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Thailand have confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the Women’s Asia Cup for the first time, after Bangladesh’s last league game against UAE on Tuesday morning was washed out. Bangladesh – the defending champions and hosts – needed two points to finish fourth and take the last available semi-final spot, but they got only one point from the abandoned game and ended in fifth place.While Bangladesh won only two out of six games, Thailand won three: they defeated UAE, Malaysia, and most significantly Pakistan by four wickets to finish on six points.Thailand’s success at the Asia Cup has been powered by their openers Nannapat Koncharoenkai and Natthakan Chantham, and the captain Naruemol Chaiwai who usually make up the top three in their batting line-up. With the ball, left-arm spinner Thipatcha Putthawong is among the top five wicket-takers with eight scalps.Until 48 hours ago, Bangladesh looked set for a semi-final place to try and defend their Asia Cup title. They needed two points from their last two matches, but they lost to Sri Lanka in a rain-shortened match, where they failed to chase 41 in seven overs. With two overs left in the chase, Bangladesh were 27 for 2, needing 14 to win off 12 balls, but they lost four wickets in the penultimate over bowled by Inoka Ranaweera and eventually suffered a four-run defeat. On Tuesday against UAE, Bangladesh had the opportunity to bounce back and earn two points but rain ruined their chances.Thailand will now play table-toppers India in the first semi-final on Thursday morning, while the second semi-final will be played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Thursday afternoon.

Dilshan Madushanka, the left-arm seamer, has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup, after sustaining a quadriceps tear on the eve of Sri Lanka’s first match of the tournament. The ICC’s Event Technical Committee has approved Binura Fernando as Madushanka’s replacement in the squad for the remainder of the tournament.Madushanka was seen hobbling away from practice on Saturday and was soon sent to get an MRI scan, which confirmed the injury.Having made his international debut in the recent Asia Cup, Madushanka had impressed through the course of the tournament, taking six wickets and maintaining an economy rate of 7.75 across six matches.Having brought lively pace and swing to the powerplay overs, as well as variety at the death, he had perhaps become Sri Lanka’s second-choice quick, after Dushmantha Chameera. He was likely to be in the XI for Sunday’s first-round match against Namibia.Binura has played nine T20Is and four ODIs for Sri Lanka, taking 10 and two wickets in the formats respectively. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in 2015, in the first T20I against Pakistan in Colombo. His last T20I was the third match against India in Dharamsala in February 2022.The other seamers in the Sri Lanka squad are Lahiru Kumara and Pramod Madushan.Despite their recent Asia Cup victory, Sri Lanka must play the first round of the World Cup, where they play UAE and Netherlands in addition to Namibia, in order to qualify for the main draw.

An accurate Australia attack menaced with the pink ball under lights to leave West Indies in disarray after day two of the second Test in Adelaide.In response to Australia’s mammoth first innings, set up by big centuries from Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, West Indies limped to stumps at 102 for 4 with their hopes of a series-levelling victory appearing forlorn.After a memorable debut 12 months ago in the Adelaide Ashes Test, recalled Michael Neser was relentless with his accuracy outside off stump and he was rewarded with the wickets of captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks.Unlike West Indies’ uninspired attack, who claimed just seven wickets in 137 overs, Australia consistently threatened with quicks Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc unlucky not to breakthrough.Only Tagenarine Chanderpaul, son of legendary batter Shivnarine, defied the attack through patience and well-judged leaves against probing seam bowling from Australia’s quicks.Related

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After an impressive debut with scores of 51 and 45 in the first Test, Chanderpaul continued to dig in and occasionally showed flair, including a sweep for six against spinner Nathan Lyon.With his confidence increasing, Chanderpaul unleashed a bold counterattack before stumps and smashed a couple of short deliveries from allrounder Cameron Green to the boundary .Chanderpaul again upstaged his senior batters as West Indies’ chances of a strong reply nosedived. Their hopes had rested on in-form openers Chanderpaul and Brathwaite, who had gutsy partnerships of 78 and 116 in Perth.Brathwaite was particularly outstanding with scores of 64 and 110, but this was a different challenge against the pink ball under lights.Despite having a penchant for swing, Neser was held back until the 10th over but he made an impact quickly by having Brathwaite caught behind off a perfect line and length delivery.Neser almost added another but dropped Brooks in a tough one-handed return chance after diving to his left. It didn’t matter with Neser shortly after removing Brooks, who played as a concussion sub in the first Test, with an almost identical delivery that dismissed Brathwaite.Lyon came into the attack in the 21st over and immediately looked far more threatening than counterpart Roston Chase, who did little bar release the pressure seemingly every time he bowled in Australia’s first innings.Lyon got among the wickets by removing Jermaine Blackwood with a return catch, while Green bowled debutant Devon Thomas shortly before stumps to strengthen Australia’s stranglehold after a mighty batting effort earlier.Michael Neser took two key wickets before stumps•Getty Images

