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Allrounder Angelo Mathews has replaced fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana in Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad. Pathirana had suffered a shoulder injury while playing Pakistan in Hyderabad on October 10, and was ruled out of Sri Lanka’s subsequent matches against Australia and Netherlands.Mathews had already linked up with the squad ahead of the match against Netherlands, having been called up as a travelling reserve along side fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera.Related

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Former captain Mathews, 36, last played an ODI against Afghanistan in June. He comes with plenty of experience on this stage though, having played the World Cups in 2011, 2015 and 2019. He was Sri Lanka’s captain during the 2015 edition.Pathirana is Sri Lanka’s second injury loss this World Cup after their captain Dasun Shanaka was ruled out due to a quadriceps tear, which he had also picked up during the match against Pakistan. Chamika Karunaratne had taken Shanaka’s place in Sri Lanka’s squad, with wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis standing in as captain. They are also without legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who was ruled out of the World Cup with an injury.Before his injury, Pathirana was taken for as many as 185 runs in the 19 overs that he had bowled across matches against South Africa and Pakistan, with an economy rate of almost 10.Sri Lanka are looking for an upswing in form themselves, having registered their first win of the World Cup when they beat Netherlands by five wickets in Lucknow on Saturday, having lost three in a row till then. They are currently placed ninth on the points table.

England Lions have announced a 15-man squad for their red-ball tour of India in the New Year, designed to run parallel with the men’s five-match Test series at the start of 2024.Hosted entirely in Ahmedabad, the Lions will play a two-day warm-up match against India A, followed by three four-day matches against the same opponents at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The group will be in situ from January 12 to February 4, coinciding with the first Test in Hyderabad (starting January 25) and the first half of the second Test in Visakhapatnam (February 2).The squad will ultimately shadow the main tour and as such has more of a “second XI” feel than the spin and allrounder heavy group who recently completed a three-week training camp in the UAE. Recent Test openers Alex Lees and Keaton Jennings are part of the 15, along with internationally capped fast bowlers Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Matt Fisher.Related

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Uncapped Lancashire batter Josh Bohannon, long considered the next cab off the ranks, will captain after leading the County Championship Division One run charts last summer with 1,257 at an average of 59.85 with four centuries. Sussex off-spinner Jack Carson and left-arm orthodox Callum Parkinson, who has moved from Leicestershire to Durham, are also included. Both were shots for the main tour before Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum picked precocious Somerset spinner Shoaib Bashir. James Coles (Sussex) and Dan Mousley (Warwickshire) are the two other slow bowlers in the travelling party.England Men’s performance director Mo Bobat said: “Playing a series in India at any level is a challenge to get excited about, it’s one of the truest tests for any cricketer. It’s great that our Lions team can experience that challenge and have the opportunity to showcase their skills in those conditions.”The squad has a strong core of players in it that were out in Abu Dhabi recently for the training camp, with some of those players already selected into the Test squad. There’s also a return for some more experienced players which aligns with supporting England’s more immediate needs.”England Lions squad: Josh Bohannon (Lancashire, captain), Kasey Aldridge (Somerset), Brydon Carse (Durham), Jack Carson (Sussex), James Coles (Sussex), Matt Fisher (Yorkshire), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Tom Lawes (Surrey), Alex Lees (Durham), Dan Mousley (Warwickshire), Callum Parkinson (Durham), Matt Potts (Durham), Ollie Price (Gloucestershire), James Rew (Somerset), Ollie Robinson (Durham)Schedule12-13 January: England Lions v India A, Narendra Modi Stadium – Ground B, Ahmedabad17-20 January: England Lions v India A, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad24-27 January: England Lions v India A, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad1-4 February: England Lions v India A, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Rachin Ravindra and Amelia Kerr have won top honours at the New Zealand Cricket Awards in Christchurch on Wednesday. Ravindra, 24, was the youngest player to receive the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal, the highest award for men’s cricket in New Zealand, while Kerr took home its counterpart in women’s cricket – the Debbie Hockley Medal – for the second year in a row.The medal capped a remarkable breakthrough season for Ravindra on the international stage, where he made a mark for New Zealand in all formats. He was a rising star at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, scoring 578 runs at an average of 64 with three centuries. He also scored his maiden Test hundred – 240 at Bay Oval – earlier this year and helped New Zealand score their first Test series win against South Africa.Kerr not only won the Debbie Hockley Medal, she was also named ODI and T20I player of the year as well as the Super Smash women’s player of the year. She was New Zealand’s leading ODI run-scorer (541 at an average of 67), their joint-highest T20I wicket-taker and second-highest T20I run-scorer (252 runs at a strike rate of 118).Kane Williamson was named New Zealand’s Test player of the year and also won the Redpath Cup for men’s first-class batting. Williamson scored 619 runs at an average of 56 with four hundreds in the six Tests within the consideration period. Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner were the ODI and T20I players of the year, respectively.The Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding service to cricket was awarded to administrator Trudy Anderson. She was responsible for operations at Canterbury Cricket for 21 years and played important roles in the New Zealand leg of the 2015 ODI World Cup, the 2022 Women’s World Cup, and at the 2010 and 2018 Men’s U-19 World Cups.

