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The BCB ends the matter after accepting explanations provided by both parties

Mohammad Isam04-Feb-2022The Chattogram Challengers captaincy row came to end in Dhaka on Friday after the BCB accepted the explanations provided by the franchise officials and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who was removed as captain last week.BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, BCB’s head of anti-corruption Maj (retd) Abu Mohammad Humayun Morshed and BPL tournament in-charge Saiful Amin heard the respective accounts on the matter.Challengers’ owner Rifat Uzzaman and chief operating officer Yasir Alam were summoned by the four-member panel representing the cricket board.A couple of hours before Challengers’ match against Sylhet Sunrisers on January 29, the franchise officials had replaced Miraz with Naeem Islam as captain. They explained that outgoing coach Paul Nixon, who they claimed had to leave the BPL because of an emergency call from Leicestershire, had recommended the change at the top.The following day, an angry Miraz was talked out of leaving the team hotel. Standing outside the hotel, Miraz had singled out Alam for spreading lies.BPL secretary Mallick said that both parties admitted that they behaved “unreasonably” and left the league and the BCB embarrassed.”We decided to speak to Miraz and the Challengers officials to find out the reasons for their reaction in public, which gave birth to unwarranted speculations,” Mallick said. “Both player and the franchise officials admitted they had acted unreasonably without considering the consequences. It was a case of miscommunication, which should have been settled amicably within the team. They have expressed their regret for allowing the situation to escalate and accepted responsibility for causing embarrassment to the board and the tournament.”After meeting the player and officials, the board is satisfied that this was an internal management issue of Chattogram Challengers which has since been resolved.”We also understand that the decision to replace Miraz as captain, which apparently triggered the misunderstanding, was communicated to the player by the management well in advance of the team’s ensuing match. The board has reminded the player and franchise officials of their responsibility towards the event and has reiterated its zero-tolerance policy on discipline and integrity.”

Tilak jumped a whopping 69 places after his back-to-back centuries in South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2024India allrounder Hardik Pandya is back on top of the T20I allrounders list in the ICC rankings, while Tilak Varma has broken into the top 10 among batters for the first time.Hardik displaced England’s Liam Livingstone at the top and also overtook Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee after he picked up two wickets and scored 18, 39 not out and 2 in the T20Is against South Africa. His top performance was his spell of 1 for 8 that included a maiden in three overs in the fourth T20I in Johannesburg. The last time Hardik rose to the top of the allrounders list was just a few months ago, after India won the T20 World Cup in June also by beating South Africa.Tilak, the Player of the Series in the recent bilaterals, shot up 69 places among the batters after his consecutive and unbeaten centuries that followed scores of 20 and 33 in the first two T20Is. He is now placed third, after Travis Head and Phil Salt, and closely followed by his captain Suryakumar Yadav. Sanju Samson, the other batter with two hundreds in the series, went up 17 places to 22nd, as he also bagged two ducks between the two centuries. Among bowlers, left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh moved to ninth after gaining three spots with the help of eight wickets against South Africa. Arshdeep was the top-wicket taker in the series among fast bowlers and bagged three-fors in the last two games.Adam Zampa, who picked up six wickets against Pakistan, was among the biggest gainers among the bowlers, reaching third spot after rising five places, just behind Adil Rashid and Wanindu Hasaranga. His team-mate Nathan Ellis shot up a significant 15 spots to reach 11th rank, after he finished the three T20Is against Pakistan with four wickets, including figures of 3 for 9 in the opening match that was truncated by rain.For South Africa, Tristan Stubbs climbed three places to move to 23rd whereas Heinrich Klaasen jumped six places but remained out of top 50, at 59th.After the 1-1 T20I series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, Kusal Mendis rose to joint 12th spot after going up three places. After they won the ODIs 2-0, Maheesh Theekshana went up six places to be placed sixth, that pushed Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj one spot down each, to seventh and eighth respectively.

