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Jake Weatherald also made a half-century on his return while Nathan Lyon claimed three wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2021South Australia 4 for 298 (Carey 86*, Weatherald 66, Head 64) v New South WalesSouth Australia took the honours on the opening day against the defending champions on the back of a consistent display from their top order with Alex Carey closing in on a century.Travis Head continued his fine form before becoming the third of Nathan Lyon’s wickets for the day on a surface already showing signs of assistance for the spinner. He could have removed his Test team-mate on two earlier occasions, putting down a caught-and-bowled chance on 23 and then seeing him missed at short cover on 51 with the last ball before tea.The day was in the balance when Head fell but Carey, who had some edgy moments early when he was keen to reverse sweep Lyon, and Harry Nielsen added an unbroken 96 through to the close.Lyon had made the first breakthrough when he bowled Henry Hunt in the 14th over but Jake Weatherald, on his return to the Sheffield Shield team, and Liam Scott took the home side to lunch without further loss.However, second ball after the break Josh Hazlewood struck when Scott provided a catch to gully. Weatherald, who pulled out of the Shield hub earlier in the season to manage his mental health, scored a double century for the 2nd XI last week and marked his return with a half-century from 110 deliveries.He was then defeated by a lovely piece of bowling from Lyon which left South Australia 3 for 116 and in need of the middle order firing to ensure a good chance wasn’t wasted.With a little fortune on his side Head was able to do that and given his current form – he made a double century in the previous round – it was then a surprise when he was beaten on the back foot by one which slid on from Lyon.South Australia handed a first-class debut to left-arm wristspinner Joe Medew-Ewen and the signs are he could have a considerable amount of work against a batting line-up that includes David Warner.

India will have to make a tough decision on Rahul in a must-win game for them

Andrew Miller17-Mar-20217:00

How do India find an answer to Wood and Archer’s pace?

Big Picture

The colours red and black are more commonly associated with roulette wheels than soil types, but as is the case with that most deceptive of casino games, the surface on which this T20I series has been played has mattered little in the final analysis. What has really made the difference is the spin at the start, because the banker always wins in the end. Win the toss, bowl first, scoop the spoils irrespective of the action.So it has proven in three consecutive fixtures between England and India at Ahmedabad. Emphatic margins on each occasion – by eight wickets, seven wickets and eight wickets again – with the zippier, dewy conditions for the team batting under lights offering more pace onto the bat, and consequently to the rope, and little wriggle-room for the team that has been asked to post a target.But why let that not-so-hidden truth detract from the fun that’s to be had along the way? After all, you’d struggle to claim that the action to date has been anything other than compelling – with England’s surging pace onslaughts in the first and third games giving way to Ishan Kishan’s precociously composed destruction in match two.And, as Virat Kohli set out to prove in arguably the innings of the series on Tuesday, there’s always the chance of winning big when your numbers come up. Kohli’s outstanding innings of 77 not out from 46 balls gave his team a puncher’s chance – and it required Jos Buttler to step up with a career-best innings of 83 not out to snuff out the prospect of a win against the head.Irrespective of the results, if there is one clear pointer to have emerged from the first three games, it is that England – with just over six months to go until the T20 World Cup – have a far better idea of their best XI than India. When Mark Wood is fit (and the management of his pace-stressed ankles is a full-time job for the support staff), the raucous hostility that he and Jofra Archer can produce in the powerplay is a perfect dovetail for their pedal-to-the-metal batting approach. Full throttle in both disciplines makes for a very compelling sight, and a very compelling affirmation of their No.1 T20I ranking.Related

