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Match abandoned Scott Edwards finally won the toss and wanted Netherlands’ bowlers to, for once, bowl without dew around. But rain that fell as early as the fifth over ensured they had to contend with wet conditions anyway. They had bowled second in the first two T20Is of the three-match series and had lost both times.Netherlands fared better on Wednesday and managed to rein Bangladesh in after the first rain stoppage. But rain returned about two hours later to have the final say.Bangladesh posted 164 for 4 in 18.2 overs, in an innings replete with stoppages. Their captain Litton Das got off to a rapid start. There was a lull in the middle, before Jaker Ali and Nurul Hasan injected momentum at the death. Netherlands quick Kyle Klein travelled the distance, going for 53 in his four overs, but also picked up three wickets. None of that mattered in the end, and the no-result meant Bangladesh took the series 2-0, Netherlands’ consolation coming from avoiding a clean sweep.

A Litton knock of two moods

With the series already sealed, Bangladesh looked at the opportunity to rotate their players ahead of next week’s Men’s T20 Asia Cup. They rested both their openers, Pervez Hossain Emon and Tanzid Hasan, among the five changes to their XI, and Litton walked out to open. He made his intentions clear with a clinical assault against Daniel Doram’s left-arm spin in the third over. Litton launched a four over mid-off before ending the over with 4, 4, 6 – the second of them coming off an outside edge that evaded the keeper.The first stoppage came during the next over, after Litton deposited Klein over deep midwicket. One of the floodlights at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium had malfunctioned, and play was suspended for 11 minutes. Once play resumed, Litton hit two more fours, one each off Klein and offspinner Aryan Dutt, before rain arrived. He was on 42 off 16 then but couldn’t find his touch when play resumed 37 minutes later. When he was dismissed in the 15th over, he had scored only 31 off his last 30 balls.One of the characteristics of Litton’s 46-ball 73 was how well he held his shape while hitting big shots. Netherlands may have seen a lot less of this had Shariz Ahmad held on to a chance at deep midwicket in the fourth over when Litton was on 37. He was dropped again on 68 by Tim Pringle, but that did not cost Netherlands much.Litton Das scored 42 off his first 16 balls, and only 31 off his last 30•AFP/Getty Images

A glimmer of hope in Netherlands’ bowling

The Shariz drop came in Klein’s second over. It might have given him an inkling of how his evening would turn out. He bowled his heart out but struggled for consistency. Even with a dry ball, he slipped in a beamer in the fourth over of the game. By the end of that over, he had gone for 26 in two, and Bangladesh were 56 for 1.But Netherlands managed to pull things back after the rain break.Dutt and Pringle managed to extract purchase from the surface and kept even a set Litton in check. Towhid Hridoy’s patience ran out after he had scored just nine off his first 13 balls, and he holed out to long-on in an attempt to charge at Pringle. In the first 35 balls after the rain interval, Netherlands gave away just 28 runs and picked up a wicket.Bangladesh found the boundary in just four of the ten overs after their powerplay, and lost three wickets in that period. Then Nurul, playing his first T20I since the T20 World Cup of 2022, and Jaker joined forces to take 22 off the 18th over, bowled by Klein. They added 42 off just 23 balls before heavens opened again.

