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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 The majority of overseas players will return to India for the rest of the season but some have withdrawn, including Jake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi Capitals) and Jamie Overton (Chennai Super Kings).The IPL’s regulations permit teams to sign replacements in the event of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

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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.

Australia A 315 for 7 (Trenaman 77, Knott 52, Faltum 52, Wong 4-57) vs England ARachel Trenaman top-scored with 77 from 131 balls, while Charli Knott and Nicole Faltum contributed a pair of half-centuries, as Australia A battled back from a difficult start to reach a competitive 315 for 7 on the opening day of their four-day unofficial Test against England A in Sydney.After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Australia A slipped to 50 for 3 in the morning session, thanks in particular to the incisiveness of Issy Wong, who bowled Maddy Darke for 5 before having Anika Learoyd caught on the cut by Alice Capsey at second slip for 16. Earlier, Tahlia Wilson had been the first to fall, edging a drive to slip off Eva Grey for 11.By lunch, Australia were still awkwardly placed at 63 for 3, but Trenaman and Knott settled into their work after the break, capitalising on some loose deliveries to add 87 for the fourth wicket.However Wong, whose form and fortunes have been under scrutiny in recent seasons, returned to break the stand as Knott mistimed a pull to Paige Scholfield at midwicket for 52.Capsey then claimed the key scalp of Trenaman as she sliced a drive to Jodi Grewcock at backward point, and though Faltum kept Australia’s momentum going into the evening session, Georgia Davis picked her off, also for 52, via a drive to Grace Scrivens at mid-off.Wong then finished her day as she had started it, removing Tess Flintoff for 33 to cement her status as the pick of England’s attack with 4 for 57 in 21 overs.The four-day fixture is the final match of England A’s seven-game tour. England claimed the T20I leg 1-0 after two washouts, before Australia A hit back to win the 50-over leg 2-1.

Torrent Group, an Indian business conglomerate with headquarters in Ahmedabad, is set to buy a majority stake in 2022 IPL champions Gujarat Titans (GT). ESPNcricinfo has learned that Torrent will buy a 67% stake in GT from CVC Capital Partners (Irelia Company Pte Ltd), who bought the franchise in 2021.At the moment, further details, including the valuation of the stake divested by CVC, could not be confirmed. It is understood the IPL is processing the paperwork before a final nod is given by the league’s governing council. Subject to the final approval, GT’s new owners could likely be involved from the 2025 season, which starts on March 21.CVC, a global private equity fund, had paid INR 5625 crore (US$ 750 million approx.) in 2021 to buy GT, who won the IPL in their first season (2022), made the final the following year (2023) and finished eighth in 2024. GT’s home base is the Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s largest cricket stadium with a capacity of over 100,000.Incidentally, Torrent Group’s subsidiary, Torrent Sports Ventures Private Limited, was among the final nine bidders at the walk-in auction conducted by the BCCI in 2021 to add two new franchises to the original eight.The bidders then could bid for six cities, which included Indore, Dharamsala, Guwahati and Cuttack along with Ahmedabad and Lucknow, the eventual winners. Torrent bid for Ahmedabad (INR 4653 cr) and Lucknow (INR 4356 cr). In 2023, Torrent bid unsuccessfully for three of the ten cities put up for bidding by the BCCI to start the five-team WPL.As per the company’s website, Torrent Group has a valuation of about INR 41,000 crore and is among one of the top multinational companies in India, spearheaded by two prominent subsidiaries: Torrent Power and Torrent Pharma. It is understood that Jinal Mehta, director of Torrent Group, will oversee the IPL investment.”With the acquisition of a majority stake in the Gujarat Titans, we are excited to have the opportunity to elevate our fan experience and unlock new growth avenues in the years to come,” Mehta said. “We are committed to nurturing the Gujarat Titans team and creating a lasting legacy for everyone involved – our fanbase, the players and our employees. With a proven track-record of delivering high quality products and services across multiple sectors, Torrent is well-positioned to set new standards of excellence in the Sports industry through the acquisition of Gujarat Titans”.The GT investment was CVC’s first successful foray into cricket. The global fund manager, which has offices across the globe, had previously bid for Delhi Capitals in 2018 after GMR Group divested stake in the franchise, which eventually was bought by Jindal South West (JSW) for INR 550 crore approx. at the time.GT are led by India batter Shubman Gill and also have Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan, England white-ball captain Jos Buttler and India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj among others.

