with at least 250 wickets, only eight have got them at a lower average than Cummins. It is worth noting here that one of those, Kagiso Rababa, will be in the opposition at Lord’s. Cummins has also been a success story for fast-bowler captains; two WTC titles and an ODI World Cup would be quite the haul.Starc’s standing is a curious one. It sometimes feels he isn’t revered as much as he should be. He is, without doubt, a cross-format great while anyone capable of touching 400 Test wickets should be viewed among the highest echelon of players. When he reaches 100 Tests, which could come in Jamaica next month, he will be just the eighth fast bowler to hit that mark alongside 400 wickets.If things had fallen a little differently for Hazlewood, he would now be beyond 300 wickets. A run of injuries (and some spin-heavy selections on the subcontinent) meant he played just four Tests between 2021 and 2023. After stringing together ten in a row in 2023-24, injuries returned to hamper him last season against India. His Test average of 24.57 is at its lowest point since March 2017 when he played his 28th match.Then there’s Lyon, so often the glue that has held it all together for Australia from a bowling point of view. Before Australia returned to consistently playing an allrounder, when Cameron Green was first part of the side in 2020, Lyon’s ability to command a huge workload, while being both an attacking and defensive option, made the four-man attack work and it’s still often a role he carries. Since Lyon’s debut in 2011, no one has bowled more than his 34,103 deliveries in Test cricket.But there is a transition looming in the years to come, although no one is yet being pensioned off and the mega year of 2027 (including India and England away) remains a significant carrot.Mitchell Starc is 18 strikes away from 400 Test wickets, while Josh Hazlewood is 21 away from 300•Getty ImagesCummins is the youngest of the four at 32 – and is expected to lead the Test side through to 2027 – followed by Hazlewood (34), Starc (35) and Lyon (37). The first reserve, one of the best back-ups there has been in Scott Boland, is 36. A few more of the next rung are more experienced players, too, with Michael Neser 35 and Sean Abbott 33. Jhye Richardson (28) and Lance Morris (27) have fitness question marks over them. Brendan Doggett bridges the gap at 31. Fergus O’Neill’s domestic returns demand he is in the mix, and he has the makings of the next Boland, but may still have to fight perceptions around his pace. The recent Under-19 generation – led by Mahli Beardman and Callum Vidler – is very exciting but will need to be nurtured.Australia’s spin depth is as good as it’s been for some time – Matt Kuhnemann may again join forces with Lyon in the West Indies, while Todd Murphy and Corey Rocchiccioli are the next offspinners in line – but filling this void when the time comes could be the hardest one, as it was when Warne retired. There was a glimpse into that future during the 2023 Ashes when Lyon blew his calf at Lord’s. While Murphy held his own, particularly at The Oval, it was not the same and Australia even opted not to play a spinner at Old Trafford.”Our bowlers aren’t getting any younger,” head coach Andrew McDonald said in an answer specifically on the quicks before leaving for the WTC final. “So the ability for those four [Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood, Boland] to really coexist and manage the workload across the WTC in the West Indies, and then you’ve got coming back for an Ashes as well, a five-Test series…”The way that the bowlers were able to perform last year, in particular, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc getting through five Test matches, we keep saying it’s an outlier, but they keep doing it. I don’t think we can always bank on that.Nathan Lyon’s ability to both attack and defend has been crucial to Australia’s success•Getty Images”So that quartet, plus Michael Neser, Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, we’ve got some real good depth coming in and around that. We’ve also got Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris waiting in the wings as well. We feel like [with those] the fast-bowling stocks, when that does shift on us, we’re well placed.”Rotation is a dirty word among the pace attack – “we field the same question every year: if you’re fit, you play and if you’re not, you don’t play. It’s as simple as that, no one rests a Test match,” Hazlewood said last season – but it’s a topic that is unlikely to go away. Australia have dipped their toe in that water, most recently at the 2023 Ashes where Hazlewood, counter to his own views on the topic, sat out the Headingley Test.The other part to this is, ideally, wanting a managed change of eras rather than a mass exodus. There was a glimpse of such a prospect at the Champions Trophy earlier this year when the big three quicks were all absent. There may be a temptation, however tough a sell it would be to the current group, to try and get a Test match or two into the next batch of pace bowlers. One of the fascinating challenges of elite team sport is moving between the generations and it will be an intriguing element, not just in the bowling, of an outstanding but ageing Australian team.But there is also the here and now, and that’s about Lord’s against South Africa. Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon have never featured in a title-winning XI together: Hazlewood missed the previous WTC final while Lyon wasn’t involved in the 2023 ODI World Cup or the 2021 T20 version. As events in recent years against India in Perth and West Indies in Brisbane have shown, having them together is no guarantee of victory, but they are an intimidating prospect to overcome.

