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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.

Match details

New Zealand vs Uganda
Providence, 8.30pm local

Big picture

For Uganda, for whom the T20 World Cup 2024 has been the biggest and most consequential outing in their many decades of playing senior men’s cricket, Friday’s match is one last chance to show what they’ve got at the top level. So far in this tournament, they’ve been brushed aside by Afghanistan and West Indies. In their most recent match against West Indies, they were all out for 39, their lowest total in T20Is. But then they’ve also registered a victory against Papua New Guinea, sparking no little joy and satisfaction.Related

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Ugandan cricket has plenty of distance to travel, but it’s had a showing at a World Cup now. There has been a heartbeat there for much of the last 50 years, but it’s now as loud as it ever has been. Uganda just want to get another solid performance under their belt. An upset? This is of course the dream.New Zealand, now out of the tournament, having lost badly to Afghanistan then more narrowly to West Indies, have less to gain. Already there are assertions that the greatest era of New Zealand’s cricket is over, and some rebuilding must begin. Tim Southee and Trent Boult are not the forces they once were, perhaps, and that top order seems short of firepower.A big showing against Uganda won’t necessarily crush those critiques. But there will at least be an opportunity for a proud group of players to reassert themselves.

Form guide

New Zealand LLLWW
UgandaLWLWLKane Williamson has endured a troubled World Cup as captain and batter•ICC/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Riazat and Williamson

Uganda have some decent bowling stocks, but it’s their batting that is seriously deficient, as seen in the match against West Indies. Their best bet for resisting New Zealand’s attack is Riazat Ali Shah a batter of Pakistani origin who moved to Uganda from the Hunza Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan to pursue his cricket dreams. Riazat was not only the Player of the Match in their game against PNG but was also their highest run-scorer in the Africa Region Qualifier. His 42 off 28 against Zimbabwe was one of the most telling contributions of that tournament.Kane Williamson, arguably the centrepiece of New Zealand’s greatest cricket era, is captaining a team that bows out of the tournament before they reach the next level. And he is doing it without really having contributed meaningfully to the campaign, scoring 9 and 1 against the top teams in the group. There will be plenty of time to pick apart this World Cup showing. But, for now, Williamson needs some runs.

Pitch and conditions: Slower pitch in Tarouba

No rain is forecast for Tarouba on Friday night. The pitches at the Brian Lara Stadium have not been conducive to run-fests. They have had a bit of turn for the spinners, and rewarded bowlers who take the pace off.

Team news

Barring last-minute injuries, Uganda seem unlikely to make too many changes.Uganda: 1 Roger Mukasa, 2 Simon Ssesazi (wk), 3 Robinson Obuya, 4 Alpesh Ramjani, 5 Riazat Ali Shah, 6 Kenneth Waiswa, 7 Dinesh Nakrani, 8 Brian Masaba (capt), 9 Juma Miyagi, 10 Cosmas Kyewuta, 1 Frank Nsubuga.Ish Sodhi is the only member of New Zealand’s squad to not get a game so far in this World Cup. He could come into the side if conditions are expected to favour spin.New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway (wk), 2 Finn Allen, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Kane Williamson (capt), 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 James Neesham, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Lockie Ferguson.

Stats and trivia

• Frank Nsubuga’s figures of 2 for 4 against PNG were the most economical by any bowler to have completed their four-over quota in a Men’s T20 World Cup game.
• This is the first time in a decade that New Zealand have not made the semi-finals of an ODI or T20 World Cup. The last time they missed out was in 2014.

Mitchell Starc revealed he has been working on ironing out some technical issues ahead of the Ashes as he warmed up for the Test series with some hostile bowling on the opening day against Victoria at the SCG.Starc ended the opening day with 4 for 91 from 18 overs, including a particularly rapid spell after lunch, but New South Wales paid the price for dropping Peter Handscomb before he had scored as he forged an impressive century to leave the visitors handily placed on a hard-fought day.”[I’ve been] working on a few things, getting that rhythm back,” Starc said. “Probably my longest layoff injury-free for a long time so trying to find that rhythm through the ODIs [against India]. Just felt like something wasn’t quite clicking there and it felt pretty close today. So, yeah, reasonably happy.Related

