All posts by csb10.top

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAdam Zampa and Martin Guptill had solid days with bat and ball respectively for Guyana Amazon Warriors•CPL/Sportsfile

Guyana Amazon Warriors seized home advantage with a packed spin bowling line-up to restrict St Kitts & Nevis Patriots to 108 for 8, before chasing it down comfortably for a four-wicket win. Patriots had trouble coping with the turn on a slow pitch and made the chase look more difficult with a late flurry of wickets, but Amazon Warriors cruised home with 22 balls to spare.

Simmons bats with one pad

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots opener Lendl Simmons, who scored 50 against Guyana Amazon Warriors, made a bizarre change during his innings by taking off his right pad on a slow, turning pitch at the Providence Stadium. He took the back pad off at the end of the 12th over and continued to bat like that even against the fast bowlers, until he was dismissed in the last over.
“He’s batting with one leg guard. I have never seen this in any cricket apart from backyard,” Ian Bishop said on commentary at the start of the 13th over.

The pitch came under heavy criticism from the television broadcast commentators at the Providence Stadium, with a low and slow track producing likewise action from the Patriots line-up. The visitors opted to bat but three specialist spinners in the Amazon Warriors attack – Steven Jacobs, Adam Zampa and Veerasammy Permaul – exploited the favorable conditions superbly, none more so than offspinner Jacobs, who took the new ball and finished with 1 for 7 in four overs.Arriving in Guyana after a pair of blistering half-centuries in far friendlier batting conditions at Warner Park in St Kitts, Evin Lewis laboured through an 18-ball innings before a desperate shuffle across his stumps to flick Jacobs resulted in Lewis being trapped in front for 4 in the fourth over.Lewis’ opening partner Lendl Simmons exemplified the Patriots’ overall struggle with the conditions, lasting until the final over to score 50 off 60 balls before he was run-out by Martin Guptill. In between, Zampa wiped out the middle order, including the key scalp of captain Faf du Plessis for just 1.Guptill was the only batsman to look unencumbered by the nature of the track, scoring at nearly two runs a ball as he struck three fours and four sixes on his way to 43 off 22 balls and the Man-of-the-Match honours. Following the second-over departure of Dwayne Smith, Guptill and Chris Lynn produced a 60-run second-wicket stand across six overs before Guptill perished to left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi after an attempted drive went awry.Amazon Warriors reached the halfway stage needing just 24 runs to win with eight wickets in hand before a brief stumble was sparked by a leg-side stumping to remove Jason Mohammed off the bowling of Samuel Badree. It was the first of three wickets in the space of nine deliveries for just three runs as Badree had Christopher Barnwell lbw for a second-ball duck before Shamsi struck again to claim Anthony Bramble for 1.Lynn held firm though and remained until Amazon Warriors were within one shot of clinching the match when he was bowled for 34 by JJ Smuts, before Jacobs and Sohail Tanvir calmly knocked off the final six runs. While Amazon Warriors cemented their hold on top of the table, Patriots’ woeful start continued, having now lost four of their first five games.Patriots left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie was fined 75% of his match fees after the game for breaching Level 2 of the CPL Code of Conduct. At the end of the 16th over, he threw a ball back at batsman Steven Jacobs, thereby in violation of Article 2.2.7 which relates to “Throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at or near a player, player support personnel, umpire, match referee or any other third person in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during a CPL Match.” Santokie accepted the proposed sanction.

