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Peter Moores has expressed his “frustration” had not being allowed more time to develop the England side after his second spell as coach was brought to an abrupt end on Saturday with confirmation of his sacking.It came less than a day after he had been in charge of the side during the washed out ODI against Ireland, in Malahide, but that followed a winter of woeful limited-overs results then, most recently, the drawn Test series in West Indies which ended with defeat in Barbados – a reversal that has proved the final straw.However, Moores leaves the international arena – for the second time – retaining the utmost belief in his abilities as a coach and believes that England will reap the benefits of what he has done over the past year.”My record in developing players stands for itself and though we have had some frustrations along the way I am confident that this team will go on and bring the success the supporters desperately want to see,” he said.”I knew when I took on the role that this was going to be a tough period for English cricket and I would need time and support to get new players through. My frustration is not being given that time.”I believe time will show that I have been instrumental in the identification and development of a new group of England players who will go on and bring honour and success to the England badge. I am a passionate Englishman who believes in hard work and an investment in the right people will bring its rewards.”There are strong parallels with Moores’ previous spell as England coach. As in the 2007-2008 stint, when he recalled Graeme Swann, first selected Matt Prior and brought together James Anderson and Stuart Broad as the new-ball pair, there have been signs of promise from England’s younger players – particularly in the Test arena.Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler and Chris Jordan have been introduced to the Test team, Gary Ballance has flourished, Ben Stokes showed glimpses of his promise on recall in West Indies, while Joe Root has bounced back emphatically from his poor tour of Australia. There has, however, been far less to cling to in the limited-overs formats with series defeats against Sri Lanka home and away, India and then the first-round exit at the World Cup.”To the players I want to say thanks for your support and commitment and I will be gutted not to work with every single one of you going forward. I wish you all the very best for the future,” Moores added.

Dimitri Mascarenhas, the former Hampshire and England allrounder, will have a chance to help defeat former team-mates after being named New Zealand’s interim bowling coach to replace Shane Bond for the tour of England in May.Bond will finish in his position after the World Cup having decided he wants to spend less time away from home and will focus on his role with Mumbai Indians in the IPL.Mascarenhas, 37, who played 20 ODIs and 14 T20s for England between 2007 and 2009, is currently in his first year as coach of Otago who are second in the Plunket Shield table and reached the preliminary-finals stage of the one-day Ford Trophy but finished bottom of the domestic T20.”After being in New Zealand for only a year, to have an opportunity like this come up is pretty special and I am honoured to be chosen for this position,” Mascarenhas said. “Bondy has done an extremely good job with his bowling unit; they have operated with real pace, skill and tactical awareness.”During this World Cup they have been phenomenal and I am looking forward to working with those guys to keep developing them and helping them achieve success on the international stage.”Mascarenhas finished his Hampshire career in 2013 and believes his recent experiences in England will serve him well with New Zealand when they arrive for a tour which includes two Tests, five one-day internationals and a T20.”I am newly out of the scene there as a player and I know most of the guys in the current team very well,” he said. “The new guys I have played a lot with in county cricket and I know all the grounds we are playing at intimately so those factors will be useful in terms of the scouting and bowling plans.”It will be a tough assignment to follow Bond who has been widely credited with the development of New Zealand’s bowling attack into one of the best in the world. Alongside the incisive new-ball pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, who have flourished under Bond’s tutelage since he became bowling coach in 2012, there is the upcoming Adam Milne in the World Cup squad alongside Mitchell McClenaghan and Kyle Mills.Matt Henry was unlucky not to make the World Cup while Neil Wagner, the left-arm pace bowler, will likely feature on the Test leg of the England tour as could Doug Bracewell.However, Mascarenhas will not have all the first-choice quicks to work with during the early days of the England with New Zealand’s IPL-contracted players – which include Southee and Boult, the latter who went for more than US$800,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the recent auction – having been given permission to arrive in the UK by May 19, which is two days before the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s.The England tour will be an audition for Mascarenhas with a decision on a full-time replacement for Bond set to be taken later in the year before the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa, which begins at the end of July.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and coach Chandika Hathurusinghe are concerned about Bangladesh’s batting, but that hasn’t led to any late changes to the T20 World Cup squad. As a result, Litton Das has survived despite scoring just 79 runs in his last six T20Is, all played this year.Litton’s T20I form had dipped so much that he lost his place in the side after scoring 1, 23 and 12 in the first three T20Is of the five-match series against Zimbabwe. His last innings ended when he missed with three consecutive attempts at scooping Blessing Muzarabani, dragging the ball on to the stumps off the last one.”Litton is a very important player in our team,” Shanto said in a press interaction on Wednesday. “He hasn’t had a good time recently. It can happen to any cricketer. But we didn’t want to bring in a new player for such a big event. We valued Litton’s experience. I wouldn’t have dropped him.Related