All-time great innings comes after batter’s self-doubts following mid-tournament axing

Sruthi Ravindranath30-Oct-20254:31

Rodrigues: I wanted to be there till the end

Some of sport’s greatest tales are about comebacks. The kind that linger in memory, where moments of silence suddenly erupt into thunderous cheers. That’s what fans live for: those fleeting instants when hope turns noise into belief.At the DY Patil Stadium, Jemimah Rodrigues was on 82 when she slog-swept Alana King and got only a top-edge. The ball spiralled high toward midwicket, with King and Alyssa Healy converging under it. For a few seconds, the 35,000-strong crowd fell utterly silent.Rodrigues had been batting like a dream until then. It had been a game of nerves. India still needed 131 from 102 balls, but Rodrigues looked composed, piercing gaps and running hard between the wickets despite the suffocating humidity. Every run drew cheers, even well-timed dots found appreciation.Then came that silence. It was a familiar sight for India fans: a set batter dismissed mid-chase, momentum slipping away. They had felt that when Smriti Mandhana had fallen in the chase against England in the league-stage match at this World Cup.And then, the roar. Rodrigues had been dropped by Healy. Her face barely flickered, but the stands exploded for the reprieve.Moments later, silence again.Rodrigues was struck in front by King, and Australia confidently reviewed the not-out call. Thousands of eyes fixed on the big screen. Two reds, one green, ball passing over the stumps. The roar returned.From that point, Rodrigues’s mind was clear: capitalise. But the conditions were brutal. With humidity over 75%, she was hours into her innings and revealed later she felt drained.Jemimah Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur embrace in the middle at the moment of victory•ICC/Getty ImagesYet this wasn’t just about one night. It was about the weeks, the months, the years that had led her here. This was the kind of story sport loves: a redemption arc written through grit.It began with heartbreak. A lean run of form had led to her being dropped for the 2022 World Cup. She clawed her way back, and by 25, had become one of India’s senior batters. But at this World Cup, things turned again. Two ducks. Two 30s. Then came another blow when she was dropped for the England game. It was, as head coach Amol Muzumdar put it, “one of the toughest decisions” to leave out, not just a senior batter, but also one of the team’s best fielders.Off the field, Rodrigues was struggling. Anxiety crept in. She spoke of “feeling numb”, of days when she cried a lot. The omission only deepened her doubts.”To be honest, when I was dropped and when I came in to this World Cup, I wanted to come out there, not prove a point, but do things so my team wins,” she said. “I kept reminding myself that, because it’s very easy to get into that mindset, and that mindset never has helped me. But I think today, today not just today, but from the last few games, all I thought about was, because I didn’t start off well, things just kept getting, worse and worse.”But sport, cruel as it can be, also offers another chance. Rodrigues returned to the XI against New Zealand, promoted to No. 3. The response was emphatic: 76 off 55 to guide India home. But that was just the beginning.Then came Thursday. Another promotion to No. 3, this time against the unbeaten defending champions, Australia. This wasn’t just any chase – it was a world-record one, in front of a home crowd. The kind of stage that tests every nerve.Harmanpreet Kaur, her captain and partner for much of the chase, had done this before. Her 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 semi-final had changed women’s cricket in India forever.Rodrigues’ innings completed the highest chase in W-ODI history•Getty ImagesMandhana’s early dismissal had silenced Navi Mumbai. Amanjot Kaur was listed at No. 3 on the team sheet, but Rodrigues instead walked out. She’d only known of her promotion five minutes earlier.For the first 11 balls, she played herself in. Then came a four, and the tension eased slightly. Questions loomed: would India go too deep again, as against England? Could they do it without Mandhana, their best batter in the tournament so far?Rodrigues knew they could. She believed India could chase 300-plus, and she batted like it.The turning point came with a cheeky, audacious scoop off Kim Garth in the eighth over. India had watched Phoebe Litchfield play such shots earlier, now Rodrigues answered back. Between deliveries, she talked to her partners, and to herself. “I was praying, I was talking to God,” she would later reveal.The classic Rodrigues shots began to flow: the loft over short third off Ash Gardner, the late cut past backward point, the flick through midwicket, those crackling sweeps of all kinds. India’s momentum was rising but so was the pressure.Related

