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Essex allrounder a surprise hit with the ball in Brisbane Heat’s march to the knockouts

Matt Roller18-Jan-2024Australian cricket’s embrace of a new cult hero in “Tall” Paul Walter was underlined by his inclusion in the Big Bash League’s team of the tournament on Thursday, selected by the eight BBL head coaches. It is not long since Walter was a journeyman county stalwart, but a brief conversation with Jos Buttler 18 months ago sparked a career transformation.Walter was recruited by Manchester Originals as a replacement player for the Hundred in 2022 after a 400-run Vitality Blast season and was initially seen as a powerful middle-order batter. He had bowled a solitary over in Essex’s T20 campaign but, after Originals’ first match, Buttler sounded him out.”He was just like, ‘are you still tweaking a few out? What’s the situation?’ And I said, ‘I’m ready to go. Chuck me the ball,'” Walter recalls. “I hadn’t really bowled for two or three years before that and I’d only really just got to being bowlable. But the first time Jos threw me the ball I did well and then I got a roll.”His idiosyncratic left-arm medium pace deceived batters across the country and, from nowhere, Walter emerged as the Hundred’s joint-highest wicket-taker. After losing their first three games, Originals won six in a row to reach the final. “I didn’t even have bowling on my radar when I turned up, to be honest,” he says.Related

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“When I was younger I came through as a bowler, and I went on the ECB pace programme which was a lot of technical work. But then I had injuries around that time and when I was coming back, I struggled with nailing what technique to use and then just fell away. I lost loads of pace and struggled to get the ball to do what I wanted it to do. I’d just lost confidence with it, really.”Walter’s improvement with the bat kept him in the Essex side across formats but he only bowled sporadically. “I just needed to figure out exactly how my body works. I’m a big guy, so it’s not always as easy as going by the textbook: I have to feel things through. It was almost like taking a break gave my body a chance to forget the technical stuff and just run in and bowl how I wanted to, rather than worrying about what was going where.”He credits Mick Lewis, Essex’s Australian bowling coach, with helping him to rediscover his control with the ball. “He’s been a great help to me: simplifying everything, helping me to find my old muscle memory and to trust myself. I started to feel like the ball was coming out nicely, and then it was just a fact of actually doing it.”Walter’s performances in the Hundred across two seasons piqued the interest of Charles Evans, Brisbane Heat’s analyst, before September’s BBL draft and he has thrived over the last six weeks. “I think we’ve got the best bowling unit in the competition,” he says. “I feel like I complement the rest of the attack quite well and we’ve been good at managing games.”

“I’ve worked a lot on my defensive bowling, trying to figure out how to get batters off strike and trying to keep the ball away from the shorter pockets”

Heat have used six bowlers with clear roles: Xavier Bartlett and Michael Neser share the new ball, Walter combines with spinners Matt Kuhnemann and Mitchell Swepson through the middle phase, and Spencer Johnson closes things out for them. “Kuhny and Sweppo have bowled so well through the middle that teams have come hard at me, which is probably what you want with my style of bowling,” Walter says.”I’ve worked a lot on my defensive bowling, trying to figure out how to get batters off strike and trying to keep the ball away from the shorter pockets. I normally bowl the overs where the right-handers are hitting to the short leg side, so I’ve had to get quite clever with getting them to hit to the other side of the ground. I do a lot of work off the field figuring out what I’m going to do in different situations.”Walter has performed his trademark aeroplane celebration after each of his 13 wickets and has been a hit with the Heat’s fans. “It was Eoin Morgan who started calling me ‘Tall Paul’ on Sky in the Hundred but it’s taken on a new level out here,” he laughs. “I’m not complaining: if everyone’s shouting that at me on the streets instead of abuse then I’ll take it.”The Heat face Sydney Sixers in the BBL’s qualifier on Friday, and Walter is their only remaining overseas player with Sam Billings and Colin Munro both in the UAE for the ILT20. “We’ve still got our original bowling unit, and the batters that have come in for us have been unlucky not to be playing anyway,” he says. “When you reach the knockouts, it’s just about holding your nerve.”Walter hopes to return to the BBL next year, not least because he got engaged shortly before Christmas to his Australian partner, who is based in Melbourne: “It’s been a busy few months. This is definitely the best competition for my life as a whole, so I’m glad it’s all gone well.” A trophy next week would top it off.

Fans and sponsors aren’t coming in and team owners aren’t staying put. The tournament is floundering

Andrew Fidel Fernando21-Jul-2024On Thursday at the Lanka Premier League (LPL), Colombo Strikers played a knockout match in what is ostensibly their home venue.Strikers had beaten their Eliminator opponents Kandy Falcons twice in the league stage and had in their ranks the likes of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (one of the T20 World Cup’s star batters), New Zealand livewire Glenn Phillips, and three-time LPL-winning captain Thisara Perera.The cheapest seats at the Khettarama cost SLR 200 (a little more than the cost of a loaf of bread), slightly better seats cost SLR 600 (about what a posh coffee might set you back), and very good seats cost around SLR 2000 (a fast-food burger meal). Pay these amounts, and you would not only get access to the evening game, in which Strikers featured, you’d also have been able to roll up to Galle Marvels vs Jaffna Kings, the top-two sides from the league stage, playing the afternoon Qualifier that would launch one of those sides to the final.In a tournament in great health, the Khettarama would be brimming with 35,000 fans. Sri Lankan social media would be wriggling with debates, commentary and analysis. Potential sponsors would be clambering over each other to be associated.Kusal Mendis brought up a century off 51 balls, but there weren’t many people in the stands to watch it•SLCIn reality, no more than a smattering of spectators were in attendance, Falcons would continue to play without a sponsor, and though the most faithful devotees of Sri Lankan cricket were tuning in, there was little evidence that these matches were breaking through into the mainstream consciousness. On Saturday, when Kings played Falcons in a second Qualifier, which turned out to be a nail-biter, crowds and interest were only marginally better.Although the LPL had been launched in the depths of a Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, there had been brightness to that first season. Perhaps the strictures imposed by the pandemic worked in its favour. The LPL had a captive audience, for one – Lankans stuck at home with little else to do. There wasn’t much cricket going on elsewhere on the planet at the time, so fans overseas were also drawn in. Having to play at a single bio-secure venue was a bonus too – just one broadcast crew was required, even if costs to maintain the tournament bubble were substantial.When the Jaffna franchise, called Stallions under the original ownership, won, it felt like a tournament that could grow. Jaffna fans are the toughest crowd in the country, for reasons that stretch far beyond sport. And yet many in the northern city, and some in the diaspora, had felt a connection.By the next edition, the winning Stallions team had been terminated by Sri Lanka Cricket to the chagrin of those owners. No serious effort at building a fanbase in their home cities has been attempted since.