Shubman Gill, who made his debut in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG four years ago, was left out of this one, paying the price for being unable to make the most of his starts in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Gill missed the first Test in Perth with a finger injury. He came back for the next one – the day-night Test – in Adelaide, and though he looked solid in both innings he scored only 31 and 28. He fell for 1 chasing a wide half-volley in his only innings in the Brisbane Test.India decided to go into the MCG Test with their captain Rohit Sharma back as opener. KL Rahul has been their best batter on tour. The skill he has shown in negotiating the new ball meant he had to bat up the order. He’s slated to come in at No. 3. India could have moved Gill down to No. 6 but they decided to pack their XI with allrounders instead.”Well I think a lot of the decisions when they are made, and the process of it being made, the communication is always there, transparency is there,” India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said after the first day’s play in Melbourne. “Rohit will come up in the order and more likely than not he will open the innings for us. So I think that was the thought process and unfortunately for him [Gill], just how things panned out. He had to miss out and sometimes I just feel for a young player in a position like that, a big day, he wants to make his mark, he understands it is a team’s requirement and it is unfortunate. I wouldn’t say that he has been dropped per se, it is just unfortunate that he couldn’t find his place in his team.”Related

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Nayar seemed to suggest the choice was between Gill, their second-highest scorer in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle, and Washington Sundar, and they preferred having an offspinner bowing at Travis Head and Alex Carey when the ball gets older. There seemed to be no question over Nitish Kumar Reddy’s spot – he only bowled five overs on day one and is set to bat at No. 7.India’s desire for bowlers who can bat could also be because two of their most reliable sources for runs have run dry in this series: Rohit (19 runs at 6.33) and Virat Kohli (126 runs at 31.50) are still searching for their best form.”I always believe that it’s about confidence and a start. Once a player gets a start, their game looks different. So, I think Virat and Rohit are both such players. If they can play 25-30 balls, then you will see the same Virat and Rohit that you see earlier. But, this is a game of confidence. So, no matter how much you practise, no matter how much you talk, in the end, when you get into the match, it’s very important to play 20-25-30 balls.”Things looked precarious for India when 19-year old Australian debutant Sam Konstas took down all of their bowlers and set his team up for a big total. Jasprit Bumrah helped them fight back after tea to end the day with Australia on 311 for 6.”Well, I think a lot of credit to, you know, the way Sam played. I felt, you know, the intent that he showed in the first four sort of put us in the back foot. I felt it took a lot of character for our bowlers to stick in there,” Nayar said. “It wasn’t the best, I mean, the easiest conditions to bowl, we felt the conditions are good to bat on and at times like that, sometimes it’s important to stick to your guns, stick to the plans.”I felt post-lunch, we came back really strong, bowling [four] maidens [back-to-back], you know, putting the pressure on the opposition. I felt at times like that, you are taken by surprise when someone plays a knock like that, but I felt we responded really well and then through the day, sort of kept at it and towards the end, you reap the rewards of everything that you did through the day. So, I felt overall, you look at that day, we were happy with where we ended.”

Bhuvneshwar Kumar emerged as the most expensive player sold in the early bidding on day two of the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) buying him for INR 10.75 crore (US$ 1.28 million approx.).Fast bowlers were in high demand with Deepak Chahar going to Mumbai Indians (MI) for INR 9.25 crore ($1.10 million approx.), Akash Deep to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for INR 8 crore ($0.95 million approx.), Mukesh Kumar to Delhi Capitals (DC) for INR 8 crore ($0.95 million approx.), pace-bowling allrounder Marco Jansen to Punjab Kings (PBKS) for INR 7 crore ($0.83 million approx.), and Tushar Deshpande to Rajasthan Royals (RR) for INR 6.50 crore ($0.77 million approx.).RCB and RR also went up against each other for Indian spin allrounders, with RCB snapping up Krunal Pandya for INR 5.75 crore ($0.68 million approx.)and RR getting Nitish Rana for INR 4.20 crore ($0.50 million approx.).Related

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A large number of players were unsold in the early bidding, including established IPL names like Shardul Thakur, Kane Williamson and Ajinkya Rahane. There were no takers for Prithvi Shaw either, despite his base price being only INR 75 lakh. On day one, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were among the high-profile players to go unsold.Records were broken on day one of the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, when PBKS first bought Shreyas Iyer for INR 26.75 crore and then LSG bought Rishabh Pant for INR 27 crore, making them the most expensive players in the history of the league.

Kagiso Rabada has leapfrogged Jasprit Bumrah, R Ashwin and Josh Hazlewood to go top of the ICC men’s Test bowling rankings after his nine-wicket haul in South Africa’s first Test against Bangladesh.Rabada took three wickets in Bangladesh’s first innings, becoming the fastest to 300 Test wickets in the process, and then returned figures of 6 for 46 as South Africa won their first Test in Asia since 2014.Bumrah and Ashwin both had indifferent showings in India’s defeat to New Zealand in Pune, and the two also dropped below Hazlewood to sit third and fourth respectively in the latest rankings.Related

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Pakistan left-arm spinner Noman Ali also saw a big jump, moving up nine places to go eighth after his nine wickets in Rawalpindi. This is the first time he has entered the top ten of the Test bowlers’ rankings.Meanwhile, Rachin Ravindra and Saud Shakeel entered the top ten of the Test batting charts for the first time. Ravindra, who followed up his century in Bengaluru with a half-century in Pune, moved up eight spots to go tenth, while Shakeel shot up 20 places to reach seventh, following his 134 against England.

