He was charged by the ICC in 2021 and was found guilty in August 2023 following a hearing by an independent tribunal

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2023Former West Indies batter Marlon Samuels has been banned from all cricket for six years by the ICC after he was found guilty of corrupt behaviour during the Abu Dhabi T10 in 2019, where he was part of the Karnataka Tuskers but did not play.An independent tribunal found Samuels guilty on four counts, including accepting favours that brought himself and the game into disrepute and concealing information from the investigating authorities. He had been punished for a similar offence 15 years ago.”Samuels played international cricket for close to two decades, during which he participated in numerous anti-corruption sessions and knew exactly what his obligations were under the Anti-Corruption Codes,” Alex Marshall, the head of ICC’s HR and Integrity Unit, said. “Though he is retired now, Mr Samuels was a participant when the offences were committed. The ban of six years will act as a strong deterrent to any participant who intends to break the rules.”Related

• Marlon Samuels found guilty of breaching anti-corruption code

• Marlon Samuels charged under ICC's anti-corruption code

• Marlon Samuels, 'the confident fellow', retires

The Abu Dhabi T10 is an Emirates Cricket Board run tournament as such it is their anti-corruption code that is in operation. By their rules, the ICC conducts all investigations into breaches made and they found Samuels had made four of them.

• Article 2.4.2 (by a majority decision) – Failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official, the receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or other benefit that was made or given in circumstances that could bring the Participant or the sport of cricket into disrepute.
• Article 2.4.3 (unanimous decision)- Failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official receipt of hospitality with a value of US $750 or more.
• Article 2.4.6 (unanimous decision) – Failing to cooperate with the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation.
• Article 2.4.7 (unanimous decision) – Obstructing or delaying the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation by concealing information that may have been relevant to the investigation.

Samuels’ ban takes effect from November 11, 2023. He was initially charged by the ICC in September 2021 before he was found guilty of the offences in August this year.Samuels, who top-scored for West Indies in the final of both the 2012 and 2016 T20 World Cup, last played international cricket in 2018 and announced his retirement in November 2020 with over 11,000 international runs across formats. He was no stranger to controversy during his career, the lowest point of which was his two-year ban after being found guilty, in May 2008, of “receiving money, or benefit or other reward that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute”.

There was some spice between the sides last season when Megan Schutt termed Heat a ‘bit arrogant’

Tristan Lavalette30-Nov-2023

Georgia Voll played a big role with the ball in the Challenger final•Getty Images

Allrounder Georgia Voll believed an aggressive Brisbane Heat were the “perfect team” to upend defending champions Adelaide Strikers despite a gruelling run to the WBBL final.Heat stormed into Saturday’s final at the Adelaide Oval after thrashing Sydney Thunder and Perth Scorchers on consecutive days at the WACA. After a late season three-game losing streak cost them a top two finish and a home final, Heat on Sunday night embarked on a five-and-a-half hour flight from Brisbane to Perth.After recovery and a light training session on Monday, Heat then played inspired cricket and relished a bouncy WACA surface to keep alive their bid for a third WBBL title.Related