Senior pacer not worried after big defeat to Australia, but says South Africa must learn from their mistakes

Firdose Moonda22-Feb-2020Dale Steyn wants South Africa to “adapt quicker” to keep pace with the T20 game and joked that they “can’t get any worse” after their defeat to Australia in Johannesburg on Friday night.

South Africa 20% of match fee

South Africa have been fined 20% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate in the first T20I against Australia. South Africa were found to be one over short after time allowances were taken into account, which led to the fine. Captain Quinton de Kock pleaded guilty to the offence and and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need of a formal hearing with match referee Andrew Pycroft.

South Africa were bowled out for their lowest T20 total and lost by their biggest margin in the format during the opening game of the three-match series, appearing to have undone much of the gains they made against England. Steyn, however, is not too worried about his team’s performances yet.”You are allowed to have a blow-out,” Steyn said. “We played some good cricket against England. It was one of the better series that I’ve played against England, even though we lost. We batted superbly and we bowled in patches really well. We don’t have to be too hard on ourselves.”This team is going to be learning. I hope our growth will be upwards. Even though we are losing, the process that Mark (Boucher) and Quinny [Quinton de Kock] have put in place is the right one.”South Africa are yet to win a series this summer under new coach Mark Boucher, and though Quinton de Kock’s white-ball captaincy started well with victories in the opening ODI and T20I against England, the team still lacks consistency. At the Wanderers, Steyn saw South Africa make many of the same mistakes they made against England, which he hopes they can rectify by the time they get to Port Elizabeth for Sunday’s second fixture.”We’ve got to start learning a little more from the mistakes we made against England. We carried it into Australia,” he said. “In the first six overs, we were a little bit too wide. We’ve got to adapt a little bit faster.”Steyn, along with Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada, was responsible in the start Australia got off to, with 70 runs coming in the Powerplay and a slew of short, wide balls despite Boucher emphasising the need to pitch the ball up. Rabada, in particular, came under scrutiny for his off-colour return from a period of extended rest.Rabada was suspended for the final Test against England in late January and was given time off the white-ball leg of the series, during which he travelled to Chicago for the NBA All Star game, but came back lacking rhythm and presence. Steyn, though, expects him to improve.”It’s lovely to have KG back with the ball. I know he went for a couple of runs but he hasn’t been around so he is probably feeling ring rust,” Steyn said. “And the younger bowlers like Lungi (Ngidi) and And (Phehlukwayo) look up to someone like him. Big time.”The same could be said of Steyn, who is the most experienced bowler in the side by some distance and has showed his own ability to innovate with clever use of slower balls. Steyn, who retired from Tests last year, admitted that being out of the international scene showed him how tough it is at the top level and, like his team-mates, he wants to get better.”Although I have played my entire career at the highest level, if you haven’t played for a while, you quickly come back and realise that it moves a lot faster than any other level. Playing in the MSL was great, I went to the Big Bash which was fantastic but this was two levels harder. I can hopefully rewind the clock a little bit and bring some of those golden years back.”

Apart from a one-off T20I in 2012, the visitors have not won a bilateral series of any format in India

Alagappan Muthu31-Jan-20232:16

Jaffer: Don’t expect spin to play too big a role in Ahmedabad

Big picture: Santner and Hardik impress

India and New Zealand have travelled the length and breadth of the country for six games in 14 days and we are finally at the end, with the T20I series tied at 1-1. It’s time for one last push, and then please remember to put those tray tables in the upright and locked position.Winning a series here is hard work for a visiting team. India have protected their stronghold with ridiculous consistency. Over the last 10 years they have played a total of 55 bilateral series, across formats, and won 47 of them. Only Australia in 2019 and South Africa in 2015 have beaten India in India.Mitchell Santner has stressed this point in press conferences; that apart from the learnings New Zealand can take about conditions they will face during the ODI World Cup in October, there is still the chance to go down in history as a team that beat India in India.Related

• Ferguson, the unofficial leader of New Zealand's pace pack

• Why India trust Arshdeep with the difficult overs

• Mitchell and Santner give New Zealand 1-0 lead

• Suryakumar helps India draw level in spin-fest

• Lucknow curator sacked for 'shocker of a pitch'

