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Joe Root, England’s captain, has insisted his decision to bat at No. 4 in the second innings in Southampton was made “for the good of the team”.Root has batted at No. 3 throughout the English summer but, having averaged just 28.54 in that time, said he made a “spur of the moment decision” to move back to the No. 4 position in which he averages 52.45.That meant a promotion for Moeen Ali, who had batted at No. 7 in the first innings. And while he scored only 9, Root described Moeen as “very excited” about the opportunity to bat up the order and suggested the move had “worked very well”. Root made 48, his highest score in six innings.”Ultimately I did it for the good of the team and to try and get the best out of myself,” Root told Sky Sports ahead of the fourth day’s play at the Ageas Bowl. “I know if I score runs we’ve got a great chance of winning the game.”It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision. We’re in a position where Moeen is in great form. He bats at No. 3 for his county, so we thought it was a good opportunity for him to go out there and play in his own manner at No. 3 for England.”I felt batting at No. 4 in this situation and getting the best out of myself would give us a better chance of getting up towards 230-250. It’s worked pretty well.”It might not have been Moeen who got runs but part of being a team is that you all play your part and the fact I’ve come down to No. 4 in this innings worked in a way.”Mo was very excited about it and it wouldn’t have been the case if he hadn’t desperate to do it. He sees himself as a top-order batter. He goes back to Worcester and bats at No. 3. He got a double-hundred last week. He was pleased to have that opportunity. It didn’t work out this time around but there’s no reason he wouldn’t be able to be successful in that position in the future.”Whether Moeen will get another chance to bat at No. 3 remains to be seen with Root declining to confirm that his move back to No. 4 would be permanent.”Whether it’s a long term thing with Mo we’ll have to wait and see,” Root said. “I tried to get the best out of myself in this situation so I put myself at No. 4. I think every situation is different.”Every now and then you might have to change things around. It’s not something that is good to do a lot – especially with your batting – but every now and then, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”While Root described the decision as “spur of the moment”, it seems it was made ahead of the third day’s play. Earlier in the summer, Root was described as having moved to No. 3 by his own choice by Ed Smith, the national selector.

England’s women completed a successful international summer last week, adding a comfortable series win against New Zealand to their earlier victories over South Africa in the ODIs and both teams in the inaugural T20 triangular series.And now attention turns to the domestic front, with the return of an expanded Kia Super League – a competition whose future may be in some doubt as the ECB debates the sport’s post-2020 landscape, but whose importance in the immediate future could hardly be more relevant.After all, England, World Cup winners in the 50-over format last year, have a World T20 to prepare for in November, and for several fringe members of the squad – not to mention the star names who will want to hit the Caribbean with form and confidence brimming over – the events of the coming weeks will be critical to their preparation.The KSL, now in its third season, kicks off on Sunday with a televised opening match between the champions Western Storm and Yorkshire Diamonds at Taunton. On the same day, there is an early meeting of the other two finalists from 2017 when Surrey Stars take on Southern Vipers at Guildford, while at Southport, Lancashire Thunder host Loughborough Lightning.”What an opportunity it is for those on the fringes,” England head coach, Mark Robinson, said. “Every squad is full of world-class players – people you can learn from, look up to in a way and soak up their knowledge. It’s not for me to make a prediction on who’s going to win but I’m really looking forward to the tournament.”In a bid to improve the competitiveness of the six teams, Robinson instigated a rejig ahead of this edition, most notably with Tammy Beaumont switching from Surrey to the Vipers, and Sarah Taylor heading from the Thunder to take her place.”The teams have changed a bit this year and all look as if they’ve got a good chance. We have moved some of our better players around to give them the best opportunity to express themselves. It can be hard for a young batter coming in at seven or eight in a T20 in a team where the top order is full of world-class players to make much of an impression. The same applies to our young bowlers, they need as many opportunities as possible to bowl in pressure situations and more games hopefully allows them that.”One batter in particular who has plenty to prove in the coming contests is the Yorkshire Diamonds captain, Lauren Winfield, a World Cup winner last year, but who has been pushed to the margins in the past few months, with Amy Jones being given the opportunity to partner Beaumont at the top of the order.After a brief innings at No. 7 in the first ODI against New Zealand, Winfield was given a chance to make a mark when she came in at No. 3 in the dead-rubber third game, but made just 5 from nine balls before holing out to deep midwicket. However, the KSL – with its expansion to ten group games instead of five – will give her ample opportunity to find form against quality opposition.”I’ve had a bit of a dry time with runs and opportunity for England,” Winfield said. “This summer I’ve felt I’ve been playing really well, but there’s just no gap to get into that line-up. T20 isn’t something I’ve played a lot of internationally, so 10 games is a fantastic opportunity to expose myself in this format looking ahead to the World Cup in the Caribbean.””I think expanding the competition is such a good idea,” Robinson said. “Western Storm won last year because they played the better cricket at Finals Day but it can be difficult to judge a team over five games, because you might lose a game or two to the weather.”It helps all our England-qualified players, even the experienced ones because if a team doesn’t get going in the first couple of games they still have enough opportunities for their quality to come through. They don’t have to go chasing form if you know what I mean.”Another player who hopes to benefit from the expanded exposure is Kate Cross, the Lancashire Thunder seamer who feared she might never play for England again when she took time away from the game in 2016, a move that affecting her chances of featuring in last year’s World Cup.However, Cross returned to England colours during the New Zealand series – a call-up that she said “felt like I made my debut all over again”.”I’m going into this Super League in a good place,” Cross said. “We’ve also got a World Cup around the corner, and I think I’m going to go back to Australia this winter to play domestic cricket.”There’s a lot for me to look forward to.”With input from ECB Reporters Network