2024 New Zealand Cricket Awards winners

Sir Richard Hadlee Medal – Rachin Ravindra
Debbie Hockley Medal – Amelia Kerr
Bert Sutcliffe Medal for Outstanding Services to Cricket – Trudy Anderson
Test Player of the Year – Kane Williamson
Men’s ODI Player of the Year – Daryl Mitchell
Women’s ODI Player of the Year – Amelia Kerr
Men’s T20I Player of the Year – Mitchell Santner
Women’s T20I Player of the Year – Amelia KerrMen’s Domestic Player of the Year – Nathan Smith
Women’s Domestic Player of the Year – Emma Black
Super Smash Men’s Player of the Year – Danru Ferns
Super Smash Women’s Player of the Year – Amelia KerrThe Redpath Cup for men’s first-class batting – Kane Williamson
The Ruth Martin Cup for women’s domestic batting – Suzie Bates
The Winsor Cup for men’s first-class bowling – Matt Henry
The Phyl Blackler Cup for women’s domestic bowling – Emma Black
New Zealand Umpire of the Year – Chris Brown

Ben Mike returned to haunt his former county Yorkshire with a brilliant, counterattacking 90 as Leicestershire’s lower order carried their side to a first-innings 354 on day two at Headingley.This was another weather-shortened day in the Vitality County Championship opener, play only starting at 1.40pm due to a wet outfield – two hours earlier than day one.Yorkshire held sway overnight with the visitors at 164 for 5, and three wickets inside the first 75 minutes strengthened their position. Seamer Matt Milnes claimed two of them on the way to 4 for 73. However, allrounder Mike impressively led the revival from 215 for 8, sharing a record ninth-wicket stand of 119 either side of tea with tailender Tom Scriven, who contributed a valuable 56.Mike then struck twice in his first two overs with the ball as Yorkshire replied with 72 for 2 from 18 overs at close.Mike, who hit four sixes in 113 balls, left Yorkshire in November, one year into a three-year deal. He returned to the Uptonsteel County Ground in search of greater opportunity in this competition.The 25-year-old only played two Championship matches during his season and a bit at Headingley, the latter part of 2022 spent on loan wearing the white rose. In Yorkshire colours, Mike claimed a best of 4 for 40 with the ball in a One-Day Cup match last August but didn’t top 30 with the bat in any competitive fixture.Home supporters will, therefore, have fully expected sod’s law to kick in, and it did as Mike played superbly. He was aggressive but selective with it from No. 9 in the order, arriving at the crease at 177 for 7.He slog-swept and pulled three leg-side sixes en route to a 56-ball fifty, taking on the left-arm spin of Dan Moriarty and the seam of fellow allrounder George Hill. He later pulled Milnes for another as a century came into view.Mike wasn’t without fortune, however. On 38, he miscued Moriarty and offered a tough chance to Jordan Thompson running in from long-on. Another skied miscue shortly afterwards caught the strong wind sweeping across Headingley and took another catch out of the same fielder’s reach as he ran towards midwicket.Mike was ably supported by Scriven, the pair recording Leicestershire’s highest ever ninth-wicket partnership in first-class fixtures, beating a record which stood for 85 years.Yorkshire’s day had started well. Milnes had both Australian overseas batter Peter Handscomb, for 26, and nightwatchman Scott Currie caught behind as the score slipped to 177 for 7 inside the first six overs of play. Both were playing loosely outside off stump.Matthew Fisher cartwheeled Ben Cox’s off stump for 32, leaving the Foxes in danger of not reaching 250. But Mike was followed to a fifty by Scriven, who got there off 71 balls. By that time, the visitors were far, far happier at 327 for 8.Seven more runs had been added when Ben Coad, bowling with the new ball, trapped Scriven lbw, only for Mike to ensure a third batting point for reaching 350.One of Yorkshire’s issues last season was their inability to finish off the tail in matches. If they are to fulfil their Division Two title ambitions in 2024, that needs addressing.The innings was wrapped up when Milnes had Mike caught superbly at deep cover by Fisher, leaving Yorkshire with almost an hour-and-a-half’s batting to do before close.And it wasn’t entirely straightforward as Mike had Fin Bean caught behind with his third ball and captain Shan Masood caught at second slip playing loosely – the latter for a duck – as the score slipped to 47 for 2 in the 13th over.Adam Lyth played fluently for 43 not out, the ex-England opener reaching 12,000 Championship career runs on the way, before bad light stopped play four overs early.

