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Bangladesh won the toss, Bangladesh opted to bat, Bangladesh put up a below par total, Bangladesh lost. You’ve seen this movie before in this series but anyone who told you this one was no different would have to be treated with scepticism. Because although it looked like the same script might play out, a sensational final over from Mahmudullah took Bangladesh to the brink of a famous victory. It went down to the final delivery, which Mohammad Nawaz carved over extra cover for a boundary to complete a clean sweep for Pakistan, and a heart-breaking loss for their opponents.Bangladesh got off to a slow start once more, with the top order failing to find enough boundaries in the Powerplay with Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim and Shahnawaz Dahani keeping the pressure up. Both sides had made a number of changes to their XI, with Bangladesh handing out as many as three debuts, and yet they still couldn’t help but fall behind. Despite wickets in hand, Pakistan ensured Bangladesh were never able to achieve the acceleration they will have aimed for, managing just 55 in the final eight overs and finishing with 124 for 7.Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have both found runs much harder to come by this series, and throughout the Powerplay, they preferred conservatism over aggression. That meant this was the highest opening partnership of the series, but when a rank long hop saw Babar hole out, Pakistan had just 32 runs in seven overs.The game entered a holding pattern where both sides were content to take it deep. Haider Ali was the glue holding Pakistan’s innings together – and the asking rate in check – with a 38-ball 45, but when he and Sarfaraz Ahmed fell off successive Mahmudullah deliveries, Pakistan still needed 8 off 4. It took a six from Iftikhar Ahmed and a final-ball boundary from Nawaz to get over the line even as pandemonium threatened to take over.That final overOn the first ball of the sixth over, a drive from Babar hit Taskin Ahmed flush on the hand, causing the Bangladesh fast bowler to go off for medical attention, with Shohidul Islam completing his over. When Taskin returned a little later, it seemed like little more than a footnote in the game. But towards the end it became immediately apparent that Shohidul taking over the sixth over meant Bangladesh were a bowler short for the final six deliveries.Haider Ali played a crucial hand in Pakistan’s chase against Bangladesh•AFP/Getty Images

Captain Mahmudullah took on the job himself, with Pakistan needing eight. He began with a dot ball before Sarfaraz sent one straight down cow corner’s throat, and Haider sent the next one down to long-on. Mahmudullah was on a hat-trick, Pakistan needed eight off three, and two new batters were at the crease. Iftikhar met his first delivery with a lovely lofted drive that went all the way for six, but with two to get off the last two balls, he went for the glory shot and was out caught at short third man.This is where things began to tip over in bedlam. Mahmudullah bowled from well behind the umpire, and Nawaz pulled out exceptionally late as the ball clattered into the stumps. The umpires called a dead ball but a brief argument ensued, with Bangladesh clearly unhappy about that call. Next delivery, Mahmudullah stopped in his stride, threatening to run the non-striker out. The build-up over, he finally tossed one up full, and Nawaz backed away to clear extra cover, finding a gap and taking Pakistan through to the narrowest of victories.The immediate squeezeThese three games have felt like clones of each other. Bangladesh, batting first once more, struggled in the Powerplay, with no player personifying their stifled approach more than Mohammad Naim. He top-scored with 47, but took 50 balls to get there. That he needed a sharp acceleration at the end to even manage that strike rate indicates how rough it was in the early stages for the opener, who managed just 10 runs off his first 21 balls. His innings was just one sign of a deeper malaise though, where no one who faced more than three balls was able to get more than a run-a-ball.Wasim and chances grabbedWasim spent the entire T20 World Cup on the bench, even when Hasan Ali’s struggles appeared to hint there might be an opening in the side. He has brushed aside that disappointment emphatically in Bangladesh on pitches that aren’t designed for his kind of game. After two exceptional performances, it was more of the same for the young fast bowler, who was economical up front, and returned to mop up with a couple of wickets at the death. This might have been a low-intensity game but Wasim treated it as anything but, keeping rigidly to an off stump line in the Powerplay, allowing just five runs in two overs, before being called on to bowl the 17th and 19th. Bangladesh would manage just 10 runs in those two, with two wickets in the 19th to take Wasim’s series figures to 11-0-48-5.Haider finally comes goodHaider’s inclusion in the Pakistan side is almost divisive enough to form part of a culture war. There’s the mounting statistical evidence he has failed to raise his game at international level, a slew of low scores in innings that palpably lacked confidence underlining that point. And then there’s the eye test combined with his domestic form, which indicates this precocious 21-year old is a supremely gifted striker of the ball. These might not be the pitches to showcase that, but in a target of 125 where no other Pakistan batter (min. three balls faced) scored at more than six an over, Haider smashed his way through the Bangladesh attack with 45 off 38. It included a courageous pair of sixes in the 16th over, just after Shohidul had Rizwan chopping on to bring the asking rate back under control and set Pakistan on course.