Anil Kumble, India’s new head coach, has said he will back Virat Kohli’s aggression and desire to push boundaries to secure wins. He also said India would approach tough situations positively during the long season, which starts with a four-Test series in the West Indies.”I love his aggression. I was no different,” Kumble said at the team’s pre-departure press conference in Bangalore. “I was also aggressive, but very different in terms of how I probably came across on the field. I’ll be the last person to curb someone’s natural instincts, but of course we all know how important it is to be ambassadors of India and be a part of the Indian cricket team. That everybody in the team understands. There is a fine line and we will ensure that everybody knows that. I certainly won’t curb anyone’s instincts.”Kohli, a picture of composure, wore a sheepish smile as talk of his “over aggression” did the rounds, but insisted that India’s mindset change wasn’t one-off, and that it was something they planned when he took over the reins of the Test team in January 2015.”Our first intention is to win – that won’t change,” he said. “Yes, there have been situations from where we’ve lost, but we know we were in that position because of the positive brand of cricket that we played.” The reference, clearly not lost on anyone, was the Adelaide Test in December 2014, which India lost trying to chase down 364 on the final day.”We need to realise we got there in the first place because we played at 80%, so the focus is on the remaining 20%. Anil ‘s mindset was the same during his playing days, so the mindset makes a difference. If you are hesitant, you don’t explore a different side to your ability as a team. Our motive is the same. We will play with the same mindset of trying to win the series and not just being satisfied with solitary Test wins.”As a follow-up, Kohli was asked about Test rankings, which he said were merely a byproduct of consistent cricket, and not the team’s primary aim. “High standards have different definitions,” he said. “The main goal is to play good cricket. Even if we’re No. 1 and someone else does better, there’s a chance they can overtake you. So that’s not our aim. The season is long, and we’re playing the same format over a length of time. So there’s an opportunity to use this stretch to challenge ourselves. That will give us a chance to assess ourselves and will determine how we play Test cricket over the next few years.”Where Kohli felt the team had benefited most during the week-long camp in Bangalore was in the players’ personal interactions with Kumble and the manner in which he may have broken down barriers within the group.”We haven’t had too many camps before, but I feel there’s already a lot that the team has benefited from,” Kohli said. “If you have experience of facing different situations in the past, you are better equipped. Understanding of skills and understanding of mindset are two different things. Mindset can’t be taught, but it comes only when you have faced tough situations, and that’s one big difference.”The information we’ve got from him about mental adjustments needed to win has been a big boost. He’s been more than willing to speak to everyone equally – the pacers, spinners, batsmen – and address their concerns. There’s an emotional connect with the coach, no doubt, but it’s about how he makes the players feel comfortable. That’s what I believe.”Anil has all those qualities in abundance. There’s huge respect within the group for what he’s achieved and also because he’s been Test captain. He understands that and makes them comfortable, so I feel the combination has settled in beautifully. He’s been involved with the players in some way or the other throughout.”Kohli brushed aside concerns over an elbow injury sustained by R Ashwin while batting during the camp, saying he had only suffered a bruise.When asked about Mohammed Shami’s return to the Test side for the first time since recovering from a long-term knee injury, Kohli enthused about his ability to generate reverse-swing. The skill was on display on his debut against West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where he returned match figures of 9 for 118 – the best figures by an Indian fast bowler on Test debut.”Shami is a skillful guy, we all know that. The way he bowls, the way he releases the ball, pitches the ball, it’s more or less perfect for Test cricket,” Kohli said. “The lines and lengths he bowls are always attacking. The best thing is when it’s seaming and swinging, he can bowl conventional lines and lengths. If it’s reverse-swinging, he knows exactly where to bring in the ball from. He has a great sense and feel of how to get batsmen out. We have been working with him on the mental strength aspect of his game. More consistency is something we push for him.”He’s eager to prove himself and come back after injury. We’ve seen when West Indies came to India in 2013, how he brought out his reverse-swing skills. Even in Adelaide in one of the sessions he brought us back into the game with two wickets. So he’s always someone on whom we can bank in terms of picking wickets. In short bursts, if you want a good attacking spell, Shami can deliver that for you. He’s got pace, a great bouncer – so he’s someone we always back because he knows he can take two-three wickets for us at any stage. I’m glad to have him back.”

The four-person independent panel assigned to review South Africa’s national teams performance last season has disbanded without completing its work. Sports physiologist Ross Tucker, who was on the panel, confirmed the news to ESPNcricinfo, although he declined further comment until the message had been communicated to CSA’s board. Tucker and his fellow panelists informed CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat of their decision last week.The investigation, which was due to be headed by CSA’s head of HR, Dawn Mokhobo, and also included former Test cricketer Adam Bacher and World Cup winning Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, was announced in the aftermath of South Africa’s men and women exiting the World T20 after the first round. It was to include an examination of the men’s team’s poor Test summer, in which they lost back-to-back series to India and England and the national Under-19 side, who failed to defend their World Cup title. The job of Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, was expected to come under particular scrutiny.The panel held preliminary meetings at the end of April and discussed the scope and the process of their review, which included identifying timeframes and cost. On Twitter, in conversation with another user, Tucker confirmed that they, “Couldn’t agree terms, times and scope/process, so it didn’t begin. Pity.”With CSA yet to announce the cessation of the review process, it is uncertain what steps it will take to conduct an analysis of the past summer. An option would be to ask the 14-person panel that is conducting a review into domestic cricket to include the national teams in its scope as well. The findings of the domestic review are set to be revealed in the next two months, with CSA also due to hold its AGM over the winter.The cancellation of the review process means that Domingo may feel he can breathe a little easier but only just. With his contract expiring at the end of April next year and a Champions Trophy looming, he is still under pressure to prove he can turn the team’s fortunes around to stop CSA from starting to search for his replacement.