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But India aren’t so far away from a similarly devastating line-up – their faith in youth has already reaped huge dividends in the Test arena, and with a groundswell of IPL starlets itching to step up into the international spotlight, they are well placed to peak exactly when they’d want to, at the start of that home World Cup campaign in October.And yet, as their selection in the third match revealed, there’s still some unresolved tension between the platform-building team of death-over accelerators that they used to be, and the more fearless, full-frontal outfit that Kohli said, at the start of the series, that he was looking for them to become. The decision to veer away from Kishan at the top of the order for match three, so soon after his extraordinarily carefree debut, looked like an error as soon as it was announced at the toss. Sure enough, it gave England licence to get back on the front foot in that powerplay, with Adil Rashid claiming the first over in a ploy that looks likely to stick, before Morgan was able to burgle some quiet mid-innings overs from an off-colour Ben Stokes while India were still trying to pick up the pieces of their top order.The plus side of that decision, of course, is that at least India now know the error of their ways – and may now be all the better placed to commit more fully to their new forward-looking approach. The absence of the newly married Jasprit Bumrah needs also to be factored into their performances to date. His potential impact at the top and tail of any given innings is immeasurable, and affirms the sense that they are a team on the rise.England, by contrast, are slightly boxed in by the obvious strength of their first XI. The decision to overlook Moeen Ali for match three, on a red-soil surface that ought to have assisted his offspin, was a surprise at the time, but also an indication that England really want to claim the series win before mixing up their methods and discovering how close to his best he truly is. But as they discovered with Tom Curran’s callow showing in match two, if England’s back-up players can’t hit the ground running when their rare opportunities come, the knock-on effect for their whole machine can be significant.Similar issues (if they can be described as such) persist with England’s batting – the wall of noise that Nos.1 to 7 can produce is such that there’s a reluctance to experiment with a proven line-up, and find out whether Sam Billings’ skills as a finisher could add anything to the mix, or even the re-rising star Liam Livingstone (and his handy line in spin bowling). It may be that both will have to keep on watching and waiting a while yet.1:53

Gambhir: Buttler one of the best T20 batters in the world

Form guide

India LWLLW

England WLWWW

In the spotlight

Not that he’s ever really out of the spotlight, but the form of Virat Kohli in the last two games has reinforced his pre-eminence in India’s line-up, after his back-to-back ducks in the fourth Test and first T20I. Against a high-class bowling attack, he’s provided an anchor with a difference for India – a calm second fiddle to Kishan in game two, before marching through the death overs to crush England’s remaining hopes, before serving up a granite-willed performance on Tuesday that, in its brilliant final flourishes against Wood in particular, showed the way for sides batting first in these conditions. With Kohli in this mood, the dashers in India’s line-up – Kishan and Rishabh Pant in particular – have even fuller licence to have a proper go.For all of the awe that England’s pace battery has served up in recent days, there’s still no doubting which of England’s bowlers is Eoin Morgan’s absolute favourite weapon. Adil Rashid has the unwavering faith of his captain, and has justified that backing time and time again in recent months – most recently in an unfamiliar new role at the top of the powerplay in the first and third games. Tellingly, however, he was kept back from the new ball when India opened with Kishan in match two, and then kept out of the young gun’s firing line until it was arguably too late to make a decisive impact on India’s chase. A lot of faith is placed in match-ups in modern T20 cricket, but there’s still room for gut feel too. If England lose the toss and find themselves defending in the dew once again, might Morgan be tempted to give him an earlier spin?Adil Rashid has revelled in his new role as the powerplay spinner•Getty Images

Team news

A tough decision awaits on the fate of KL Rahul, who simply looked burned out by the end of his four-ball stay on Tuesday. The smart money would be on a new Mumbai Indians’ left-hand/right-hand combination at the top, with Rohit Sharma joining forces with his young gun, Kishan, whose style was somewhat cramped by his shunt to No.3 in the last game. Suryakumar Yadav, who didn’t get a chance to bat on debut in the second game, is the obvious choice to slot back in in the middle order.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalStick or twist for England? If everyone is fit, then an unchanged XI makes sense in the short term – a series win in India is not to be sniffed at, after all. But Moeen needs to be road-tested at some stage, surely, and then there’s the thorny issue of Dawid Malan at No. 3. It’s not out of the question that he could become the fastest player to reach 1000 runs before the series is done (see below). But his tempo in this series has been the slowest of his career – 66 runs at 110.00 in three innings, almost 40 points lower than his strike-rate at the end of the South Africa series (149.47). If he’s not the right fit for these conditions at the World Cup, then England could do with finding out sharpish who is. As for the other contenders, Reece Topley among them, their trial runs may have to wait a while yet.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood.