ScorecardJonathan Trott, in his penultimate match at Edgbaston, held Warwickshire together with batting of high class on a truncated first day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Durham.Warwickshire closed a day stripped of 12 overs by rain and bad light on 184 for 6 with Trott unbeaten on 67 – a patient and skilful innings in testing batting conditions.After early-morning rain and a wet outfield prevented play before lunch, batting was never easy with moisture in the air under a canopy of thick cloud and with the floodlights on. Those conditions were exploited by Durham’s seamers who were rotated at one end while, curiously, left-arm spinner Axar Patel was left to wheel away, spearing the ball in without looking particularly threatening, from the other.Warwickshire were deeply indebted to Trott who reached the crease at 47 for 2 and stayed firm while middle-order partners came and went.After taking up the option to bowl first, Durham struck with the 18th ball of the day when Dominic Sibley edged Chris Rushworth to third slip. Will Rhodes and Ian Bell added 38 in 12 overs before Barry McCarthy came on from the Pavilion End and removed Bell lbw with his fifth ball.Rhodes applied himself with customary diligence for 105 minutes to reach 36 then perished when he turned spinner Patel off the face of the bat to short leg.Jonathan Trott, in the familar routine•Getty Images

McCarthy struck again when Sam Hain edged to wicketkeeper Stuart Poynton, a wicket which left Warwickshire uneasily perched on 100 for 4 at tea. That became 114 for 5 when Tim Ambrose went back to a full-length ball from Rushworth which hit middle and off.Trott reached his half-century from 115 balls with his ninth four, cut off a short delivery from Patel, in a partnership of 36 in 16 overs with Keith Barker before the latter fell to a fine catch at second slip by Alex Lees off Matt Salisbury.Trott remained resolute though to ensure that the Division One leaders have power to add tomorrow as they seek a third successive win to keep the pressure on challengers Kent and Sussex in the promotion race.