Where organisers may point to some markers of growth, this, right now, is a league that is being out-competed by many others. The concurrent MLC in the USA has pulled the likes of Cummins, Rashid, Pooran, Pollard, Head, Maxwell and Boult – the kind of star list the LPL has never assembled across its five seasons

Since then, the LPL has lurched from season to season, picking up new owners every time it rounds a corner on a new edition, each one stranger than the last. Take the Dambulla franchise, for example. In the inaugural tournament, the team was Dambulla Viiking, owned by Sachiin Joshi, who has since become more familiar to India’s law enforcement agencies. Next year, it was Dambulla Giants, after Joshi divested. In 2022 and 2023, it was Dambulla Aura, owned by Aura Lanka, whose website claims the company is in everything from herbals to helicopters, but which has no products available for wide consumption by the Sri Lankan or any other market. In the approach to this year’s tournament, they were Dambulla Thunders, until one of their owners was arrested just weeks before the tournament. Now it is Dambulla Sixers, owned by a whole different entity.When you see company after company buying up these franchises, then ditching them just as fast while stadiums remain largely empty in a country in which cricket is indisputably the most popular sport, you start to wonder who this tournament is actually for.Organisers have touted broadcast numbers, year after year. But then why is there such horrendous turnover in franchise ownership? B-Love Kandy won last year’s tournament, and yet those owners are not around now. The organisers have had to run the franchise.We say “organisers” rather than Sri Lanka Cricket, because unusually for SLC, they have allowed another entity to come in and run the LPL on their behalf. This is the Innovative Production Group (IPG), which mostly specialises in cricket broadcast.While the organisers had been prepared for the challenges of the Covid era, they could not have foreseen the tanking of Sri Lanka’s economy in late 2021 and 2022•SLCSLC and IPG face substantial economic headwinds, of course. They are operating in a market that is tiny by South Asian standards – Sri Lanka’s population of 22 million, roughly the same as the city of Mumbai. And while the organisers had been prepared for the challenges of the Covid era, they could not have foreseen the tanking of Sri Lanka’s economy in late 2021 and 2022. Significantly less wealth in the country means fans are loathe to part with what little disposable income remains month-to-month, and corporates are cautious with marketing budgets.But even with these allowances and caveats, the LPL is floundering. Mainly this is down to one of SLC’s greatest sins – the board has never sought to meaningfully spread cricket into the provinces it claims to represent. If you grow up playing in Jaffna, Dambulla, or even Kandy, you have no serious local team to represent. You have to come to Colombo to play senior cricket. For most, this would involve leaving their family, finding a job, and a new support network, which in turn means that fans in these cities never really have the opportunity to rally behind local players, as they might at the Big Bash League, or the Caribbean Premier League, or the Pakistan Super League.Where organisers may point to some markers of growth, this, right now, is a league that is being out-competed by many others. The concurrent Major League Cricket in the USA has pulled the likes of Pat Cummins, Rashid Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and Trent Boult – the kind of star list the LPL has never assembled across its five seasons.This is a decent approximation of men’s cricket in Sri Lanka at the moment. SLC officials have been at pains to suggest it is moving forward. In reality, Sri Lanka is being left behind by everyone else.

Pakistan captain also wants to improve her batting ahead of the T20 World Cup, even as she looks up to her coaches’ experience of playing in the UAE

Firdose Moonda03-Oct-2024Fatima Sana has given up and , and taken up weight training. She is now in the process of trying to elevate herself to elite-athlete status, especially now that she carries the extra responsibility of captaining her national side. Sana was named Pakistan captain in August, to add to her all-round role as the premier seamer and a middle-order batter, and understands it will take careful management to perform all three tasks with success.”I have to just be conscious about my diet and workload, and training. When I was young, I used to eat everything, but now everything has changed,” Sana told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve shifted totally to eating salads and grills. Hopefully, if I try to manage my workload and the diet, it will help me play as best I can. I want to be able to play at my best in bowling, batting and fielding.”Sana was first introduced to the lifestyle habits of sportspeople when she was involved in the Fairbreak Invitational tournament in 2022, where she played with the likes of Heather Knight, Laura Wolvaardt and Deandra Dottin. Then, she told journalists that she noticed differences between the way the Pakistan women’s team approached their overall health and wellness, and how players from countries with more developed women’s cricketing structures did the same.Related

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“We also work on our fitness, but their level is different from ours – maybe due to cultural differences,” she had said at the time. “They take care of their diet, and I saw it during this league.”Ever since, among Sana’s social media pictures are shots of her in the gym, working on her strength, which she believes will give her career longevity. Sana has played representative cricket since she was 13, international cricket since she was 17, and among Pakistan’s seam bowlers, is already their second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs, and third-highest in T20Is. Currently, she is working on getting faster in order to be more of a threat.”My speeds are between 110 or 115 [kph] at the moment. I want to be quicker, but skilful as well,” she said, making sure to add that her small stature and height of around five feet are not a hindrance. “Shabnim Ismail is also small, and she bowled the fastest ball as well. I don’t have an excuse, and in fact, I have a proper example.”

