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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:17

‘We implemented our plans well’ – Mandeep

” [Don’t do anything],” screamed MS Dhoni. Zimbabwe were 57 for 5 at the time and they were gifting their wickets away.Left-arm fast bowler Barinder Sran picked up three in a single over and recorded the second-best figures by a debutant in T20I cricket. His 4 for 10 sprung the trap on Zimbabwe, Jasprit Bumrah’s 3 for 11 made sure they couldn’t even think about escape and India levelled the series 1-1 with their first ten-wicket victory in T20 cricket.If a team was kept to 99 for 9, it would be reasonable to think that conditions had been bowler-friendly. But a 1pm start in Harare with not a cloud in sight reduced the chances of swing. The pitch was being used for a third time on the tour, which gave the team batting first a slight advantage. Zimbabwe gained that advantage when the coin fell in their favour. If they had put up a big enough total, the natural wear and tear of the surface could have made the chase that much more difficult.Instead, Zimbabwe were 35 for 4 after the Powerplay on the same deck they had made 170 on only two days ago.India gave the new ball to two debutants for a second time in as many matches and Sran made sure to extract as much as he could from it. Only one delivery in his first spell of three overs was pitched short.His first wicket was excellently constructed. Zimbabwe could not find a single run off the bat in nine balls. Chamu Chibhabha came on strike. He had found eight of his 10 runs through boundaries. Sran sensed the batsman would go for a release shot and bowled his offcutter. The batsman mistimed his swipe over mid-on and Ambati Rayudu snapped up an excellent catch over his shoulder while running towards the boundary.Hamilton Masakadza got his first run off his seventh ball with a fearsome drive through the covers and moved into double figures with a thump down the ground. To the next ball he faced – an inswinger, pitching on a good length – he heaved across the line and lost his middle stump. Sran welcomed the new batsman Sikandar Raza with a wide slip and he obliged by steering his second ball to that fielder. Tinotenda Mutumbodzi fell for a golden duck, though replays indicated he was incorrectly adjudged lbw by umpire Russell Tiffin. The batsman was struck above the knee roll and Hawk-Eye suggested enough of the ball had pitched outside leg stump.Nevertheless, Sran had three wickets in an over and Zimbabwe were on course for a terribly underwhelming performance. Not even one of their eleven batsmen could reach a strike-rate of 100 – only the fourth time that has happened in 559 T20Is.Peter Moor, brought in for the injured Richmond Mutumbami, top scored with 31 off 32 balls. His presence would have given Zimbabwe hope but Dhoni played a mean trick. Knowing the opposition was in recovery mode – in other words fearful of losing any more wickets – he called on his spinners to rush through the middle overs. Yuzvendra Chahal deceived an advancing Malcolm Waller in the flight, and refused Elton Chigumbura the leverage he so desperately wanted.With the score at 73 for 5 after 14 overs, panic set in for Zimbabwe. India preyed on that by bringing back their premier fast bowler – Bumrah. Moor never saw the slower delivery coming and was caught at point, Chigumbura’s stumps were bulldozed a few minutes later, and with all their specialist batsmen dismissed, the best Zimbabwe could do was play out the 20 overs. Bumrah, now, has 24 wickets in 2016 – the most by any bowler this year.The chase was straightforward. Mandeep Singh cruised to his maiden T20I fifty, but he could have been caught in the fifth over had Malcolm Waller, rushing forward from deep square leg, and Taurai Muzarabani, running back from short fine leg, communicated better. In the end the ball fell between them and trickled for four. The India opener offered another chance on 22 when he pulled straight to Donald Tiripano, the fielder on the square-leg boundary, who parried over the rope for six. It was just that kind of day for Zimbabwe. They struggled with the basics from start to very early finish.

Former India team director and allrounder Ravi Shastri has said Virat Kohli is ready to take over the captaincy from MS Dhoni across all formats, and this is the right time to make the switch “in the interest of Indian cricket”.Kohli already captains India in Test cricket, from which Dhoni has retired, but Dhoni still leads in the shorter formats. Given India play a lot more Tests than limited-overs cricket in the coming months, Shastri said “the gaps” in play for Dhoni will be hard on him. He said he would “definitely be thinking” of naming Kohli captain across formats if he were a selector.”I definitely think so [Kohli should be given the job across formats],” Shastri told India Today Television. “You have to see where India is going to go three years down the line. There are no major events till about three years down the line when you are back with the World Cup. So, this is your best time to think and build.”India play hardly any one-day cricket if you see the next 18 months-two years, and the gaps between Tests and ODIs are massive. So, here’s your time to look ahead and see what you can do with an Indian side all-round three years down the line. If I am the chairman of selectors, I would be thinking in that direction, no question about it.”

