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Rohit and Co have racked up nine wins in a row while New Zealand have become what they need to be to win

Alagappan Muthu14-Nov-20237:44

Kumble: India batters need to watch out for extra swing if they chase

Big picture: Big stakes

First, the unstoppable force. India are having the World Cup of their wildest dreams and it has nothing to do with the fact they are undefeated in it. That is merely a byproduct of their planning leading into the tournament. They left 2019 needing… more. So they went out searching, trying as many as 50 different players across four years and 66 matches. Six months out from the showpiece, they had identified who they wanted and were focused on sharpening their skills. In the 15 ODIs between March and October 2023, they were picking all of their XIs from a set of 24.The chosen ones were given all the support they needed to live up to their full potential, which is why Suryakumar Yadav finally looks like he belongs in ODI cricket. Off the field, India were doing even better. The success of this campaign – and it is already a success – was built in the doctor’s offices and the gyms and the training sessions that enabled Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul Shreyas Iyer to come back from injury without losing a shred of their ability to the doubt that their bodies might break down again if they pushed it too hard.Rohit Sharma and his predecessor Virat Kohli have often pointed to a record of sustained excellence whenever they were faced with questions around the lack of ICC trophies since 2013. Whether the drought ends in a week’s time or not, the gains this team has made – the freedom with which they bat, the discipline with which they bowl, the trust they have in themselves and their method, the joy they have spread – already feel historic.Now, the immovable shape-shifting object. New Zealand become what they need to be to win. Rachin Ravindra began scoring mountains of runs in the top order, so the opener they invested in during the lead-up to the World Cup has to warm the bench. They’ve turned Glenn Phillips into something close to an allrounder, the man has doubled the number of overs he had bowled in his entire ODI career during the course of this competition. They’ve dealt with injury to key personnel. They weren’t derailed by the close-run loss to Australia or the one after they scored 401 against Pakistan. They pitch up. They do what they can. And then they are at peace with whatever happens. This is why they are so good in high-pressure games like the one that took place on July 14, 2019.Expect a cagey start. Each team trying ever so hard not to make the first mistake, trying not so much to beat the opposition as outlasting them. New Zealand are masters at this art; at just staying in the game long enough until there is an opening to burst through.Related

• Williamson: 'When you get to finals, things start again'

• Samiuddin: Bumrah is a species of exactly one

• Glenn Phillips 2.0 takes centre stage with New Zealand

• Stump Mic – Timeouts, resets and the final four

• Santner needs to be more Santner than Jadeja

Form guide

India: WWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
New Zealand: WLLLL

In the spotlight: Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult

Jasprit Bumrah is the man that makes India unbeatable. Without him, they went out with a whimper at the T20 World Cup last year. With him, they thrashed the team that had tossed them out in Australia despite a massive batting malfunction. Almost 80% of his deliveries (175 out of 228) in the first ten overs are dots. He always comes back in the middle overs because if he can pick up a wicket then, a new batter will have to face the prospect of scoring those crucial, and quick, runs against, in all likelihood, Bumrah himself because he truly does come alive at the death with his slower balls and his yorkers.New Zealand’s best chance to win will be bowling under lights. The new ball has moved dramatically in Mumbai after sunset, and early wickets are the surest way to cripple an opposition, even one with so many fail-safes. Trent Boult has not always had the conditions in his favour at this World Cup but if the fates align to present him the opportunity to target the stumps and the pads of Rohit and Kohli and Shreyas and Rahul, he will sure as hell take it. And even if he has to bowl in the heat, he’ll be spurred on by an acute sense of unfinished business.2:29

Ravindra: Playing against India at the Wankhede is like a dream

Team news

Nether India nor New Zealand will be looking to shuffle up their packs. Lockie Ferguson has been managing an achilles injury throughout the tournament, the Black Caps coach Gary Stead told , but he also added that the fast bowler should be good to play the semi-final. On the eve of the game, Williamson confirmed all the players in their squad were fit and available for selection.India have been playing the same XI since their fifth league game, which was against New Zealand in Dharamsala.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed SirajNew Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions

It’s been fun to bat in the first innings at Wankhede stadium and then fun again after 20 overs of the chase is done. The in-between period is when the quicks have wreaked havoc. The weather is set fair and even if not there is a reserve day for the semi-final.

