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Harry Moore, the highly rated Derbyshire fast bowler, has been ruled out of action for a minimum of eight weeks with a back issue.Moore, 17, is considered one of the most promising young fast bowlers in the country, having become Derbyshire’s youngest debutant, at the age of 16, in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup in August 2023.Last summer he made his debut for England Under-19 against Sri Lanka, before going on to represent England Lions on their tour of South Africa in December.Despite his injury, he is set for another significant summer in 2025, having been picked up by Birmingham Phoenix for £41,500 in the recent Hundred draft.A graduate of the Cricket Derbyshire Academy, he made his first-class debut against Northamptonshire in September, and signed a new three-year contract with Derbyshire at the end of the season.He picked up his injury during Derbysire’s pre-season friendly against SACA, leaving the field on Day Two. He will now embark on a period of rehabilitation with the club’s medical team.

Big picture – Rahul, Pant, and points to prove

The IPL has always had players facing their former teams, but this season, there’s added spice to these contests.KL Rahul, former Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain, will play for Delhi Capitals (DC), while Rishabh Pant faces his old franchise DC after becoming IPL’s costliest auction signing. What’s more, they start their season against each other. In Visakhapatnam, DC’s second home, on Monday evening.The last images from Rahul’s time with LSG were of what looked like an animated discussion with team owner Sanjiv Goenka after the team’s exit from IPL 2024. Afterwards, Goenka expressed a desire to have “players with a mindset to win” and Rahul wanted to feel “loved and cared for”.Related

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On Monday, Rahul could possibly start – we don’t know yet if he may have to fly home for personal reasons. When he does, he’ll have started without the captaincy mantle that is with Axar Patel – after Pant’s “devastating” exit.Meanwhile, Pant will lead LSG at a venue where he received a hero’s welcome last year after he returned to action from a career-threatening accident. But this game is more than about Rahul and Pant.It pits two teams eager to carve a new identity after squad revamps, and, in DC’s case, support staff overhaul. LSG faces challenges with with all their main Indian quicks injured or in rehab or, in Mohsin Khan’s case, ruled out. DC have strengthened their attack with Mitchell Starc, Mohit Sharma and T Natarajan, while Mukesh Kumar, Axar and Kuldeep Yadav are still there.Looking at that, this could well be a contest between LSG’s batting and DC’s bowling.

New loyalties

Pant has played all 111 of his IPL games for DC after starting in 2016, and on Monday, he will face them for the first time. Rahul, who led LSG to back-to-back playoffs, now has a chance to make a statement with the bat, continuing the aggressive brand of cricket he played in India’s Champions Trophy glory run.Mitchell Marsh had a productive IPL 2022 for DC – hitting 251 runs with a best of 89. In IPL 2023, he picked up 12 wickets at 14.16. Now, he joins LSG as a batter because of recurrent injuries.5:24

Does Brook’s absence alter Rahul’s role?

Team news and likely XIIs

Rahul joined the team on match eve in Visakhapatnam, but may or may not be available for the game for personal reasons. If he can’t be around, DC have a replacement in Karun Nair, who is coming off a prolific domestic white-ball season. Jake Fraser-McGurk, a star in IPL 2024, has endured a lean run in T20s since – he tallied just 188 runs in ten BBL innings for Melbourne Renegades, with 95 of them in one innings.Delhi Capitals (probable): 1 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Abishek Porel, 4 KL Rahul (wk), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Axar Patel (capt), 7 Ashutosh Sharma, 8 Sameer Rizvi/Mohit Sharma, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 T Natarajan, 12 Mukesh KumarLSG have brought on board Shardul Thakur as injury replacement for Mohsin, but there are other big gaps: Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep – the heart of their Indian fast-bowling core – are all recovering from injuries.Lucknow Super Giants (probable): 1 Yuvraj Chaudhary, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 David Miller, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Shahbaz Ahmed, 9 Rajvardhan Hangargekar, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Shamar Joseph, 12 Prince Yadav0:28

Ponting: ‘We have got backup players in every important position’

The big question

Where should Pant bat?Data backs the theory that he could be unleashed to open thanks to the presence of two spin-bashers in Nicholas Pooran and David Miller lower down. Among 29 batters to have scored 400 or more runs against spinners in the middle overs since IPL 2019, Pooran’s strike rate of 154.31 is the best. Miller, meanwhile, strikes at 135.38, nearly ten runs more than Pant.