James Vince hit the turbo button to smoke 98 not out to beat Sussex Sharks and put Hampshire Hawks on course for the Men’s Vitality Blast quarter-finals.Captain Vince led from the front in a magnificent 49-ball knock to chase down 168 and secure a third straight Hawks victory – and only failed to reach figures by hitting the winning runs with a four rather than a six.James Fuller supported with three wickets before Joe Weatherley partnered up for 62 – and 43 himself – as Hampshire found form at the right time of the competition.They now have seven wins – the traditional benchmark for qualification – while Sussex have stalled. They have lost their last three matches.Vince has blown hot and cold in the Blast, with three half-centuries but plenty of single-figure scores. This was a boiling day for him.The second ball he faced flew over the square ropes, with two more joining it to go with 12 other boundaries – it was vintage Vince, punishing anything that wasn’t an A-class delivery.A record 12-ball half-century looked temporarily on before settling for 19 balls, and from there he found a rhythm to tick off the runs quickly and risk-free.Toby Albert put 54 on with him at the top before frustrating himself with a pull to midwicket and Danny Lamb snuck one past Tom Prest. But in-form Weatherley provided the firmest support, while also plundering a quartet of sixes to make sure there was no pressure on the chase and Vince.He fell for 43, and Hilton Cartwright followed before Fuller helped Vince to get over the line.Sussex’s innings came in three acts. The cagey start, the run-frenzied middle and then the run drought at the death.Having chosen the bat, neither side could get an advantage in what felt like an ‘eight-pointer’ match due to their positions in the table and their closeness to qualifying.The Sharks probably edged the powerplay with a six off the last ball taking them to 51 for 1 – with Daniel Hughes been and gone after cutting to cover.That maximum sparked Tom Clark and George Thomas into life as they whacked 63 in the following six-and-a-half overs. Clark’s pair of sixes off Benny Howell was the apex of the innings, as the duo ran hard and piled the pressure onto the hosts.But both departed in the 13th over, Fuller dislodging each of them to spark a slow down – with only 60 runs coming from the last eight overs.Scott Currie repeated Fuller’s trick by seeing off Tom Alsop and James Coles in the 16th over, before only conceding four runs in the 18th over.Chris Wood also only went for four runs in the following over with two more wickets – the latter of which a controversial boundary catch which caused a fracas at the interval – as Hampshire took control.The visitors snared 15 runs from the last to take them to 167 for 7. But it was far from enough as Hampshire won with 16 balls to spare.

South Africa confirmed their spot in the Champions Trophy semi-finals with a commanding victory over a hapless England, who ended the tournament winless, captain-less, and on a seven-match losing streak.After choosing to bat first in Karachi, the most run-laden venue of the event, England played like a side that would rather not. They were bowled out for the lowest total of this Champions Trophy and gifted South Africa wickets in a display of carefree and sometimes careless strokeplay. South Africa were hit by both illness and injury-enforced absences and were not always at their best, but they caught particularly well in the field, paced their chase perfectly, and have plenty of positives to take into the knockouts.From a bowling perspective, the form of Marco Jansen, who picked up the first three wickets, continues on an upward curve while Keshav Maharaj was effective through the middle overs and Wiaan Mulder cleaned up the tail. South Africa’s batting line-up was without regular openers Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi (both unwell), and Aiden Markram (hamstring injury in the field). Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen both scored half-centuries in a match-winning third-wicket stand of 127. If anything, it gives South Africa a good selection problem going forward while England just have problems.Lungi Ngidi covered good ground to pull off a diving catch•Associated Press

Having already exited the tournament after their defeat to Afghanistan and with Jos Buttler announcing he would step down as captain, England had nothing to lose and were expected to play with freedom. They showed their intent early when Phil Salt cracked Jansen’s second ball over backward point and smashed the fourth one over midwicket to open the scoring with fours. But, instead of closing out the opening over quietly, he tried to pull the final ball – a short one – also but top-edged it to van der Dussen at midwicket to end his tournament with a total of 30 runs from 25 balls.Ben Duckett picked up from where Salt left off and scored two boundaries in three balls off Lungi Ngidi but Jamie Smith repeated Salt’s mistake and tamely pulled Jansen to Markram at mid-on. Duckett settled as he was fed balls on the pads but when he tried to clip Jansen fine, he got a leading edge back to South Africa’s destroyer-in-chief. England were 37 for 3 in the seventh over.That could have become 38 for 4 when Joe Root cut Kagiso Rabada to backward point and though Mulder got both hands to it, he could not hold on. Root went on to nail the drive and the pull and formed a 62-run stand with a confident-looking Harry Brook and England were building solidly. But they could not keep Jansen out of the game. When Brook belted Maharaj over midwicket, Jansen ran to his right from long-on and slid on his knees to take a wonder catch. Four balls later, Root was bowled when he missed a leg-side flick off Mulder and the ball hit his back pad on its way on to the stumps.At that stage, Buttler, playing his last innings as England captain, had only faced a ball and had a big job on his hands. He received little help from Liam Livingstone, who charged down the track to meet a Maharaj ball but South Africa’s left-arm spinner saw him coming, tossed it up and had him stumped. Livingstone has only made more than 20 runs once in his last seven innings.By then, England’s effort looked mostly a case of marking time while South Africa stayed focused on searching for wickets. Rabada was brought back at the halfway stage. He beat Jamie Overton first up, then kept him in check by forcing a defensive shot, and then had him caught at mid-on as the batter tried to attack. He looked to whip Rabada over the leg side but chipped the ball towards mid-on where Ngidi ran back and took a one-handed stunner as he hit the ground.Heinrich Klaasen was in fine hitting form•Associated Press

