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Jaiswal’s innings, under blue skies and bright sunshine, was split between patience and aggression in the first and second hour of the session

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2025Lunch Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 62 took India to a solid position of 98 for 2 at lunch on day one of the second Test match in Edgbaston, after Ben Stokes once again opted to bowl first after winning the toss.Jaiswal’s innings, under blue skies and bright sunshine, was split between patience and aggression in the first and second hour of the session, respectively. Having played patiently with early movement on offer, he went from 16 off 34 to a 16th fifty-plus score in just 25 deliveries later. Having started the series with a century in Leeds, he looks in the mood to replicate that first innings feat here in Birmingham.Related

• Bumrah rested; Washington, Reddy, Akash Deep in for India

• Rishabh Pant rises to No. 6 among Test batters; Travis Head also gains in rankings

• Gill wants top order to take 'more responsibility' after Leeds loss

It was a welcome start following the big news that Jasprit Bumrah was to sit out the Test. His resting was one of three changes for India, with Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar drafted into the XI.The changes give India a completely different feel from the defeat at Headingley, with Sai Sudharsan and Shadrul Thakur dropped. Karun Nair batted at No.3. Explaining the decision to rest Bumrah, Shubman Gill revealed the India management felt Lord’s will offer Bumrah more than this track.The catalyst for the left-hander’s acceleration was the introduction of Josh Tongue, who inadvertently alleiviated the pressure created by the opening bowlers, Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse. The former prised out KL Rahul for a torturous 2 from 26 deliveries in an impressive new ball spell which read 1 for 15 from seven overs, including four maidens on the bounce. And Woakes was unlucky not to make more inroads after standing umpire Sharfuddoula turned down two close LBW appeals – the first against Jaiswal on 12, the second against Nair on 5. Both were reviewed only to come back with fractional Umpire’s Call on the predicted path into the stumps.Carse had to wait six minutes before the lunch interval to get his reward, when hard length surprised Nair, on 31, powerless to prevent a splice towards Harry Brook at second slip. That ended a productive stand of 80 for the second wicket which Nair had driven initially before Jaiswal took the wheel.Yashasvi Jaiswal cuts for four to bring up his half-century•Getty Images

Even as England bossed the first half of the morning session, Jaiswal remained tight (a few slashes aside) driving crisply down the ground. Tongue’s waywardness then allowed him to free his arms to the square boundary. Three boundaries from the Nottinghamshire quick’s third over were followed by three-in-a-row from what turned out to be Tongue’s sixth and final one of his spell, as Stokes ordered his quicks to instigate their usual bumper ploy.A hook took Jaiswal to 49, before he leapt into a vicious cut high over point to pass fifty, followed by a celebratory four – his 11th – carved past third. He now has at least fifty in all seven of his Tests against England.

Narrow victory means England will qualify for the semi-finals if they win on Saturday

Valkerie Baynes04-Nov-20221:56

Moody: This performance a reflection of Australia’s campaign

Glenn Maxwell did his best to keep Australia’s semi-final hopes alive with an assertive, unbeaten half-century, but the hosts’ chances of reaching the knockouts are out of their hands after a classy performance from Afghanistan, who gave them an almighty scare chiefly through Rashid Khan at Adelaide Oval.Defending champions Australia needed to contain their opposition to 106 runs or fewer to overhaul England’s net run rate even before England play Sri Lanka in their final group game on Saturday. The hosts managed 168 for 8 from their 20 overs on the back of Maxwell’s knock after Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi took five wickets between them to restrict their opponents to a total that looked competitive for the match but not so much to ensure their progression .New Zealand have sealed a semi-final berth (Australia needed to beat Afghanistan by 185 runs to beat their NRR) and it was the Black Caps’ 89-run victory in their opening match that proved so costly to Australia’s title defence. Now, only an upset by Sri Lanka over England will see Australia through; if England win, they will join New Zealand in the next phase.Chasing 169, Gulbadin Naib shared a 59-run stand with Ibrahim Zadran for the third wicket but with a flurry of four wickets in nine balls – two to Adam Zampa in his last over – Australia wrested back control of the match. Rashid frightened the home fans, while thrilling his own supporters at the ground known as his ‘second home’ when he plundered an unbeaten 48 off 23 balls at the death, but Australia managed to hold on and win by four runs.2:59