‘Virat is a very thorough captain’ – Ashwin

Speaking to , India offspinner R Ashwin lauded Virat Kohli’s captaincy. “Virat is a very thorough captain. He does his homework before the game,” Ashwin said. “We do a lot of team meetings before the game, there’s a lot of honesty around. That gives me the confidence and interest while going out on the field. He gives me enough freedom to express myself and take control of what fields I want to set and how I want to bowl.”

Shastri admitted it would be a tough call to make, but said it would be for the good of Indian cricket. “It’s a catch 22, it’s a hard decision, but I would be thinking about it from now.”The game has to evolve, hard decisions have to be taken, such is life. And nothing wrong in that, it is in the interest of Indian cricket. If you see down the line and you think Dhoni is still the best captain, keep him as captain. But the issue here is the breaks [between Tests and ODIs], and do you have a guy ready [to succeed Dhoni]. My answer is you have a guy ready.”Shastri had worked with the Indian team as director for two years, from August 2014 till the 2016 World T20. Dhoni had captained the team across formats till December 2014, when he retired from Test cricket mid-series in Australia. Kohli took over as Test captain from the New Year’s Test against Australia in Sydney in January 2015. Shastri said Dhoni could still contribute in limited-overs cricket as a player, if he is freed of the responsibilities of captaincy.”By no stretch of imagination you are taking anything away from Dhoni [by making Kohli captain]. He can still contribute massively as a player. I think the time has come for to allow him to enjoy himself and enjoy the game.”End of the day, it is about how hungry Dhoni is, how passionate he is, whether the juices still go as in wanting to play for India. Also the time has come where you have a guy whom you have groomed over a period of time. Virat is ready.”

Tony de Zorzi has been ruled out of South Africa’s ODI series against England after sustaining a hamstring injury in the first match in Leeds.De Zorzi was fielding on the boundary when he dived to stop a Jos Buttler shot from going for four. While he was successful in reeling the ball in, he hurt his left hamstring in the process. He left the field for treatment and it was quickly confirmed that he would not return and would only bat if required. South Africa were chasing a modest target of 132 and did not need de Zorzi. He will now return home to undergo scans and determine the extent of the injury.No replacement batter has been named as de Zorzi was the reserve and played in place of Matthew Breetzke, who himself had a left hamstring tweak and missed the last ODI in Australia and the first in England. Breetzke has since recovered and is available for selection for the second match on Thursday. He is likely to slot straight back into the No. 4 spot.There is no further update on the availability of South Africa’s pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who missed the ODIs in Australia with ankle inflammation and did not play at Headingley. Codi Yusuf, who has been playing for Durham, was brought into the South African squad, which suggests Rabada may not make an appearance until the T20Is.South Africa’s other concern is captain Temba Bavuma, who is still under a workload-management protocol after hurting his hamstring in the World Test Championship final in June. Bavuma played in two of the three ODIs in Australia and the first match of the England series but is expected to be rested for one of the remaining two.South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0.

N Jagadeesan, the Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper, has earned a maiden Test call up ahead of India’s fifth and final Test against England starting on Thursday at The Oval.He replaced Rishabh Pant, who fractured his right foot while batting in the first innings in just-concluded Old Trafford Test.Jagadeesan, 29, is understood to have received his visa early on Sunday morning and will link up with the squad in London by Tuesday. He will be a back-up for Dhruv Jurel, who kept wicket in both the third and fourth Tests as a substitute to cover for Pant’s injuries – in the third Test, Pant had a finger injury.Related

