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Durham 370 for 9 (Ackermann 116, Lees 52, O’Neill 4-74) vs NottinghamshireColin Ackermann posted the first century of the Rothesay County Championship season as Durham recovered to 370 for 9 on the opening day against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.Australian pace bowler Fergus O’Neill took 4 for 74 on his debut for the home side but it was Ackermann – celebrating his 34th birthday – who delivered the outstanding performance in the Nottingham sunshine as the visitors battled back from 171 for 5 after being asked to bat first.On what looked a good pitch, the South African-born allrounder enjoyed a moment of freakish good fortune on 80 when a ball from Lyndon James clipped his off stump only for the disturbed bail to drop back into its groove, but otherwise did not offer a chance until he was dismissed on 116, having hit 17 fours and a six.Alex Lees marked his first match as Durham’s club captain with a half-century, while Josh Tongue took two wickets on his much-delayed Nottinghamshire debut, although he looked nowhere near the form that catapulted him into England’s Test side in 2023. Graham Clark and George Drissell each made 45.O’Neill arrived at Trent Bridge in outstanding form after taking 38 wickets at 21.07 for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and struck here in just his third over as Durham’s 20-year-old England prospect Ben McKinney nicked behind.O’Neill, 6ft 4ins but with a slingy action, backed up his maiden success in his next over, dismissing Emilio Gay in similar fashion, leaving the former Northamptonshire batter to reflect on an eight-ball duck.If O’Neill was the standout bowler in the opening session, the dismissal of Lees by Farhan Ahmed for 52 felt like an important breakthrough.Lees was dropped on 17 at first slip off Dillon Pennington and looked in the mood to make Nottinghamshire pay heavily, reaching 51 from 60 balls. But when Farhan, the 17-year-old offspinner, sat one up to tempt the left-hander to clear the short Bridgford Road boundary, his mistimed shot merely found the fielder at mid-on.After taking 25 wickets in five first-class matches in his debut season last year, Farhan has quickly overtaken Calvin Harrison and Liam Patterson-White as Nottinghamshire’s first-choice slow bowler. As the bowler who also dismissed Ackermann, caught at slip pushing at a ball that drifted away to find the outside edge, and maintaining impressive economy to boot, he justified his selection.With Ollie Robinson and Will Rhodes falling cheaply in the first hour of the middle session, Ackermann’s innings proved vital to keeping Durham’s innings from falling away.His moment of good luck apart, he rarely looked in any difficulty and after stands of 78 with Lees and 93 with Clark was furious with himself for not sticking around to cash in even more against an ageing ball.Robinson gave Tongue his maiden wicket as a Nottinghamshire bowler, edging to first slip, while Rhodes, making his debut for Durham after his winter move from Warwickshire, fell to an outstanding catch by Joe Clarke, one-handed low to his left, as O’Neill claimed a third.Clarke is covering behind the stumps for new signing Kyle Verreynne, who like Durham’s leading runscorer David Bedingham remains in South Africa as Western Province bid for domestic glory.Tongue, who joined Nottinghamshire from Worcestershire 20 months ago only to be out of action for the whole of that time with pectoral and then hamstring injuries, picked up a second wicket as a fine catch by second slip Freddie McCann accounted for Clark, before O’Neill removed Drissell to raise his tally to four.The 27-year-old Tongue is centrally contracted with England, whose plan was for he and Olly Stone essentially to alternate appearances in Nottinghamshire’s early championship rounds, although Stone is now himself sidelined following a knee operation and is not expected to return before August.

Harsh Dubey starred with bat and ball, while Karun Nair continued his glorious run from the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy as Vidarbha beat Tamil Nadu by 198 runs. Up next in the semi-finals are Mumbai, who they will host at home in Nagpur by virtue of progressing through to the knockouts as the team with most points in the group stages.Dubey, the season’s highest wicket-taker with 55 scalps coming into the game, added three more second-innings wickets on Tuesday, the fourth day of the quarter-finals, as Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 202 chasing 401. Long before he came on to bowl in the second innings, Dubey had already left his mark on the game, hitting two half-centuries, which also took him past the 400-run mark.Yet for all those efforts, it was Nair who was named player of the match for his 122 that set up the game for Vidarbha on the first day. Nair, who topped the charts with 779 runs, including five centuries, in the 50-over competition, put together a vital 98-run stand with Danish Malewar as Vidarbha recovered from 44 for 3. He then put on 105 with Dubey to help give impetus to their innings as they made 353.Related