ScorecardSomerset’s seamers bowled them to a 118-run victory over Yorkshire at Taunton and a second success in as many Specsavers County Championship games this season.Craig Overton, Lewis Gregory, Tim Groenewald and Tom Abell shared the final day wickets as Yorkshire were dismissed for 202, chasing 321 to win. Jack Leaning offered most resistance with 68.It is the first time since 1993 that Somerset have won their opening two Championship fixtures. They took 20 points to Yorkshire’s threeStarting the morning on 49 for 1, needing a further 272 to win, Yorkshire lost Cheteshwar Pujara to the first ball, caught behind off Gregory, and went on to struggle against some accurate seam bowling.

Coaches’ verdict

Andy Hurry (Somerset director of cricket): “The magic wand behind winning our first two games is all the hard work put in by the players and the coaching staff during the winter. It was a tougher game than our first win over Worcestershire and it took a real team effort to come out on top.”
Andrew Gale (Yorkshire coach): “The difference between the teams was our first innings batting. I thought our approach was poor and that we could have put more pressure on the Somerset bowlers. Matt Renshaw has come out and played like it was a T20 game for them. He couldn’t trust his defence on that pitch so he went on the attack. I can’t remember seeing a Championship innings in April like it.”

Adam Lyth, on 34, edged Groenewald to James Hildreth att first slip and Gary Ballance was caught by wicketkeeper Steve Davies pushing forward to Gregory. Matthew Waite could make only six before being caught and bowled by Overton off a leading edge and when Andy Hodd fell lbw to the same bowler for a single Yorkshire were in disarray at 103 for 6.The afternoon session began with a stubborn partnership between Leaning and Tim Bresnan, who put together a stand of 56 without looking troubled.It took Abell bringing himself on from the River End to break the partnership. The Somerset skipper bowled an impressive spell, swinging and seaming the ball.Bresnan fell leg-before for 21 to a delivery that nipped back at him after Leaning had moved to an impressive half-century off 128 balls, showing commendable technique and patience.Jack Brooks counter-attacked to also make 21 off just 16 balls. His entertaining cameo was ended when Groenewald took a sharp return catch, one-handed to his right.Abell struck again when Ben Coad edged a good delivery to Marcus Trescothick at second slip and at 191 for 9 Yorkshire were a beaten side. The second new ball was taken and Somerset completed a comprehensive win when Leaning was caught at square-leg, top-edging a pull shot off Overton.They are dreaming of a title challenge at Taunton•Getty Images

A day of bright sunshine, with a biting wind, ended with home supporters dreaming that this might finally be the year Somerset clinch the Championship title for the first time in their history. There is a long way to go, but it has been a hugely encouraging start for new director of cricket Andy Hurry and head coach Jason Kerr.The one negative for Somerset was that Josh Davey pulled out of his run-up after bowling five balls of an over with the total 103 for five and took no further part.

Khaled Mahmud, the Bangladesh team director, has called the side’s defeat to Zimbabwe in the three-match T20I series as “a disgrace”. Mahmud’s words are the first public reaction from any of the senior figures within the team management after the visitors lost their first ever T20I series against Zimbabwe.Bangladesh lost the first game by 17 runs before bouncing back with a seven-wicket victory in the following game. In the decider, they went down by 10 runs. During that game, Zimbabwe were struggling at 67 for 6 in the 13th over. However, Ryan Burl’s 34 runs off a Nasum Ahmed over turned the tide the home side’s way, as he and Luke Jongwe added 79 runs in just 5.1 overs.Related