Stats and trivia

• India currently have the most wickets (85), best economy rate (4.5), best average (19.6) and best strike rate (26.2) among all teams in the World Cup.
• Tim Southee vs Virat Kohli could be a fun battle. It has produced 205 runs at a strike rate of 101 but also six dismissals as well.
• New Zealand have been effective at scoring runs quickly in this World Cup, having the joint-highest run rate (6.5) among all teams in the tournament.
• Among opening pairs with at least 1000 runs in ODIs, Rohit and Shubman Gill have the second-highest average (74.8) behind only David Warner and Travis Head (80.1).

Quotes

“The underdog thing, from what you guys write, I do not think it has changed too much, but that is fine you know, and India have been exceptional.”
“I’ve played a lot of cricket here: these four or five games are not going to tell a lot about what Wankhede is… I certainly believe that toss is not the [decisive] factor.”

Alex Davies, Rob Yates fire chase of 147 before Ben Raine gives Durham a glimmer

ECB Reporters Network20-Jun-2023Jacob Bethell held his nerve under pressure in the final over to guide Birmingham Bears to a two-wicket victory over Durham in a thriller at Seat Unique Riverside, keeping the visitors on top of the Vitality Blast North Group.The Bears were miserly with the ball after winning the toss. Hasan Ali was excellent at the top of the order and collected figures of 2-15 from his four overs, while Danny Briggs also claimed two strikes. Ollie Robinson and Ashton Turner notched fifties, but Durham’s total of 146 for 5 looked short of par at the interval.Alex Davies and Rob Yates led an explosive start to the Bears’ chase, sharing an opening stand of 80 to put the visitors ahead of the rate. But, Nathan Sowter continued his impressive campaign with two wickets to halt the Birmingham charge. Ben Raine then set nerves jangling with two in two in the 17th over and he performed heroics again with the same feat in the 19th.The game turned again when Bethell held his composure from the final over to smash a six and a four in back-to-back balls to steer Birmingham over the one with three balls to spare, edging them closer to a quarter-final berth.After Graham Clark scored three early boundaries, Durham’s momentum was halted by losing both openers within three balls. Chris Woakes made the breakthrough on his return as Alex Lees was undone by a slower delivery before Clark was bowled by Hasan.Hasan produced a brilliant spell with the new ball, bowling three overs for the cost of just seven runs, limiting the hosts to 29 from the powerplay.The Bears continued to restrict the Durham batting ranks as the run rate hovered at just below six an over. The pressure to score allowed Briggs to strike in successive deliveries. Michael Jones was caught on the fence by Jake Lintott, who produced a clever catch on the rope to prevent a maximum, while Brydon Carse fell first ball.At 60 for 4, the hosts could ill afford to lose further wickets. Robinson and Turner duly responded with an excellent partnership worth 86 to allow Durham to post a competitive total. Turner found his timing against the Birmingham spinners and raced to his half-century from only 29 balls with seven fours and slog-sweep six against Lintott.Robinson was more sedate compared to his team-mate, but still brought up his fourth fifty of the season with a massive strike over the rope against Woakes. He tried to add another off the final ball from Hasan, only to be caught on the relay by Lintott and Ed Barnard.Birmingham had no difficulty adjusting to the pitch in the powerplay and made the chase seem straightforward. Davies and Yates found the boundary with ease without taking risks, racing to fifty after 4.2 overs. The Bears were a staggering 37 runs ahead of the home side at the end of the powerplay, ending the opening six overs 66 without loss.Davies and Yates both fell for 40 as Liam Trevaskis and Wayne Parnell prevented the visitors from racing away with the chase. On his 400th T20 appearance, Glenn Maxwell’s attempt to reverse-sweep Sowter to the rope ended his knock for 14 and the legspinner sent Dan Mousley on his way to put the pressure on.Raine set up a tense finale by matching Briggs’ exploits removing Chris Benjamin and Ed Barnard in successive deliveries. The right-armer then performed similar heroics to dismiss Woakes and Hasan with two in two in the 19th. But, Bethell dispatched Trevaskis for a six and four to guide his team to victory in the final over.