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“I tend to be someone [for] who continuous bowling keeps me in rhythm. It was a quick return to playing…I wasn’t going into the ODI series thinking I was cherry ripe.”Starc, who had asked for side-by-side footage of his most recent Test spell in Jamaica where he took 6 for 9 and the ODI in Adelaide to try and see if he could pick out an issues, added he had spoken to Australia coach Andrew McDonald after play to say he felt close to finding his best form again.”I think I’ve sorted it out. It’s just getting the engine going again,” he said. “I couldn’t really pick up too much in the action [from the footage]. I felt like I was pretty close and today I feel like I’m even closer.”Starc, playing just his fourth match since the West Indies tour, struck twice in quick succession after lunch to leave Victoria wobbling on 106 for 4. But Sam Harper, who counterattacked with a 40-ball 54 which included taking 22 off five balls against Starc, added 92 with Handscomb. Then Fergus O’Neill, whose batting has flourished this season, helped put together 84 with Handscomb for the sixth wicket.Shortly after coming to the crease Handscomb edged Josh Hazlewood low to first slip where Jack Edwards, who handed the NSW captaincy to Steven Smith for this match, spilled a regulation catch. Handscomb made it count, reaching his second Shield century of the season from 208 balls with a drive down the ground against Hazlewood. Shortly after, he fell to a Nathan Lyon delivery with a relatively new ball which slid past the outside edge.”Nice to come out here and face such a quality attack,” Handscomb said. “To score runs is always nice, but to do it against those boys was special for me.”Starc provided New South Wales with their first wicket of the day when he trapped Harry Dixon with a searing yorker. Then after lunch he was involved in an engrossing contest with Campbell Kellaway, the 23-year-old opener who is establishing himself as one of the most promising among Australia’s next generation, with the left-hander repeatedly having to sway out of the line of well-directed bouncers.Peter Handscomb celebrates his century•Getty Images

However, one short ball Kellaway couldn’t avoid slammed him on the left hand causing significant pain and a lengthy delay. But he was able to resume and brought up a 96-ball fifty before gloving Starc down the leg side. It was a clear deflection and Kellaway began to walk but then stopped leaving the umpire to raise his finger.”Old Starcy fired up a bit there and got the ball whizzing through, which with the summer of cricket coming up, it’s exciting to see,” Handscomb said. “[It was] amazing from Campbell. You take a few body blows, a few finger blows, it’s never nice.”For him just to knuckle down and keep fighting and keep trying to just focus on the next ball, sticking to his process and putting everything else out of his mind was a class act. Sort of showing that he is going from strength to strength as a batter and doing some pretty amazing things at the top of the order in the Sheffield Shield, which is a tough ask.”Starc struck again at the start of his next over when Ollie Peake slashed to gully where Kurtis Patterson took an excellent catch. His figures took a dent after tea as Harper began the session in dramatic fashion with two fours and two sixes. It included a huge hook which lost the ball in the stands, in the process racing to a 38-ball fifty, before picking out deep square leg when he couldn’t resist having another dip.Among other members of Australia’s Test attack, Hazlewood ended wicketless after seeing the early opportunity against Handscomb go begging but again looked in excellent rhythm as he had during the recent white-ball matches against India.Lyon had struck in the morning session when he had Marcus Harris caught at short leg off an inside edge. He finished with 2 for 65 from 21 overs. Sean Abbott, one of the reserve quicks for Perth, initially went at more than four an over but clawed things back and struck to remove O’Neill via an inside edge.Shortly after lunch, Will Salzmann was subbed out of the game with a hamstring injury under the trial being run by Cricket Australia for the first five rounds of the Shield season. He was replaced by Ryan Hicks. It was the second time NSW had made use of the rule after Abbott suffered a split webbing against Victoria in Melbourne.

England have touched upon some strong form heading into their World Cup campaign, now head coach Charlotte Edwards wants to see them translate it onto the big stage.Edwards took over ahead of the English summer, which consisted of 14 games – six of them ODIs – in a dominant performance against West Indies before twin white-ball series defeats at the hands of India.But a training camp in Abu Dhabi combined with four wins from as many warm-up games – against New Zealand, India and Australia – has Edwards’ team right where she wants them heading into their World Cup opener against South Africa on Friday.”The players are really responding well, certainly to a slight change of style,” Edwards said on Wednesday. “Hopefully we’ve seen the results over the last four games, which have been really positive. We’re not getting carried away, don’t worry, but we know that we’re on the right track and we’re tracking really well moving into the first game.”England followed two tight wins against New Zealand by beating co-hosts India by 153 runs and Australia, the defending champions, by four wickets.Among the most notable performances for England were Heather Knight scoring runs in her first match since tearing her hamstring in May. Knight made 41 off 48 in the first warm-up with New Zealand and Edwards described her as “vital to our success out here”.Middle-order batters Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey and Emma Lamb all made runs, Lamb particularly impressive with three half-centuries in four outings.England head coach Charlotte Edwards and Alice Capsey spare time during training•ECB via Getty Images