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Jagadeesan has been on the fringes of the India A setup for a while. He has topped the run charts for Tamil Nadu two seasons back-to-back in the Ranji Trophy. In 2023-24, he made 816 runs in 13 innings at 74.18. He followed that with 674 runs in 13 innings at 56.16 in 2024-25.While Jagadeesan didn’t make the India A cut for the shadow tour to England, he’s been part of a wider pool of targeted players shortlisted by the BCCI’s centre of excellence over the past 12 months. As a batter, he’s also shown adaptability to play in different batting positions.He has built a formidable domestic record since making his first-class debut in 2016. He averages 47.50 and has aggregated 3373 runs in 79 innings, with ten hundreds and 14 half-centuries, with a best of 321 against Chandigarh in January 2024.Jagadeesan was most recently in action earlier this month for Chepauk Super Gillies in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, hitting a 41-ball 81 in his last T20 innings on July 4. This will be Jagadeesan’s second tour of the UK, after having earlier led a Tamil Nadu Colts team last year.

Lungi Ngidi insisted that he knew why he was selected in South Africa’s World Test Championship final XI, after he took 3 for 35 on the second day to break Australia’s second innings open.Temba Bavuma had said that Ngidi was picked for his pace and ability to generate extra bounce – “a tactical decision”, which is exactly what Ngidi understood his role to be.”It’s been a very long time since I’ve played Test cricket, ten months, and that’s okay with me,” Ngidi told BBC after play on day two at Lord’s. “Obviously I know why I was selected. It doesn’t make a difference to me: opinions, or whatever it is. I was just struggling with a bit of rhythm from this side, swapped ends, and I felt a lot better.”Related

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Ngidi last played a Test against West Indies in August last year and looked rusty on comeback in this match. On the first day, he bowled eight overs, in spells of four each, from the Pavillion End and conceded 45 runs at 5.62. Notably, he lacked intensity and left the field for a period of time after bowling his second spell. He returned but did not bowl again.Considering Dane Paterson’s history of success in county cricket (though his 180 wickets came for Nottinghamshire and not Middlesex) and the overhead conditions that would have suited a bowler of his style, there were justifiable questions over whether South Africa had made a tactical blunder. There was also talk about whether they were forced to pick Ngidi to meet transformation requirements.But, at the end of day two, Ngidi had provided three stunning answers as to why he had been picked. In a nine-over spell – his second longest in Test cricket – Ngidi removed Steven Smith and Beau Webster, both lbw, and yorked Pat Cummins. Australia went from 48 for 3 to 73 for 7 (Wiaan Mulder took a wicket in that period too) and South Africa were back in the game. It looked as though Shukri Conrad, the head coach who is also the sole selector, had seen his gamble come off.Lungi Ngidi got the big wicket of Steven Smith•AFP/Getty Images

But Ngidi’s choice of words in his post-match interview – “I know why I was selected” – didn’t help dispel any lingering doubts about why he was picked. ESPNcricinfo has since confirmed he was referring to the plethora of opinions preferring Paterson’s skills to his.There was also no transformation imperative to pick Ngidi as South Africa’s targets at national level are calculated on average over the course of a season, which means they do not apply to individual games. The target numbers require that the team fields six players of colour of which two must be black African. In Temba Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada, the latter is met. They only have two other players of colour in this XI, Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj, and that would have remained the case even if Paterson was picked instead of Ngidi. While they have not fulfilled their target in this match, their overall average will only be confirmed at the end of the season.Before the final, Bavuma spoke to ESPNcricinfo about the dangers of being labelled a transformation selection, how he did not understand why it was put on him nine years ago when he made his first century, and the pressure and expectation it created. In the same way, Ngidi’s poor performance on day one immediately raised the transformation question: a hangover from the way South African cricket is perceived because of selection decisions in the past.The 2015 World Cup semi-final, where CSA influenced the inclusion of Vernon Philander ahead of Kyle Abbott, is a standout example, not least because it happened in a crucial game. But Ngidi, an international cricketer for the last eight years and comfortable within himself, was able to put that aside and concentrate on getting things right on day two.Radaba suggested a “steak, a milkshake and a movie” to Ngidi on the first evening but it turned out to be a change of ends that did the trick. Ngidi bowled from the Nursery End on day two, running up the slope, and was far more effective. His lines were tighter and his lengths more concentrated, mostly just back of good, with the occasional fuller ball for variety. He seemed in the zone, ran in with good energy and looked like he wanted more.”Once you get a moment like that, you don’t want to really let it go because it could change the game,” he said. “So I just kept going until my legs pretty much told me that’s enough now. I was planning on going a little bit more, but once you start making a few errors that could let the team or the opposition in, then it’s probably time to call it.”2:43

Can South Africa chase down 200-plus?