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But Sana is also hoping to go where Ismail didn’t: up the batting charts. “My first job is bowling, but you may have seen that the Pakistan team is struggling in the middle order. So I have to improve my batting as well.”And she has. On Pakistan’s tour to New Zealand last year, Sana scored an unbeaten 90 while batting at No. 5 in the second ODI, an innings which announced her as more than just a bowler.”After that series, everyone knew that I am also an allrounder,” she said. “I didn’t really perform in batting before that. Even if people thought I was a good batter before, I didn’t show that. After that innings, everyone saw that I can survive in pressure situations, that I can bat and I can bat long as well.”Sana’s challenge as a batter is to provide Pakistan with some impetus after Muneeba Ali, their most consistent player in the top order, as she needs support from lower down. Former captain Nida Dar provides experience in the middle order, and though she has not produced a score above 30 since last September, her strike rate of 101.76 is the highest in the Pakistan side. That is a statistic Sana wants to change.”What we’ve seen is that we struggle with power-hitting,” she said. “My coach has told me that I can hit long. So I will probably be the one doing a lot of power-hitting.”That was evident in Pakistan’s most recent T20I series, against South Africa in Multan. Sana was the leading run-scorer with 101 runs from two innings, had the highest strike rate of 157.81, and hit three sixes, the joint-most in the series.”I will probably be the one doing a lot of power-hitting” – Fatima Sana ahead of the T20 World Cup•ICC/Getty ImagesSana was also leading Pakistan for the first time, and found herself as the only seamer in the opening game. Given Pakistan’s spin-heavy squad, she may find herself in that position again – especially at the T20 World Cup, where dry, slow pitches are expected to greet the teams. Most of the participating sides have no experience playing in the UAE, apart from Scotland and Sri Lanka, who were at the qualifying tournament earlier in the year.Sharjah last hosted women’s T20Is in 2017, while Dubai has only seen one series – between UAE and Namibia – played there, in 2023. Sana apart, Aliya Riaz and Diana Baig from Pakistan were also there at the Fairbreak tournament, which also held in the UAE, but Pakistan’s real advantage may come from the support staff.”Our coaches played here,” Sana said. “Our bowling coach Junaid Khan and our spin coach Abdur Rehman played here. So they will share the experience with all of the team.”Junaid played nine Tests, 20 ODIs and two T20Is in the UAE from 2011-19, when Pakistan were using the country as a home base, while Rehman played eight Tests, eight ODIs and a T20I there. That may give Pakistan a unique perspective compared to their competitors, and Sana will welcome any edge they can get. “We know that our group is the death group, but still we will try our best,” she said.Pakistan are in Group A with Australia, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and they have to go back to 2016 for the last time they had beaten any of these opponents at a T20 World Cup. In that edition of the tournament, Pakistan beat India and Bangladesh. Since then, they have only beaten Ireland and West Indies across the T20 and ODI World Cups, and have only won one match in the last three tournaments.

“Cricket is becoming more common among women in Pakistan. Parents are starting to accept that girls can play… We see a lot of young girls playing in different sports, and this will help us grow as a nation”Fatima Sana and her side are looking to create depth in their country

It’s those kinds of numbers that have prompted so much change – including the new staff, appointed in January, and Sana’s elevation to captaincy, which, at 22, seems like it has come quite early. Her leadership experience includes three tournaments in charge of Karachi women – the domestic T20 tournaments in 2022-23 and 2023-24, and a one-day cup in 2023. They had won both T20 tournaments, and she was able to learn from one of the best.”Bismah Maroof was in my team for those three seasons, so I really enjoyed the captaincy with her around,” she said.Maroof retired from international cricket this April to end a pioneering 18-year career, in which she also became a mother, and travelled with her baby, also named Fatima, on tour. As Pakistan move on from Maroof, they are also looking to create depth, and grow the professionalism of their game, and that is what Sana hopes can be her legacy.”Cricket is becoming more common among women in Pakistan. Parents are starting to accept that girls can play, and that type [of thing],” she said. “[But] we are still far from the mentality that all parents think their daughters can play – and it is difficult – but things are changing. We see a lot of young girls playing in different sports, and this will help us grow as a nation.”

Rohit’s early agression didn’t come off, again. Kohli fell to left-arm spin, again. And India stumbled to the most unimaginable of scorelines

Alagappan Muthu03-Nov-20241:57

Manjrekar: First six wickets were painful to watch

Rohit Sharma walks across his home turf with his head bowed. There was a weight dragging him down. He had no more defence against it.At the same time, over his left shoulder, the New Zealand players had all piled in together. They looked like they’d worked out the secret to human flight – which three weeks ago seemed a more amenable task than what they were setting out to do and now had done.The contrast was powerful. A team together. A man lost.Related

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****

At 9.59am, there was hope.Rohit felt the ball on the middle of his bat. He walked off to the side and mimed the way it had reacted off the pitch. Just the slightest little nip away. And he had accounted for it. Getting in line behind it and blocking it with soft hands.Rohit has shots and he plays them in a way that makes you wonder why other batters don’t play them too. It looks so easy when he does it. Maybe that’s why it took him a while to acquire a taste for defending. For a while it worked. In September 2021, two years after making a comeback into the Test team, he scored his first century away from home.This was a brief sight of that Rohit. At 10.00am, that Rohit was gone. Replaced by one who miscued a pull off a ball not short enough. This has been his way of late, and it hasn’t been coming off.Rohit Sharma has tallied 133 in ten Test innings this home season•AFP/Getty Images”As you grow, you try and evolve and I’m trying to evolve as a batter as well to try and see what else I can do,” this Rohit said. “So in that, there is a chance that you can fall on the other side of it, which clearly I have. So I will re-look at my game and see what best I can do.”But I don’t see that I have lost faith in my defence. It’s just that I need to spend more time to defend balls, which I haven’t done in this series and I accept that I haven’t batted well in this series.”On Sunday, this Rohit was dismissed by the 11th ball he faced. He had got to 20 balls in just one of his last 10 innings.

****

At 10.06am, there was joy.Virat Kohli was coming down the Wankhede stairs. When he was fielding in the slips, and the crowd was roaring his name, he had turned to them, raised a hand up high, and brought it to his chest. They have never lost faith in him.Just before play, he had had a line of net bowlers all preparing him for the threat of Ajaz Patel. He launched a series of inside-out drives against them. He used to eat up left-arm fingerspin. Averaged 123.80 against them in all home Tests till the end of 2019. In the years since then, he’s gone at 23.08.Shubman Gill walks out, Virat Kohli walks in. He eventually lasts seven balls•AFP/Getty ImagesThe fans don’t really see these numbers. But they remember how he’s made them feel. And so they believed. New Zealand had probably seen these numbers. Their lead spinner was a left-armer and he had two others for company on this tour. It’s not like they had other options queueing up, so this might just be coincidence but, barring the first innings in Bengaluru, every time Kohli has come out to bat, he’s had to start against a left-arm fingerspinner.Now there’s this thing he does to feel good at the crease. He likes to get forward. And these aren’t small strides. They’re gung-ho with a capital G, U, N and so on. It works really well enough on flat pitches. Or when he’s got his eye in on a not-so-flat pitch. Mumbai ticked neither of those boxes. New Zealand definitely played a hand here. Having often used in-out fields for other batters, they had short cover, backward point, mid-on, midwicket and square leg up for Kohli. They were blocking his other great strength – stealing singles to get himself going.Now it was all up to Ajaz. When he looped one up, made sure it wasn’t a half-volley, and found turn off the straight, there was only one outcome. At 10.13am, one of India’s greatest batters fell to one of the most basic traps, and all around the stadium there was silence.

