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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.

Pakistan have recalled fast bowler Hasan Ali and picked uncapped middle-order batter Kamran Ghulam for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand at home. Shaheen Shah Afridi continues to miss out as he recovers from a knee injury he picked up in the 2022 T20 World Cup final.Naseem Shah, who missed the last two Tests against England with a shoulder injury, has also returned to the squad after being declared fit. But Haris Rauf, who had also picked up an injury on debut in the first Test against England and did not play in the next two matches, is still recovering, and has been left out.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ghulam, 27, had also been picked for the Bangladesh Test series a year ago but didn’t get a game then. He has played 44 first-class matches and averages 47.36, having struck 10 centuries and 18 half-centuries for his 3268 runs. He replaces Azhar Ali in the squad after the senior batter’s retirement. Ghulam had scored a record 1249 runs for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 2020-21 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and was part of the victorious side in the same tournament last season. He is in fine form these days as well, having scored 92, 0, 123* and 98* in the one-day format in the Pakistan Cup this month. In the QeA Trophy before that, he scored 597 runs from 14 innings to average 42.64.Hasan returns to the squad after being dropped for the series against England, which the visitors swept 3-0. His last Test was against Sri Lanka in Galle in July.Fast bowler Mohammad Ali and bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf, who were in the squad for the England Tests, have both been excluded for the upcoming series and advised to participate in the ongoing Pakistan Cup, the PCB said in its statement.The series will start on December 26 in Karachi and then move to Multan for the second game starting January 3. That will be followed by three day-night ODIs back in Karachi from January 10 to 14.Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (capt), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Zahid Mehmood

India’s stand-in captain Hardik Pandya has described the Lucknow pitch as a “shocker” after his side chased down 100 with just a ball to spare in the second T20I against New Zealand. The Ekana Stadium track offered big turn throughout the game, much like how the Ranchi pitch did in the first T20I on Friday.”To be honest, this was a shocker of a wicket,” Hardik told at the post-match presentation. “Two games… the kind of wickets we played on, I don’t mind difficult wickets. I’m all up for that but these wickets are not made for T20 … Other than that, very happy [with the result].”On Sunday, the spinners bowled 30 out of the 40 overs in a match that produced sixes. It is two more overs than the previous record for most overs bowled by spinners from Full-Member teams in a T20I.Related

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Hardik added that there was so much happening off the surface that the batters had to be quite circumspect. “It wasn’t that it was a slow, turning wicket,” he said. “But actually it was carrying through very well and to be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket. We were just playing the ball and seeing whichever the best opportunity or whichever the best position we can get in and made sure we keep rotating the strike.”

Santner: ‘Was trying to find spinners from everywhere’

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner was surprised by the amount of purchase the spinners got later in the evening. There was so much assistance that he squeezed out four overs from wicketkeeper-turned-part-time offspinner Glenn Phillips. Mark Chapman, also a part-time fingerspinner, pitched in with an over of his own, as New Zealand dragged the game down to the very last over, despite posting just 99 for 8.”It was obviously a great game of cricket,” Santner said, “To get it so close was a pretty good effort from the boys. If we got an extra 10-15 [runs], it could’ve been the difference, but I think the calmness of Hardik and Surya [Suryakumar Yadav] to get them over the line was pretty good. I was trying to find them [spinners] from everywhere. I was asking Lockie [Ferguson] if he could bowl some offspin but yeah I think you don’t often see more than 12 overs of spin out there. I think maybe we bowled 16 or 17, so it’s definitely something different.”

Gambhir, Neesham also critical of Lucknow track

Speaking on , former India batter Gautam Gambhir and New Zealand allrounder James Neesham echoed Hardik’s thoughts on the pitch.”I don’t think the New Zealand batsmen were found wanting,” Neesham said. “I think that was, like GG [Gautam Gambhir] mentioned, a ‘sub-standard’ surface, I don’t think anyone really played the sort of fluent innings through both innings. So, obviously two very high-quality spin-bowling attacks, but when a good number of people turn up at the ground to watch and want to be entertained, it’s a bit of shame but the silver lining was it ended up being a bit of a low-scoring thriller.”1:43

Mhambrey: ‘It looked like a challenging pitch, happy we controlled the game’

Bracewell: ‘A variety of wickets around the world is a positive thing’

Michael Bracewell, who picked up 1 for 13 in his four overs, wasn’t as critical of the Lucknow track, and reckoned that it wasn’t necessarily a bad advertisement for T20 cricket.”No, I think it was cool to play on a different wicket, and as I said earlier, it’s one of those ones where if you play on a wicket like that all the time or if you or if you play on a wicket that’s flat all the time, then you don’t get a true test of your skill,” Bracewell said at his post-match press conference. “So, I think a variety of wickets around the world is a positive thing and India were just too good today on a wicket that probably suited their style of play and obviously growing up playing in those conditions as well. So, it’s one of those ones where you expect different wickets around the world and we can’t complain; it’s exciting to try and figure out a way to play on these wickets.”