South Africa continued to catch well: Jansen took a low catch at midwicket to see the end of Jofra Archer and Maharaj made a tumbling grab at mid-off to end Buttler’s innings on 21 and give Ngidi his 100th ODI wicket. England were bowled out in the 39th over, and took South Africa’s concerns about a slow over rate with them.At that stage, South Africa’s semi-final qualification was assured because even if they lost the match, their net run-rate could not dip below Afghanistan’s. That took pressure off the chase but not necessarily off South Africa’s batters, who all wanted runs ahead of an important week. Tristan Stubbs, playing his ninth ODI and first in an ICC event, didn’t get any as he tried to play an Archer ball late but deflected it on to his stumps.Though his first over lasted ten balls as he struggled to find his line, Archer quickly improved and delivered the rest of his opening spell with good pace and better accuracy. He was rewarded with a second wicket, too, when Ryan Rickelton, who looked confident in his 25-ball 27, was bowled by a delivery that nipped back into him and smashed into middle stump.From there, it was all South Africa. While van der Dussen appeared at times frustrated by his slower scoring rate than Klaasen’s, the pair complemented each other well. Van der Dussen scored largely through the leg side while six of Klaasen’s 11 fours came through the covers. Klaasen reached his fifty with one of those shots off the 41st ball he faced. It was his fifth successive half-century in the format, which is the joint-highest for South Africa. Van der Dussen’s came off 72 balls as he rocked back to send Adil Rashid through square leg and bring up a second fifty in the competition. Klaasen departed when he tried to smash Rashid over fine leg but outside-edged to short third. David Miller hit the winning runs off the second ball he faced when he smoked Livingstone over the sightscreen for six.This is the third successive tournament for which South Africa have qualified for the knockouts, after the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup. Their semi-final opposition and venue will only be confirmed after the match between India and New Zealand on Sunday. They will play the loser of that match either in Dubai on Tuesday (if it’s India) or Lahore on Wednesday (if it’s New Zealand).

Mumbai Indians (MI) seam-bowling allrounder Pooja Vastrakar and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) legspinner Asha Sobhana have been sidelined from the entire WPL 2025 with injuries. Parunika Sisodia, fresh off winning the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, and Railways wicketkeeper-batter Nuzhat Parween, will replace them at MI and RCB respectively.Vastrakar has been a “big player” for MI, as their head coach Charlotte Edwards alluded to during the pre-season press-conference, so filling the void created by her absence could be a challenge. Sisodia, the left-arm fingerspinner isn’t a like-for-like replacement for Vastrakar, but her recent form is encouraging for MI: she took five wickets across the semi-final and the final of the Under-19 World Cup, helping India become back-to-back champions.Related

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• RCB's title defence hit by player unavailability and injury concerns