****

At 11.10am, a fightback began.Rishabh Pant defended Glenn Phillips but he wasn’t to the pitch of the ball. Mindful of that, he played the original line, softened his hands and opened the face ever so slightly. So now if there was turn, he would have it covered. If there wasn’t, he’d plonked his bat in front of the pad so he was unlikely to be out lbw.The crowd roared their approval. A forward defence sent the Wankhede into raptures.Pant made 64 off 57 because he found a way to put pressure back on the spinners. He was brave enough step down the pitch when he saw a ball that was tossed up. It forced the bowlers off their length. Both Ajaz and Phillips went shorter on more than one occasion because they were worried about being whacked down the ground, except they were coming off worse now because the shots Pant could now play – cuts and pulls – were riskless.1:16

Manjrekar: ‘With Pant, the word genius came to mind’

It was a high-wire act. On day two, Rachin Ravindra had tried stepping down to a spinner in order to mitigate the threat they posed on this surface and ended up looking desperately out of place. Pant might be one of the few players in world cricket capable of pulling something like this off. Taking a team that was 29 for 5 in conditions that nobody could trust and keeping them alive, because he has this innate and outrageous understanding of how to play attacking shots. He sacrifices his body to achieve this objective. That’s why he ends up in all those weird shapes when he’s at the crease.New Zealand were getting desperate. They’d missed out on Pant’s wicket when India were 59 for 5 because they failed to review an lbw appeal. So in the 22nd over, they were prepared to burn the two they had left if it meant they could get rid of him. It worked, though there are people still wondering if the umpires had made a terrible mistake.At 12.24pm, the big screen flashed the letters O-U-T and it prompted a chant of “Cheater! Cheater! Cheater!”

****

India going down to New Zealand at home was an improbable outcome. But being swept 3-0? On pitches they had asked for? With the batters they had? Kohli has 10 times the runs that Will Young does in Test cricket. The bowlers they could unleash? R Ashwin has taken twice as many wickets as Glenn Phillips has bowled overs. The first session in Bengaluru caught them off-guard but everything that’s happened from there on has been on their own terms, in conditions loaded in favour of their strengths. And yet there they were, brushed aside at 1.03pm on the third day. An invincible aura, built over 18 series spanning nearly 12 years, had come apart in less than nine days of cricket.This can’t be wished away now. This can’t be set right with perspective. This will have to be dealt with. And the fall-out could be far-reaching.

A look at six of the best ODI innings by Mushfiqur

Mohammad Isam06-Mar-2025Mushfiqur Rahim called time on his ODI career on Wednesday, finishing as Bangladesh’s second-highest run-getter in the format. He is one of Bangladesh’s giants in the format, having played multiple match-winning knocks over the years. Here’s a look at six of his best ODI innings.

Showing maturity beyond his age

Imagine the pressure. A 19-year-old Mushfiqur, with just 11 ODIs under his belt, replaces Khaled Mashud, Bangladesh’s most experienced cricketer in the 2007 World Cup squad. It leaves cricket fans outraged, but the Bangladesh team management has a bigger surprise in store.They send Mushfiqur to bat at No. 3 against India, where he plays the anchor role in the tricky 192-run chase, allowing Tamim Iqbal to go bonkers. He then adds 84 runs for the fourth wicket with Shakib Al Hasan. All three future Bangladesh stars make fifties, with Mushfiqur hitting the winning runs in a famous victory.Related

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Ruining Tendulkar’s party

Bangladesh were chasing 290 runs against India in the Asia Cup in Dhaka, but the headlines were already written for posterity. Earlier in the afternoon, Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score 100 international hundreds. But Bangladesh were not deterred and worked on chasing down the steep total.They needed 66 runs in the last eight overs when Mushfiqur, Bangladesh captain by now, stepped out at the bustling Shere Bangla National Stadium. He struck three sixes in his 25-ball unbeaten 46, taking Bangladesh home in the final over. The pop when Mahmudullah hit the winning runs was one of the greatest in the stadium’s history.Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah helped Bangladesh notch a famous win in Adelaide•Getty Images

The brothers-in-law in arms

Bangladesh had recovered from a poor start against England in their 2015 World Cup game in Adelaide when they again lost two quick wickets.Mahmudullah was batting on 48 but he needed support from his brother-in-law Mushfiqur. The pair added 141 runs for the fifth wicket, with Mahmudullah reaching a memorable century. Mushfiqur’s 89 off 77 balls, including eight fours and a six, was a masterclass of a support act. Later he went on to take four catches in Bangladesh’s memorable 15-run win.

A special home series

Bangladesh’s first assignment after their quarter-final finish in the 2015 World Cup was an ODI series at home against Pakistan. In the first ODI, Tamim and Mushfiqur put on 178 runs for the third wicket, with both hitting centuries. Tamim top-scored with 132 but Mushfiqur was named the Player of the Match for his attacking 106. He struck 13 fours and two sixes in the 77-ball knock, an innings so dominant that Pakistan were struggling even when Mushfiqur got out in the 48th over. They ended up beating Pakistan in an ODI for the first time in 16 years. Mushfiqur hit 65 and an unbeaten 49 in the following matches to help Bangladesh seal the series 3-0.Mushfiqur Rahim had some support from Mohammad Mithun in the Asia Cup match against Sri Lanka, but very little thereafter•Getty Images

A one-man show

In their first game of the 2018 Asia Cup, Bangladesh got off to one of the most chaotic starts. Litton Das and Shakib were gone in the first over and Tamim broke his hand soon after. Mushfiqur sees all of this unfold, but then adds 131 runs for the third wicket with Mohammad Mithun. Despite any significant support after that, Mushfiqur soldiered on, adding crucial runs with the tail. When the ninth wicket fell, Tamim walked out with bat in one hand, and a huge strapping on the broken wrist on the other. An inspired Mushfiqur slammed three sixes and as many fours in their 42-run stand to take Bangladesh to 261. Mushfiqur made 144 and Bangladesh went on to win by a whopping 137 runs.