There was one overpitched ball in Ngidi’s seventh over and two edges that dropped short in his eighth and ninth, so he was still effective but clearly tiring. When he ran to field a ball in the over after he had finished his spell, he puffed his way to the ball and the decision to stop was probably the correct one. Nevertheless, his team-mates appreciated the effort especially after a tough first day.”Lungi’s a chilled guy, so I don’t think it would have affected him that much,” David Bedingham said at the post-match press conference. “As soon as he changed ends, he looked a lot more comfortable and for him to bowl nine overs on the bounce takes a massive amount of effort.”Of the rewards he had, Ngidi enjoyed Smith’s wicket the most “because he did get the better of me in the first innings but Beau Webster as well because they were definitely putting me under pressure”. “But once I got a bit of rhythm and the ball was moving around a bit, I felt very confident.”There may still be some work to do for Ngidi on the third morning, with South Africa still two wickets from knowing their target. Ngidi hopes they can keep the target to 225 and even if it grows beyond that thinks, “people are going to get their money’s worth”.”It’s in the balance right now,” he said. “But I think we’re in a decent position.”

Aiden Markram’s long walk back to the pavilion at the end of his epic, trophy-seizing century, ought by rights to have been one of the proudest, most self-reflective moments of his life.With a mere six runs still needed for World Test Championship glory, here was his chance to soak in the moment, and stride off the hallowed turf of Lord’s with a salute to all corners. Surely, with 136 fourth-innings runs to his name, Markram knew in his heart of hearts (if not quite in his frontal cortex) that he was the man who had just exorcised some 30 years of South Africa big-stage failure.That wasn’t quite how the man himself allowed the moment to unfold, however.”I wish I could have,” he said. “But that’s me being me when I get out. I’m always angry.”At least looking at the building in front was pretty special. And then, naturally, the walk up [the stairs] was incredibly special. So at least there’s one or two memories from that.”Related

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Markram’s reaction was perhaps the final vestige of South Africa’s suspension of belief. Despite all of the well-worn caveats that the nation has learned to factor into impending glory, the thronging support in the stands had long since abandoned their reticence. Perhaps the biggest clue that the game was up, however, came from the reaction of Australia’s own fielders.Travis Head’s sharp take at midwicket created barely a flicker of recognition. For most people in the crowd, the first inkling that Markram was out came as he clasped his own helmet in agony and turned on his heel. But soon afterwards it was clear, as one by one, the Australians trooped up to shake his hand. It was wonderfully magnanimous in the moment, but their body language wasn’t just beaten, but broken.”I noticed it for sure,” Markram said. “Obviously, it was a great touch from their side. There’s quite a bit of banter had on the field. But all is well that ends well, I guess. It’s always nice to be appreciated from that position.”Perhaps he’s still in a trance, still locked into the duty of delivering an innings that, by every conceivable measure – grandness of occasion, fourth innings, and against a relentless attack of unprecedented quality and longevity – earns it the right to be considered the greatest Test innings ever produced by a South African.”Nothing’s hit me just yet, so maybe that’s a good thing, but something needs to hit me soon, to get out all the emotions, because it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster.”It was Aiden Markram’s third fourth-innings hundred•ICC/Getty Images