Moody: Much more to Starc’s exclusion than it being a tactical selection

Controversial call
There was plenty of buzz about this match, given what was at stake for Australia, and the chatter grew ever louder when Mitchell Starc was left out of their line-up. Aaron Finch and Tim David were replaced by Cameron Green and Steve Smith less controversially after both failed to pull up adequately from hamstring injuries. But Starc making way for Kane Richardson left commentators and spectators confounded. Starc had been largely used through the middle overs at this tournament, but his damaging yorker and proven ability to blast out opposing sides were seen as a potential missed opportunity on this occasion.As it happened, Richardson struck with his third ball of the tournament, removing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a sprightly 30 off 17 balls. Gurbaz had made an eventful start, smoking the sixth ball of the Afghanistan innings into the second tier over deep square leg off Josh Hazlewood, surviving a sharp run-out chance as bowler Pat Cummins side-footed the ball onto the stumps and apparently hurting his shoulder as the two collided inadvertently in the process. Gurbaz was deemed fit to bat on and made a valuable contribution.Maxwell, Marsh play their part
Mitchell Marsh found himself at the crease in the third over after Cameron Green fell for just 3, slashing Farooqi to Gulbadin at slip. David Warner had helped himself to four fours by this time, and was running for everything. But it didn’t work. Marsh had seen Warner and Smith depart in the same Naveen over before he was put down at point by Najibullah Zadran off Gulbadin with 19 to his name. Marsh went on to reach 45 off 30, slog-sweeping Mujeeb Ur Rahman over the square-leg boundary and sending Gulbadin’s leg-cutter into the stands straight down the ground. But he fell top-edging Mujeeb straight above his head for Gurbaz to hold the catch behind the stumps.David Warner consoles Rashid Khan after his near-miss•AFP/Getty Images

Cue Maxwell’s excellent knock as he powered his way to 54 not out from just 32 deliveries. He peppered the boundary with some impressive shots through the covers and twice cleared the fence over midwicket to keep Australia’s tempo and heads up.Afghanistan tease heartbreaker
Naveen’s three wickets were pivotal in putting a lid on an Australian side needing as big a total as possible to help their troubled title ambitions. Then, Gurbaz’s bright start and Gulbadin’s determined innings before he was run out by an excellent Maxwell throw from midwicket had Afghanistan within touching distance the magical 106-run total that would have helped Australia’s NRR comparison with England considerably. When Afghanistan went from 98 for 2 to 99 for 5 and 103 for 6, they were still shy of the mark.Then in came Rashid, a star of the Adelaide Strikers’ side in the Big Bash, to compile his career-best T20I score. He proceeded to smash four sixes, including back-to-back maximums off Richardson into the stands over deep midwicket and long-off and another off Marcus Stoinis beyond deep square leg that left his side needing 12 off the last two balls of the match. He managed two into the gap between long-on and long-off followed by a four that left Afghanistan just short of their target but the crowd not short of excitement.

“If I speak, I’ll get into trouble. So I better stay quiet on that,” TKR captain Pollard said of the incident

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2024An lbw decision against Antigua and Barbuda Falcons batter Imad Wasim that swayed between out and not out for over 10 minutes led to “chaos”, controversy and an unusual delay in the CPL game against Trinbago Knight Riders in Port-of-Spain.The initial not-out decision was briefly overturned by the third umpire Nigel Duguid before Wasim was called back to resume batting, which sparked off animated chats between TKR captain Kieron Pollard and the on-field umpires Christopher Taylor and Patrick Gustard.The incident happened on the second ball of the tenth over of the chase right after Sunil Narine had Hassan Khan stumped for 36 off 20 balls. Falcons needed another 67 off 65 deliveries when Wasim looked to defend his first ball with a forward press in front of the stumps, and Narine, from around the wicket, pitched the ball on a good length, before it went on to hit Wasim’s pads right in front of middle stump. The loud lbw appeal was first given not out by umpire Taylor, which Narine asked Pollard to review. When Pollard did, ball-tracking showed the ball hitting leg stump, which would have meant a golden duck for Wasim.Wasim, however, looked confident that he had edged the ball before it hit his pad. He was seen chatting with the umpires before he started walking off, and was even willing to, in turn, review TKR’s review as replays on the big screen showed he had edged it. Falcons assistant coach Curtly Ambrose was watching the replays in the dugout too with the rest of the squad, and was seen gesticulating from just beyond the boundary to protest against Wasim’s dismissal.The umpire soon reverted his decision to not out after seeing the inside edge, but only to spark off an animated conversation between Pollard and both on-field umpires, with this time the TKR coach Phil Simmons signalling from the dugout. It led to a near 12-minute delay, with the TKR camp clearly unhappy about the eventual decision, and later seeing Wasim hitting the winning runs too.Despite the loss on Thursday, TKR are still second on the points table. But they have not sealed a playoffs berth yet, and a visibly upset Pollard kept things very short at the presentation. “If I speak, I’ll get into trouble,” he said about the Wasim incident. “So I better stay quiet on that.”Falcons captain Chris Green was more expressive. “Chaos, absolute chaos,” Green said. “I don’t know what went on. He was given out when he shouldn’t have been, and then he stood over the rope and he probably shouldn’t have – but he was told to. Absolute chaos. I don’t know what happened, but this tournament continues to entertain in different ways… Really happy with the win. We outplayed them in all facets of the game tonight, and we thoroughly deserve that win.”