The fastest ODI hundred for Bangladesh

Among the many feathers in his cap, a big one was his whirlwind century against Ireland in 2023. In a match that was eventually washed out, Mushfiqur crashed a ton off 60 balls, the fastest for Bangladesh, beating Shakib’s 63-ball record.He struck 14 fours and two sixes and took Bangladesh to 349 for 6, their highest total in ODIs. Mushfiqur started off with pull shots against spinners before hammering the seamers over mid-off, extra cover and wide of point. He reached his fifty off 33 balls before going even harder in the last seven overs. He also reached 7000 ODI runs during this knock, before completing his century off the last ball of the innings.

Six bowlers used, five got among the wickets, and the one who didn’t kept a miserly economy

Sidharth Monga13-Jul-20251:41

Manjrekar: Dream spell for Washington Sundar

It has taken its time, but the wait has been worth it. India have been in a bowling transition for a while. They have won Tests on individual contributions – think Jasprit Bumrah in Perth, or Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep sharing 16 wickets in Birmingham – but this kind of awesome, irresistible, all-consuming wave after wave of attack has eluded them in recent times. Perhaps the last one was in Rajkot in February 2024 when R Ashwin flew home mid-Test to be by his unwell mother’s side and the others rose to the occasion, on a flat pitch, to bowl England out for 319.This, though, was something else. This was a day where the plans made before play, the captain’s moves on the field, and the bowlers’ execution all came together to crowd England where they didn’t have any breathing space. Even when they put together partnerships, a collapse always looked around the corner.Six bowlers bowled and five of them got at least one wicket. Ravindra Jadeja, the only one without, went at 2.50 per over in his eight overs. The last time India used six bowlers in an innings with each of them either taking a wicket or going for under three an over was way back in 2009 against Sri Lanka in Kanpur.Related

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And India needed all six because they have had ordinary luck all series to go with ill-timed unforced batting errors. In this Test alone, it took them 147 false shots to get the ten England wickets in the first innings, but they lost theirs in just 77. On the fourth morning alone, Bumrah produced ten false shots in five overs, drawing uneven bounce from a good length. It brought back memories of his first spells in both innings at Headingley, where not much followed.Here, not only did Siraj enjoy a turn in his luck and got a non-traditional wicket with a pull to mid-on, he and Shubman Gill also got a DRS review right moments after getting one wrong. The luck turned again as he drew nine false shots from Joe Root in 23 balls in a testing spell after lunch but without success.The thing with cricket is, you will have days or series when the luck is not running with you. The only solution is to keep coming back hard and with discipline. This is where India’s back-up bowlers – and plans – came in.After Bumrah and Siraj’s intensity in the morning, India went to Nitish Kumar Reddy before Akash Deep because they wanted to play on a Zak Crawley anomaly. Against pace with the new ball – up to 30 overs old – he averages 44 against faster balls (135kph plus) and 26 against balls bowled slower. Having tried to get him out traditionally and failed against his supreme luck – Crawley had an abysmal control rate of 62% – India got him out with military medium pace for the second time this week. Reddy kept up his end of the bargain, staying on a length after pinning him to the crease with the keeper up.1:28

Washington: One of my best days with the ball

The next challenge was the older, softer ball, which has been troubling both sides this series. In that wicketless one hour after lunch, the ball reached 37 overs, well past when it gets soft and becomes easy to bat against.This was likely not on purpose, but Washington Sundar and Jadeja started bowling from ends where the slope hindered their natural turn. Jadeja bowled no loose balls, and Washington, who has drifted the ball two times more than any other spinner this series, kept doing the batters in on the wrong edge. All four of Washington’s victims were bowled, beaten by balls that didn’t turn as much as expected. At least two of those batters were also playing too far inside the line because of the drift.With a mix of drift, now-dry pitch and the slope, India had found the final missing puzzle. This was now spell after spell of testing bowling. Gill put a fielder out to block Harry Brook’s ramp, and he was bowled immediately sweeping a fast bowler, Akash Deep. Gill put a short fine and sent the fine leg to deep square for the hard Ben Stokes sweep, and immediately he was out bowled, slog-sweeping to Washington.2:02

Manjrekar: ‘Lion-hearted’ effort from Siraj

A lot of Test bowling is about attacking the stumps without offering half-volleys. It takes bowling units time to find the ideal areas from where they can do that. In their first bowling innings, India attacked the stumps only about 11% of the time, but doubled it to about 22% in the second. Bumrah, four of whose five first-innings victims were bowled, came back to take two more with absolute seeds: a yorker and then one that seamed in to hit the top of off. In all, India had 12 bowled dismissals this Test. The last time a team had 12 or more bowleds was 70 years ago.If you believe in signs, there has been every sign that India will have to win this series the hard way. The bowling unit showed they were prepared for the hard way, and what a sight it was to watch them do it.And yet, India proceeded to lose four wickets to 21 false shots, precipitated by Karun Nair apparently failing to pick the ball and shouldering arms to a straight delivery, the kind of error in judgment you rarely see with Test batters. Even Gill, who has looked unhurried all series, was late on really full balls from the same bowler, Brydon Carse, bowling from the same end.If this is something England picked on and played on – Carse bowled 61% balls fuller than the six-metre mark in that spell – it is great situational awareness and feel for the game. Whatever it is, now it is for India’s batters to do it the hard way.

A look at the strengths and weaknesses of each WPL squad after the mega auction

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-20250:49

MI coach Keightley: ‘We’re excited to have the same core back’

Mumbai Indians

No. of players: 16 (6 overseas)Hot take: MI went all out to retain the core of the squad that has won them two WPL titles in the first three seasons. That explained why they spent 52% of their auction purse on New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr. They also wanted South African fast bowler Shabnim Ismail so badly that they raised the paddle even before the auctioneer announced her name. MI have put together another strong squad that has an abundance of all-round options; only three of their 16 players are specialist bowlers.Possible first XI: 1 G Kamalini (wk), 2 Hayley Matthews, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amelia Kerr, 6 Amanjot Kaur, 7 Poonam Khemnar, 8 S Sajana, 9 Sanskriti Gupta, 10 Shabnim Ismail, 11 Saika IshaqueMI squadBatters: Harmanpreet Kaur (INR 2.5 crore)
Wicketkeepers: G Kamalini (INR 50 lakh), Rahila Firdous (INR 10 lakh)
Allrounders: Nat Sciver-Brunt (INR 3.5 crore), Hayley Matthews (INR 1.75 crore), Amanjot Kaur (INR 1 crore), Amelia Kerr (INR 3 crore), Sanskriti Gupta (INR 20 lakh), S Sajana (INR 75 lakh), Nicola Carey (INR 30 lakh), Triveni Vasistha (INR 20 lakh), Nalla Reddy (INR 10 lakh), Poonam Khemnar (INR 10 lakh)
Spinners Saika Ishaque (INR 30 lakh)
Fast bowlers: Shabnim Ismail (INR 60 lakh), Milly Illingworth (INR 10 lakh)
Related

