Wickets like the one for the third Test might be a lottery, but as a batsman you’re not quite doomed from the start

Aakash Chopra02-Mar-20216:11

Rohit Sharma – ‘Intent wasn’t to survive but to score’

Of the 2412 Tests played so far, only 22 have ended in two days. That explains all the talk about the two-day Test match in Ahmedabad. (Of these 22 Tests, nine were played in England and two in India.)Since it’s rare that a two-day Test has nothing to do with the state of the wicket, debates about the pitch for the Test have captured a lot of mind space.So was the pitch challenging? Definitely. Was it a two-day pitch? Perhaps not.Related

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Ahmedabad pink-ball Test: Shortest completed match since 1935

One must bear in mind that dew made batting a lot easier in the sessions under lights. The ball got really wet and that made it significantly harder for both fast and slow bowlers. It’s almost a travesty that the four “day” sessions were enough for the majority of wickets to fall, deciding the outcome of the game.There were more than a few dismissals that had only to do with the batsman’s response on a challenging surface and not so much with the surface itself. Zak Crawley in the second innings, Jonny Bairstow in both innings, Ben Stokes in both innings, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel in the first innings, to mention a few.What was it about the surface that led to so many errors of judgement, given we are talking about a lot of quality Test players here? In my opinion, there were three factors that were responsible for the batting display.Firstly, the red-soil surface for the third Test was a lot faster than the black-clay pitch for the second Test. Though there was a lot of turn on offer in Chennai, the ball came on reasonably slowly after pitching, and that allowed the batsmen to devise a strategy. Of course, scoring in Chennai also required a bit of bravado and a slice of luck, but a good few batsmen showed that it could be done. On the contrary, the pace in Ahmedabad was a lot greater and that gave the batsmen very little time to adjust after the ball had pitched.Second: the faster surface was accentuated by the extra coating of lacquer on the pink ball, which skidded off the pitch a lot more than the red ball would have, which further reduced the time to adjust or react after pitching.Thirdly, whether it’s spin or seam, consistency of lateral movement off the surface is key to batting success. In Chennai, everything spun but in Ahmedabad only a few balls did. When that happens, you’re in two minds as to which line you should play for. The occasional but significant spin in Ahmedabad forced batsmen to play for the spin – that is, to play down the wrong line for deliveries that came on straight. That explains the large number of dismissals to the straight ball. It’s not that these fine players had forgotten the art of batting and couldn’t keep the straight balls out. The viciously turning balls prior to those straight, wicket-taking balls sowed seeds of doubt.Having played the second Test on a turner will have corrupted the batsmen’s judgement somewhat too. Once the batsmen saw puffs of dust and a couple of balls turning square, the collective assumption was that this pitch was also as much of a turner as the last one.Axar Patel’s pace made him lethal on the Motera pitch•BCCISo how does one bat on a surface like this? Is survival really down to the luck one enjoys on the day? And is there a way to score runs too? Crawley and Rohit Sharma showed that it was possible.The trick to playing someone like Patel on that surface with the pink ball is to treat every ball as a slider, which comes on with the arm. The first aim should be to keep the ball from hitting the front pad, for in the DRS era you can never be too careful about protecting the front leg. But you must still plant the front foot in line with the ball and not inside it, for going too far leg side will make you vulnerable if the ball spins. And while defending, it’s vital to keep the bat in front of the pad and not beside it – which Joe Root was guilty of a couple of times in the second innings. Of course there’s the turning ball that might take the outside edge, but so be it; you can’t possibly defend both pad and edge on a surface like this.Patel’s pace made him the most difficult bowler to negotiate, for there was hardly a foolproof way of scoring runs against him. R Ashwin’s variations, on the other hand, were both subtle and less alarming. He didn’t increase his pace manifold but used the angles beautifully. Jack Leach, like Patel, enjoyed the inconsistency in turn, but unfortunately for England, he wasn’t as fast or accurate as his Indian counterpart.And that’s the other thing about spin bowling: you can only increase the pace so much, and when you go beyond that optimum, you start undercutting the ball and lose accuracy. Leach’s slowness gave some room for the batsmen to score: you could use your feet to smother the spin, sweep, and when it was a little short, you could use the depth of the crease. These were things you couldn’t do against Patel.Most challenging surfaces force the batsman’s hand a bit, for there’s always a ball that has your name on it. It might be your first ball, your tenth or your 50th. On these pitches, an overly defensive approach is untenable. One must take some amount of risk on a regular basis, provided you pick the right ball and stroke and also have some mastery over that shot. A proper sweep was a good shot in Chennai but fraught with danger in Ahmedabad. Use of the feet is important, playing shots is critical, but when and how holds the key to succeeding. All said, it’s indeed easier said than done. And it can’t be done without a huge dollop of luck.

Late September and late November are the primary options that the BCCI can explore

Nagraj Gollapudi06-May-2021On Thursday, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly suggested that the 2021 IPL could be completed in a window just prior to the men’s T20 World Cup. That was the first public hint of the windows the BCCI is looking at for the rescheduling.At the moment India remains the host for the global event, scheduled to run from mid-October to November 14. But in the wake of the IPL’s postponement and uncertainty over how the pandemic progresses in India, the ICC could be forced to consider the UAE as the venue for its event.Related

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There are still 31 matches left in the IPL. Three weeks with multiple double-headers across a few venues are likely to be enough. That leaves two realistic options in 2021 in which the BCCI could complete the tournament, either side of the T20 World Cup. ESPNcricinfo examines the pros and cons of each.