In the spotlight: Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur

Axar Patel will be a full-time IPL captain for the first time. One of DC’s four retentions, Axar has been key to India’s triumph at both the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy by giving the team management batting flexibility, apart from reliability with the ball. Axar has previously led his state team Gujarat in 23 matches across formats, most recently in the domestic white-ball competitions, but IPL will be a different challenge.After initially going unsold, Shardul Thakur‘s strong performances with bat and ball for Mumbai in the domestic circuit have earned him a late opportunity with LSG. His county stint with Essex, which could have boosted his national selection chances for the England tour, is now off, and this is another chance for Thakur to prove his all-round value to remain in national contention.18:18

Will the script change for RCB, DC or PBKS?

Key stats

• LSG’s win percentage of 73 batting first is the highest among all teams since IPL 2022.
• DC’s quick bowling pack had the poorest economy rate (10.7) among all the teams in IPL 2024, so there will be a lot of expectations on the revamped line-up.
• Rahul’s 3958 runs are the mostby any batter in the IPL since 2018.
• Pooran is the most prolific six-hitter in T20s since 2024, with 187 sixes. Heinrich Klaasen comes a distant second with 117.

Pitch and conditions

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) shellacked 272 here last year, an IPL record at the time. In 19 games at the Andhra Premier League in August, 200 was crossed just once. But that shouldn’t be the barometer to gauge the surface, for the quality of players is vastly different. In all T20s in Visakhapatnam, runs have been scored at 9.2 an over, the third-highest among all Indian venues behind Hyderabad (9.7) and Bengaluru (9.2).

Next three fixtures

DC are set for a prolonged stay in Visakhapatnam, where they will next play Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 30 – a game that will test crowd loyalty, considering local boy Nitish Kumar Reddy will play for the “away” team. Their third game will be against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai.After Monday, LSG make a quick hop across to Hyderabad to play SRH on March 27, before going home to Lucknow for their first home game, against Punjab Kings (PBKS).

India captain Rohit Sharma rued putting down an “easy” catch at slip to deny Axar Patel a hat-trick in his side’s win against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy.”That was an easy catch, I should have taken that,” Rohit said at the presentation. “The standard I’ve set for myself for standing in the slips… That was a little disappointing, but these things happen, I do understand that. But again, the way these guys bowled that set the game for us.”I know they were 36 [35] for 5 and then they got a big partnership and these things are bound to happen. There will be odd partnerships, credit to [Towhid] Hridoy and Jaker Ali, they played brilliantly to stitch that big partnership. And then with the bat I thought we were very clinical.”Related

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Rohit joked he would take Axar to dinner on Friday night to make it up to him. Axar had sent back Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim on consecutive deliveries in the ninth over, and then Jaker edged his first ball behind only to see Rohit shell the chance. Rohit slapped the ground repeatedly in disappointment, while Axar turned back slowly to his mark with his hands on his head.”I was going to celebrate but then I turned around since it didn’t happen,” Axar had said during the innings break, on missing out on the hat-trick. “These things happen, it’s part of the game.”Jaker went on to score 68 in a century partnership with Hridoy, who in turn got to his maiden ODI century. The duo rescued Bangladesh from 35 for 5 to 189 for 6.Axar finished with 2 for 43 from his 10 overs.

