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A solid innings of 47 by returning captain Kane Williamson and a dashing 33 from 15 balls by Jimmy Neesham propelled New Zealand to a 13-run win over West Indies in the first of three T20Is in Jamaica.Neesham struck three fours from the last three balls and 23 runs from the last over of the innings as New Zealand made 185 for 5 after being sent in to bat at Sabina Park. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner took 3 for 19 as New Zealand restricted West Indies to 172 for 7.”There was a lot of spin which was a big surprise,” said Santner, who was voted the Player of the Match. “I think the lengths are key against these guys. They can hit you pretty far, so back of a length worked today and as a unit we were able to pick up wickets which was pretty key.”New Zealand’s innings had two parts, separated by a lengthy rain break. Openers Martin Guptill and Devon Conway gave the tourists a strong start, putting on 62. But the pair fell to consecutive deliveries from Odean Smith, who went on to take career-best T20I figures of 3 for 32.Guptill fell to a brilliant one-handed catch by Shimron Hetmyer, who was backed up against the boundary at deep point, while Conway’s innings of 43 from 29 ended when he top-edged a catch to wicketkeeper Devon Thomas.The rain came in the 12th over with New Zealand on 95 for 2 and Williamson at the crease with Glenn Phillips. Players were off the field for almost two hours and when play resumed New Zealand immediately lost Phillips for 17.The New Zealand innings briefly lost momentum but Williamson re-established the impetus of the innings by taking 33 runs from his next 18 deliveries. He finally was out to another brilliant catch on the boundary, this time from Hayden Walsh who dashed from midwicket to pocket a comfortable catch at speed.Neesham struck a six from the second ball of an over in which he also was dropped by Romario Shepherd from the bowling of Jason Holder. West Indies paid the price with Neesham’s three fours from the last three balls.”We want to get better as a group but in saying that I was happy with the performances,” West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran said. “Santner bowled very well and Ish [Sodhi] got away with a few. Scores above 175-180 are tricky for us. Unfortunately losing is contagious and we’re a losing side at the moment.”Shamarh Brooks anchored the top of the West Indies innings with 42 at almost a run a ball. But there was a lack of consistent momentum afterward. Pooran with 15 from eight balls, Holder with 25 from 19 and Rovman Powell with 18 from 12 all threatened to take control of the game but couldn’t carry on.Finally, Shepherd and Smith shared a 50 partnership from 23 balls for the eighth wicket to fan West Indies’ hopes. Shepherd struck an unbeaten 31 from 16 balls and Smith 27 from 12. But West Indies came to the last over needing 26 runs and the task proved too much.

After much chopping and changing, Sri Lanka have finally announced their 17-man squad for the upcoming home ODI series against Zimbabwe, with eight changes from their last outing against South Africa – though even more had originally been slated.Kusal Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva are the biggest names to miss out – the first two are nursing injuries, the third tested positive for Covid-19, and Dhananjaya is on paternity leave following the birth of his first child. Bhanuka Rajapaksa, meanwhile, ruled himself out of contention following his decision to retire – a decision he has now rescinded. Lahiru Kumara was named in the squad but failed Sri Lanka’s newly beefed-up fitness tests. Pace bowler Binura Fernando and spinner Akila Dananjaya are the other two to miss the cut.Related