Late September window

Where India, UAE or even England could play hosts at this time of the year. Given the course of the pandemic, the UAE remains a favorite, having conducted a largely incident-free IPL in 2020. And if the T20 World Cup is also played in the UAE, it eases the logistical challenges of players moving between bubbles.England could be an option given that India will already be there till mid-September for their five-Test series. Also, there could be a number of overseas players participating in England’s various domestic competitions, including The Hundred.ChallengeThe biggest challenge will be to squeeze the tournament in the limited time between the end of India’s England tour and the T20 World Cup. The fifth Test in Manchester is scheduled to end on September 14. Although the ICC is yet to announce the itinerary for the T20 World Cup, it is expected to start around October 16. Accounting for quarantine periods and warm-up games wherever the tournament is held, teams will be expected to start arriving around the end of September.After a long tour, the Indian players will likely want at least a week-long break. That would then leave just about under two weeks of free time before the teams head to the World Cup, although England’s players – a significant presence in the IPL – are scheduled to be part of tours to Bangladesh and Pakistan in October.Workload will also be a factor for India’s players as they face the prospect of a long Test series, then the IPL, and then the T20 World Cup one after the other.There are still 31 games to go in IPL 2021•BCCI

Late November window

Where India or the UAE will be the two primary contenders at this time, and for the tournament to be played right after the T20 World Cup ends. Although if it is in the UAE, Abu Dhabi will not be available as it is scheduled to host the fifth edition of the T10 league from November 14.Challenge Franchises will be concerned about the unavailability of overseas players especially from Australia and England, who will be involved in the Ashes from late November. Virtually all the countries, including India, are scheduled to play bilateral cricket immediately following the T20 World Cup.India themselves are scheduled to host New Zealand for two Tests and three T20Is between November-December. Bangladesh, meanwhile, will host Pakistan for a series comprising two Tests and three T20s. Afghanistan will be in Zimbabwe from late November for a one-off Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is. South Africa and West Indies, though, will be free during that time.If India can defer the New Zealand series and manage to find replacements for absent Australian and England players, the November window might look a better fit for the BCCI.

The question of who fills the middle-order position(s) heading into the T20 World Cup remains unanswered

Andrew McGlashan02-Jul-2021The target is 185. Australia are 160 for 4 after 18 overs. Who do you want at No. 6 to finish that chase?As Aaron Finch’s side travels to the West Indies then onto Bangladesh for 10 T20Is the question of who fills the middle-order finisher position(s) heading into the T20 World Cup remains one of the key areas they need to answer.Once again this won’t be a full-strength Australia side with numerous withdrawals over bubble fatigue. The batting has been especially hit without David Warner, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.However, uncertainty over middle-order batting positions (for the reference of this piece that will cover Nos 5-7) has not just crept up on Australia in recent months. It has been the area of the side that has proved the most difficult to settle upon.Related

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Whose turn is it next?
Since the 2016 T20 World Cup, where Australia did not get out of the group stage, they have used 25 players across those three middle-order slots. There will always be an element of batters moving through positions given the various scenarios created in T20 matches, but only Sri Lanka, with 30, have cycled through more options so far between World Cups.Stoinis, Alex Carey – who is no longer a starter in the XI – and Ashton Agar have had the most regular opportunties and while Stoinis’ numbers are decent it would be a leap to say the solution has been found.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt is the strike rate Australia have managed from those positions which highlights the issue. Since the last T20 World Cup the Nos 5-7 have struck at 118.53 putting them between Ireland and Bangladesh at the lower end of the table (with a cut-off of 20 matches). Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, UAE, Oman and PNG are the other teams below them.Another way to look at it is the balls-per-boundaries and per-six from that same group of middle order positions. Again, Australia do not stand up well. They are bottom on balls-per-boundary among the current top 10 teams of the rankings and only Bangladesh have a worse balls-per-six ratio.ESPNcricinfo LtdSquare pegs, round holes?
One of the issues for Australia’s selectors is that they have largely put players out of position for those middle-order roles. Most of them are top four batters in the BBL which is logical for those clubs who want the best out of those players but does not give them a proper chance to adjust to what is a very specialist and skilled role lower down. That was shown by Carey’s difficulties adapting down the order.”If you ask most batters around the world, batting later in the innings or it might not so it is a difficult role mentally to keep backing up.” Carey said from St Lucia. “It’s either hit or bust and we’ve seen around the world the best teams have probably got a hitter at the death. There’s probably only a handful of really good finishers around the world. It’s a specialist position and every team would love to have a powerhouse coming in late but you also rely on your top order to set you up and score the big runs.”It was a subject Dinesh Karthik, the India wicketkeeper-batter, recently discussed in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. He was referencing the India team, but the point he makes is relevant to Australia.Alex Carey has struggled to make an impact lower down the order•AFP via Getty Images”In the T20 format, it is a far more niche slot, something that you need to have done over and over again,” he said. “And that’s why you have the Pollards and the Russells or the Dhonis, who have done this over a period of time, who have helped play so many of these impact innings.”You don’t want to go to a World Cup with people who have batted in the top four consistently and throw them in at five, six, seven and expect them to do well.”The numbers from the last two seasons of the BBL would suggest that Mitchell Marsh is worth considering, with a high overall strike-rate and very strong numbers at the death, although at international level over the last two years he has struck at barely a run-a-ball.ESPNcricinfo LtdMaxwell, as ever, is an interesting debate. Such is the dynamism he brings as a batter in T20 that putting him below No. 4 can feel a waste, but in the last two years of BBL he has a strike-rate of 160 at No. 5.It is also worth remembering that as of last season the BBL had the Power Surge available after the 11th over of an innings that will impact the strike-rates of those involved. Although the Surge was widely accepted as the most successful of the innovations, one of the issues raised was that it is not a condition used at international level.Australia may look to Matthew Wade to bat down the order•Getty ImagesBalance of the side
In recent times, Australia have gone down the route of selecting five specialist bowlers – often including two spinners – which has put Agar at No. 7. When the team clicks, as it did during the 2019-20 home season, the middle order was barely needed – Carey, for example, did not get a bat during the six home games that summer – but Agar’s batting numbers at international level have suggested a lack of power ideally needed.There have been warning signs about the middle order: during the run of success they lost to South Africa in Port Elizabeth when they failed to chase 159 from 98 for 1 in the 13th over and last year contrived to lose against England in Southampton.Finch has indicated they will look to alter things in West Indies, but the other issue which impacts who fills the middle-order positions is what Australia do with their wicketkeeper. Since Carey was ditched at the end of the series against England last year, Matthew Wade has taken the gloves and most of the time opened the batting. However, that has been filling in for the absence of Warner; at the World Cup he will resume his partnership with Finch. Steven Smith then has to slot in at No. 3 followed most probably by Maxwell at No. 4. So, again, Australia look like needing their wicketkeeper to bat in the middle order.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt might be that Wade has to take one of those positions by default; Australia need someone behind the stumps and he is viewed as a versatile and selfless player (as demonstrated by opening the batting in the Tests against India). Though Wade has done it at times during his career, it would be another case of a player out of his natural position: 73 of his 121 T20 innings have been in the top three and he has batted at No. 4 or lower only three times in the last three years – all for Australia. It could be that a few options are cycled through during the matches against West Indies and Bangladesh.One name who isn’t in the squad but has been gaining traction is Josh Inglis of Perth Scorchers. He has had a lot of success at the top of the order, which is where he is currently batting for Leicestershire in the T20 Blast, but significantly has also adjusted to the middle order albeit still no lower than No. 4. He is, however, considered an excellent player of spin.Will Dan Christian be Australia’s unlikely savior?•Getty ImagesHiding in plain sight?Those of you who have reached this far may well be thinking of one name: Dan Christian. In the last few weeks he is suddenly back in the frame having not played for Australian in four years. With the withdrawals from the squad for West Indies and Bangladesh, Christian now has the chance to make a last-ditch bid for the World Cup squad.His credentials have been endorsed by his BBL coach Greg Shipperd who talked of his “fearless” approach. Crucially, too, he is a middle-order batter. And, even if three consecutive scores of 1 in the aborted IPL are perhaps a cautionary note, his recent BBL numbers are even more impressive than the table earlier in this piece which were pulled down by his 2019-20 campaign with the Renegades.”He’s got a unique skill set as a strong finisher through the middle and at the back-end with the bat,” Shipperd said.Even with the significant number of absentees it would be strange to recall a 38-year-old if he wasn’t a serious chance of being involved in the T20 World Cup. Before departing, Finch gave a strong indication Christian was at the forefront of their thoughts amid the rethink of the make-up of the team.”He’s someone who is so dynamic and we saw the impact he had especially towards the business end of the Big Bash last year, he came in and had a high strike-rate from ball one, he’s explosive with the bat, has tricks with the ball, he’s experienced, he doesn’t get fazed and he’s a brilliant fielder,” Finch said. “Dan’s a superb player and an unbelievable competitor.”Is he the man you want walking out with 25 to win in two overs? The next few months will tell us.