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Tamil Nadu responded with a shaky start, slumping to 38 for 4 courtesy a fine opening spell from seamer Aditya Thakare who finished with a five-for. Andre Siddarth and Pradosh Ranjan Paul briefly revived the innings, hitting 65 and 48 respectively, but TN conceded ground as they were bowled out for just 225.Vidarbha’s top-order floundered in the second innings, but the cushion of a 128-run lead worked to their advantage. Yash Rathod hit a superb 112 and formed a bulk of their 272 in Dubey’s company; the two putting on 120 for the sixth wicket.TN had more than five sessions to score the runs they needed to pull off a miracle, but kept losing wickets in a heap. They were reduced to 45 for 5 at one stage when seamer Nachiket Bhute ran through the top order. Paul and Sonu Yadav hit fifties but they were simply delaying the inevitable. B Sai Sudharsan, who made a comeback from a surgery for sports hernia, managed just 7 and 2 in his two innings.Vidarbha have now won seven out of their eight games outright this season as they run into the defending champions Mumbai, who are fresh off a sensational win over Haryana in Kolkata.

Saqib Mahmood has finally received his visa for England’s upcoming limited-overs series in India, meaning he will be able to travel with the team to Kolkata on Friday ahead of Wednesday’s first T20I.Mahmood, who is of Pakistani heritage, had encountered a delay in obtaining the travel document, forcing him to miss an England training camp in the UAE. Two other members of the T20I squad of similar background – Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed – had received their visas earlier.The Lancashire seamer had encountered similar issues in the past when, in 2019, he was replaced for an England Lions tour of India following a drawn-out visa process. In 2024, he sat out Lancashire’s pre-season tour having anticipated the same problem, months after England offspinner Shoaib Bashir missed the first Test against India in Hyderabad due to the slow processing of his visa.Mahmood was supposed to attend a pace-bowling camp in Abu Dhabi ahead of the India tour, led by fast bowling consultant James Anderson, which featured the likes of Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood. Those plans were scuppered by the fact the Indian Embassy still had his possession of his passport, with Mahmood having originally intended to travel to the UAE with the group last Thursday.The 27-year-old has been on something of a comeback trail, overcoming consecutive lower-back stress fractures to return to the international fold last year, and was named player of the series during England’s T20I series in the Caribbean in November, taking nine wickets at 10.55. With 29 appearances in all formats, including two Test caps against West Indies in 2022, Mahmood will be keen to impress head coach Brendon McCullum who is now in charge of England’s red- and white-ball sides.

Big picture: A banger for the holiday season

We’re back where we started with the series level and two teams with both promise and flaws squaring off again on fabled turf. The cricket has been compelling, at times unpredictable. There’s even been a little heat between the players. The 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy is veering dangerously close to classic territory. Imagine if it’s 2-2 going into Sydney.Some of the bowling that’s been on show – Harshit Rana taking out Travis Head’s off stump in Perth, Pat Cummins returning the favour against Rohit Sharma in Adelaide, Jasprit Bumrah every single time he runs in – has been dreamy. So the Gabba can’t be blamed for making eyes at them. One day out, the pitch still retains a tinge of green.A first-innings average of 18.65 runs per wicket – a figure so rare it’s only been bettered once in the last 10 years, and that was in a one-off Test between England and Ireland – reflects not just the class of both teams’ bowling attacks, but a little bit about the conditions and the frailty of the batting as well.Australia are blooding in a new opener and their two most reliable run-scorers aren’t operating at the levels they’re used to. India will be able to sympathise because like Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (who could be returning as opener) have been more down than up. The last three are in their mid to late 30s, so their form comes with added scrutiny, on top of the surprise that these high-profile players are yet to really influence this high-profile series. (Kohli has a century but the match-winning innings there came from Yashasvi Jaiswal)Related

• Gill toasts old Gabba memories as he prepares to make new ones

• Can Smith break out of his slump?