Both captains have actually been big gains for their sides. Santner has already shown the poise under pressure that he set out to have, and he seems to be an out-of-the-box thinker too. Dude asked Lockie Ferguson if he’d bowl offspin to make the most of a rank turner in Lucknow.Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, has been an upfront and honest presence, even in front of the camera, which has been great (though not for everybody). Except, is that even a surprise? Guy publicly said he wouldn’t have minded losing to Pakistan in that epic T20 World Cup match because it was an epic T20 World Cup match. He’s well liked in the team. He throws his entire weight behind his players. And he has no fear of failure. The specifics of this series may easily fade from memory but the two captains might just go on to etch their names in history.

Watch live in the UK

You can watch the third T20I between India and New Zealand live on ESPN Player in the UK and on ESPN+ in the USA.

Form guide

India WLWLW (Last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
New Zealand LWTLL

In the spotlight: Kishan and Sodhi

Ishan Kishan scored 210 in one innings in December. In the next eight, he’s scored less than half that. This India team insists on giving its incumbents a long rope. Plus Kishan doubles up as the their wicketkeeper and presents a hard-hitting left-hand option at the top of the order. These are pluses everybody looks for in the modern game. So his place is probably safe, but still, wouldn’t he love a match-defining innings in a series decider…In a New Zealand bowling attack that values discipline and works towards minimising the margin for error, Ish Sodhi is a total wildcard. He’s the kind of spinner who gets bored by even the idea of stringing six balls on the same spot, which is probably why he finds himself on the outs in Test cricket. But what hurts him in whites is what defines him in coloured clothing. Sodhi is the second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is over the past two years.0:37

Ferguson: ‘Hardik’s body language as captain has been fantastic’

Team news: Malik in for Chahal?

Ahmedabad may not want to do what Lucknow did – its already been in the eye of a storm before – in which case India might be tempted to bring back Umran Malik in place of Yuzvendra Chahal.India (probable): 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shivam Mavi, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Umran Malik, 11 Arshdeep SinghBarring injury and other circumstances, it’s unlikely that New Zealand will want to make a lot of changes.New Zealand (probable): 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway (wk), 3 Mark Chapman, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 Ish Sodhi, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Jacob Duffy, 11 Blair Tickner

Pitch and conditions: The return of the belter?

The Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad has typically been a high-scoring venue for T20Is, with three of its last five games producing totals in excess of 160 in both innings, including a 224 for 2. The weather is set fair.

Stats and trivia

• Apart from a T20I series in 2012, which ended up being a one-match affair, New Zealand have never won a bilateral series in any format in India.
• Kishan’s 19 off 38 in the last game is the third-slowest innings of 30 or more balls by an opener from a Full Member country in T20Is. There were, of course, mitigating circumstances.
• There are 44 players with a batting average above 40 and a strike rate above 130 in T20Is. Two of the top three have been on show in this series: Suryakumar Yadav (47.17 and 175.63) and Devon Conway (47.42 and 130.47)

Lizaad Williams has been added as part of the travelling reserves

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2022Left-arm quick Marco Jansen has been called up to replace the injured Dwaine Pretorius in South Africa’s 15-member 2022 T20 World Cup squad. In place of Jansen, who was initially part of the travelling reserves, fast bowler Lizaad Williams has been added.Pretorius had fractured his left thumb in the third T20I against India, which was South Africa’s only win in the three-match series. Jansen, 22, who was only part of the T20I squad for the tour, then replaced Pretorius for the ODI leg before being named for the T20 World Cup, which starts on October 16 in Australia.Jansen made his T20I debut in South Africa’s tour to India in June earlier this year. He trapped Shreyas Iyer lbw for his maiden wicket and was taken for 38 runs off his four overs. That’s the only T20I he has played so far. He has also played seven Tests and three ODIs for South Africa.Wayne Parnell, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi are the other seam-bowling options in the South Africa side for the tournament apart from Jansen.South Africa open their campaign on October 24 against one of the qualifying sides from the first round.Updated squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs: Bjorn Fortuin, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lizaad Williams