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Akshita Maheshwari, the Rajasthan seam-bowling allrounder, is more of a like-for-like replacement for Vastrakar. In the Under-23 Women’s One Day Trophy last season, Maheshwari had finished with 23 wickets, the second-most in the competition, and picked up two hat-tricks: against Mizoram and Odisha.Asha’s unavailability, meanwhile, compounds RCB’s troubles. They are also sweating on the fitness of Shreyanka Patil and Ellyse Perry. Asha’s 12 wickets in 10 games at an economy rate of 7.11 were vital to RCB winning their maiden WPL title last season.Parween, who has played five T20Is for India, will be a back-up wicketkeeper to Richa Ghosh. She had scored 134 runs at a strike rate of 101.51 for Railways in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy earlier this season.WPL 2025 will kick off on February 14, with defending champions RCB taking on Gujarat Giants in Vadodara.

South Africa have selected their strongest available squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Pakistan in order to make full use of their last opportunity to play together ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy.Though South Africa will play a tri-series in Pakistan, which also includes New Zealand, in February next year, those matches will take place too close to the conclusion of the SA20 on February 8 for a first-choice squad to be available.There are nine additions to the squad that last played the format, against Ireland in the UAE, including the return of Kagiso Rabada, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi, who last played an ODI almost a year ago.

South Africa vs Pakistan ODI series

Dec 17 – 1st ODI, Paarl
Dec 19 – 2nd ODI, Cape Town
Dec 22 – 3rd ODI, Johannesburg

Eighteen-year-old quick Kwena Maphaka is the only uncapped player in the squad, Maphaka was the leading wicket-take at this year’s Under-19 World Cup, which is played in the 50-over format, and has impressed with speeds of up to 152kph in the T20I series against Pakistan. He also gets an opportunity thanks to the absence of several injured quicks. None of Anrich Nortje (broken toe), Lungi Ngidi (hip injury), Gerald Coetzee (groin injury), Wiaan Mulder (broken finger) and Nandre Burger (lower back stress fracture) could be considered for selection.The squad will be led by regular captain Temba Bavuma, who was injured when playing an ODI against Ireland in October but has since returned to form in the Test arena. It is likely he will be partnered by Ryan Rickelton at the top of the order with Reeza Hendricks, who did not cross 20 in his last five ODIS, dropped. Tony de Zorzi is another top-order option. Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Klaasen and Miller all give South Africa an experienced and strong batting line-up.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Two seam-bowling allrounders in Andile Phehlukwayo and Marco Jansen have been selected, while one other specialist seamer, Ottneil Baartman, and two frontline spinners – Maharaj and Shamsi – have come in at the expense of Bjorn Fortuin and Nqaba Peter. Shamsi’s return is significant because he opted out of a national contract in October in order to have flexibility for league performances and was not included in the T20I series to play India last month. He has since been recalled for the Pakistan matches.”The bowling line-up features one of the fastest in the game in KG, and this series offers another great opportunity for a young talent like Kwena to come in and learn first-hand from the best,” Rob Walter, South Africa’s white-ball coach, said. “In the batting department, we are thrilled to welcome back David and Heinrich, two of the most destructive players in the game. Overall, we are very pleased with this squad.”Bavuma, de Zorzi, Jansen, Maharaj, Markram, Rabada, Stubbs and Rickelton will have a four-day turnaround between the end of the ODI series and the start of the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. South Africa need one more Test win to guarantee themselves a place at next year’s World Test Championship final.

South Africa squad for ODI series against Pakistan

Temba Bavuma (capt), Ottneil Baartman, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen

Rohit Sharma wants to injury-proof the Indian cricket team, and has called for expanding their bench strength, particularly the fast-bowling department so that they have eight or nine players ready to step into the first XI at any given moment.”We want to create a bench strength where tomorrow if anything happens to anyone, we are not worried, and we don’t want to be worried or too heavily reliant on a few individuals. That’s not the right thing to do,” Rohit said on the eve of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. “We want to look at the future at the same time, try and make sure that we get the right guys in as well.”We want to create guys where even if there are injuries, we have got someone to quickly step in and take that role.”It’s not about three or four options. We want to try and do that like, you know, when it comes to batting, there are a lot of options. We want to create the same with the bowlers as well.”Along with the 15-member squad for the three-match series against New Zealand, India are also carrying Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy as travelling reserves. Mayank and Reddy recently made their international debuts in the T20Is against Bangladesh recently, while Rana was an unused member of that squad.Related

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• India's problem of plenty – three spinners or three seamers?