• Athapaththu's frustrating wait for big-franchise deals looks set to end

• Harris and Voll power dominant Brisbane Heat into WBBL final

They showed no signs of fatigue in their commanding performances, but on Thursday will board a three-hour flight to Adelaide before a quick turnaround for the final.”It won’t bother us. It’s great we’ve actually carried some momentum,” said offspinner Voll, who took WBBL career best figures of 4 for 19 against Scorchers. “I love playing a lot of cricket. We’ve had a bit of ups and downs through the year, but we’re picking up momentum at the right time.”So I think it’s done us really good having to play the two games.”In Perth, Heat played an irresistible brand of cricket with Grace Harris’ fireworks in the powerplay building the foundations for big totals after they batted first. Seamers Nicola Hancock and Courtney Sippel ripped through Thunder before Voll and fellow spinner Jess Jonassen took over against Scorchers.It was an ominous warning to Strikers, who won nine of their last 10 matches of the regular season to lock up the top spot. But their only blemish in that stretch was a four-wicket defeat in Mackay to Heat, who chased down 138 with a ball to spare. Strikers earlier in the season routed Heat for 89 in a 59-run victory at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.”It’s going be a challenge, but I think we’ve got the perfect team to roll them,” Voll said. “Our balance in the batting…we pretty much bat all the way down to 11.”We back our skill to go hard pretty much all the way through. With the bowling we back our two quicks and the spinners to defend or set the tone.”It will be a great final. I think they’ll have a crowded Adelaide Oval, it will be an awesome atmosphere and hopefully we can knock them over one more time.”Heat will be without batter Bess Heath, who will depart for England’s imminent tour of India. “Bess has been a massive part of our team. She’s a big loss but whoever will fill that spot will do a great job,” Voll said.There will be extra spice in the final between teams who have won three of the last five titles after Strikers seamer Megan Schutt last year labelled Heat’s style of play as a “bit arrogant”.”It’s kind of like the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?” Harris said. “I don’t really read too much into it and it doesn’t bother me too much because you can do all the talking you want…it comes down to how you go out on the field.”Harris looms as a key in the final after emerging from a form slump and igniting Heat in Perth with 99 runs off 55 balls across the two games.”I’m a strike-rate batter…[aim to] strike at 180-200. You will be inconsistent, but happy to own that role. We want to play an aggressive brand of cricket. It’s about scoring shots and not getting worried about getting out. If we’re out for 80 then bugger it, but if we score 197 then that’s our game plan and we have got to stick to that.”If we put in a complete performance [in the final] then we will definitely be competitive.”

Wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne has been recalled to the Test team

Firdose Moonda04-Dec-2023South Africa’s ODI captain Temba Bavuma and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada have been rested from their white-ball series against India later this month in order to prepare for the two Tests which follow. Bavuma captained South Africa to the semi-final at the recently completed ODI World Cup and remains the appointed 50-over captain but T20 skipper Aiden Markram will lead in his absence against India.Gerald Coetzee, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi will only play the first two T20Is for the same reason. All of Bavuma, Rabada, Coetzee, Jansen and Ngidi will then play a round of domestic first-class matches from December 14 to 17 to prepare for the Tests. “We agreed that the Test side is the priority,” Shukri Conrad, South Africa’s Test coach, said at a press conference. “We are prioritising readiness for the Test matches given its the start of the World Test Championship (WTC).” His white-ball counterpart Rob Walter agreed.South Africa open their WTC campaign with the series against India and will then take a second-string side to New Zealand to play two Tests in February next year, when the majority of first-choice players will be involved in the SA20.Related

• South Africa grapple with the changing world of T20 cricket

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• Takeaways from India's squads for SA: Axar's future, Prasidh's height factor, and a new role for Rahul?