• McSweeney hopes to 'throw a few more punches' at Bumrah

• Rohit is used to leaving a mark, but not like this

• Past and present weigh on India, and Australia

Of course it isn’t a surprise that there are surprises when these two teams go at each other. In 2017, Australia took the lead and India hit back. Ditto in 2021. In 2018 and 2023, India took the lead and Australia hit back. This tells you there isn’t a lot separating these sides. Australia’s win in Indore last year and India’s in Perth two weeks ago bucked expectation and there are bound to be more thrills and spills as these two ring in the holiday season.

Form guide

Australia: WLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India: LWLLL

In the spotlight

Steven Smith has 19 runs in two Tests. His last hundred was 24 innings ago. But there was a 91 not out in there, at the Gabba, which he put forward as proof that his opening the batting for Australia was not really the worst idea. Back at No. 4, due to popular demand, he has had a little trouble starting his innings, trouble that he used to avoid, like getting lbw.Rishabh Pant continues to do Rishabh Pant things. In Adelaide, with India three down in the 15th over, he charged out of the crease and flayed Scott Boland over cover. He was also seen at Rundle mall, putting his shopping on hold to play peek-a-boo with a little kid. Now he’s at the scene of his greatest triumph as a cricketer after his greatest triumph as a person.6:02

Cummins on Gabba: Not a ‘fortress’, just another venue for us

Team news: Will Rohit move back up the order?

India might be pondering changes, particularly around the make-up of their top order. Does Rohit come back up to open again? Is he feeling like his old self again? There were positive signs in the nets on Thursday, where almost all the batters, Kohli and Shubman Gill especially, were upping their back-foot game.Akash Deep was India’s third fast bowler during the home season and he made way in Perth for a better batter. The team does not consider their depth to be a big concern anymore so Harshit Rana might find his way back on the bench. Washington Sundar might be pushing R Ashwin for a place in the XI as well.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt)/ KL Rahul, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 KL Rahul/Rohit Sharma (capt), 7 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 8 Washington Sundar/R Ashwin, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit BumrahAustralia’s first-choice pace attack will reassemble at the Gabba with Josh Hazelwood rejoining Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.Australia: 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Nathan McSweeney, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions: Some wet weather around

Australia have lost two of their last four Tests here, after losing nothing in 32 years. There was a pattern to those two defeats though. Both took place at the end of the season, in January. In between, there was a Test against South Africa in December 2022, which ended in two days and was a party for the fast bowlers. And also one against England in December 2021 that ended in a nine-wicket win for Australia. Early-season cricket here is fast-bowler friendly, a likelihood further increased by rain forecast through the course of the Test.”[Yesterday it] looked like a good wicket, like it has the last few years,” Cummins said. “Bit of sun baking on it the last couple of days, don’t think it’s as green and leafy as it was against South Africa.”

Stats and trivia

• Jasprit Bumrah is averaging 11.25 runs per wicket this series. The next best for India is Mohammed Siraj with 19.77 but then the gulf widens.
• Travis Head is averaging 80 and striking at 94 in this series. The next best for Australia is Alex Carey with 24 and 59.5. There’s a bit of catching up to do there for the hosts.
• Pat Cummins has an outstanding record at the Gabba: in seven Tests he has taken 40 wickets at 18.22
• India could have just four players from the famous 2020-21 victory at the Gabba: Rohit, Gill, Pant and Siraj. It could be five if Washington plays.

Quotes

“Worked out in the Adelaide Test. It’s always in the back of your mind as a Plan B, or if it’s looking really uncomfortable or likely to take wickets maybe it becomes a Plan A to some of the batters. I’m sure we’ll give it a shot at some point this Test.”
“The mood of the team is very good. We had a team dinner yesterday, we had a lot of fun in the team dinner. I think it is very important to know that we didn’t play well in the Test match in Adelaide, but still the series is one-all. We have a series of three matches, and if we win this match, then in Melbourne and Sydney, I think we will have an upper hand there.”