Hasan Ali, the Pakistan fast bowler, has agreed a return to Warwickshire to play all formats for the club in 2025. He is expected to be available from the start of the T20 Blast in May through to the end of September.Hasan, 30, has not played since suffering an elbow injury during his stint at Edgbaston last season, which ruled him out after taking 10 wickets in five Vitality Blast appearances. Surgery followed and he has been undergoing rehab overseen by both Warwickshire and Pakistan’s medical staff.”I said last year that Edgbaston felt like a second home to me…but it’s becoming more like a first home now,” he said. “I love playing for Warwickshire, playing for the Bears fans. And I hope they see by the way I play how much I want to win for this club.Related

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“Being awarded my White Bear Cap in 2023 was among the proudest moments in my career and I want to make lots more special memories with the Bears next season.”Last year was unlucky with the injury. I felt I was bowling well and taking plenty of wickets in the Blast. But I’m back bowling 100 percent in training and focused on joining up with Warwickshire next season.”Hasan has taken 27 wickets in nine County Championship appearances for Warwickshire across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, as well as 19 in the Blast.His availability was restricted last summer after a surprise late recall to Pakistan’s squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, but Warwickshire’s head coach, Mark Robinson, said they had been in contact with the PCB about securing the player, who is no longer centrally contracted, for an unbroken spell.Robinson said: “His call-up last May came out of the blue and took Hasan away from our County Championship start. We’ve had reassurances this year from the PCB that Hasan will be able to focus on the Bears which is great news.”Obviously the contract comes with the caveat that Hasan continues making good progress on his post-op rehab and arrives to us fully fit.”Hasan is a heart-on-the-sleeve performer who always gives his all to the cause. He’s a proven wicket-taker at the highest level and was flying with us last season before the injury. He brings a real energy to the place, the dressing room and on the pitch and inspires everyone around him with his enthusiasm. I’m looking forward to welcoming him back into the Bears fold.”

Plenty has been spoken about the last time New Zealand entertained England at Wellington ahead of Friday’s second Test. And it is fair to say the players are bored of it.”The only chats I’ve had about it are speaking to you guys [the media],” Ben Stokes said when 2023’s one-run thriller was brought up on Thursday. This time around, public entertainment is not a priority: “Any win, any way, shape or form.”New Zealand captain Tom Latham felt similar, even if the spirit of that particular result needs to be evoked here and now. Just as it was then, New Zealand find themselves 1-0 down in the series, and in a peculiar state of flux once more.Related

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They were in transition then and are seemingly in the same state of limbo 22 months on. And yet an unchanged XI from the first Test that contains seven survivors from that Neil Wagner-inspired epic is not wistfully romanticising about the possibility of history repeating itself. Parity in the series will have to be earned.”It hasn’t been mentioned at all,” Latham said. “We know it’s a completely different team, a completely different bowling attack to that was used here, a different make-up to the batting.”Defeat in Christchurch gives New Zealand a middling record of five wins and five defeats from ten Tests in 2024 so far. The India success, professional and deserved, looks like the beautiful anomaly that it is.A temptation to tweak perhaps should have been taken, if only to get Will Young, Player of the Series from that tour, into the XI. New Zealand are not in a position to leave form players out, particularly when those out of form can be swapped out with minimal fuss.The man most under the microscope is Tom Blundell, who could have been swapped out for Young, with either Devon Conway or Latham taking the gloves. A first innings 17 followed by a golden duck has dipped his calendar year average to 15.88. His one and only fifty came eight innings ago, in which time he has returned five single-figure scores, including two noughts.Clarity has been the key between Tests. Players were informed more than 24 hours before Thursday’s start that they would get the chance to go again, a chance at redemption to square the series. Blundell included, who will be playing at his home ground where he averages 55.16 in six Tests.”He’s always known that he’s been playing,” Latham said on whether the player himself had doubts about making the cut this week. “We fully back Tom in terms of his ability to score runs and do a good job behind the stumps. We know what a quality player he is.”New Zealand’s training session on Wednesday and Thursday featured catching sessions, which is nothing at all out of the norm but certainly drew more eyeballs after their botched fielding effort at Hagley Oval. Eight catches were dropped in England’s first innings, the most egregious being the first of five lives for Harry Brook on 18 before he went on to 171.”We did a bit of catching yesterday and today, just like we usually do. We haven’t necessarily put an extra focus on it. We always put the work in behind the scenes, regardless of whether things have gone our way or not.”Latham is guarded at the best of times, but there is a broader sense that New Zealand are keen to adopt a more ruthless approach. Not necessarily towards the opposition, but to themselves. The romanticism of Wellington 2023 counts for little. Nor does the first Test of this series.”Last week was last week,” Latham said. “We’ve got another opportunity this week. We try and stay as level as we can. We’ve been in this situation before when things haven’t necessarily gone the way that we’ve wanted in the first game.”