For once, it was Sri Lanka’s batters who bailed their bowlers out. It wasn’t the experienced hands either. Here was Sri Lanka’s new generation standing up. Chasing 172, on an asymmetric ground (there was a 73-metre boundary on one side, and a 57-metre one on the other), Charith Asalanka produced the innings of the game, hitting 80 not out off 49 balls, from Sri Lanka’s troubled No. 3 position. Along the way, he had the company of Pathum Nissanka, with whom he put up a stand worth 69 off 45, before Bhanuka Rajapaksa came in at No. 6 and struck 53 off 31 himself, effectively helping secure the game.Charith Asalanka smashes one over the square-leg boundary – one of his five sixes•Getty Images

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This, to trump an outstanding 57 not out off 37 from Mushfiqur Rahim, and a solid 62 off 52 from Mohammad Naim. They played Sri Lanka’s top wicket-takers incredibly well. Neither Dushmantha Chameera nor Wanindu Hasaranga took a wicket, and both went at more than 9.5 an over.Bangladesh, perhaps, were guilty of keeping too many overs from their two best bowlers – Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman – in reserve. By the time Shakib came in to bowl his third over in the 17th, Sri Lanka were fully in control of the chase.Asalanka explodes in the powerplay
Before this match, Asalanka’s T20 strike rate was 120. He had not been especially impressive in the T20Is he had played either. The fact he was coming in at No. 3 was more to do with the fact that Sri Lanka had a hole to fill there, not because Asalanka was particularly suited to that position. All of which made this innings that much more remarkable.Having come in during the first over following Kusal Perera’s dismissal, Asalanka swept his third ball – from Mahedi Hasan, who turns the ball away from him – for four. Next over, he walloped the left-arm spin of Nasum Ahmed – against the turn again – over long off (the shorter side of the ground), before slog sweeping him with the turn for another six. He hit another four off Mohammad Saifuddin, and by the end of the powerplay, Asalanka had 32 off 18 in Sri Lanka’ s 54 for 1.

Lahiru Kumara, Liton Das penalised

Sri Lanka bowler Lahiru Kumara and Bangladesh batter Liton Das Kumar were fined for breaching level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.

Kumara was found guilty of breaching Article 2.5 of the Code, which relates to “Using language, actions or gestures which disparage, or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.” Liton, meanwhile, was found guilty of breaching Article 2.20, which relates to “Conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game’.

The incident occurred in the fifth over. After dismissing Das, Kumara walked towards him using actions and words that, according to an ICC statement, “provoked an aggressive reaction from the batter. Having been provoked by the bowler Kumara, Das reacted aggressively and in a manner which was contrary to the spirit of cricket. Kumara was fined 25% of his match fee and received one demerit point while Liton was fined 15% of his match fee and received one demerit point.

The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Joel Wilson and Adrian Holdstock, third umpire Michael Gough and fourth umpire Rod Tucker. Match referee Javagal Srinath imposed the sanctions, which were ratified by the ICC Cricket Operations department as per the COVID-19 interim playing regulations. Kumara and Das both pleaded guilty to the offences and accepted the proposed sanctions, so there was no need for a formal hearing.