Marnus Labuschagne says the race for the vacant Test opening spot is an open field, but insists it is fitting Steven Smith is no longer in that frame after his guaranteed switch back to No. 4 for the India series.Smith, speaking this week about the termination of his opening experiment, said Test opener Usman Khawaja and No. 3 Labuschagne made it clear they preferred him to bat behind them.”They hated me up top…so that was a big part of it,” Smith  said. “They call it security behind them – I don’t know, ask them about it. Honestly, I’m not that fussed. They didn’t like it at all…I can understand that.”Labuschagne said Smith’s return to the position he had shone in for most of his career was not rocket science.”One of the best players for Australia batting in the position he has had the most success in is a pretty simple fix,” he said. “Cameron Green is unavailable for the summer. There is no one batting at No. 4 as we currently stand in our team. Why not have the person who has done it best for Australia batting in that position? It just makes sense.”People want to know if there is something more [to it], but that is the reality.”Labuschagne added Smith was naturally suited to the spot.”I think it is his ability to read match scenarios and adapt his game to whatever the game needs,” he said. “At No. 4 you have to be good at playing spin, work on when you need to push, when you need to hold and when you need to get through a tough spell. That has always been his strength.”Labuschagne said he laughed when he read that David Warner had put his hand up to come out of retirement to open, if asked.”I don’t know if he was serious or whether he was joking. It is always hard to tell,” he chuckled. “I don’t know what to make of that.”Warner had also floated the possibility of Labuschagne moving up the order to fill the void, a concept the Test No. 3 answered forthrightly.”I will bat wherever they tell me to bat. Currently I would say that how I have played at No. 3 has been relatively successful,” he said.”Hopefully it should be more successful, but that’s where I have batted. If [selectors] think I should move and that is best for the team that is what will happen, but at this stage I think they have made it clear they are going to look down the opener route. Who that is…is anyone’s guess. It is a very open field.”New South Wales teenager Sam Konstas, Victorian opener Marcus Harris and Western Australia’s suddenly out-of-form Cameron Bancroft are the three specialist openers in contention and all will feature for Australia A against India A next week.

Stumps Seven balls after bringing the light meter out for the first time on day two, the umpires pulled the plug on the day’s play because of bad light. If that was somewhat abrupt, a third-umpire decision that took its time coming added drama to what turned out to be the last delivery of the day.Mahmudul Hasan Joy, on 38, decided to skip out of the crease to Dane Piedt, and missed the ball with his wild swing. The ball bounced a fair bit, and wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne collected it in front of his right shoulder and whipped the bails off. The TV umpire saw multiple replays and concluded Mahmudul was not out – the bat was behind the line but in the air, but it seemed to have lifted after being grounded once. Verreynne’s expression showed how tight it was.Related

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The day belonged to Verreynne, who hit his second Test century in the afternoon session. That, combined with Wiaan Mulder’s maiden half-century and Piedt’s resistance from No. 10, took South Africa to 308 despite them being 108 for 6 at one stage. And with a cushion of a 202-run first-innings lead, Kagiso Rabada struck twice early in the second innings to have Bangladesh at 4 for 2, before a fightback from Mahmudul, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim.Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque fell for single-digit scores within the first four overs for the second time in as many days, as Rabada extracted plenty of pace and bounce with the new ball. His wickets came off back-of-a-length deliveries. In the third over, he got one to nip into Shadman, who inside-edged to short leg, where Tony de Zorzi took a sharp catch to his left. Three balls later, Mominul went defending but got an outside edge to third slip, where Mulder went low to grab a dipping ball.Mahmudul and Shanto added 55 to rebuild briefly, before Keshav Maharaj trapped Shanto in front. Maharaj got a full delivery to turn in from outside off, and Shanto, who had opened his stance up in looking to defend, was struck on his back leg, which was dragging towards off.Mushfiqur then hit an entertaining 31 off 26 deliveries in an unbroken stand of 42 with Mahmudul to ensure there was no further damage, although Bangladesh still ended the day 101 runs behind South Africa.Hasan Mahmud took two wickets in the first session•BCB