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“We were already discussing our World Cup team combinations during the Sri Lanka series. We wanted to be prepared by playing matches at home but the success in those matches was subjective. We were clear that we won’t change anyone only because he did badly in these home matches.”We didn’t bat on good wickets in the T20I series [against Zimbabwe in Chattogram and Dhaka]. We had to go on and off from the ground due to rain in some of the matches too. But Litton and I should score runs in every game. We have clarity in the team, so we hope we will deliver at the World Cup.”Hathurusinghe admitted that the top and middle order didn’t combine as well as expected against Zimbabwe, but felt there were occasions when they did fire to win games – they won the series 4-1, after all.”We managed to get a good start in some matches, and when we didn’t get a good start, we managed to finish strongly in some matches,” Hathurusinghe said. “So everybody got an opportunity to bat in the middle, that was a positive. Yes, individually, some of the players would have loved to spend [more] time in the middle, score runs, but in T20 cricket, anything can happen because it is a very different game to the other two formats.”We would love our top order to score all the time – in that kind of scenario, it takes a lot of pressure out of the other players. I am confident that – we have five matches leading up to the first game – we will be able to get those areas of concern sorted.”Bangladesh will play a three-T20I series against T20 World Cup co-hosts USA at Prairie View later this month and then the warm-up fixtures.Mahmudullah is back at his familiar finisher’s position and doing well•BCB

‘Want to give Mahmudullah and Shakib good memories’

Both Shanto and Hathurusinghe said that the batters should take inspiration from Mahmudullah. The senior batter, who is part of the 2024 squad, was dropped ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup but returned to the fray just before the 2023 ODI World Cup, in which he was Bangladesh’s best batter. Mahmudullah has struck two fifties in T20Is this year in his familiar finisher’s role and had just one failure, a first-ball duck in the third T20I against Sri Lanka.”He’s been playing regularly. He made a strong comeback. Lately he’s playing his best cricket,” Hathurusinghe said. “He’s changed his approach to batting a lot. His role is going to be in the middle order, probably be the enforcer in the middle as well as a finisher role, which he has done remarkably well lately in all formats, in the domestics as well.”Shanto said that he was looking forward to Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan, the most experienced cricketers in the squad, to share their experience with the other players.”The team is benefiting from [Mahmudullah’s] role in the batting line-up, at No. 5 or 6,” he said. “It gives the team an extra advantage. He is an inspiration for the youngsters. He has shown how to come back from such a tough situation.”We want to give them [Mahmudullah and Shakib] good memories at the World Cup. It is our responsibility as the younger players. I want them to perform their normal roles but, at the same time, if they can spread their experience with the rest of the team, it will help us.”Chandika Hathurusinghe: “Taskin is a very important member for us. He’s a leader”•AFP via Getty Images

‘Taskin is our leader of the pack in fast bowling’

Bangladesh are also hoping that their new vice-captain, Taskin Ahmed, gets fit in time to have an impact – Taskin was included in the squad despite a side strain.”Taskin is our leader of the pack in fast bowling,” Hathurusinghe said. “The rules of the tournament allow us to carry someone [reserve players], and then we can make a decision. We are giving him the best chance to be fit to play.”Taskin is a very important member for us. He’s a leader. That’s why he’s the vice-captain as well. We have the best medical and recovery procedures in America so we are going to use those resources and then give him the best chance of be fit for the first game.”Despite the question mark over Taskin, Shanto believes the bowling attack can win them games at the T20 World Cup.”We have a much improved fast-bowling department,” he said. “There’s a higher possibility of winning a T20 match if the bowling unit does well. We are also likely to play in conditions that may aid spin, so given our variation, they should also do well. Bowling is our strength.”At the 2022 T20 World Cup, then captain Shakib and the coaching staff led by S Sriram had overseen a new, fearless approach from the players, which gave Bangladesh two wins. They have struggled at global tournaments on the whole, though, but Hathurusinghe is being quietly optimistic.”I understand that we have high aspirations as a country. We have been playing good cricket generally out of the ICC events,” Hathurusinghe said. “As players and coaches, we also have high expectation. The first step is to get through this difficult group stage. We are in a very strong group so getting out of it is the main target.”Bangladesh are in Group D, with Nepal, Netherlands, South Africa and Sri Lanka, and start their World Cup on June 8 with a fixture against Sri Lanka at Dallas’ Grand Prairie stadium.