• India start as favourites, but Bengaluru weather could level the playing field

• Shami not ready for New Zealand Tests; Bumrah named vice-captain

Prasidh Krishna was also initially named as a travelling reserve for the New Zealand Tests, but he has reportedly suffered another injury setback. During Karnataka’s opening fixture of the new Ranji Trophy season, against Madhya Pradesh in Indore, he bowled only eight of the 140 overs that his side sent down.”You know, the reason we wanted to keep them close to us was because we are thinking of them to take them to Australia,” Rohit said. The five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins on November 22. “We just want to monitor them and see their workload. We have seen some talent in them. I understand that they have not played a lot of red-ball cricket, but when you see a talent, you want to try and groom them.Harshit Rana, 22, has played nine first-class matches and picked up 36 wickets•PTI

“You want to try and bring them as close to the team as possible. And in a short period of time, they have shown they have some ability as well. So, we want to keep them with the team and see whether they will be ready for international cricket or not, especially Test cricket, because Test cricket is a different ball game compared to white ball cricket. So, we want to keep them, we want to see what they can offer us, and have more options with us, more than anything else.”Nitish and Harshit both obviously are quite talented individuals, and in the future obviously they are going to provide a lot of stability to the team. So, just want to see what they are capable of, what they have to offer.”Mayank’s rise has been both rapid and eye-catching. He burst on the scene during IPL 2024, bowling at speeds of 155kph, and accurately at that, for Lucknow Super Giants. He could only play four matches though with an abdominal issue keeping him sidelined. Still, India had seen enough to fast-track him into their T20 side against Bangladesh earlier this month, where he picked up four wickets from three games while consistently pushing the speed gun into the high 140kph.”Mayank obviously has shown what he can do, but we just want to be very careful with him, he has had a lot of injuries in the past,” Rohit said. “So, we want to progress him, not rapidly, we want to just see every day how he feels.”We are trying to build his workloads with the red ball. He has not played a lot of red-ball cricket at all. So, for us, it’s important that we try and build them gradually, rather than just getting them into international cricket straight away.”T20 format is such where you can get a lot of these guys and see what they are capable of and if they can handle the international exposure. But Test cricket is a different ball game. The pressure is different. You have to sustain for five days, that’s the most important thing. So, we are trying to monitor them and see, you know, what they can offer to us.”3:36

Rohit: Bumrah has always been in our leadership group

The most important cog in India’s fast-bowling line-up is the leader of the pack Jasprit Bumrah. The 30-year-old was recently named vice-captain for the series against New Zealand.There is a chance Bumrah might step in as captain in the early Tests against Australia next month with Rohit’s participation in doubt owing to personal reasons.”He’s always been part of that leadership group and one of the experienced players as well,” Rohit said of Bumrah. “He’s played a lot of cricket and I’ve played a lot of cricket with him. He understands the game pretty well. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”Tactically, I can’t say much because he’s not captained much. But, when you talk to him, he understands the game. He understands what is required. When you are in a situation where you need a leader to step up, I think Bumrah will be one of them. In the past, he’s always been in our leadership group.”So, it’s probably the right thing to just have him around and speak to the bowlers and internally discuss how to take the team forward.”Rohit remained tight-lipped about the India XI for the opening Test against New Zealand stating that they will take a call once they reach the venue on match day. It has been raining relentlessly in Bengaluru over the last few days, forcing India to cancel their training session on the eve of the game, while New Zealand were left to train indoors.”It all depends on the conditions now. Even today, there has been a lot of rain. The pitch is under the covers. So, we want to take that call when we come here in the morning tomorrow,” Rohit said. “And again, it depends on match-to-match, what sort of pitch we play on. Based on that, we want to decide what is going to be our best playing XI. We keep our options open for playing three seamers and three spinners as well.”