The advantage South Africa enjoyed was down to Verreynne. He swept every other ball that came his way, and when he finally missed one, he was stumped by Litton Das. That ended South Africa’s innings at 308 but by then, Verreynne had raced to his hundred. He took just 144 balls to score 114, becoming only the third wicketkeeper-batter from his country to get a Test hundred in Asia. Fittingly, the landmark came off a paddle sweep off Taijul Islam in the 86th over.Both Verreynne’s sixes were pumped once he was past the three-figure mark: one a slog-sweep off the wicketless Nayeem Hasan, and the other a pull off Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Just before that, Mehidy had broken a frustrating ninth-wicket stand of 66. Piedt, who batted solidly, nudged and pushed his way to 32 before he was trapped in front off the 87th delivery he had faced. It turned in and he was given out on field. Piedt reviewed, and it returned an umpire’s call. And immediately after Verreynne’s second six, Mehidy slowed the ball down to have him stumped.Earlier, the overnight pair of Verreynne and Mulder took their seventh-wicket to 119. The pitch seemed to have settled nicely for batting on the second morning, with no apparent turn available for Taijul. Verreynne particularly looked assured against Hasan Mahmud, who had started the day alongside Taijul, nudging the pacer past mid-on for three, and clipping and driving him for boundaries.Wiaan Mulder made 54, his highest Test score•AFP/Getty Images

Taijul then had Mulder poking, only for the outside edge to fall short of slip. That had as much to do with Mulder playing with soft hands as the slowness of the surface. Mulder and Verreynne adjusted to the pitch, and calmly did the job against the spin of Taijul and Nayeem.Both batters used the sweep and the reverse sweep to great effect despite Nayeem turning the ball in appreciably on occasion. That was down to them taking a good stride forward to get to the pitch of the deliveries, and playing their shots with confidence. They played 38 sweeps – or reverse sweeps – against spin on the second morning, and got 59 runs off them, including seven boundaries and a six.Bangladesh posted a man close in at square leg to prevent the batters from earning easy runs from the sweep, and yet Verreynne got to his half-century when he drilled one to the man there. Mulder then got to his half-century at the start of the 64th over, when he cut Nayeem for four behind point.Shanto had brought Mahmud back into the attack, and he struck back-to-back blows. First, he pitched on a back-of-a-length outside off, the ball holding its line. Mulder went for the punch, but edged to wide slip. Next ball, Mahmud went much fuller, reversing the ball into Maharaj and beating his defence to uproot off stump.But Piedt, who was in next, not only denied Mahmud a hat-trick, but also annoyed Bangladesh no end.

A combination of bad light and heavy rain meant only 35 overs were possible on the opening day of the second Test between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur, in which Bangladesh scored 107 for 3.The toss itself was delayed by an hour because of a wet outfield caused by overnight rain. When the toss finally happened, the coin fell in India’s favour. Under overcast skies, Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in opting to bowl first – the first time India had done so in a home Test since 2015.Rohit expected his three seamers – India fielded an unchanged XI – to exploit the conditions. He said the pitch was a little soft and had a bit more grass than the usual Kanpur surface. Bangladesh read the conditions completely differently. Not only did they want to bat first but also picked three spinners.Jasprit Bumrah got the ball to move both ways and bowled three maidens to start with, but could not take a wicket. Mohammed Siraj did not find any success either as Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan survived the opening spells. Zakir, in fact, could not open his account despite facing 20 balls in that period.Things changed when Akash Deep was introduced in the ninth over. With his third ball, he had Zakir walking at him and edging it towards gully, where Yashasvi Jaiswal went low to his right and pouched it with both hands. The TV umpire was consulted about the fairness of the catch. He had only one good angle but it was enough for him to deduce that the ball went straight into Jaiswal’s hands.A few overs later, Akash Deep struck again. Continuing from around the wicket, he got one to beat Shadman’s inside edge and hit him on the pad. The on-field umpire denied the huge lbw appeal – it looked like the ball, at best, would have clipped leg stump. India opted for a review and, to everyone’s surprise, the projection showed the ball hitting a good chunk of the leg stump.Shanto came out with a positive mindset and picked up a few streaky boundaries off the outer half of the bat. Mominul, too, had begun tentatively but grew in confidence as the innings progressed. He picked up a four each off Akash Deep and Siraj via the ramp before driving Bumrah through the covers.As the last over before lunch was in progress, it started to drizzle which delayed the second session by 15 minutes. When play resumed, R Ashwin did not take long to get one go with the arm from around the wicket and beat Shanto’s inside edge to trap him lbw for 31. It ended the 51-run stand for the third wicket.Mominul and Mushfiqur Rahim had a few nervy moments after that. Akash Deep got Mushfiqur’s outside edge but it went for four through the gap between third slip and gully. Three overs later, Mominul went after a full delivery from Bumrah, only to edge it over the cordon for another boundary.That was also the last over before it became too dark to continue. Soon, it started pouring down, forcing the umpires to call off play just before 3pm local time.