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In their place come Kusal Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay and the uncapped trio of Nuwan Thushara, Shiran Fernando and Chamika Gunasekara; Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Pradeep and Kamindu Mendis meanwhile have been recalled, having been dropped from the initial squad.Indeed, Sri Lanka’s selectors had originally planned to go with an even more fresh-faced unit with the uncapped trio of Kalana Perera, Kamil Mishara and Janith Liyanage also included, but the latter two tested positive for Covid-19 while the former fell short of fitness requirements. Of the three, Liyanage will likely be the most disappointed, following a breakout LPL campaign with the Dambulla Giants.The dropouts meant room opened up for some familiar faces to return with the biggest beneficiaries from the rejigged squad undoubtedly Chandimal and Mendis, both of whom had outstanding LPL campaigns and would have been forgiven for feeling a little hard done to have been omitted in the first place.While his LPL season brought just the sole half century – an unbeaten 65 in a narrow defeat – only twice in nine LPL innings did Chandimal fail to score less than 25, making him undoubtedly the most consistent force in the tournament. Mendis, meanwhile, ended as the tournament’s highest run-scorer, including a match-winning 53-ball 85 against eventual champions Jaffna Kings in the first Qualifier.The pair supplement a batting line-up that boasts quite a bit of potential if not international experience, led by the promising young duo of Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka. Lower down, allrounders Chamika Karunaratne, Dasun Shanaka and Ramesh Mendis offer big-hitting prowess, while Minod Bhanuka will likely vie with Chandimal for wicketkeeping duties.On the bowling front, the pace contingent will be led by the ever-improving Dushmantha Chameera, who finished 2021 as the year’s leading ODI wicket-taker, albeit with the necessary caveat of having played the most matches and the lack of ODI involvement by other Test-playing nations. The veteran Pradeep and uncapped trio of Thushara, Shiran Fernando and Chamika Gunasekera are the other seamers in the squad – though the likes of Shanaka and Karunaratne also offer alternatives.Pradeep had a decent LPL picking up 10 wickets in largely unfavourable conditions, while Thushara, whose slingy action has unsurprisingly drawn comparisons to Lasith Malinga, showcased his potential in the shortest format, going wicketless just twice in eight games, including a career-best 5 for 13 in the crucial first Qualifier against the Jaffna Kings – he will be keen to test his skills in the 50-over game. Both Fernando and Gunasekera meanwhile have had modest domestic returns but seem to have been picked largely on potential.It’s in the spin bowling department though that Sri Lanka will feel most light, with the still green Maheesh Theekshana likely to lead the line alongside left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama and the returning Vandersay. Legspinner Vandersay though is in the midst of a career renaissance, set for his first ODI since 2019 following an impressive LPL; having had to wait till halfway through to tournament to get any game time for the Colombo Stars he ended it with 11 wickets in four games, including a career-best haul of 6 for 25. There are also the part-time options afforded by Ramesh and Kamindu Mendis, with the former having showed signs of taking his game up a notch in the recently concluded Test series against the West Indies.Ashen Bandara, Pulina Tharanga, Nimesh Vimukthi, Ashian Daniel, Asitha Fernando and Vishwa Fernando have been named as standby players.Full squad: Dasun Shanaka (capt.), Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Minod Bhanuka, Charith Asalanka, Chamika Karunaratne, Kamindu Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Ramesh Mendis, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Thushara, Chamika Gunasekera, Shiran Fernando

Bangladesh’s spin bowling coach Rangana Herath, currently on tour in New Zealand with the Test squad, has tested Covid-19 positive on Wednesday, but is believed to have only “mild symptoms.”Eight other Bangladesh players have been sent into isolation after another person on their Christchurch-bound aircraft also tested positive.The rest of the squad went into training Lincoln on Thursday, but were are all asked to mandatorily complete a three-day room quarantine once again by the New Zealand health authorities because of their proximity to Herath on the flight.It’s the second time they will have to quarantine since arriving on December 10. The entire contingent was supposed to be in managed isolation, which included gym sessions from December 14. But that isn’t the case anymore.”We’re maintaining the existing protocol,” BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury told the Dhaka-based . “We will get a clear picture tomorrow (December 17) as they have taken a few samples today and the results are due. Since the players are isolated, hopefully no other complications will arise. This is part of the new reality.”There was reportedly concern within the Bangladesh team but they were feeling better after all but Herath tested negative again on Thursday. But the latest directive from the local health authority means that the visitors’ preparation will be delayed by another three days.Bangladesh are scheduled to play two practice matches before the first Test in Tauranga that starts on January 1.

West Indies’ white-ball captain Kieron Pollard has insisted that he has no intentions of retiring from international cricket after his side were knocked out of contention for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. Pollard was among the West Indies seniors who had struggled to adapt to the UAE conditions; he managed only 46 runs in four innings at a strike rate of under 87. West Indies, who entered the competition as the defending champions, suffered a premature exit when they lost to an already knocked-out Sri Lanka team by 20 runs.”Well, personally… I don’t set personal goals for personal glory. I play cricket to win cricket matches each and every time,” Pollard said at the post-match press conference. “We came to the World Cup to win and we haven’t done that. Unless you’re part of decisions that are going to get rid of me or fire me or retire me, as I stand right now, I have no intentions of not playing international cricket. One tournament or a couple of bad games don’t make a summer. And for me personally, there’s a lot of mileage in my legs as an individual.”There are people in different scenarios who make decisions and when it comes to that [captaincy] question, I can’t make that decision… but again we have a tendency as things go badly, the easiest thing is to blame or chop and change and do different things. But we accept that. I accept that and I take it on the chin and sometimes you have to absorb the pressure before you apply [it]. But personally as an individual I’ve played a lot of good cricket in the last 18 months or two years or so. So, three-four games [are] not going to deter Kieron Pollard.”