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Even so, Bangladesh would have backed themselves to chase down the 157-run target, especially against a Zimbabwe attack that was missing their most experienced fast bowlers. However, the visitors went 49 balls without hitting a boundary, and struck just one six throughout their innings.Mahmud accused the Bangladesh batters of playing to secure their places, expressing his displeasure at their inability to go for big hits when the required rate was more than 10 an over.”I am very disappointed, I didn’t expect to lose to Zimbabwe,” Mahmud said. “We are a better team than them. I would call it a disgrace. I won’t give any excuses. We should have won the T20I series. Losing was quite unusual. When we needed 10 or 12 runs an over, we were getting six or seven every over. Nobody even tried to hit a six. Everyone was playing for ones and twos. What was that? They batted like trying to protect their place, make enough runs so that they don’t lose their place.”Mahmud said he was upset to not see any of the Bangladesh batters try and force the issue, a far cry from Burl and Jongwe, who looked to hit around even after Zimbabwe had lost six wickets.”When you are chasing 157, you can’t win a game by batting at 90 or 110 strike-rate. Someone had to go after the bowling. Look at their (Burl and Jongwe) strike-rate. They changed the complexion of the game. You can’t expect Litton Das to score every day. Whether it was Afif or Shanto, I didn’t see anyone batting aggressively. If you can’t pull a short ball for six, that’s going to be a problem.”Mahmud said that the T20I squad contained the best available players in the country, and there wasn’t too much competition for places in the first place.”Those selected have all performed well in domestic cricket, including Munim Shahriar and Parvez (Hossain Emon). If your best players don’t perform, there’s nothing you can do.”The cricketers can tell you what they have to do. They have been getting opportunities for quite some time now. There’s not a lot of competition for places, so they should play with an open heart. I haven’t seen them playing that way.”Bangladesh have won only two out of 11 T20Is since last year’s T20 World Cup, where they had lost all five of their Super 12s matches. They are scheduled to play at least six more T20Is before this year’s World Cup.

Taylor Cornall came within three runs of his maiden List A century to lead Worcestershire Rapids to a second win in 48 hours as they overcame Essex Eagles by seven wickets in a Royal London Cup encounter at New Road.Cornall, a left-handed batter in his first season with Worcestershire, followed his 61 in the victory over Northamptonshire with another excellent contribution as the Rapids chased down a 280 target with eight balls to spare.He shared in a decisive second wicket stand of 158 in 28 overs with Gareth Roderick who hit his maiden List A half century for Worcestershire.Cornall was eventually lbw to Luc Benkenstein on 97 but Jake Libby and Ed Barnard saw the Rapids, who had lost their opening five games, over the finishing line during an unbroken stand of 57.Seventeen-year-old Robin Das, and Benkenstein, aged 20, had also achieved their highest scores in competition with 63 and 55 respectively.Worcestershire captain, Jake Libby, opted to bat and Ben Gibbon made the first breakthrough when Josh Rymell drove at the left armer and edged to Ed Pollock at first slip.Essex captain Tom Westley went into the game as his leading run-scorer in the competition with 335 but he went lbw first ball against Dillon Pennington in the next over.Related

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Grant Roelofsen and Feroze Khushi, Essex’s other in-form batters, scored freely in adding 55 in nine overs. But Tongue came into the attack and was rewarded when Roelofsen on 31 went across his stumps and was caught down keeper Ben Cox down the legside.There was more joy for Tongue when Khushi (43) went to pull a delivery that came onto him quicker than expected and Cox running back held onto another legside chance.Worcestershire were firmly in the ascendancy when Nick Browne was run out by Barnard’s direct hit at the non-striker’s after he had turned Pennington to point and set off for a single.Essex were then 132 for 5 and Benkenstein on three had a let off when he inside edged Tongue on his return to the attack and Cox was unable to hold onto the chance.It was a rare error by Cox whose two catches today lifted his dismissals in all cricket to the 600 mark.Tongue’s permitted quota of eight over for his comeback match resulted in encouraging figures of 8-0-41-2.Benkenstein also survived a sharp chance to Barnard at midwicket off Libby and he and Das brought about an Essex recovery during a stand of 83 in 13 overs. It took a good catch by Pollock running around to deep midwicket to break the stand after Das aimed a big blow at Barnard. His List A best 63 off 64 balls contained nine boundaries.Gibbon struck for the second time as Aron Nijjar picked out Tongue at mid on and then Pennington took a good at midwicket to dismiss Benkenstein off his own bowling after he attempted a hook. His 55 was also his best score in List A cricket and came from 59 deliveries with seven boundaries.It became two wickets in two balls for Pennington as Jamal Richards was bowled after playing an expansive drive before some late blows by Shane Snater lifted the final total to 279 for 9.Pollock, recalled in place of the injured Azhar Ali, got the Rapids innings off to a flying start and hit Snater over midwicket for six. He made 34 from 25 balls out of 50 before he pushed forward to Jamal Richards and was bowled.Cornall was joined by Gareth Roderick and the pair batted with great authority and kept the score moving along at the required rate throughout. Cornall raced to a 59 ball half century with Roderick needed only six more deliveries to reach his maiden List A fifty. Seamers and spinners alike were not allowed to settle although Cornall had a life on 67 when he was dropped at midwicket off Toole.Roderick was full of improvisation, twice reverse sweeping Westley for boundaries, but the same stroke eventually brought about his downfall on 76 from 85 balls. He picked out Jamal Richards at point off Benkenstein to end a partnership of 158 in 28 overs with Cornall.All eyes were now on Cornall to see if he could reach three figures but he fell agonisingly short when lbw to Benkenstein and left the field to a standing ovation.