Shakib makes a double-strike
Shakib was unable to make his presence felt with the bat, but his second over seemed to turn the game. Pathum Nissanka was batting nicely with Asalanka, the pair having put on a brisk 69 together, before Shakib dipped one underneath Nissanka’s sweep, and later in that same over, foxed Avishka Fernando with another flighted delivery for his second bowled dismissal of the over. When Wanindu Hasaranga – promoted to No. 5 again – holed out in the next over, Sri Lanka had slid from 79 for 1 to 79 for 4.The stand with Rajapaksa
Bhanuka Rajapaksa, though, produced perhaps his best international innings to date, to help Asalanka all-but guide Sri Lanka home. He started slowly, making only six from his first nine, before making big moves against Afif Hossain, the offspinner who had been brought on to bowl at the two lefties at the crease. He hit him inside out over cover for six (with the spin), but then had a huge slice of fortune, when Liton Das misread a catch at deep square-leg and dropped Rajapaksa on 14, palming the ball on to the boundary.The pair edged Sri Lanka closer, largely playing risk-free shots, until Rajapaksa positively exploded in the 16th over – bowled by Saifuddin – smashing a six over deep square-leg, another over deep midwicket, and two fours to boot. When the 22 runs had been scored off that over, Sri Lanka only needed 24 at a run-a-ball.Mushfiqur and Naim set Bangladesh up
Despite the short boundary on one side, Bangladesh’s 171 for 4 seemed a good – if not quite commanding – total. Both Naim and Mushfiqur targeted the square boundaries, but it was Mushfiqur who was especially effective at moving around the crease to get into positions that allowed him to target that short side of the field. The pair’s partnership was worth 71 off 51, and effectively formed the spine of Bangladesh’s innings. Mushfiqur’s half-century was his fourth overall in T20Is, and his third against Sri Lanka.

Kent have won the LV= Insurance County Championship Division Three title after a morning of high drama at Canterbury, where they beat Middlesex by two wickets.Kent finished on 375 for 8, but they were in trouble early after Toby Roland-Jones brilliantly ran out Tawanda Muyeye for 89.They also lost Darren Stevens for 14, before Marcus O’Riordan and Grant Stewart revived them with a stand of 48 and Matt Milnes hit the winning runs.Kent began the fourth day on 275 for 5, needing another 98 to win and as the batsmen walked out a member in the Knott-Underwood stand yelled: “You were seeing it like a football yesterday TS, good luck,” at Muyeye.Middlesex had dragged themselves back into a game that had been drifting away from them when Tim Murtagh had dismissed centurion Ollie Robinson with the final ball on day three. But Kent made steady progress at the start and added 20 runs before Muyeye chased a single and was halfway down the pitch when he was sent back by Stevens and run out by a direct hit from Roland-Jones, who had barely a stump to aim at.A visibly distraught Muyeye trudged back to the pavilion and Stevens was then caught by a diving Sam Robson at second slip, after edging Roland-Jones.At that point Kent were 310 for 7 but O’Riordan and Stewart took them to within 16 of victory when the former edged Martin Andersson for 26 and was caught at second slip by Robson.As the tension mounted, Kent scrambled a single and a shy at the stumps went for four overthrows. Stewart survived a loud appeal for caught behind off Andersson and hit the next ball for four to reduce the target to two.Kent secured the title when Milnes steered Roland-Jones to third man, giving them 19 points and Middlesex three, leaving the visitors as runners-up.

Erin Burns, the Australian allrounder, hit 38 from 26 balls and Emily Arlott 22 from 14 to keep Birmingham Phoenix in with an outside chance of qualifying for the final stages of the inaugural women’s Hundred.Phoenix recovered from 71 for 6, needing 55 with 42 balls left, to pip Trent Rockets by three wickets with six balls to spare after Burns and Arlott had put on 48 from 30 deliveries.Left-arm spinner Kirstie Gordon took 3 for 26 to make it 12 wickets in the tournament as Rockets Women totalled 125 for 7 from 100 balls, Abbey Freeborn (30) and Heather Graham (26) adding 54 in 39 balls for the fifth wicket. But despite Sammy-Jo Johnson taking 3 for 22 to increase her tally to 15, the total was not enough.Trent Rockets Women remain one of three teams on seven points with a home match against Manchester Originals to come, while Phoenix, on six points, travel to Northern Superchargers on Thursday.Second and third in the final table will meet to decide who meets Southern Brave, who are already through to the Lord’s final.Rachel Priest and Johnson gave the Rockets innings a strong start with 34 from 20 balls, both hitting sixes, but the innings lost some momentum as Johnson was lbw trying to reverse sweep off-spinner Burns, Katherine Brunt was bowled by Gordon and Nat Sciver was run out by a direct hit arrowed in from deep midwicket by Katie Mack to be 63 for 4 from 52.Graham had an escape on nine when she was dropped at cover off Emily Arlott before she and Freeborn added 28 in 15 balls. But both were dismissed in the space of three balls by Gordon, who beat Freeborn’s swing before Graham hit her straight to mid-off in a final set that cost only one run.Shafali Verma, on 16 from nine balls after her match-winning 76 not out against Welsh Fire on Monday, was caught at deep midwicket in an early setback for Phoenix, giving Brunt her wicket for the second time in the tournament and the fifth time this summer after a battle between the two that began in the England-India international series.Katherine Brunt roars after dismissing Shafali Verma•Getty Images