The lack of a proactive batting approach against Sunrisers Hyderabad’s left-arm fingerspinners on a dry Chepauk pitch, which offered more purchase to the slower bowlers in the second innings, cost Rajasthan Royals a spot in the IPL 2024 final. This is the assessment of their captain Sanju Samson after they managed only 139 for 7 in their pursuit of 176 in the second qualifier in Chennai on Friday.”I think we were found short of options in the middle overs against spin, and I think that’s where we lost the game,” Samson said after the game. “Against left-arm spin, we had three-four right-handers in the middle and the ball was stopping. But we could’ve tried a bit more [options] – reverse-sweep or use of the crease a bit more – and they [SRH] also bowled really well, actually.”It’s actually very hard to guess – when we can expect dew or not [in Chennai]. So, the wicket started behaving differently in the second innings. The ball started turning a bit and they used the advantage and bowled spin in the middle overs against our right-handers and that’s where they were one-up against us.”Related

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The Chepauk track had offered an average turn of 1.8 degrees in the first innings, but that number jumped up to 3.3 degrees in the second, according to the host broadcaster. SRH had left out their main spinners, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Mayank Markande, for this knockout game. But Shahbaz Ahmed, who was subbed in as an Impact Player more for his batting than bowling, combined with Abhishek Sharma for figures of 8-0-47-5. Aiden Markram also found sharp turn in the only over that he bowled.Once Yashasvi Jaiswal fell, Royals’ batting collapsed•Getty Images

Yashasvi Jaiswal reverse-swept the first ball he faced from Shahbaz to the shorter off-side boundary, but later in the same over, he holed out for 42 off 21 balls. SRH then matched up their left-arm spinners with RR’s right-hander heavy middle-order to damage the chase. Kumar Sangakkara, RR’s director of cricket, echoed Samson’s comments, suggesting their batters should’ve shown more intent and game-awareness to throw Shahbaz and Abhishek off their lengths and lines.”I think we’ve got to be a lot more clinical in our chases and these games are not won quite easily,” Sangakkara said at his post-match press conference. “Jaiswal getting out at that stage brought the left-arm spinners into the game and after that it was a little difficult, but it was a case of just hanging in there and getting the pace of the wicket again and getting the hang of the bowler. As Dhruv Jurel showed, if you show intent and if you play smart shots, you can chase a score, but, unfortunately, we weren’t good enough on the day. I thought the Sunrisers held in, they batted deep, and their bowlers did a great job for them.”

