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Devendra Bishoo, who had a minimal role to play with the ball during the Test series in England, warmed up for Zimbabwe with a three-wicket haul on day two of the tour-opener in Bulawayo, but the more noteworthy effort came from their fast bowling duo of Shannon Gabriel and Miguel Cummins.West Indians, who declared on 336 for 7, skittled Zimbabwe A for 143 in 44.1 overs. In their second innings, the West Indies went to stumps at 74 for the loss of Kraigg Brathwaite.Cummins and Gabriel, expected to share the new ball, picked two wickets a piece while Raymon Reifer, pushing for his first Test cap, also did his chances no harm. Reifer picked up the key wicket of the experienced Chamu Chibhabha on his way to figures of 2 for 29.Six Zimbabwe batsmen got into double digits, with just PJ Moor, the captain, topping with 32. The 39-run fifth-wicket stand between Richmond Mutumbami and Moor was the highest of the innings.Brathwaite was out for two in the second over, but Kieran Powell and Kyle Hope, who appeared to be seeking solid match practice after failing to score a half-century on the Test tour of England, were unbeaten on 34 and 35 respectively.

ScorecardWICB Media/Randy Brooks of Brooks LaTouche Photo

Leeward Islands walked away with the majority of points in their drawn game against Windward Islands after taking a big first-innings lead. Set a fourth-innings target of 222, Leeward then played out the draw, but not before they had lost six wickets for 112.Electing to bat first, Windward found themselves in a good position in the first innings, with Roland Cato (90) and Kavem Hodge (41) guiding the team to 213 for 3. However, they went on to lose seven wickets for 20 runs to be dismissed for 233. Seamers Jeremiah Louis and Mervin Matthew took seven wickets between them.Leeward openers Chesney Hughes (89) and Keacy Carty (74) then set about putting together a strong platform for the side with a 149-run opening partnership. Despite a slump, Nkrumah Bonner’s 69 helped Leeward past 300 and they ended with a 110-run first-innings lead.Windward’s response in the second innings was much stronger. Devon Smith scored a quick 185 and Hodge struck a rapid fifty as the side looked to push for a result with a declaration of 331 for 3 that left Leeward with a target of 222. Liam Sebastien, Audley Alexander and Shane Shillingford then all picked up two wickets each as Leeward reached 112 for 6 by stumps.

From being a “mess” in 2012, the Bangladesh Premier League is now entering its fifth season as a slowly developing tournament. Shifting the focus of the league has helped resolve most of the fundamental problems and paved the way for a new direction, according to BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick.Mallick said settling player payments, putting profit-making on the back seat, and setting up BCB’s own anti-corruption unit has contributed to the progress of the league.”I will credit the board for the time for starting the tournament but the first edition was a mess,” Mallick said. “We needed the whole of the second edition and the subsequent year to put things in order. There were players’ payment troubles. We didn’t have any documentation with franchise owners. So we wanted the tournament to be a sustained effort, by making sure the players were given financial security. We can now say that we are running it on a professional structure.”We wanted sports lovers as franchise owners, not those who are looking to do business. It was an unrealistic goal to pitch this as a Tk 100 crore tournament. The Bangladesh market isn’t that big so we had to readjust their approach. We wanted to make sure that the board, players and the franchise would make some money.”Those intentions have been visible with a number of defaulting franchises being removed, Barisal Bulls being the most recent one after they had failed to provide bank guarantees.Mallick cited Barisal’s example of a franchise they let go for financial discrepancies, pointing at how they didn’t spare a team which had MA Awwal Chowdhury, the former BCB director (from 2013 to 2017), as a co-owner in 2015 and 2016. “The owners of the first edition weren’t sports lovers. In Bangladesh, sport runs on donations. Outsiders bring fixing and indiscipline.”Having owners who are also in the board helps the discipline,” Mallick said. “They don’t get any extra benefit. Barisal Bulls is a great example. They are very close to us. I helped him raise money for his team but when they couldn’t give us a bank guarantee, we had to let them go.”However, he refrained from mentioning his and the BCB president’s employers, Beximco Group, which also owns Dhaka Dynamites, and BCB director Kazi Inam Ahmed-owned team Khulna Titans – both of which could possibly be a conflict of interest issue.Keeping corruption at bay is one of the key concerns, particularly after Dhaka Gladiators and Mohammad Ashraful were banned for their involvement in such practices 2013. “Our board president told us that we should have the system in place to tackle anti-corruption,” he said .”We had to focus on anti-corruption after the first edition, and we spent around Tk 5 crore by hiring the entire ICC anti-corruption team.”We wanted the tribunal in 2013, before holding the next event, so we skipped the tournament in 2014.”Mallick said that they will consider holding home and away matches, in a bid to expand the league across the country. “We want to spread the tournament across Bangladesh. In the future, we will be very happy if we can have home and away matches.””BPL is growing slowly but going through a bigger hype,” Mallick said. “We know our strengths and weaknesses. Our policies are clicking. We aren’t too ambitious.”

