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He bowled three solid overs, in the mid 130s or thereabouts, and all the damage to England was done elsewhere. Still, both India and Shami will be breathing a sigh of relief

Hemant Brar28-Jan-2025Rajkot is probably the last venue a fast bowler would want to make his comeback at. Before today, the average first-innings total in T20Is here was 186. In his pitch report for the third India-England T20I, Murali Kartik called the playing surface “as bald as my head”, while Nick Knight labelled it a “#belter”. But Mohammed Shami would not have minded any of that, especially after being out of international cricket for 14 months.Shami’s last outing for India was in November 2023: the ODI World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad. He was nursing his ankle throughout the tournament and underwent surgery in February 2024.His previous T20I was way back in 2022: the World Cup semi-final against England in Adelaide. Since then, India’s approach to T20 cricket has shifted tectonically. Luckily, that shift has to do with batting, not bowling. So Shami did not have to change anything.Related

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After he was named in the squad for the England T20Is – by now the focus of the Indian cricketing circle had moved from his ankle to his knees – many expected him to play right away. He bowled in the nets ahead of the first two T20Is with knee support, but did not play in either. Was he still not 100% fit, or did team composition play a role? We do not know the answer yet. But on Tuesday, India rested Arshdeep Singh and gave Shami a go.After Suryakumar Yadav opted to bowl, Shami was into the action straightaway. With his very first delivery, he showed what India had been missing. It was a good-length ball, the seam angling towards deep third. Phil Salt threw his hands at it but was beaten as the ball swung away.Whenever a fast bowler returns from an injury, the eyes automatically shift towards the speed gun. It read a satisfactory 134.6kph. That the wicketkeeper collected it on the bounce had to do with the pitch.That was a cue for Shami to take the slip out. On the next ball, Salt found a boundary down the ground, even though he barely middled the punch.Shami then decided to attack the stumps and bowled an inswinger; Salt worked it towards short midwicket. Speed? 134.1kph. Hovering around that mark, Shami conceded only six in his first over.He started his second over with his trademark dead-straight seam. Jos Buttler had a waft at it, but the ball seamed away. It looked like there might have been a faint edge. It would not have mattered, though, as Sanju Samson fumbled it behind the stumps.For left-hand batter Ben Duckett, Shami went around the wicket. The batter used the angle and scooped him over the keeper’s head for a six. After two overs, Shami’s figures read 2-0-15-0.As India trained ahead of the England series, the returning Mohammed Shami had his knee(s) strapped•AFP/Getty ImagesBy the time Shami returned for his third over, the 19th of the innings, Varun Chakravarthy’s five-for had England reeling on 151 for 9. Shami went for hard lengths and slower ones but could not prevent Adil Rashid and Mark Wood from taking ten (plus a bye) from the over. The only time he tried a yorker, it ended up as a beamer.Shami finished with none for 25 from his three overs. It was not a dream comeback but it was not shabby either. Given there were no signs of discomfort, both Shami and the team management would be pleased with it.Because in the last few months, whenever Shami tried to make a comeback, he had a setback. He was expected to feature in the home Test series against Bangladesh last year, but that did not happen. The same was the case for the New Zealand Tests.A few months later, he appeared for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy match and bowled 43 overs across two innings. Following that, he played in all nine games at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, taking 11 wickets with an economy rate of 7.85.Just when it started looking like he could be part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, the knee issue came up. As he increased his workload to be ready for Test cricket, his left knee started swelling, and ruled him out of the Australia tour.Therefore, even though he bowled just three overs tonight and failed to pick up a wicket, India would consider Shami’s return a big positive, especially with the Champions Trophy on the horizon and then the Test series in England later in the year.