Samson: ‘RR have found some great talent for India’

Sangakkara, however, was pleased with how the season panned out for them overall. RR were the early pace-setters winning eight of their first nine games before they lost four in a row and somehow scrapped to the second qualifier, despite Jos Buttler leaving the IPL for England duty towards the business end of the tournament. RR also had to contend with an injury to their finisher Shimron Hetmyer midway through the season.”I think it was a great season for us,” Sangakkara said. “We started really well and then we lost a close game to SRH in Hyderabad. And then in Delhi also we put ourselves in winning positions and sometimes you have streaks. RCB lost almost every game at the start and then caught up. That’s how T20 goes.”All we can do is to put ourselves in positions for playoffs and vying for finals, which we did. I think all the guys through the season played really phenomenal cricket and there was a little bit of fatigue, of course, at the back end. But it doesn’t really matter when you’re in games like this – you’ve got to turn up and perform.”1:02

Why didn’t Royals’ spinners have an impact at Chepauk?

Samson was also impressed with how a number of players stepped up for RR through the season. He singled out Riyan Parag and Jurel for special praise, saying they could be match-winners for India too. Parag ended the season with 573 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of just under 150 – only Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli have scored more runs than him this season – while Jurel played some sparkling cameos.”To be very honest, we’ve had some brilliant games not only this season, but the last three years have been a great project for our franchise,” Samson said. “We’ve found some really great talent for the country, I think. Riyan Parag coming out of this season and Dhruv Jurel and a lot of them are looking really exciting, not only for RR but for the Indian cricket team.”

Sangakkara: ‘We are just lucky to have Sandeep’

On the bowling front, Sandeep Sharma, who was once a powerplay specialist in the IPL, has excelled for RR along with Avesh Khan, who had been traded in from Lucknow Super Giants ahead of IPL 2024. Sandeep was also on point with his variations in the second qualifier against SRH, coming away with the big wickets of Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen while giving up just 25 runs in his four overs. Sangakkara heaped praise on Sandeep for refashioning himself into a death bowler.”I think it’s just a case of changing his role. We always knew that a lot of sides used him upfront but with his pace and skill, we identified that he will be very, very effective for us in the middle and at the back end,” Sangakkara said. That’s what we tasked him with.”We didn’t have the services of Prasidh Krishna again. Navdeep Saini was injured, and he was coming back from a big shoulder injury and came [in] halfway through the season. For two seasons now, Sandeep has been absolutely outstanding for us. He’s just a mature cricketer and he knows exactly what he can do and can’t do, and he sticks to the basics. He tries to swing the new ball and once he’s out of it, he changes his pace and he’s got incredible skill and we’re just lucky to have him.”