Mhambrey: ‘You have to ask curator about behaviour of pitch’

India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey also spoke of the challenges posed by the Ekana Stadium surface, and praised his four-man spin attack, which was bolstered by the return of legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal.”Firstly when we saw the wicket, we realised that it was on the drier side,” Mhambrey said at his post-match press conference. “Obviously, there was a little bit of grass covering in the middle, but there was no grass at both the ends. So, when we came yesterday, it looked like it would turn. We realised that it would be a challenging wicket. The reason [why the pitch behaved like that]… you have to ask the curator.”Was it time? or I don’t know and I think he’s the right person to answer that question. But yeah definitely it was challenging. We knew that it would be a big challenge and luckily happy with the way we controlled the game. I think we allowed 100 runs and anything beyond 120-130, I thought it would have been more challenging but we did well to restrict them to 99 and give us a reasonable target to chase.”

Ravindra Jadeja “hadn’t felt the sun for about five months” during his long recovery from a knee injury and surgery that had sidelined him since August last year, a period that he said was “tough” and “frustrating”.Jadeja returned to action just in time for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, which begins on February 9 in Nagpur, successfully testing his fitness in a Ranji Trophy game for Saurashtra. He bowled 41.1 overs against Tamil Nadu and took eight wickets, including a seven-for, and made scores of 15 and 25.”When I went to the ground on the first day, it felt weird,” Jadeja told BCCI.tv. “I hadn’t felt the sun for about five months because I was training indoors and in the gym. I wondered if my body would sustain 90 overs out in the sun on the first day.Related

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“The first day was very tough, especially in the Chennai heat. But my body got used to it eventually on day 2 and 3. Then I felt that I was fit, and I could play four-day or five-day cricket. That game went well, and I picked up wickets, too. A player needs such confidence ahead of a big series, and luckily I got that. I feel good about coming back after preparation, and touchwood, whatever happens hereon will be good.”Jadeja injured his right knee during the Asia Cup last August, and said he had to take a decision on when to have surgery.”I was struggling with my knees and had to get a surgery done. I had to take a decision whether I had to do it before the [T20] World Cup or after the World Cup,” he said. “The doctor suggested I get it done before the World Cup because even if I had not got it operated, chances of me playing in the World Cup was very less. So I made up my mind and went under the knife.”

Jadeja: ‘The two months after injury was very tough’

Jadeja had surgery in early September, and said his recovery period was “a bit up and down,” as he missed the T20 World Cup and all of India’s subsequent fixtures.”It is frustrating to be away from cricket for five months, and I was waiting eagerly to get fit and play for India,” he said. “The period after surgery was tough – I had to undergo a lengthy rehab and training. There were thoughts about when I will get fit.”When you watch matches on TV, I was imagining myself there and realising what I was missing and wished I was there. Those things, though, motivate you to get fit quicker by undergoing rehab and training, strengthen my knees and make a comeback.”Jadeja spent a lot of time at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, where he underwent most of his rehab. “The physios and trainers at NCA worked a lot on my knees, and gave me enough time. NCA used to be shut on Sundays but they used to come down for me and especially help me out.”I used to shuttle between the NCA [Bengaluru] and home [Rajkot] every two-three weeks to keep my mind fresh and help me recover soon. But the two months after injury was very tough, because I was unable to walk and neither could go anywhere. My friends and family helped me in that critical phase.”In fact, the trainers at NCA also boosted my confidence. Whenever I used to complain about the pain and put it off, they used to tell me, ‘Do it for the country, not for you’. I felt good that they were very serious about my knee and wanted me to get back on the field soon.”Jadeja is now poised to made his comeback for India in the first Test against Australia, where he could line up alongside R Ashwin and Axar Patel if India choose to play three spinners in Nagpur.