Big Picture

Ready for some more England vs Australia? Whatever your answer may be, there’s plenty through the rest of this month with eight matches in 18 days starting with the first of three T20Is in Southampton. And from the paying punters’ point of view, the late-season action is proving popular with five of the games sold out after a Sri Lanka Test series where the less-than-crammed stands on some days was a talking point.The ridiculousness of England’s schedule is again in the spotlight with this series starting the day after what would have been the last day of The Oval Test if it had gone the distance. It means an almost entirely separate squad for the T20Is – Josh Hull is the one overlap – in what is England’s first series after a stuttering T20 World Cup campaign which ultimately led to the sacking of Matthew Mott.Related

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The England Men’s coaching roles will be unified under Brendon McCullum, but not until January with Marcus Trescothick taking charge for this series and the tour of West Indies in November (which is wedged between Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand) while for the T20Is at least there is also a stand-in captain with Phil Salt deputising for the injured Jos Buttler.Still, there is no shortage of white-ball pedigree in the England squad: despite a shocking ODI World Cup and an uninspired T20 version it feels their depth remains significant, and perhaps it’s been a case of the golden generation being given a little too long before the next batch are let loose.Cameron Green found form against Scotland•Getty Images

Before the three Scotland matches which began this tour for Australia, Mitchell Marsh played down talk of it being a T20 “reset” for his side after their disappointing exit from the World Cup where, in fact, they dropped out before England. The changing shape of the Australia side with a view to 2026 does feel more subtle than the home side, although there are some of England’s Test team that would have featured if the schedule had allowed.They were very efficient in the three matches against Scotland with Josh Inglis and Cameron Green, who had been unused in the T20 World Cup squad, having impressive outings after Travis Head’s opening-game rampage.The pace-bowling resources are being stretched with injuries popping up – most significantly to Nathan Ellis who is out of the tour – but Josh Hazlewood has joined up with the squad after a minor calf tweak meant he sat out the Scotland leg. It’s likely that Australia will continue to tinker with their combination and batting order during this series.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LWLWW
Australia WWWLLJacob Bethell is among the new faces for England•PA Photos/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Jacob Bethell and Jake Fraser-McGurk

Given the new-look nature of the England squad you could almost pick out anyone, and perhaps it’s simpler to leave the spotlight on the entire XI. But allrounder Jacob Bethell, who was born in Barbados, has generated plenty of talk this season and his talents are already noted on the global stage with BBL and SA20 deals. He had a breakout season in the T20 Blast for Birmingham Bears, averaging 36.10 with a strike-rate of 153.61, which included a 15-ball 50. His team-mate Dan Mousley, who is also in the England squad, said: “I haven’t seen many people strike a ball like that.”Jake Fraser-McGurk was given first dibs at replacing David Warner at the top of Australia’s order, but it wasn’t the easiest of starts against Scotland with two ducks either side of making 16 to begin his T20I career. He’s given the licence to go at top gear from ball one, but the slow, two-paced surfaces did not appear to his liking, a world away from the flat pitches in the IPL where he put his name up in lights earlier this year after enjoying a breakout home summer. Following on from a lean MLC it means Fraser-McGurk has 97 runs in his last ten T20 innings. With Matt Short available for this series after the early arrival of his first baby, having originally only been part of the ODI squad, and others who could easily open, Fraser-McGurk may not get all three matches against England, or he could potentially be tried in another position.