Ollie Price produces career-best innings on truncated day at Headingley

ECB Reporters Network27-Jun-2023Gloucestershire were rewarded with some brotherly love as Ollie Price and older brother Tom batted in entertaining fashion to take their team to almost certain safety in the ongoing LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Yorkshire at Headingley.Gloucestershire started a weather-affected day three at 2.15pm on 232 for 5, replying to Yorkshire’s first-innings 550 for 9 declared, and closed on 421 for 8, with Ollie Price unbeaten on a career-best 97 off 140 balls.Ollie was one not out at the day’s beginning and Tom hadn’t even arrived at the crease, with Miles Hammond unbeaten on 84. When Hammond fell for 92, caught at long-on off Dan Moriarty’s left-arm spin, leaving the score at 246 for 6, it paved the way for a Gloucestershire game of ‘The Price is Right’ during a day of only 38 overs.Ollie, aged 22, was ably supported by Tom – a year older – with 59. They shared a Gloucestershire seventh-wicket record partnership in matches versus Yorkshire, 162 inside 33 overs either side of tea.It was also the match’s highest partnership, and it remains possible the two brothers from Oxford will have posted their maiden first-team centuries in this season’s Championship by early morning tomorrow after Tom did it against Worcestershire in April.With Gloucestershire 129 runs behind, a contrived finish is the only realistic way a draw could be avoided.Hammond only added eight runs to his overnight 84, which had come in 95 balls with six sixes – the majority lofted down the ground off Moriarty. And he was trying to play in the same attacking manner on day three despite a few factors against him – a slate grey sky with the floodlights on and Gloucestershire still 169 runs away from avoiding the follow-on.Anyway, he hoisted the second ball of the day in the 58th over, from Surrey loanee Moriarty, over long-off for six before trying similar in the spinner’s next over but picking out Dom Leech at long-on.Moriarty had wicket number four, and Dom Bess’s replacement in Yorkshire’s team was doing a decent job. The only downer from his point of view was that, after a tidy start on day two with three maidens in his first four overs, he was starting to concede some boundaries.He conceded seven sixes in figures of 4 for 96 after 25 overs, while his 26th saw Ollie Price hit him for three successive boundaries as the visitors closed on 300. Moriarty finished the day with 4 for 131 from 33 overs amidst an otherwise off-colour home display.The light forced Yorkshire to employ spin from both ends pretty early into proceedings. There was a near 25-minute delay for bad light from just before 3.20pm, with 17 overs bowled beforehand. Fifteen of them were sent down by the spin of Moriarty and part-time offie Adam Lyth.Ollie Price played positively but differently to Hammond. He swept and reverse swept on the way to an 82-ball fifty after the resumption following bad light.The 10 overs upon the resumption through to tea proved game changing. The Prices took 69 runs to advance from 300 for 6, including 45 from four bowled by Australian debutant overseas seamer Mark Steketee and Matthew Fisher.Tom took on Fisher’s short stuff and then drove an arrow straight boundary off Steketee, with Ollie three times edging the latter wide of the slips to reach tea on 75 and the visitors 369 for 6 and only 32 short of the follow-on.Only 15 more runs were added before another 25-minute break for bad light. Tom then reached his fifty off 93 balls as Gloucestershire avoided the follow-on at 402 for 6. But he was bowled almost immediately by George Hill.When Zafar Gohar failed to evade a Leech short ball in the next over, Gloucestershire were 413 for 8 after 93 overs. Only two more overs were possible before a third bad light stoppage was the final one at 5.55pm.

Three wickets on England debut helps restrict Bangladesh to 77, as batsmen overcome wobble to launch campaign