Australia have suffered a huge blow ahead of the Ashes, with Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the opening Test in Perth with a hamstring injury three days after initially being cleared when he left the field during New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield game against Victoria at the SCG.Hazlewood will not travel to Perth this weekend, and Queensland seamer Michael Neser has been added to the squad, which has also lost Sean Abbott to a hamstring injury.Related

• Hazlewood suffers Achilles soreness during hamstring rehab

• Doggett awaits his day as Perth Test debut looms into view

• Pope hopes No.3 scrutiny can bring out his best for Ashes

• Will Australia's pitches be juicy for the Ashes?

• England's Ashes squad have pace in abundance, but do they have the miles?

Pat Cummins had already been ruled out of at least the opening Test as he recovers from a back injury.”Initial scans Wednesday were clear of muscle strain, however follow-up imaging today has confirmed the injury,” a CA statement on Saturday said. “Early imaging can occasionally underestimate low-grade muscle injuries.”The latest injury means that Brendan Doggett could be closing in a Test debut with even more onus now on Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland.The news of Hazlewood follows England having a scare around Mark Wood who went for a scan after reporting hamstring tightness of the first day of the warm-up game against the Lions in Perth although on Saturday the ECB said he had been cleared.Hazlewood, who sits on 295 Test wickets, had bowled superbly in the white-ball matches against India last month and again looked in good rhythm in his Shield outing. However, after completing his spell on the third morning, he told Steven Smith, who was captaining NSW and will lead Australia in Perth, that he was feeling some tightness in his hamstring and Smith told him to leave the field immediately.He walked to a clinic next door to the SCG to have a scan which, before the match had ended, came back clear. Cummins, who had been at the ground to see the physios before speaking at a commercial engagement, said Hazlewood had been in good spirits after the result.Last season, Hazlewood missed three of the five Tests against India, firstly because of a side strain and then a calf injury.Since 2014, Australia have only twice played a Test at home without Cummins and Hazlewood, but won on both occasions – against England in 2021 and West Indies in 2022 – which are also the two Tests Neser has played.Doggett, the South Australia quick, has been in excellent form since return from his own hamstring problem with 13 wickets in two matches. He was a traveling reserve for the World Test Championship final earlier this year and had been due to tour West Indies before injury ruled him out. If Doggett makes a debut in Perth he would become Australia’s third Indigenous men’s player and it would be the first time a men’s Test XI featured two Indigenous players, alongside Boland.Cummins has recently increased the intensity of his return to bowling with an eye on a potential return in Brisbane although that remains a race against time. He said he was operating around 90% during a spell in the SCG nets last week.”[The Gabba] is what we’re building towards,” Cummins said. “Hopefully by Perth, I’m up there near 100%, and then see where we’re at. It’s still pretty aggressive, going from nothing to trying to get ready for a Test match in four weeks. But we’re going to give it a good shot.”Australia’s pace-bowling depth is already being severely tested and further injuries would leave them scrambling for more options. Jhye Richardson has been named in the Cricket Australia XI to face England Lions and there is hope he could become an option later in the series as he returns from shoulder surgery. Xavier Bartlett is another who could come into contention.

India were in the middle of a careful, painstaking build. Then they got distracted by something shiny, and spent the rest of the day paying for it. Cricket may be a team sport but the events leading up to lunch on the third day at Lord’s epitomise how much individual records matter – for better or worse.KL Rahul offered a sheepish look after his clattering of a short and wide delivery proved insufficient to beat deep point. So now he was on 98 instead of 101, and facing the prospect of a nervous 40 minutes inside the change room. Rishabh Pant wanted to spare his team-mate that trouble and went for a risky single. Ben Stokes pounced.That moment coloured the rest of play on the third day, which ended with India drawing level with England’s 387. There were six minutes left. England dragged their feet. Tempers began to flare. Shubman Gill had some choice words, and sarcastic claps as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett’s delay tactics allowed for only one over until stumps.Three players earned the opportunity to take this game by the scruff of its neck. Jofra Archer summoned fire and brimstone during a four-over spell right after lunch. Lord’s lived every ball, clapping him on as he ran in, their oohs and aahs defying the physics of a wide open space to create an echo. Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy couldn’t appreciate any of this. It was all they could do to survive.Archer unleashed at this ground is addiction. On a slow pitch, with an old ball, he was generating an average speed of 150.3kph/90.3mph. He had never bowled quicker in Test cricket.2:12