The PCB’s anger and frustration stems from the fear of the precedent this cancellation now sets for the future

Osman Samiuddin17-Sep-2021The PCB has been left in a state of “shock and disbelief” by New Zealand’s abrupt abandonment of their tour to Pakistan. New Zealand Cricket called off the tour – their first to Pakistan in 18 years – minutes before the first ODI was scheduled to start in Rawalpindi, acting on a security alert from their government. That decision has led to mounting frustration and anger within the Pakistan board, as well as fears of how it may impact their calendar this season and beyond.The derailment of this white-ball tour began on Friday with a 3am (Pakistan time) call from the NZC to the PCB about the security alert, which, 12 hours later, led to the cancellation of the cricket without a ball being bowled. ESPNcricinfo has been told that western security agencies became aware of a specific threat they deemed credible at some point in the last 36 hours which was shared with a number of governments, including New Zealand’s.Related

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Security alert: New Zealand call off Pakistan tour minutes before first ODI

Eventually that information forced a decision to call off the tour, despite a phone call between the Prime Ministers of the countries, Imran Khan and Jacinda Ardern, in which the former (in Tajikistan on an official visit) tried to salvage the situation. Soon after the first ODI’s abandonment, a Rawalpindi police advisory citing a threat to the tour issued earlier this week emerged. It is not clear if this is the advisory NZC acted upon; the PCB say New Zealand had been made aware of two events in the city (a local bodies election and a religious procession referred to in the police advisory) and the schedule had been worked around them. Discussions between the PCB and NZC did not consider a venue switch to a neutral country, primarily because it was so late in the day. In any case, the UAE, Pakistan’s home in exile for nearly a decade, is ruled out because it is hosting the IPL.The PCB, and Pakistani authorities, are nevertheless frustrated that, despite repeated attempts, no information has been shared with them regarding the threat, as well as the fact that multiple reassurances as to the visitors’ safety, and the state-level security provided to them, fell on deaf ears. They also claim that NZC security advisors on the ground, the ones on whose advice NZC said they leaned on to make this decision – remained confident in the security arrangements Pakistan had put in place for the tour. One Pakistan official also asked why, if a threat had become apparent within the last 36 hours, the New Zealand side still turned up to training the day before the game.Securitypersons stand guard outside the stadium•Anadolu Agency via Getty Image”We’re still in shock and disbelief at what has happened,” one board official said. “It’s mind-boggling that we’ve been told nothing by NZC, that no information was shared with us about any threat. Until earlier today we felt that the mood among New Zealand’s players was good and they were willing to play. We were confident in any case that we had the security protocols in place to ensure this tour would go ahead without incident.”There is plenty of anger too, as was evident first in the statement which pointedly termed New Zealand’s decision to leave as “unilateral”, and then in the new board chairman Ramiz Raja’s tweet, in which he raised the prospect of the PCB taking this to the ICC.Having hosted more and more series in Pakistan over the last couple of years, the PCB’s anger and frustration stems from the fear of the precedent this cancellation now sets for the future.The board will no doubt reach out to reassure the ECB, whose men’s and women’s teams are due to tour in October; NZC and the ECB employ the same security consultants – ESI Risk – on whose behalf Reg Dickason inspected security arrangements ahead of the New Zealand tour. The ECB has already said it will make a decision within the next 24-48 hours on the fate of the tour – which would’ve been their first since 2005-06.Next year in February-March, Australia are due to tour for the first time in over 20 years, but the status of that, even at this early distance, looks shaky. New Zealand women are scheduled to visit this season and the men’s side are also supposed to visit again in 2022-23, for a series of Tests and ODIs.

They have a woeful record in this competition and a shaky batting order to contend with. But they also have a premier match-winner in Shakib Al Hasan

Mohammad Isam23-Oct-2021

Big picture

Bangladesh have been trying to nail a T20 World Cup for a long time. As far back as 2012, they decided that playing plenty of T20Is just before the tournament will give them a good chance. But like a student who tries to cram the night before the exam, things never really came together.Their record in T20Is is not very good, and it gets much worse in World Cups. Only one of their seven wins since 2007 has come against a traditional big team. They lost to Hong Kong in the 2014 edition at home, while in 2016, they missed the mother of all open nets against India.Related

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This time too Bangladesh come into the tournament with cracks, despite recently seeing off Australia and New Zealand at home. On tailor-made home pitches that helped the spinners, the visiting batters had very little clue what was happening – but so did the home batters, and it seems that has hurt Bangladesh. Their shock loss to Scotland in the first round showed signs of their batters’ lack of confidence. The top order was gone quickly, before Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan stalled for several overs, trying to rebuild. That didn’t work out and then captain Mahmudullah, the team’s best T20 batter, couldn’t time his big hits.Their subsequent wins over Oman and PNG ensured a spot in the Super 12s, but Bangladesh have to play a lot better and with more consistency in this round if they are to reach the tournament goal they have set for themselves: reach the semi-finals.