Bowlers feasted as 18 wickets fell on the first day of the LV= Insurance County Championship Division Three match between Middlesex and Worcestershire at Lord’s.Ed Barnard claimed 4 for 43 and skipper Joe Leach 3 for 30 as the hosts were hustled out for 144 after being put in, Max Holden providing the only resistance with 52, his first half-century of the season. But Middlesex hit back, Tim Murtagh taking 4 for 37 and Ethan Bamber 3 for 29 to leave Worcestershire 113 for 8 when bad light provided early sanctuary for beleaguered batsmen.Middlesex fielded the same top seven which had amassed 676 for 5 at Hove last week, but this green top at Lord’s in conditions where the ball swung prodigiously was a different beast and Worcestershire’s attack exploited conditions superbly.Mark Stoneman shouldered arms to one Leach brought back in and was trapped lbw before Steven Eskinazi and Robbie White departed in identical fashion to Charlie Morris and Barnard respectively. Sam Robson needed 27 runs to reach 1000 for the season, but after resisting for nearly two hours, Leach returned to castle him seven short as Middlesex went to lunch 81 for 5.Only Holden stood firm as wickets tumbled around him, driving stylishly and pulling anything short to reach 50 in 83 balls with six fours. But once he departed, brilliantly caught by Daryl Mitchell at second slip the end came quickly.Unsurprisingly, Worcestershire struggled in their turn, Mitchell nicking Murtagh through to Simpson with just 12 on the board. Jake Libby was another batsman in search of the 1000-run landmark, but he too fell short, pinned in front by Bamber, before Murtagh trapped Jack Haynes for a duck, his 50th first-class wicket of the season.When Brett D’ Oliveira drove Bamber into the hands of mid-on Worcestershire were 28 for 4 and it would have been 28 for 5 had Holden clung on to a cut from Barnard in the gully. It would be a brief reprieve as Murtagh soon found the edge and Eskinazi took a regulation catch at slip, practice for the more difficult chance he snaffled off the bowling of Bamber to send Ben Cox packing for a duck.Gareth Roderick played well for 42, he and Leach adding 37 – the highest stand of the day – in a brief counterattack, but both fell before the close to leave honours even.

Debutant Rachin Ravindra rushed through a leg-side clip in the very first over and chipped a simple return catch to offspinner Mahedi Hasan. Will Young slashed at Shakib Al Hasan and dragged a non-turning ball back onto his stumps. Colin de Grandhomme tried to slog his way out of the mess, but holed out to deep square leg – the only fielder in the deep on the leg side in the powerplay. Tom Blundell misjudged an arm ball from left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed and was also knocked over. Just like that, New Zealand lost four wickets in their first four overs of the series opener against Bangladesh, and the fall turned out to be so cataclysmic that they were rolled over for 60 – their joint-lowest total in T20I cricket.New Zealand’s stand-in coach Glenn Pocknall conceded that their inexperienced side misread the conditions at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, which offered sharp turn and bounce to the spinners, even with the new ball. In addition to that, the track was two-paced, with Shakib even saying that Wednesday’s pitch was “more difficult” than the ones rolled out for the recent Australia T20Is.”We probably didn’t quite assess the conditions as well as we thought we did,” Pocknall said after the defeat. “Losing four wickets for not many runs was always going to be a challenge in any form of cricket, especially this. We came back really well from that [collapse] with a good little partnership between Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls. I think we will take a lot from that performance in the way that they batted in the middle for our game in a couple of days’ time.”Stand-in captain Latham and Nicholls provided a glimpse into how New Zealand can tackle these turners. Both batters were decisive in their footwork – fully forward or right back – and often used the depth of the crease or their feet to disrupt the Bangladesh spinners. However, when they looked to raise the tempo against the seamers, they both holed out off Mohammad Saifuddin. The 34-run fifth-wicket stand between Latham and Nicholls was the highest of the match.”Yeah, obviously slightly disappointing with the start. I thought the way we managed to build a little bit of partnership through the middle… we knew it was going to be tough and unfortunately we kept losing wickets at crucial times really,” Latham told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “As soon as the guys came in, it was certainly hard to start. We knew it was always going to be a challenge. We were prepared for this, but unfortunately we couldn’t quite put it together today.”Hopefully, we will take plenty of learnings from what happened today and for us it’s about trying to find a way in these conditions and obviously it’s completely different to what we have back home. So, it’s about trying to assess what a good score is on this sort of surface and as we showed with the ball tonight, certainly it isn’t easy with runs on the board. So, if we can put a competitive total and put pressure on if we do bat first, you never know what might happen.”Related