The innings seemed to be going nowhere as Eve Jones was leg before to Georgia Davis’s off spin and skipper Amy Jones to a poor shot that saw her caught at short third man off Johnson, who quickly added a second wicket with a low return catch to remove Mack. When Sarah Glenn had Gwenan Davis caught behind they were 58 for 5.Izzy Wong top-edged to short third man but Burns and Arlott turned things round. Burns swept ball No. 88 straight to deep backward square but Arlott, who survived a tough caught-and-bowled chance to Johnson, kept her cool to win the match with back-to-back boundaries.

Where they finished

Fifth, with seven wins and seven defeats.

The good

Hashim Amla had his breakthrough IPL season. In his second year in the league, Amla topped the Kings XI Punjab run charts, making 420 runs at an average of 60 and strike rate of 146. He filled the void created by M Vijay’s injury, and Kings XI sorely missed him in their must-win game against Rising Pune Supergiant to make the playoffs; Amla had left for South Africa duty by then.Fast bowler Sandeep Sharma and allrounder Axar Patel showcased their skills at various points. Sandeep was Man of the Match in successive games, for his 4 for 20 against Delhi Daredevils, and for dismissing Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He finished with 17 wickets, and was the joint highest wicket-taker in the Powerplay – nine and an economy of less than seven – along with Mitchell McClenaghan. Axar was Kings XIs second highest wicket-taker with 15, and scored his 227 runs at a strike rate of 140.Legspinner Rahul Tewatia had been bought for INR 25 lakh at the auction but didn’t play until late in the league phase. Tewatia took 2 for 18 in his first game, dismissing Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa against Kolkata Knight Riders. In all, Tewatia bowled nine overs in the tournament and conceded only 49 runs.

The bad

Kings XI struggled to finish well with the ball. They conceded 10.37 an over in the last five overs. Only Gujarat Lions were worse.Kings XI did not start well either, with bat and ball. They lost 25 wickets in the first six overs of the innings. Only RCB and Daredevils lost more. The 17 wickets they took in the Powerplay was the lowest after KKR’s 16.Their contingent of overseas players contained too many batsmen, and only Amla pulled his weight. David Miller was benched after making 83 runs in five games, and Shaun Marsh, Eoin Morgan and Martin Guptill were patchy.Glenn Maxwell fared better, making 310 at a strike rate of 173, but played himself too low in the batting order. He finished the season having played only 18 balls in the Powerplay, and scored only 11 runs off them for three dismissals.What Glenn Maxwell said after their campaign•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The ugly

Kings XI had stayed alive by winning two successive games in the last week of the league, and now needed to win their final match to seal a playoff spot. But they subsided for 73 – their lowest IPL total – against Rising Pune. The lack of fight drew the wrath of Kings XI’s director of cricket Virender Sehwag, who slammed Maxwell and the overseas batsmen for not taking responsibility.Kings XI had bought eight players at the auction in February and they played only 28 matches in total. Darren Sammy and Rinku Singh did not play a game, while Morgan and Varun Aaron, among their most expensive purchases, did nothing of note. Ishant Sharma, who was Vijay’s replacement, went wicketless in all his six games and conceded nearly 10 an over. Kings XI splurged nearly INR 8 crore on Ishant, T Natarajan, who was underused, and Aaron; money that could have been spent more wisely.

The missing ingredient

Allrounders. Apart from Axar, they only had Marcus Stoinis, who made 17 runs in three innings and took two wickets in five, while going at 10.47 an over. Maxwell bowled himself sparingly despite being economical, with seven wickets in 14 matches at 6.57.