Andrew Miller12-Nov-2018England 64 for 3 (Jones 28*, Sciver 23) beat Bangladesh 76 for 9 (Ayasha 39, Gordon 3-16) by seven wickets (DLS method)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEngland’s women overcame a top-order wobble, and another dramatic flurry of St Lucian rain late in their run-chase, to get their World T20 campaign up and running with a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh at Gros Islet.They were set a sub-par 77 after a hit-and-miss performance from Bangladesh, but England took their time to calibrate the appropriate response in tricky, tacky conditions, as Danni Wyatt was pinned lbw for a first-ball duck before Tammy Beaumont toe-ended a cut to point for 2.England’s situation could have been even more dicey at 16 for 3 in the fourth over had Amy Jones been caught by the wicketkeeper, Shamina Sultana, who instead suffered a nasty faceplant after diving at full tilt to intercept a top-edge to point.But, as Sultana was taken from the field nursing a bloody nose, England found a more measured gear to break the back of their run-chase. Jones settled in to anchor the innings in a 38-run stand for the third wicket with Nat Sciver, who made 23, and finished on 28 not out from 24 balls. England were 55 for 3 when the rain caused a lengthy late delay, and ended up reaching a revised target of 64 in just three balls after the resumption, thanks to a brace of boundaries and a winning single from the captain, Heather Knight.It was a slightly scrappy performance from England, the reigning 50-over World Champions, but having been deprived of any meaningful practice in the build-up to this game, and even resorting to improvised net sessions under the grandstand, they were ready to accept any victory going.Only 24 hours earlier, the ICC had seriously been considering relocating this group to Antigua to avoid further washouts, but in the event the start of play was delayed by just 15 minutes after a heroic mopping-up effort from the groundstaff.Knight won the toss and chose to bowl first, with the boundary ropes brought in to the minimum legal requirement of 55 metres as part of the authorities’ bid to get this leg of their tournament up and running.Natalie Sciver sweeps through the leg side•Getty Images

And Knight’s decision was quickly vindicated as Bangladesh were reduced to 5 for 2 in their first five overs. Anya Shrubsole found some wicked late inswing to bowl Sultana for an eight-ball duck, before Sciver – slipping into the new-ball role vacated by the injured Katherine Brunt – found Fargana Hoque’s outside edge to give Jones an early catch, diving to her right.But, having stacked their side with three left-arm spinners – including two of the three debutants in Linsey Smith and Kirstie Gordon – England quickly chose to take pace off the ball, and Bangladesh responded with a block-or-slog response through the endeavours of Ayasha Rahman who, quite remarkably, would be the only Bangladesh batsman to make a single run in the first nine overs of the innings.A mow for six over backward square leg off Shrubsole was followed by a violent slog through the line as Gordon’s fourth ball as an England cricketer was deposited back over her head. However, Ayasha’s blood appeared to be pumping a touch too much when she sold her partner a massive dummy – leaving Nigar Sultana run out for the third duck of the innings – and she even appeared to strain her hamstring in the process of aborting a quick single into the covers.Undeterred, Ayasha continued to plant her front foot in a batting-by-numbers fashion, swiping Ecclestone for a third six over midwicket before hauling Gordon for four through square leg to move to 39 out of Bangladesh’s 12-over total of 42. But four balls later, she chanced her arm once too often to pick out Wyatt at cow corner and Gordon, the former Scotland international, was off the mark for her new country.Gordon added two more scalps in her final over, including a maiden catch at long-off for England’s third new girl, Sophia Dunkley, to finish with an impressive 3 for 16 in four overs. Bangladesh kept battling to the bitter end, with Jahanara Alam smashing Sophie Eccleston for the fourth six of the innings, but their total of 76 for 9 never seemed like being enough, even allowing for the conditions, and for England’s rusty response.

The fast bowler spent the last many weeks recovering from a fractured forearm at the NCA

PTI29-Mar-2021Mohammed Shami is “absolutely fine and ready to go” for the Punjab Kings in IPL 2021 after spending time at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) recovering from the fractured forearm he suffered during the first Test in Australia in mid-December.”The injury while batting was unfortunate as I have not had any fitness issues for a long time, but this was something I couldn’t do anything about but it is part of the game,” Shami, who left the NCA on March 20, told . “I always look at the positives. The last season was good for me and hope I can carry that form into the IPL. Because of the injury, I got more time be ready for a big tournament like the IPL.

On life in the bubble

“It is very tough as you can’t meet your friends and family they way you usually do. That helps take your mind off the game, which is very important. But, right now, it is the need of the hour. It is better to have the bubble than not having the event at all.”