Stand-in skipper Steven Smith ended Australia’s first innings shortly before tea in their third straight declaration in this one-sided two-Test series.Head and Labuschagne dominated an underwhelming West Indies attack with big centuries in a 297-run stand, the third highest fourth wicket partnership for Australia against West Indies.Coming together with Australia at 131 for 3, after the quick wickets of Usman Khawaja and Smith for a duck, Head and Labuschagne were almost flawless on a batting-friendly Adelaide Oval surface.Such was their ease, it seemed like a formality that Head and Labuschagne would reach double centuries but they both surprisingly missed out.Labuschagne fell for 163 late in the first session when he was caught behind off Thomas, whose handy seamers were a revelation, while Head was run out on 175 just after the dinner break.Hometown hero Head had cruised past his highest Test score of 161 but disaster struck when he was involved in a mix up with Green.Head’s fifth Test ton was marked by belligerence, continually plundering boundaries through the off side, while Labuschagne was technically sound and didn’t require good fortune which he sometimes seems to have in spades.Labuschagne hit his third straight ton to start the series and also passed 3000 Test runs in just his 51st innings with only Sir Donald Bradman reaching the landmark faster for an Australia batter.West Indies had no answers and once again rued sloppy bowling, while Brathwaite’s tactics were rather puzzling underlined by often not implementing a gully in a conservative move.He was generally reactionary, but a second-string attack didn’t help his cause. Without injured spearheads Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales, debutant quick Marquino Mindley only bowled two overs after suffering a hamstring injury early on day one.It was hard-luck for an exhausted Mindley, who had arrived in Adelaide from the Caribbean just 48 hours before the Test as injury cover.With injuries piling up and outclassed over two days, West Indies are spiralling to an inevitable defeat unless their rising star Chanderpaul can conjure something miraculous on day three.

Trent Boult is currently in action for MI Emirates in the ILT20 in the UAE, having turned down his New Zealand central contract. And Tim Southee has been wrapped in cotton wool ahead of the home Test series against England in February. The last time New Zealand played an ODI without both Boult and Southee against a top-ranked team was back in 2016 against Australia in Hamilton.Ish Sodhi’s ankle injury, sustained during the third ODI in Karachi, has depleted New Zealand’s attack even further. In the absence of a number of seniors, including regular white-ball captain Kane Williamson, who has also been rested for this India tour, New Zealand are looking to give some of their fringe players a run and find out if they could fit into their ODI World Cup plans.Related

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“Anytime that Tim, Trent and Kane aren’t in the side or aren’t with us, it obviously leaves a massive hole for us,” New Zealand captain Tom Latham said ahead of the first ODI in Hyderabad. “On the other hand, it presents opportunities for the other guys that have been around the squad for a while. I think we’re lucky that pretty much everyone has played international cricket in this side, which is a bonus and over Covid, it presented opportunities to other guys. When guys like that have a break, it’s the other guys’ turn to step up and have an opportunity and we’re lucky enough to have someone like Lockie Ferguson who has played a lot of cricket here in India and I’m sure the guys will be leaning on his experiences as best as possible.”On Tuesday, it was Ferguson, who has had IPL stints with Rising Pune Supergiant, Kolkata Knight Riders and reigning champions Gujarat Titans, who led the bowlers’ meeting. He opened the bowling for New Zealand in their last series – a 2-1 win over Pakistan – and is likely to do so again with two out of Doug Bracewell, Henry Shipley and Jacob Duffy supporting him. This series is an opportunity for them and the rest of the group to suss out the Indian conditions before New Zealand return for the ODI World Cup later this year.