Manjrekar: ‘Pretty mediocre how England bowled in first session’

But England couldn’t break through. It was a feeling they had to get used to on Saturday morning. Stokes didn’t care for it. He had been functioning as less than himself over the last two years, his body coming in the way of his myth. The England captain used to be known for his ferocity with the ball in hand. And now, after hamstring surgery, it seems he will be able to carry on that persona.For five overs, Stokes bombarded India. Twenty-six bouncers or back-of-a-length deliveries, many of them aimed at Pant, who was nursing an injured finger which seemed to behave itself except when Stokes was close and cranking his own pace up to 90mph.It was at the tail-end of this little skirmish that India’s focus shifted from the team’s needs to an individual’s, and Stokes could feel it happening. He was hyperalert to Pant trying to pinch a single to cover and help Rahul get to his century before lunch. There was anger in the celebration of that run-out – itself an homage to Stokes’ athleticism as he swooped down on the ball, spun around and completed a markedly more difficult direct hit at the bowler’s end. He brought his cap to his mouth, a trick used to prevent the cameras from catching what you’re saying, even as the rest of the team rallied around him, rose with him.Rahul set the rhythm of this Test match. He was partly the cause of England’s frustration. He was the source of India’s calm. He secured their eighth century on tour, a new record. Repeatedly, he talks about the discrepancy between effort and reward, and when he does so, it is tempting to extrapolate he had learned that lesson the hardest way possible. Obsessing about his lack of success and doubling down on his prep work in search for a change.At some point, though, Rahul realised he needed to let go, which is funny because, one time, in South Africa, he started speaking about how letting go of the ball was where his joy was. Bit by bit, his focus turned from scoring runs to just being the best batter he can be. Well, in this series, he has made two hundreds in three Tests, and as he scurried to this one, he took time for himself, running practically all the way to the boundary as he completed a quick single, and then looking up at the sky with closed eyes. Once again, it was tempting to imagine him looking back at all the struggle and telling himself it was worth it.1:30

Manjrekar: ‘The grind’ a great facet of Jadeja’s batting evolution

All of these stirring performances, and yet the third Test of this series remains evenly poised.Stokes tried to sway it again – this time with the new ball – a seven-over spell where a dead pitch came to life just for him and helped England break the 72-run Jadeja-Reddy partnership that had been immune to their own abysmal running.Pant had tried to sway it earlier, braving time in the middle, even though he was far from 100%. But injured or not, he was still him, so it was natural that he charged down the track to Archer in the first over of the day. Or that he was irked by a stretch of 25 dots and tried to break it with a reverse scoop. Or that he turned the first ball of spin he faced into his 88th six, which means he is only two short of Virender Sehwag, who holds the India record. Frenetic. Unpredictable. And in the end, fallible.India slipped from 248 for 3 to 254 for 5 when Rahul was dismissed on 100, which was 11 balls later. That prompted Stokes to wind Archer up and let him loose. The idea was to burst through India’s allrounders into the tail just in time for the second new ball. But Jadeja wouldn’t budge. He made 72 off 131 balls. His technique – particularly the ability to discern between the balls he needs to play and those he doesn’t – is under-rated. When he’s in form, he’s as good as a top-order batter, and he seemed to be the final play, a decisive shift in the game, until he was dismissed with India 11 runs off England’s total, and they were bowled out for exactly the same score: 387.Lord’s and ties. It’s starting to get ridiculous.