A career best 73 for Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman set Pakistan up for a convincing win over Australia in Harare

The Report by Daniel Brettig05-Jul-2018
Pakistan gained a mental advantage over Australia by dominating Aaron Finch’s team in a match that served as a dress rehearsal for Sunday’s Twenty20 triangular tournament final at the Harare Sports Club.Having beaten Pakistan comfortably in their first meeting, the Australians put in an unfocused performance, dropping far too short with the new ball after Finch sent Sarfraz Ahmed’s side in to bat to allow Fakhar Zaman to fire off a succession of pull shots on his way to the highest score of the match. They then lost a series of early wickets to the late moving ball in the hands of Faheem Ashraf and the 18-year-old left-armer Shaheen Afridi.Having slid as low as 75 for 5, Australia never looked likely to get close to their target, though the wicketkeeper and vice-captain Alex Carey played another intelligent innings down the order. Pakistan’s victory also served the purpose of preventing Australia from taking their place at the top of the ICC’s T20 international rankings.Both sides had already qualified for Sunday’s tournament final, making this game chiefly a chance to gain information and psychological high ground. Australia kept the same side that delivered comfortable wins over Pakistan and Zimbabwe to be the first team to reach the decider. Pakistan included the youthful Afridi for his second T20I in place of Hasan Ali, while Usman Khan came in for Mohammad Nawaz.4:18

‘Steven Smith is the toughest batsman to bowl to’

On a cold morning in Harare, Billy Stanlake failed to induce the sort of early collapse he had been responsible for in Monday’s match. While Jhye Richardson enjoyed the good fortune of having Haris Sohail clip his first delivery straight to square leg to depart for a golden duck, the Pakistan top order were able to feast on a generous helping of short stuff.Fakhar was the major beneficiary, flashing nine boundaries and a trio of sixes on the way to the highest score of his T20I career thus far – he is Pakistan’s leading run-maker in this tournament by a distance, and will require far more careful planning by Australia’s pacemen and coaches ahead of the decider.They reached 80 inside nine overs before Hussain Talat was cramped for room by Glenn Maxwell’s off-breaks and bowled, and from there a series of nifty partnerships ensured that Finch’s side was unable to restrict the run rate. A particularly heavy toll was taken from the bowling of Ashton Agar, while 18 runs from the final over rather disfigured Aaron Tye’s previously excellent figures.Needing a rapid start given the task they were facing, Finch and D’Arcy Short were instead confounded by Pakistan’s fast men pitching the ball much further up to the bat and finding movement both in the air and off the seam. Finch was cornered by an Afridi delivery bending back at him and was caught behind off the inside edge, then Travis Head’s minimal footwork was exposed when Faheem Ashraf seamed one back to pluck out middle stump.Maxwell managed a pair of boundaries before he played around a late inswinger from Afridi that pinned him in front of middle stump, and the innings of Nic Maddinson – who made the squad despite being cut from the New South Wales contract list – lasted only eight balls before he misread a well-pitched wrong’un from Shadab Khan and was comfortably stumped.Short had persevered without timing the ball with anything like the power of which he is capable, but was well and truly beaten by the yorker Afridi served up on his return to the bowling crease. From there it was largely a matter of damage limitation for the Australians, as Carey knocked the ball around with the sort of resourcefulness that is quickly becoming his trademark without ever looking likely to threaten a distant target.Pakistan will now go into the final with plenty of confidence, while the Australians must face Zimbabwe before reconsidering their approach to Fakhar, Afridi and the rest of Sarfraz’s team.

Series wins in England and Australia – could 2008 have been any better for South Africa?