Miles Hammond struck a sparkling 112 off 133 balls, his first century in two years to help propel Gloucestershire to 338 for 8 against Northamptonshire on day one of this Vitality County Championship match at Wantage Road.Despite hitting eight fifties last season, and three so far this year, this was the first time Hammond had gone on to reach three figures since making 169 against Hampshire in Cheltenham, the town of his birth, in 2022.While batting was never straightforward with swing on offer throughout the day, Hammond took the attacking route, hitting 17 boundaries and reaching his milestone by swotting Northamptonshire quick George Scrimshaw high over fine leg for a big six. Gloucestershire’s Australian overseas signing Cameron Bancroft also contributed a solid 53 at the top of the order.Indian international Siddarth Kaul meanwhile made an immediate impact on his Northamptonshire debut, taking 4 wickets for 58 in 23 testing overs, including three in the afternoon session. Ultimately though, his new county were unable to press home their advantage of having the visitors 119 for 3 as Gloucestershire made hay in the afternoon sunshine against some loose bowling.Northamptonshire did stage a good fightback, taking three late wickets with the new ball including one for evergreen seamer Ben Sanderson, playing his 100th first-class match for his adopted county.Northamptonshire won the toss and decided to bowl, fielding a largely new look attack, with Scrimshaw playing only his second game for the Tudor Rose, and Nottinghamshire spinning all-rounder Liam Patterson-White coming in on a one-match loan deal.Gloucestershire batted solidly during the morning, Bancroft taking on the extra pace of Scrimshaw, pulling him for four and cutting him crisply for two more boundaries.But it was the former Derbyshire bowler who made the first breakthrough, getting one to lift to Ben Charlesworth (16) who could only edge behind.Northamptonshire continued to apply pressure and create chances in the hour before lunch. New batter Ollie Price took 29 balls to get off the mark and both he and Bancroft edged balls which landed just short of the slips.After the interval, Kaul picked up the big wicket of Bancroft when he fell lbw to the third delivery of the session. The bowler, who is hoping to impress the Indian Test selectors during his Northamptonshire stint, bowled consistently all day, finding plenty of movement to trouble the batters.Kaul then accounted for Price (10) with a peach of a delivery which angled in before swinging away to take the edge, Emilio Gay taking an excellent diving catch at second slip.Hammond though looked in fine form, unfurling two glorious swivel pull shots against Scrimshaw before slapping him square for another boundary and driving Kaul firmly through the covers. He also took on the spin of Patterson-White, twice dispatching him over the infield.He was joined in a partnership of 75 for the fourth wicket by James Bracey (33) who cover drove Sanderson for two fours and hit Patterson-White over midwicket before he became Kaul’s third wicket, adjudged lbw to a full one which shaped back in.Hammond and skipper Graeme van Buuren (46) then put on 67, with runs flowing freely as Northamptonshire failed to capitalise on the movement on offer. Hammond finally fell soon after celebrating his century when he came down the wicket to Patterson-White and chipped the ball to midwicket where Ricardo Vasconcelos held a stunning diving catch.van Buuren brought out the sweep against Patterson-White to take Gloucestershire past 300 before the momentum swung back Northamptonshire’s way.Sanderson had been unlucky not to pick up a wicket earlier in the day, but had been wayward too, leaking runs down the leg side. He finally drew the edge from van Buuren with Vasconcelos taking a sharp catch at third slip. Then Tom Price (23), dropped early in his innings, was finally caught at slip to give Luke Procter a well-earned reward after toiling hard all day.Zafar Gohar became Kaul’s fourth wicket when he edged behind, but the bowler was denied a fifth in the penultimate over when Gay dropped Marchant de Lange in the slips.

Bangladesh showed spark in parts but it was the return of legspinner Georgia Wareham that stole the headlines as Australia continued their winning run at the Women’s T20 World Cup.Wareham picked up three wickets – including two in her last over – to restrict Bangladesh to 107 despite a feisty half-century from their captain Nigar Sultana. With a batting line-up as enviable as Australia’s, it was a walk in the park as Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning made light work of the chase to notch up a win in the first-ever women’s international at St. George’s Park in Gqeberha.

Healy, Lanning douse Marufa fire

Young Marufa Akter starred in Bangladesh’s Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup campaign and continued her good run. She began the 107-run defence with a fiery opening spell, bowling five dots on the trot to Healy, who was seemingly troubled by her seam movement. However, Marufa strayed on her pads on the last ball to get her going.However, the 18-year-old fast bowler from Saidpur, a small town to the North of Dhaka, struck in her next over. She lured Beth Mooney into an uncertain poke at an away-swinger to give slip a low catch. She believed. Bangladesh believed. But Healy and Lanning did, too.Nigar introduced spin after Marufa’s second over and it was all downhill thereon for Bangladesh. Healy welcomed the left-arm spin of Nahida Akter with a huge hit back over her head before Lanning played a square drive for four. In the penultimate over of the powerplay, Healy hit Salma Khatun for back-to-back fours and Lanning then hit Nahida for another in the next over. By the time the powerplay came to a close, Australia had raced to 45 for 1.Coming in for Jahanara Alam in the XI, legspinner Fahima Khatun’s first over saw Marufa fail to hang on to a tough catch running to her left from long-off. Boundaries then dried up as Australia managed just one four between overs eight and twelve. In a bid to hit another, Healy mishit one to short cover to give leggie Shorna Akter her maiden international wicket.Australia slowed down in the middle overs and it was not until the 19th over that they crossed the line. Lanning finished unbeaten on 48 off 49 balls with Ashleigh Gardner ending 19 not out.Nigar Sultana swipes one through square leg•ICC/Getty Images