Full rankings tables

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Yashasvi Jaiswal, who dropped behind Harry Brook temporarily, has moved back up to third place, after making 30 and 77 in Pune.Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who made a battling 97 in Bangladesh’s second innings in Mirpur, and claimed two wickets, moved up two slots to go third in the allrounder charts.

Lancashire’s batters made title-chasing Somerset work for every wicket on the second day of the Vitality County Championship match at Old Trafford and had built a formidable 292-run lead at close of play.Josh Bohannon’s 60 and Luke Wells’ unbeaten 78 enabled the home side to finish on 298 for 7 in their second innings of a match both sides desperately need to win, Lancashire to preserve their hopes of avoiding relegation, Surrey to stay in touch with Surrey at the top of the table.The difference between the first day’s play and the second was immediately apparent during a morning session in which Lancashire scored 90 runs in 27 overs for the loss of only two wickets.On a pitch that had dried out and lost much of the greenness, bowlers had to work harder for their successes and the only batsman dismissed in the first hour was the nightwatchman, Will Williams, who was leg-before wicket to Craig Overton for 7 in the third over of the morning.Harry Singh then added 85 for the third wicket with Bohannon, who batted beautifully to make 60 off 76 balls. However, it was indicative of the problems Bohannon has encountered this season that his half-century was only his fourth innings over fifty in 22 Championship innings.None of which diminished Somerset’s joy in the penultimate over before lunch when Bohannon tried to pull a ball from Kasey Aldridge but only succeeded in diverting it via the toe of the bat to Tom Abell in the gully.On the resumption, Singh and Rocky Flintoff defied Lewis Gregory’s bowlers for 50 minutes until Singh thin-edged a catch to James Rew off Brett Randell to give the New Zealander his first wicket for Somerset.Singh had faced 142 balls during his 260-minute innings of 30 but his patient resistance was not copied by Matty Hurst, who hit three breezy fours in 19 runs before attempting to drive Randell and nicking a catch to Overton at second slip.In the next over, Flintoff was bowled by Jack Leach’s arm-ball for 27 but Well and George Bell saw their side through to 214 for 6 at tea, when Lancashire’s lead was 208. And on the resumption, Wells and Bell extended their seventh-wicket stand to 83 before Bell was bowled for 23 when trying to pull a ball from Gregory that kept low.Wells shifted down into the middle order for this match, having struggled in his usual opening role in recent weeks. Batting as low as No. 7 on account of Williams’ deployment as a nightwatchman, he went on to emulate Bohannon’s feat in passing fifty for only the fourth time this season but his strokeplay was impressive, most noticeably when he hit three off-side boundaries in one over from Gregory.And the day ended with Lancashire in the ascendant. Wells was unbeaten on 78 and Somerset’s fielders appeared aggrieved that George Balderson had not been adjudged run out on 5 when apparently run out by Overton’s throw from slip. The visitors had earlier been penalised five runs for fake fielding.

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

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“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.

India’s first step into a new era of T20 cricket began with a stumble on Saturday, but they dusted themselves off well and truly to close out the weekend with a portentous win headlined by their most futuristic player. Abhishek Sharma, who lit up IPL 2024 with his incandescent, all-intent displays at the top of the order, gave international cricket its first glimpse of his ability on Sunday, taking Zimbabwe apart with a 46-ball century, the joint third-fastest by an India batter in T20Is.Related

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That effort led India to 234 for 2 – their second-highest T20I total away from home – and left Zimbabwe needing to pull off their highest successful chase – they had only once hauled down a target above 199. They didn’t get anywhere near close, as India’s vastly superior bowling attack made full use of a two-paced pitch while defending a total that was well above-par. The margin of victory – exactly 100 runs – perfectly summed up the contest.

A deceptive start

On Saturday, Zimbabwe had opened the bowling with Brian Bennett, deploying his offspin against India’s left-hand debutant, and that had brought a first-over wicket-maiden with Abhishek out for a duck. The same match-up kicked off the second T20I after India opted to bat, and Abhishek got off the mark in international cricket off the first legal ball he faced, pulling it for six.It was a sign of what was to come, but it also wasn’t. International cricket isn’t necessarily a standard than the IPL, but it can be very, very different. This was a Harare pitch with a bit of spongy bounce and seam early on, and Zimbabwe’s attack used it well in the powerplay to keep India to 36 for 1.Shubman Gill fell in the second over, chipping Blessing Muzarabani straight to mid-on, and the towering quick was Zimbabwe’s best bowler in the early stages, troubling Ruturaj Gaikwad in particular with his lift and movement in the corridor. Abhishek took time coming to grips with the conditions too, and at one point was batting on 27 off 23 balls.Then he looked to clear his front leg and hit Luke Jongwe’s nibbly medium-pace over the top, and miscued it high in the air over the mid-off region. Wellington Masakadza got under it, and put it down.Abhishek Sharma’s savours the feeling of getting to a maiden international ton•Associated Press