England were handed a potential Ashes lifeline after water crept under the covers in Perth overnight and delayed play on the final day. Some 28 overs were lost due to rain and then the groundstaff’s attempts to dry the pitch, before the fifth day finally got going at 1pm.The England coach, Trevor Bayliss, expressed concern that the water on the pitch could make batting “difficult and maybe even a little dangerous” and that, as things stood around the scheduled start time, it was “unacceptable” for play. Former Australia opener Simon Katich added on that the damp parts of the pitch were “like play dough” when he inspected them this morning, raising doubts as to whether it could be made fit.Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann, meanwhile, said the hosts would understandably take a different view about the conditions, given that they are six wickets away from regaining the Ashes. England, trailing by 127 runs, require at least a draw to ensure they travel to Melbourne with any hope of drawing the series. If Australia win in Perth, they will have an unassailable 3-0 lead.England’s hopes of securing that draw given an unexpected boost by a lengthy delay at the start of the fifth day – although the potential for erratic bounce won’t help their cause. Heavy overnight rain appeared to have caused water to leak under the covers affecting an area of the pitch roughly on a good length at the Lillee-Marsh end of the ground.The groundstaff used leaf blowers in an attempt to dry the area, though there was some concern from the English camp that such action could accelerate the deterioration of the pitch and cause the cracks that were apparent at that end to open and crumble. Briefly, the abandonment of the game was a possibility.”There has been leakage under the covers overnight,” umpire Chris Gaffaney said. “It’s really soft at the moment. It’s just a wait and see process.”The pitch has to be the same for both sides but, at the moment, we feel the pitch has been altered overnight.”The groundstaff’s efforts were also hampered by squalls of rain blowing across the ground at irregular intervals during the morning.There was no evidence of any hole in the covers or that they blew off overnight. Nor was there any suggestion that someone might have tampered with them. It could even prove that the moisture was caused by condensation or sweating – the tight covers were pulled over a slightly damp surface last night – though the degree of dampness on the pitch would seem to render that unlikely.Either way, the delay may well be an embarrassment to the WACA Ground management. This is the venue’s final Ashes Test, though other less high-profile matches, including Tests may still be staged here, and this incident is sure to cause some reflection on the quality of covers at the ground.