“I was at NCA most of the time. I could have gone back home but because of the current Covid environment, I decided to spend more time at NCA as the facilities are much better and you can follow the Covid protocols.”The 2020 season, played in the UAE, was Shami’s best – after his first go in 2009 – on all markers: he got 20 wickets from 14 games at an average of 23.00 and strike rate of 16.10, with an economy rate of 8.57, all superior to his numbers in previous seasons. His IPL best of 3 for 15 also came last season.But with Ravi Bishnoi the only other bowler to have an impact, the Punjab Kings [Kings XI Punjab till last year] failed to make the playoffs. They have bolstered the bowling department ahead of the upcoming season, buying Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Jalaj Saxena, Moises Henriques and Fabian Allen at the auction earlier this year.”We can’t change the past,” Shami said. “I tried my best last season and also helped the fellow pacers whenever I could. We got good overseas players now. It is a stronger squad so we should do better this time.”Your mind has to be absolutely clear in the shortest format. As a unit, we did good work, but lost close matches we should have won. The support staff and players were frank with each other about that. Our death bowling seems better compared to last year, so we should do better.”

His contract period, running from April 8 to July 31, will include overseeing World Cup qualification tournaments

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2023Doug Watson, the Auckland Aces coach, will oversee Scotland’s twin bids to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup, after agreeing to a short-term contract to become their interim head coach.Watson, 49, enjoyed an extensive domestic career in South Africa and has previously held coaching roles with Mumbai Indians, Wellington, Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland and Namibia. He has been Auckland’s coach since June 2022 and stepped in as New Zealand’s batting coach during their recent drawn Test series against England.Shane Burger, Scotland’s coach since 2019, stepped down earlier this year to take over as Somerset’s batting coach. He signed off with silverware last month, as Scotland lifted the Cricket World Cup League 2 title in Nepal.Related

• Scotland head coach Shane Burger to leave for Somerset role

Watson’s contract will run from April 8-July 31. The global qualifier for the 2023 ODI World Cup will be held in Zimbabwe in June-July, while the European qualifier for the 2024 T20 World Cup takes place in Edinburgh in late July.”I’m really thankful to everyone at Auckland Cricket for allowing me to pursue this opportunity with Cricket Scotland,” Watson said. “It’s a wonderful chance for me to coach another country, and Scotland’s Men have been doing really well over the last four years.”I know it’s obviously a short period of time that I’ll be in charge, but there’s two massive tournaments coming up which will be tough for us, especially the Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in June. But it’s also an exciting time as well – I’m looking forward to it and it’s going to be fun.””We conducted a very thorough hiring process and looked at around forty-five candidates,” Toby Bailey, Cricket Scotland’s interim head of performance, said. “We wanted someone who’d been previously involved with coaching smaller teams, with associate cricket, with experience of World Cup Qualifying competitions, with knowledge of top-level cricket, and with experience of Zimbabwe.”Doug really fit the bill in all those cases. We had some of the men’s players on the interview panel, which I think was really important for them to be involved with, so that they had some buy-in as to who will be coaching them for the next four months. The Auckland Aces have a very good coaching system, and a testament to that is Doug’s recent involvement with the Black Caps in the series against England.”

His unbeaten 155-run stand with Henriques set up a convincing 125-run win

Andrew McGlashan21-Jan-2023Sydney Sixers 187 for 2 in 19 overs (Smith 125*, Henriques 45*, Sandhu 2-42) beat Sydney Thunder 62 (Warner 16, O’Keefe 4-10, Abbott 3-11) by 125 runsSensational Smith

After Sixers opted to bat, Smith was quickly into his stride, carving his second ball for four, playing a superb back-foot drive against Chris Green in the second over then sweeping Daniel Sams into the stands for his first six.The home side were briefly set back when Gurinder Sandhu struck twice in the fourth over – Josh Philippe dragging on and Kurtis Patterson top-edging three balls after being dropped – but Smith was in the zone.There was a period of consolidation where three overs from the fifth to the seventh did not produce a boundary before Smith deposited Joel Davies straight down the ground. That marked a gear change for Smith who went to fifty from 31 balls in an over where he again put Sams into the stands.Smith was given a life on 51 when Usman Qadir spilled a return catch having already taken a painful blow on the hand. Smith sped into the 90s with two sixes in three balls off Sandhu in the 15th over before launching Qadir over wide long-on, his second fifty taking just 25 deliveries. In the space of three innings he had equaled the most sixes for the season.Smith’s 125* was the highest T20 innings at the SCG, overtaking Shane Watson’s 124 against India in 2016 and his performances have shone a light on his omission from Australia’s T20 side, even if there were logical reasons behind it.