Team news: England hand debuts to Bethell, Cox

England confirmed their XI more than 24 hours before the game. Bethell and Jordan Cox will earn their first caps while Jamie Overton, who was called up as Jos Buttler’s replacement, also makes his T20I debut as a batter-only as he continues to recover from a back injury. Saqib Mahmood plays his first international since March 2023.England: 1 Phil Salt (capt & wk), 2 Will Jacks, 3 Jordan Cox, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Jacob Bethell, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Reece TopleyMarsh did not name Australia’s XI but confirmed that Hazlewood was good to return after his calf niggle. He also said that if Short plays he will open the batting which potentially means Fraser-McGurk missing out.Australia: (possible) 1 Travis Head, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk/Matt Short, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Tim David, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

There wasn’t much grass on the surface and some of the bigger boundaries in the country could should suit Australia. The autumn weather is set fair, if chilly by the evening. The match is a sellout and Hampshire are switching on 1000 solar panels at Utilita Bowl before the game.

Stats and trivia

• Southampton was the venue for the first T20I between these teams in 2005 when Australia were bowled out for 79 ahead of that summer’s Ashes. In 2020 the ground staged three behind-closed-doors T20s during Covid which England won 2-1.
• Josh Inglis currently averages 42.87 with a strike-rate of 176.80 when batting at No. 3 in T20Is
• In 24 T20Is between these sides, it stands all squad at 11-11 with two no-results

Quotes

“We see him playing a pivotal role as Jos’ right-hand man… his name stood up to the leadership qualities that you expect from your players within the group and he’s got every attribute that you’d want and the respect that you’d want from a captain.”
“No matter what format, they’re our oldest rivals and we love coming here. The reception we get as an Australian cricket team’s always a good one.”

New Zealand batter Suzie Bates will play for Hobart Hurricanes for the first time in the WBBL after being signed as an overseas replacement player for the back end of the tournament.Bates, 37, has played 100 WBBL matches representing Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers across eight seasons. The all-time leading women’s T20I run-scorer was not selected at this year’s WBBL draft.But with England’s players set to be withdrawn from the back end of the WBBL due to a tour of South Africa, Bates has been signed by Hurricanes as a replacement for Danni Wyatt-Hodge. England’s T20 players are expected in South Africa on November 17 which would see Wyatt-Hodge miss the last three games of the WBBL plus the finals if Hurricanes qualify.Related

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Hurricanes general manager Salliann Beams was thrilled to add Bates to the squad alongside Chloe Tryon and Lizelle Lee.”Bringing Suzie into our WBBL squad just made sense as soon as we saw she was not selected in the draft, we thought she would be the perfect replacement for Danni once we knew her availability,” Beams said.”She provides more than 130 games of T20I cricket [167] and will give us an experienced operator when we lose someone of Danni’s ability in our line-up.”

Hobert Hurricanes WBBL squad

:Suzie Bates (overseas), Nicola Carey, Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Lizelle Lee (overseas), Hayley Silver-Holmes, Tabatha Saville, Amy Smith, Lauren Smith, Molly Strano, Rachel Trenaman, Chloe Tryon (overseas), Elyse Villani, Callie Wilson, Danni Wyatt-Hodge (overseas)

Matthew Mott has joined Sydney Sixers in the BBL on a three-year deal as assistant coach following his departure as head coach of the England Men’s white-ball team.Mott, who was in charge of Australia Women for eight years before shifting to England, will link up with Greg Shipperd at Sixers as a replacement for Cameron White, who was appointed head coach of Melbourne Renegades earlier this year.Related

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• Walker to leave Kent with Mott in frame as replacement

• Matthew Mott steps down as England white-ball coach

• Duckett first pick as English players dominate BBL draft

• Draft takeaways: Adelaide Strikers' Mandhana bargain; and who is Jafer Chohan?