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Pocknall echoed Latham’s comments, saying the New Zealand attack could apply pressure on Bangladesh if their batters work their way to a competitive total.”Both teams performed exceedingly well with the ball and two quality outfits in terms of spin bowlers and the fast bowlers were able to execute their slower balls,” Pocknall said. “I think the bowling attacks really even themselves out. So, the challenge in two days’ time is to [find out] how we can get to a 100 and then, yeah, defend that. I think we can defend that with an extra few runs.”The lone bright spot on an otherwise forgettable day for New Zealand was how their spinners immediately got cracking in Dhaka. Cole McConchie struck with his first ball in international cricket as Mohammad Naim scooped a catch to short cover while Ajaz Patel matched the relentless accuracy of the Bangladesh spinners, returning 1 for 7 – the second-most economical four-over effort for New Zealand in T20Is. As for Ravindra, he came back after conceding 10 in his first over to end with 1 for 21 in his four overs.”They [conditions] do favour them but they’re also very inexperienced at this level. Cole and Rachin made their debuts and Ajaz, I think, has played two or three Twenty20 international games,” Pocknall said. “But, the thing that all three of them have is they have performed very well at domestic level and that’s a big reason why they’re here. So, to see them do what they do is a really positive sign for the rest of the series.”New Zealand have a one-day break to reflect further on their first-ever T20I loss against Bangladesh before they face Mahmudullah’s men again in the second game at the same venue. The one way for them – from 60 all out – is up.

Big picture

Happy Freedom Day one and all! Yes, the time has come for the UK to throw off its shackles, fling caution to the wind, dive headlong into the moshpit of civil society and rejoice in the restoration of liberty to its people. (Give or take a chorus of pings from the NHS Test-and-Trace app, of course…)For England’s cricketers, however, Freedom Day came one day early. Honestly, has there ever been a more on-brand performance than the one rustled up by their batters at Headingley on Sunday? Bowled out for 200 in 19.5 overs, including a riotous denouement of seven wickets in as many overs – the promiscuity of their short-lived strokeplay making the humble mayfly seem a model of celibacy.It was rollickingly good fun, and as gloriously effective as their hell-for-leather chase at Trent Bridge had been gloriously futile. Pakistan responded by climbing into the threshing machine with admirable purpose, but they were all thrashed out by the 13th over, thanks largely to England’s own trio of players with Pakistan heritage – Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, whose Player-of-the-Match-winning haul of 36 runs at 225.00 and two wickets in three overs was CSK-esque in its effectiveness.And so to the decider, a day-night affair at Old Trafford, where England can be expected once again to spread the opportunities across their squad, as they take the field for the final time before that preliminary squad needs to be submitted to the ICC ahead of the T20 World Cup this winter.And even if they cannot get over the line in this contest, to claim their ninth series win in their last 11 T20I campaigns, the gains made by the white-ball squad, both in this leg and in the makeshift ODI campaign before it, have been immeasurable. Most of all, the sense of collective buy-in is absolute – that every player in the frame for selection recognises and embraces the free-spirited ethos that Eoin Morgan has espoused in the past six years. Full-throttle cricket might not win them every game, but it’ll lose them far fewer than the safety-first reticence of yore.As for Pakistan, their response to those indignities in the ODIs has been admirable. At Headingley, they were unable to replicate the landslide of runs that carried them to a hugely cathartic victory at Trent Bridge, but in Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, they have an opening pairing that can carry any fight, while Shaheen Shah Afridi’s pace and incision from his left-arm line provides an air of menace every time he gets thrown the ball. They are one of only two teams not to have lost a series to England’s T20I team in the last three years – their 1-1 draw in 2020 was followed by India’s 3-2 win in March – and there’s every reason to believe they’ve got a few haymakers left in them in this campaign.

Form guide

England WLWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Pakistan LWWLW

In the spotlight

Is it fair to point out that Dawid Malan needs an urgent uptick in his form? Every time he gets written about in a white-ball context, it feels as though there’s an air of persecution in the analysis. But suffice to say, Malan’s methods are different to those of his England peers – not least Moeen, who is as likely to carve his first delivery straight to deep cover as he is to ping it clean over the ropes for six. That’s not Malan’s way. He builds his head of steam with relative early caution, then lets the ends justify the means as he stares back down the track with another half-century at a 150-plus strike-rate. Or at least, that’s how it’s meant to be. Instead in this series, he’s made consecutive scores of 1 (6) and 1 (5) … two runs in 11 all told, and 2 in 17 in his past four innings, after back-to-back ducks in the ODIs. Prior to that, of course, he made a match-sealing 68 not out to guide Ben’s Babes home in that extraordinary opening victory at Cardiff, so the runs are still in there somewhere. And so too, no doubt, is the bloody-mindedness. Malan has finished each of his last three T20I series with a half-century – against Sri Lanka, India, and South Africa, where he cracked a remarkable 99 not out from 47 balls. And such are the reasons another swift rebuttal cannot be discounted.Related

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It’s been a quietly significant series for the under-fire Shadab Khan. Pakistan’s vice-captain came into the series with a burdensome recent record after a fallow tour of New Zealand, and with his allround credentials under some scrutiny. He’s answered those charges emphatically in the first two games, with three vital wickets in the Trent Bridge victory, swiftly followed by a bold bout of biffing in a lost cause at Headingley. In between whiles, he has been a livewire in the outfield, with a series of outstanding catches and intercepts to lift his team’s morale when the heavy artillery has been raining down. He has a chance to finish a morale-boosting campaign on a high.