But there was a moment, as Markram marched through to his century late on the third evening, when the mask cracked and the enormity of his performance seemed ready to engulf him. With a stiff upper lip that would doubtless have earned the approval of the many English public-school boys in the stands, he quickly gulped down his emotions – though not without ducking a request for a close-of-play word to the cameras – and reset himself to perform his duty.”Yeah, it was weird last night. I was pretty emotional,” he said. “From about quarter past five, the game had slowed down. I had a bit of time to look around and see all the fans, the family, all the mates that were there … I was looking at the changing room. I was like, ‘Yes, we are now getting close’, and it caught me off guard. Then the hundred happened, and a couple of tears leaked out that I was trying to fight.”Markram reached the close on 102 not out and, with just 69 runs still to get on the final day, he went on to sleep “horribly”.”I tried to take a sleeping tablet, it didn’t work,” he said. “The mind just couldn’t switch off. But fortunately, today wasn’t ever going to be a full day, so I knew it would be fine.”Markram went the full journey in the course of this contest. Way back on that frenzied opening day, he epitomised South Africa’s hunger with his highly-strung display in the slips – first, by being the distraction as he dived across David Bedingham from second slip, then by clinging on as Wiaan Mulder repeated the dose from third, as Kagiso Rabada cranked open the contest with two Australian wickets in four balls.Later that day, his lesser-heralded offspin extracted a well-set Steven Smith for 66, and on the stroke of lunch on Friday, he finally ended Australia’s dogged tenth-wicket stand as Josh Hazlewood holed out to cover.In between whiles, however, he had also fallen for a sixth-ball duck in South Africa’s ropey start to their batting display. And, having made 4 from five balls as captain in Barbados last June, as South Africa’s last appearance in an ICC final fell agonisingly short of glory, he admitted that the urge to stay in the moment was his single biggest driver, when his chance came again to steer his country’s fortunes.Aiden Markram got a well-deserved drink from a friend in the stands•PA Images via Getty Images

“I thought a lot about the T20 World Cup last night and how hopeless I felt sitting on the side after getting out,” he said. “I was like, I don’t want to sit there again. So, this gave me a bit of motivation to make sure I stayed at the crease, if I could. But never once thought about the achievements and what would come with it. It was always about just trying to get the job done and trying to win.”That mindset meant that, throughout his game-breaking 147-run stand with Temba Bavuma, there was never any question about backing up his captain’s desire to soldier on, even after his left hamstring gave way just six runs into his critical knock of 66 that spanned three-and-a-quarter hours.”To see his hammy go was obviously a bit worrying,” Markram said. “We got to tea, and he said he felt he could still keep going, but he wanted to know from my side if the twos becoming ones would affect me.”I said, ‘there’s no chance’. It’s about the partnership, staying out there for longer, getting the ball even softer, even older, and that’s exactly what he did. He still managed to run twos and threes, so I think there was a lot of adrenaline there, but he showed a lot of leadership and character. Maybe not the big, big numbers, but the ones that really make a difference, and that was tremendous for us.”Besides being his most important innings, this was also Markram’s third century in five Tests against Australia, a team against whom he is clearly primed to raise his game. “Australians and South Africans are pretty similar,” he said. “They play the game hard, they play the game to compete, they play the game to really win, and it brings out the best in us. It’s just a battle between two teams that really don’t have any interest in losing.”And now, South Africa are the World Test Champions – an accolade earned in spite of the many well-documented brickbats they faced in the build-up, both in terms of their unusual route to this final, as well as the baggage that such a contest brings with it. “It’s as big and as tough as it gets,” Markram said. “All the questions that have been asked in the past have fortunately now been answered.”And now, at the very last, perhaps he’ll get his chance to savour the moment, now that he has lived it to the fullest. The first inkling of this occurred in the moments before the presentation, amid the melee on the outfield, and the tears and euphoria of his team-mates.Markram was beckoned by a familiar face in the stands, and after some initial hesitation, he trotted over to let his personal party begin.”Yeah, that was cool,” he said. “That was one of my mates from school. He wanted me to come over. And I was like, ‘man, I can’t, it’s too busy. It’s chaos’. And then he was like, ‘Oh, here’s a beer’ … and I was like, okay! I’ve had my first one for today, and I’m pretty sure there’ll be a few more.”