Ireland Women are looking to the future with the appointment of Gaby Lewis as their new captain taking over from their most experienced player ever, Laura Delany.Delany represented Ireland 207 times across formats, and for the past eight years she’s been leading them as well. They were unable to make the Women’s T20 World Cup but have had recent success, levelling a bilateral contest with Sri Lanka 1-1 in August, when Lewis scored a century and was named Player of the Series. They beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in the ODIs that followed.”I know when I first came into the senior set-up, Dells was one of those team-mates you looked to for inspiration,” Lewis, who is currently in Melbourne, playing club cricket, said. “Moving from the amateur to professional era, she has continually looked to develop and improve her game, and I look forward to playing alongside Dells on many more occasions as we move into the next stage of our squad’s development.”Lewis made her debut for Ireland when she was just 13. She is their highest run-scorer with a tally of 3,742 at 28.95 across formats with two centuries and 21 half-centuries. The 23-year-old has also captained her country 12 times and will now take over full-time ahead of tours to Bangladesh and India coming up in November and January respectively.”I am delighted to be asked to be Ireland Women’s captain on a permanent basis,” Lewis said. “I thoroughly enjoyed acting in the role during the summer and am genuinely excited about the young talent coming through the system. While we are a young squad, the results in recent years have shown that we can compete with the best.”Ireland selector Ciara O’Brien confirmed that Delany would continue playing for the team and head coach Ed Joyce praised her contributions through the course of a career that began in 2010.”I have been privileged to work closely with Laura over the last five years,” Joyce said, “And have profound respect for the work she has done, both on-the-field and off.”Not only has she led the squad through the transition from the amateur to professional era, but the incredible support she offered the squad during those Covid years goes largely unrecognised. Laura’s one of the most competitive and focused players I have worked with, and I have greatly enjoyed every minute.”Orla Prendergast, 22, has been named Ireland’s vice-captain. She made a telling contribution with both bat and ball as Ireland came from behind to draw a T20I series against England in September.”Orla also got the opportunity to lead the team this summer when both Laura and Gaby were injured, and we were very impressed with how she handled some high-pressure situations during the Sri Lanka series,” Joyce said. “Gaby and Orla together then worked very well as the leadership team in the games where both played.”We have tours of Bangladesh and India this winter, an Under-19s Women’s T20 World Cup and a crucially important year ahead in 2025. Not only will we have another busy home summer, but there are qualifying tournaments to navigate for both the 2025 50-over World Cup and 2026 T20 World Cup. As such, we considered now the right time in the cycle to give the new leadership team time to settle in and begin planning.”

Coming off three limited overs series wins in a row, men’s captain Charith Asalanka has serious aspirations for this team: let’s be as good as Sri Lanka had been before 2014.That 2007-2014 side had arguably been Sri Lanka’s greatest ever outfit, getting to no fewer than five World Cup finals (three in T20Is and two in ODIs), before finally winning the 2014 T20 title.Limited overs performances in particular had fallen off a cliff for Sri Lanka after 2015. But on the heels of an ODI series win against India, and a T20I and ODI series victory against West Indies, Asalanka is hoping to recapture some old magic.Related