Nat Sciver-Brunt, who took over the captaincy from Knight this year following the Ashes defeat that also cost then-head coach Jon Lewis his job, proved she would be key for England by retiring out on 120 as her side amassed 340 for 9 in their win against India.Legspinner Sarah Glenn shone with 5 for 32 from seven overs to help reduce Australia to 247 all out from 34.4 overs. Prior to that, she had played just twice for England during their home summer, in one ODI and one T20I against West Indies before being overlooked for India’s tour.”There’s never a friendly against an international opposition, so I think we’ve taken a lot of confidence, not necessarily around the result, but the way we’ve played,” Edwards said. “I feel we’re really nicely placed.”England’s struggles in the field and their ability to cope under pressure had been talking points since their group-stage exit at last year’s T20 World Cup and the Ashes, where they lost all seven matches contested in the multi-format series. But Edwards insisted there were no lingering scars from those experiences.”You’ll be pleased to hear we’ve been fielding really well, that’s something that we obviously wanted to work on,” she said. “So I’m really pleased with how the four games have gone and we’ve been put in some pretty tough situations at times as well. Under pressure, the players have responded really well.Related

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“I’ve not spoken about anything about the past,” she added. “It’s all about looking forward with this group now. We’ve created an environment where it’s about taking accountability now and we’ve got real clarity on how we want to play the game.”Hopefully that clarity is going to help this team under pressure, because I don’t think we’ll leave a stone unturned in terms of our prep. The signs have been really strong so far in terms of the development I’ve seen in the last six months. I’m just hoping we can take that now onto the big stage.”Edwards has vast World Cup experience in India, having made her first and last appearances at the tournament there, in 1997 and 2013. More recently in Indian conditions, she has coached WPL side Mumbai Indians to two titles in three years of the competition.And while Sciver-Brunt has been her standout self with the bat, it is her ability to bowl that remains under the spotlight. Because of a long-standing Achilles injury, Sciver-Brunt has bowled just 9.3 overs since the WPL final in mid-March, in which she took 3 for 30 in an eight-run victory over Delhi Capitals.She took 2 for 23 in 5.3 overs during the second warm-up with New Zealand on September 20 and conceded 22 off four wicketless overs against India five days later.The luxury of a four-pronged spin attack reduces England’s reliance on the seam bowling of Sciver-Brunt, whom Edwards expected to be able to bowl a full match allocation of ten overs if required.”We are very lucky, we’ve got four of the best [spinners] in world cricket in my opinion,” Edwards said. “We knew that they were going to play a big part when we selected this squad. That comes from my experience of coaching out here, that spin’s played a massive factor even in T20 cricket and WPL cricket.”Nat’s ready to go. She’s bowling. She hasn’t bowled in every warm-up game, but she’s doing lots of training overs as well. She’s in a really good place physically, so we are hoping to get ten overs out of Nat.”We’re going to have to really monitor her workloads throughout this tournament clearly, like any of the fast bowlers, depending on how hot it gets,” Edwards added. “Nat loves bowling and I think it helps her batting. She’s been probably one of the most successful bowlers in the WPL over the last few years. So we’re hoping to continue that form into ODI cricket.”

Big picture – How will Shafali-Mandhana bat?

The stakes couldn’t be higher.Australia are here with a clean slate. They have been pushed back multiple times during this World Cup, and they’ve found a way back each time. Two of their batters, Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner, have scored two centuries each. Two of their bowlers, Annabel Sutherland and Alana King, have taken more than ten wickets each. And apart from everything else that makes them such intimidating opponents, Australia have not lost an ODI knockout game since they lost to India in the the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup.Related

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India are riding a wave of emotion. They recovered from a three-game losing streak to sneak into the semi-finals. In their last full game, played at the same venue, they posted their record World Cup total. No team has pushed Australia harder than India in recent times. And they are now two wins away from doing what no India women’s team has ever done.Their key player Smriti Mandhana has scored 105, 58, 117, 125 and 80 in her last five ODIs against Australia. But she’ll start from 0 again, and this time she’ll have an adjustment to make, with her usual opening partner Pratika Rawal, with whom she added a record 212 against New Zealand, ruled out of the World Cup. Mandhana is all set to open with Shafali Verma, and the new combination could have an effect on how she bats.In ODIs involving Shafali, Mandhana averages 51.83 and strikes at 85.55. When these two opened together, Shafali was usually the early aggressor. Mandhana took on that role when Shafali went out of the side, however, as her numbers in matches involving Rawal suggest: an average of 62.65, a strike rate of 108.75. How will the new (old) opening combination bat on Thursday?For Australia, there is a fair bit of intrigue around Healy’s availability. A minor calf strain sidelined her ahead of the game against England, and she missed two matches subsequently. Australia would not want to be reminded of the T20 World Cup semi-final from last year; Healy missed the clash and South Africa romped to an eight-wicket win.The second semi-final, for which the cheapest tickets were priced at INR 150 (as opposed to INR 100 for the Guwahati semi-final), is a sell-out. You can expect all of Navi Mumbai to cram itself into the DY Patil Stadium. They could get to witness an epic.Shafali Verma waits for her turn at the nets•ICC/Getty Images