Olly Stone will fly home from England’s tour of Pakistan on Wednesday ahead of his wedding this weekend, and appears unlikely to return in time to be considered for the second Test.Stone took seven wickets in two Tests against Sri Lanka at the end of the English summer, which were his first caps for three years in the format. Brydon Carse was preferred as England’s high-pace option for the first Test in Multan, which started on Monday, which has freed Stone up to fly home earlier than initially planned ahead of his wedding on Saturday.The date of Stone’s return is unconfirmed and may depend on the status of England’s other fast bowlers after the first Test. But with a very tight turnaround between his wedding and Tuesday’s second Test, he is unlikely to feature. Carse, Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes are the three seamers picked to play in the first Test, with Matthew Potts the other fast bowler in the squad.England’s management are understood to be happy for Stone to leave Pakistan, given he was not included in their last batch of central contracts and his wedding was arranged long before his recall. He spoke to Rob Key and Brendon McCullum – England’s managing director and coach respectively – before the tour, who agreed that he should head home to get married.”We booked the wedding on the basis of me only playing for Notts at the time,” Stone recently told the BBC. “Jess said she was happy to move the wedding and I was adamant on keeping it where it was if possible. For what she has given up and sacrificed for me, I thought the least I could do was to try and make it work.”In a previous era, the seamer Tony Pigott postponed his own wedding at short notice in order to play what proved to be his only Test on England’s 1984 tour to New Zealand. More recently, contracted players have rescheduled weddings due to clashes: Joe Root said on Saturday that he and his wife Carrie had rearranged their own “three times because of different tours”.Root said that Stone would leave the tour with his teammates’ best wishes. “It’s a special time in anyone’s life,” he said. “I’m really excited for him. I’m sure he is all over the place with everything that’s going on, but it’ll be very special for him – and his wife – starting a different chapter in his life. We’ll all be raising a cold water to him at some point, celebrating.”

Yorkshire legspinner Jafer Chohan has earned his first England call-up for the men’s limited-overs tour of West Indies, which begins at the end of October, becoming the first graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) to earn international recognition.Launched in 2021 by Dr Tom Brown, the scheme aimed to remedy the under-representation of British South Asian players in the professional game. Dr Brown co-founded SACA with former England bowler Kabir Ali, after researching the subject during a four-year PhD at Birmingham City University, in which he found that British Asians represent just 5% of the cricketers at the top level of the men’s game, a sharp drop-off from the 30% that play recreational cricket in England and Wales.Chohan, who was released by Middlesex five years ago, aged 17, is one of 10 players and two coaches to have moved into the professional game from SACA, who showcase their talent in fixtures against county second XIs and sessions open to county scouts. Having joined Yorkshire in 2022, Chohan has established himself in their T20 side, and his England call-up comes off the back of a solid 2024 Vitality Blast campaign, taking 17 wickets at 15.52, with a standout performance of 5 for 14 against Durham – the third-best figures in Yorkshire’s T20 historyDespite that form, and the value of wrist-spin in the shorter formats, Chohan has yet to feature in the men’s Hundred. However, on Tuesday, Yorkshire announced he had signed a three-year contract to remain at Headingley until the end of the 2027 summer. He has also been drafted by Sydney Sixers for the upcoming Big Bash League season.England are keen to explore their spin options following the international retirement of Moeen Ali, who also happens to be president of SACA, while they also need to line up an eventual successor to Adil Rashid, whose international career has entered its 16th year. Although Rashid last month insisted that he has no immediate plans to retire after claiming his 200th ODI wicket during the Australia series, he namechecked Chohan as one of the young players he has been mentoring, both at Yorkshire and at his own cricket centre in Bradford, as part of the SACA programme.Jafer Chohan claimed five wickets for Yorkshire against Durham in this season’s Vitality Blast•Getty Images

“It feels like an absolute dream to be selected,” Chohan said. “It’s what I’ve worked for my whole life.”I’ve had a great week – having it announced about another three years at Yorkshire as well as having a call up now with England.”For me this is a really good opportunity to be around some of the best players in the world, learn as much as I can and just really sharpen up my game as much as possible. Having big England names in the Yorkshire dressing room, it doesn’t get too much better than that in terms of helping me improve.”Warwickshire’s off-spinning allrounder Dan Mousley and Hampshire quick John Turner are the other uncapped members of the 14-man group. Both were part of the limited-overs squads against Australia at the end of the summer but did not feature.Chohan’s selection, despite a professional career of just 23 T20 appearances, is in keeping with an unconventional approach adopted by England’s selectors. Since taking over as managing director at the start of the 2022 summer, Rob Key has put the onus on picking players on attributes rather than solely on domestic averages. That has come to the fore in 2024.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The year began with Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir playing prominent roles in India based on their release points and action on the ball, with little focus on their modest first-class records for Lancashire and Somerset respectively. Hartley had 40 dismissals at 36.57 and Bashir 10 at 67 heading into that five-Test series, with the latter going on to feature across home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka, at the expense of county team-mate Jack Leach, who had been Ben Stokes’ primary spinner for the first two years of his tenure as Test captain.Leicestershire’s Josh Hull was the beneficiary of this radical approach at the end of the summer, debuting in the final Test against Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval. With the 2025-26 Ashes in mind, Hull’s 6ft7in height and left-arm action set him apart as a point of difference and trumped the fact he had taken just two wickets at 182.50 in three Division Two appearances this season. All this after England legend James Anderson was forced into retirement at the start of the summer.With Test head coach Brendon McCullum set to assume the limited-overs job at the start of 2025, it is perhaps no surprise to see this left-field thinking filter into England’s plans as they look to rebuild after disappointing showings at the 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cups. The West Indies tour will be Marcus Trescothick’s last as interim white-ball head coach, ahead of McCullum combining the roles in the new year.Related