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The first task is to climb into the top three in the ICC rankings, Asalanka said ahead of the series against New Zealand. In T20Is, which the teams play first, Sri Lanka are at No. 8. In ODIs, they are curiously a little better, despite not having earned qualification to next year’s Champions Trophy, and sit at No. 6. They need to make progress on both fronts, said Asalanka, who has been captain of both formats since August this year.”We need to climb up the rankings, because that shows we’ve been consistently winning,” he said. “Our goal is is to climb to the top three in the rankings. If we’ve consistently been winning, when we go to the ICC tournaments, we won’t get exposed.”We’d have played good teams and won, like we used to do in 2014 and before, when we used to get to the semi-finals easily. We are hoping to come back to that level. It’s important to play really well from tour to tour.”While Sri Lanka are in this phase of rediscovering consistency, there is no room to field any worse than a top XI, he said. So far, Sri Lanka’s white-ball resurgence has come only at home, on largely big-turning pitches. But they have through the course of the last few months also fielded new players, who have performed almost immediately – Janith Liyanage, and Nishan Madushka especially.”We only reently started winning a few matches in a row,” Asalanka said. “It’s the same team that played. Until the base of our cricket improves a little more, we’re trying to play the best XI. But we do have a big plus point, which is that the players on the bench also have had a chance, and they’ve performed well before they’ve gone back to the bench.”We’re hoping to play our best XI all the time. That’s how our bench strength improves as well, because they then know how well you have to play to get a spot in that XI. And the players in the XI also fight for their own places. I think we’ve improved that situation recently. Hopefully we can develope 15/16 really strong players over the course of a year.”

Sri Lanka’s head coach Rumesh Ratnayake has described his team’s performance at the T20 World Cup as “not acceptable”, and a consequence of skill “failing us” after they were knocked out of semi-final contention by India. Sri Lanka have lost all of their three matches so far in the World Cup, and cannot advance out of the group after coming into the event with the expectation they could go after an impressive last 20 months.Since the last T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka have won series in England and South Africa, cruised through the World Cup Qualifiers in Abu Dhabi undefeated, and beaten Pakistan and India on their way to becoming Asia Cup champions. But Sri Lanka lost to both those oppositions and defending champions Australia in the first week of the tournament, which Ratnayake put down to overall underperformance.”It was bad playing through and through this tournament,” he said after Sri Lanka lost to India by 82 runs. “They’ve been doing poor cricket, and that is not acceptable. We’ve been talking about it, we’ve tried to come out of it and we’ve tried various things, we’ve been fearlessly doing things, freely doing things, and I think the skill has failed us when it has been really important.”Related

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Though he did not specifically say it, Ratnayake must have been talking about Sri Lanka’s batting. They have not crossed 100 in any of their three innings, whether batting first or chasing, and their collective form has directly mirrored their captain’s. Chamari Athapaththu has been dismissed in single figures in each innings for a total of ten runs at the tournament thus far. It is her worst return at a World Cup, and stands in stark contrast to the last two editions, in South Africa and Australia, where she scored over 100 runs in each event.The singular focus on Athapaththu can be traced back – probably much further, but for our purposes – to the start of Sri Lanka’s current bad patch, which started on their tour of Ireland in August. Athapaththu missed the two T20Is as she was playing in the Hundred, and though Sri Lanka started well in the first T20I and chased down 146 inside 17 overs to win comfortably, they could not reach a target of 174 in the next match. On Athapaththu’s return, for the ODIs, she notched up 0 and 22 as Sri Lanka went 2-0 down, before managing 48 when they claimed a consolation win.”From the second match up to the fifth match [in Ireland], there were situations where we were on top and we faltered,” Ratnayake said.One such situation was in the second T20I, where Sri Lanka were 101 for 2 in the 13th over but then lost 5 for 56 in five overs to lose by seven runs. Still, Ratnayake was happy with the work they did back in Sri Lanka.”Our preparation was really good back home,” he said. “We played on various types of wickets. We simulated some of those similar situations, but winning those moments, winning those appropriate situations, decision-making along with the skill hasn’t been backed up. The skill did not come through as it did as you said in the finals of the Asia Cup. So that’s something which we need to work on, rethink and come back.”Sri Lanka’s form in the World Cup has reflected that of their captain Chamari Athapaththu•Getty Images