Colin Bryden06-Jan-2009

Mickey Arthur and Graeme Smith could hardly have dared to dream of the triumphs they would achieve after proclaiming, following a disappointing end to their 2007 World Cup campaign, that the focus for the next two years would be on Test cricket.The Proteas have achieved an unprecedented run of success, culminating in a first series win by any South African team in Australia. That victory was South Africa’s ninth win in ten series going back to the 2006-07 season.The ledger for 2008 shows 11 wins, two draws and two defeats in 15 Test matches, spread over six series, of which five were won and one shared.South Africa’s one-day performances were less impressive than might be suggested by a superficial glance at a record of 12 wins, four defeats and one no-result. Seven wins were achieved against the negligible opposition of
Bangladesh and Kenya and five against West Indies. In their most challenging series, South Africa were beaten 4-0 by England, with a fifth match washed out. The one-day side was hit by the retirement of Shaun Pollock, the loss of “death” bowler Charl Langeveldt to a Kolpak contract in England, and a sudden dearth of hard-hitting bowling allrounders.With two years before the next World Cup, Arthur and Smith will devote energy to building a one-day unit to match the success of the Test side. The selection of untried youngsters such as Wayne Parnell, Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Lonwabo Tsotsobe for the forthcoming one-day series in Australia is part of that process.It was South Africa’s Test cricket, however, that commanded attention in 2008, as they disposed of West Indies at home and Bangladesh away before beating India by an innings in Ahmedabad. Leading 1-0 in the series they
were caught on a disgracefully under-prepared pitch in Kanpur as India earned a share of the spoils. The first series win in England since unity – and only the third of all time – was a highlight, but nothing surpassed their victory in Australia.All the essentials of a winning team were in place, with the possible exception of excellence in spin bowling. A settled top six played in every match, with the exception of the injury-enforced absences for one match of Neil McKenzie and two by Ashwell Prince. When Prince was put out of action before the first Test in Australia,
the prodigious talent of Jean-Paul Duminy was revealed on the Test stage. After making an unbeaten half-century in the thrilling pursuit of 414 in the final innings in Perth, Duminy turned the second Test, in Melbourne, on its head with a magnificent 166.Duminy had been on no fewer than four Test tours before he finally made his debut – a situation he accepted with the calm pragmatism that he showed when his opportunity finally arose. Now Prince, who scored 900 runs at 64.28 during the year, may find himself the man waiting for an opening.Prince was just one of five of the regular top six who averaged above 50 for the year. Remarkably, the odd man out was Jacques Kallis, who nevertheless played a prominent role with bat, ball and his safe hands in the slips during the first two Tests in Australia.While runs on the board are a crucial foundation for winning cricket, the ability to take 20 wickets was the clincher during the year. Dale Steyn led a potent if not wholly consistent fast bowling attack. The 2008 ICC Test Cricketer of the Year finished the year with 74 wickets in 13 matches at 20.01. When Steyn was good he was excellent, bowling at high pace and getting late away-swing.Rather like Allan Donald before him, Steyn is a bowler who needs a match or two to find his rhythm, and he was not at his best early in the series in England and Australia. Any suggestions that he owed his impressive record to
a preponderance of matches against weak opponents – notwithstanding five-wicket hauls in both Pakistan and India – were blown away, however, by a sensational ten-wicket haul in Melbourne.After a decade of lung-bursting effort, Makhaya Ntini, at 31, showed signs of losing his sting, but a break after the England tour and a spell in domestic cricket seemed to be the tonic he needed. He finished the year with 54 wickets at 28.46.The tall Morne Morkel was seen as South Africa’s next great match-winning bowler. He produced some unplayable deliveries and took 43 wickets, but his best days lie ahead.Kallis and Paul Harris provided competent support to the main strike bowlers.South Africa’s catching throughout the year was excellent, particularly in the all-important cordon, where wicketkeeper Mark Boucher and Smith, Kallis and AB de Villiers in the slips held almost every offering that came their way.

The ultimate hero was the captain. Smith was an impressively mature leader and led by example with the bat. He scored six of South Africa’s 23 centuries, including a monumental unbeaten 154 not out in the decisive run
chase against England at Edgbaston, a century that set up the record pursuit in Perth, and 75 in the final innings in Melbourne.What was most remarkable about Smith’s 1656 runs at 72.00 was that for almost half the year he battled against the pain of a chronic tennis elbow injury. Not for the first time, he refused to allow extreme physical discomfort to deter him from contributing to his team’s cause.New kid on the block
Duminy looked a player of genuine quality when he played two key innings against Australia in his first two Tests.Fading star
After eight years of harrumphing and hassling opponents with his muscular fast bowling, the international career of Andre Nel seemed to have run its course.High point
Edgbaston? Perth? Melbourne? The most dramatic of three successful run-chases was Edgbaston, the most remarkable Perth, and the most significant Melbourne.Low point
An anti-climactic final-Test loss in England was followed by four limp performances in the one-day series.What 2009 holds
A return series against Australia and a home series against England will provide further Test challenges while South Africa will seek improved performances in one-day internationals and the World Twenty20 in England.