A welcome return for Wareham

Seeing a track aiding spin in Gqeberha, Australia opted to add another wristspinner in Wareham instead of left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen. She had last played an international game in October 2021. And perhaps the nerves were on show as her first delivery was a full-toss duly dispatched to the ropes by Shobana Mostary. But, call it a legspinner’s trait or luck, an innocuous delivery fetched her her first wicket of the night.Mostary looked to turn a shortish ball to the on side, only to hit it via the leading edge to midwicket. Wareham was on the board. She then found her flight and also the lengths, almost trapping Shorna lbw in the same over. She stifled a set Nigar and Shorna as Australia successfully applied the squeeze in the middle overs. She conceded only one four in her first three overs – when Nigar successfully sliced one between backward point and short third.Frustration got the better of Shorna in Wareham’s last over. She tried to give her the charge, only to be deceived by the flight and dip to be bowled through the gate. Three balls later, Wareham made the experienced Rumana Ahmed look pedestrian after she missed her sweep and was bowled. Wareham signed off with a sharp ripper – turning away and just missing the outside edge of Ritu Moni’s bat and the off pole by a hair’s breadth – to signal a successful return to the big stage a day after she was picked up by Gujarat Giants at the Women’s Premier League auction.Nigar Sultana, the lone star with the batAfter Bangladesh opted to bat, their captain Nigar found herself in the middle in as early as the fourth over. Speedster Darcie Brown had managed to send back both the openers with only 11 on the board. Unfazed, Nigar drove Brown for successive fours to get off the blocks quickly.In what could be a strong contender for one of the shots of the tournament, Nigar shimmied down and had a free swing of her arms to deposit legspinner Alana King over the long-on ropes. This was a delivery after she cut the same bowler through cover-point using the depth of the crease. While runs were not easy to come by – something she confirmed during the mid-innings chat with the on-air broadcasters – she hardly stalled. She almost seemed to have extra time to play her strokes, be it the drive or the pulls and the cuts.Nigar became the first woman from Bangladesh to score a half-century in T20 World Cups when she pushed Gardner towards cover off her 41st ball. She fell a couple of overs later for 56 off 46, having helped Bangladesh cross 100 but it was not a total that would have challenged the mighty Australians.

Dane van Niekerk will play regional cricket in England this summer. The former South Africa captain, who retired from international cricket earlier this month, has signed for Sunrisers on a two-and-a-half-month contract that will see her play in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Van Niekerk was re-signed by Oval Invincibles in the inaugural women’s draft for the Hundred on Thursday evening, and her deal with Sunrisers – the regional hub based around London and the East – means she will be in England for the majority of the summer.She was controversially left out of South Africa’s squad for the recent T20 World Cup on home soil after failing to meet a two-kilometre time trial benchmark, having struggled with injuries over the previous three years, and confirmed her retirement from international cricket last week.”I’m very excited to join up with my Sunrisers team-mates,” van Niekerk said. “I look forward to this new chapter and contributing to the overall success of the team. [I am] so grateful for the backing and can’t wait to get on the field to start playing.”Sunrisers have been the weakest of the eight English regional teams since the domestic system was revamped ahead of the 2020 season. They have only won once in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, the domestic T20 competition, and have never won a game in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.They have a new coach for this summer in Andy Tennant, the former Scotland international, while Northants’ assistant coach Chris Liddle has also been brought in over the winter to work with the squad’s seamers.”This is an extremely exciting time for Sunrisers, and having the ability to bring in Dané speaks volumes of the work that has been going on behind the scenes at this club,” Tennant said. “We all know exactly what Dané is capable of, and the experience that she will bring to our group of players is invaluable.”We made sure that the current squad were aware throughout the whole process, and Eva [Gray] and Mady [Villiers] have always spoken so highly of her after spending so much time together during the Hundred. She’s both a brilliant player and a brilliant person, and we can’t wait to welcome her into the Sunrisers family.”Van Niekerk’s deal with Sunrisers runs until the end of July, when she will link up with the Invincibles squad ahead of their opening Hundred fixture on August 2.