Pakistan’s home series against West Indies early next year is likely to be postponed until the following season. The two sides were to play a three-match T20I series in January but ESPNcricinfo understands both boards are happy to reschedule it for 2024.The resulting space in the calendar potentially allows players from both sides to become available for the various T20 leagues during that period. The ILT20 in the UAE, the SA20 in South Africa, the BBL in Australia and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) are all taking place in that month.West Indies have already visited Pakistan twice in the last 10 months, albeit because the Covid-19 pandemic split one white-ball series in December 2021 into two. The two sides played three T20Is that month, before a Covid outbreak in the West Indies camp meant the subsequent ODIs had to be postponed to June this year. They played the ODIs in Multan, as part of the 2023 World Cup Super League.This series of three T20Is was penciled in between New Zealand’s visit to Pakistan in the winter of 2022-23 and the Pakistan Super League next year. The three games will most likely be added to West Indies’ visit in February 2024 when they are due to play three Tests as part of the World Test Championship.Various West Indian players have already been signed up to take part in the BBL, SA20 and ILT20. Pakistan’s players did not feature in the SA20 auction because of a combination of – at the time – their international home schedule but also suspicions that they would not find a place in a league in which all six franchises are owned by IPL teams. No Pakistani players have been given NOCs for the ILT20 either. The beneficiary could be the BPL which emerges as a destination for some of them in that newly opened window.

Kane Williamson is pleased with the form of allrounder Michael Bracewell and opening batter Finn Allen as New Zealand build up to the men’s T20 World Cup.Bracewell, who is more of a batting allrounder for his domestic side Wellington, emerged as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the T20I tri-series in Christchurch, with eight strikes in five games at a scarcely believable economy rate of 4.94. Those returns fetched him the Player-of-the-Series award, though New Zealand lost the final to Pakistan on Friday.Related

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Allen, who was picked ahead of Martin Guptill, showed his explosive power at the top, striking at just over 145 across five games. Both players have now made strong cases to be in New Zealand’s starting XI for the T20 World Cup.”Both performed beautifully well and [they] played really valuable roles within the side,” Williamson said at the post-match press conference. “[They play] complementary roles too – Finn at the top is super aggressive and hits the ball really, really hard and looks to take it on, which has been great. And it complements Dev [Devon Conway] really well.”Michael – Man of the Series – incredible effort, especially to not win the series as a team. He showed his contributions throughout these five-six games. He was really disciplined with his lengths and made life quite difficult on these sorts of pitches as well.”In the final, Bracewell bowled two tight overs in the powerplay in which he gave up just four runs and drew a top edge from Babar Azam to midwicket. Mitchell Santner is usually New Zealand’s go-to powerplay spinner, but Bracewell has shown that he can also bowl the tough overs against top batters. Bracewell also tied down Mohammad Rizwan, keeping him to a run-ball 6 against him.”It [bowling in the powerplay] is something that I’ve practiced a lot now, particularly in the nets and had a chance to go out in the middle and bowl a few times in the powerplay,” Bracewell told . “It’s something that I am getting more and more comfortable with. Obviously, it’s pretty daunting bowling to Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam. But it’s a challenge that I’m really enjoying.”In last season’s Super Smash, Bracewell took only six wickets in 25 overs at an economy rate of 6.84. Having done well for New Zealand – both at home and away – Bracewell feels he is a more rounded offspinner now than he was last summer.”I feel very fortunate for the opportunities that I’ve got. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can and soak up as much knowledge from the rest of the spin bowlers in our group,” he said. “Being able to play in different conditions all around the world is an absolute privilege. So, I’m really enjoying it and I feel I have a few more skills than I did eight months ago.”With New Zealand carefully managing their injury-prone quicks Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne, and Santner missing the early exchanges of the tri-series, the team management has had to juggle between finding their balance for the tri-series and preparing for the World Cup.Finn Allen “is super aggressive and hits the ball really, really hard,” Kane Williamson noted•Getty Images