Out of their control

Wrist and shoulder injuries ruled Vijay out of the tournament. They also lost Amla at a crucial stage. Guptill’s hamstring trouble kept him out of the first half of the season and he never took off after regaining fitness.

Match facts

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rising Pune Supergiant
Bengaluru, April 16, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:54

Hogg: Dhoni has to stand up and be a leader

Form guide

• Royal Challengers Bangalore (sixth): lost to Mumbai Indians by four wickets, lost to Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets, defeated Delhi Daredevils by 15 runs

• Rising Pune Supergiant (eighth): lost to Gujarat Lions by seven wickets, lost to Daredevils by 97 runs, lost to Kings XI by six wickets

Head to head

Overall: The two teams have faced off only twice, in IPL 2016, with RCB winning both times.The last time they played in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 108 helped the home side chase down the 192 target with three balls to spare.

In the news

Before the match against Mumbai Indians, Kohli had said Chris Gayle was “a top contender to start in every game” but with the Chinnaswamy surface being drier than usual, combined with the West Indian’s poor form, it remains to be seen whether RCB will tweak their batting. Shane Watson, who captained RCB in the first three matches, will probably remain sidelined for extended periods through the tournament.Steven Smith’s return to the Rising Pune XI helped their batting, even though they had to leave out Faf du Plessis. With Lockie Ferguson going at an economy rate of 11 against Gujarat Lions, Pune may choose Adam Zampa’s legspin over Ferguson’s pace on a Bengaluru pitch that had much for spinners to exploit. They will be forced to think about how many legspinners they would want to play though.

The likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Kedar Jadhav (wk), 5 Pawan Negi, 6 Mandeep Singh, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Tymal Mills, 9 S Aravind, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Samuel BadreeRising Pune Supergiant 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Steven Smith (capt) 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Ankit Sharma, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Lockie Ferguson/Adam Zampa, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Imran Tahir

Stats that matter

• Gayle has outstanding numbers against the frontline Rising Pune legspinners – he has scored 51 off 30 deliveries against Imran Tahir and 44 off 16 balls against Zampa, in the CPL and the Big Bash League.
• The only Rising Pune bowler to dismiss Kohli is Ashok Dinda, who was dropped in the last game. Against Tahir and Zampa, Kohli has scored 75 runs off 42 balls.
• Rajat Bhatia has been Rising Pune’s second-best bowler so far this season (economy rate of 7.85), but Bengaluru is easily his least favourite venue as far as the numbers go: in 14 overs in the IPL, he has figures of 0 for 145. His economy rate of 10.35 is his worst among all IPL venues where he has played more than one match.
• How Rising Pune use Tahir remains to be seen. In the death overs since 2014, his economy rate has been 8.56 and has taken 36 wickets at an average of 14.08. In the middle overs in the IPL this season, he has taken four wickets and only conceded 29 runs in 42 deliveries.
• Tymal Mills has never bowled to Ben Stokes in a T20 game. Stokes scores at a strike-rate of 166 in the last five overs while Mills has taken 31 wickets in the same period, averaging 13.25 with an economy rate of 7.36.

Reactions

Cricket Australia chairman David Peever: “This resolution is a clear indication that whilst the Board may not yet agree on the detail of our reform process, we are committed to the overarching philosophies of it. We all believe that Shashank should be the man to see it through and whilst respectful of a decision made for personal reasons, we are delighted that he has agreed to remain in post until the completion of the 2017 Annual Conference where we can elect a successor.”
BCB president Nazmul Hassan: “For the greater interest of cricket, we need Shashank as the chairman of ICC especially at this critical juncture. He can be assured of our full support.”
ECB president Giles Clarke: “I am very pleased that the team effort has convinced Shashank about how important it is he leads through these discussions to take us to the new constitution, new Full Members and respecting the rights of all Full Members. It has been a great collegiate effort.”