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Pollard rued West Indies’ “sloppy” performance in the field, exploited by an inexperienced yet talented Sri Lanka side to put up an above-par total of 189 for 3. In response, West Indies lost Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis and Roston Chase in the powerplay. Despite counterattacking innings from vice-captain Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer, the rapidly rising asking rate was too much to overcome for West Indies.’It was a good batting track,” Pollard said. “If we had sort of restricted them to 170-175, I thought that was about par on this track; [we] gave them a couple of extra runs, and then we weren’t able to sort of finish off the innings. The batting has struggled throughout the entire tournament, and it has been disappointing. Obviously, we’ve been singing the same song over and over and it’s something that hasn’t helped us – the way that we’ve batted throughout the tournament. We just have to accept that we weren’t good enough.”Pooran, who was bumped up to No. 3 after batting at No. 7 against Bangladesh, made the early running in the powerplay, claiming 32 of the 52 runs West Indies scored in the first six overs. While Dushmantha Chameera tricked him with a cutter for 46, Hetmyer pressed on to hit an unbeaten 81 off 54 balls. Pollard identified the two batters as a key part of West Indies’ T20 future but challenged them to produce such performances more often.”I think that [the progress of Pooran and Hetmyer] is very, very important,” Pollard said. “Nicholas getting the opportunity to bat up the order. Last game, he was full of confidence, and we just decided to sort of ride on that confidence and just try something different. I think he gave us a good start in the powerplay and after the powerplay. Obviously, he wasn’t able to carry on, but that is a positive sign for us in the right direction.”And then Hetmyer – this is what we know Shimron can do. He comes in and manoeuvres the ball at the start. He’s a powerful individual and if we can get these sort of performances from these guys consistently, I think it will augur well for us in the future. But it’s not just the glimpse, the task is to do that on a consistent basis. The glimpse is good enough and it’s something we definitely look at going forward.”In order to unearth new talents, Pollard reckoned that West Indies should bring back the regional T20 tournament, in addition to the franchise-based CPL, to expand the pool of players.”I think it’s something that we have to look at. I think it’s something that has plagued us over a period of time for the last ten years or so, we’ve had sort of the same guys playing T20 and dominating as we go along,” he said. “One of the things we need to do is, especially in the Caribbean, we need to have another tournament other than CPL where we can unearth new talents. When we had the Caribbean T20, that was an opportunity to bring you talent from different parts of the Caribbean to be able to have the nucleus for this last generation or so… Since CPL has come in, yes it’s a franchise-based system, but we’ve only had the opportunity to recycle the same players over and over again.”So, it’s something that we need to look at but there are some cricketers and a lot of young cricketers looking forward to playing and contributing to West Indies cricket. And it’s something that I’m personally excited about. It’s the end of a generation, but there needs to be a lot of conversation that needs to take place on how you’re going to make the transformation from club cricket or even CPL to international cricket because there’s a big step-up. So in between, we need to have another tournament if you look around the world, there are different tournaments that different teams play so that they can unearth new talents.”

This IPL has been one of two distinct halves for Anrich Nortje in IPL 2021.In April, it was all frustration, first at having received a false positive for Covid-19 that sidelined him from the start of the season. Then, once he was available, he was overlooked, because fitting him into the Delhi Capitals XI would’ve hampered team balance, especially with the management preferring Amit Mishra’s leg spin and Steven Smith as batting insurance. This meant seven frustrating games on the sidelines.

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Cut to September and he’s already the toast of the season, sending down one thunderbolt after another, roughing up batters, getting them hopping and ducking, and then using that two-card trick to eventually snuff them out.In two games, his figures read a combined 8-0-30-4. The experience of bowling in familiar conditions – he was the fourth-highest wicket-taker when the IPL was played in the UAE last season – he says has helped him plan better.”One of the things I do is I chat with the batters, and we try and share as much info as quickly as possible, and then let the individuals decide a plan they want to stick to,” he said after helping the Capitals to the top spot all but secure them a place in the playoffs.Anrich Nortje impressed on IPL return•BCCI