With that in mind, batter David Bedingham, who has played as a local on an ancestral visa for Durham but has shelved plans to play for England and does not have an SA20 deal, has been included in the playing group. Also in line for a Test debut is batter Tristan Stubbs, who was South Africa A’s leading run-scorer on their winter tour to Sri Lanka, and left-arm seamer Nandre Burger. Wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne and seamer Lungi Ngidi both make a return after being dropped last summer, with Heinrich Klaasen left out of the Test squad, though Conrad insisted it is “not the end of the road” for him.Anrich Nortje, who was ruled out of the World Cup with a lower back stress fracture, is unavailable across all formats. Nortje has not had surgery and is being monitored on a monthly basis. Cricket South Africa is hopeful he will be ready to play around February or March next year. He has been retained by his IPL franchise, the Delhi Capitals.There is also no space for Ryan Rickelton in any of the squads despite being given a central contract earlier this year and playing in their last Test series. Conrad explained he has fallen down the pecking order. “The guys that have come in – Stubbs and Bedingham – are ahead of him,” Conrad said. “I don’t think he challenges Kyle Verreynne as the wicket-keeper. At the time (that Rickelton played) there was no news on David’s availability and desire to play for South Africa and since then Stubbo has also showed so much.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Overall, Conrad is confident he has selected a squad that “can beat India,” while also looking ahead to the rest of the WTC, including away tours to New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh next year. “We might see a few changes for those tours as well. We will see the return of guys who, in those conditions, can help us win those series. It’s where the global game is at. You’ve got to be quite flexible in your selections and ensure guys are nice and fresh when they are called up.”A similar philosophy has been applied to the white-ball squads, where South Africa are looking ahead to the T20 World Cup and rebuilding post the ODI tournament. Reeza Hendricks is expected to get an extended run at the top of the order in both T20Is and ODIs, with Quinton de Kock out of the former to play in the BBL and retired from the latter. Matthew Breetzke will open the batting with Hendricks in the T20Is. Fast bowlers Burger and Ottniel Baartman are the only other uncapped players in the T20I group.South Africa only have this three match series against India before they leave for the World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA next year – where they will play West Indies immediately before the tournament – but have cautioned against viewing this squad as a replica of the T20 World Cup playing group because of the amount of franchise T20 cricket still to be played.”Given that some of our frontline bowlers are missing out and there are guys – let me throw it out there just to create some media hype – like Faf (du Plessis) and Rilee (Rossouw) as well as Quinny that could well be considered for a T20 World Cup and then also the SA20 that happens next year – 80% of the side picks itself but there is definitely a space for other guys to get themselves into the conversation,” Walter said. “The SA20 will be a very important competition as far as the World Cup goes. The household guys will most likely be there but it’s an exciting time for the guys that sit on the fringes.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The ODI squad is the most experimental, as is to be expected at the end of a World Cup cycle. South Africa have named one new cap, bowling allrounder Mihlali Mpongwana, who will form part of a young pace pack. Mpongwana was part of the recent South Africa A series against West Indies A and the joint second highest wicket-taker in the domestic one-day cup. Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo and Lizaad Williams (albeit conditional on the progress of a groin injury) will all get the chance to play as Rabada, Ngidi and Jansen are rested. Keshav Maharaj – who has been named in all three squads – and Tabraiz Shamsi form the spin attack, with no space for Bjorn Fortuin.South Africa have stuck with a fairly experienced batting line-up including Markram, Klaasen, Rassie van der Dussen (who did not get a Test recall) and David Miller but will also look to give an opportunity to Tony de Zorzi. Dewald Brevis, who was the third highest run-scorer in the domestic one-day cup, has not been included. “The better the player that’s getting left out, the better our system is,” Walter said. “There isn’t space for all of the young batters all the time. He will definitely play again.”South Africa’s ODI outfit have no fixtures other than the matches against India this season, with the focus to move back to 50-over cricket before the next World Cup. Having reached the final four, Walter assessed the tournament as a success for the team as they move towards a home World Cup in 2027. “The general sense after the tournament was really positive. It was disappointing to miss out (on the final) and it knocks you hard. But the guys were proud and I was proud of the way we played.”South Africa T20I squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Ottniel Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee (1st and 2nd T20Is), Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen (1st and 2nd T20Is), Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi (1st and 2nd T20Is), Andile Phehlukwayo , Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad WilliamsSouth Africa ODI squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Ottniel Baartman, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Mihlali Mpongwana, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad WilliamsSouth Africa Test squad: Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne

Ricky Bhui will take over, having done the job in the past

S Sudarshanan12-Jan-2024Hanuma Vihari has stepped down as the Andhra captain for the rest of the Ranji Trophy season. Ricky Bhui will lead the team now after Vihari led them to a draw against Bengal at home in the opening round of the season. Vihari continues to be part of the XI as Andhra take on Mumbai in their Group B clash at the Sharad Pawar Academy in BKC, Mumbai.Bhui had scored 175, his 15th first-class hundred, in the clash against Bengal while Vihari managed 51 in the only innings for Andhra.Vihari last played for India against England in Birmingham in 2022. Last season, he captained Andhra to the knockouts, where they lost to Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-final. In that match, Vihari batted left-handed for a major part of the first innings and throughout the second innings after fracturing his left forearm, courtesy an Avesh Khan bouncer. He scored 490 runs in the last season in 14 innings, at an average of 35 with two half-centuries.Related

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• Vihari set to move to Madhya Pradesh from Andhra

Later he also played the Duleep Trophy for South Zone and the Irani Cup for Rest of India against Ranji champions Saurashtra. In the Duleep Trophy he scored 0 and 43 in the semi-final before top-scoring with 63 and 42 in both innings of the final which they lost to West Zone. In the Irani Cup, he managed just 33 and 22. He was the captain in all those first-class matches.Before the start of this season, Vihari was mulling a move to MP to play under renowned domestic coach Chandrakant Pandit in order to rekindle his Test career. But Andhra managed to retain him at the last minute and he scored 229 runs at a strike rate of 149.67 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and only 109 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He also did not find takers at the auction for IPL 2024 last month.Bhui, 27, has led Andhra in the past – 22 times across formats and on five occasions in the Ranji Trophy. His last game as captain was against Uttarakhand in March 2022.