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With 150 needed off 20 overs, Harmanpreet shifted gears, unleashing a series of boundaries. Rodrigues applauded, raising her thumb after sharp runs, willing her captain on. When Harmanpreet fell for 89, cramped and spent, the silence, and a familiar dread returned: was another collapse coming?Not this time. Rodrigues, calm and steady, guided her partners.”I was telling Harry [Harmanpreet] that we both have to finish it and we can’t leave it for the end, just because we are set and we know we can take it through,” she said. “And when that happened [Harmanpreet was dismissed], it was like a blessing in disguise for me because I was kind of losing my focus because of my tiredness. But when Harry got out, I think that added more responsibility to me that, ‘Okay, I need to be here. Okay, she is out, I will score for her’. And I think that again got me in the right zone. Then I started just sensibly playing.”When her century came, off 117 balls, there was no wild celebration, just a quiet fist bump and a hug from Richa Ghosh. The job wasn’t done. The asking rate still hovered above a run a ball.Ghosh struck some heavy blows before falling for 26, and the stadium hushed again. But Rodrigues ensured the silence didn’t last. A four off Sophie Molineux, then two more off Annabel Sutherland. The equation was down to single digits and Amanjot Kaur finished it with two boundaries in the 49th over.Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171 not out in the 2017 semi-final was proof of what could be achieved against Australia•Getty ImagesRodrigues dropped to her knees, tears streaming, her team-mates hovering around her. The near 100-overs she spent on the field in punishing conditions was well worth it. There would be more tears later, during the presentation and at the press conference. But they told a story larger than any chase – the story of redemption.”I know how important this match is, and I wanted to be there to finish it off, so all I did was, you know, just kept telling [myself] to just stand here, amazing things can happen towards you, you never know what can happen towards the end of the match,” she said.”When I reached my fifty, when I reached my hundred, I didn’t celebrate, because, at that moment I looked at our hotel right here, and I said [to myself] tomorrow morning, what would make me happier? Would it be a fifty? Would it be a hundred? No, it would be India winning. And I want to wake up with that feeling, I want to sleep with that smile, that we are playing the finals, and I’m waking up to get ready for the finals.”In recent memory, few comebacks in sport have glowed quite like this. Perhaps Femke Bol’s redemption after her fall in the 4x400m mixed relay at the 2023 World Championships, returning with an astonishing effort to win Olympic Gold for Netherlands a year later, or a 35-year old Rafael Nadal’s impossible rally in the 2022 Australian Open final from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev.Rodrigues belongs among the great comeback stories, rising from self-doubt and tough times to lead her team past a side that almost never loses. In the end, at the DY Patil Stadium, she made sure all the silences turned to roars.