Bowling an “Indian length” in the first innings in Cape Town, on Test debut, is an error Jasprit Bumrah has admitted to. In a low-scoring match that featured no centuries, just three half-centuries, and assistance for seam bowlers throughout, India conceded 286 in the first innings after having reduced South Africa to 12 for 3. After that India were left to play catch-up, which they did with an improved performance with the ball in the second innings, but the damage had already been done on the first day.Bumrah himself was the main culprit, the only bowler to bowl half-volleys in the first session, which Faf du Plessis drove at with relish. “In the first innings we thought we bowled a little fuller than the normal because in India the wickets are different where we have to pitch fuller to get the swing and to get the batsmen on the front foot,” he said. “Over here there is bounce, there is a little bit of difference. We analysed that and tried to adapt in the second innings, and as a unit we were able to create pressure, so that was the basic plan going into the second innings. That worked well. So hopefully, we will see videos of these wickets, what happens over here and we plan according to it.”India didn’t train at all on the day before the first Test, and at the end of the match the visiting captain Virat Kohli said there was nothing wrong with the preparation. However, this is not the first time that India’s fast bowlers have failed to adjust to conditions, and it cannot be all down to preparation. What happens out in the middle is completely different.Bumrah is reputed to be a quick learner, which has already made him one of the best – if not the best – bowlers in limited-overs cricket. To his credit, Bumrah showed that ability to learn quickly and did not repeat the mistakes in the second innings. He was driven 28 times in 19 overs in the first innings, but once he realised the mistake, he pulled the length back and was driven only 12 times in the 11.2 overs he bowled. He began to hit the pitch hard on that heavy in-between length, and bowled a brute to dismiss du Plessis.”We realised what mistakes we made in the first innings, so we were trying to create pressure from both ends and focus on our lengths, which were wrong in the first innings,” Bumrah said. “We just tried to correct them and not overdo things because over here, when there is help from the wicket, you try to do extra but that won’t help. So we were just trying to be disciplined and stick to basics.”Jasprit Bumrah’s pitch maps•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The Cape Town Test was Bumrah’s first first-class match in a year although he did have 89 first-class wickets from 26 matches. Not having played the format for this long, he said, was not on his mind as he prepared for his debut. “Not nervousness, it’s not like in my life I was playing a first-class game for the first time, I have played a lot of four-day games,” Bumrah said when asked if he felt nervous when he was told he was going to play.”There was a discussion that I would play the match, so I was talking to our bowling coach on what kind of things I should do, what kind of wickets are over here or what should I expect. You can think ‘this is going to happen’ and ‘that’s going to happen’ but as soon as you’re in, things are different. My basic plan was to go inside and have a feel of the wicket and changes should be made accordingly.”The performance on the first day, and the part it might have played in the eventual result, didn’t hurt Bumrah’s confidence. “Confidence doesn’t dent after one match,” Bumrah said. “If it happens, then you don’t deserve to play. Learn from the mistake you made, and go forward. There is not a single cricketer who has not made a mistake. You keep learning and you keep improving all the time. We are trying to rectify our mistakes and move forward.”The team management seems to be impressed with how quickly Bumrah made amends to his lengths. Indeed, in admitting a mistake is the first step to rectifying it, but in a tight series such as this, India can’t afford to have a whole session of ordinary bowling because as Newlands showed us, the visitors only played catch-up thereafter.

Big picture

A tour of two halves now reaches its bonus add-on: three T20s in a week, played as double-headers with the same women’s teams of these two nations, who are in completely contrasting moods.India are on a high. Led by a captain that is considered among the best players not just of his generation, but ever, they have won a bilateral series in South Africa for the first time. In so doing, they have also humiliated the hosts and derailed their plans for “Vision 2019”. South Africa can only accept that they have been dealt “a good hiding”, and will spend the T20 series skulking away, with most of their big names absent and their egos bruised.South Africa’s experimental squad is mostly a result of timing. They start a four-Test series against Australia five days after the last T20 and have rested all but AB de Villiers from the T20s. It’s fair to say their focus will be elsewhere and expectations from these three matches will be quite low.JP Duminy, who was overlooked for the ODI captaincy, will lead the T20 outfit, as he has done five times before. Duminy has a win-loss record of 3-2 with a series win over Bangladesh and a loss against Australia to his name. Though his chances of captaining much in future are slim, Duminy will still want to make a good impression against India, who are intent on dominating.Since winning the Wanderers Test, India’s only missed step was falling short in the rain-affected ODI at the same venue. On their return for the final time this summer, they will want to show just how much they enjoy this stadium and thrive being on top. Expect nothing less than a ruthless display.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WWLWL
India: WWWWL

In the spotlight

Farhaan Behardien was considered hard done by after he was initially left out of the one-day squad despite being among the domestic competition’s top performers. He then seemed harder done by when he only got to play one game, by which time the series was lost. It didn’t help that he lasted just five balls and was dismissed for 1. Behardien should have a much greater role in the T20s, as one of the senior-most batsman in the squad, and could use it as an opportunity to show his value across white-ball formats.India’s senior statesman MS Dhoni did not have enough time at the crease to bring up 10,000 ODI runs and now needs to turn his attention to not needing time. Dhoni’s slow starts in T20s, especially given his position in the middle order, have now become a cause for concern and he will need to fire quickly to re-establish himself as the finisher.