There are huge milestones to look forward to for Ashwin, Anderson and Stokes as India take on England’s Bazball once again

Alagappan Muthu14-Feb-20242:00

Manjrekar: Rank turners may not be a good idea for India

Big picture: India’s young batters vs England’s young spinners

It feels like we’ve been here before. Scores are level. Expectation is high. An England player had visa issues. India’s No. 4 couldn’t make it. It’s late January 2024 all over again. What a time to be alive.Ben Stokes is about to play his 100th Test match. R Ashwin will likely be taking his 500th Test wicket. James Anderson is in sight of 700. India’s dominance at home is under threat. Bazball is not just hype. The Apple Vision Pro is out making reality redundant. There are continuing advancements to make mind control possible. The Deadpool 3 trailer has dropped. What more could anyone ask for?If you’re Sarfaraz Khan, then maybe a first ever India cap. The 26-year-old has worked all his life to become an international cricketer, collecting mind-boggling numbers over the course of recent domestic seasons, and is set to finally take that most coveted step up. As a middle-order batter in subcontinent conditions, he offers a lot of potential, which is the least that can be said about someone averaging and striking at 70 in first-class cricket.Related

• How Bazball alters one of the fundamental truths of Test cricket

• Kuldeep: 'Bazball has made bowlers plan how to restrict runs'

• England's unlikely Mr Consistent seeks series-defining moment

• Can India's batters restore the balance of power?

• Stokes' aggression is England's new mantra for success

It does, however, mean that India will be relying on a group of batters still only learning what life as a Test cricketer is like. Seriously, the only thing greener is on lunch menus or is 6’4″ tall and leading England’s spin attack. This battle between up-and-coming members of the hosts and up-and-coming members of their guests has been one of the more fascinating and unexpected subplots of this whole tour. Although in Rajkot, a couple of established stars might take back centre stage. India’s inexperience puts them on the back foot against the guile of James Anderson and the pace of Mark Wood.Especially considering how they have been leaving runs on the board. Rahul Dravid has been telling India that they need to be more pragmatic. Stokes, though, doesn’t really look like he sets a lot of store in such things. He kept tossing the ball to Tom Hartley even as he was smashed all over the park, telling him everything was fine, keep at it. Both methods worked. Yashasvi Jaiswal benefited from a little restraint, scoring a double-century in an innings where no one else made more than 34. Hartley recovered from being hit for six first ball to become his team’s leading wicket-taker after two Tests.A series that was supposed to be headlined by the likes of Virat Kohli and Joe Root and Ravindra Jadeja and Stokes himself is now following a very different narrative.

Form guide

India WLWLD
England LWWDWMark Wood has replaced Shoaib Bashir in England’s XI•Gareth Copley / Getty

In the spotlight: Rohit Sharma and Joe Root

The 2021 series between these two teams offered a massive challenge to batters on both sides. Of 156 innings played, there were only 19 that went past fifty, and of those 19, there was one that stood out. Rohit Sharma walked out onto a dust bowl in Chennai and produced a knock that has become something of a blueprint for his opposition this time around, a hundred that was an ode to attacking instinct. He hasn’t been able to summon the same kind of otherworldly strokeplay this time – even though the pitches are much more amenable for batting – but there are three games still left and his spirits remain quite high. India will be relying on his strengths to guide them towards the kind of first-innings totals that can help them dictate terms.Another high performer from 2021 – the top-scorer in fact – has more overs under his belt (64) than runs on the board (52). Joe Root swept India to the extremes that they had to go to in order to win that series three years ago, but right now, he isn’t even getting those starts that the experts would pick up on so often that it became sort of a personality trait. “You look up and all of a sudden Joe Root’s on 30 not out.” Jasprit Bumrah is a significant factor for things turning out this way. The head-to-head after two matches reads 1 run off 10 balls and two dismissals. Both men will be refreshed after a mid-series break, meaning this thing is just getting started.