Defending champions secure knockout spot after nine-wicket win in London derby

Harshini Mehta27-Aug-2022Spinner Mady Villiers recorded her best bowling figures in the women’s Hundred with an impressive 4 for 12, helping to decimate local rivals London Spirit for just 80, as Oval Invincibles secured their place in the knockout stages.Villers dismissed both opening batters to reduce Spirit to a dismal 4 for 3 after just 11 balls. The innings never recovered as the hosts were bowled out after 97 deliveries, making unpleasant history by posting the second-lowest total in this year’s tournament.Shabnim Ismail and Eva Gray contributed with two wickets apiece, while Spirit’s highest-scorer was Amelia Kerr, with of 31 off 31.In turn, Invincibles made light work of the chase and reached their total in just 58 balls, for the loss of Suzie Bates. Top-scorer Lauren Winfield-Hill struck 44 off 28 balls to end Spirit’s lingering chances of a play-off spot.After electing to field, Villiers wrecked the Spirit top order, taking two wickets in nine balls. Opening batter Danielle Gibson went second ball, trying to take the aerial route, and Beth Mooney, leading run-scorer for her side with 201 in four innings, was caught in the second set by an incredible diving catch by 18-year-old Alice Capsey.Ismail continued the attack by trapping Sophie Luff lbw. The first boundary for the hosts came after 19 balls and with only eight fours in their entire innings, Spirit’s momentum never picked up.Kerr and captain Charlie Dean tried to recover with a partnership of 27 off 33. However, Dean stepped out of her crease to Capsey, and Winfield-Hill whipped off the bails for another shock to the system for Spirit. Villiers returned to take two more wickets in four balls, in the form of Naomi Dattani and Grace Scrivens, and with the chokehold unrelenting Spirit’s innings petering out.In contrast, Winfield-Hill smashed her first delivery, from Megan Schutt, to the deep third boundary. The opening partnership between Winfield-Hill and Bates destroyed Spirit’s bowling – Bates smashed two successive fours and cleared the ropes in three deliveries by Kerr, who conceded 16 runs in her set of 5.At the end of the powerplay, the visitors had already scored 45 runs without loss, in contrast to Spirit’s miserable 15 for 3.The partnership continued with both Bates and Winfield-Hill causing havoc, scoring 54 off 37 deliveries until the former top-edged Grace Scrivens straight into Mooney’s gloves.Capsey provided a firm base as Winfield-Hill continued her ruthless approach, smashing consecutive fours against Dean and scoring a total of seven boundaries in her innings. Winfield-Hill sealed the win for the Invincibles with 42 balls to spare, with Spirit’s faint hopes of securing their place in the play-offs completely evaporated.

Perry adds unbeaten 76 to first-innings ton, Molineux makes fine debut with bat and ball as Australians secure 8-2 points lead