Team news

Moeen and Liam Livingstone appear to be locked into England’s middle-order for the moment, with Eoin Morgan indicating that both men would get a full run of games to make their cases – emphatically so, as things have turned out. Morgan himself dipped out of game two to share the opportunities around and to give Buttler a turn at the wheel, so if he is to return, then Jason Roy or Jonny Bairstow might be the obvious absentees, given their integral statuses in that first-choice XI. Tom Banton, his development arrested for various reasons in this white-ball campaign, might struggle to get a look-in now. England already have a selection headache looming when Stokes returns to overload their batting options. There seems little point in inflicting a migraine on themselves. Though it’s not impossible that Lewis Gregory gets another outing to provide a modicum of balance in the short term.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy/Jonny Bairstow, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Lewis Gregory/Tom Curran, 8 David Willey, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Adil Rashid/Matt Parkinson, 11 Saqib MahmoodAfter their struggles in the ODIs, Pakistan have found a formula that can keep them competitive in T20Is. Wholesale changes seem improbable.Pakistan: (probable): 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Sohaib Maqsood, 5 Mohammad Hafeez, 6 Azam Khan, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Haris Rauf, 10 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pitch and conditions

Another sweltering day in prospect as summer’s late arrival continues to kick in, so it’s conceivable that the pitch may break up a touch as the match progresses. Scores in this season’s Vitality Blast haven’t been astronomical – only one game has seen scores higher than the 172 that Lancashire and Notts both made in their tie in June, so the range-hitting may be dialled down a notch compared to the first two games.

Stats and trivia

• England have won four of their seven completed T20Is at Old Trafford, dating back to a nine-wicket win over New Zealand in 2008.
• However, two of their three losses at the venue both came against Pakistan, by nine wickets in 2016 and by five runs in their most recent encounter last summer, when the series was squared 1-1.
• Mohammad Rizwan needs 57 runs to reach 1000 in T20Is. Should he achieve it in his next innings, his 31st, he will be the second-fastest Pakistani to the landmark, behind Babar Azam (26). England’s Dawid Malan holds the record with 24 innings.

Quotes

“He claims he’s hit two bigger – that was his chat last night. He has hit me for a couple of similar ones in training but it’s the biggest I’ve seen in a game. Some of the lads didn’t actually believe it had gone out the ground.”

Limited-overs captain Sarfraz Ahmed expects Pakistan’s senior players to step up in the West Indies in their bid for direct qualification to the 2019 World Cup. He emphasised the importance of senior fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz taking wickets to make a difference on the upcoming tour, which starts with four T20I games from March 26.”In the T20 format we might have a relatively young bowling side but in ODIs we have three senior bowlers – Amir, Wahab and Junaid Khan. We have spoken to them and reminded them that they are seniors, have played ample cricket, and now have to step up,” Sarfraz said at the conclusion of a week-long conditioning camp in Lahore. “We are working on fielding but with our bowling department we need to take wickets with new ball and in middle overs. We have worked very hard in the camp and now I am hopeful that they will make a difference in the West Indies and help Pakistan win with their bowling.”Sarfraz’s own career has been marred with inconsistency since his debut in 2007. It wasn’t until 2014 that he turned it around, after Adnan Akmal was ruled out of the Sri Lanka series in the UAE. He scored 48 against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, and has since become an integral part of the national side in all formats, recently replacing Azhar Ali to become ODI captain.Under Azhar’s leadership, Pakistan slipped to ninth position – a record low – in the ODI rankings. They have since risen one place but they barely scraped into this year’s Champions Trophy. Pakistan won only five of the ten bilateral series under Azhar: two against Zimbabwe, and one each against Ireland, Sri Lanka and West Indies. In all, Pakistan lost 18 games and won 12.”I understand that over the last two years Pakistan’s performance in ODI cricket hasn’t been good,” Sarfraz said. “We have been trying really hard to minimize our mistakes. There were some flaws, especially in the fielding department, and we have been working hard to iron them out. We were scoring 280 to 290 but then dropping catches in the field, and this was hurting our chances. We are aware how important World Cup qualification is, so our focus is on winning the series and strengthening our position.”Under Azhar Ali, Pakistan lost 18 ODIs while winning only 12•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Pakistan selectors recently named five uncapped cricketers for the limited-overs series, but also called up two senior players who had been out of favour. Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal were named in both the T20 and ODI squads after impressive domestic runs.”I feel the role of our senior players, especially [Mohammad] Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Amir and Wahab is very important,” Sarfraz said. “There are junior players with us and both Kamran and Ahmed [Shehzad] are making their comeback, so I expect our senior players, including myself, to lead from the front. We have been scoring 280 or so but we need to get totals above 300. Besides, our fast bowlers need to take wickets to give us the best possible chance.”Sarfraz dismissed suggestions that Kamran Akmal’s return threatened his own spot in the team•AFP