Form guide

Australia WWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
India WLLLW

In the spotlight – Phoebe Litchfield and Deepti Sharma

Phoebe Litchfield loves playing India. She has one century and four fifties in just eight ODI innings against them, and averages 63.50. She has a wide range of sweeps that could potentially upset the rhythm of India’s spinners. After a pair of low scores against England and South Africa, Litchfield may feel she is due some runs too.Deepti Sharma has been India’s leading wicket-taker at this World Cup with 15 at 22.46. There will be a lot of focus on her during this game, because she has a fine record against Australia’s middle-order batters. She has dismissed Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner twice each in ODIs, while going at less than a run a ball against both, Ellyse Perry three times, and Tahlia McGrath five times in nine innings. Only Perry and Annabel Sutherland from the current side have managed to hit Deepti for a six in ODIs.

Team news – Australia sweat on Healy’s availability

While Healy batted and kept wicket during Tuesday’s training session, she opted out of optional training on Wednesday, with Georgia Voll batting in partnership with Litchfield. Head coach Shelley Nitschke said Australia would give Healy “as much time as she needs” and will take a call on her participation on Thursday. That aside, expect Sophie Molineux to come back into the spin attack for Georgia Wareham, who played against South Africa but did not get a chance to bowl.Australia (probable): 1 Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Annabel Sutherland, 5 Beth Mooney, 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath, 8 Sophie Molineux, 9 Alana King, 10 Kim Garth, 11 Megan Schutt.Shafali is likely to swap straight into India’s XI in Rawal’s place at the top of the order. Richa Ghosh, who was rested against Bangladesh after injuring her finger during the match against New Zealand, did not look in any discomfort during her keeping drills and batted a fair bit on Tuesday. Sneh Rana and Kranti Gaud, both of whom were also rested against Bangladesh, could come back into the XI.India (probable): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Kranti Gaud, 10 N Shree Charani, 11 Renuka Singh.2:15

Australia coach Nitschke: Not underdogs, but also not favourites’

Pitch and conditions

The game will be played on the pitch on which Sri Lanka played Bangladesh. That track was devoid of grass and had a bright brown look to it. It is expected to be a high-scoring game. There has been rain in Navi Mumbai in the lead-up to the match, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a yellow alert for Wednesday and Thursday, but the forecast for matchday has cleared up somewhat. The match will go into a reserve day should it not finish on Thursday.

Stats and trivia

• Mandhana and Shafali have opened together 25 times in ODIs, adding 893 runs at an average of 37.20 and a run rate of 5.38. Mandhana and Rawal, who have opened together 23 times, are India’s most successful opening pair in ODIs, having put on 1799 runs at 78.21 and 6.06.
• Alana King’s average of 34.63 and economy rate of 5.93 against India are her worst by a distance against any opposition in ODIs. Mandhana (160.00), Harleen Deol (116.66), Harmanpreet Kaur (114.58), Jemimah Rodrigues (113.23) and Deepti Sharma (105.40) have 100-plus strike rates against the legspinner.
• Australia are on a 15-match winning streak in ODI World Cups. They had also won 15 in a row across the 1997 and 2000 editions.
• Megan Schutt is one wicket away from becoming the leading wicket-taker for Australia in ODI World Cups. She has 39 now, on par with Lyn Fullston

Quotes

“Ash [Gardner] has been unbelievable. We all know what she’s capable of with the bat, but to take her game to the next level, and do that in a World Cup, has been fantastic. She’s someone who is very diligent in everything she does; she’s a hard worker. When she’s at her best, it’s about making sure that she’s enjoying the game and enjoying the environment and she’s getting in the contest.”
“I was playing domestic cricket and was in good touch. [Semi-finals] are not something new for me because I’ve played many semi-finals before. It’s just a matter of keeping my mind clear and giving myself confidence. I’ve been in such situations earlier, so it’s nothing new. I’ll keep telling myself to stay calm and believe in myself. So absolutely, I’ll do well, 200%.”