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“This is our last opportunity to play in these conditions before the World Cup in October and November, which you know, isn’t too far away,” Latham said. “So, I guess for us it’s [about] taking as many learnings as we can from these conditions and I said we’re lucky enough that most of the guys have played in these Indian conditions before. I don’t think we’ve played a one-dayer at any of the venues we have been playing at, so for us, it’s getting used to the conditions and familiarising ourselves with different surfaces that we may be faced with during the World Cup.”Latham also drew confidence from New Zealand’s ODI success in Karachi, where they bounced back from being 0-1 down to secure the three-match series. The pitches in Pakistan were slow and grippy, but the ones in India could be much better for batting, as was the case during the recent series against Sri Lanka, where the home side put up two scores of 370-plus in three games.Doug Bracewell is one of three NZ quicks in the running to partner Lockie Ferguson in Hyderabad•Associated Press

“The cricket we played in Pakistan was really good,” Latham said. “It was somewhere we have never toured before for a long time and to come up with a series win where it is difficult to play was really nice. I guess for us coming here, it’s about trying to adapt to conditions the best we can. The surfaces here will potentially be better than what we had in Pakistan; so just trying to stick to our plans as best as we can and I’m sure it’ll be a competitive series. Every time we play India, it’s always a competitive series and we’re looking forward to what’s coming up.”While New Zealand’s bowling attack appears light, they have some excellent players of spin in their batting line-up. During the Test series in Pakistan, Latham and Devon Conway had their eyes locked on mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed’s hand – both from the striker’s end and the non-striker’s end. New Zealand will now come up against Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav though the chances of both the wristspinners playing together are slim. Washington Sundar’s offspin is more likely to be matched up with New Zealand’s left-hander heavy line-up.”As I said before, we’re lucky enough we’ve played these guys and we’ve played India a lot – whether it would be here or back home in recent years,” Latham said. “So, as I said we plan for these guys with our scouting as best as possible and talking to the guys that have played here before – whether it’s in the IPL or different series in terms of trying to read their different deliveries. We will certainly be doing our best to try and negate them [Chahal and Kuldeep]. Obviously spin is quite a big thing over here in India, and we’re really excited about the three games coming up in the one-day series.”

For about ten overs, Karachi Kings looked like they would cruise to victory, but for the other 30, Multan Sultans comprehensively outplayed them. You do the maths. And yet, the numbers were the greatest irrelevance of all in a contest for the ages.Imad Wasim needed five off the final ball to seal a heist to end all heists in a PSL classic. Explaining how we got there is an epic story of its own, but in its denouement, Imad couldn’t quite pull it off, and Sultans celebrated a scarcely believable three-run win.Just ten minutes ago, and yet, what seems like an age ago, Kings needed 37 off the final nine balls, dead and buried by all accounts. Wides, no-balls, lost nerves and Imad himself somehow brought it down to six off the final four, plundering 31 off the next five balls. Which is, remember, a mathematical impossibility.But it wasn’t a PSL impossibility. Abbas Afridi, having seemingly lost his nerve when it mattered most, found a way to claw things back, dismissing Ben Cutting with two balls to go. Kings managed to get Imad on strike for one final shot at eternal glory. As Kings fell short and a packed Multan stadium exulted, Imad’s eyes glistened.Kings had won the toss and puzzlingly opted to field, despite their thumping win against Lahore Qalandars batting first on Sunday. Shan Masood, who had struggled for form until today, began much brighter, taking the lead from his captain in the powerplay. A 31-ball 50 from the left-hander ensured Sultans edged ahead after the first six while Mohammad Rizwan scratched and scribbled around, unable to quite find his usual timing. When Masood arrowed one down Imran Tahir’s throat, Sultans had 84 in the first ten, and the platform had been set.It was the perfect time for Rilee Rossouw to come in, but it was Rizwan instead who would shine brightest in the final few overs. The Sultans captain had three fifties in four innings until Wednesday, but would top it all off with a stunning century, taking just 18 balls to move from his 50 to his hundred, getting there in style with a couple of sixes and then a scrambled couple as Kings lost their discipline in the field. He would finish with an unbeaten 110 off 64 by the end, giving Multan’s crowd an innings to remember in the final game the city will host this PSL. The final six overs had yielded 85 runs for Sultans, and at that stage, a haggard Kings already looked done and dusted.James Vince took just 20 deliveries to reach his fifty•PCB