Big Picture: Four games in eight days for Sunrisers

The IPL is all about momentum in the back-half, something Lucknow Super Giants haven’t had. They last won more than two weeks ago, and have since grappled with their captain’s exit, and juggling their overseas combinations under a new stand-in. Two losses and a no-result in their last three games haven’t helped.Yet, their good work in the first half means a playoff spot for the second-year running isn’t entirely out of bounds. But to get there, they will still need to win at least two of their three remaining games – ideally all three – beginning with the one against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.For starters, they’d be glad it’s an away game, on a surface that will potentially offer more value to the batters than the ones they’ve had to play on back home. It’ll be a welcome change from the slow burns that has negated their home advantage greatly; they’ve won two and lost three so far.Their strategy has come in for much scrutiny after conceding 227 in a massive loss to the Gujarat Titans. Could they have promoted Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stones up the order, instead of Deepak Hooda, especially with a strong base at 102 for 1 in 10 overs? Did they err in picking an undercooked Mohsin Khan at a crucial juncture? Why did Ravi Bishnoi bowl just two overs? There are so many questions to answer.Related

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Sunrisers are coming off a jailbreak against Rajasthan Royals, but that was over five days ago. They’ve had plenty of rest before this game kickstarts what promises to be a hectic final week; they’ll play four games in eight days to round off the league phase. Every game is a must-win for them, and the margins for error are minimal.Like Super Giants, they’ve had to tinker around with their combinations, mostly with the batting. Two of their big-ticket signings – Mayank Agarwal and Harry Brook – have had to make way after underwhelming returns, while Glenn Phillips will be keen to build on his Player-of-the-match winning 7-ball 25 lower down the order.Beyond line-ups, strategies and results, the contest will throw up a tantalising prospect of watching legspinners of varied experience and skill go up against another. There’s Bishnoi and Amit Mishra from Super Giants, and Mayank Markande for Sunrisers. And the relatively bigger boundaries in Uppal could bring them all into play.The Super Giants spinners ran riot and exposed Sunrisers’ lack of left-handedness when the two sides last met. Spinners combined to take 6 for 57 in a low-scoring game that Super Giants won comfortably, by five wickets.A win for Sunrisers this time will allow them to join the 10-point logjam, while Super Giants can consolidate a spot in the top-four should they pocket two points. It’s all to play for then.

Recent results

Sunrisers Hyderabad WLWLL (last five matches, most recent first)Lucknow Super Giants LNLWL

Impact Player Strategy

Mishra could be subbed out for a Ayush Badoni when Super Giants bat. Sunrisers will possibly bring in T Natarajan when they bowl and sub him with Rahul Tripathi when they bat.Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Anmolpreet Singh, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram (capt), 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Vivrant Sharma, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Marco Jansen, 11 Mayank Markande, 12 T NatarajanLucknow Super Giants: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Krunal Pandya (capt), 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Deepak Hooda, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Mohsin Khan, 11 K Gowtham, 12 Amit Mishra

Stats that matter: Can Sunrisers’ misfiring batters step up?

Sophie Devine warned they were on their way about four seconds before the tears arrived. At Paarl in February 2023, she was hurting for every New Zealand player under her watch whose T20 World Cup campaign was basically over before it had begun. Back-to-back thrashings by Australia and South Africa had left the White Ferns captain wishing for a quick fix but knowing there was none, just a long road ahead.A year on, Devine says there is still work to be done if they are to match the depth of Australia, England and India. However, she sees New Zealand’s home T20I and ODI series against England as a benchmark ahead of their return series during the English summer, followed by another T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. Key to New Zealand’s concerns is a tiny population compared to their biggest rivals, just over five million people to draw from in a country where rugby union and netball dominate the sporting landscape.”Being brutally honest, no, there’s not much depth coming through and that’s where we’ve got to be realistic as a country, we don’t have millions of people that are playing cricket,” Devine told the ESPNcricinfo Powerplay podcast. “Although there’s been every intention to try and attract players, it’s similar to the men, we’re a small country and we’ve got to make the most of what we’ve got.Related