Middlesex and Yorkshire, second and third in Division Two, will head into the final three games of the Vitality County Championship season separated by just one point after they put the finishing touches on a high-scoring draw on day four at Headingley.The promotion rivals will battle it out with leaders Sussex for two top-flight places in 2025.Middlesex started the final day on 441 for five in their first-innings reply to Yorkshire’s 601 for six declared. They reached the follow-on target of 452 comfortably but were bowled out for 522 in the closing stages of the morning.Former England off-spinner Dom Bess finished with seven for 179 from a marathon 70.4 overs, while in-form Ryan Higgins completed an excellent 155 off 259 balls.Yorkshire’s second innings began shortly before lunch, with a lead of 79, and they reached 150 for two from 35 overs when bad light stopped play at 4.10pm. Opener Adam Lyth made 62 and James Wharton was 50 not out.Yorkshire took 13 points from this 11th round fixture and Middlesex 11.Given the placid nature of the pitch – only two batters across both sides failed to reach double figures during the four days – this final day was unlikely to be one that lived long in the memory, as a crowd of only 237 indicated.It started with no prospect of a win for either side, especially given both wouldn’t want to risk a defeat to their closest rivals in the table.If this had been a final round dead rubber, for example, it would have been no surprise to see a contrived result. But there was absolutely no chance of that in a match with such high stakes.Despite conceding 522, with Sam Robson’s opening 108 yesterday supporting in-form Higgins, Yorkshire bowled tidily and kept the scoring rate below three runs per over.Of the 174.4 overs in the Middlesex innings, 143.4 of them were bowled by the spin of Bess, Dan Moriarty and Lyth.Bess and left-armer Moriarty – nought for 174 from 61 – bowled more overs than they ever had previously done in a first-class innings.Bess led the way impressively, while new ball seamer Ben Coad added two wickets during the fourth morning to finish with three for 54 from 14 overs.Bess made the breakthrough in the day’s second over when he had Luke Hollman caught at second slip by Jonny Bairstow – one-handed at the third attempt, leaving Middlesex 441 for six.Despite being 11 runs short of the follow-on, there were no alarms during the early stages of a day played out under the Headingley floodlights.Higgins reached his 150 off 252 balls. Of his five Championship centuries this season, four have been above 150.But he was next to go, bowled by Coad, who uprooted off and middle stumps. And when Coad bowled captain Toby Roland-Jones shortly after, Middlesex were 513 for eight in the 169th over.Bess then wrapped up the innings, and his third career seven-wicket haul, by getting Tom Helm caught at short-leg and Noah Cornwell brilliantly caught by a diving Jordan Thompson as he ran back from mid-off.Yorkshire started their second innings just before lunch with personal milestones and time in the middle the only targets.Lyth needed 105 to reach 1,000 Championship runs for the season, a milestone Higgins achieved in his innings on day three.Having shared 66 for the first wicket with Fin Bean, he reached his fifty in 63 balls after lunch in no frills fashion. But he fell short of a century and 1,000 when he drove Tom Helm’s seam to short cover on the verge of tea, leaving Yorkshire 149 for two in the 34th over.Earlier, Bean had been trapped lbw by Hollman’s leg-spin for 30, while Wharton added the aggression, pulling two of the three sixes he hit against spin.The latter reached his fifty just after tea, off 55 balls, but the players left the field for the light almost immediately and did not return.