Pitch and conditions

It makes no difference if you’re black or red, as Michael Jackson didn’t quite sing. In theory, a red-soiled pitch ought to offer more bounce and turn for the spinners than its black-soil alternative. However, as in the first three games, the onset of dew as the lights kick in means that batting second is likely to be a major advantage either way.

Stats and trivia

• With 921 runs in 22 T20I innings to date, Dawid Malan needs another 79 runs to become the fastest batsman to reach 1000 in the format. Babar Azam is the current record-holder, having reached the mark in his 26th innings.
• Jason Roy is also on the verge of 1000 T20I runs. He needs another six, having reached 994 in 41 innings. His team-mate, Jonny Bairstow, passed the same landmark in his 43rd innings on Tuesday.
• Defeat for India in either of the next two games would mean only their second T20I series loss on home soil since the World T20 in 2016. Australia beat them 2-0 in 2019, their only loss in ten rubbers.

Quotes

“I was going through a lean patch about two games ago. These things turn around very quickly. For us, he’s been a champion player. If you look at his stats in the last two-three years, they are probably better than anyone in world cricket in T20s. He’ll continue to be one of our main batters along with Rohit at the top of the order.”

Virat Kohli gives his backing to KL Rahul after his run of 1, 0 and 0 in the first three games.“I was just trying to bang into the wicket on a good length as fast as I can, trying to make something happen.”

Mark Wood has an uncomplicated explanation for his uncomplicated method, after starring with three high-octane wickets on Tuesday

The 19-year-old Trinidad & Tobago quick could make his Test debut despite having played just one first-class match

Sruthi Ravindranath09-Jun-2021Jayden Seales has played just one first-class match, but the 19-year-old quick has impressed the West Indies selectors enough to be drafted into the 13-man shortlist for the first Test against South Africa. It’s already “a dream come true” for Seales, and he is hoping for more.”Firstly, it’s a dream come true being in the set-up. Being in the final 13 obviously was a goal of mine,” he said in a press interaction. “Just a matter of me now hoping that I get to play the first Test match and do my best for the team.”The Trinidad & Tobago bowler made his first-class debut last December, turning out for West Indies A in New Zealand, where he picked up one wicket.Related

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More recently, he took 4 for 40 playing for Team Hamilton in a four-day intra-squad game against Team Blackwood. He had also picked three wickets in the first innings during an intra-squad tour match ahead of the series against Sri Lanka in March.In all, he has played only ten games at the senior level across formats.”I didn’t play much first-class cricket but I think being in the set-up and training with the team from New Zealand to now I think I’ve put in a lot of hard work and my body is ready,” he said. “Now I’ve to go out there and perform for the team.”As far as chief selector Roger Harper is concerned, the lack of experience at the senior level should not be a hindrance for Seales.”I saw a young bowler perform in games where Test players and the best of our best of our regional first-class players were playing and he performed exceedingly well,” Harper said. “Better than a number of players who have been playing first-class cricket for a number of years. The thing is the match wasn’t classified as first-class match but those were played by the best of our first-class players.”I would like to think that if he can perform well in those games against those players, he has the potential to transfer that onto the Test scene.”Seales had attracted attention at the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa last year, taking ten wickets in six matches with an average of 18.30 and an economy rate of 3.89. That helped him secure a CPL deal with the Trinbago Knight Riders for the 2020 season, and he picked up eight wickets in six matches then. He has been retained by the franchise for the new season, and while he isn’t looking for idols he is learning from watching his team-mates closely.”Honestly, I never really try to adapt from any other bowlers,” he said. “It just came naturally. I’ve been told I have an action similar to [Kagiso] Rabada. In terms of internationals, I look at old West Indian bowlers and now in the set-up I look at Jason [Holder], Roachy [Kemar Roach] and Shannon [Gabriel] closely. I try to hear as much from them, learn as much from them and take it under my game.”With Gabriel missing out on selection because of an injury, Seales is happy to take his cues from Roach. “There has been no conversation whether I would take the new ball,” he said. “For me, if selected, if given a new ball, follow Roachy. If Roachy is bowling good areas it’s just my job to do the same and try and get the early wicket for the team.”