James McClean has slammed the “embarrassing” celebrations of “wally” Jean Belehouan following Wrexham’s disappointing defeat to Tranmere.

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• Red Dragons came unstuck on home soil
• Local rivals revelled in their success
• Irishman stuck on sidelines serving a ban

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Red Dragons saw their bid for automatic promotion out of League Two suffer another untimely blow when slipping to a 1-0 derby date reversal at the hands of local rivals from the Wirral. Tranmere are still clinging to hopes of staging a late surge into the play-off places, leading to them celebrating wildly at SToK Racecourse.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Tempers threatened to boil over at the final whistle, as players from both sides tangled on the field at full-time, with Rovers defender Belehouan firing up the travelling support despite failing to make it onto the field across 90 minutes of intriguing fourth-tier action.

• WHAT MCCLEAN SAID

  McClean was another that saw no game time, as he serves a suspension for collecting 10 yellow cards, and the Irishman has called out Belehouan for celebrating as if Tranmere had won the league. He posted on Instagram: “Absolute wally, not sure what’s more embarrassing, him giving it large whilst being an unused sub during the game or the fact that he was an unused sub for them.”

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• WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

  Wrexham remain third in the League Two standings, level on points with second-placed Stockport and five adrift of leaders Mansfield, but only goal difference is keeping them above MK Dons while Barrow in sixth are only six points adrift of Phil Parkinson’s side with eight games left to take in.

Virender Sehwag has taken the art of opening to new levels and Strauss briefly managed a passing impression of him

Andrew McGlashan in Durban27-Dec-2009If the Durban weather plays ball over the next three days – and sadly that is anything but certain – this match has the makings of an extremely compelling contest. Each time one side has seemingly grabbed the advantage, the other has evened the scales, never better illustrated than by the cameo nature of the batting so far in this game.Batsmen have threatened to dominate, but then have been cut off either by a good ball or poor judgment, and that has made for engrossing viewing. It started with the dual efforts of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, who thwarted a hostile new ball in tough conditions before succumbing meekly after tea; it continued with AB de Villiers’ punchy counter-attack and Mark Boucher’s bustle on the second morning, then Dale Steyn’s tail-end hitting which lifted South Africa to 343.England continued in the same vain with Andrew Strauss looking in prime form. He so often does these days, but he failed to build on an aggressive 49-ball half-century – the fastest of his career – when he was dramatically bowled by Morne Morkel to be left with one stump standing. Although Strauss’s innings ended too early for England’s liking, it was a vital response from the captain after the frustrations of South Africa’s last-wicket stand of 58 between Steyn and Makhaya NtiniStrauss and Steyn are separated in batting talent by almost the full length of the order; a tailender and an opener, one whose runs are a bonus against one who is expected to lead the scoring. But they both played equally valuable roles for their sides. Without Steyn, South Africa would have been dismissed for under 300 and without Strauss’s counter-attack the home side would have had the chance to build on that lower-order boost.There is nothing better for a team than to be boosted by a tailender who bats above his means, not least because of the frustration it brings to the fielding unit. It’s far better for an innings to end with a bang rather than a whimper. Then, at the other end of the spectrum, there is the impetus that a positive opening batsman can bring when the opposition have hoped to make inroads with the new ball. Michael Slater and Matthew Hayden were masters of it, Virender Sehwag has taken the art to new levels and Strauss briefly managed a passing impression of them all.”I came out of the shower, and he was already on 30, and I don’t take that long in the shower,” said Graeme Swann. “It’s great to see him go out there and play shots from the word go. He’s very disappointed to have only made 50-odd and lose his wicket after tea, to a very good ball.””We didn’t sit down and say ‘let’s go all guns blazing’ to get back on top,” he added. “But it was important that we did that, because it’s wrestled straight back the initiative that South Africa have taken from us.”Strauss has developed into one of the premier opening batsmen in the world and is finishing 2009 in the same positive form he has shown throughout the year. His innings included three fours in four balls off the struggling Ntini, and was Marcus Trescothick-like in its impact. That was a role he tried to perform in Australia in 2006-07, when Trescothick pulled out of the tour, but he mislaid his disciplines in his quest for aggression, and that played a part in his career-threatening dip in form. The latest version of Strauss can play in variety of guises, however. He also took the pressure off Alastair Cook, who was able to concentrate on survival in his battle for form.It looked for all the world as though Strauss would be the batsman who would build on his start, but Morkel has caused him problems throughout the tour – having him caught behind in the second innings at Centurion from round the wicket – and ended his stay via a thin inside-edge. In 16 balls Strauss faced against Ntini he scored 24 runs, but the 21 deliveries from Morkel produced just 11 and four of those came from an outside edge through gully which shows the difficulties he posed.It also means that the wait for a substantial innings in this match goes on, but the bowlers have managed to hold sway. This contest is crying out for a hundred. It could prove to be a matchwinner.