Team news: Jadeja set to return, Jurel in line for debut

With Kohli unavailable, Shreyas Iyer left out and KL Rahul injured, India’s middle-order is a bit threadbare in terms of experience. Jadeja’s return should help there – he has a fine record in Rajkot, his home ground, and looks all but certain to play. The rest of the slack falls on a bunch of rookies who have shown a lot of promise at domestic level but now have to prove that they can cut it here too. There has also been a bit of focus on wicketkeeper KS Bharat’s output in front of the stumps, which brings Dhruv Jurel quite firmly into the picture.India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Rajat Patidar, 5 Sarfaraz Khan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dhruv Jurel/KS Bharat (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed SirajEngland, who played the first two Tests with just one fast bowler, will go into this one with both Anderson and Wood. Their batting remains unchanged.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Tom Hartley, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James AndersonRajkot is where Ravindra Jadeja has played most of his domestic cricket for Saurashtra•Gareth Copley / Getty

Pitch and conditions: It’s cool and it’s flat

There are runs expected in Rajkot. The local boy Jadeja said the surface will start out flat and then take a little turn as natural wear and tear sets in. The weather has been quite cool in the lead-up to the Test – early 20C in the mornings, rising to low 30C in the afternoons – and is expected to be so for the duration of it as well, so that’s another good sign for the batters. Without a lot of sun, the pitch might not break up as quickly.

Stats and trivia

• There are 210 people with Test double-centuries and 752 with Test five-fors. But only 34 have ever done both. Stokes is among this incredible group of allrounders, peppered with some fun outliers (Kraigg Brathwaite, Virender Sehwag and Jason Gillespie).
• Since his debut back in January 2018, Bumrah has the best bowling average in Test cricket (20.19) of all bowlers with at least 100 wickets in this time.
• England’s spinners have more wickets (33 vs 23) and a better average (34 vs 38) than India’s spinners at this point in the series, but that’s not entirely new. Ashwin and Jadeja have shown previously that they are capable of picking up their performances while other visiting teams have fallen away after bright starts.
• Anderson is five wickets away from 700 in Tests and, from there, he will be eyeing Shane Warne’s tally of 708.
• There is indication that India’s XI in Rajkot will include as many as two debutants, which doesn’t happen very often. They’ve had to dip that far into their bench only four times since 2013 and two of those were during another injury-hit series against Australia in 2020-21.

Quotes

“Obviously I’m very excited because I’ve been playing with him for 12-13 years. To achieve this milestone is a really, really big thing, to complete 500 Test wickets. I’m very happy for him. I thought he would complete his 500 wickets in the first match, but it’s okay, whatever is written in destiny. He will complete it in Rajkot, in my hometown.”

Their key players are out of form and that’s not good when they have to face the tournament’s most in-form batting unit

Sreshth Shah30-Mar-20242:46

McClenaghan: Titans rely too much on Gill, may be a batter short

Match details

Gujarat Titans (GT) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Ahmedabad, 1530 IST (1000 GMT)

Big picture

A plethora of subplots from outside the cricket field may have helped Gujarat Titans lift themselves to a come-from-behind win against Mumbai Indians in their season opener, but a 63-run defeat away against Chennai Super Kings begs the question: are the Titans of 2024 championship material?David Miller, for example, has crossed 30 only three times in 15 innings this year and averages 29. His strike rate of 119 this year is also his worst in 13 years, a steep drop from 2023 (135.2) and 2022 (147.2).Another barometer of the Titans’ performance is Rashid Khan. In their wins – they’ve had 12 of those since 2023 – he comes away with an economy rate of 7.35. But in their losses – seven in the same period – Rashid’s economy rate skyrockets to 10.03. It shows that when he struggles, they struggle too. This used to be rare but since last year’s tournament, he has leaked nine runs an over roughly once every three matches (6 out of 19; 5 of those 6 were losses)And that’s where the challenge lies as a rampaging Sunrisers Hyderabad arrive fresh off a performance that rewrote IPL record books. Travis Head has his own love story with Ahmedabad since the ODI World Cup final, Abhishek Sharma has carried his form from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy well and Heinrich Klaasen is the only man to hit 50 T20 sixes this year. With the Narendra Modi Stadium one of the country’s best surfaces for batters, the Titans will need someone to fill the shoes of Mohammed Shami at both ends of their innings.The Titans, though, can hit back. Barring Pat Cummins, the Sunrisers pacers have gone at 11.93 runs per over in IPL 2024 and it is an area the hosts can exploit, especially their captain Shubman Gill. Ahmedabad is Gill’s favourite venue – 700 runs in 13 innings at an average of nearly 64 and a strike-rate of almost 160 – and with only 37 runs in two innings this season, he will be itching for a sizeable contribution.2:18