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There remains no place for Hartley, who has not added to his international caps since the Test tour of India, which he finished as England’s leading wicket-taker with 22 dismissals. He was a non-playing member of the T20 World Cup squad in the Caribbean, but was subsequently overlooked for the T20I and ODI series against Australia.Chohan’s selection also presents a challenge to Rehan Ahmed, who was presumed to be the heir apparent to Rashid. The Leicestershire legspinner has 17 international caps to his name but hopes to add to that this month, having travelled with the Test squad on Tuesday to Pakistan, where he made his debut two years ago.Rehan, 20, could yet challenge Chohan in the Caribbean with that squad due to be supplemented with two players from the Test tour. A decision on who will travel across will be made after selection for the third and final Test in Rawalpindi, which begins on October 24 – a week before the first ODI in Antigua. Hull, who picked up a season-ending quad injury on Test debut, could also be considered if fully recovered.As expected, Jos Buttler will slot back in as captain following a calf injury, and is set to make his first competitive appearance since the T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India at the end of June. However, a decision on whether he keeps wicket will be made nearer the time. Phil Salt is the only viable stand-in in the original 14-man squad, although both Jordan Cox and Jamie Smith are potential inclusions from the Pakistan Test party.England limited-overs squad: Jos Buttler (capt), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jafer Chohan, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid , Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John TurnerItinerary
1st ODI: Antigua, October 31
2nd ODI: Antigua, November 2
3rd ODI: Barbados, November 6
1st T20I: Barbados, November 9
2nd T20I: Barbados, November 10
3rd T20I: St Lucia, November 14
4th T20I: St Lucia, November 16
5th T20I: St Lucia, November 17

The first ever day of Test cricket at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground was abandoned due to a wet outfield. The weather was fair all day, with the sun out, but the drainage facilities could not dry the playing area entirely, leaving New Zealand and Afghanistan to wait at least another day to begin their first ever Test encounter.There has been significant rain over the past few days and the challenge, according to chief curator Amit Sharma, was to keep the outfield fit for play if the wet weather continued. However, on Monday, there was not a single cover on the ground all day and the super-soppers were at work, but wet patches on the outfield and the bowlers’ run-up remained a concern.Multiple inspections took place, with the last one scheduled at 4.30pm local time, but the day was abandoned at 4.05 pm. The toss has been scheduled for 9am tomorrow and the remaining four days will have 98 overs each starting at 9.30am, instead of 10am.Related

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The match is not part of the World Test Championship cycle but gives New Zealand an opportunity to acclimatise to subcontinent conditions, with two Test series against Sri Lanka and India lined up in the next couple of months.Afghanistan have played two one-off Tests in this year so far, both in different countries against different opponents, and are looking for their first win since 2021.

Kusal Mendis is in outstanding form, Pathum Nissanka has had fantastic outings, Avishka Fernando has been spectacular, and Kusal Perera has made a strong comeback. On top of which, Kamindu Mendis seems in good touch too.This is all on based on Lanka Premier League (LPL) performances, that new Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka regards as the gold standard in T20 cricket on the island.The LPL concluded only on Sunday, with Asalanka’s Jaffna Kings side taking home the trophy. Top order batters flourished in that competition. Asalanka has suggested that Kamindu – who also bowled with both arms during the LPL – has sewn up the No. 4 spot, having hit 287 runs at a strike rate of 157 through the tournament.Related

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But then there are still four batters vying for the top three spots. As Asalanka said: “There are four openers in the squad, and the way I’m thinking three of them will make up the top three. One of them will have to miss out.”Those four: