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Pakistan international Imam-ul-Haq struck a superb, classy 159, his highest List A score to set up a comprehensive Yorkshire victory over Northamptonshire by 202 runs in the Metro Bank One Day Cup at Wantage Road.Imam, 29, averages 47.04 across a 75-match ODI career, with nine hundreds, but has been overlooked for Pakistan’s three-match series against West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, which starts on Friday night. His 159 was a reminder of his talent to their selectors.His innings propelled Yorkshire to a mammoth 374 for 5, their highest ever team total against Northamptonshire in List A cricket – and just five short of their highest against any first-class county. It also helped inflict the highest ever home defeat on Northamptonshire by any team in List A cricket.Facing 130 balls, Imam hit 20 fours and two sixes, passing 5,000 career List A runs and beating his previous highest score of 151 against England in 2019. It follows his half-century to steer Yorkshire to victory against Warwickshire at Scarborough on Tuesday.While Imam cashed in against a frequently wayward Northamptonshire seam attack, his innings was full of delicate timing, perfect placement and silky cover drives before growing more aggressive. He was well supported in stands of 83 with Will Luxton (41), 158 with James Wharton (66) and 75 with a belligerent Matt Revis who smashed 69 from just 33 balls, his highest List A score. Liam Guthrie’s bowling figures suffered in the run-fest but he picked up 3 for 87.In reply, Northamptonshire were never in the chase, a tight spell from Yorkshire opening bowlers Matt Milnes and Ben Cliff setting the tone. While the hosts will count themselves unlucky to have lost two early wickets, they scored at just 4.4 an over throughout the innings. While George Bartlett (30) and Justin Broad (24) forged an enterprising partnership of 49 in eight overs, no-one else contributed anything of substance. Dan Moriarty was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 38.Earlier, Guthrie struck quickly when Adam Lyth slashed straight to cover, but Northamptonshire’s seamers strayed in line and length, allowing Yorkshire to rattle along at over six runs an over, Luxton driving consecutive wide deliveries from Guthrie for boundaries.Imam played a beautiful straight drive and a couple of stylish backfoot punches, but Northamptonshire missed a chance to remove Luxton when Luke Procter dropped a sharp catch at point.Bowling in tandem, spinners Rob Keogh and Yuzvendra Chahal stemmed the flow of runs but the breakthrough came via a mix-up between the batters. Imam cut square and started to run before sending Luxton back, Bartlett and Keogh affecting the runout.Imam reached 50 off 58 balls before playing two silky cover drives off Dom Leech to take Yorkshire to 142 for 2 at the halfway stage. A pull off Leech perfectly bisected the field as he moved into the nineties before reaching 100 off 95 balls.Dan Moriarty (file photo) was the pick of the Yorkshire attack•Getty Images

At the other end Wharton grew becalmed, his first boundary not arriving until the 53rd ball he faced when he hooked Guthrie for six. Shackles released, he made up for lost time, powering Guthrie down the ground, while Imam went through the gears too, slog-sweeping Chahal for six. Chahal finally broke the stand, tossing one wide, Wharton reaching for it and slicing to cover.Imam targeted Leech, taking 15 off one over including six down the ground. Revis was severe on former Yorkshire bowler Leech too, garnering two legside boundaries off short balls and swinging Procter for six.Imam’s long innings finally ended thanks to a stunning bit of boundary fielding off Guthrie when Tim Robinson held a brilliant boundary catch, throwing it up before he crossed the rope and holding on as stepped back in.Revis tucked into Guthrie, smashing two sixes over the infield before carving square for six more. His wicket was scant consolation for Guthrie when he holed out in the deep.Northamptonshire’s first powerplay was positively sedate, just six boundaries shared equally between Ricardo Vasconcelos (23) and Lewis McManus (25) as they reached 41 after 10 overs.The hosts then lost two wickets in an over as McManus was adjudged caught behind off the inside edge off Ben Cliff, although the ball looked to have hit his pads. Next Aadi Sharma’s List A debut ended in a runout at the non-strikers’ end, Cliff deflecting the ball onto the stumps in his delivery stride.Yorkshire picked up a third when Moriarty beat Vasconcelos, bowling him as he advanced down the pitch, attempting to force the pace. George Hill then nipped one back sharply to knock back Robinson’s stumps.With the required rate above 10, Bartlett and Broad looked to score against the spinners, Bartlett striking a straight six off Dom Bess. But the drinks break brought two wickets, Broad chipping Bess to Revis at mid-on after the resumption, before Bartlett skied Moriarty to long-on.Rob Keogh and Luke Procter both made starts, but after Procter was bowled by Bess, Moriarty had both Leech and Guthrie caught in the deep, while Keogh (23) was bowled by Cliff.

Kusal Mendis crashed 124 off 114, Sri Lanka’s seamers took three wickets apiece, and Sri Lanka surged to a series win, defeating Bangladesh by 99 runs in the deciding ODI.The centrepiece of Sri Lanka’s batting was the 124-run partnership between Kusal and Charith Asalanka, who made 58 off 68. Bangladesh’s bowlers did well either side of that partnership, particularly at the death, conceding only 62 off the last 10 overs.But Sri Lanka’s 285 for 7 was too much, and Sri Lanka’s bowlers too penetrative. Bangladesh never really seemed to be on top of the chase, 20 for 2 in the fourth over, then 62 for 3 in the 14th. Towhid Hridoy made a half-century, but the required rate kept climbing, and Bangladesh could not mount a substantial enough partnership. They were all out for 186 in the 40th over.Asitha Fernando was again the best of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, finding three wickets for 33 runs off seven overs, as he continued to target the stumps, as he has done all tour. Dushmantha Chameera attempted the shorter lengths, but found success with the fuller ones, bowling Hridoy with an especially memorable seaming delivery. He finished with 3 for 51 off eight overs. Wanindu Hasaranga and Dunith Wellalage took two apiece.Bangladesh will be proud of their bowling to the top order – they had Sri Lanka 100 for 3 at the end of the 21st over. And they also claimed four wickets in the last 10. But in between, Kusal and Asalanka put serious meat on the bones of this Sri Lanka batting effort.Towhid Hridoy top-scored for Bangladesh with 51•AFP/Getty Images

The highlight of Kusal’s innings was his severity on length. Anything short was punished, and though the seam bowlers tried repeatedly, they could not get their bouncers high enough to really test him. He used his short-arm-jab pull to devastating effect, hitting both spinners and quicks through square leg with spectacular timing. Seven of his 18 fours came behind square on the leg side. And all up 82 of his runs (66%) came on the legside. Sweeps of various description – the hard flat one, the paddle, and the slog sweep, were also productive shots for him.There was never a time in the innings when Kusal seemed to be in discomfort. He eased through the powerplay, hitting 25 off 26 in that period, and though there was a little slowing down as he approached fifty, the same cannot be said of his getting to triple-figures. It took him six balls to scamper through the nineties. He got there off the 95th ball he faced.Asalanka was not in such good touch by comparison, but nevertheless found ways to make runs. He manufactured sweeps against the spinners at times, and used his feet to find lengths that he could score off. He too was stronger on the legside, finding six of his nine boundaries in that direction.Bangladesh’s bowlers hit back nicely after that partnership, though. It was Taskin Ahmed that separated them, even if not with an especially good ball. He sent down a low full toss, and Asalanka miscued his attempted six over wide long-on, sending it into the hands of Mehidy Hasan Miraz at mid-on instead. Kusal hit one more boundary, and was out playing a tired hoick off Shamim Hossain in the 46th over.Sri Lanka’s bowlers hunted as a pack in the chase. Asitha had Tanzid Hasan caught behind in the third over, Chameera got Najmul Hossain Shanto playing on to his stumps with one that jagged in the fourth, and then the spinners imposed themselves. Wellalage and Hasaranga took two wickets apiece, making breakthroughs through the middle overs. Sri Lanka had Bangladesh 124 for 5 at the start of the 28th over.The spinners having exposed the lower order, Sri Lanka’s quicks came back to wipe out the innings. Aside from Hridoy, no Bangladesh batter crossed 30.