Recent form

Bangladesh came into the tournament with three consecutive series wins over Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand. But they lost two out of three warm-up games earlier this month, before crashing against Scotland in the first round. They recovered against Oman and PNG.

Batting

Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah and Shakib remain in charge of Bangladesh’s batting, despite the emergence of several talented batters in recent years. If these three fire together, expect a big score. If they have a combined bad day, the whole team seems to slow down.Mohammad Naim, Liton Das and Afif Hossain have shown signs of standing on their own, but don’t seem to be quite there yet. In Liton’s case, he has been around for six years, but consistency hasn’t been his companion.Nurul Hasan has emerged as a big-hitter down the order, as well as a skillful wicketkeeper. Soumya Sarkar and Shamim Hossain are the back-up batters in the squad.

Bowling

Spin usually dominates Bangladesh’s bowling plans, particularly with Shakib as the leader of the attack. The left-arm spinner’s varied pace and flight and subtle turn translate into the most bankable four overs. Offspinner Mahedi Hasan has started well in the tournament, and they also have Nasum Ahmed, Player-of-the-Series against New Zealand last month, waiting in the wings.Mustafizur Rahman is their best fast bowler, a proper T20 star who has excelled at the IPL. He has been around a long while, yet he still bamboozles the best of batters. Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Saifuddin complement him with pace and variations, while the left-arm quick Shoriful Islam is waiting for his first opportunity.

Player to watch

There are very few cricketers in the world currently who can bring as much to his side as Shakib Al Hasan does to Bangladesh. He is the team’s best player for sure, but he is also pushing for bigger honours. He had a great 2019 Word Cup – he was one of three batters to tally over 600 runs, to go with 11 wickets – but after that, he had the low of the ICC suspension to contend with.Since his return, he has worked his way back to his best, recently breaking the record for most T20I wickets. In the UAE, Shakib will bat at No. 3, and be expected to bowl in different situations with his new shorter run-up. He bowled superbly at the IPL and has brought his form with the ball over to the T20 World Cup. His batting will be all the more important to Bangladesh in the absence of Tamim Iqbal.

Key question

Despite their fine recent form at home and their recovery in the first round in Muscat, question marks still hang over Bangladesh. Both Australia and New Zealand had fielded sides that were missing first-choice players, and the matches were played on Dhaka’s infamous raging turners. All the batters struggled and, as already mentioned, that sort of preparation in the lead-up to the global tournament has shown in Bangladesh’s batting so far. Can their batters break free and reach potential to help them make a mark in the Super 12s?

Likely XI

1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Liton Das, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Mohammad Saifuddin, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Fast bowlers as Test leaders are a rarity, usually only called on in an emergency

Jarrod Kimber06-Dec-2021Ian Johnson was known as “Myxomatosis” – a disease that kills rabbits – because his team-mates thought that he brought himself on to bowl at the opposition’s bunnies.And this matters, because Johnson was one of the few bowling captains Australia have ever had, but he wasn’t a popular leader. Of the 17 Tests in which he was captain, Australia won seven and lost five. But that record included two Ashes series losses, and a maiden Test defeat to Pakistan. Many felt he’d been given the job because he was a safe diplomatic pair of hands.Of the bowlers of his era, Johnson (an offspinner) took 73% of his wickets in the top seven (a fairly average proportion) but that dropped to 64% when he became captain, even though he actually brought himself on earlier during his time in charge – he was first and second change 60% of the time in that period, compared to 53% beforehand.It would be easy to say that Johnson killed the notion that Australia can be led by a bowler. Except a few years later, Richie Benaud got the job. Like in most things relating to bowling captains, it’s complicated.