The recent corruption allegations that surfaced in the PSL made opener Sharjeel Khan, along with Mohammad Irfan, Shahzaib Hasan, and Khalid Latif unavailable for selection. “It’s a bad thing in many ways and it disappoints you,” Sarfraz said. “Because some players are set in the team, and with their ouster the combination of the team gets upset. Sharjeel was not only settled in but was exactly the sort of player we needed to open the batting. He was the kind of batsman who played cricket in line with modern-day requirements. His absence will be felt but whoever comes in as a replacement will also be an outstanding player, and they can give their best to take Pakistan forward.”These young players that we brought in are very talented and they have been selected after consistent domestic performances. They have been outstanding and this is the reason they got a chance. It’s good that they are getting the opportunity at a time when cricket isn’t being played in the country. It’s also a good sign that they are getting a chance and hopefully these boys can convert their domestic form in international cricket.”Sarfraz denied that the added responsibility of being a wicketkeeper-batsman as well as captain put him under extra pressure. He also dismissed suggestions that having Kamran Akmal back in the side threatened his own place. “I am not feeling any pressure, it’s a good thing that Kami came in after performing well. Earlier [Mohammad] Rizwan was around with me so there is no pressure at all. Kami has been performing in domestic cricket, and we expect him to contribute here too, which will help Pakistan.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:42

Kishore: Parthiv impeccable in tense chase

In December 2015, Parthiv Patel struck his maiden List A century to steer Gujarat to their first domestic 50-over championship win. Just over a year later, he was at the forefront of yet another title triumph with an innings that was physically and mentally more demanding than any other he has played in recent memory.Having kept wicket for 221 overs across two innings and over three days and made a combative 90 that gave Gujarat the first-innings lead, he steered a fourth-innings chase of 312 with a remarkable 143. His 25th first-class ton helped Gujarat clinch the Ranji Trophy for the first time in the very city where they lost to Holkar in their only previous final, 66 years ago.In doing so, with five wickets in hand – a proposition that had looked unlikely when they lost three early wickets on the final day against a fired-up Mumbai gunning for their 42nd title – Gujarat also achieved the highest-successful finals chase in the tournament’s 83-year history. They eclipsed Hyderabad, who had chased down 310 against Nawanagar in 1937-38.Parthiv’s 143 took Gujarat to within 13 runs of victory and will deservedly hog the headlines, but Manprit Juneja’s 54 was no less important. When he walked in, Gujarat were 89 for 3. Mumbai were ascendant, the runs weren’t quite flowing, and there was a stillness to proceedings. Balwinder Sandhu, who was expensive on the fourth evening, returned rejuvenated and was getting the ball to jag back in sharply.During the course of the next two hours, Parthiv and Juneja didn’t just rebuild the innings but also went into overdrive. By the time Juneja was dismissed, getting a faint under-edge to a sweep off Akhil Herwadkar, the 116-run fourth-wicket stand had wrested the momentum back in Gujarat’s favour.Another wicket at that stage may have turned things around. But Aditya Tare dropped Rujul Bhatt on 1 off Shardul Thakur, starting to celebrate before completing the catch cleanly. It had a deflating effect on Mumbai. Parthiv and Bhatt then added 94 to all but seal Gujarat’s full set of national titles, achieved across three successive seasons. The wining moment came off Thakur, Chirag Gandhi hitting him for two successive fours to trigger wild celebrations.The match could have been much closer than it eventually panned out. Gujarat lost Priyank Panchal, the season’s highest run-getter, in the second over of the day when he was pouched in the slips. Bhargav Merai was bowled shouldering arms to Sandhu, and Samit Gohel was caught behind off Abhishek Nayar in debatable circumstances. Gujarat were tottering. Mumbai were masters of controlling these kinds of situations – they had been in 11 finals and won each one of them since their last runners-up finish in 1990-91.Despite the loss in the final, Mumbai would be pleased with the advent of young players like Prithvi Shaw•PTI