Team news

An experimental South African side could see as many as three new caps with wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen guaranteed a start and middle-order batsman Christiaan Jonker and seamer Junior Dala in the mix. South Africa’s experience is sandwiched between an inexperienced opening pair in Reeza Hendricks and Jon-Jon Smuts and a younger middle-to-lower order and tail.South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Jon-Jon Smuts, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 JP Duminy (capt), 5 David Miller/Farhaan Behardien, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Christiaan Jonker/Chris Morris, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Junior Dala, 10 Dane Paterson, 11 Aaron PhangisoIndia’s big decision will be in the middle order, where they are likely to have a choice between Suresh Raina – who has been selected in India’s squad after a long absence – and Manish Pandey.India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Manish Pandey/Dinesh Karthik, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

The Wanderers’ demerit points haven’t gone anywhere but as long as the surface is similar to the one the ODI was played on, it should be another batsman-friendly pitch and fast outfield, which should lead to a high-scoring game. Afternoon thundershowers are forecast but should be nothing more than a quick burst.

Stats and trivia

• India have a 6-2 record against South Africa in all T20Is.
• South Africa have played exactly 100 T20Is, winning 59 and losing 40.
• Virat Kohli is 43 runs away from becoming the first Indian batsman to reach 2000 T20I runs.

ScorecardGetty Images

A typically gritty performance from Matthew Wade steered Tasmania to an encouraging position in their quest to wrestle the Sheffield Shield trophy from Queensland. After the match started with a Friday of stops, Tasmania threw away a string of starts that threatened to damage their hopes until an afternoon surge overseen by Wade moved them to 6 for 360.The season has been a difficult one for Wade, who began the campaign as the Test wicketkeeper before being traded for state team-mate Tim Paine, but his batting hasn’t suffered. At stumps he was unbeaten on 92 and on the verge of his third Shield century of the summer. Wade has won two Shield trophies with Victoria in the past three attempts, and is eyeing another triumph with his native state.Wade displayed both control and patches of aggression. He pulled Michael Neser for six and added 12 boundaries, including a crisp four to bring up his half-century. Dropped on 32, Wade refocussed and the momentum started to swing in the afternoon when he added a brisk 84 with Simon Milenko, and 55 with Tom Rogers (28 not out). Playing against his old team, Milenko reminded his mates of his power by racing to 50 off 58 deliveries before being caught on the square-leg boundary aiming for a third six.Tasmania are handicapped by needing to win the game outright to lift the Shield, and after the first-day wash-out, the specialist batsmen often seemed unsure whether to hang around or push the pace. Queensland struck regularly without dominating, benefiting from a series of mistakes just as the Tasmanians seemed ready to go on.Jordan Silk’s platform-building ended at 76 when he attempted to clear two men in the deep and was caught smartly by Luke Feldman at fine leg. Jake Doran (34) also suffered from being too adventurous, edging an attempted hook from a Brendan Doggett short ball, and George Bailey’s only problem during his half-century arrived when he badly misjudged a single and was beaten by Neser’s direct hit two balls after tea. Doggett was the most penetrative of the Queensland attack with 3 for 83.After winning the toss, Tasmania’s morning began badly with Alex Doolan’s edge off Neser in the fifth over. Beau Webster’s departure to a smart catch behind from Jimmy Peirson created further nerves but their position became steadier throughout the afternoon as Wade helped set up an intriguing third day.