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There are many reasons why captains are usually batters, but the starting point must be the maths. With six specialist batters in your average XI, that accounts for some 55% of the team – add the keeper as well, and that leaves only 37% specialist bowlers, excluding allrounders.And yet, we clearly don’t get bowling captains 37% of the time. Of all the players to have captained in ten-plus Tests, only 4.3% are bowlers, and even if you include bowling allrounders, that’s only 11%. Keepers, meanwhile, have done it 6.8% of the time, and when you factor in the genuine allrounders and specialist captains, that means that 74% of the time, players captain as batters. They’re doing well, aren’t they?Leaving aside the reasons why it’s complicated for bowlers to lead, there’s a pretty obvious reason for batters to get the job. Unlike the keepers and bowlers, they have little else going on when they’re in the field. If you had a hypothetical situation where you liked two candidates equally for the captaincy, and one was a batter, the other a bowler, the batter is probably the better choice.However, you can’t overlook the part that cricket’s history has played in this either. Captains have traditionally been batters, not because they were tactical geniuses, or because of their lesser workload, but because of the class divide of English cricket. The phrase “cricket is a gentleman’s game” doesn’t refer to all men. “Gentlemen” are those males lucky enough to have gone to a very good school, with good family connections, who could play cricket as an amateur.Those players were often batters, because bowling is hard work. And therefore the system within the game deemed that bowlers were less worthy of higher office.That era is over, but still we pretend that bowlers aren’t as smart as batters. Bowlers might be considered great athletes, but to be a batter, you need to be more skill- and smarts-led.And yet, if that was the case, we’d surely see more spinners as captains. Instead, only six of the 18 bowling-dominant leaders are spinners, which shows that the prejudice is more engrained than simply “don’t give the captaincy to the big fast guy”.Which brings us to Pat Cummins – clearly a great athlete, but it would be hard to watch him play, or follow his development as a cricketer, without believing he is an incredibly smart player. When he was injured as a youngster, he turned himself into a T20 hitter. His bowling method is almost a perfect culmination of modern styles, and very different from the 18-year-old who was Player of the Match on Test debut in Johannesburg 10 years ago. Cummins is clearly a thinking player.Ian Johnson (right) led Australia in two Ashes defeats•L Blandford/Getty ImagesOne of the most common reasons for not giving bowlers the top job is how many overs they might deliver. Anyone who has played any level of cricket under a bowling captain will complain that they either bowl too much or not enough.Australia’s only seam-bowling full-time captain (though he was probably a mixture of spin and seam) was George Giffen. The allrounder captained Australia four times, but in those matches, he averaged 59 six-ball overs per game, compared to only 30 overs when he wasn’t captain. He probably ruined bowling-captaincy for everyone else. But modern cricket doesn’t work like that. Giffen couldn’t bowl that number of overs now. Really, no one outside of a spin-bowling captain could.Before Cummins goes out on the field, he will know the moments that Australia plan to use him. He’ll replace Mitchell Starc after a short first spell, at around the tenth over. He’ll bowl another decent spell at around the 40-over mark, and one more before the 80th as well. He averages 38 overs per Test, which is high, but Australia have a four-man attack. That’s unlikely to change with him as captain.The problem may come when things go wrong, because he might just keep pushing himself, as Andrew Flintoff once did during his captaincy stint – he was arguably never the same bowler after his 51 overs in the second innings against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in 2006. It’s a common problem in adversity, your best bowlers tend to get overbowled. But with Cummins as leader, Australia will need to watch this tendency even closer.Whether he bowls too much or not, he’s bound to get tired from all those overs. And even if, as captain, he’ll spare himself all that time out on the boundary, where quicks earn extra miles, you can’t discount that as a factor against bowler-captains, for all that they are fitter now than in the amateur era.Tiredness was arguably the main reason against keepers leading too, but they’ve done pretty well in the role. Before MS Dhoni, it was common to say keepers couldn’t juggle the two roles, but India won two World Cups under his leadership and rose to become the No. 1 Test team. And Cummins has just taken over from Tim Paine, Australia’s first long-term keeper-captain. If keepers can overcome their burden to lead, surely bowlers can too.But there are still stigmas in the game, probably dating back to those old ways of thinking. Batters are often seen as tactical geniuses, and yet it is bowlers who spend their entire careers working out how to out-think their opponents. Many batting captains only start to ponder such things when they are put in a position of authority.Australian captaincy stereotypes are another factor. Many teams have picked their most strategically minded players to be their leaders, including England, who have had two specialists captains in Plum Warner and Mike Brearley. Australia, on the other hand, have almost always given the job to the best batter in the team.

“There are modern-day reasons why picking a fast bowler as captain may not work, with cricket moving ever closer to baseball’s platoon system, where fast bowlers are rested to ensure they are fit and sharp for each match”

There is sound thinking in this. The average team will have up to three dead-certainties in their batting line-up, and if you’ve decided that keepers and bowlers are ruled out, that makes them your three captaincy options. Unless something unexpected happens, it gives you a solid leader for at least two years.A lot depends on whether you view captaincy as an art form. The ability to bat well doesn’t mean you will be good at managing people, tactics, and the many external pressures of the job.But strategy is generally over-rated in Tests. Unless a captain is lucky enough to have five frontline bowling options (which Cummins won’t), most Test bowling changes are about giving someone else a rest. The batting order very rarely changes either. There’s not much data to back up the importance of field placings, so all you can really go on are anecdotes and personal preferences.Ultimately, Australia’s preference for batter-captains may be reductive, despite it making sense from a continuity standpoint. And yet, their most respected captain, on and off the field, was Benaud, a bowling allrounder.Imran Khan was another bowling allrounder. Daren Sammy won two World Cups with West Indies, and changed the way we thought about the format. He started out as a bowling captain. Lasith Malinga won a T20 World Cup as a specialist bowler (having replaced Dinesh Chandimal for the last few games). Dan Vettori was a bowling captain too, and probably the last (unofficial) player/coach a major nation will ever have.By my count (and a lot of this is subjective), there have been seven specialist bowlers to have captained their country in ten Tests or more. Bishan Bedi, Courtney Walsh, Bob Willis, Johnson, Waqar Younis, Anil Kumble and Fazal Mahmood. Their combined results come to 120 matches, 41 wins and 42 losses. Virtually par.That said, this is a comically small group. Those numbers could be completely random. If you factor in bowling allrounders such as Shaun Pollock, Wasim Akram and Kapil Dev, you could be looking at 18 bowling leaders, with 87 victories and 101 defeats.But a further factor to note here is that most bowling captains are emergencies. They don’t land in good situations; they are thrown whatever is left and have to make do from there. They are often saddled with weak batting line-ups, because if the top order was making runs, there would be no emergency in the first place, and the most settled batter would be captain.There are modern-day reasons why picking a fast bowler as captain may not work. Cricket is moving ever closer to baseball’s platoon system, where fast bowlers are rested to ensure they are as fit and sharp as they need to be for each match. Cummins himself looked spent by the fourth Test against India in Australia’s last home series. Starc looked done by the third.Cummins remains one of Australia’s most-important bowlers•Getty ImagesCricket has already missed out on many great bowling captains over the years. It may be harder still to factor them into the future. Cummins is clearly smart enough to lead Australia. But he comes into the role having captained just four professional matches in his career, and with a couple of hundred years of history and cricket lore to overcome.

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Pat Cummins’ nickname is “Cider” (think about it…) You can often hear the Australian players calling him this. It’s problematic for Cricket Australia, given that they lost one captain because of what someone put into his underwear, and another because of what he took out of his underwear. The pressure on Cummins to lead a very imperfect team while being a perfect man is staggering.And the reason why Cummins is now captain, and not his deputy Steve Smith, all stems from an incident that he surely knew of in advance. No one within cricket imagines that Australia’s bowlers didn’t know about the reverse-swing plans in South Africa. It was their ball and their jobs on the line. When Donald McRae interviewed Cameron Bancroft earlier this year, he admitted as much, before Cricket Australia went to work ensuring that story fizzled out.Cummins is Australia’s captain because of a cheating scandal in which he was implicated. The moral gymnastics of that would seem to be a lot harder than the arts of bowling and captaining.There are many reasons why Cummins might fail as Test captain. His top seven is decidedly shaky. The bowling line-up has a decent chance of being overworked, and could unravel with one serious injury. The team hasn’t played for 11 months, nor won an away tour since 2016, with four victories in their last 15 away trips.This is not a consistent team, and what they need to win is their best players starring.For Cummins the captain to be successful, he needs Cummins the bowler to continue to star.Yet if he does fail, it will be another public failure for the idea that Australia can be led by a bowler.