Careless batting and missed opportunities in the field cost Somerset a position of dominance against Warwickshire on the second day of their Rothesay County Championship clash at Edgbaston.On a pitch which is excellent for batting, Somerset were 407 for three (Tom Lammonby 133, 196 balls) but collapsed to 498 all out – a total that insures against defeat but does not apply the major scoreboard pressure that beckoned.Warwickshire closed the second day on 157 for one with Alex Davies (63 not out, 152) and Tom Latham (65 not out, 142) having added 125 in 43 overs. Both were reprieved as Davies, on 36, survived a high chance to Archie Vaughan at point and Latham, on 28 escaped a missed stumping by James Rew off Jack Leach.On such a batter-friendly pitch, offering seamers nothing and spinners only very slight turn, near-flawless cricket is required to craft a victory. Somerset’s was that on the first day, but on the second they relieved the pressure on the hosts to leave the match already 99.47% certain to end in a draw.After Somerset resumed on the second morning on 327 for three and overnight pair Lammonby and Tom Abell (48, 103) took the total past 400, the platform was there for a mammoth total for Craig Overton’s side. Instead of showing the required ruthlessness, however, they succumbed to collective carelessness.The collapse began when Abell, seeking to accelerate towards another batting point, hit Corey Rocchiccioli for three successive fours then pulled a short ball to mid-wicket to supply the Australian’s first wicket for Warwickshire. Lammonby had batted beautifully to turn his ninth first-class century into a career-best but chipped Ethan Bamber tamely to mid off.Warwickshire’s part-time spinners Rob Yates and Jacob Bethell then shared the last five wickets in 15 overs. Tom Banton skied Bethell to mid off and Vaughan missed a sweep and was lbw to Yates who quickly had Migael Pretorius caught at slip. Leach conjured up another way to get out when he reverse-swept Bethell to slip. When Matt Henry slogged Yates to long off, Somerset were left with 498 – a tall total but not the intimidating score which would have forced Warwickshire to bat very long even to avoid the follow on.The moment that Warwickshire avoid the follow-on figure – 349 – this match will be doomed to a draw. Yates perished in infuriating fashion, caught down the leg side by Rew off Pretorius, but Davies and Latham reined in their attacking instincts to ensure it was an isolated early wicket.Davies reached his half-century from 109 balls and Latham followed to his from 95. As the shadows lengthened, Somerset’s bowlers gave very little away, so did the batters and so did the pitch and something truly remarkable has to happen if this 148th Championship meeting of these teams is not to conclude in a 68th draw.

Not for the first time, Peter Handscomb returned to haunt his old county as Leicestershire kept their noses in front on an absorbing day two against Middlesex at Lord’s.Handscomb made only two 50s in 21 innings over two seasons for the Seaxes, but added to his century here last season with a defiant 87. It marked his 100th score of 50 or more in first-class cricket. Ian Holland (37) and Ben Green (36) lent support in stands of 93 and 59 respectively to carry the visitors to 274.Former Pakistan international spinner Zafar Gohar kept the hosts in touch with figures of 4-34, but the missed stumping off his bowling which reprieved Handscomb on 54 may yet prove costly.Middlesex openers Sam Robson and Max Holden survived a nervy four over before the close, reducing their arrears by 10 runs in the process.Leicestershire were initially bogged down as the new ball regularly whistled past both edges of the bat. Sol Budinger opted to counter-attack, depositing one from Dane Paterson over mid-on for six, but the former South African international reaped rapid vengeance, bowling him with a beauty which clipped off-stump.Toby Roland-Jones came on as the day’s first change and struck with his second delivery, a lack of footwork from Rehan Ahmed, coupled by a tentative poke at the ball resulting in an inside edge onto the stumps.With the hosts now on top, debutant Naavya Sharma should have enjoyed a dream start, finding the edge of Lewis Hill’s bat in his opening over in first-class cricket, only for the usually safe hands of Sam Robson to grass the chance at first slip. Hill though didn’t make the most of the reprieve, Roland-Jones bowling him off the inside edge soon afterwards.Handscomb though found an ally in Holland as the early afternoon developed into a game of patience, stoic defence resisting frugal bowling by the hosts. Thirteen runs were squeezed out in 11 overs before a lovely cover drive by Handscombe raised the 50-stand and Holland mimicked his captain’s shot as the scoreboard began to tick over.Another boundary took Handscomb to his landmark half-century, but he should have gone on 54, wicketkeeper Jack Davies missing a stumping chance after he gave Gohar the charge. A huge lbw shout to the next delivery also went unheeded, after which Handscombe re-entrenched.His stand with the obdurate Holland reached 93 before the all-rounder was bamboozled by one from Gohar which beat his defences and dislodged the off-bail.It was part of a lovely spell by the left-arm spinner either side of tea in which he also snared Ben Cox and Logan Van Beek, both leg before.At 197 for 7, Middlesex were even scenting a narrow first-innings lead, but new batter Green opened his shoulders, clubbing Hollman over the short boundary.The new ball was dispatched with similar distain, a straight drive back past Roland Jones, one of the shots of the day.Handscomb appeared to be inching towards his century, but was undone on Australia’s unlucky number 87, lofting the first ball of Gohar’s new spell to the hands of mid-on.Green’s enterprising innings ended when he was pinned in front by Higgins, before Sharma returned to scatter Tom Scriven’s stumps and claim the maiden first-class wicket he should have had earlier in the day.