McClenaghan on Miller’s poor form: ‘Tough role being a finisher’

Team news and impact player strategy

Gujarat TitansThe Titans are usually predictable with their impact substitutions, so expect fast bowler Mohit Sharma and left-hand batter Sai Sudharsan to swap places. Matthew Wade is also available after missing the first two games playing the Sheffield Shield final. Shahrukh Khan or Abhinav Manohar could be tempting options in the middle order.Probable XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Spencer Johnson, 11 Umesh Yadav, 12 Mohit SharmaTitans will have their task cut out bowling to Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen•BCCI

Sunrisers HyderabadAfter excelling in their season opener, T Natarajan missed Sunrisers’ second game with an unspecified niggle and his availability is unknown. Jaydev Unadkat, his replacement against Mumbai Indians, impressed with his change-ups and could keep his place in the XI. Wanindu Hasaranga has also not yet arrived in India.As for Impact Player options, Sunrisers could start with medium-pacer Nitish Reddy or fast bowler Umran Malik if bowling first, with Travis Head replacing them in the second innings. Washington Sundar could also be a realistic option against left-hand heavy Titans.Probable XII: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Travis Head, 3 Abhishek Sharma, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mayank Markande, 11 Jaydev Unadkat / T Natarajan, 12 Umran MalikBhuvneshwar Kumar has gone for 104 runs in eight overs in IPL 2024•Associated Press

In the spotlight

In two innings, Vijay Shankar has scored 18 runs in 17 balls. He has not bowled either. Against a high-scoring side like Sunrisers, the Titans could be tempted to play Shahrukh Khan instead to add power to the middle order, especially since he follows a consolidator like Sudharsan at No. 3. Shankar, though, enjoys facing Bhuvneshwar Kumar (16 off 5, strike rate 320) and Jaydev Unadkat (15 off 7, strike rate 214) in T20 cricket.Bhuvneshwar Kumar is yet to take a wicket in his two IPL 2024 outings and has conceded 104 runs in eight overs. Against both Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, Bhuvneshwar made promising starts to his spell but ended up leaking big runs in the death overs. As the senior-most bowler in a franchise where he has played since 2014, Bhuvneshwar needs to either find wickets or get his runs down. Ideally, he’d want to do both.

Stats that matter

Gill has historically struggled putting Bhuvneshwar away at the IPL, scoring only 50 runs in 48 balls while being dismissed three times in nine innings. He also has a strike-rate of only 94.4 against Unadkat.In 23 balls, Abhishek has hit Rashid for three fours and three sixes, averaging a boundary every 3.6 deliveries. His strike-rate against Rashid is 204 overall and this IPL, he is scoring at 226.Klaasen is hitting a six every 5.4 balls in 2024, behind only Andre Russell’s ball-per-six ratio of 4.6. Fifty of his 53 sixes have come between long-off and deep backward square leg.Since the start of IPL 2023, the team batting first has won six of the ten IPL games played in Ahmedabad.

Pitch and conditions

Ahmedabad usually offers a true batting surface with enough on offer to keep pacers and spinners interested. Spinners can also use the long square boundaries to good effect. The average first-innings winning score here since 2021 in the IPL is 188. In the last outing at the venue, the Titans defended 168 successfully. Expect a hot afternoon with a peak of 35 degrees during toss time.