• Abhishek Nayar: We wanted Shikha's experience and Deepti back through RTM

• The mega auction as it happened

• Deepti, Kerr, Shikha get biggest bids; Healy unsold

• WPL 2026 to run from January 9 to February 5

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

No. of players: 16 (6 overseas)Hot take: The overseas firepower is undeniable but the missing link is a reliable Indian batter who can be the bridge between the middle and lower middle-order. D Hemalatha and Gautami Naik are two potential candidates; one has struggled in the WPL and the other is completely untested.Possible first XI: 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Grace Harris, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 D Hemalatha, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Nadine de Klerk, 7 Pooja Vastrakar, 8 Radha Yadav, 9 Shreyanka Patil, 10 Arundhati Reddy, 11 Lauren BellRCB squadBatters: Smriti Mandhana (INR 3.5 crore), Georgia Voll (INR 60 lakh), D Hemalatha (INR 30 lakh), Gautami Naik (INR 10 lakh)
Wicketkeepers: Richa Ghosh (INR 2.75 crore), Pratyoosha Kumar (INR 10 lakh)
Allrounders: Ellyse Perry (INR 2 crore), Pooja Vastrakar (INR 85 lakh), Grace Harris (INR 75 lakh), Nadine de Klerk (INR 60 lakh)
Spinners Shreyanka Patil (INR 60 lakh), Radha Yadav (INR 65 lakh), Linsey Smith (INR 30 lakh), Prema Rawat (RTM, INR 20 lakh)
Fast bowlers: Arundhati Reddy (INR 75 lakh), Lauren Bell (INR 90 lakh)

UP Warriorz

No. of players: 18 (6 overseas)Hot take: They came to the auction with by far the biggest purse and made full use of it to assemble a well-rounded squad. Three of the five most expensive buys belonged to them: Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey and Meg Lanning. Deepti, who was bought using the right-to-match option, fetched INR 3.20 crore, the joint-second-most expensive player at a WPL auction. UPW also spent INR 1.20 crore on Phoebe Litchfield and INR 1.10 crore on Asha Sobhana. By comparison, Sophie Ecclestone (INR 85 lakh), Deandra Dottin (INR 80 lakh) and Kranti Gaud (INR 50 lakh) were steals. The only Associate player of WPL 2026 is also in their squad: USA’s left-arm seamer Tara Norris.Possible first XI: 1 Meg Lanning, 2 Kiran Navgire, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Phoebe Litchfield, 5 Deepti Sharma, 6 Deandra Dottin, 7 Sophie Ecclestone, 8 Asha Sobhana, 9 Shipra Giri (wk), 10 Shikha Pandey, 11 Kranti GaudUPW squadBatters: Meg Lanning (INR 1.90 crore), Phoebe Litchfield (INR 1.20 crore), Kiran Navgire (RTM, INR 60 lakh), Pratika Rawal (INR 50 lakh), Shweta Sehrawat (retained, INR 50 lakh), Harleen Deol (INR 50 lakh), Simran Shaikh (INR 10 lakh)
Wicketkeepers: Shipra Giri (INR 10 lakh)
Allrounders: Deepti Sharma (RTM, INR 3.20 crore), Deandra Dottin (INR 0.80 crore), Chloe Tryon (INR 30 lakh), G Trisha (INR 10 lakh), Suman Meena (INR 10 lakh)
Spinners: Asha Sobhana (INR 1.1 crore), Sophie Ecclestone (RTM, INR 0.85 crore)
Fast bowlers Shikha Pandey (INR 2.40 crore), Kranti Gaud (RTM, INR 50 lakh), Tara Norris (INR 10 lakh)
1:53

‘Wolvaardt can fill Lanning’s shoes’

Delhi Capitals

No. of players: 16 (6 overseas)Hot take: DC paid INR 1.30 crore, their joint-highest bid of the day, to buy West Indies allrounder Chinelle Henry. DC had faced Henry’s wrath last season, when she smashed a 23-ball 62 while playing for UPW. They also paid INR 1.3 crore to buy back left-arm spinner N Shree Charani, who played an important role in India’s ODI World Cup victory. They have packed their squad with allrounders and top-order batters, but are short of Indian fast bowlers. Another exciting prospect is 16-year-old Deeya Yadav from Haryana, who DC head coach Jonathan Batty described as “a young Shafali.”Possible first XI 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Laura Wolvaardt, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Marizanne Kapp, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Chinelle Henry, 7 Niki Prasad, 8 Taniya Bhatia (wk), 9 Sneh Rana, 10 Shree Charani, 11 Nandani SharmaDC squadBatters: Shafali Verma (INR 2.20 crore), Jemimah Rodrigues (INR 2.20 crore), Laura Wolvaardt (INR 1.10 crore), Deeya Yadav (INR 10 lakh)
Wicketkeepers: Taniya Bhatia (INR 30 lakh), Lizelle Lee (INR 30 lakh), Mamatha Madiwala (INR 10 lakh)
Allrounders: Annabel Sutherland (INR 2.20 crore), Marizanne Kapp (INR 2.20 crore), Niki Prasad (INR 50 lakh), Chinelle Henry (INR 1.30 crore), Sneh Rana (INR 50 lakh), Minnu Mani (INR 40 lakh), Lucy Hamilton (INR 10 lakh)
Spinners: Shree Charani (INR 1.30 crore)
Fast bowlers: Nandani Sharma (INR 20 lakh)

Gujarat Giants

No. of players: 18 (6 overseas)Hot take: At INR 2 crore, Sophie Devine was their biggest buy of the day. With Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner retained before the auction, they have a solid batting core. But that’s about it. They did pick Yastika Bhatia but she is unlikely to be available because of injury. The rest of their Indian batters lack experience at the big stage. Except for Renuka Singh, the same can be said about their Indian seamers too, although Titas Sadhu and Kashvee Gautam are promising youngsters.Possible first XI: 1 Beth Mooney (wk), 2 Sophie Devine, 3 Bharti Fulmali, 4 Ashleigh Gardner, 5 Georgia Wareham, 6 Kanika Ahuja, 7 Ayushi Soni, 8 Kashvee Gautam, 9 Tanuja Kanwar, 10 Titas Sadhu, 11 Renuka SinghGG squadBatters: Bharti Fulmali (RTM, INR 70 lakh), Danni Wyatt-Hodge (INR 50 lakh), Shivani Singh (INR 10 lakh)
Wicketkeepers: Beth Mooney (retained INR 2.5 crore), Yastika Bhatia (INR 50 lakh)