Big picture: Ravindra out after opening-night injury

New Zealand’s start to what they hope will be a full month in and around Pakistan couldn’t have gone much better. The squad they picked for the tri-series as well as the upcoming Champions Trophy appears to be especially well-suited to these conditions at this early stage. They kicked off the tri-series with a comprehensive dismantling of Pakistan, pacing their innings with the bat perfectly, before choking Pakistan with spin under the renovated Gaddafi Stadium’s lights. Dew, if any existed, was no hindrance to spin, with New Zealand turning to it for 26 of the 47.5 overs they sent down.The bad news comes in the form of potential player unavailability. Rachin Ravindra will not feature after sustaining a nasty blow to the forehead in the first game, where a ball struck him after he lost sight of it while fielding in the deep; there was plenty of blood and it required stitches. More serious damage, as initially feared, appears to have been averted, but he continues to be monitored for potential signs of delayed concussion. It has also emerged that Lockie Ferguson’s injury may need a longer recovery time than initially hoped, placing him in doubt for the Champions Trophy.The SA20, which only finished on Saturday, has meant that South Africa have not had the luxury of sending a full-strength side to this tournament. The side that plays the Champions Trophy will be markedly different, but two or three games here gives Temba Bavuma’s side the opportunity to get an early look at conditions in match scenarios. Bavuma captains a side drawn largely from South Africa’s domestic pool, but it does feature familiar names in Kyle Verreynne, Tabraiz Shamsi and Wiaan Mulder, all of whom played recently against Pakistan on their all-format tour to South Africa. Keshav Maharaj and Heinrich Klaasen are expected to be in the mix for their next game, against Pakistan.Perhaps limiting the value of the extra game is its starting time. This match is the only day game in this series, and no matches will be played in this time slot for the duration of the Champions Trophy. The morning start, coupled with a game that does not see Pakistan feature, means attendance figures won’t be anywhere near what they were for New Zealand’s contest against Pakistan. It may also make it even more of a batting surface than day-night games in Lahore tend to be, but with dew guaranteed to not be a factor, New Zealand’s spinners will likely be even more potent.Tom Latham needs runs desperately•AFP/Getty Images

Form guide

South Africa LLLLW
New Zealand WLWWL

In the spotlight: Tom Latham and Lungi Ngidi

It’s not a secret that Tom Latham has endured a difficult spell with the bat of late, but the focus will only intensify after he was dismissed for a duck in an otherwise productive New Zealand batting effort against Pakistan. In the other ODIs Latham played this year, he managed one run across two innings, and though these are his first ODIs since 2023, he averaged under 30 across 27 innings that year. Furthermore, the scorecard suggests he didn’t quite convince when he dropped down a level to play the Super Smash, managing 95 runs across four T20 innings at just over a run-a-ball. With the Champions Trophy coming up, it’s a problem New Zealand would rather do without, and a weakened South Africa bowling unit may be the perfect time for Latham to get back in the groove.Lungi Ngidi endured a pretty ordinary SA20, and in normal circumstances, may have faced a battle to be part of this side. But the number of first-choice players rendered unavailable to South Africa because of the SA20 as well as injuries to Anrich Nortje and Gerald Coetzee, saw him tagged on as a late addition to the travelling party. Injuries and fitness concerns haven’t helped him, but this is a bowler who, for several years, was a regular across formats in South Africa’s international squads. With the Champions Trophy around the corner, this would be a particularly useful time to remind coach Rob Walter and the selectors of what he can do when at his best.Senuran Muthusamy is one of many players in the tri-series squad that won’t be part of the Champions Trophy•AFP/Getty Images

Team news

Ravindra will miss out because of the blow he sustained against Pakistan, meaning his side will need to find a new opener. However, New Zealand are unlikely to make big changes to the side that delivered such an all-round performance against Pakistan.New Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Ben Sears, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O’RourkeSouth Africa have added Ngidi and Shamsi to the tri-series squad. Corbin Bosch, Kwena Maphaka and Tony de Zorzi are all on their way to Pakistan to join the squad but will not be available for this game.South Africa (probable): 1 Temba Bavuma (capt), 2 Jason Smith, 3 Matthew Breetzke, 4 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 5 Senuran Muthusamy, 6 Wiaan Mulder, 7 Mihali Mpongwana, 8 Junior Dala, 9 Tabraiz Shamsi, 10 Ethan Bosch, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Pitch and conditions

Dew wasn’t a factor in the day-night game at the Gaddafi Stadium when New Zealand played Pakistan. With this being a day match, it is guaranteed not to be an issue on what should be a warm and sunny spring day.

Stats and trivia

• Ngidi is four wickets away from reaching the three-figure mark in ODIs. He will become the 13th to get there for South Africa in ODIs when he does
• This is South Africa’s first ODI in Pakistan since 2007. Their last game produced one of South Africa’s great ODI wins

Quotes

“For us, it will mainly be about acclimatising to the conditions and being able to share it with the wider group; and for the young guys, it’s about showing what they can do at this level.”

New Zealand will be without seamer Hayley Jensen for the ODIs against Sri Lanka after she picked up an injury while warming up in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield final. She has been replaced by left-arm spinner Fran Jonas, head coach Ben Sawyer said on Monday.”Jensen will be reassessed before the T20I series,” Sawyer said. “Hopefully she can get back in time but it will be up to the physios how she goes. Jonas will fly in tonight and join the team in the morning.”Related

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Jensen – who was set to make her comeback to the national side after a two-year absence – becomes the second Otago player to be ruled out of the ODIs against Sri Lanka. Bella James also picked up a hamstring injury during the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield competition, and was subsequently replaced in the ODI squad by Lauren Down.New Zealand are also without Sophie Devine – who has “prioritised her well-being” and taken a break from the game – while Amelia Kerr is set to miss the series due to her Women’s Premier League (WPL) commitment with Mumbai Indians. Lea Tahuhu, Rosemary Mair and Molly Penfold were not available for the ODI series either due to injuries. Suzie Bates is the stand-in captain in Devine’s absence.The three-match ODI series kicks off on March 4 in Napier before the teams move to Nelson for the next two encounters on March 7 and 9. New Zealand are trying to snap a three-game losing streak in ODIs while Sri Lanka want to bounce back after losing their last ODI series against Ireland in Belfast 2-1.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz will continue to lead Bangladesh in regular captain Najmul Hossain Shanto’s absence in the ODI series against West Indies. Mehidy was named captain for the ongoing two-Test series in the Caribbean, which the hosts are leading 1-0, with Shanto missing out due to groin strain. Shakib Al Hasan, who has not played for Bangladesh since the Tests in India, continues to miss out, with BCB president Faruque Ahmed saying the senior allrounder was not “in a mental state to play for the country”.Middle-order batter Towhid Hridoy also misses out due to a groin injury which he picked up while playing football recently. Mushfiqur Rahim also misses out as he recovers from finger injury, while Mustafizur Rahman has opted out of the series due to personal reasons. Left-handed opener Zakir Hasan, meanwhile, has been dropped. Litton Das, who missed the ODIs against Afghanistan in November, returns to the side, while Parvez Hossain Emon, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Hasan Mahmud and Tanzim Hasan Sakib have also been included.Shakib, who retired from Tests and T20Is in September, missed the ODIs against Afghanistan last month too. He was part of the Abu Dhabi T10 where he played seven matches for Bangla Tigers. He had not traveled to Dhaka to play his farewell Test, against South Africa, in October because of protests against him after being named in an FIR for an alleged murder during the political unrest in the country.BCB president Ahmed said Shakib remained in contention for selection in ODIs, adding that he needed sufficient preparation to get back into the national side.”Right now, he [Shakib] is still in the list,” Ahmed said. “We hope that the issues get solved in the way he wants. Definitely, he still possesses the capability to play for the national team. Playing for a franchise and playing for the country is not the same thing. You need preparation and also you really need to gel with the team. Since he can’t do those things, I don’t think he is in a mental state to play for the country. Because of that, we have left this thing up to him.”The players named for the ODIs will leave Dhaka on Monday to link with the rest of the players in St Kitts to play the three ODIs on December 8, 10 and 12.

Bangladesh ODI squad vs West Indies

Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), Litton Das (wk), Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Parvez Hossain, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Afif Hossain, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan, Nahid Rana.

Jason Holder, West Indies’ former captain, says that England’s third white-ball tour of the Caribbean in as many years is a “massive boost to their survival as an international team”, and goes a long way towards repaying the ECB’s debt to his team after they helped to save the finances of English cricket during the Covid summer of 2020.Holder, 32, led the West Indies squad that played three Tests behind closed doors in Manchester and Southampton at the height of the Covid outbreak in July 2020, enduring weeks of lockdown in bio-secure surroundings to help “keep the lights on”, in the words of the former ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison.It was a tour that helped to mitigate the ECB’s losses during the pandemic, which could have been upwards of £380 million had their entire summer schedule been cancelled. Each of those three Tests was worth approximately £20 million as they helped to fulfil the board’s £1.1 billion rights deal with Sky Sports.Speaking at the end of that tour, Holder had warned that the ECB would be obliged to reciprocate the favour to help out cricket’s “smaller countries” who lacked the financial clout to stage matches during a global lockdown. Now, four years on, he believes that England have been fulfilling their side of the bargain.Related