The IPL will allow franchises to sign temporary replacement players for the final stages of the rearranged 2025 season – but those players will not be eligible for retention ahead of the next auction.The league will resume on Saturday after its suspension due to cross-border India-Pakistan tensions, with the new dates prompting calendar clashes for a handful of players. The majority of overseas players will return to India for the rest of the season but some have withdrawn, including Jake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi Capitals) and Jamie Overton (Chennai Super Kings).The IPL’s regulations permit teams to sign replacements in the event of illness or injury provided it occurs during or before their 12th match of the season. But the league has taken the call to change those rules, enabling temporary replacements to be signed for the remainder of the rearranged season.Related

• FAQs – How will the last leg of IPL 2025 play out?

• IPL 2025 scenarios: GT and RCB one win away from playoffs, MI in control of their fate

• IPL 2025 to resume on May 17, final to be played on June 3

• DC announce Mustafizur signing after Fraser-McGurk exits IPL 2025

However, any temporary replacements signed after the league’s suspension will not be eligible for retention ahead of next season. The move is seemingly designed to avoid a situation where franchises are effectively incentivised to sign replacements as a way of circumventing the auction process, rather than for legitimate reasons.The IPL told franchises in a memo that it had “reassessed” the replacement rules. “Given the non-availability of certain foreign players due to national commitments or personal reasons or any injury or illness, Temporary Replacement Players will be allowed until the conclusion of this tournament,” the league said.”This decision is subject to the condition that the Temporary Replacement players taken from this point forward will not be eligible for retention in the following year. Temporary Replacement players will have to register for the IPL Player Auction 2026.”The IPL also clarified that any replacements which were approved before the league’s suspension remain eligible for retention ahead of next season. Four players were signed in the 48 hours before suspension: Sediqullah Atal (Delhi Capitals), Mayank Agarwal (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Nandre Burger (both Rajasthan Royals).Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have brought in Blessing Muzarabani, the Zimbabwe fast-bowling spearhead, as temporary replacement for Lungi Ngidi, who will leave to join South Africa for their preparations ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final. The replacement will be effective from May 26, the day before RCB’s last league-phase game, against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) away in Lucknow. An IPL statement said that Muzarabani would be joining RCB for INR 75 lakh.