By holding Mustafizur Rahman back till after the powerplay, Bangladesh had their bowling plan down pat, and then it just needed common sense to pull off the chase

Danyal Rasool21-Sep-20251:49

Chopra: You look at Saif Hassan and go ‘there’s some serious talent there’

When Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi last week, it boiled down to the middle overs. Chasing 140 at a time when no one seemed quite sure what constituted a good total in the Asia Cup, Sri Lanka emerged from the powerplay with the fluidity of a car merging back on to the motorway. They barely changing gears from their belligerent start, motoring on as if a punctuation mark in the passage of play had never happened. The spread field held little meaning as they plundered 81 runs off the eight overs immediately following the easing of fielding restrictions. It remains, comfortably, the highest number of runs scored in that period all tournament.A week on, and Bangladesh inserted Sri Lanka. They had not let victory over Afghanistan defending a total play with their heads, aware that as the tournament goes on, chasing appears to proffer a clear advantage. Two days earlier, Sri Lanka had chased down 170 against Afghanistan – the highest successful pursuit of the tournament and one that Bangladesh owe their continued involvement in this tournament to. They had no intention of doing Sri Lanka any return favours here in Dubai.Sri Lanka may have been unbeaten this tournament, but all those wins came batting second. Even so, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis started brightly, scoring 36 in the first four overs – the highest off the bat for them this tournament – but with Bangladesh holding Mustafizur Rahman back until after the powerplay, they understood exactly when to start applying the strangle.Related

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Fizz at the finish: Mustafizur Rahman is on a roll, but can he keep India quiet?

Saif and Hridoy fifties hand Sri Lanka their first Asia Cup defeat

Nissanka had fallen to Taskin Ahmed by now, and with Mustafizur bearing down, they found merging into post-powerplay traffic trickier this time. The seventh produced just three runs; Mahedi Hasan’s over that followed claimed the wicket of Mendis. He cleaned up Kamil Mishara in the next as Sri Lanka retreated into a shell they have not known in the middle overs this tournament, and one that offered them little protection.Mustafizur wouldn’t return until the 14th over, with Sri Lanka’s run rate scarcely above seven; it took him just four balls to end Kusal Perera’s run-a-ball innings. This time, in those same eight overs, Sri Lanka scored just 45 runs. Excluding matches involving Oman or UAE, it is the second lowest post-powerplay middle-overs effort of the tournament, bettered only by the chokehold India established on Pakistan in the phase that followed the first six overs. All this despite Sri Lanka being – by orders of magnitude – the most prolific side in overs 7-15, scoring at 8.12, with India a distant second at 7.68.It was a passage of play Dasun Shanaka tried to right in an astonishing lower-order onslaught, hitting six sixes in an unbeaten 37-ball 64, but acknowledged had hurt Sri Lanka decisively in the end.1:50

Chopra: Numbers don’t validate Bangladesh’s change in batting approach

“We had that momentum going on at the start,” he said at the press conference after. “But unfortunately we lost some momentum. Especially Fizz and Taskin bowled really well. We expected to score 180 but unfortunately we fell short. We fell 10-15 runs short.”That last remark can feel like the sort of catch-all cliché captains deploy post-match, primarily because any serious post-match analysis is yet to happen, and will take place behind closed doors rather than therapised to the media. But, in pursuit, Bangladesh knew those extra handful of runs were all that they really needed. Their own 7-15 over run rate is just a tick over seven. But having done their attacking in the first six, where they smashed 59, a number only India have bettered all tournament, that’s all they required.Anchoring is a much nicer gig chasing rather than setting a total, and especially if you are ahead of the rate. They scored 55 in the eight overs that followed. They hit a pair of fours and a pair of sixes. They lost a pair of wickets, but they had the luxury of hunkering down. They didn’t need to outrun the bear, only the snail-like pace Sri Lanka had established in that phase of the innings. Ten runs ahead was all the margin they needed.1:55