“It’s not really how we were looking at this [tri-series]. We were looking at this tournament in isolation a little bit,” Williamson said. “Having said that clearly, there’s a big tournament at the end of it, but trying to focus on what’s in front of us and play the cricket that’s in front of us. You can sometimes get carried away looking ahead and all these sorts of things; so, I thought that was good. There was some improvement throughout the series and some lessons.”I think it’s valuable as a team to get this sort of exposure and competition quickly before a tournament like that. Tournament sport – it’s different and not playing similar teams day in and day out. It’s thinking on our toes and adjusting as a side quickly with different venues and different oppositions.”New Zealand dropped at least eight catches in the tri-series, but Williamson wasn’t overly concerned by it. He drew confidence from New Zealand’s tidy effort in the field on Friday in isolation.”That [dropped chances] was definitely touched on [in team discussions],” Williamson said. “Not just the catches; it can happen, although it was a little bit out of character. As a side, it’s something that we pride ourselves on, but that energy and intensity how we operate… we definitely saw an improvement today, which is important and hopefully we can continue that standard going ahead.”New Zealand will open their T20 World Cup campaign against defending champions and hosts Australia at the SCG on October 22.

Shikhar Dhawan watched nine wickets tumble around him, but he stood out amid the rubble, his unbeaten 99 taking Punjab Kings to a respectable 143 for 9. That total looked even more respectable when Sunrisers lost their openers Harry Brook and Mayank Agarwal early with the slower balls gripping the Hyderabad surface.But Rahul Tripathi rose above the conditions to score a sprightly half-century and give Sunrisers their first victory of the season. He contributed 63 in an unbroken 100-run stand off 52 balls with his captain Aiden Markram to help ice the chase and hand Kings their first defeat of the season.

Bhuvneshwar, Jansen go bang, bang, bang

On Friday, Sunrisers’ seamers were neutralised on a black-soil turner. Two days later, Bhuvneshwar and co. were on the money from the get-go on a pace-friendly red-soil Hyderabad track. Bhuvneshwar struck first ball to trap Prabhsimran Singh lbw for a duck.Much like Bhuvneshwar, Jansen, picked ahead of legspinner Adil Rashid, exploited the early swing on offer. The left-arm seamer struck with his second legal ball to pin IPL debutant Matt Short lbw for 1. He won another lbw appeal from umpire Bruce Oxenford next ball, but Jitesh Sharma overturned the on-field decision on review. Jitesh managed four before Jansen had him chipping a drive to mid-off in his next over. T Natarajan also found swing in the powerplay as Sunrisers’ seam attack thrived at home.