Clare Connor has been appointed as deputy chief executive officer at the ECB, while taking on the new position of England women’s managing director that more closely mirrors Rob Key’s role with the men’s team.Connor, who captained England from 2000 to 2005, spent 15 years as the ECB’s managing director of women’s cricket and became interim CEO in June 2022 after Tom Harrison’s tenure came to an end.She starts her new roles with immediate effect, with Richard Gould now installed as chief executive on a full-time basis after leaving his most recent post with Bristol City Football Club at the end of January.The ECB said in a press release that Connor would work closely with Gould on “board-level leadership responsibilities” and that her initial focus would be managing the “game-wide response” to the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket’s upcoming report into diversity and inclusion within the sport.Connor said: “It was an enormous honour to have served as interim CEO of ECB, and I’m delighted that in this new role I can continue to make a difference across the game as we strive to become a more inclusive sport. Cricket’s response to the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket’s report will be a vital moment for our game and we must use it to change for the better.”Throughout my many years working in cricket so far, I have been committed to making our game one which includes and welcomes people from every background, and that’s what will continue to drive me on in everything I do.”Gould said: “This is a huge year for cricket, with the men’s and women’s Ashes to look forward to, the women’s game developing so quickly and domestic cricket on a fast growth strategy, while we also have the challenges of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket report to come.”I am delighted therefore that Clare has accepted the role of Deputy CEO and MD England Women. She did an excellent job as Interim CEO, and prior to this as MD Women’s Cricket. The new role will allow her to continue to lead and influence across the game, allowing us all to benefit from her experience and knowledge.”Connor’s previous role as managing director of women’s cricket will not be replaced. Beth Barrett-Wild, who oversees the women’s Hundred, will instead have her remit expanded, becoming director of the women’s professional game.

Orange Cap leaderboard

Nicholas Pooran, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) No. 3, is still on top of the run-scorers’ table, with 201 runs from four innings, but other batters are catching up with him.Like MI’s Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar has been one of the brightest spots in an otherwise bleak MI set-up, and his sequence of 29, 48, 27*, 67 and 28 has taken him to No. 2, knocking Mitchell Marsh out of the top three.GT opener B Sai Sudharsan has moved down to third spot after Monday’s game. He has scores of 5, 49, 63 and 74 – 191 runs from four innings.Hardik Pandya has been among the wickets for MI•Associated Press

Purple Cap leaderboardNoor Ahmad, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) left-arm wristspinner, has been joined by MI captain Hardik Pandya at the top, both returning ten wickets so far, from four games each. Noor has a better economy rate, though – 7.86 – compared to Hardik’s 8.57.There’s a tie just below them, too.Mitchell Starc is at third place, since his nine wickets have come from one fewer bowling innings, three, as compared to Mohammed Siraj’s nine from four.Starc has been one of the standout strike bowlers in the tournament so far, returning 3 for 42, 5 for 35 and 1 for 27, while Siraj has got a move on after a poor start. After figures of none for 54 in his first appearance of the season, Siraj has picked up 2 for 34, 3 for 19 and 4 for 17 to move up the ladder quickly.

Corbin Bosch’s dream outing continued as he scored his maiden half-century off 46 balls and the highest score by a No.9 batter on debut in Tests as he built South Africa’s 90-run first-innings lead. Pakistan ate into most of that in their second innings but lost three wickets and remained two runs behind, leaving South Africa with their noses in front.The hosts, who need one more Test win to guarantee a place in the World Test Championship final, were at risk of squandering the opportunity to get ahead after collapsing from 178 for 4 to 213 for 8 but a 41-run stand between Bosch and Kagiso Rabada and a 47-run last-wicket partnership between Bosch and Dane Paterson gave them a healthy lead. They did not maximise the advantage immediately and Pakistan’s opening pair of Saim Ayub and Shan Masood put on 49 inside 11 overs before they lost 3 for 25 on a day that ebbed and flowed, more from entertainment than the quality of the cricket.Both sets of batters will look back in some anger at the way they were dismissed. South Africa’s middle order have questions over some ordinary shot selection while Pakistan, aside from their first innings collapse, now have to deal with signs of variable bounce as they look to build a target they can defend. Amongst those bigger picture narratives, was Bosch’s delight as he ended unbeaten on 81 and was given the new ball in the second innings in a match where he has had a Midas touch.Bosch came to the crease with South Africa on 191 for 7. Aiden Markram on 87 and Naseem Shah was in the middle of a marathon ten-over spell. Naseem had done the damage either side of lunch after he pulled his length back. That probed a well-set David Bedingham outside off and drew an edge off the back-foot drive to first slip, which sparked a collapse.Post lunch, Naseem resumed with the same determination. He had Kyle Verreynne caught in the slips off the 14th ball of the second session, playing a loose drive to a ball on fifth stump. Two overs later, he tested Marco Jansen with a tighter line and drew an edge but Ayub put it down at gully. It would not have mattered as Naseem had over-stepped. He did not have to wait too long to rectify his error. His next ball was back of a length and angling away, Jansen edged and was caught behind.Khurram Shahzad denied Aiden Markram a century•AFP/Getty Images