Aston Villa have all but secured the late loan signing of Jadon Sancho from Manchester United. Fabrizio Romano has given the move his famous “here we go” tag, which has essentially confirmed that a deal has been struck.

Without doubt, Villa require attacking reinforcements, given they are yet to score in any of their three games this season. Sancho is not the only forward who could switch to Villa Park on deadline day.

Aston Villa plot next move after Sancho

Aside from making a late move for Sancho, it has been reported by The Mail’s Simon Jones (09:21) that Unai Emery’s side are one of the clubs ‘showing late interest’ in signing Newcastle United striker William Osula.

Transfer Focus

With Villa ‘scouring the market for forward options’ before the window slams shut at 7pm today, as per Jones, Osula is one of the latest names to crop up.

The price is not yet clear, but he cost the Magpies £15m last summer, so they would surely want to make that money back, at least.

Why Osula would be a good signing

There is no doubt that Osula is far from the finished article. At just 22 years of age and with minimal Premier League experience under his belt, he is someone who Emery can help develop as a striker over the next few years.

The Denmark under-21 international has experience in the EFL and Premier League. Overall, he has 38 top-flight games under his belt, finding the back of the net twice, both for Newcastle, with one coming this season against Liverpool.

However, he has only played 1013 minutes, the equivalent of just 11 full 90 minutes.

The 22-year-old shone for Denmark at the under-21 European Championships this summer. His record was impressive, with three goals and two assists in just four games.

In that time, he averaged 1.5 key passes per game. That is the sort of quality Villa could be signing.

It is easy to see how Osula could become Villa’s own Alexander Isak. Of course, the Newcastle connection is there, with both strikers also hailing from Scandinavia.

The 22-year-old is, of course, a Dane, and Isak was born just outside of Stockholm.

However, they both have similar builds, too. Osula is a tall striker standing at six feet and four inches, the same height as Isak. Both use their lanky frames to match defenders physically, and their long stride and powerful running style help them get a yard on opponents in a foot race.

That tall frame and big physicality are perhaps why Osula has been compared to Manchester City striker Erling Haaland in the past. His former teammate Curtis Davies once described him as a “poor man’s Haaland”, and with his build, it is easy to see why.

If the Dane can have the same impact at Villa Park that Isak had at St James’ Park, he will be a huge success.

The Liverpool-bound star bagged 62 goals and assisted 11 in 109 games for Eddie Howe’s side.

This could be a bargain for Villa. Osual is far from being the finished article, but with his profile and build, he has all the tools to make it as a successful striker in the Premier League. With some guidance from Emery, the Villans could have an exciting prospect on their hands.

Asensio 2.0: Aston Villa pushing to seal agreement for £20m "maverick"

Aston Villa are looking to strengthen in attack, having missed out on ex-loanee Marco Asensio…

By
Joe Nuttall

Sep 1, 2025

Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan have watched West Indies sink to awful depths in recent years, but now they can help claw the team back towards respectability