“What the f*** is going on?”These were the words that distanced Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann from the ball-tampering plot hatched by David Warner and Cameron Bancroft with the approval of Steven Smith. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has said this was the message Lehmann relayed to Bancroft via 12th man Peter Handscomb, whom he spoke to on a walkie talkie.Lehmann offered this version of events to the CA head of integrity Iain Roy when interviewed at the team hotel in Cape Town on Monday, and it was accepted with the help of corroborating witnesses. Sutherland said this explained Lehmann’s absence from the charge sheet released by CA on Wednesday, which handed bans to Warner, Bancroft and Smith.”It is understood and it has been verified by others that on the walkie-talkie he said… you guys probably saw it, the first time anyone knew about it was when it came up on the vision screen,” Sutherland said in Johannesburg. “He saw that and he radioed down and he said ‘what the f*** is going on?’ He said to Handscomb: ‘Find out what the f*** is going on’.”Beyond that I would like to just touch on that he brought everyone into the room when the next break was [at tea]. He basically went through everyone and went ‘what is going on?’ There are other parts of the investigation that asked lots of questions of lots of people to try and understand that. But in Darren’s defence, these were findings that Iain Roy had.”Asked whether Lehmann found out at that stage whether Bancroft was using sandpaper or the adhesive tape he later claimed to have used, Sutherland replied: “I don’t know what the specific messages were. But for Iain it was very important to hear. Darren’s reaction to those things was pretty clear. He’s obviously tried to verify or understand [what] anyone else’s involvement [was].”However Sutherland reiterated that Lehmann’s role in the wider culture of the team would be examined by the independent review to be commissioned into the conduct of Australian men’s teams. “I’ve got no doubt that he feels some sort of personal responsibility for that. We all do. This is a terrible situation,” Sutherland said. “There are three guys going home that have been offered sanctions that are life-changing.”There is a feeling of guilt and questions obviously being asked of lots of people as to why or how that might have happened. That’s part of the purpose of later discussion and review. We’ll clearly take on board whatever comes out of such investigations. But further to that I think it’s really important that to say this process is about culture and performance and all of that, but it’s also about the standing of the Australian cricket team and how they engage with the Australian public.”There is a rebuild that needs to happen to reinstate the faith and the confidence and I guess the pride that the Australian public had and should have in the Australian cricket team. The review will be deep and far ranging. We’re committed to doing something about it. We cannot have this happen again. It’s just unquestionable and so obvious. If there are things that allow little things to turn into big things that allow this to happen, then you’ve got to go back to the core and find out what the little things are and address them. That is what we’ll be doing.”Turning his attention to Smith, Warner and Bancroft, Sutherland agreed that their charges and hefty punishments had more to do with the outrage their actions had caused than the specifics of ball tampering itself. “They haven’t been charged by Cricket Australia for ball tampering,” he said. “It’s something that’s important to remind people that the code is worth reading, those four dot points, that’s what they’ve been charged for.”That’s the significance. It relates to contrary to the spirit of the game, it relates to denigrating the game or having an impact on the reputation and image of the game, causing damage to the game, all of those things have quite clearly happened in a short space of time as a result of those actions. That’s what the report is for and the sanctions are on that basis.”As for the future prospects of Smith captaining Australia again, Sutherland said the 28-year-old had a steep road ahead. “His ban is for captaincy is 24 months. It’s not before 24 months,” he said. “All I’d say is that he’s got a very steep hill to climb to rebuild the confidence and faith of the Australian public.”Ultimately, the public and the Board who approve the captains of the Australian teams are the ones who will decide that or not. I think he’s got that opportunity. I know speaking to him today before he left, he actually said with a smile on his face when we were talking about the community service and working at club cricket, he said with a smile on his face ‘I’ll be doing that anyway’, which I think says a lot about him.”Warner, by contrast, is believed to have a far more lowly standing with CA’s Board and management. “Everyone’s different, Cameron Bancroft’s different as well,” Sutherland said. “Different relationships with different people. Irrespective of that, I think when you boil it down everyone will have different perspectives.”But when you have a look at it I think Steve Smith and David Warner both 12 months suspensions, it’s fair. Steve is the captain, David the vice-captain, they play different roles, they’re guilty of different things in our view, based on the investigation. People will have different views but the Board was dealing with the evidence they had in front of them.”The prospect of a challenge to the sanctions and a code of conduct hearing, Sutherland said, was simply something that CA would have to negotiate. The three players have seven days to deliberate on whether to challenge or not. “All we can do is uphold the code to our best judgement and take into considerations the evidence we have,” he said. “It’s about the spirit of cricket, it’s about the good of the game, it’s not about individuals or thinking about those sorts of consequences.”We’ve got to make those judgements on what’s best for the game and quite rightly as a course of natural justice under our code, players have the right to accept or reject the charges or the sanctions or both, and, if they do, to take that to appeal. That’s a good, proper legal process and that’s why it’s written that way.”