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“I think it’s a fair way of putting it,” Holder told ESPNcricinfo, ahead of an eight-match tour that will be shown on TNT Sports in the UK. “We’ve obviously had the English coming over for the last three years consecutively. And that has definitely boosted, not only our economy within the Caribbean, but it adds a massive boost to our survival in international cricket.”We rely heavily on series between England and India, our revenues tend to come from those two teams. It’s our biggest series within any calendar year, and, yeah, it’s one that really brings the fans down to the Caribbean and creates a really fun atmosphere.”So, it’s great to have them and to see the fans packing the stadiums as well. There’s always a good banter between the West Indian public and English public. So we’re thankful that we’ve been able to have them so many times in as many years. And long may it continue.”Despite the financial disparities between the two boards, the Caribbean has been a particularly tough destination for England teams in recent years. The Test team, famously, hasn’t won a series in the region since 2004, while the white-ball squads have lost each of their last three series: 3-2 in the T20Is in both 2022 and 2023, and 2-1 in their last ODI campaign in December last year.Jason Holder has been recuperating in the UK after injury and will be a studio pundit for England’s tour of the West Indies•Getty Images

“I’m looking forward to the contest,” Holder said. “Both teams are in a transitionary phase, so it’s going to be keenly contested. England have obviously got a point to prove, and they’ll be trying a few different combinations to see what works. And likewise, with West Indies, we’ve got a lot of youngsters within our cohort, and it is important for them to just gain experience, gain confidence and gain knowledge. I think these series will go a long way to developing our base at a rapid rate.”The youngest player of the lot will be Jewel Andrew, West Indies’ 17-year-old rising star, who made his ODI debut in their most recent match against Sri Lanka in Kandy on Saturday. He has played only a handful of professional fixtures, but having impressed at the Under-19 World Cup, he has been fast-tracked into the international set-up on the back of a breakout first season in the Caribbean Premier League.”The first time I saw him was when I played against him, quite recently, in the CPL,” Holder said. “He definitely stood up. He looks a very easy-going player. He’s got time, and any top-order batter who shows signs of having time is promising.”It’s important for him to learn and work hard, but the sky’s the limit for him. He’s scored runs at the levels below, and he’s coming in with some confidence. We all remember when we first came into international cricket, when we had that freedom to express yourself. And the more he expresses himself and gains knowledge and confidence, that will put us in good stead in years to come.”We’ve never been short of talent,” Holder added. “It’s just a matter of harnessing the talent and making sure that we make full use of it. There’s no doubt that he’s one for the future, and I hope that West Indies put things in place to keep him in and around the system, and make sure he develops a steady rate so that we can utilise him in years to come.”Holder himself hasn’t been involved in West Indies’ white-ball set-up since pulling out of their T20 World Cup plans through injury in June, and will instead be a studio pundit for TNT in the UK throughout the eight-match tour.”I haven’t retired, that is still a long way off,” he said, with an eye on the next 50-over World Cup in 2027. “We’ve still got a few more series to play before then. So I’m just working myself back to full fitness, to get back on the field and be able to play at full capacity.”Looking back on the T20 World Cup, in which England’s Super Eights victory in St Lucia proved critical to West Indies’ hopes of reaching the last four, Holder acknowledged it had been a missed opportunity for a strong squad to do something special in front of their home fans. But, with players such as Evin Lewis – fresh from a comeback century in Sri Lanka – and Shimron Hetmyer set to face England in the coming campaign, he’s confident there will be other chances for this team to compete for global trophies in the coming years.Jewel Andrew, 17, could feature in the series after his ODI debut last week•CPL T20 via Getty Images

“When you look at our overall performance, we probably feel a little bit disappointed that we fell short. But the beauty of this squad is it’s not too old. We’ve still got a quite young-ish side that can stay together for the next two years, to fight for another trophy in 2026. So I don’t think is all is lost. We need to understand our strengths and weaknesses, and just keep improving.”In the meantime, he anticipates another high-scoring showdown between two aggressive white-ball outfits, one in which the Caribbean’s notoriously fickle winds could once again play a big part in the tactical battle that unfolds.”It’s a really crucial point,” he said. “The wind factor has always been a massive contributing factor to whether teams bat or bowl in the Caribbean, because it plays a massive part in the actual game. It tends to sway your tactics a little bit, in the sense where you feel more comfortable chasing because by then you know you’ve got a big side and a small side, for hitting with and against the wind.”It’s always 50/50 in the Caribbean when it comes to that wind factor, because you can set up a team with left- and right-handers, and just continuously use your power throughout the entire innings.”Obviously, in one-day cricket, it’s a bit longer so it’s more strategic, where you have to actually build an innings. But when it comes to going hell for leather, it’s a matter of being as spot on as possible with the tactics, because the ball can travel in the Caribbean.”England, clearly, will be no strangers to the conditions after three bilateral tours plus the T20 World Cup in recent times, and Holder acknowledged that Antigua in particular will be something of a home from home, after four matches there in the past 12 months alone.”The English have been frequenting the Caribbean as much they possibly can. They’ve got a young side, but the majority of their senior players have been to the Caribbean multiple times, and they’ll be able to guide the younger players within this squad as to how to how to get around the conditions in the Caribbean.”Tune in to England’s tour of the West Indies, starting with the first ODI live on TNT Sports 1 from 5.30pm on 31st October. Sign up to TNT Sports and discovery+