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“We’ve got a great domestic set-up in terms of the teams and the amount of games played, and I guess I’ve been lucky to have seen Australian Cricket for a number of years, both involved and also from the outside, and see the work that’s been put into their domestic set-up. That’s what has laid the platform for them to be so successful over the last 10, 15 years, the development of the professionalism of the game and the domestic set-up.”We’re still a fair way off that, and so I think there’s always going to be a bit of a gap. When you see the White Ferns and the contracted players and then the domestic players, bridging that gap is going to take time. But that’s not to say that a lot of work hasn’t been put in through New Zealand Cricket.”Devine’s team won their last two group games at the T20 World Cup but, unsurprisingly given the earlier results, they failed to qualify for the knockouts. Since then they have won a T20I series in Sri Lanka 2-1, drawn 1-1 on a rain-hit tour of South Africa and been defeated at home 2-1 by Pakistan in December. In ODIs they lost to Sri Lanka and South Africa before beating Pakistan 2-1, with Pakistan winning the third game in a Super Over.Against England, New Zealand’s core remains the same, albeit without WPL players Devine and Amelia Kerr to begin with. Georgia Plimmer, who has played 21 T20Is and was originally selected in the ODI squad, has been called up as a replacement, along with the uncapped Mikaela Greig. Seamer Rosemary Mair is back after making her last international appearance in August 2022 while batter Brooke Halliday, spinner Leigh Kasperek and teenage wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze are the other names back in the White Ferns squad who didn’t play at the T20 World Cup.Devine was lost for answers during New Zealand’s poor T20 World Cup campaign•ICC/Getty Images

New Zealand have an A team facing England A during the senior tour, and a North vs South series is also providing opportunities for domestic players outside and on the fringe of White Ferns selection. But Devine knows more can be done, namely tapping into the opportunities cricket can offer outside rugby and netball. Equal match fees for men and women at international level is an incentive, although pay parity in central contracts is yet to be realised.”It’s certainly a selling point when I talk to female athletes coming through,” Devine said. “Cricket is such an attractive option as a career because we don’t necessarily have big numbers of it in New Zealand. There’s a very big picture that’s going on behind the scenes, but there’s got to be, I guess, a bit of realism and a bit of perspective that it’s going to take time. As long as we can keep chipping away at the likes of the Australia or England, I think we can certainly be out there with the best.”Both England and New Zealand are without some leading players for Tuesday’s first T20I. Devine lifted the WPL trophy with Royal Challengers Bangalore after they beat Delhi Capitals in Sunday’s final, having beaten Kerr’s defending champion side Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator. Nat Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai) and Alice Capsey (Delhi) are due to link up with England later in the T20I series, as are UP Warriorz players Sophie Ecclestone and Danni Wyatt. Kate Cross (RCB) will join the ODI squad.Like other players who have been caught up in the scheduling clash, Devine hopes similar conflicts can be avoided in future but is also pragmatic about the financial implications of the franchise vs country dilemma.Sophie Devine goes straight from the WPL final to a home series against England•AFP/Getty Images

“I still think in the female game there’s space for everyone,” she said. “Obviously it’s going to take a bit of a give and take, but I’d really hope that people and competitions and boards can be a bit flexible in terms of allowing space for each competition as well as international cricket. That’s really important for the women’s games to keep that driving forward.”New Zealand cricket have been fantastic and this has been a space that I think they’ve been excellent at for a number of years, in terms of allowing a lot of us Kiwi players to go and play on these franchise leagues. They’ve always been really upfront and honest in terms of allowing us that time to go off and if there’s any clashes then our, I guess, loyalty can lie with the franchise.”They obviously work incredibly hard to make sure that there aren’t any clashes with international cricket and my priority is always to try and play international, but if I’ve signed a contract then I guess legally I’m bound to front up for that and hope that there are no clashes. At the end of the day it’s what you’re comfortable with.”