Abhi shakes the room

From that point on, Abhishek was unstoppable, clattering 72 runs in his last 23 balls at the crease, hitting five fours and seven sixes in that time. Suddenly, the conditions ceased to bother him. He was rocking back to marginally short balls and pulling with fierce power. He was stepping out and freeing his arms gloriously to loft over the covers. A modest Zimbabwe attack, suddenly, was looking like what it was.There was another drop along the way, Tendai Chatara running to his right from long-off and getting only the heel of his palm to a lofted drive off Sikandar Raza, when Abhishek was on 77 off 40. Zimbabwe were in the firing line, though, and with all the batting India had in the dugout – they had left out the left-arm quick Khaleel Ahmed and included an extra batter, handing Sai Sudharsan his T20I debut – he was taking nearly every ball on. Abhishek wasn’t worried about getting out – this is why he made such an impact in the IPL even though his longest innings of the season only lasted 28 balls – and on this day luck smiled on him.Along the way, he left a couple of bowlers nursing vivid bruises. Dion Myers’ slow-medium disappeared for 4, 6, 4, 6, 4 in the 11th over, the pick of the hits a monster pull that hit the roof beyond the leg-side boundary to bring up Abhishek’s fifty. Then Masakadza, unfortunate both to have dropped Abhishek and to be a purveyor of left-arm orthodox, went for 6, 6, 6 in the 14th over – the last of them a one-handed swipe over backward square leg that brought up Abhishek’s century – before a miscue off the next ball ended the onslaught.Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad put on 137 off 76 for the second wicket•Associated Press

Gaikwad and Rinku pile it on

Or not, because Zimbabwe still had six overs to bowl and India were in the mood now. Gaikwad’s struggle against the conditions and the rust of playing his first competitive cricket since the IPL extended all the way until his 38th ball, when he brought up his fifty with a pulled four off Jongwe. He took Chatara apart in the next over, the 18th, hitting him for three fours and a six to eventually finish unbeaten on 77 off 47.India’s main source of end-overs carnage, however, was Rinku Singh, who had been unlucky to miss their World Cup campaign while boasting an average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.23 in 11 innings at the time the squad was announced. He was in his element here, promoted to No. 4 with the perfect entry point for his skills, slapping the sixth ball he faced for a charging six over the covers and finishing the innings with a four and back-to-back sixes off Jongwe, who ended with figures of 0 for 53 in four overs. Not what he may have anticipated when he induced Abhishek to miscue on 27.

Mukesh, Avesh and Bishnoi wrap it up

If Zimbabwe had any hope going into their chase, it lay in the composition of India’s attack. Having picked the extra batter, they were playing only four frontline bowlers, which left four overs to be completed by part-timers Abhishek and Riyan Parag.Abhishek isn’t a part-timer in domestic cricket, and has plenty of variations to go with his stock left-arm orthodox, but he discovered how difficult bowling in the powerplay in an international game can be, conceding 19 in the second over with Bennett in an aggressive mood. Bennett took hold of Mukesh Kumar in the next over as well, hitting him for a pair of massive back-to-back sixes – over square leg and then down the ground – but he fell next ball.Brian Bennett got Zimbabwe off to a flying start with 26 off 9 before being bowled by Mukesh Kumar•Associated Press

That was the second wicket Mukesh had taken with an in-ducker, after one in the first over to bowl Innocent Kaia through the gate. That sort of seam movement, with a bit of inconsistent bounce thrown in, was a defining feature of Zimbabwe’s powerplay: they scored 22 runs more than India did in that phase, thanks to Bennett’s aggression, but they lost four wickets to India’s one.One of these summed up how challenging the conditions still were: a bouncer from Avesh Khan skidding onto Sikandar Raza as he shaped to hook, forcing him to fend a catch off the glove to the keeper.Zimbabwe’s innings continued to flounder after the powerplay, with Ravi Bishnoi looking particularly unhittable – Johnathan Campbell, sweeping and reverse-sweeping with increasing desperation, failed to put bat on five successive balls from him, and bottom-edged the sixth into his body. Wessly Madhevere batted from the start of the chase all the way to the 17th over, and made 43 off 39 balls. Zimbabwe were eventually bowled out for 134 with eight balls remaining, with Mukesh and Avesh bagging three wickets apiece and Bishnoi finishing with 2 for 11 from his four overs.