In the Asia Cup final, Sri Lanka successfully chased 166, and though Athapaththu scored a half-century, they also had runs in the form of an unbeaten 69 from Harshitha Samarawickrama, and a 16-ball 30 from Kavisha Dilhari. Both of those are players Athapaththu herself has identified as being key to the future of Sri Lanka cricket. Ratnayake also believed Sri Lanka are “almost closing the gap”, between Athapaththu and other batters with potential, and he continues to have faith in their development initiatives.”In the past 22 months, we’ve worked hard on creating an environment which is conducive for learning,” he said. “So we are not only building up in confidence but building up in confidence so that we would back ourselves with the skill as well.”But has that confidence spilled over into overconfidence, given Sri Lanka’s fighting talk before the series? Athapaththu spoke realistically of their chances of making the semi-finals at this tournament despite being in the tougher of the two groups, and Ratnayake backed that up when he said Sri Lanka “are here to win the World Cup,” and not just participate.”Overconfidence is a thing which is verbally not accepted in our environment, so I don’t think it’s overconfidence, but they are confident enough,” he said. “That is what we thrive on and that is what we emphasise on. It’s just that when needed, we haven’t won the moments.”Now, they also have no hope of winning the World Cup but Ratnayake continues to believe in the group of players he is working with. “This has happened and we will never give up, so that’s a very heartening and a very satisfying thing for a coach to see,” he said. “As much as I’ve created an environment, I’m quite privileged and honoured to be here because they are a super lot. I know we will come through this sooner rather than later.”Sri Lanka have two days before their final match, against New Zealand on Saturday, and Ratnayake has described it as a “prime objective” to “salvage ourselves” and win that game. They will be up against a New Zealand side who will feel the same way, after their chastening defeat to Australia, and with the match a must-win to keep their semi-final hopes alive. For Ratnayake, nothing less than an almighty fight will be acceptable.

Kate Cross claimed career-best figures with bat and ball on her captaincy debut to lead England to a four-wicket win over Ireland in the first ODI at Stormont.Cross, leading a side featuring five ODI debutants in the absence of most of England’s T20 World Cup squad, was largely responsible for limiting the home side to 210 all out, her haul of 6 for 30 including Ireland’s top-scorer, Orla Prendergast, for 76.She then helped repair the damage after Ireland had reduced the visitors to 156 for 6, hitting an unbeaten 38 that included the winning runs.”There was a lot of nerves out there today,” Cross said. “When you’re captaining one debutant it can be quite hard but to have five on the pitch was a lot to manage so I was just really pleased with the first half in general, how we managed to restrict Ireland to what I thought was a below-par total and then we’ve chased it down.”I’ve been there. When I was running in in Barbados for my debut I remember thinking, ‘just try and land it on the cut strip’ and that does go through your head as a player but sometimes it’s the unknown and a fear when they play on debut because they don’t know how they’ll go in international cricket. I think they coped with the occasion really well.”Ireland opted to bat first in the opening match of the series and were well placed at 151 for 3, with star allrounder Prendergast going well. But Cross returned to break a stand of 77 with Leah Paul, and then mopped up the tail for her second ODI five-wicket haul.Cross had struck in her first over, pinning Una Raymond-Hoey lbw, before Lauren Filer removed Ireland captain Gaby Lewis via a catch at slip. Hannah Baker, the legspinner winning her first cap in any format, then struck in her opening spell as Amy Hunter departed for 37.Prendergast, who scored her maiden ODI hundred last month in Ireland’s series win over Sri Lanka, led the rebuilding effort but the innings folded quickly after her departure. Ryana MacDonald-Gay, another England debutant, bowled Rebecca Stokell, then Paul was run out by a combination of Freya Kemp and Bess Heath – two players who will be going to the World Cup in the UAE.Ireland’s total was their highest in women’s ODIs against England, and they made a good start in its defence. Prendergast opened the bowling and removed Emma Lamb and Tammy Beaumont inside her first four overs to leave England 32 for 2.Two debutants in Hollie Armitage (previously capped in T20Is) and Paige Scholfield steadied the ship with a stand of 62, before they were both dismissed in consecutive overs. Kemp showed her power with 26 off 19, but after she fell Mady Villiers was run out to leave England six down.Heath was joined by Cross, with 55 needed and more than 20 overs in which to get them. The captain did the bulk of the scoring, finishing unbeaten with 38 from 36 balls, as England got home with 91 balls to spare.