Parthiv and Juneja had to contend with plenty of chirp from the slip cordon. Mumbai had been visibly unhappy at Gujarat’s delaying tactics on day four. On a number of occasions, the umpires had to intervene to get Gujarat moving. In the end, they were 14 overs short when Mumbai’s innings closed. Particularly keen on letting his displeasure be known to Gujarat was Shreyas Iyer, who a couple of days ago admitted to “being bored” with Gujarat’s approach.The umpires intervened again, this time to cool things down and let the game take its course. Parthiv, sensing an opportunity to score, took on Sandhu, who until then had bowled a superb first spell that read 7-2-20-2. Six boundaries came off the five overs that immediately followed the fall of the third wicket, among which were successive fours for Parthiv off Sandhu, a slap through cover followed by an imperious drive past mid-off. Juneja didn’t hold back either, driving and flicking his way to four boundaries in the same period.On one hand, Tare had to contend with the frustration of the partnership. On the other was the dilemma of whether or not to keep attacking and risk conceding more boundaries. Nayar, who has time and again delivered in crises, eased his mind from one end, bowling in the corridor and troubling Juneja with balls that deviated away. But by then, both batsmen were in control.In a bid to mix things up, Tare brought in the left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil. Juneja peppered the cover boundary by driving him inside-out from the rough, from where there wasn’t much help. Parthiv used his feet to get to the pitch and milk runs. Gujarat had reached base camp. The century stand had come in little over two hours.But as is the case with most high-pressure clashes, there was a twist. Juneja relaxed just a wee bit against Akhil Herwadkar’s part-time offspin, and Tare gave him an angry send-off while the other Mumbai players gestured towards the dressing room.There was life in the contest, and plenty of needle as well. But Parthiv wasn’t perturbed. He stepped across and whipped Sandhu for three fours off his next over to enter the 90s. Mumbai took the second new ball in the 82nd over. Given Gujarat’s rate of scoring, this had to be the last roll of the dice.Parthiv inside-edged Thakur to the fine leg boundary, the ball nearly shaving leg stump. Then came a confident lbw appeal off an indipper. It wasn’t given out, but replays suggested it was much closer than it had initially looked. It was a slice of luck for Parthiv, but a man who had played a knock of this magnitude deserved some.

M Vijay is difficult to slot into one genre of batting. He has T20 hundreds, but is one of the best defensive batsmen going around in Test cricket. He strikes at around 46 runs per 100 balls, but is already only one six short of getting into the top 10 six-hitting Test openers. Only one of the 10 ahead of him is a defensive batsman: Navjot Sidhu, who similarly attacked spinners.Just like the cricketer that he is, Vijay is an emotional person, but doesn’t open up with many. Having addressed a press conference after scoring his eighth Test century, one that put India in command in the Mumbai Test, Vijay was walking off when he called out a journalist he knows. He told the journalist to make an announcement on his behalf: that he wants to dedicate this innings to the father of a close friend back home who died on the first day of the Test. That he was sorry he couldn’t be there for his friend, only whose first name he gave: Srinath.This was a century that came after failings both similar and uncharacteristic. Vijay is known for scoring big at the start of a series and then fading away, but these failures were coming against the short ball from somebody who has tackled it with aplomb all over the world. Vijay is, in fact, one of the best – if not the best – leavers of the ball. Vijay acknowledged that failing.”I did think about it [short balls] because I was playing at the balls I should be leaving generally,” Vijay said. “There are lot of other factors to it. I don’t want to reveal them. But yeah, the definite gameplan is to back my core game, believe in it and come back fresh, and to play this Test match the way I wanted to play.”The eight-day break between the third and fourth Tests perhaps turned this into a bit of a start of something new. “The break helped me,” Vijay said. “And it helped everybody, I guess, to go and rethink and come back better.”One of the first successes for Vijay was hitting an overpitched Adil Rashid wrong’un for six, which resulted in Rashid being taken out of the attack at a time when spinners were troubling Vijay. “Actually, my gameplan is to attack the spinners because I don’t want them to settle in one particular area where they find it comfortable,” Vijay said. “I just wanted to use my feet and use the depth of the crease, and play according to my gameplan. It came out pretty well, I guess.”Asked to rate this innings vis-à-vis his others, Vijay said: “It is special because I started off well in this series,” Vijay said. “And then a couple of matches I couldn’t play the way I wanted to play. I was getting out too early. I just came out with a much clearer mindset in this game. And I just wanted to back my instinct and play.”The innings was special not least because it – with the help of a Virat Kohli masterclass – has given India a 51-run lead with three wickets in hand. Considering how much the ball has turned, that is a massive lead.”Definitely [in control of this match],” Vijay said, “because any lead is gold in this wicket. During tea time, we just thought get close to their target, but the way Virat and Jayant Yadav are batting, I think we are in a pretty good position.”