Kevin Pietersen could have played his last game for England after launching an astonishing attack on the ECB and other members of the England dressing room

George Dobell at Headingley06-Aug-2012Kevin Pietersen could have played his last game for England after conceding that there were deep, perhaps irrepairable, divisions with the ECB and some other members of the England dressing room.Pietersen, who has been unsettled for some time by the demands of the England schedule, refused to confirm that the final Test of the series against South Africa at Lord’s would not be his last and expressed his anger that private conversations between him and officials at the ECB had been leaked to the media.His comments are sure to be poorly received by those at Lord’s and by his England colleagues. With a vital Test looming it is far from impossible that Pietersen could be disciplined or even dropped in an attempt to retain a semblance of team spirit within the England camp.”I can’t give any assurances that the next Test won’t be my last,” Pietersen said. “I’d like to carry on but there are obstacles that need to be worked out. There are other points I’m trying to sort out in the dressing room.”It would be a huge shame. I love playing Test cricket for England, but we’ll see. For me, the saddest part about all this is that the spectators just love watching me play and I love playing for England.”Pietersen confirmed that some of his issues concerned a desire to play more IPL cricket, a wish to spend more time with his family and his enthusiasm to be included in England’s World T20 squad. But he also insisted that there were “a lot of other issues that are more important that are being sorted”.”It’s absolutely 100% not about money,” he said. “This is not a money issue. The politics is what I have to deal with personally. It’s tough being me playing for England.”There’s always speculation. There’s speculation every single day. You guys speculate about my life all day every day. I’m going to make some decisions that will make me very happy.”Pietersen’s current cause for concern is the leaking of information he regarded as private. Admitting that it revived memories of his sacking as England captain at the end of 2008, when Pietersen believes that his private concerns about the then England coach, Peter Moores, were also leaked to the media, he seemed to suggest that public opinion was being manipulated against him.”It was blamed on me that before this Test series I was grabbing the headlines,” he said. “Did I leak anything to the media about the meetings I was having with the ECB? I never spoke to the media for one single second and it was me grabbing the headlines and journalists talking about me grabbing the headlines. I never spoke a single word to a single journalist about anything that happened behind closed doors that I thought were closed doors. So you guys are always going to speculate and make me out to be the bad guy. No problem.”The catalyst for the latest controversy in a career that has seen more than most – including his dismissal as England captain and his departures from Nottinghamshire and Hampshire – is the prospect of a new round of annual central contracts in September. Pietersen, who effectively retired from international limited-overs cricket in May after expressing a reluctance to make himself available for all ODIs, has also requested that he is allowed to miss the Test series in New Zealand in March in order to play a whole season of IPL.While he insisted that, in a perfect world, he would like to continue to play for England in all forms of game, his desire to pick and choose his series is most unlikely to be tolerated by the ECB. The ECB, citing the importance of treating all players equally and the dangers of setting a precedent, demands that players are available for all matches if they are to be considered for any.Andrew Strauss, the England captain, was reluctant to be drawn on Pietersen’s words. He did, however, underline the fact that the needs of the team would remain more important than the needs of the individual and that it was vital England were not distracted ahead of a Test that will confirm which is the No. 1 ranked Test side.”One thing I will say, and it is important to stress this, is that the Team unity that we have had over the last three years has been outstanding,” Strauss said. “It is something we all pride ourselves on, always have done and will continue to do so going forward.”I hope the Kevin issue isn’t going to be a distraction. The truth is we want as few distractions as possible in making sure we win this third Test match. I’m not here to talk about Kevin Pietersen. It is not something I want to talk about at this stage.”