Allrounders: Ashleigh Gardner (retained, INR 3.50 crore), Sophie Devine (INR 2 crore), Georgia Wareham (INR 1 crore), Kashvee Gautam (RTM, INR 65 lakh), Anushka Sharma (INR 45 lakh), Kanika Ahuja (INR 30 lakh), Ayushi Soni (INR 30 lakh)
Spinners: Tanuja Kanwar (INR 45 lakh), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (INR 40 lakh)
Fast bowlers: Renuka Singh (INR 60 lakh), Kim Garth (INR 50 lakh), Titas Sadhu (INR 30 lakh), Happy Kumari (INR 10 lakh)

How Rahane slots into their XI, and how 36-year-olds Narine and Russell perform, could make or break their season

Sreshth Shah15-Mar-20255:11

Chopra: Rahane could face ‘captain-batter conflict’

Where they finished last year

Champions. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) topped the league table with nine wins, three losses and two points from washouts. They beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1 and then, with Mitchell Starc rampant with the new ball, won the final and sealed their third IPL title.

What’s new in 2025?

Ajinkya Rahane, the new captain, will slot into one of the spaces left open by the outgoing Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana, while new buy Quinton de Kock is a quality replacement for Phil Salt. The overseas bench looks strong with Rahmanullah Gurbaz as the back-up opener and fresh picks Moeen Ali and Rovman Powell bringing power and versatility.Related

• Angkrish Raghuvanshi: 'Cricket is what I go to sleep wanting to do and what I wake up wanting to do'

• KKR vs RCB rivalry: Exciting, intense and dramatic encounters over the years

• Chetan Sakariya replaces the injured Umran Malik at KKR

• Ottis Gibson takes charge as KKR assistant coach

• Why KKR made Rahane, and not Venkatesh, their captain

Starc has a like-for-like replacement, at least in terms of bowling role, in Australia left-arm swing bowler Spencer Johnson, who made his IPL debut with Gujarat Titans last season. Anrich Nortje is a more experienced candidate for the overseas seamer’s spot.Off the field, too, there’s a new look. Gautam Gambhir’s crew is gone, and mentor Dwayne Bravo and assistant coach Ottis Gibson are the new additions. Rahane joins hands with Chandrakant Pandit, his former coach in domestic cricket.With Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Andre Russell in the lower middle order, KKR remain among the most dangerous death-overs teams and they would expect Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana to build on from their recent international form with the ball.

Likely best XII

1 Sunil Narine*, 2 Quinton de Kock* (wk), 3 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 4 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 5 Venkatesh Iyer, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell*, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Spencer Johnson/Anrich Nortje*, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Vaibhav Arora
Full KKR squad</aCould Luvnith Sisodia be a wildcard for KKR this season?•kkr.in

Big Question

Watch out for

Can Ajinkya Rahane carry forward his Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy form from December? His ranking as the tournament’s top scorer was impressive and his strike-rate of 164.56 stood out too. In IPL 2023, he was a brilliant bridge between the openers and middle order at Chennai Super Kings, and KKR would want that version of Rahane this season.Sunil Narine and Andre Russell come into the tournament not in the best of form, with below-par performances with the bat in the ILT20 in January-February. Narine has also gone wicketless in six of his last ten T20s, although he conceded more than 24 only four times. KKR retained the two high-impact 36-year-olds and trust the pair to turn up in the big moments, but can they keep doing it season after season?Luvnith Sisodia, the wicketkeeper-batter from Karnataka, could also be a left-field option up top. That could make space for Moeen or Powell. KKR have taken their chances with young, exciting domestic cricketers in their past, and Sisodia had a terrific Maharaja T20 Trophy run with semi-finalists Gulbarga Mystics.

Key stats

• Andre Russell was a star with the ball last season, with 19 wickets in only 29.2 overs for a strike rate of 9.2. But in T20s after IPL 2024, in the 66.5 overs he has bowled, Russell has taken only 17 wickets with a strike rate of 23.5. With Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora as their main Indian quick bowlers, Spencer Johnson not quite experienced enough, and Anrich Nortje returning from injury, Russell will need to do a lot.
• KKR had the best spin attack by far in IPL 2024, and they have retained it for 2025. Their 38 wickets last season was eight ahead of the second-best team and their average (23.18) was the best by a distance too, with their economy rate (7.68) behind that of only Chennai Super Kings’ spinners.
• Quinton de Kock has scored 500-plus runs in three IPL seasons, and his team has gone into the playoffs each time, with Mumbai Indians winning twice in 2019 and 2020. But IPL 2024 was his worst since 2014, bringing him only 250 runs in 11 outings for Lucknow Super Giants at an average of 22.72.

Who’s out or in doubt?

A fully-fit Nortje can hit the high 140s (kph), but he has only just recovered from a back injury. He missed the SA20 and Champions Trophy competitions, and last played a game in December 2024.Another quick, Umran Malik was ruled out with a hip injury, and he’s been replaced with Chetan Sakariya.

Arsenal's Eberechi Eze has revealed the inner workings of his relationship with former Crystal Place team-mates Michael Olise and Jean-Phillippe Mateta on the latest episode of the Beast Mode On podcast. The 27-year-old spoke of the almost-immediate friendship he struck up with Olise, and the similarities he shares with the driven and determined Mateta.

• Eze spills the beans on Mateta and Olise

  Eze was speaking about the France internationals with former Wycombe Wanderers team-mate Adebayo Akinfenwa on the latest episode of GOAL’s Beast Mode On podcast. 

  Eze, Mateta and Olise formed a lethal strike force for the Eagles during the 2023-24 season, scoring 37 Premier League goals combined. Their partnership, along with the hiring of Oliver Glasner, helped turn around a woeful start to that campaign. Palace would win six of their seven final games, eventually finishing 10th in the table. 