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has called for “good pitches” in the series against England, pitches that won’t turn on the first two days, to allow India to develop into a competitive all-conditions bowling side, especially their spinners. Ganguly, who will be part of ESPNcricinfo Match Day, the analysis show that will be aired on ESPNcricinfo and on the SONY ESPN channel on every match day of the five-Test series, said R Ashwin was a “top-class” bowler and that India were “unbeatable” at home, but also said he would only judge the captain, coach and star bowlers based on the next cycle of overseas performances.”I think the wickets are going to be good,” Ganguly said of the upcoming five-Test series against England. “And India should be playing on good pitches. I firmly believe they will continue to be unbeatable at home. But if you want to be a good bowling unit overseas, where your spinners come into play and win you Test matches, Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja will have to learn bowling on good first-day, second-day pitches, where there is no turn, where you have got to bowl the right line and right length. And on day four, day five, the game will change very quickly in these conditions.”One of the favourite bowlers of Ganguly the captain, Harbhajan Singh, had recently created a stir about the pitches India have been playing on since last season, saying his and Anil Kumble’s record would have been something else if they had played on such pitches. Knowing this criticism had come from an insider, the current captain Virat Kohli, who has been snapping at anybody who as much as utters the word “pitch”, had to bite his tongue. Ganguly asked Harbhajan to move on, but he could also see where Harbhajan was coming from.”He has got to take it easy, I think, Bhajji,” Ganguly said. “He has been a champion for India. He has just got to move ahead. I know some of the pitches are square turners. That’s not Ashwin’s fault, though. He has probably got those pitches to bowl on, and he has bowled on them. I think Harbhajan is a great bowler, a great servant for Indian cricket, and he should enjoy the cricket and leave it at that. I know some of the pitches – against South Africa he would probably have got 40 wickets in that series – but even if he didn’t get those pitches in his career it doesn’t make him a lesser bowler than anybody.”On the whole, Ganguly saw improvement in Ashwin’s last series outside Asia, and expected more of the same. “There was never a doubt about him as a bowler in these conditions,” Ganguly said. “If you look at his record in the first 12-13 Test matches in the subcontinent, he has got 100 wickets. There is always a question mark on how he bowled in England and Australia and South Africa. And there’s definitely an improvement on that. He has definitely got better in those conditions.”He has continued to thrive on these turning pitches. I don’t think it is that difficult bowling on these turning pitches. You see Jadeja, his record home and away is like chalk and cheese. Ashwin will be very, very dangerous in this squad. Jadeja as well. Pitches turning. Fast. Hitting the rough and turning it away. He will be very, very hard to get away. So England will have to bat very well in the first innings. Toss will be crucial. They will be looking to win the toss and bat first. Lots of things will affect how this series goes but Ashwin is going to be a huge threat.”As part of the BCCI’s cricket advisory committee, Ganguly was instrumental in the appointment of Kumble as India coach, and he is a fan of Kohli: “I sit on my sofa and switch on my TV to watch Virat Kohli.” While he is impressed with Kumble and Kohli’s partnership so far, he is not getting carried away yet. “He [Kumble] has been brilliant but he has played a lot of Test matches at home,” Ganguly said. “And he is going to play about nine Test matches at home in the next six months, so I maintain as I maintained with other coaches that India will continue to beat teams in these conditions. But just like everyone, just like I asked of MS Dhoni whether he had the ability to win Test matches overseas, the same question remains for Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble.”Whether they can get together and get India going in overseas conditions. Because that is what is going to happen after these nine Test matches. We are going to go away to England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. And they will be tested. So for them and for me the real judgement will come once they complete that full circle. At the present moment, I don’t think they have been tested yet.”Ganguly doesn’t expect England to test India too much either, because, according to him, England are a depleted side from the one that beat India in India in 2012-13, and also because India are on a roll and high on confidence while the opposite was true of the side that lost in 2012-13. Ganguly expects India to continue playing just the two spinners, but if left to him he would add Amit Mishra to the successful pairing of Ashwin and Jadeja.”If I go by the New Zealand Test series, I think he [Kumble] is happy with four bowlers,” Ganguly said. “He knows in these conditions the spinners are capable of picking up 20 wickets, when the ball turns square. I just get a feeling that he will go in with four bowlers. And that will be Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. If he goes in with three spinners at some stage – and that will only happen if he is under pressure, if he hasn’t won the first Test in Rajkot, or of the wicket is Vizag is a minefield as we saw in the one-day game [against New Zealand] – maybe then he could come and have a third spinner.”Him going with three spinners [at the outset], I am not too sure. Because he will wait for the ball to reverse. Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have been brilliant at that. Ishant Sharma is back, so he will probably get a go ahead of Umesh Yadav. So I see him going with Ishant and Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.”