Dhawan or nothing for PBKS

Once the early movement disappeared for the seamers, Dhawan took some trips down the pitch and hit them over the top. However, at the other end, legspinner Mayank Markande, who was playing his first game for Sunrisers, tore through the middle and lower order with his stock ball and the wrong’un. The innings was going so badly pear shaped that Kings had to Impact Sub a batter for a batter, bringing Sikandar Raza in for the already dismissed Prabhsimran, but it didn’t really help matters. Together the two players contributed 5 runs off 7 ballsMarkande, meanwhile, came away with figures of 4 for 15 in his four overs. Dhawan quietly played him out, but laid into Natarajan and Umran Malik, taking 61 off 31 balls from them. He reached his fifty off 42 balls by launching Natarajan over midwicket for six and then went 6,4,6 against Malik in the 18th over. Dhawan was dropped three times along the way, but he carried on until the end of the innings. He contributed 52 in an unbroken 55-run partnership for a last wicket with debutant Mohit Rathee – an IPL record.Dhawan’s 69.2 was the second-highest percentage of runs scored in a completed IPL innings that went 20 overs or ended with a team all out. It was second only to Brendon McCullum in the first match of the IPL, where he shellacked 158 out of KKR’s total of 222 (71.2%).2:49

Moody: ‘Tripathi showed that he is of high value’

Tripathi, Markram see SRH home

Sunrisers decided to shake up their batting line-up by pairing up Agarwal with Brook at the top. Brook seemed comfortable with pace on the ball, but when Arshdeep Singh cut it down to 117kph and bowled a knuckle ball, he was bowled through the gate for 13 off 14. Then, when Agarwal dared to sweep Rahul Chahar off the stumps, he spliced a catch to long-on, leaving Sunrisers at 45 for 2 in the ninth over.Tripathi and Markram then got together to settle the innings. When Chahar darted it quicker and flatter outside off, Tripathi used the pace to glide the ball behind point. When Chahar slowed his pace down and tossed up his legbreaks, Tripathi stretched out to either drive him inside out over extra cover or sweep him over midwicket. He treated Rathee with even more disdain, smashing him for two sixes and two fours in eight balls.Tripathi’s high intent and execution allowed Markram to sit back and tap the ball into the gaps. Fittingly, it was Tripathi who finished the game for Sunrisers with eight wickets and almost three overs to spare.

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is set to miss the two-match home Test series against West Indies, starting in Ahmedabad from October 2.India’s selection meeting for the series is scheduled for September 24. ESPNcricinfo has learned the Ajit Agarkar-led panel will pick 15 players, which is two fewer than the squad for the New Zealand Tests last October, the last home series India played.Pant, who was India’s vice-captain in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England this year, suffered a fractured left foot during the fourth Test in Manchester. While he limped out to bat in the first innings, he was replaced by N Jagadeesan in the squad for the final Test at the Oval. Pant is currently at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.It is learned that Pant has been undergoing strength and conditioning and is awaiting further updates from the BCCI medical team before he can resume batting and keeping. There is no firm timeline drawn for his return. India are scheduled to play a white-ball series in Australia from October 19, after the West Indies series.In Pant’s absence, Dhruv Jurel is expected to be India’s wicketkeeper during the West Indies series. Jurel, who is currently in Lucknow playing against Australia A, kept wicket in the final two Tests of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Jagadeesan, who opened in the first match against Australia A as well as swapped keeping duties with Jurel, could be the back-up in case the selectors opt for a second specialist wicketkeeper for the West Indies series.It is also understood that the selectors are likely to consider Nitish Kumar Reddy and Devdutt Padikkal for the Test series. Padikkal, who made 150 for India A against Australia A in the first four-day game in Lucknow, has played two Tests so far. He was part of the Perth Test against Australia last year, when he made scores of 0 and 25 from No. 3.Reddy was also part of that series, as well as the England Tests that followed, and has played a total of seven Tests so far. Reddy, who was supposed to make a comeback from the knee injury he suffered in England in the first four-day game against Australia A, did not make the XI. Both players are in the squad for the second four-day game which begins on Tuesday.The India-West Indies Tests are part of the World Test Championship (WTC). India are currently third on the WTC table, after drawing the five-match England series 2-2. West Indies are sixth after three losses in three games.