So far this season, Nortje has proved hitting the hard Test-match lengths are as valuable as the variations bowlers work on. He says the old-cliche of “trying to hit the top of off” irrespective of the format or conditions is wired into his muscle memory. And everything else he does is simply a by-product of this simple routine.”Today the wicket was quite slow. Speaking to Shreyas Iyer at the break [the innings’ top scorer with 42], he said it was difficult to hit straight, so we made them [Rajasthan Royals] to do that. We hit the good lengths, not too short or full. End of the day, all our bowlers, Avesh [Khan], KG [Kagiso Rabada], all of them did a great job.”The surfaces in Abu Dhabi are definitely slower than Dubai. Sometimes simply bowling variations on a good length is a very good option. Even if you simply change the grip on the ball while hitting the hard length, they’re as good as any variations. Essentially, you try and hit the stumps. You don’t always need to bowl a slower ball or anything [on such wickets].”Such insights, of course, has come about through a lot of planning, awareness and, according to Nortje, chats with his bowling partner and friend Rabada. They share the new ball in Test cricket, ODIs and here at the IPL, too. One of the things he learnt was “not search for high speeds on the field” and “to try and take pitches out of the equation.””It’s nice having him around, we play a lot together, talk a lot of cricket,” he said. “We talk about bowling, variations, our spells. We communicate as best as possible. What balls do you bowl in these conditions, what do you want to try and what do you want to avoid, essentially, we share as many ideas as possible.”And from there, we learn off each other. At the end, having him there, seeing what he’s doing right, what I’m doing right, and learn. Sometimes certain things work, certain things don’t work, but just being able to communicate as freely as possible [has been beneficial].”

India’s men’s domestic calendar will begin with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on November 4, while the Ranji Trophy, the country’s premier first-class competition, starts on January 13, 2022. The Vijay Hazare Trophy will get underway from December 8, with neutral venues being used across all tournaments.In an extensive list of domestic fixtures released by the BCCI on Monday, the board also confirmed that Delhi will host the Syed Mushtaq Ali final, on November 22, while Kolkata will stage the Ranji finale, on March 16.Related

• BCCI postpones Ranji Trophy start date to January 5 in revised domestic calendar

• Azharuddin part of BCCI's working group to oversee 2021-22 domestic season

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The Ranji Trophy will begin after the teams complete a five-day quarantine, with the matches being held at Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum and Chennai. Kolkata will host all the knockout matches, which will begin on February 20 after the teams serve another five-day quarantine period.The tournament will consist of six groups, including five Elite ones of six teams each and one Plate group featuring eight teams.Domestic heavyweights Mumbai, Karnataka and Delhi have been clubbed together in Elite Group C, while defending champions Saurashtra have been paired with Tamil Nadu, Railways, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Goa in Elite group D. Last year’s runners-up Bengal will begin their campaign in Elite Group B alongside Vidarbha, Haryana, Kerala, Tripura and Rajasthan. The Plate group will comprise Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh.The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, meanwhile, will be held across Lucknow, Guwahati, Baroda, Delhi, Haryana and Vijayawada, with the knockouts starting in Delhi from November 16. The BCCI, however, did not announce the venues for the Vijay Hazare Trophy yet.The Men’s Under-25 State A one-day competition will be held from November 20 to December 10, with Bangalore hosting the knockouts, including the final on December 10. The four-day CK Nayudu Trophy will run from January 28 to March 31. Nagpur, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Mohali, Jaipur and Ranchi will host all the matches, with the knockouts being held exclusively at Vijayawada.Meanwhile, the Women’s Under-19 One Day Fixtures will begin on September 28 and run till October 18, with teams split into five Elite Groups and one Plate Group. Rajkot, Nagpur, Bhubaneshwar, Vizag, Surat and Jaipur will host all the matches, with Surat hosting the knockout phase, from October 11 after the teams complete a mandatory five-day quarantine period. The Senior Women’s One Day tournament gets underway on October 31, with Bengaluru hosting the final, on November 20.