India’s quest for a world title is well on course. It’s been 11 years since they stood on the podium as champions. Now all that separates them from glory is a few hours’ time and a fiery South African team.Rohit Sharma and his men dismantled the defending champions England in the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final, bowling them out for a mere 103 after first whacking them around to make 171 in Providence, Guyana. The mismatch from Adelaide 2022 was turned on its head.

Tactical battle in tough conditions

On a pitch like Guyana’s – where the pace was slow and the bounce was low – runs square and behind the wicket come at a premium. That’s because if a bowling unit is disciplined enough to hit a good length and keep the stumps in play, the batter just cannot force the pace. England planned to shut out half of the outfield to India but they weren’t always successful: 69 runs, including eight fours and three sixes, still came from where they shouldn’t have, at a strike rate of 192.

Rohit and risk

Within the powerplay period, Rohit was scoring at a strike rate of 133 with shots he was not at all in control of. For context, his overall career strike rate in T20Is is 141. This has been the difference India have been searching for. Don’t just bat waiting for the bad ball. Bat as if everything is a bad ball.Rohit eventually settled. Since the fourth over, he was in control of 20 of 26 balls and he used that control to great effect, scoring 40 runs including four fours and two sixes. He’s accepted that risk is a part of T20 cricket and there’s no point being averse to it.

The Rashid recovery

India’s intent manifested in the form of their batters moving around in the crease. Even a bowler of the calibre of Adil Rashid found it hard to cope and that was a triumph because these were conditions where as a bowler all you had to do was hit a length to target the top of the stumps. The England wristspinner was 2-0-17-0. But he recovered. On the other side of the second rain break, which consumed 153 minutes of this game’s time in total, Rashid decided not to worry about where Rohit and Suryakumar were positioning themselves and instead began to hold a line on off stump. His reward was the wicket of the India captain for 57 off 39. Rashid’s final two overs went for only eight runs.Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav put on a 73-run partnership for the third wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Spin is king

With Rashid done by the 14th over, India held Shivam Dube back believing that the quicks would be taking over. So Buttler found reason to press Liam Livingstone to work, trusting his right-arm all-sorts even at the death. The part-timer finished with figures of 4-0-24-0. It was sign. If he was proving to be unhittable, Axar, Kuldeep and Ravindra Jadeja would be as well. India’s spin-bowling allrounders had a hand to play in getting them to 171 as well, alongside Hardik Pandya, as they struck three sixes and two fours in the last two overs bowled by Jordan and Archer.

Box office Axar

Guyana is spin-friendly. The schedule, as soon as it was announced, suggested India would play there in the semi-final. They packed their squad with spinners. Three of them found place in the XI. Each of them took turns bowling jaffas.Axar was the game-changer. He came on immediately after Jos Buttler had whacked Arshdeep Singh for three fours in an over and with his very first ball took out the biggest threat. England’s captain went down to reverse-sweep the left-arm spinner because really in these conditions you couldn’t just sit in and play straight-bat shots. Rohit found the boundary when he took that gamble earlier. Buttler only found a toe-end to Pant.Each of Axar’s first three overs had a wicket off the first ball. Jonny Bairstow once again choosing to stay leg side and getting bowled, and Moeen Ali’s England career potentially ending with him unsure of where the ball had gone only to realise it was right there in Pant’s hand as he broke the stumps.

Kuldeep’s redemption

England were 49 for 4 when Kuldeep got into the act, bamboozling Sam Curran, and then outsmarting Harry Brook. England were the team that took him down so hard he went off into white-ball wilderness after the 2019 ODI World Cup. Here, against a batter coming after him, and with unconventional shots to boot, he didn’t panic. Kuldeep saw Brook going down to reverse-sweep, so he shifted the line onto leg stump, and left him in a tangle, the flatter trajectory and the quicker pace also playing a part in ball evading the swing of the bat and crashing into the stumps behind.As further sign of their impending defeat, England’s last recognised batter, Livingstone, was run-out after a mix-up with the lower order. The defending champions yielded their crown, with six of them making single-digit scores and none of them going past 25.