The Australia opener hit a 98-ball 116 but NSW’s chase fell short after a powerful display from the home side

AAP13-Feb-2025Sam Konstas overcame leg cramps to score his first domestic one-day century, but couldn’t prevent Queensland beating New South Wales.Despite Konstas’s impressive 116, NSW were dismissed for 256 chasing Queensland’s 310 for 9 on Thursday at Allan Border Field.Konstas was sent home early from the Sri Lanka tour without playing in either Test and only made 3 and 22 in the Sheffield Shield match earlier this week against Queensland. But the 19-year-old, whose Boxing Day Test debut was one of the highlights of the summer, reminded everyone of his vast potential as he anchored the NSW innings in his second domestic one dayer.While Konstas was still in, NSW had a glimmer of hope that they could pull off the win. Play was held up for five minutes after he cramped badly in his left hamstring and dropped to the turf, but after treatment he was able to keep batting.His 98-ball knock featured 13 fours and three sixes. He brought up the century with an outstanding square cut for six.But NSW, who started Thursday’s games as the top side in the one-day competition, paid dearly for a mid-innings collapse after Lachlan Hearne set up the sizeable Queensland total with his ton.After the start of play was delayed by rain and the match shortened to 45 overs per side, the bowler-friendly conditions meant it was a good toss for NSW to win. They reduced the home side to 54 for 4, before Hearne and Max Bryant steadied the innings with their 100-run stand from 78 balls.Lachlan Hearne celebrates his century•Getty Images

Once Bryant was dismissed for 34, Jack Wildermuth was the senior partner in his 120-run stand with Hearne as the conditions became much easier for batting.Wildermuth belted 83 from 56 balls with six fours and five sixes. Hearne also opened up, with four successive sixes to hit Moises Henriques out of the attack.He was dismissed at the end of the 42nd over for 107 from 91 balls, with four fours and seven sixes.Gurinder Sandhu scored a valuable, unbeaten 21 to take the score past 300, while opening bowler Jack Nisbet took 4 for 49 from his nine overs..NSW made a solid start, reaching 113 for 1 in the 18th over, before they crucially lost 3 for 5. After Mitch Swepson dismissed Matthew Gilkes for 34, Callum Vidler snared two wickets in three balls, with Henriques and Oliver Davies departing for ducks.That left NSW 118 for 4 at the end of the 19th over and they never quite recovered. A 50-run stand between Konstas and Hayden Kerr for the eighth wicket raised NSW hopes of chasing down the formidable Queensland total.But when Liam Guthrie snared Kerr for 14, NSW were 233 for 8 at the start of the 38th over. Sandhu claimed Konstas’ wicket in the 40th over to confirm Queensland would win and the only interest remained whether the home side could claim the bonus point, by dismissing NSW for less than 247. But the visitors passed that target and their last wicket fell at 42.2 overs.

Former England Test captain makes rare foray on to global T20 circuit

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2022Joe Root has been signed to play in the International League T20 for Dubai Capitals in January and February. Root, who was left out of the England ODI squad for South Africa announced earlier on Thursday, will be making only his second appearance in an overseas T20 league.England’s leading Test batter, Root has not been involved with the T20I side since 2019 but has made no secret of his desire to continue developing his game in the shortest format. He is on the list for Friday’s IPL auction and the link with Capitals – part of the franchise run by Delhi Capitals joint-owners, GMR Group – will not hurt his chances of being picked up.Root remains a key part of England’s ODI set-up but has been granted some time off the international treadmill ahead of the Test team’s tour of New Zealand in February.