However, James Vince came out firing on all cylinders. He put Sultans’ bowling attack to the sword in an astonishing powerplay, with Kings racking up 72 in the first six overs. There were eight fours and five sixes during the powerplay, and while Matthew Wade was a useful support act, it was really all about the Englishman. It took him 20 deliveries to get to 50 with a huge six over cow corner, and Kings were seemingly on course.There they might have stayed until a fateful mix-up between Haider Ali and Vince. In the melee, it was Vince who ended up out and watched from the dugout as his team-mates failed to pick up the baton. Shoaib Malik struggled throughout a scratchy innings as Sultans successfully applied the squeeze, and appeared on track for a comfortable win in the end, particularly when the equation was down to 37 off nine.But the drama was only just beginning. Imad flayed Mohammad Ilyas for a pair of sixes, and with 22 off the final over required, a neck-high full toss that went for six suddenly put Kings in pole position. Cutting would smash Afridi for the biggest six of the night to leave his side just one hit away.But that hit proved elusive as Sultans, and an electric crowd, had the last laugh in a game anyone involved would never forget.

There were strong winds that blew deliveries off course and forced broadcast staff to abandon their posts at the Adelaide End, middle-order batters that fought back, and tailenders who resisted for hours.Through all that, New Zealand’s bowlers “kept on coming”, said captain Tim Southee. New Zealand had bowled 66.5 overs in the first innings, and then, having enforced the follow-on, ended up delivering 142 more – a total of 208.5 overs.And despite Monday’s conditions, which were extreme even for Basin Reserve, where strong winds frequently affect play, New Zealand still completed their innings victory, to seal the series 2-0.Related

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“We’ve had a few follow-ons, and you’re preparing yourself to possibly be out in the field for a long time,” Southee said. “It was great to have the guys want the ball in their hand, and wanting to keep coming in. Guys putting up their hand up to bowl into the wind. I think of Blair Tickner’s spell early in the day, to come into the wind, and to get the two guys out early was massive and set up the day. Doug Bracewell coming in after a long period of time and wanting to bowl into the wind. The guys just kept on coming. That’s a characteristic of the side – to keep going in tough times.”She was pretty blustery out there. Not pleasing conditions to be out there in. I can’t remember too many times when the camera was taken down. It just shows the sheer force of the winds and the gusts that were out there today. Some horrible conditions at times. The guys just managed to find a way to get the job done.”With the Basin Reserve surface having flattened out, New Zealand peppered the opposition with short balls – Tickner started the day with a bouncer barrage that dismissed the overnight pairing of Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews, who on the previous tour had batted out an entire fourth day at this venue to save a Test.This time, however, they were both out in the opening exchanges of day four, out trying to take on the short ball. Sri Lanka had ended the third day 113 for 2, but were 116 for 4 pretty quickly.”It was a pretty slow surface,” Southee said. “The ball was 40 overs old, and we had Matt Henry at the other end bowling more traditional lengths, and we thought Blair bowling short was our best chance to get a couple of early wickets and it came off today.”This was New Zealand’s fourth Test in fairly quick succession, after having finished a two-Test series against England not long before Sri Lanka arrived. At the end of a big bowling effort, Southee paid tribute to New Zealand’s endurance over their Test season.”The guys are all a bit weary after a busy wee while,” he said. “Test cricket isn’t easy. The guys were a bit heavy in the legs, but very pleased to have this game wrapped up.”There’s a lot of character shown throughout the home summer, and also in Pakistan as well, which is a tough place to go. We got ourselves in positions to win both of those Pakistan matches as well. It’s been a pleasing few months in the whites. A number of guys have stepped up. We’ve won from different positions, and have shown character to bounce back from a loss at Mount Maunganui [against Bangladesh]. It’s nice for Test cricket to be ticking along.”

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has combined its return-to-training-and-play plans with an exhibition event in collaboration with a new company, 3TeamCricket, which aims to introduce an experimental format. The showpiece will feature three teams of eight players each – Kites, Kingfishers, and Eagles – who will all play against each other in the same match for the Solidarity Cup. AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada will captain the three teams.The money raised from sponsorship of the three teams will go towards a newly created cricket hardship fund, which aims to provide relief for people within the cricket industry who have been affected by the Covid19 pandemic.The one-off event, which has been scheduled for June 27 at SuperSport Park, is still pending approval from the country’s sport’s department. South Africa is still in lockdown, and is currently at Level 3 of a five-phase process (with five being the strictest). At this level, non-contact sports training and matches are allowed, but all federations that seek to train and play are required to submit a detailed plan to the department for sport for approval. ESPNcricinfo understands that CSA has had several meetings with the Director General of Sport, including one on Wednesday afternoon, and has impressed upon the officials the urgency of its request. One source said a decision would be made imminently.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