Felix Organ struck 74 not out off 57 balls before Brad Wheal and John Turner destroyed Lancashire’s batting and their hopes of Metro Bank One Day Cup progression.Hampshire had stumbled to 50 for 4 but Organ headlined a fightback with 74 and his second fifty of this season’s campaign. Lancashire then outdid their host’s top-order collapse by sinking to 19 for 5 in the face of Wheal and Turner’s electric new-ball pace. The duo ended up with 3 for 14 and 4 for 24 respectively.Chris Green’s valiant 100 – his first List A century – saved some face but Organ again impressed by taking 2 for 31 with his offspin to complete a 71-run victory and keep Hampshire in the mix at the top of Group A.Hampshire have lost a wicket before the end of the second over in each of their One Day Cup matches so far. Having been stuck in, the trend continued when Joe Weatherley – released by Southern Brave – nicked Will Williams behind. His opening partner Fletcha Middleton lasted until midway through the fifth over when Tom Bailey found bounce and away movement to touch the edge.The first boundary eventually came off the 42nd ball – when Nick Gubbins flicked off his hip – but he played onto his own stumps to make it 32 for 3, with Tom Prest seeing the sag continue to 50 for 4 with a chip to short midwicket. But with so many top-order wobbles so far in the competition, Hampshire know how to right the ship.Toby Albert and Ben Brown put on 44 to steady things and once they had been run out and caught sweeping, Organ and Dom Kelly added 76 to breeze Hampshire to the brink of a seemingly impossible 200. An easing pitch and ball helped, but a proactive approach saw boundaries flow, particularly from Organ’s bat as he reached a 47-ball fifty.Initially a top-order batter, Organ has found a niche for himself bowling offspin and coming in later in the order. But his grounding with the bat has made him invaluable for Hampshire, with scores of 59 and a match-winning 46 not out previously in the competition.Kelly fell for a run-a-ball 36, before Eddie Jack came and went, but Organ spearheaded 62 runs coming off the last six overs to end up on 74, and take his side to 222.John Turner was lethal with the new ball•Getty Images

A now tricky-looking chase overwhelmed Lancashire, as they slipped to 19 for 5 inside 10 overs. Wheal and Turner are not a batter’s dream with their paces in the vicinity of 90mph, and on a pitch offering bounce and movement with the new ball, they were almost unplayable.Scotland international Wheal’s first two victims were Harry Singh – who couldn’t keep down a lifting ball outside off stump to guide to point – and left-hander George Balderson – who couldn’t stop himself nibbling at a ball angling across him.Turner, who hasn’t featured for Trent Rockets yet in The Hundred, crashed into Josh Bohannon’s off stump a ball after seeing the batter dropped, before George Bell was sensationally caught over the shoulder by Weatherley.Green wasn’t going to allow Lancashire set a record low – 59 in their fourth ever List A match in 1963 – as he put on 51 with Rocky Flintoff and moved towards his second format half-century, which came in 48 deliveries.Flintoff was leg before to Organ, Jack Blatherwick slapped to mid off, Bailey was bounced out by Wheal and Charlie Barnard was caught at extra cover as no one could stick with Green long enough to form a match-winning partnership.Williams stayed long enough to allow Green, the best batter on the day, to reach a much-deserved hundred in 94 balls, but next ball he was bowled to give Turner his fourth to complete the win.

Match details

Afghanistan vs Bangladesh
June 24, Kingstown, 8:30pm local

Big picture – race to the semi-finals

It’s the last Super Eight game of the T20 World Cup 2024 and it’s open season as far as the fourth semi-final spot is concerned, with Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who will be out in the middle, and Australia, who can at best wait and watch, all in the fray.Here’s what will do it for each of them:

• It’s simple for Afghanistan – win and get into the semi-finals; lose and they are out, since their NRR will stay below Australia’s even with a super-over defeat.
• Australia are done with their games with a net run-rate of -0.331. They get into the semi-finals if Bangladesh win but Bangladesh’s and Afghanistan’s NRR remain below theirs.
• For Bangladesh to go through, they need to win by 62 runs (having scored 160, say) or win in 12.5 overs (chasing 160), which will take their NRR above that of the other two.
• There’s rain around, of course, and shared points do the job for Afghanistan.