The allrounder says the team is struggle to find ways to switch off from the game

Andrew McGlashan09-Nov-2020Grace Harris has admitted that the challenges of the WBBL bubble are proving difficult for the defending champions Brisbane Heat, but she will take it upon herself to try and lift the team’s spirits after they gained just one win from their first seven matches.Harris made an unbeaten 81 against the Melbourne Stars on Sunday, but the Heat fell well short in their chase of 178 after a middle-order collapse left them 6 for 77.Throughout the tournament, which is being played entirely in Sydney, all the teams are staying in a hotel at Sydney’s Olympic Park which has been turned into a “WBBL village”. Though every effort has been made to provide entertainment and activities for players away from matches, Harris said that it has been difficult to switch off from the game.ALSO READ: WBBL mid-term report – Melbourne Stars flying high, Brisbane Heat hat-trick long way off“I just want the girls to stay really positive,” she said. “I think there’s a bit of frustration in our little bubble because the hub is a different kind of living environment but we’ve just got to try and refresh, put the loss to the back of our minds. Coming from Queensland we were already out and about, so for us, it’s a little bit more restrictive and a bit of a wake-up.”We are struggling a little just to switch off outside of cricket, you do miss your little routines from home, but the circumstances are this, so I think it’s simply the team that adapts best.”If you hit that wall, you have to accept the environment and what you are doing, stay focused and stay in the present. Hopefully, we can look on the brighter side of things because losing like this [against the Stars] is a little deflating and you get down sometimes about this kind of game, but I’m going to try and get around the girls this afternoon and tonight, we’ll chill out and then get ready to go.”The Heat came into the competition aiming for a hat-trick of titles but, after opening with victory against the Perth Scorchers, they have not clicked and have suffered four substantial defeats in a row to leave them seventh on the points table heading into the second half of the group stage.”The table is still pretty tight, we aren’t out of it yet,” Harris said. “I want the girls to look forward to the next challenge and be up and about because we are very close. It only takes one win and you can gain a little bit of momentum in this tournament, so rolling through the back end, if we get on the board next game, look out, because we could be on from there.”On her return to opening the batting, having started the tournament in the middle order, Harris revealed it was not a reaction to the tough target set by the Stars and had been decided before the game. She does not know if it will continue but is ready to take on any role.”I knew before we started the game that I’d be opening the batting. We are just trying to find our best combinations, see who works well together, and I guess if I didn’t run out JJ [Jess Jonassen], it might have been a different scenario. I’ve been training for all scenarios, so it doesn’t really bother me. Just trying to be adaptable and know what the team needs.”

How quickly this game can change. West Indies started the fourth day searching for a way to turn their dominance into a victory. They ended it hoping to avoid defeat

The Report by Brydon Coverdale10-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBen Hilfenhaus picked up three wickets in the first five overs of West Indies’ second innings•AFP

How quickly this game can change. West Indies started the fourth day searching for a way to turn their dominance into a victory. They ended it hoping to avoid defeat. In between, Ryan Harris led an outstanding tail-end fightback from Australia that allowed Michael Clarke to make a bold declaration from behind, a decision that was justified when Ben Hilfenhaus scythed through the top three West Indies batsmen in the first five overs of their second innings.As tea approached, it was hard to tell who was wobblier, the West Indies batsmen or the rummies in Kensington Oval’s Party Stand. At least the spectators had an excuse for their lack of stability. Clarke’s declaration gave West Indies half an hour to bat before the break and when it arrived they were 4 for 3. Australia’s last three pairs had just added 156 runs between them. It was about as disastrous a period as West Indies could have endured.In a few crazy hours, all the hard work the hosts had done over the first three days evaporated. By stumps, they had steadied a little, but only a little, and they finished the day at 71 for 5, with Narsingh Deonarine on 20 and Carlton Baugh on 2. It meant West Indies held a slim lead of 114 runs and with only five wickets in hand, they still needed a solid batting performance on the fifth morning to prevent the Australians chasing a small target.The pitch had started to show some variable bounce but after the way their tail-enders batted, Australia would fancy their chances of chasing a target of around 200. For West Indies, much rested on the shoulders of Deonarine, a man with a point to prove after he was told by the coach Ottis Gibson he was on probation having been recalled to the side for the first time in nearly two years.