  This potent attacking line was quickly broken up however, with Michael Olise departing for Bayern Munich in the summer for a fee of around £50 million ($65m). One year later, after scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final, Eze would secure his own big money move, moving across the capital to join the club that released him as a boy, Arsenal. Only Mateta remains at Selhurst Park, but it's clear that Eze still enjoys a close relationship with the mates he made in south London, despite their separate paths. 

  The 27-year-old spoke glowingly about Olise's talent, saying the winger impressed him from the first time he saw him play. When the prodigious winger made the switch to Selhurst Park from Reading a short time later, the pair almost instantly hit it off according to Eze. 

  With regards to Mateta, the Arsenal man praised his improvement over the years, saying that both of them possess a force of will that helps them succeed at the top level. 

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  Olise's talent and their friendship

  Asked if he knew he was on the same frequency as Olise immediately, Eze said: "I played with him maybe six months earlier [before he joined Crystal Palace] and I saw him, I spoke to him. I think he's maybe 17 [at this time].

  "I saw him and I was like, ‘yo, you're mad’. That was the first time I saw him play. So then when he signed, he came into the treatment room, I was getting treatment, and I asked him: ‘why did you sign?’.

  "At this time we weren’t boys, but we were cool enough. I just remember him speaking and I'm like, ‘yeah, man, this is going to be my guy’. I can tell. As time went on, you can see the relationship built and [we’re] very like minded in terms of the drive, trying to achieve something. You can see that he's got that."

• Mateta's improvement and self-belief

  Asked about Mateta and whether he thought he’d turn into the player he is now, Eze said: "[He’s] Scary. No. Every player you see has quality and everyone you see has strengths. You can see his ability. But for me, I look at him and I see a similar type of vibe in terms of what I feel about myself.

  "I don't expect you to see what I see myself. He would have seen this, though, and you can tell by the conversations he's had INtraining ground and the things he would say about himself, he believes this. So for me, whenever someone speaks that way, you know that it’s possible and you believe that it’s possible.

  "It's been beautiful to see it [Mateta’s progress] though, because that's another story of someone that's saying, ‘OK, I'm going to do this thing and you're going to see me… and whether people believe it or not, don’t matter. I’m going to do it’

  "He's doing it now, so for me it's a beautiful thing to see. And when I speak to him, it's always a joy."

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  Eze and Olise to square off in Champions League tie

  All of their mutual admiration will be forgotten when Eze and Olise square off for the first time since they both left Selhurst Park, as Arsenal and Bayern Munich square off at the Emirates Stadium on November 26. That promises to be titanic clash at the top of the Champions League table, the Gunners and the Bavarian giants are two of the three clubs with a perfect record in this year's competition.

India consigned Australia to their heaviest ODI defeat, winning by 102 runs

S Sudarshanan17-Sep-2025Eighteen years and 206 days. It was a long wait. Entire careers started and ended in the time between India’s previous ODI victory at home against Australia in 2007 and the 102-run triumph in New Chandigarh on Wednesday.The final margin may make the win seem easy but it took spirited bowling from India following Smriti Mandhana’s century to draw level at 1-1 in the three-match series. Riding on Mandhana’s 12th ODI ton, India posted 292, a total that seemed lower than what they should have got. In response, India’s seamers stifled the top order and the spinners put pressure on the middle to hand Australia their biggest ODI defeat. All this after being thrashed in the opening match at the same venue.

Australia fined for slow over rate

Australia have been fined 10% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against India in the second ODI on Wednesday in New Chandigarh. Australia were ruled two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

Match referee GS Lakshmi imposed the sanction on the visiting team in accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. According to the code of conduct, players are fined 5% of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. Australia captain Alyssa Healy pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.

Australia wanted to “get out in the heat and acclimatise,” said their captain Alyssa Healy after asking India to bat on a flat track. India’s innings was Mandhana or bust. She hit a six off her eighth ball, won an unfavourable match-up against Ashleigh Gardner, and made use of the first powerplay to race to a 45-ball fifty. With India a batter short after Jemimah Rodrigues was ruled out of the series with viral fever, Mandhana never let the tempo drop.With Shafali Verma no longer in India’s ODI plans, Mandhana has taken on the role of aggressor and got to her century off just 77 balls, the second quickest for India. Only Meg Lanning (15) and Suzie Bates (13) have more hundreds than Mandhana. Her presence in the middle meant Australia couldn’t use their legspinners to full effect. Georgia Wareham went for 29 in her first two overs, with India’s vice-captain hitting her for three fours and two sixes, while Alana King was only introduced in the 34th, the over after Mandhana fell.While Mandhana thrived, the other India batters struggled. Pratika Rawal couldn’t find a way around Australia’s tactics and 20 off her 32 balls were dots. Harleen Deol did not score a run off 17 of her first 19 balls. Deepti Sharma made 40 off 53 but hit just two fours. Darcie Brown picked up three wickets, having found her rhythm towards the end of the innings.Kranti Goud removed Alyssa Healy early•Getty Images

Australia were tasked with achieving their highest chase in ODIs and fast bowler Renuka Singh, playing her first international following a stress injury last year, took only six balls to strike. Georgia Voll, who had come in because Phoebe Litchfield was rested for a minor quad strain, bagged a five-ball duck in her first international match in India. Soon, Kranti Goud dismissed Healy for the second time in two games. After the first powerplay, Australia were 25 for 2, their lowest 10-over powerplay total since the 2017 World Cup.Ellyse Perry kept Australia on track with Beth Mooney and then Annabel Sutherland. India dropped a few catches: Richa Ghosh failed to hold on to a tough leg-side chance after Perry attempted a paddle, Deol dropped a miscue from Mooney after running in from long-off, and Radha dropped Sutherland off her own bowling. Perry and Mooney added 50 off 73 balls before Perry and Sutherland put on 46 off 45 balls.India also had an injury scare when Renuka walked off clutching her left calf. She bowled a spell of six consecutive overs at the start of the chase and was brought back after a five-over break. While Renuka came back on to the field a few overs later, she did not bowl anymore.It was Sneh Rana who deceived Mooney with a wider line – with Arundhati Reddy, in for Rodrigues, taking a running catch – and then Radha dealt the chase a severe blow by dismissing Perry caught and bowled. When Reddy ended Sutherland’s aggressive innings, India sensed a win, which was sealed by Deepti taking two wickets in two overs. She had Gardner and Tahlia McGrath caught in the outfield to all but shut out Australia.There was no coming back from there and Goud bowled Wareham and had Megan Schutt caught and bowled to complete a memorable win.