No players will be compelled to participate in the event. Dale Steyn is unavailable with what sources have confirmed is a back niggle while Dean Elgar was not considered.3TeamCricket (3TC) is a joint-venture by the former CEO of FirstRand bank, Paul Harris – who is now involved in a mobile data company RAIN – well-known cricket commentator Mark Nicholas and Francois Pienaar, the former South African rugby captain who has also headed up Varsity Sport.Harris came up with the concept while playing a three-team card game with his family and intends to grow the format for development. “I’ve always been intrigued with how to develop the game,” he said. “How do you actually get teams that perhaps aren’t as competitive as others into playing with the better teams? How do you get clubs and schools that haven’t got the facilities involved and competing at the highest level? That was the end of the card game, and off I went and spent hours and hours puzzling it out.”For now, the event is being used as a way for CSA to raise funds for its newly created Hardship Fund, which seeks to benefit those in the cricket industry who have fallen on difficult times because of the coronavirus pandemic. The sponsorship money for each team will go towards this fund.It is also a way for CSA to engage in live action for the first time since the national team’s ODI series in India was interrupted after one, rained-out fixture, leaving two matches unplayed. No cricket has been played in South Africa since mid-March, with CSA initially calling for a 60-day stop to all activities. That means South Africa’ cricketers have not trained in groups since March 26, when the nationwide lockdown was announced.For the first 35 days of the lockdown, no outdoor exercise was permitted and players were required to maintain fitness levels through individual programmes at home. Since then, some activity has been allowed, at first during a window between 6am and 9am. Currently, non-contact sports’ training is allowed, but provincial borders remain closed. That means CSA has been unable to have any of its planned winter training camps. The national men’s team’s white-ball series in Sri Lanka was postponed and their July-August tour to West Indies will, at best, be postponed.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Given that, director of cricket Graeme Smith acknowledged that the upcoming match may not feature players at their best. “We’d be amiss to expect our players to be at 100%. They’ve handled the build-up, they’ve handled the lockdown well, they’ve done elements of training. But they haven’t been able to get the extensive cricket or outdoor training that normally we expect of them going into big contests,” he said.With that, the risk of injury especially to bowlers and the fact that it is mid-winter in South Africa at the moment, some have questioned the advisability of staging such an event so soon. “I don’t know why there is an urgency to have it now. It could have waited a month,” an insider said.However, it is understood that CSA was keen to be seen to be doing something amid a dearth of live action (the country’s football and rugby competitions, both of which are contact sports, have shown little sign of returning soon) and in light of its own administrative crisis. Suspended CEO Thabang Moroe’s case will only move forward when the results of a forensic audit are received and CSA continues to search for new sponsors after the loss of its headline backer Standard Bank at the end of April. This new venture has allowed it the opportunity to enter into new partnerships.As for South Africa’s future on-field plans, they may not necessarily feature much more 3TC cricket, with Smith continuing to work both on the FTP with other countries and on players’ match fitness. “The players have been on extensive training programs over the past five to six weeks,” he said. “It’s very difficult to confirm anything on the FTP at the moment; it’s very fluid. We are still in discussions weekly with member bodies on trying to find a way forward.”The most pressing fixture for us is the trip to the Caribbean and how we get, in particular, those two Test matches done and where we fit them in. We have the scheduled [T20I] series with India in August, then Pakistan were meant to come, and then the scheduled T20 World Cup. We’re in discussions with everybody to see if those can be moved to other parts of the calendar to create some space. It’s hard to give a definitive answer because no one has confirmed anything. It’s up in the air.”So too, is the future of de Villiers, who said that although he has agreed to this event, his potential participation in a T20 World Cup remains uncertain. “Decisions about involvement with CSA over the next 12 months haven’t been decided on yet. That will happen over the next few months once we get back onto the park, once we start playing cricket again,” de Villiers, who has vacillated between being available for the tournament and being unsure whether he would remain available if it is postponed, said. “I have had some discussions in the past few months but nothing has been decided yet. It would be silly to have made some decisions in the middle of the lockdown when no one knows where we’re heading with cricket. Discussions will certainly open up over the next few months.”