Shashank Manohar has agreed to defer his resignation as ICC chairman until the body’s annual conference in June this year. That, cricket’s leading administrators hope, will give them enough time to implement the changes to the governance and financial models of the ICC, changes behind which Manohar has been a significant presence.The u-turn in Manohar’s stance, following his surprise resignation earlier this month, came after an ICC board resolution earlier this week that requested him to stay with “overwhelming support”.”I respect the sentiments expressed by the Directors and the confidence they have reposed in me. In the light of this, and although my decision to depart due to personal reasons has not changed, I am willing to continue as Chairman till the responsibility as per the resolution is complete,” Manohar said in an ICC release.”I have a duty to work with my colleagues to enable a smooth transition and continue our work on the governance of the ICC.”Efforts to try and convince Manohar to change his mind had begun almost as soon as his resignation was made official. A number of board directors have been in touch with him since. Those contacts were supplemented by a meeting in India a few days ago between Manohar and the CA chairman David Peever and ICC Development Committee head Imran Khwaja, which is believed to have been an important one in convincing him.On March 15, Manohar had caught much of the cricket world by surprise when he announced his decision to step down as ICC chairman, offering nothing more than “personal reasons” as an explanation. The development raised concerns over whether the new ICC constitution, for which Manohar was the driving force, would be passed at the April meetings, when specific points in the document will come up for vote.In principle the constitution had passed at the ICC board meeting in February. Seven Full Members had voted in favour but the BCCI and Sri Lanka Cricket had voted against the new constitution, while Zimbabwe Cricket abstained. Since then, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has expressed reservations against some aspects of the new constitution.The Indian board’s primary objection to the new constitution is the financial model, according to which the BCCI stood to make substantially less than it did under the existing model, which was devised by the Big Three.It was revealed that Manohar had met with the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators the evening before he announced his resignation to discuss the new ICC constitution, though he said he had already made up his mind to quit before the meeting.Significantly, the BCCI, with whom Manohar has had a complex relationship since he became an independent ICC chairman last year, endorsed the decision, along with other major directors. “It is important that the current issues are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction,” Vikram Limaye, a member of the BCCI’s CoA, said. “We had a productive meeting with Mr Manohar recently wherein we outlined the concerns of BCCI on the financial model and governance issues and our suggestions for resolution. We are committed to working with ICC for a satisfactory resolution of these issues.”On Wednesday, the CoA had also spoken of how they intend to proceed on issues related to the ICC in the run up to the April board meeting. The tone of those messages suggested a shift from the more abrasive stance the BCCI has employed towards the ICC in recent years, to a more conciliatory one.

Australia are gearing up for Tests against a team that has not lost at home in over four years – India; England are undergoing generational change as Joe Root takes over from Alastair Cook; South Africa’s preparations for the Champions Trophy have seen them reach No.1 on the ODI rankings and they are now fine-tuning against the No. 3 side – New Zealand; Pakistan are in the midst of their T20 showpiece, and Zimbabwe? Zimbabwe are about to play Afghanistan for the fourth time in three years. Welcome to the future of cricket.This is what things could look like post the current FTP, when, if the 9-3 Test split is agreed upon, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan will become even more familiar with each other than they already are. Ireland will join their club, and although all three of them should be able to look forward to regular fixtures against their other nine Full Members, they will have to get used to forming a second tier of sorts. Afghanistan and Ireland won’t mind too much – it is their chance to play with the big boys – but Zimbabwe are understood to be more than just a little put out by the prospect.They already feel like outsiders looking in, and their fixture list will keep them that way. Zimbabwe are not due to play anyone until July, when they should visit Sri Lanka. They host West Indies before heading into the World Cup qualifiers next March, and unless their fixture list fills up fast, they will be woefully short of match time. That is why they are reaching out to Afghanistan – and are also reportedly in talks with Scotland – and why they are trying to play against as many A teams as possible.Zimbabwe need matches, and they need them desperately if only to figure out who their best are. To say they have very little idea of that is putting it mildly. To that end, Zimbabwe have named a squad that includes six changes from the one that played in a triangular series against Sri Lanka and West Indies in November. That’s almost half the squad that is different, and it suggests they are still very much in a look-and-see phase.The most notable exclusions are Hamilton Masakadza, Tinashe Panyangara and Sean Williams, who all failed fitness tests. Williams has a back injury and should be recalled upon recovery, provided he passes a second test while Panyangara, who has not played any cricket since the tri-series, will retake his test on Friday. Chamu Chibhabha and Brian Chari have struggled for form, although Chari scored an unbeaten 84 in the most recent round of List A matches.In their places, Zimbabwe have picked from some of their most in-form players from the series against Afghanistan A. Although they lost 1-4, Ryan Burl was the highest run-scorer with 266 runs at 53.20 and could not be ignored. Burl notched up over 100 runs more than his nearest challenger, Innocent Kaia, also from Zimbabwe, who was not selected. Instead, Zimbabwe looked to add bowlers who performed against Afghanistan A despite an obvious lack of penetration. Tendai Chatara and Nathan Waller were their joint highest wicket-takers with six each, and fourth overall. They were picked alongside Wellington Masakadza, 19-year old left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava, and Solomon Mire, whose return is the most interesting.Afghanistan have proven that they can challenge established international outfits, and this series will give them the chance to make another case for more matches•Peter Della Penna