Andrew McGlashan in Jamaica06-Feb-2009

Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan have watched West Indies sink to awful depths in recent years, but now they can help claw the team back towards respectability. They have shared many batting partnerships together and if their unbeaten stand of 142 is transformed into something even more substantial, maybe the Caribbean public will start believing again.Sarwan is back in the ranks these days having lost the captaincy in 2007 and giving up the vice-captaincy for “personal reasons” last year. He went through a lean run on the recent tour of New Zealand and has begun this home season with a few mutterings over his form. Those mutterings could have turned louder if he hadn’t been reprieved on 5 when Tony Hill reversed his lbw decision on the basis of advice from the TV umpire, Daryl Harper.”I did say a couple of days ago that I needed a bit of luck on my side and today I was fortunate enough to get that,” he said with a grin. “I’m not a big fan of it [the system], we played with it in New Zealand and it was a bit confusing, but today I’ll take it.”It was 50-50 to be honest, I felt the pain in my knee and that is why I asked Chris about it, how it looked, and he said it was a bit close. I thought I would try [to refer it] because in my mind it was a bit high.”Gayle took over the captaincy from Sarwan during the last tour of England in 2007, after Daren Ganga’s brief inter-regnum. Sarwan was injured during a record innings-and-283-run hammering at Headingley – arguably the lowest of West Indian lows – but since then fortunes have begun to improve.While most people involved with the England team were losing their heads during the Stanford week in Antigua, Gayle was exuding calmness and composure. It was a trait that won his team the jackpot of US$20 million. He admitted after the Stanford final that he’d actually been a bag of nerves with so much money at stake, but the key was he kept all that hidden and on the outside appeared in complete control. England have not yet been beaten in the same way at Sabina Park – they have three days to turn their fortunes around – but Gayle’s performance over the opening two days has set a perfect tone for West Indies.He was quick in the field to spot a slow pitch and introduce his spinners into the attack and then he was even quicker to take the initiative with the bat, driving Andrew Flintoff’s second ball back over his head for a breathtaking six. Two more maximums followed in what was a curious innings of extremes, ranging from mighty blows to studious defence. But it was the fact that he married the two successfully which was the noticeable factor, because control at the crease has not always been Gayle’s forte.The captaincy, though, has brought out a new, mature side to Gayle, which was on show during the Stanford tournament and has brought a sense of stability back to the team. And if he can bring the best out of his team-mates his job will be made that much easier. An in-form Sarwan would be a major step.”Since I came back from injury I’ve had two series, one against Sri Lanka and one against Australia and I thought I did pretty well,” said Sarwan. “Unfortunately, I didn’t keep up the pace and I thought it was a bit of a backward step. I’ve had two weeks to reflect on my game after coming back from New Zealand. I tried to put in a bit of work although I couldn’t do much because of the rain. I just wanted to start the series really well and hopefully carry on the same sort of form I’ve started with here.”Sarwan, though, did sound a cautionary note that will ring true with many West Indies fans. “I think we are in a pretty good position but we have seen before that we have collapsed. It is important that myself and Chris go on and get big scores and also important that whoever follows try to form partnerships. That is going to be the key for the rest of the innings.” A success-starved region watches in anticipation.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes showered praise on goalkeeper Hannah Hampton after her heroics secured a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Thursday.

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• Chelsea overcome City in Conti Cup semis
• Hampton the star in goal
• Hayes makes "get paid" comment in praise

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Lauren James scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea defeated WSL rivals City to reach the Continental Cup final for the fifth year running. While James was the star up top, the Blues had Hampton to thank between the sticks, with the Lionesses goalkeeper making several fine saves throughout the 90 minutes to keep the scores at 1-0. And Hayes recognised her "superb" efforts after the full-time whistle, joking that "that's what you get paid for".

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  WHAT HAYES SAID

  Speaking to reporters after the match, the Chelsea boss said: "Hampton was superb, that's what you get paid for. Whole team deserves credit for digging in. We weren't at our best, weren't at our freshest, but it was gutsy from us."

  Pressed on Hampton's display, Hayes added: "It was absolutely superb from Hannah from start to finish. It brings confidence to the back-line. Her ability to play out from the back plus making saves like she did, she is growing in a Chelsea shirt and her alongside Sjoeke Nusken were players of the match for us."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Chelsea will face Arsenal in the Conti Cup final later this month in what will be a repeat of last year's finale. It is, incredibly, Hayes' fifth in a row as Blues boss, as she is still in line to win a near-unprecedented quadruple in her last season before taking over the reigns at the USWNT.