At that point, Markram might have been wondering if he was running out of partners. Bosch provided the answer with back to back boundaries off Khurram Shahzad and then two more off Naseem and South Africa settled. Markram faced 14 of the 30 balls that were bowled after Bosch got to the crease and added only three runs to his total before he was bounced out. Shahzad set him up with a couple of deliveries just back of a length, then one on a good length and then the snorter. Markram was not expecting it and edged to Mohammad Rizwan to fall 11 short of what would have been a second century this year.South Africa only led by two at that point and Pakistan had the opportunity to keep things fairly even but they were taken apart by Bosch for the second day running. He was aggressive on front and back foot and had a disciplined partner in Rabada, who pulled out one of the most eye-catching cover drives of the game.When Aamer Jamal was brought back on half an hour before tea, Rabada’s patience ran out. He swiped across the line and sent the ball aerially in the direction of the non-striker. Babar Azam took a good catch at short midwicket, looking into the sun to end what was becoming a frustrating partnership for Pakistan.Bosch would go on to get his milestone and reached fifty with a stunning cover drive. His is the second-fastest fifty by a South African on debut. Then Paterson swung and scored four off Jamal and six when he hit Abbas over long-off. Desperate to end the lower-order resistance, Naseem was brought back after a brief break and bowled four more overs but could not get the breakthrough. Instead it was the part-time spin of Ayub, the only spinner used in the match so far, that did the trick. Paterson tried to launch him out of the ground but skied it to mid-off where Shahzad ran circles before taking the catch.Kagiso Rabada ended Pakistan’s quick opening stand in the second innings•AFP/Getty Images

South Africa started poorly with the ball in the second innings. Rabada and Bosch shared the new ball but both were too short and too wide in their opening spells. Ayub and Shan Masood played aggressively and raced to 41 in the first seven overs before Temba Bavuma brought on Paterson from Bosch’s end.His first two overs cost five runs and brought a semblance of pressure which was all Rabada needed to adjust back to his best. In his sixth over, he produced an absolute jaffa on a length and nipping away. Ayub couldn’t get behind the line of the ball as it curved to hit the top of offstump. Rabada finished a seven-over spell with figures of 1 for 31.Jansen took over from him and immediately looked a threat with the bounce he generated. Masood negotiated his first over but when Jansen found even more lift in the second, he hung his bat out and edged low to Tristan Stubbs at third slip. In Jansen’s next over, Kamran Ghulam, who scored 54 in the first innings, edged to Ryan Rickelton in the gully. That catch needed to be looked at a few more times but Rickelton appeared to have fingers under the ball and Ghulam’s short stay was over.Saud Shakeel benefitted from loose bowling towards the end of the day and struck two authoritative boundaries before bad light caused an early end to play.

UAE have replaced USA in the list of 16 women’s teams with ICC ODI status for the 2025-29 cycle, which will come into effect on May 12. The 16 teams include five Associate members: Thailand, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea and Scotland, who have all retained their status, apart from UAE.Thailand and Scotland made sure of their ODI status after getting to the women’s ODI World Cup qualifier, held recently, while PNG and Netherlands retained their status based on their T20I rankings. PNG are at 13th and Netherlands 15th on the T20I rankings. Thailand and Scotland are at 11th and 12th place on the same rankings respectively.At the World Cup qualifiers held in Pakistan earlier this month, Scotland beat West Indies and Thailand to finish fourth out of six teams, with Thailand placed bottom after losing all their five games. Pakistan and Bangladesh made the cut for the World Cup, to be hosted later this year by India, from the tournament, though Pakistan are expected to not travel to India and will play their matches elsewhere.UAE confirmed their ODI status as the next-highest-ranked Associate team – at No. 16 on the T20I table – at the time of the annual rankings update. Teams with ODI status are required to play at least eight ODIs over a three-to-four-year period to achieve or maintain a ranking.Australia maintained their stronghold on the No.1 ranking with 299 rating points and even extended their lead over second-placed England (279) from 18 points to 20 after the update.USA are currently playing a bilateral series against Zimbabwe, where they lost the T20I series 2-1 and won the first ODI by seven wickets on Thursday. The second and final ODI will be played on Saturday. UAE, meanwhile, are currently in Bangkok, taking part in a quadrangular T20I series also involving hosts Thailand, Hong Kong and Kuwait.