Kate Coppack, Sunrisers’ matchwinner in the last-ever staging of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, paid tribute to the resilience within the squad, as they capped the competition’s short history with victory over South East Stars in a rain-affected final at Grace Road.Coppack chose the perfect moment to produce career-best figures of 4 for 27, as South East Stars stumbled early in the powerplay then lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter, with only Alice Davidson-Richards’ superb 93 from 105 balls providing any lasting resistance.In pursuit of a sub-par 213, Sunrisers got themselves ahead of the rate early thanks to Cordelia Griffiths’ boundary-studded 57, and though they shipped three wickets in the first half of their innings, Grace Scrivens had the chase firmly under control with her unbeaten 39 from 47 balls, before a thunderstorm forced an early end to the contest.The victory, albeit via DLS, completed one of the more remarkable turnarounds in the short history of women’s professional cricket, given that Sunrisers did not win a single contest in each of the first three stagings of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.”There have been a lot of highs and lows as the Sunrisers so to end like that is really special,” Coppack, 30, told the ECB Reporters Network, having been a regular in their squad since 2021.”I wasn’t involved in the first year but Danni [Warren] and people have been building a team over the years. It was always going to take a while.”I think you have to give credit to Scrivens coming in as captain. She is still really young but has learned quickly and is good at balancing people and when to bowl them. Having the same group around for the last few years, and people having trust in us has really helped as we could have tried to start again when things weren’t going well.”Away from cricket, Coppack is a lawyer, while her family also run an alpaca farm. “I’ve always been a pay-to-play player and try to balance work as well,” she said. “There have been a couple of us who have been doing that, but it is nice to see the game go more professional.”For Warren, Sunrisers’ director of cricket, the victory was vindication for the team’s perseverance, even when the going was particularly tough in the early years of the competition. It also provides the squad with a fillip ahead of next year’s switch to a county format, with Essex taking over the management of the Tier 1 team that will represent the region.”It is the culmination of a lot of hard work for a lot of people, for players and backroom staff,” Warren said. “We started this era with a group of players who were untested and untried at this level and we have identified some gems.”They have done it as an exciting group of young players who are probably come together slightly more than the sum of their part. We are the underdogs – and we like that term.”There have been a lot of tears and a lot of soul-searching from a lot of people. The lowest point was the four overthrows off the final ball against Storm in 2022. The story of that time was that we found a way to lose, now we have found a way to win – and that’s a brilliant thing.”With this group of girls you don’t know who the hero is going to be, any of them can put in a performance. There will be a happy person sat in the corner later looking around the room and seeing how far we have come. But I don’t see this as the end of an era, I just see it as momentum into the next one.”Alice Davidson-Richards held the Stars top order together•Getty Images for Surrey CCC

Emma Calvert, South East Stars’ director of cricket, was understandably disconsolate as her team finished on the losing side in two finals this summer, following their defeat to The Blaze in the Charlotte Edwards Cup in June.”It is gutting,” she said. “It is the end of an era and a sad way to end that era. We wanted to go out there, put on a performance and win the trophy but we have no control over the weather.”DLS is a funny thing. I backed us to take those wickets and see it through to the end. But what happened, happened and congratulations to Sunrisers. I have seen how much effort has gone in to building that program and it is an incredible end to that journey.”Alice Davidson-Richards is an incredible player, we all know that. She is disappointed more than anyone because although she put on that performance her team didn’t win and that is what means the most to her.”South East Stars are set to be absorbed into Surrey’s all-conquering set-up from 2025 onwards, but Warren admitted it was a bittersweet moment as this initial domestic era comes to an end.”We are incredibly excited to become Surrey but in this moment it feels quite hard,” she added. “The girls are so excited to start the journey with the three feathers on our chest.”We have been on a journey and to get to two finals this year is an incredible end. November 1 is the official day we go live as Surrey, but before then we’ll have words tonight and have our awards and really celebrate what we have achieved.”Although we haven’t lifted a trophy today, we have achieved a lot and I think it is worth celebrating that.”