Tamim Iqbal has been appointed Bangladesh’s ODI captain, it was announced after a BCB meeting on Sunday. He takes over from Mashrafe Mortaza, who finished his five-year stint with the recently concluded Zimbabwe series.BCB president Nazmul Hassan didn’t specify the length of Tamim’s tenure, but said he was looked at as Bangladesh’s “long-term” captain.”After the meeting today, the board has unanimously decided that Tamim Iqbal will be Bangladesh’s ODI captain,” Hassan said. “He will be the captain for the long term as we have moved away from our decision to name another captain next year. We are not giving any guarantees, but he is our long term captain.”Tamim described Mortaza as “a model of inspiration” and asked for support through good times and bad, as captain.”This is a massive honour for me. I thank the BCB for trusting me with this responsibility. I am aware that I have huge shoes to fill as Masrafe Bin Mortaza [sic] has been a true great for Bangladesh cricket and a model of inspiration as captain for me and all the cricketers,” Tamim said.”The journey that begins now will have its ups and downs. We all want the Bangladesh ODI Team to be successful and when we are victorious it is a celebration for the entire nation. I hope the Board, the fans and the media will support me through the tough moments as well as during the good times.”Bangladesh’s next ODI assignment is a one-off game against Pakistan in Karachi on April 1. The other one-cricket they will play this year is a three-match series in Ireland in May.There were two clear contenders for the position after Mortaza vacated the spot last Thursday. The BCB’s decision was between Mahmudullah and Tamim, although Mushfiqur Rahim was also talked about in some circles. Shakib Al Hasan’s return to international cricket is also looming in the background, with the allrounder expected to come back in October this year after serving his one-year ban.Bangladesh will be part of the ICC’s one-day league from next year, which means the four ODIs scheduled this year will give Tamim the only window he has to get a feel for the job as long-term captain before the league starts.Last week, Tamim became the first Bangladesh batsman to reach 7,000 ODI runs during the first ODI against Zimbabwe, and is regarded as one of the architects of Bangladesh’s rise in ODI cricket in the last five years.Tamim has so far led Bangladesh in just three ODIs out of the 207 he has played, when he replaced an injured Mortaza last July against Sri Lanka in an away series.

A classy all-round display from Ellyse Perry guided Australia to a nervy four-wicket win over India in Canberra. Perry took 4 for 13 with the ball and made 49 from 47 with the bat to control an unconvincing chase and leave the tri-series tied up after three matches with Australia, England, and India locked on one win apiece.Tayla Vlaeminck took a career-best 3 for 13 as the Australian pair’s extra pace and bounce caused India to lose five wickets in 10 balls after a solid but sluggish foundation. Smriti Mandhana clubbed 35 from 23 balls but struggled get on strike as India scored less than six runs an over prior to the collapse in the 14th over.Australia’s chase was equally untidy. They slumped to 3 for 30 in the powerplay before Perry steadied the ship as panic set in around her against a disciplined unit that was led by Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who took 2 for 18 from four overs. Perry struck eight boundaries and kept the ball along the ground up until she holed out trying to find the winning runs in the 18th over. But Nicola Carey and Annabel Sutherland ensured the game never reached the 20th over.Mandhana muffled by a lack of strikeMegan Schutt is world’s no.1 T20I bowler but after copping a hammering against England on Saturday she was once again lined up by Mandhana and Shafali Verma in the opening over. Schutt was thumped three times down the ground, twice by Mandhana, as the over cost 15. Verma was clean bowled by Perry in the next over losing her shape trying to repeat the dose. Mandhana kept rolling but she got very little support from Jemimah Rodrigues or Harmanpreet Kaur. Rodrigues faced 11 consecutive deliveries and scored one run. The extra pace of Vlaeminck caused her a lot of concern before she was caught at third man. Mandhana struck three fours and two sixes in her 23-ball innings but she was actually out there for nearly 10 overs as Kaur crawled at the other end. Mandhana fell trying to clear the rope for a second time in the 10th over from Jess Jonassen and it sparked a collapse.Too quick and too goodRachael Haynes, Australia’s stand-in captain after Meg Lanning was ruled out with a back problem, turned back to her quicks in the 14th and 15th over and they took 5 wickets in 10 balls. Perry benefitted from a spate of poor shots with Kaur, Taniya Bhatia and Deepti Sharma chipping the ball in the air straight to fielders at backward point and third man. Vlaeminck’s extra pace troubled India’s batters as she reached speeds of 120kph. Veda Krishnamurthy miscued trying to loft down the ground without giving herself so much as a look at Vlaeminck’s speed before Arundhati Reddy was undone by some hostile short stuff. Carey and Beth Mooney became the first non-wicketkeeping team-mates in women’s T20 internationals to claim three catches each in an innings. India slumped to 8 for 82 but did well to survive the 20 overs as Australia dropped two catches and missed an easy stumping in the final three overs.Deja vuAustralia started the chase in a similar fashion to India’s innings. Alyssa Healy chipped a ball to cover after absorbing three dots in the first over. Ash Gardner hit the ball crisply cracking three boundaries and a six in the powerplay but Mooney, like Kaur and Rodrigues, struggled to rotate the strike, scoring just 6 off 13 balls, which include a boundary. She was stumped off a beautiful piece of bowling from Sharma who lured her out with some fabulous loop and drop. Gardner then made an error against Gayakwad playing back to a quicker ball that slid on and crashed into off stump. That left Australia 3 for 31 at the end of the powerplay.Perry the professionalPerry’s slower starts is part of the reason she bats down the order in T20I’s despite her dominance as an opener in WBBL cricket. She took her time as the pressure built but understood the required rate was under five. Haynes was not as assured, nearly running herself out trying to rotate the strike before holing out to a wild slog having faced two dots in a row off Reddy. Perry had some luck in the 12th over, beaten three times by Shikha Pandey but she did not miss any bad balls. While India were disciplined for large parts the odd short ball relieved the pressure and Perry was able to chip away at the chase without unnecessary risk. She lost Jonassen who tried to take on Gayakwad with 22 needed from 33 balls and waited until the 18th over where she got two bad balls to put away.

Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting have underlined different qualities that made MS Dhoni the player he became. Ganguly, Dhoni’s first India captain, felt promoting him to No. 3 early in his career was vindication of his batting talent. Ponting, meanwhile, lauded Dhoni’s ability to remain calm and not let emotions rule his on-field decision-making as a leader.Playing only his fifth ODI and batting at No. 3 for the first time, Dhoni made 148 against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam in April 2005, announcing his arrival in international cricket. Later that year in Jaipur, Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 145-ball 183 in a chase of 299 against Sri Lanka, once again from No. 3. It was at the time the highest ODI score in a run chase.Ganguly said he took the decision to promote Dhoni up the order while captaining him in the Challenger Trophy in Mumbai in February 2005. Dhoni opened for India Seniors in that tournament, and made an unbeaten 96-ball 102 in a chase of 276 against India B.”There was the Challenger Trophy, he (Dhoni) scored a hundred for my team while opening the batting, so I knew [of his potential],” Ganguly said in an interview with SportsTak. “He got the opportunity to bat at No. 3 in Vizag, scored a superb hundred and whenever he has got a chance to play more overs, he has scored big.”A player is made when you send him up the order, you can’t make a player by playing him lower down the order. I always believe you can’t become a big cricketer by sitting inside the dressing room. The kind of abilities, especially the six-hitting prowess he had, was rare. He changed his game towards the end of his career but when the raw MS Dhoni arrived, it was very important to make him free.”Despite averaging a phenomenal 82.75 at No. 3, Dhoni only batted there on 16 occasions in ODIs, and only 18 times in the top three. Ganguly wished he had batted in the top order more often. “When I had retired, I aired my views many times, that Dhoni should bat higher up the order.”MS Dhoni, in charge at Chennai Super Kings as usual•BCCI

‘He didn’t let emotions get the better of him’Ponting, meanwhile, has had the chance to both play and coach against Dhoni. The two were opposing captains 26 times in international cricket, while in the IPL, Ponting has coached both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals against the Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant sides led by Dhoni. Through all these battles, Ponting has admired one quality of Dhoni’s.”He [MS Dhoni] never seems to let his emotions get the better of him, which is a really good trait in a leader — as hard as I tried when I was on the field, I could never quite stay in complete control of my emotions.” Ponting told news.com.au.”Indian teams always seemed to lift when he was captain. He always seemed to have this knack to be able to get the best out of his players. You knew that he had things under control, and his teammates loved that about him.”I spend a lot of time in India now, so I know how revered he is in that part of the world. Even when you travel around the world and you listen to cricket fans, they talk about Dhoni and his leadership and how calm he seems to be under pressure on the field.”