Dealing with the language barrier one of the main tasks as Silverwood, Sri Lanka focus on redemption

Madushka Balasuriya12-Apr-2022It’s not often that a team appoints a head coach to as little fanfare among supporters as Sri Lanka have just done, but such is the precarious state of the nation at the moment that Chris Silverwood’s appointment has flown almost entirely under the radar.But, in many ways, that’s probably to Silverwood’s advantage; both he and the team are coming off some poor results. Sri Lanka suffered heavy back-to-back defeats in the Test and T20I series against Australia and India, while Silverwood was sacked as the England men’s team’s head coach after England’s 4-0 Ashes series defeat.Related

• Naveed Nawaz, Chaminda Vaas join Sri Lanka men's coaching staff

• Rajapaksa: I've always felt like a rioter who would fight for the boys' rights

• Sri Lanka to tour Bangladesh in May for two-match Test series

• Chris Silverwood named Sri Lanka's new head coach

Therefore, focusing on the future without much media glare is probably a good thing.Silverwood’s first chance at putting his mark on the side will be a two-Test tour of Bangladesh in May, but with a month until then and, more importantly, roughly six months till Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup campaign begins in Australia, here are five things he will need to address.Solving the Rajapaksa problem
In most circumstances, a player on the fringes of the national side hitting form would be fairly ideal for a new coach. But in the case of Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who has just seen his stock rise considerably following a couple of blistering knocks in the IPL, it’s seemingly another obstacle for the new man in charge to navigate.Rajapaksa is a talented batter, one who could be an invaluable asset to Sri Lanka’s limited-overs outfit, but his fitness levels have always been found wanting – leading to more than a few tussles with the team management.Rajapaksa has admitted that he wouldn’t be near the fitness levels of some of his more athletic peers, but his argument was that sudden weight loss causes him to lose balance while batting, and that might hold some merit. As things stand, he falls short purely on skinfold testing.While this may seem easy enough to overlook, the flipside is that the minimum fitness mandate implemented rigorously by SLC has seen Sri Lanka’s fielding improve markedly – even if results as a whole have been less encouraging. So the question for Silverwood would be: is the inclusion of Rajapaksa worth it if it gives his team-mates an excuse to slack off? Or, perhaps, the solution may lay in devising more equitable fitness metrics. Whatever he decides, it will likely set the tone for the rest of his tenure.Communication will be key

Even during Sri Lanka’s best periods in the last two decades, there has been the sense that overseas coaches, for all their goodwill and willingness to embrace Sri Lanka culture, were never truly in control of the team’s tactical and strategic planning.Now, this is not to suggest the players didn’t listen, rather that tactical presentations communicated in English might not have always been fully grasped by all involved. Anecdotal evidence is indeed rife of players discussing and changing various team strategies in their native tongue, only for the coach to be made abreast of all the new changes later.Of course, it’s not unusual for senior members of a squad to play the role of translator to a foreign coach, but it’s obvious that this might impact the coach’s plans.This will be Silverwood’s first job coaching a team where the first language isn’t English, and while he has obvious pedigree, ensuring clear two-way communication will be key.Bailing out the batters
Sri Lanka’s T20 captain Dasun Shanaka has recently found his range, while the likes of Chamika Karunaratne and Wanindu Hasaranga also offer great lower-order hitting prowess. But it’s about finding consistency in the top order that will determine how far this team can go.In players like Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka have the talent. However, ensuring regular output from them has been elusive.Rotating strike has been a problem in recent times – Sri Lanka’s dot-ball percentage is unenviable – while there is also a tendency to get starts and then falter. While England’s red-ball batters came undone under Silverwood’s watch in the Ashes, their white-ball counterparts have been among the best in the world. If he’s able to coax consistency out of Sri Lanka’s batters, he’ll already be ahead of his predecessors.The likes of Dushmantha Chameera would benefit a lot from Silverwood’s appointment•ICC/Getty ImagesBoon for the bowlers?
Silverwood, a fast bowler himself during his playing days, was originally drafted into the England set-up as a bowling coach and has had first-hand experience working with two of the finest fast bowlers in their history: James Anderson and Stuart Broad. It wouldn’t be surprising if the likes of Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara are most excited by Silverwood’s appointment.The two quicks are now Sri Lanka’s frontline seamers in all formats, following the retirement of Suranga Lakmal. While Chameera was the leading ODI wicket-taker in 2021, Kumara has been less consistent, struggling to hit his lengths when called upon to bowl at the death in the shortest format. However, he did have impressive tours of Australia and India, picking up nine wickets across five T20Is.Kumara’s improved performance was brought on by a change in tactics, where he was used primarily through the middle overs and asked to bowl more back of a length – something that allowed him to extract extra bounce to go with his rapid pace. If Silverwood can add more strings to Kumara’s bow, Sri Lanka could possibly pose a real threat in world cricket through him and Chameera.And with Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana also in Sri Lanka’s ranks, Silverwood definitely has a lot to work with.Going beyond Karunaratne
While Silverwood’s immediate priority would be preparing the side for the T20 World Cup later this year, he would also want to focus on the Test team. The recent away series against India, in which Sri Lanka lost 2-0, showed how far behind the team was in the long format, especially against the top teams.Last year, they won back-to-back home series against Bangladesh and West Indies, while the team also drew a series in the Caribbean. Indeed, the only blemishes in 2021 were defeats away to South Africa and at home to England.That, incidentally, coincided with an injury to Dimuth Karunaratne, whose four centuries in 2021, including a maiden double – 244 against Bangladesh – saw him rise to fifth in the Test batting rankings by March. There is no other Sri Lankan batter in the top 20.If Sri Lanka are to put up an improved showing in the current World Test Championship cycle, Silverwood would want to address the team’s over-reliance on Karunaratne.