  Those hopes were dealt a hammer blow in that matchup on Thursday, though, with Mayra Ramirez forced off after just 34 minutes following a problem in her upper leg. The Blues already have Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel out to ACL injuries and can't afford their record signing to suffer the same fate as they enter the business end of the season.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?

  That quadruple charge resumes on Sunday, when Hayes takes her side to Everton in the quarter-finals of the FA Women's Cup. The Blues are then in WSL action against London rivals Arsenal on March 15, where any slip-up could be pounced on by City, who remain level on points with Chelsea after 15 matches.

Somehow Australia have either hung in or come back for the last four days to now be favourites

Sidharth Monga in Mohali04-Oct-2010Whatever happens on the final day of this great Test, Australia can be proud of themselves. Don’t count on them feeling content with this, though.This has been an un-Australian display in many ways, but in the refusal to give up, in the fight they have put up despite limitations, this has been so very Australian. And that is the beauty of playing Australia, that only rarely – like in Nagpur two years ago – do they make it easy for the other side to win.In foreign conditions, with two bowlers who had never played Tests here and one who had played one, with a wobbly middle order that has allowed the Indian spinners to dictate terms, somehow Australia have either hung in or come back for the last four days to now be favourites.Earlier Australian sides wouldn’t have batted the way Shane Watson and Tim Paine did in the first innings. Even as recently as in 2008-09, Matthew Hayden was trying to hit his way out of trouble, feeling out of place as one of the pack. The difference, perhaps, was that that team was not used to struggling. This team has not only been introduced to the struggles, it seems to be enjoying the fight. And India, down to three bowlers and five batsmen in the first innings, have given them some fight, only for Australia to absorb, absorb, absorb, and then strike back at a weak moment.On the start of the fourth morning, with all three results possible, Australia showed safety was the last thing on their minds. Watson went from monk to marauder, identifying the moment to seize and coming hard at India. All the shots he had avoided earlier, he played now: the upper-cut, the slog-sweep, the adventurous drive against the turn. A collapse followed, but two left-hand batsmen who were denied by the golden generation before them stuck around to push Australia to a defendable total.Simon Katich and Michael Hussey began their careers almost simultaneously as kids in Perth, and started this game with the same number of caps and runs. Hussey followed Katich into the 4000-run club today, and you couldn’t help but wonder how many more they would have got had they been born in some other country. Both of them have been part of – fleetingly, albeit – the days of domination too, but as scratchy accumulators. The 42 runs that came from their scratchy accumulation today will not be talked about often, but just ask India what they won’t give for a 42-run stand right now?The pièce de résistance, though, came when Australia came out to defend 215. If Virender Sehwag got off to a flier, this would have been one last Australian effort in this match. And if this was going to be the one last effort, they were going to make it grand.The Australian bowlers might not have the skill of Zaheer Khan, but they made up for it through aggression and persistence. The wickets didn’t come through a cracking pitch or a mischievous spinner, but through three pace bowlers finding energy they didn’t seem to have in the first innings. Ben Hilfenhaus’ pace went up dramatically, Doug Bollinger found accuracy, and Mitchell Johnson just had to do the back-up job.”We had a bit over an hour to bowl,” Hilfenhaus said later. “We knew we could come out hard. We knew we didn’t have the runs on the board, and this could be the defining moment in the match.”There have been teams that have tried the short ball against Sehwag in the last two years and failed, but the Australian trio remained quick and accurate. With only two men in front of square, Bollinger kept pounding in the bouncers at around 140kmph, and hit Rahul Dravid once before getting his wicket.Hilfenhaus was prepared to play what is not his natural game. He bowled as many bouncers and cutters as he did outswingers. He had been much better in the first innings than figures of 0 for 100 suggest. For somebody playing his first Test in the country, he has shown remarkable knowledge of Indian conditions. He has been bowling off a shorter run, preserving energy for longer spells, and has done well with the old ball that hasn’t quite swung.Against Sehwag today, two of his bouncers sailed over the keeper’s head, giving away close to 4% of what Australia were defending. With a change of ends, he kept searching for the correct bouncer. It wasn’t quite an unplayable delivery, and Sehwag has managed these before too, but the right amount of pressure had been created.Similarly Hilfenhaus has promised to put Sachin Tendulkar, who has terrorised generations of Australian bowlers before him for 20 years, under the pump on the final day. Who can blame him for feeling confident? Staying consistent with the Australian way, expect Hilfenhaus and friends to make India fight for every single run.