No result Incessant rain first reduced the first West Indies-Pakistan T20I to a nine-over shootout before eventually washing away the match. Pakistan had chosen to bowl first under cloudy skies with rain also predicted, but the teams raced off to the dressing room just after completing their national anthems. It took almost three hours for the rain to stop and the ground to dry, with the umpires then deciding to curtail the contest.But of whatever was played, Kieron Pollard and the Pakistan bowlers combined to ensure there was entertaining cricket while it lasted.Debutant Wasim has instant impact
All it took right-arm pacer Mohammad Wasim to land a blow was five balls, although that was not a wicket. In the second over of the West Indies innings, he pitched one short of a length on middle and off, and got it to angle in with the bounce on to Lendl Simmons, who missed his pull. The ball instead hit him on the right side of his neck, immediately inviting the physio on the ground, who decided to take Simmons off with a sling protecting his right arm.Wasim was taken off after that, but returned to bowl the seventh over. After hurting Simmons, he then had Chris Gayle caught at long-on as the bowler now brought out the slower ball. Gayle, who had come in after Simmons, played away from his body to try and heave that, but only found the fielder in search of rapid runs.Just wickets and sixes
Amidst a flurry of dot balls – which were 30 in total – and a bunch of extras, which contributed 14, there were five wickets claimed with as many sixes slammed from the third over until the eighth. Hasan Ali got two, while Mohammad Hafeez, Usman Qadir and Wasim all grabbed a wicket each. Nicholas Pooran cracked twin sixes off Hafeez, before Gayle deposited Shadab Khan over his head and Andre Russell dispatched Qadir over extra cover – all this, before Pollard got into Ali with a whip.Pollard provides late entertainment, but Hasan delivers too
Pollard arrived at the crease with one ball of the sixth over left, but watched from the other end as Gayle fell in the following over with West Indies’ run rate still under nine. With Pollard on strike, Ali was brought back for the eighth after foxing Evin Lewis off his first ball earlier in the innings. This time, Ali was whacked first ball over deep square leg as Pollard swung his bat to a good length ball on middle and leg, and despite not quite finding the middle of the bat, sent the ball sailing over deep square leg.But that was the only boundary Ali conceded off his two overs, digging the slower balls perfectly on a rain-affected pitch to keep the West Indies batters quiet. Ali then got Shimron Hetmyer three balls later – Mohammad Rizwan completed a good diving catch – with the hosts struggling for momentum amidst the numerous cutters from the visiting bowlers.Pollard was on 10 off 5 deliveries when only four balls remained in the innings, and the West Indies captain ensured they were well taken care of. A dot ball later, Shaheen Afridi pitched one short on middle and leg as Pollard pulled fiercely to bisect deep square leg and deep midwicket for four. After nabbing two more runs, he ended with a maximum by sending the ball crashing over deep square leg when he made room to a length ball on middle and off, and pulled with disdain. Although he got 12 runs off the last three balls, rain would have the final say with Pakistan not having to chase the total.

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Stumps

6.32pmJoe Root made his fourth century at Lord’s, and stretched it past 150 like he had the first three times, as a near-perfect display on Day 3 helped England take a slender lead against India. He was left stranded on 180 with England being bowled out off the last ball of the day. The 27-run lead capped off a gradual comeback from England in the match, which had begun by first bowling India out early on Day 2 and then battling through to stumps on a difficult evening. Exactly two days and two innings now remain for the teams to force a result.Almost as if it were a reward for their work on Friday evening, England came out to the best batting conditions of the match so far on Saturday – bright sunshine and a flat pitch that they put to good use, starting with overnight batters Root and Jonny Bairstow.

Always a matter of two wickets

5.15pmIshant Sharma struck twice in two balls late on day three•Getty Images

At every point in this Test match, the tempo has changed entirely with two quick wickets. Rahul and Rahane yesterday, then Sibley and Hameed. And it’s Ishant Sharma today, picked ahead of Ashwin, who gets the two left-handers in two balls. Root’s now faced a hat-trick ball twice in this innings.India have dragged it close to parity with those wickets. A big lead now will need a significant effort from England’s tail. Mark Wood likes to throw the bat around and Anderson can stick around. As long as Root is in, England will still think of 450.4.28pmMost hundreds in India-England Tests•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Tea

3.45pmJoe Root and Jos Buttler finish a run as Ishant Sharma reacts•Getty Images

Only 50 away now, England. They scrapped and marginally pushed ahead of India through yesterday’s sessions. Today, it’s been complete dominance. Another session scoring at nearly 3.5 an over. They’ve added 98 in this one and lost two wickets and suddenly this game is moving as quickly as it had on the first day. The pitch certainly looks just as good as it had on that day, flat and friendly when movement in the air isn’t a factor.For India, the second new ball hasn’t proved to be a game-changer. And now they have begun leaking boundaries. Shami is going at over four an over and there is little in terms of clear-cut chances being created by their line-up. England have cashed in big time to seize the advantage – in all but runs – in this Test.

300 in sight

3.25pmJoe Root is all smiles after getting to a century•PA Photos/Getty Images

India had to manufacture the Jonny Bairstow wicket and the Jos Buttler wicket was a rare case of them significantly beating an England batter today. It has been cruise control for the most part though as the sun has continued to beat down through the day. The ball isn’t doing a whole lot and they’re having to rely on toil and discipline at the moment. Flambouyant set-ups aren’t on the menu today as England come close to 300 – something both myself and Debayan Sen had said wasn’t likely on the podcast last evening – and even closer to taking a lead well before stumps if things continue to go this way. England’s lower order, starting with Moeen Ali, is a free-flowing, attacking one. It could soon be panic stations for India.

Joe Root gets to five hundreds in 2021

2.21pmAnd Sampath from the stats team points out that no one’s done it for England since Ian Bell in 2011. Another terrific knock from their captain.Five or more centuries for England in a calendar year•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Where are we headed?

1.45pm