Pakistan are looking for a way out of the rut, and the return of Bismah Maroof should help them on that path

S Sudarshanan and Danyal Rasool05-Mar-2022IndiaOverview
India have blown hot and blown cold in ODIs since the last World Cup in 2017, when they were the beaten finalists, losing a match they had every right to win against England.They have won 19 and lost 21 of the 40 they have played since. More importantly, India have just four wins in 16 matches since the start of 2021, which should be a major concern. However, they came close to beating Australia in Australia before ending their record-winning streak.The other concern is that India may or may not have zeroed in on their best XI. Yastika Bhatia was seen as the No. 3 before Deepti Sharma moved up to take the spot in New Zealand.The spotlight, though, would be on their bowling attack, led, perhaps for the last time, by Jhulan Goswami. They failed to defend scores of 270 and 279 in successive games against New Zealand. Without the experienced Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja Vastrakar will have to step up and support Goswami, who has continues to keep things tight.Squad
Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-capt) Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Taniya Bhatia, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad | Travelling reserves: S Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil BahadurRecent form
Having returned to the ODI circuit in 2021 after a 15-month gap, India have lost series against South Africa (at home), England, Australia and New Zealand (away). However, the run has also included a win that ended Australia’s record winning streak of 26 ODIs.Player to watch
Richa Ghosh has slotted seamlessly into India’s lower-middle order, using her attacking game to help India finish strongly. In her seven ODIs, she has hit two fifties, one of which was at a strike rate of 179.31 against New Zealand. Though she has some tidying up to do with her glovework, her ability as a batter should help India push their totals towards 300, something that won’t be too rare in New Zealand.What the captain said
“The young talent in the side today, I tell them that you don’t have the experience of the past World Cups, so it’s a clean slate for you, all you have to do is enjoy the big stage. The only advice I would give the young players is enjoy the big stage because if you pile up the pressure you may not be playing the best that the team and you would want to do in the World Cup.”
Mithali RajPakistan will hope that a refreshed Bismah Maroof hits the ground running•Getty ImagesPakistanOverview
For far too long, Pakistan have simply existed on the circuit without the sort of progress they might have hoped for. There are plenty of reasons why that’s the case, but at this World Cup, they would want to shelve that reputation in search of tangible on-field progress. They have gone winless at the last two ODI World Cups, and go into this tournament far from being the favourites. There have been limited signs of improvement, though. There were a couple of away ODI wins against West Indies last year and an upset T20I win against South Africa in Durban. Not to forget the win over New Zealand in the warm-up game the other day. But Pakistan have tended to lose the matches they are expected to lose, and win the ones they’re supposed to win. It’s been a bit predictable, but that’s the rut they have found themselves stuck in, and will want to break out of.Squad
Bismah Maroof (capt), Nida Dar, Aiman Anwer, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nahida Khan, Nashra Sandhu, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Ameen, Sidra NawazRecent form
It’s been underwhelming. There was a recent big victory against Zimbabwe in Harare, but also a defeat against Bangladesh, and those three wins against West Indies and South Africa were accompanied by nine losses against the same oppositions last year.Player to watch
Bismah Maroof has been a pioneering cricketer for Pakistan for more than a decade and a half. She returns to the fold after her maternity leave, which prompted the PCB to adopt a maternity policy for the first time. The Pakistan captain’s presence is a major fillip for a side that doesn’t quite boast the strength and depth of some of the legitimate contenders. After spending nearly a year away from cricket, it will be key to Pakistan’s chances that a refreshed Maroof hits the ground running.What the captain said
“We arrive in New Zealand well prepared, with our eyes set on one of the four semi-final spots. We have never made it to the knockouts of any World Cup across the two formats, but that does not mean that time will never come.”
Bismah Maroof

Being an integral part of England’s bowling attack, she has five wickets this World Cup so far

S Sudarshanan23-Mar-2022Consistency often hides more than it shows. It is overshadowed by more heroic performances in sports and comes into the spotlight only when the bigger picture is looked at.Kate Cross has 27 wickets in ODIs since July 2020. It is the fifth-most in the period, most for England. But Cross isn’t one of the first names oppositions will specifically plan for with the more illustrious Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole and Sophie Ecclestone grabbing the limelight.And “Mrs Consistent” – a moniker given by England captain Heather Knight – has only benefitted by flying under the radar.In England’s last game, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates had helped New Zealand race to 44 for 0 in the first seven overs, with Brunt and Shrubsole both struggling to find their lines and lengths in windy Auckland. Cross was summoned as first-change and she struck in her third over to break the 61-run opening stand by removing Bates.”I have quite a simple game plan in any situation, really. And today I knew that if I could just keep it simple and try and dot them up then it might force an error, which it did with Suzie Bates,” Cross said after England all but ended New Zealand’s World Cup campaign.”It was absolutely putrid out there. If I’m being completely honest, it was a really difficult spell to bowl from that end. So sometimes when it is like that, and it’s that windy, it almost makes me just think about one thing and keep it strong in my action. And if I’m doing that, then you know the result will come because sometimes you can get a bit caught up with what’s going on at the other end, especially when Suzie bats. It can feel quite chaotic.”After a six-over spell at the start, Cross returned towards the closing stages to dismiss Katey Martin and Devine, who had returned to bat after retiring earlier due to a sore back, in successive overs to finish with an impressive 3 for 35 in her ten overs.”England get their breakthrough via Kate Cross,” is a phrase that was often used in the past year. Against the touring New Zealand side in the second ODI in Worcester, she picked up the first wicket immediately – of Bates again – after being brought on as first-change, and dismissed Lauren Down and Amy Satterthwaite as well to help England defend a low 197.Earlier in the summer, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma had help India gallop in the second ODI in Taunton, when Cross had Mandhana playing on to trigger a collapse. The seamer was the fourth bowler Knight had turned to on that occasion, and she went on to finish with 5 for 34.”I’ve always said that sometimes I get the boring, rubbish jobs where you’re bowling into the wind or up the hill and kind of have a holding role that creates pressure at the other end,” Cross had said after picking up her second five-wicket haul that jolted India. “So it was nice to pick some up myself today.”Cross’ five-for was also adjudged the best bowling performance of the year in the ESPNcricinfo Awards; it could have well been for turning up and bowling tough spells and churning up wickets every single time.Since the start of 2021, there have been 24 partnerships of 50 or more against England in ODIs, two of which were unconquered ones. Cross broke five such stands out of the remaining 22, the most for England in the period. Charlie Dean with four such breakthroughs is the next best.Cross was not part of England’s victorious World Cup campaign in 2017 due to a mental-health hiatus. When she suffered torn ligaments in her right ankle after landing awkwardly on the boundary ropes while attempting a catch during the warm-up ahead of the match against West Indies in the 2020 T20 World Cup, she feared that she would miss the bus for the 2022 ODI World Cup as well, originally scheduled in February 2021.Having made the cut and being an integral part of England’s bowling attack, Cross has five wickets to show so far this World Cup, the most for an English seamer, and has made more impact than Brunt and Shrubsole so far. Although “it’s quite exciting but tiring” in her words, she would perhaps not have it any other way.And with consistency as her ally, Cross could be the shining armour for Knight.