Mire was talked up as the next big thing – a Lance Klusener of sorts – ahead of the 2015 World Cup. He played five matches and did not make anything like the impact he was expected to before choosing to stay in Australia and play grade cricket. He has only recently returned to Zimbabwe and made himself available for international cricket.The indication is that Zimbabwe need someone (else) in the Elton Chigumbura mould so that if Chigumbura, who has most recently played as a batsman only, needs to be dropped, they don’t lack a seam-bowling allrounder. Mire’s worth is chief among all the things Zimbabwe want this series to reveal.So is appeasing the country’s sports minister, who has voiced his disapproval with the state of Zimbabwean cricket to the point where he has asked for “something drastic” to take place to improve things. “We are extremely worried by the performance of our cricket teams, especially when they are playing Associate nations,” Makhosini Hlongwane, the sports minister, was quoted as saying in . “Zimbabwe should work hard to improve its rankings among Test-playing nations and should move away from being the whipping boys of cricket.”That’s not an exaggeration, and Afghanistan are the best evidence of it. Zimbabwe have played Afghanistan in three ODI series since July 2014 and not won any of them. They drew the first, 2-2 at home, lost the second 3-2, also at home, and were then defeated 3-2 in Sharjah in the third. Zimbabwe may take heart from the level of competitiveness they showed in all those rubbers – they came back from 2-nil down to draw level in the UAE – but the fact that even their A side has struggled against Afghanistan’s next-best does not bode well for World Cup qualification, especially as Afghanistan will be one of the teams they will be up against.Afghanistan have already shown they have enough in the tank to challenge some of the more established international outfits and recently narrowly lost a series to Bangladesh 1-2. They don’t even need the A sides and their international outfit to overlap as much as Zimbabwe do and could leave out the top three wicket-takers from the A team’s recent win in Zimbabwe – Nawaz Khan, Abdullah Adil and Fazal Niazai – for the series proper. They have called on Aftab Alam and Samiullah Shenwari to join the ranks.With recent history on their side, Afghanistan can only look to this series as another opportunity to make a case to be considered for more matches. They already have recent developments at the ICC on their side. If the ODI league and new Test structure materialise, Afghanistan and Ireland will be the greatest beneficiaries, and unless Zimbabwe step up soon, they may find that even those two countries don’t want to have too much to do with them.

Rajesh Sawant, the 45-year-old India Under-19 trainer, has been found dead in his hotel room in Mumbai on Sunday. He is survived by his wife and daughter.A BCCI press release said Sawant “passed away in his sleep.” He was in Mumbai helping the team prepare for the series against England Under-19, which begins tomorrow.”What I have gathered so far,” acting BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary was quoted as saying by , “is he did not report for team activities in the morning, so people started looking for him and eventually he was found to have passed away in his room.”Sawant had been part of the Afghanistan coaching staff in the past and worked with the India A teams that played the England XI in the two List A matches earlier this month. Sawant had also trained the Rest of India side ahead of the 2016-17 Irani Cup match against Gujarat.

Australia’s cricketers should be prepared to say goodbye to the Gabba as their traditional starting point to summer outside of Ashes series – if the words of the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland are anything to go by.While admitting the team sees the Gabba as a “real stronghold”, Sutherland has hinted strongly that the search for a more commercially successful Brisbane Test is likely to lead to this year’s mid-December time slot being persisted with, more than likely in the day/night configuration to be tried against Pakistan this week. Such a decision would mean the loss of a major competitive advantage for the hosts.In unveiling the schedule for next summer’s Ashes, CA have outlined how that now seems to be the only Test series in which the national team’s preparation is to be kept as ideal as possible, with as many as four Sheffield Shield matches scheduled before the first match at the Gabba. Other summers against less marketable opponents will likely throw up similar issues to those seen this season – at least until proposed league structures for international cricket are approved at ICC level and take effect some time after 2019.