Callum Parkinson collects maiden five-wicket haul for Durham

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2024Durham 358 (Ackermann 112, Robinson 90, Bedingham 52) and 131 for 2 (Lees 48*) drew with Essex 488 (Browne 184, Khushi 107, Parkinson 5-131)Essex’s Nick Browne scored his first Championship century for over a year and Callum Parkinson collected his maiden five-wicket haul for Durham, but the Vitality County Championship at the Seat Unique Riverside ended in a draw.Such an outcome had always appeared probable once the third day’s play had been lost. However, having made 488 and taken a 130-run lead on first innings, Essex did their best to force a victory on the final afternoon, only for their efforts to founder on the broad bat of Alex Lees, who made 48 not out in 128 minutes and had steered his side to 131 for 2 when bad light stopped play at 4.40pm.The teams shook hands shortly afterwards, at which point David Bedingham, Lees’ third-wicket partner, was unbeaten on 33.The most notable event of the morning session came in the fifth over of the day when Browne back cut Ben Raine to the boundary to reach his first hundred in 22 Championship innings, a bleak run stretching back to the game against Kent in April 2023.Browne’s century was also a tribute to his patience in this match. He had batted 286 minutes and faced 238 balls to reach the landmark. Five overs later, another boundary from Browne brought Essex their third batting point but that achievement was swiftly followed by the dismissal of Jordan Cox, who was bowled by Parkinson for 36 when he played outside a ball that was deflected via the back pad to the leg stump.Parkinson soon collected his second wicket of the morning when he clean bowled Matt Critchley for 3 with a fine ball that turned past the outside edge and hit off stump. Noah Thain then helped Browne add 55 in 11 overs before being caught at midwicket by Scott Borthwick off Colin Ackermann for 23, but Essex reached lunch on 450 for 6 with Browne unbeaten on 169.The visitors looked to score quick runs in the afternoon session and lost four wickets in doing so, including two run outs in three balls. Browne departed for 184 when attempting a third run and failing to beat Lees’ throw from fine leg and then Harry Duke was sent back by Simon Harmer but Borthwick’s return from midwicket was too sharp.Parkinson then dismissed Harmer and Jamie Porter in the same over to finish with 5 for 131 from 31 overs in Essex’s 488 all out.The visitors’ hopes of causing a collapse were boosted when Borthwick played across a ball from Porter and was lbw for 4 in the third over of Durham’s second innings. However, Lees and Ackermann put on 75 for the second wicket before Ackermann was caught at slip by Cox off Critchley for 32, a fate that had appeared to befall him on 20, only for the umpires to rule that the ball hadn’t carried.Durham took 12 points from the game and Essex received 14, a return which leaves the visitors equal on points with Surrey at the top of the First Division. The champions lead the table purely by virtue of having taken one wicket more than Essex this season.

The visitors took a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series

Srinidhi Ramanujam30-Apr-2024Radha Yadav’s three wickets and D Hemalatha’s breezy 41 not out on comeback helped India beat Bangladesh by 19 runs in the rain-hit second T20I in Sylhet. India lead the five-match series 2-0.After India’s spin trio of Radha, Shreyanka Patil, and Deepti Sharma dismissed Bangladesh for 119, Hemalatha – returning to India’s XI after one and half years in place of the injured Yastika Bhatia – took the visitors to 47 for 1 in 5.2 overs before the second rain break ended the game. India were 19 runs ahead of the DLS par score of 28 when the match was officially called off, and Hemalatha was adjudged the Player of the Match.India lost Shafali Verma for a golden duck in the small chase, but Hemalatha’s fluency against the new ball and crisp stroke-play yielded five fours and two sixes in her 24-ball innings. Smriti Mandhana was unbeaten on 5 off seven deliveries at the other end as Hemalatha made most of the opportunity at No.3.Bangladesh had shown intent after choosing to bat, following a dismal performance in the first T20I when they were restricted to 101 for 8. But their intent didn’t result in runs. Opener Murshida Khatun scored a 49-ball 46 with five boundaries but none of her team-mates got going.Despite losing Dilara Akter and Sobhana Mostary in the second and sixth overs, Bangladesh got to 43 for 2 in the powerplay. India’s spinners, however, began to exert pressure after the field restrictions were lifted. Left-arm spinner Radha trapped Nigar Sultana and Fahima Khatun lbw off successive deliveries in the 10th over, and Patil and Deepti also picked up two wickets each.Bangladesh were 70 for 5 after 11 overs when rain halted play for an hour. Once the match resumed and the pitch became sluggish, India spinners found more turn and drift to trouble the batters.Ritu Moni, who replaced Shorna Akther in the XI, scored a 18-ball 20 and added 32 off 31 with Murshida for the sixth wicket. They took Bangladesh past 100 before Deepti returned to bowl Moni in the 16th over. Bangaldesh slumped after that from 101 for 5 to 119 all out.Radha, in the penultimate over, picked up her third wicket by drawing Rabeya Khan out of her crease with flight and having her stumped to finish with figures of 3 for 19 in four overs. Pooja Vastrakar then bowled Fariha Trisna in the final over to dismiss Bangladesh for a below-par total.