They prepare for “one last push” after having started the tournament with three successive losses

Valkerie Baynes31-Mar-20221:20

Taylor: Ecclestone is probably the best bowler in the world

The puzzle pieces all fell into place at the perfect time for England to cap a remarkable World Cup turnaround with an emphatic semi-final victory over South Africa that earned them the right to defend their title against Australia on Sunday.From Danni Wyatt’s first World Cup century that must surely have cemented her place at the top of the order, to a maiden international five-wicket haul for Sophie Ecclestone, and Sophia Dunkley’s second consecutive fifty, England have left themselves with “one last push” to overturn a chastening Ashes defeat against their old foes.England’s chances of reaching the semi-finals, let alone the final, seemed remote after they began their campaign with three straight defeats. But their fifth victory in a row, built on Wyatt’s career-best 129 off just 125 balls and sealed by Ecclestone’s tournament-best 6 for 36 were key parts of the complete performance captain Heather Knight had been seeking.Related

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• Mignon du Preez has got her mojo working

Likewise, Wyatt’s place as opener was far from decided at the start of the tournament. She played the first two matches, against Australia and West Indies, at No. 6 and was only elevated for the group-stage match against South Africa when England dispensed with the out-of-form Lauren Winfield-Hill.Before her unbeaten 76 against Pakistan, also at Hagley Oval a week ago – her first half-century at a World Cup in 17 innings – Wyatt’s best score of the tournament was 33 against West Indies.Wyatt played seven matches as opener at the 2013 World Cup, including England’s third-place play-off victory. She then had four innings in the middle order at the 2017 edition but didn’t play in the knockout stages.She played two ODIs on England’s tour of New Zealand a year ago but was then dropped for the 50-over leg of their home series with India, returning to the ODI set-up when England hosted the White Ferns in September.”I’ve had a weird career especially in my ODI career, been up and down like a yo-yo, but I’m happy to bat wherever the team want me to bat,” Wyatt said. “I’ve obviously been given the chance to open the batting, which is where I want to bat.”It’s my job to get the team off to a good start and take the opportunity and I’m really chuffed with how it went today and hopefully this can be the start of a long and successful career at the top of the order.”Before this match with South Africa, England was the only side in the competition without a 50-run opening stand, their highest being 31 against West Indies.After a streaky start by fellow opener Tammy Beaumont, who was hit on the helmet by a fierce Shabnim Ismail bouncer on the sixth ball of the day and was caught behind off a loose waft at a Kapp outswinger not long after, Wyatt dominated a 41-run stand for the second wicket with Knight, who fell for just 1. She then shared another, more even, partnership worth 49 for the fourth wicket with Amy Jones, who contributed 28.But it was Wyatt’s union with Dunkley, who played brilliantly for her 60, that took the game away from South Africa, adding 116 runs off just 112 deliveries in a busy, mature partnership.Sophie Ecclestone rattled South Africa’s chase with 6 for 36•ICC via Getty ImagesWyatt rode her luck, dropped five times – on 22, 36, 77, 116 and 117 – the penultimate time drawing a sheepish grin from Knight as she watched from the stands and the last one a difficult chance that Mignon du Preez couldn’t hold diving at cover.”I’m really chuffed with how it went today,” Wyatt said. “I woke up this morning and really wanted to contribute to a win and that’s what happened. It’s been the longest trip we’ve ever had, so one last push and we want to take the trophy home with us and have a well-deserved holiday afterwards.”England left home at the start of January and were comprehensively beaten by Australia in their multi-format Ashes series before travelling straight to the World Cup. When the sides met in their first group-stage game, Australia – the overwhelming pre-tournament favourites – won by 12 runs.In that match, left-arm spinner Ecclestone’s figures read none for 77 from 10 overs, but she has since moved to the top of the wicket-takers list with 20 at an average of 12.85 and economy rate of 3.40, bolstered by her performance against South Africa. During the tournament, Ecclestone also moved ahead of Australian counterpart Jess Jonassen to No. 1 on the ICC’s bowling rankings, a position she already held in T20Is. But an international five-for had eluded her until now.Fittingly, Anya Shrubsole, the heroine of England’s 2017 World Cup triumph, took the wind out of the chase, removing the dangerous Laura Wolvaardt for a duck with a sharp return catch and Lizelle Lee, who was caught by Nat Sciver at midwicket as South Africa slumped to 8 for 2 in four overs.Ecclestone then took away any hope of a recovery, bowling Kapp and du Preez, either side of another Sciver catch at midwicket to dismiss Chloe Tryon, before tidying up the tail to leave South Africa desperately short, all out for 156.One of the first to reach Ecclestone after she had Trisha Chetty stumped to seal victory was Wyatt, who leapt into her arms to deliver a congratulatory embrace.”Soph bowled exceptionally well again today, she’s an absolute GOAT and I’m so chuffed for her,” Wyatt said. “That’s going to be the first of many five-fors and she was absolutely unplayable today, especially with that pace and dip, a bit of turn as well that she was getting.”I actually said to Nat (Sciver) on the pitch how she would go in men’s international cricket, I think she’s bowling exceptionally well at the minute and she’s not fun to face in the nets that’s for sure.”Knight was thrilled with her team’s showing, which further proved her suggestion through the latter part of the tournament that England are peaking at the right time.”That was a real complete performance from us today, what we’ve been searching for a little bit,” Knight told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “I’m really chuffed that the girls have brought their best cricket when it’s all on the line.”I think the fact that we’ve been playing knockout cricket for the last four games has really helped us a little bit. It felt like another game that we’ve been playing… really excited for Sunday.”