Birmingham Bears suffered a fourth consecutive quarter-final exit as Gloucestershire stunned the North Group winners with a 14-run victory in a tense, low-scoring contest at Edgbaston.The west country side scraped into the last eight only on net run rate, finishing fourth in the South Group, but will now face Sussex in the semi-final back on this ground on Saturday week.Gloucestershire had looked well under par, racing to 51 without loss from five overs after being put in only to be bowled out for just 138.But as left-arm quick David Payne took 4 for 23, including two as he defended 18 but conceded just three in the final over, and spinner Ollie Price 3 for 32, the Bears could muster only 124 for 9 in reply, Chris Benjamin’s 33 a paltry top score.Cameron Bancroft had top-scored for Gloucestershire with 43 in 35 balls and opening partner Miles Hammond 30 from 24 but no one else bettered Jack Taylor’s 19.Bears’ New Zealand seamer Zak Foulkes took 3 for 22, spinners Danny Briggs and Dan Mousley picking up two wickets each and George Garton executing two magnificent run-outs with direct hits.Needing to score at just under seven-an-over, Bears were 37 for 2 in the powerplay, 17 behind their opponents at the corresponding point and with one fewer wicket in hand.Payne, who opened with a maiden, had Alex Davies caught on the square leg boundary and struck a major blow to the home side when Moeen Ali was out for 27. Payne had conceded 16 of those himself as the England man hit him for six, four and six but the next ball found the outside edge and James Bracey took the catch.Like their counterparts in the first innings, Bears struggled to regain their momentum, losing Mousley leg before in an attempted pull and Jacob Bethell caught at extra cover, both wickets falling to Ollie Price, leaving them 59 for 4 in the ninth. That became 74 for 5 in the 13th as Price’s offspin claimed its third victim, Sam Hain unleashing a towering hit on the leg side but failing to clear Hammond on the midwicket boundary.Benjamin hammered six off Tom Smith and Garton took two fours off Price to ease the pressure but then Josh Shaw ramped it up again with two wickets in two balls as Garton holed out to long-off and Foulkes perished leg before.It all came down to 18 required off the last six balls, with Gloucestershire pace man and leading wicket-taker Payne coming out on top, conceding just three and adding the wickets of Benjamin and Jake Lintott for good measure as Price and Bancroft held catches in the deep.Gloucestershire fans must have been anticipating a big score when Hammond and Bancroft helped them put 54 on the board from six.Bancroft’s scoop brought him two of three fours in Foulkes’s opening over and Hammond pulled Mousley for six but the offspinner had revenge when Hammond was caught by a tumbling Lintott at mid-off.The Bears spinners then wrestled back control, Briggs beating Bracey’s swing across the line for a leg before, Ollie Price top-edging the same bowler to short fine leg. A chance was missed when Bancroft was dropped on 30, but the return of pace saw Jack Taylor’s attempted pull go vertical, dropping into the gloves of keeper Davies.Ben Charlesworth clobbered Moeen over the midwicket boundary but perished looking for a repeat next ball and then Bancroft, for whom something substantial now looked vital, was brilliantly run out by Garton’s direct hit from long-on.Panic now set in. Matt Taylor and Shaw were caught off consecutive balls from Foulkes, another precision throw by Garton ran out Matt Taylor from mid-on and Payne sliced Mousley in the air to backward point, leaving Gloucestershire all out for what looked like a seriously under-par 138, but turned out to be enough.

Afghanistan’s ace spinner Rashid Khan is not part of their preliminary 20-member squad for the one-off Test against New Zealand, which will be played in Greater Noida from September 9 to 13.Rashid last featured in a Test match for Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi in March 2021. A statement from the ACB didn’t specify the reason for Rashid’s absence from the squad that will leave for India on August 28 to undergo a one-week preparatory camp.Rashid was recently in action in the Shpageeza T20 league in Kabul as Speen Ghar Tigers’ captain. Last week, he hit 53 off 26 balls and picked up a wicket in a truncated game in the league. Prior to that, his stint with Trent Rockets in the men’s Hundred was cut short by a hamstring injury.Related

• Rashid Khan takes a break from Test cricket on medical advice

• Afghanistan sign up R Sridhar as assistant coach

• NZ captain Southee may not play all upcoming subcontinent Tests

• Afghanistan and New Zealand set to play one-off Test in September

“Twenty players have been selected for the training camp and a 15-member squad will be selected to play the only Test match against New Zealand after observing their performance and fitness,” Ahmad Shah Sulimankhel, the chief selector said.Seam-bowling allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai is in line to make his Test debut, meanwhile, after being named in the preliminary squad. Omarzai has established himself as a regular in white-ball cricket for Afghanistan but is uncapped in Test cricket, and his first-class experience is also limited: he has played just five long-format games so far. Omarzai was recently pulled out of his CPL stint with Antigua & Barbuda Falcons, with England’s Sam Billings replacing him. CPL 2024 will overlap with the Test match against New Zealand and the ODI series that follows against South Africa in the UAE, also in September.Hashmatullah Shahidi was retained as captain while Afghanistan will have a new assistant coach in R Sridhar for their upcoming series against New Zealand and South Africa. Sridhar had served as India’s fielding coach from 2014 to 2021, working as a part of Ravi Shastri’s support staff.The Test against New Zealand will be Afghanistan’s 10th overall and their third of 2024 – the most they have so far played in a calendar year.

Afghanistan preliminary squad for one-off Test against NZ

Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Shahidullah Kamal, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaurrahman Akbar, Shamsurrahman, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masoud, Farid Ahmad Malik, Naveed Zadran, Khalil Ahmad, Yama Arab.