Chennai Super Kings’ home matches in IPL 2018 have been moved out of Chennai, but they won’t be lacking in support in Pune, as the team management has arranged a chartered train called from Chennai to Pune for about 1000 fans. All the expenses of the fans, including food, accommodation, local transportation, train and match tickets, will be borne by the CSK management.The arrangements have been made only for the game against Rajasthan Royals on Friday, but CSK officials are keen to bring the fans back for the remaining ‘home’ matches in Pune too.CSK’s fans created a buzz on Thursday morning, when they reached the Chennai Central railway station as early as 6am for the 8.30am train. After watching the match on Friday night, the fans will leave for Chennai the next day in the same train. Fourteen coaches, including one air-conditioned coach, have been allotted by the Indian railways.”Fans from the CSK fan club were very particular about seeing the match,” Kasi Viswananthan, the Super Kings CEO, told ESPNcricinfo. “The fans made a request to make arrangements just three days back, and we took it up and thought it would be a good gesture to give back to the fans who have been the livewire for the team, even when the team was not there for two years.”To organise for all matches in Pune is going to be a big task. Depending on the first match experience, we’ll explore the possibilities for the coming matches. Everything is for the CSK fans.”ARR Sriram, the joint-secretary of CSK’s fan club, was thrilled with the management’s response and the revelry among the fans in the train.”We had planned to go to every home match and cheer for the team this season, but, unfortunately, the games were shifted out of Chennai,” he said. “Thanks to the CSK management, we can cheer for the team in Pune now. Recently, you saw the support for CSK when they landed in Pune. The atmosphere in the train is electric. We have created a separate group for the fans in the train, and it’s full of excitement.”Fans had arrived at the railway station at 6am itself; the train left Chennai at 8.30. Chennai Central was filled with , and the other passengers came and asked where we were going. It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime feeling.”

Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, has pulled out of the World XI charity T20 against West Indies after suffering a finger injury. He will be replaced in the team by Sam Billings, with Shahid Afridi taking his place as captain.Morgan sustained a crack to the ring finger on his right hand while fielding in Middlesex’s last Royal London Cup game. England expected him to be out for 7-10 days, meaning he would be fit to lead the ODI side against Scotland on June 10, ahead of their five-match series against Australia.England are set to announce their ODI squad on Wednesday, but Morgan was hopeful of returning for Middlesex before the end of their Royal London Cup campaign.”It caught me on the top of the finger, initially it was quite bruised,” Morgan said. “I went for a precautionary X-ray about two hours ago and there’s a slight fracture at the top of my ring finger on my right hand.”It’s not a huge concern, one we can hopefully manage past about a week, once the swelling goes down. It’s not fractured into the joint, which is a really good result, but obviously disappointing to miss any cricket.”Surrey allrounder Sam Curran, who has yet to be capped by England, and left-arm quick Tymal Mills have also been added to the World XI squad as cover for Thursday’s game at Lord’s.Morgan was absent from the early weeks of the season after breaking a thumb in the nets, but was fit enough to play his first Championship match in three years in May. He has since featured in five Royal London Cup games, scoring two half-centuries, but will definitely miss Wednesday’s game against Hampshire at the Merchant Taylors’ School.