CA executive to be spoken to over Brayshaw link

Allegations that Ben Amarfio, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager for communications, digital and marketing, has been seeking job opportunities for his friend James Brayshaw with CA media rights partners will be dealt with “behind closed doors”, the chief executive James Sutherland has said.
Fairfax and News Ltd both reported on Monday that Amarfio had been helping Brayshaw try to renew his contract with the international cricket rights holders Channel Nine – a clear conflict of interest – though Sutherland denied the former Southern Cross-Austereo executive had been acting formally as Brayshaw’s agent; he and the network have now cut ties.
“Look I don’t think it’s right that one of our staff was acting as an agent, but let’s just say they’re things we’ll deal with behind closed doors at Cricket Australia,” Sutherland said. “I don’t think this is the place to be talking about that any further.”

“We’ll definitely keep our options open there. Every summer’s different. I know there are aspects of the 2018-19 summer that are very different to others, that’s just the nature of international cricket,” Sutherland said when asked about keeping the Gabba Test in mid-December. “It’s certainly a possibility we play the Brisbane Test match at a different time in the season.”I want to make that very clear. It was absolutely calculated for us to play the Test match here at this time. We wanted to ensure we gave ourselves the best opportunity to understand the Brisbane market and how we can increase attendances here. There’s a lot of promotion around it, we’ve got fantastic partners in the Queensland government and Brisbane city council, let’s see how this week pans out.”We’re on target to have the highest attendance ever for a non-Ashes Test match at the Gabba this week. We’re looking at around 80,000 and we’re very hopeful we’re on track for that.”Success in home Ashes series is seen as the most pivotal team performance metric for the entirety of CA, especially after the disastrous 2010-11 summer placed considerable heat upon Sutherland and the governing body’s board directors, resulting in the Argus review. To that end, Australia’s players can expect a similar lead-in to the 2013-14 season, albeit with the distraction of an ODI series in India beforehand. That result eased a level of pressure on the top end of CA that has not been matched by this summer’s home series loss to South Africa.”We’re really comfortable with the traditional order, and let’s be honest, this venue is a real stronghold for the Australian team, they love playing here,” Sutherland said. “This is the same order as the 13-14 Ashes summer, which was very successful for the team and in terms of spectator attendance and public interests.”We’ve really wanted to not change anything in that regard, and we’ll have a similar lead-in to the 13-14 summer with something like three or four Shield matches leading into the first Test, which we’re able to do when the Ashes series starts in late November.”The preparation leading into a series of Test cricket will depend from year to year, it’s actually quite difficult when you start a Test series in early November because usually the Australian team will be touring somewhere. But we need to work around that to get the best possible preparation in the circumstances, and for an Ashes series it’s clear with a Test series starting in late November that we’ll be able to get three matches in before the series starts.”Casting his eye over the MOU discussions currently going on between CA and the Australian Cricketers Association, Sutherland said that he was not worried by the prospect of industrial action from the players. “No, I’m not concerned,” he said. “These sorts of negotiations come around every four years or whatever the cycle is and they’re things that need to be worked through behind closed doors in an appropriate fashion.”I don’t think it’s our role to be giving a ball-by-ball commentary on it. We will, with the ACA, work through it and work with the ACA and our players to ensure the game of cricket is stronger and better for whatever the new agreement might be.”There is a lot to talk about and there are some very important issues and in some ways those issues are complex. Every time an agreement like this comes along it is an opportunity to put together a better agreement for all parties and I know that’s what we’re interested in and I know that’s what the ACA is interested in.”Late on Tuesday the ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson spoke about the past two days of negotiations, indicating there is a long way to go.”Today we were able to clarify that the ACA and CA have a lot of detail to work through with differences in a number of areas,” he said. “With the position that CA have taken in responding to our submission, we will now re-engage with the players and the ACA Executive to gain their feedback on CA’s response.”The players are emphatic that they are partners in the game and will continue to push for one agreement for all cricketers, men and women, national and state.”