Vice-captain sees the absence of key names as an opportunity for new faces to stake their claim

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-20181:37

‘Need to play as much as we can’ – Finch

Aaron Finch says that the inexperience in Australia’s one-day squad could prove to be a blessing in disguise as they finalise their preparations for next week’s first ODI against England at The Oval, and beyond that, next year’s World Cup.Finch made a solid 78 on Thursday night to set up Australia’s hard-earned 57-run win against Sussex at Hove, which was also their first outing in national colours since the end of their seismic Test tour of South Africa in April.The Australia squad was forced to lie low for a few months after returning home from South Africa, as the ball-tampering scandal erupted around them, but Finch said that he could feel an eagerness to get stuck in in the new-look squad, adding that “there’s only so many laps of ovals you can run before you start to go crazy”.

Australia ready to ‘cop some banter’

Australia’s match against Sussex on Thursday was their first encounter with English crowds since the ball-tampering scandal broke, and Finch admitted that their jibes were something that the team would have to take in its stride as the tour progressed.
“I think anytime you are touring you’re going to cop some great banter,” he said. “The chants and the songs and the stick that they give us in all in good fun, but you’re going to keep copping it if you don’t interact with them, if you don’t get on board with them and have some fun. It’s a part of playing over here, you expect that, and it’s all in good jest most of the time.”

“There’s a lot of excitement around, any time you bring young guys into the squad for their first or second tour, it brings a lot of energy around the group,” Finch said. “A lot of the guys have had time off over the last couple of months, the guys who weren’t in the IPL, so it’s a great chance to get stuck into cricket.”Australia will begin next week’s contest as rank outsiders against England’s No.1-ranked ODI team, but Finch sees the absence of so many first-choice candidates for next year’s World Cup squad as an opportunity for some new faces to stake a claim. In so doing, they may also lift Australia’s standards in a format in which they have lost each of their last three bilateral series, against New Zealand, India and England, as well as suffering an early elimination in the Champions Trophy.”There’s a few guys here that it’s the first time I’ve toured with,” he added, “and I’ve been around a little while now. But our one-day cricket hadn’t been that great over the last 18 months to two years, so who knows, if we give these young guys a few opportunities, they can do some wonderful things. There are some guys in this squad who are going to be great players.”Finch is Australia’s vice-captain on this tour, and will also captain the T20 team in the absence of David Warner, but he didn’t envisage a sea-change to the role that he has played for Ausralia since cementing his spot in the limited-overs team five years ago.Aaron Finch plays into the leg side•Getty Images

“Being vice-captain you lead by example on and off the field, but I think that, being an opening batter, you have the opportunity to set the tone for the team, so that’s not much of a change,” he said. “But with a young group, there’s not a lot of experience, so it’s about helping them as much as I can, along with Tim [Paine], Glenn Maxwell and other guys who’ve been around for a time.”The tour is also Justin Langer’s first as Australia coach, and Finch admitted that, while Langer’s first press conference had been full of smiles and jokes as he set about reframing the debate over sledging, Finch admitted that the new boss had a steely side that few players would want to encounter.”When we got to Brisbane for our training camp. it was the first time that JL had had a chance to address us all together,” said Finch. “He just laid down what he expected of the Australian cricket team, and how he sees the team going forward. There wasn’t anything that you wouldn’t expect a new coach to do.”But you don’t want to be in his glare!” Finch added. “I’ve been there before, not on this tour, but in the past. There were some easy comments you could make to him when he was coach of Western Australia. It was easy to wind him up.”Finch played most of his Australia career to date under the gaze of Darren Lehmann, who resigned from his post on the eve of the Johannesburg Test in March. “They are both great coaches in their own right. We’ve had a lot of success with [Darren] as an Australian coach, and JL I’ve no doubt will have a lot of success. With Perth, he’s done some wonderful things. And at the end of the day, whoever is coach of the side has the opportunity to mould the culture the way they want it.”