“I’m delighted to join back up with the Sydney Sixers,” Mott said. “Having started my coaching journey in Sydney many years ago, it’s a place that evokes both great memories and a comforting sense of familiarity, which I’m looking forward to.”The idea of being an assistant to Greg Shipperd, who I have a tremendous amount of respect for, really appealed to me.”Mott’s spell as England’s white-ball coach started brightly when they won the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, to unite both global white-ball trophies, but ended after their semi-final exit at the tournament earlier this year which followed a poor performance in the ODI edition in 2023.Mott started his coaching career with the New South Wales men’s side in 2007. His return to the state’s system will see him reunite with Rachael Haynes who was one of the key members of the Australia side he coached to extensive success.”We couldn’t be more pleased to have Motty committed for the next three years with the club,” Haynes, Sixers’ general manager, said.”When the opportunity arises to bring a coach of Motty’s calibre into your ranks, it’s a no-brainer. We know what a fantastic resource he will be for our playing group.”It goes without saying that his coaching resume speaks for itself. He has an incredible track-record of success around the world, and he’s proven he knows what it takes to build, and sustain, a winning culture.”Our club is in safe hands under the leadership of Greg Shipperd, and Charlotte Edwards in our women’s program, and we’re delighted to be able to add Motty’s experience to that group, taking us forward.”In the BBL draft last weekend, Sixers retained James Vince when Renegades attempted to sign him and later sprang a surprise by taking Yorkshire legspinner Jafer Chohan as their last pick. They have secured West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein before the draft.

The highs of two compelling batting performances in the T20Is gave way to a timid end during a tough all-format tour for South Africa in Chennai on Tuesday.On the same surface where they made 189 and 177, the visitors folded for 84 to all but concede the game at the halfway mark. India’s chase was a mere formality, with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma building on Pooja Vastrakar’s great work – she picked up a career-best 4 for 13 – to complete a series-leveling win in just 10.5 overs.

South Africa stumble in powerplay

Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp were out early, trying to manufacture strokes in the powerplay after India elected to field. But Tazmin Brits, fresh off back-to-back fifties, appeared to have set herself in, picking up pace in the sixth over when she struck Shreyanka Patil for two boundaries. But in trying to push the pedal, she holed out to a brilliant catch by Harmapreet Kaur at mid-off to give Deepti Sharma a wicket. South Africa were 45 for 3 in 7.4 overs.

Vastrakar, Radha make a splash

Two balls after Brits fell, Deepti could’ve had a second wicket if she had held on to a return chance offered by Chloe Tryon. In the following over, the ninth of the innings, Tryon survived a close lbw shout off Arundhati Reddy as she played all around a full-blooded inswinger, only to be saved by the angle. Reddy would eventually win the head-to-head a few overs later with a hard-length delivery that Tryon skewed to point.Between the lbw reprieve and Tryon’s wicket, Vastrakar left her imprint on the game with a game-changing over as South Africa went from 57 for 3 in 10 overs to 61 for 5 in 11. She trapped Anneke Bosch lbw with a length ball that zipped in to trap in her front as she shuffled across. It was a sweet comeback after being threaded behind point for a boundary off the previous delivery. Two balls later, Vastrakar had Nadine de Klerk chop on with a fuller-length delivery.In all, South Africa lost 7 for 23 to fold for 84 in the 18th over. The end was hastened by Radha Yadav’s double-wicket maiden in the 17th over; she finished with 3 for 6 off her three overs.

Mandhana, Shafali finish it off

At no stage during India’s innings was there even a semblance of pressure on the openers. For this, much credit should go to Mandhana, who carried on her sparkling form in what was some of the most aesthetically pleasing hit-through-the-line batting.She began by taking Ayabonga Khaka for two fours in the very first over to lay down a marker, before a slice of luck came her way when she was beaten by a superb delivery from Kapp that hit the seam and nipped away to beat the outside edge.That was perhaps the only moment of uncertainty in a knock where Mandhana stamped her authority over both pace and spin. She hit eight fours and two sixes, including one that brought up her fifty and India’s victory off the same delivery.At the other end, Shafali showed shades of her dominating best by mercilessly pulling the seamers in front of square, playing her trademark slaps and shovels with no pressure to contend with. It couldn’t have been any easier.