The Report by Valkerie Baynes21-Jul-2019Australia Women 420 for 9 dec (Mooney 51) and 230 for 7 (Perry 76*) drew with England Women 275 for 9 dec (Sciver 88, Jones 64, Molineux 4-95)As Australia drew their Test with England to retain the Ashes, it was only fitting that Ellyse Perry should still be at the crease late on the final day at Taunton.Perry’s performances have been a shining light in this series, not least in the Test, which ended in the non-defeat the tourists needed after she added an unbeaten 76 to her 116 in the first innings.Almost as appropriate was the fact Sophie Molineux joined Perry until shortly before the captains shook hands on the draw when Australia lost the wicket of Ashleigh Gardner to close with a lead of 335 runs, which demonstrated their dominance of the match, despite the result. Spinning all-rounder Molineux made a stellar debut in the long format, claiming four wickets to destroy England’s hopes of reviving the match after a severely rain-affected second day, and then put on 41 runs in a 50-plus partnership with Perry.On a pitch offering little to anyone, the draw gave Australia eight points to England’s two – they split the four points on offer in the Test – to retain the trophy with six points left to be claimed from the upcoming three T20s.It kept alive Alyssa Healy’s bold claim before arriving in England that Australia would not lose a match in the series and breathed life into the debate about whether women should play five-day Tests. In fact, it raised many questions. Should Australia have been more attacking and pressed for a result, given England’s declaration before lunch while still trailing by 145? Should the women’s game have pitches prepared specifically to promote attacking cricket? Or did the Australians simply do what they needed to do to achieve the result they came for – to win the Ashes.Once the follow-on had been avoided, attention turned to a possible England declaration and, when Jess Jonassen trapped Laura Marsh plumb lbw attempting to sweep for her second wicket of the day – and the innings – then Heather Knight made the call to give her team a crack at the Australian batsmen before lunch.Any sense of damned if she did and damned if she didn’t over denying last batsman Kirstie Gordon the chance to have a swing with Sophie Ecclestone needed to be tempered by the realisation that England’s hopes of winning the match had been placed in peril long before.Similarly Australia were faced with the dilemma of whether to put the match too far beyond doubt to be interesting, or press for victory and, incidentally, an exciting end to the Test.As it happened, two early wickets to Marsh forced Australia to put the shutters up – if they hadn’t already – after Ecclestone had begun for England in fine fashion, threatening with every ball of the first over – a maiden – to Rachael Haynes, opening the batting in place of Nicole Bolton, who had injured her thumb while fielding.Lunch was taken after five overs, by which time Haynes was still not off the mark after facing 15 balls and Healy was not out 13 off 15. Marsh came into the attack at the resumption and struck with her second and sixth deliveries, bowling Healy through the gate with a gem that angled across the right-hander, and then trapping Haynes lbw.At 15 for 2, Meg Lanning and Perry dug in, building a 48-run partnership before Lanning’s remarkable dismissal. Replacing Marsh, debutante spinner Gordon struck in her first over with a full toss which Lanning looked to punish on the on-side but managed to pick out Georgia Elwiss at cover, much to the batsman’s disbelief and, possibly, the bowler’s as well.Ecclestone was rewarded when Beth Mooney tried to slog her over mid-wicket and found a cat-like Tammy Beaumont pouncing on the catch at short leg. By that time, Australia had extended their lead to 250 and Perry had a half-century in sight.Perry, carrying a leg-muscle complaint and who benefited from a favourable but apparently errant lbw decision when on 20, brought up her fifty with a four off Katherine Brunt, who did not return from tea after injuring her right arm while fielding late in the second session. Perry did emerge, with the bat, alongside Jonassen after the break, squashing any hopes of a declaration.Sophie Molineux celebrates a breakthrough•Getty Images

Instead, the height of excitement through the final session was watching Player of the Match Perry in action again, and seeing what Molineux could do with the bat. Gardner also chimed in with the only six of the match before she was out for 7. The only other action of note, and it was certainly not positive, was seeing England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor struck on the shoulder by an Anya Shrubsole delivery to Perry that spat up off a full length. Taylor remained behind the stumps for some time before leaving the field for treatment, replaced by Amy Jones.Earlier, Jonassen had claimed the wicket of Natalie Sciver, upon whom England’s hopes had fallen late on day three, only growing as she neared her ton. But Sciver added only 26 runs to her overnight score before she was out for 88 chopping on.Molineux had claimed the first wicket of the day when she tempted Shrubsole to try and hit her over the leg side, only to find herself out of her ground for a stumping by Healy. That gave Molineux match figures of 4 for 95.

Australia captain makes 51 off 48 in WNCL for Victoria against WA in her first game back after six months out with a medical issue

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2023Australia captain Meg Lanning has made a successful return to professional cricket after six months out with a medical issue, striking a 48-ball 51 in her first game back in the WNCL for Victoria against Western Australia in Perth on Tuesday.Lanning quietly made her long-awaited comeback in the WNCL having not played since the WPL in India in March after missing the women’s Ashes entirely due to an undisclosed medical issue.She was not selected for Australia’s upcoming T20I and ODI series against West Indies, which starts on Sunday, with the national selectors and medical staff preferring she made her return in domestic cricket.