Joe Root joked that he’d been forced to channel his “inner [Nasser] Hussain” in tricky batting conditions at Emirates Old Trafford, after anchoring England’s taxing run-chase in the first Test against Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 62 from 128 balls.Speaking to Hussain and Ian Ward on Sky Sports, shortly after England’s five-wicket win on the fourth evening of the match, Root referenced Hussain’s famously nuggety batting approach and career strike-rate of 40, adding that he was also now known as “Geoff” up in the England dressing-room, in reference to another English barnacle of yesteryear, Geoff Boycott.Joking aside, Root said that he was proud of the adaptability he had demonstrated to close out England’s fourth victory in as many Tests this summer, adding that “sometimes it’s good to win ugly” – even if he hopes that the team’s more free-flowing Bazball ethos will be able to re-emerge at Lord’s and the Kia Oval in the final two matches of the series.Not only did Root have to combat a spirited Sri Lanka bowling display led by Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya, he noted that the abrasive Old Trafford wicket, with its increasingly low bounce, was “as close to Sri Lankan conditions” as England tends to offer. In addition, an unusually slow outfield, exacerbated by heavy overnight rain during the Test match, limited England’s habitual quest for boundaries.”It was a tricky one today,” Root said. “It was a long, slow grind, but we got there in the end. The outfield is as long as I’ve seen for a long time in England, and the wicket itself obviously lost a lot of pace throughout. So it was quite hard to time the ball, and I didn’t really feel comfortable trying to muscle it. It felt like that would bring the catchers in front of the bat into the game, so just had to accumulate in a slightly different way.”Related

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Root’s innings was built around two key stands, 49 with Harry Brook and 64 with Jamie Smith, in which he was content to play second fiddle to two of the heavier hitters in the current England line-up.”That’s the beauty of partnerships,” he said. “Someone like Brookie is always going to score freely, he hits the ball nice and firmly, and Jamie as well. He’s obviously in great form, and a natural striker, so it’s just nice to feed off each other.”Hopefully it’s a one-off thing,” he said of England’s down-tuned approach, “but sometimes it’s good to win ugly. And we’ve still got a day [out of five] to go, so we’re still sticking by the principles that we want to live by, and we’re evolving as a team.”The victory was also notable for being the first of Ollie Pope’s captaincy career. Though Pope endured a tough match with the bat, making exactly 6 in both innings, Root credited him for putting his own stamp on England’s tactics in tough circumstances, particularly while Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal were batting through the fourth morning in a 117-run stand for the seventh wicket.”Obviously I offered a few bits here and there, but I didn’t need to offer much,” Root said, having himself captained England on 64 occasions between 2017 and 2022. “He was very much in control of what was going on.”It wasn’t straightforward,” Root added. “There were a few different things that you’d have to contend with. It wasn’t your typically English kind of Test match, so hats off to him. He was very good at changing things up, trying different things, and constantly trying to move the game in the right direction. So again, it’s another step in the way that we want to go as a team. And for us to do it slightly differently this week and still find a way to win is a really good sign for us.”Root also had praise for England’s player of the match, Smith, who followed up his first-innings hundred with a vital 39 from 48 balls that prevented Sri Lanka from exerting any late pressure on a tail that was unusually long in Stokes’ absence.”He’s a phenomenal player,” Root said. “His glovework’s been exceptional, but his batting, I think you’ve seen everything you want from a No.7. He can bat with the tail and take the game on aggressively. And then he’s managed periods of play throughout this innings, and the first innings in particular, where he’s been able to soak things up, knock it around, and then put his foot down when he needs to.”Smith’s maiden hundred came in just his fourth Test, but he had already impressed during the West Indies series with a half-century on debut and a previous highest score of 95 at Edgbaston.”He is very laid back, and it’s lovely to see guys coming in and it not really fazing them, or at least on the surface,” Root said. “I’d like to say it’s slightly part of the environment that we’ve created, which allows guys to come in and do that. But also a lot of credit has to go for him, for the way that he approaches the game, the way he looks at it, and how mature he is.”

B Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana have been drafted into India’s 15-member squad for the first two (of five) T20Is in Zimbabwe starting later this week. They will replace Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal, all of whom will return to India with the rest of the T20 World Cup-winning squad before flying out to Zimbabwe for the last three games.The victorious T20 World Cup squad was expected to land in India on Monday, but their arrival has been delayed because of Hurricane Beryl, which led to the airport in Barbados being shut down. ESPNcricinfo understands that Samson, Dube and Jaiswal will be part of a felicitation ceremony in India before they travel to Zimbabwe.Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed, who were part of the reserves for the World Cup, are likely to join the squad in Harare directly from the Caribbean. Shubman Gill, who has been named captain of the squad in Zimbabwe, is set to join the squad directly from the USA, where he was on holiday after being released from India’s touring reserves at the end of the group stage.Sai Sudharsan, who made his international debut on the tour of South Africa last December, is currently playing for Surrey in Division 1 of the County Championship and is likely to join the squad in Harare on July 4 after the conclusion of Surrey’s ongoing fixture against Essex. Sai Sudharsan had re-signed with Surrey last month after an impressive maiden stint with the team last year. It’s Sai Sudharsan’s first call-up with the India T20I side.For Jitesh, the call-up is a lifeline of sorts after he fell out of favour with the selectors following a disappointing IPL 2024, where he scored just 187 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 131.69.Rana, for whom this is a maiden India call-up, was part of the victorious Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at IPL 2024. Rana had been at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy till late last month as part of a conditioning camp for rising fast bowlers. He was the joint-second-highest wicket-taker for KKR (19 wickets at an average of 20.15), the same as Andre Russell and only behind Varun Chakravarthy, who had 21.The series kicks off on July 6, followed by matches on July 7, 10, 13 and 14. All matches will be played at the Harare Sports Club.

India’s squad for 1st and 2nd T20Is vs Zimbabwe

Shubman Gill (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Harshit Rana

Sussex 213 for 7 (Alsop 68, Hughes 65, Curran 3-23) beat Surrey 177 for 7 (Pope 99*, McAndrew 3-32) by 36 runs Sussex Sharks handed Surrey their first defeat in this season’s Vitality Blast with an impressive 36-run success at the Kia Oval.Tom Alsop’s 36-ball 68 and 65 off 42 deliveries by left-hander Daniel Hughes helped power Sussex to 213 for 7 after they had been put in – their biggest score in the format against Surrey.Skipper Ollie Pope led Surrey’s response with an unbeaten 99 in a total of 177 for 7, but Sussex bowled with more discipline on a used pitch. Their spinners sent down eight overs and both Archie Lenham and James Coles picked up important wickets while Australian seamer Nathan McAndrew took 3 for 32.It was an excellent performance by Sussex, whose decision to shunt Alsop down from three to six in their order paid off handsomely.He added 47 in four overs with Hughes when the Australian fell for 65 in the 12th over to a well-judged running catch by Jason Roy.But Alsop maintained Sussex’s momentum with McAndrew as they thrashed 68 in six overs for the sixth wicket.Alsop passed 50 in T20 for only the eighth time in his career as all of the Surrey seamers struggled with the exception of Tom Curran, who finished with 3 for 23 despite conceding 17 off his final over.Hughes helped himself to four boundaries in one over from Gus Atkinson while at the start of the innings Coles, promoted to No3, had taken Jordan Clark for three successive fours before walking across his stumps to Clark’s leg-stump yorker.It was one of three wickets Sussex lost in the powerplay, but they were still progressing at more than ten an over and even when Curran picked up John Simpson in the eighth over to leave them 68 for 4 they kept on swinging.Hughes played proper shots on both sides of the wicket in a controlled display while the outstanding Alsop hit eight fours and three sixes, the second of which – a pull from outside off stump off Gus Atkinson – took the left-hander to a 25-ball fifty.McAndrew’s cameo at the end of 29 from 15 propelled Sussex past 200 and the question then was whether their varied attack could blunt Surrey’s quality batting unit.Both openers had gone inside four overs. Ollie Robinson’s nip-backer was too good for Laurie Evans and Dan Lawrence was well caught by the diving Fynn Hudson-Prentice at deep third off a thick outside edge.Roy and Pope rebuilt in a stand of 73 but Sussex were more disciplined with the ball as Coles, 20, and 19-year-old Lenham prevented Surrey from accelerating.The required rate had climbed to 15 an over when Roy, starved of the strike, holed out to long-on off Lenham in the 13th over. The leg-spinner was then taken for three sixes off the next four balls, but he’d made a crucial breakthrough.Smith briefly threatened before toe-ending a drive to wide long-on and 77 off the final five overs proved beyond even Pope’s capabilities, although he did have the consolation of reaching his maiden century in the final over, from 60 balls with ten four and three sixes. Sussex, though, thoroughly deserved their second win from three games.