But facing Afghanistan are a down-on-their-luck Bangladesh side, after two meek defeats against India and Australia.Related

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• Afghanistan show they are more than just their spinners

It has been another dream run for Afghanistan in a World Cup. They had fought hard in the 50-over tournament in India last year, only to finish in sixth place. This time, they have roared through the group stage, and although there were hiccups against West Indies and India, Afghanistan’s landmark win against Australia has put them right back into contention for the semi-finals.Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran complement each other, and they added their third century stand of the competition against Australia. That Afghanistan did not rely solely on their spinners in their historic win was also pleasing for them. Gulbadin Naib, who has bowled in only three out of 11 T20I matches this year, stunned Australia with a four-for, with Naveen-ul-Haq chipping in with three. This sort of performance frees up Rashid Khan from always having to deliver the knockout punches while also keeping things tight.Bangladesh’s batting has also struggled significantly at this T20 World Cup. The top order has the lowest collective average among the Super Eight teams. Their middle-order is also showing signs of wear and tear, which has led the team management to tinker with the fast-bowling line-up to bring in the extra batter.2:01

Trott: ‘Nice feeling to know what’s needed to qualify’

Form guide

Bangladesh LLWWL
Afghanistan WLLWW

In the spotlight – Gulbadin Naib and Shakib Al Hasan

Gulbadin Naib was the eighth bowler against Australia, but he ended up taking his maiden four-wicket haul in T20Is in that game. He has been around for 12 years now and only recently made his IPL debut for Delhi Capitals. Needless to say, he is high on confidence.By his standards, this year’s T20 World Cup has mostly been a forgettable one for Shakib Al Hasan. He has scored one half-century, while it took him four matches to get his first wicket. Shakib became the first bowler in the tournament’s history to reach 50 wickets, but has only taken three at an average of 37 in this edition. He hasn’t batted high enough and Shakib’s bowling too hasn’t been properly utilised. Could this be Shakib’s swansong in the T20 World Cup?

Team news – Bangladesh might bring Taskin or Shoriful back

Bangladesh could go back to Taskin Ahmed or Shoriful Islam to replace Jaker Ali. Afghanistan are likely to go in unchanged at the same venue where they beat Australia.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Litton Das (wk), 3 Najmul Hosain Shanto (capt), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Jaker Ali/Taskin Ahmed/Shoriful Islam, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Mahedi Hasan, 10 Tanzim Hasan, 11 Mustafizur RahmanAfghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Azmatullah Omarzai, 4 Karim Janat, 5 Rashid Khan (capt), 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Nangeyalia Kharote, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq FarooqiShoriful Islam could replace Jaker Ali in Bangladesh’s XI•ICC/Getty Images

Pitch and conditions

Teams batting first have won every game in Arnos Vale, including Bangladesh defending 106 against Nepal. Afghanistan will also have a fair measure of the pitches after their 21-run win against Australia. Weather, however, may not be great as there’s some rain forecast.

Stats that matter

• Naib became the first bowler in the T20 World Cup to take a four-wicket haul after coming into the attack as the eighth bowler
• Gurbaz and Ibrahim now have three century opening stands in the T20 World Cup, the most by a pair
• Tanzim Hasan and Rishad Hossain have 11 wickets apiece, equalling Shakib’s tally from 2021 for the most wickets in an edition for Bangladesh

Quotes

“It’s a nice feeling to have that fact that we’re playing the last game as well. You will know exactly what the scenario is and then what’s needed to win. That’s always a nice feeling. But I think with cricket, so many things are thrown in and so many results can go against you or for you. So, we’ve just got to focus on our match against Bangladesh and when all the other matches are played. We’ll know what we need to do and the decisions we need to make.”
“One thing you’ve got to acknowledge is you can’t fight genetics. You have to have a genetic predisposition to power initially. But power is something that takes a lot of time. If you’re not predisposed to being strong… West Indians don’t have to find power. They’re born with power. We’re not born with power, so we have to do it a different way. We’re looking at the strength and conditioning element, we’re looking at different things of how we can do it a Bangladeshi way.”