The season will start on September 19 with a two-match Test series against Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2024India will host Bangladesh, New Zealand and England during their 2024-25 home season, in which they will play five Tests, three ODIs and eight T20Is.The season will kick off on September 19 with a two-match Test series against Bangladesh. Chennai will host the first Test and Kanpur will host the second Test from September 27. This will be Bangladesh’s third Test tour to India. They played a one-off Test in 2017 and a two-match series in 2019.After the Test series, Bangladesh will play three T20Is as well, in Dharamsala, Delhi and Hyderabad.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

New Zealand will be the next to visit, for a three-match Test series starting on October 16 in Bengaluru. Pune and Mumbai will host the second and third Tests, respectively.Just before Champions Trophy 2025, England will tour for five T20Is and three ODIs. They had visited India earlier this year for a five-match Test series, which the hosts won 4-1.The Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand will count towards India’s push to qualify for their third successive World Test Championship final. They currently lead the WTC 2023-25 standings with six wins in nine Tests and a points total of 74, or 68.51% of their points contested. Other than these two home series, India’s remaining WTC assignment in this cycle is a five-Test tour of second-placed Australia in 2024-25.

West Indies’ top-three batters controlled the chase of 142, easily securing the win despite the margin showing them earning victory with one ball left

Madushka Balasuriya28-Jun-2024The West Indian top three of Stafanie Taylor, Hayley Matthews and Shemaine Campbelle ensured a triumphant end to a challenging tour of Sri Lanka, as they anchored a six-wicket win in the third and final T20I in Hambantota to complete a come-from-behind 2-1 series win.Campbelle remained unbeaten at the end on a 30-ball 41 as West Indies chased down a target of 142 with just one ball to spare. The margin of victory however belies the control the visitors exuded in the chase.Taylor and Mathews put on a 60-run opening stand in just 48 deliveries, after which Matthews paired up with Campbelle for a 44-ball 51-run stand. When Matthews fell, trapped leg before attempting to swipe one from Kawya Kavindi across the line, the West Indies were on 111 for 2.With the requirement at roughly run-a-ball, Campbelle navigated the remainder of the chase expertly. The late wickets of Chedean Nation and Aaliyah Alleyne in the 18th and 19th overs conjured some late drama – both dismissed trying to hit out – but some smart running in the final over when just six runs were required ensured there were no further blips.Earlier, having put Sri Lanka in to bat, West Indies got off to the ideal start dismissing Vishmi Gunaratne off just the second ball of the innings, the aggressive 18-year-old top-edging an attempted pull of Chinelle Henry.Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama however responded well to the early setback with a partnership of 55 off 54, before Samarawickrama chipped one back to Afy Fletcher. This was followed by a 25-ball stand of 34 between Athapaththu and Kavisha Dilhari, but then Athapaththu would also fall, caught excellently in the deep by Shamilia Connell – making up for her drop of the same batter a short while earlier.Athapaththu’s wicket in the 14th over and Dilhari’s (26 off 22) in the 16th – caught brilliantly by a leaping Henry at mid-off – fell at inopportune moments for the hosts, just as they might have been looking to accelerate.Some late blows from Ama Kanchana and Nilakshi de Silva pushed the total to 141, but Player of the Series Matthews and co eventually made light work of what could have been a tricky chase.