Chopra impressed with Hridoy’s cricketing smarts

“While we were batting in that phase, [Towhid] Hridoy and I had a good partnership,” Saif Hassan, who combined with Hridoy for all but three balls of that passage of play, said. “We had built our partnership knowing we were ahead in the game at that point.”From the vantage point other cricket nations have rather snootily opted to mount when viewing the new edge that Bangladesh-Sri Lanka contests have taken on, the perception is that this isn’t a rivalry to be taken quite as seriously. That it’s petty, overly emotional, and lacks a legitimate basis in cricket itself. In Dubai, though, Bangladesh shed all that with the clinical execution of a game plan they had brought to the game, one that aligned so well with their script that the fact that the chase went down to the penultimate delivery felt like a feature, not a bug.Sri Lanka’s caution in the face of Bangladesh’s accuracy through the middle might have reflected a belief that the side they had reprieved just two days earlier could be reeled right back in on command.But having regained control of their destiny, Bangladesh’s attack right through the middle demonstrated a clear understanding of the format they were playing: incremental, unspectacular improvement in any facet of a T20 innings might be all that’s required to turn defeat into victory.

Everton are keen to bring in some fresh blood during the January window and could now be lining up a multi-layered deal to acquire a former star at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Everton left frustrated after heavy defeat against Newcastle United

Despite holding home advantage, Everton were beaten convincingly by Newcastle United at Goodison Park on Saturday and will feel a sense of frustration at their poor defensive display, a rarity under the stewardship of David Moyes.

After a joyous victory away at Manchester United on Monday, despite having ten men for much of the affair, the Toffees failed to show the same resilience against Eddie Howe’s men and paid the price under the lights at their new stadium.

Speaking post-match, the Scot had no excuses for his side being unable to trouble the Geordies and made it clear that their European experience was a factor that helped shape a difficult night for the hosts.

He said: “We were beaten by a far better team. We go again, you move on but Newcastle were much better than us. You can see the experience they are gaining from playing in European games. They were just much more powerful than us all night.”

Even with a decent start to the Premier League campaign under their belt, Everton are building for January and could target FC Midtjylland forward Franculino Dju to try and arrest Thierno Barry’s goal drought since arriving on Merseyside.

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Celtic’s Daizen Maeda is also a wanted man and may be attainable, though they could also be willing to strengthen further back on the left-hand side if recent developments were to come to fruition.

Everton could look to re-sign Antonee Robinson

According to Alan Nixon on Patreon, Everton are keen to re-sign Fulham captain Antonee Robinson and believe £25m could be enough to secure his signature in January.

Armed with several formulas to potentially complete a deal, Vitaly Mykolenko has been mentioned as a potential swap option, with the Toffees unlikely to meet the Cottagers’ £40m valuation of the United States international.

Lauded by Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley last season as being “one of the best left-backs in the world”, Robinson has made just four appearances for Fulham this term and has struggled with knee problems, which have seen him miss six Premier League matches in a row as he looks to get back to fitness.

Having come through the youth system at Everton before joining Wigan Athletic and then going on to move to West London, he is acutely aware of the club’s culture and would be a seamless fit, though it remains to be seen if the Blues can push a deal over the line.

West Ham United are now looking to sign a “sensational” £35m midfielder who’s won the Premier League title two times, amid growing uncertainty surrounding his future…

West Ham eyeing new midfielder amid Paqueta uncertainty

West Ham star Lucas Paqueta recently admitted that he wanted to return to Brazil during the summer transfer window, saying: “Maybe I shouldn’t even be saying this, but I had some conversations with Filipe (Luís), who is a friend, in addition to the work he’s doing at Flamengo,”

“I really expressed my desire to return and also showed it to my agents.”

Ultimately, the attacking midfielder ended up staying put, however, and he has since gone on to put in some impressive performances in the Premier League, scoring three goals, most recently finding the back of the net in the 3-1 victory against Newcastle United.

That said, the Hammers won’t be particularly reassured by the fact one of their key players was angling for a move, and they have now set their sights on a new attacking midfielder, who could be brought in next summer.

That is according to the print edition of the Sunday Mirror (via West Ham Zone), with a report stating West Ham want to be kept informed about Harvey Elliott’s situation, having failed to make an impact since arriving at Aston Villa on loan from Liverpool.

Villa have an obligation to pay £35m for Elliott if he plays ten matches this season, but he hasn’t been getting a look-in as of late, which means Liverpool may recall the Englishman during the January transfer window.

The 22-year-old, who is represented by the same agency as Niclas Fullkrug, is viewed as a target for the summer, rather than this winter, but the Hammers may have to fend off rival interest, with RB Leipzig also named as potential suitors.

"Sensational" Elliott could reignite career at the London Stadium

The attacking midfielder’s move to Villa simply hasn’t worked out, but he is still very young, and there are plenty of signs he could be an exciting acquisition for West Ham, having impressed at times during his spell with Liverpool.

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The London-born midfielder made 149 appearances for the Reds, amassing 15 goals and 20 assists and playing a role in his side winning two Premier League titles, while the 28-cap England U21 star has also caught the eye at international level.

As such, West Ham should continue to monitor Elliott’s situation as the season goes on, ahead of potentially launching a move next summer, with the former Fulham man in need of a move to a club where game is guaranteed, if he is going to fulfill his potential.

Pakistan will go through to the final, and will play either Australia or South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2025India Champions have refused to play their semi-final against Pakistan Champions in the World Championship of Legends due to strained political relations between the two countries. The match was scheduled to be played in Birmingham on Thursday; Pakistan Champions will progress to the final and play the winner of the second semi-final between Australia Champions and South Africa Champions.The India Champions team, which includes players such as Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan and Robin Uthappa, had also refused to play their group match against Pakistan Champions on July 20.While the teams had shared points on that occasion, Pakistan Champions progressed to the final after India Champions refused to play the semi-final because they finished top of the group with nine points. India Champions had placed fourth with three points. The event organisers confirmed a 50% refund to the fans who had purchased tickets for the semi-finals.Sporting relations between India and Pakistan have deteriorated due to the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir in April this year, and the military skirmish that followed between the two.While the international teams of India and Pakistan have not yet faced each other since then, the men’s teams are due to face each other in the Asia Cup in the UAE on September 14, while the women’s teams have their ODI World Cup match in Colombo on October 6.

Landon Donovan offered a positive assessment of the United States men’s national team following its 2-1 win over Paraguay during the November 2025 friendlies, noting signs that the squad is beginning to form a clearer identity as it continues preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil. He commended the team’s continued progress under the current coaching staff, led by Mauricio Pochettino.

Getty Images SportGrowing cohesion and style

Donovan highlighted how each match has shown increased confidence and tactical clarity, noting that despite frequent lineup rotation, players are embracing clearly defined roles that contribute to a more recognizable on-field identity.

“Another excellent performance by the men’s national team,” Donovan said on social media. “Seems like the team is getting better and better, growing in confidence. The roles are clear, even though the players are changing a decent amount, but the roles are clear, and you’re starting to see a clear identity."

AdvertisementPochettino’s imprint taking shape

Donovan also highlighted how the squad’s mentality has evolved under Pochettino. He noted that with questions of attitude and commitment no longer overshadowing performances, the team is now showcasing a clearer tactical identity that reflects Pochettino’s style.

“Now that the fight piece, the pride to play for your national team is no longer a conversation, you’re actually starting to see this team play in a more distinct way that is very Pochettino,” Donovan explained.

Getty Images SportDonovan praises Reyna’s resurgence

Donovan pointed to Giovanni Reyna’s performance as a major positive, noting the midfielder’s first goal and assist for the national team since March 2024. He said Reyna’s 70-plus minutes – highlighted by sharper decision-making and increased confidence – reflect the level the team needs from him.

“That’s the Gio we need, that’s the Gio we want, and why he is so valuable to this team. So hopefully this is a stepping stone for Gio, hopefully he can do it again on Tuesday," Donovan said. 

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Getty Images SportWhat comes next for the USMNT after the win

The USMNT will now face Uruguay in their final game of the 2025 international window on Nov. 18.