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Marnus Labuschagne pulled off an outrageous catch while playing for Glamorgan against Gloucestershire in the T20 Blast on Thursday.Fielding at long-on, he sprinted to his right and dived full-length, low to the ground to hold Ben Charlesworth’s lofted drive off legspinner Mason Crane.Labuschagne himself could barely believe he had taken the catch and sprinted off in celebration with his team-mates trying to catch him.The game itself turned into a thriller as well with Gloucestershire’s Josh Shaw hitting the last ball for six to clinch victory. Back in Australia, Labuschagne’s moment recalled memories of one that is part of cricket folklore: Adam Dale’s incredible catch in the deep during a one-day game against New South Wales at the Gabba in 1997.Related

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“I remember diving, and I still remember the stick [of the ball],” Dale recalled to on the 25-year anniversary of his catch. “It was a nice moment, but I do think I was out of position.”Labuschagne is known as an excellent fielder and has pulled off some superb run outs in both red and white-ball cricket.Earlier this week it was announced he would be Queensland captain next season, taking over from Usman Khawaja.

Match details

Lucknow Super Giants (fifth) vs Mumbai Indians (ninth)
Lucknow, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

Big picture – MI let down by overseas seamers

After two defeats in their last two games, MI’s playoff chances have nosedived, and if they lose on Tuesday, they will be in the same boat as Royal Challengers Bengaluru.Before the season started, MI looked one of the stronger sides despite being thin in the spin department. Somehow, that has not translated into performances, and a big reason behind that is their overseas fast bowlers’ struggles.Jason Behrendorff and Dilshan Madushanka were ruled out with injuries even before the tournament started. Their replacements – Luke Wood and Kwena Maphaka – failed to meet the expectations. Nuwan Thushara has gone for 12 an over in the two games he has played, without any wicket to show for it. Gerald Coetzee, who has 12 wickets in eight games, has also run hot and cold, and has an economy of 10.10. All that has left Jasprit Bumrah with too much to do.Related

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While LSG are also coming off a defeat, they are in a much better position on the points table. A win against MI could even propel them to second position. Apart from the advantage of playing at home, they will be boosted by the return of Mayank Yadav, who has passed all his fitness tests.

Form guide

Lucknow Super Giants LWWLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians LLWLW

Team news and impact player strategy

Lucknow Super Giants
Matt Henry may have to make way for Mayank. That will also allow LSG to bring in Ashton Turner for an out-of-form Devdutt Padikkal.Depending on whether LSG are batting first or bowling, one of Ayush Badoni and Yash Thakur could be the Impact Player.Mayank Yadav’s availability will offer LSG flexibility in their overseas combination•BCCI

Probable XII 1 Quinton de Kock, 2 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ashton Turner, 7 , 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Mayank Yadav, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Mohsin Khan, 12 Mumbai Indians
MI can consider bringing in Kumar Kartikeya for Luke Wood, especially if the pitch is on the slower side. Suryakumar Yadav (if bowling first) and Nuwan Thushara (if batting first) could be their Impact Player options.Probable XII 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 , 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Nehal Wadhera, 7 Tim David, 8 Mohammad Nabi, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Kumar Kartikeya/Luke Wood, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12

In the spotlight – Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav

Quinton de Kock started IPL 2024 with a bang, scoring two fifties in the first three games. But since then he has struggled for consistency and has crossed 20 only once in six innings. Given LSG have not been able to score freely in the powerplay – their run rate of 8.38 is the second-worst in that phase this season – they need de Kock to be at his best soon.Suryakumar Yadav was expected to revive MI’s fortunes after his return from the injury. While his 166 in six innings so far, at a strike rate of 171.13, are not bad returns, both the runs per innings and strike rate are down by around 10 compared to last season. He has had two 50-plus scores but has made only 36 runs in the other four innings, including two ducks. As MI fight for survival, Suryakumar will have a key role to play.

Stats that matter

• Rohit Sharma has fallen to Amit Mishra eight times in T20s while scoring only 87 runs in 92 balls. Only Sunil Narine has dismissed Rohit more number of times (nine).
• Jasprit Bumrah has dismissed Marcus Stoinis four times in 44 balls while giving away just 42 runs.
• Mohammad Nabi has managed to keep Nicholas Pooran quiet: 45 runs in 43 balls, one dismissal. Nabi has been equally frugal against de Kock – 32 runs in 28 balls – even though he has never dismissed him.
• Ravi Bishhnoi has troubled Ishan Kishan (21 runs off as many balls, three dismissals) and Tim David (17 off 23, two dismissals). But Hardik Pandya has taken him for 55 runs in 25 balls and Tilak Varma 38 in 20. Neither has got out to him even once.
• Hardik has managed only 14 runs in 23 balls (one dismissal) against his brother Krunal.

Pitch and conditions

In five games so far in Lucknow, no team has been able to breach 200. Given LSG have a better spin attack than Mumbai, it will not be a surprise if the pitch for Tuesday’s game is on the slower side.

Quotes

“If you look at Quinny’s [de Kock’s] season, he has played nine innings and has scored three fifties, which is not a bad thing. But also, he got out sort of in the first or second overs at times. We will know his X factor. He is a guy who on his day can take their game away from you. Do you want to make too many changes? I think with the experience he brings at the top, you don’t want to change that. Just with his history, you need to back him in that position.”
“This is a slightly bigger ground as compared to others, so that will be a relief for the spinners. We want to keep things as simple as possible – restrict runs and try to take wickets.”

Justin Langer has arrived in the IPL. It took just one game of tired old T20 cricket, and the consequent heavy defeat of course, for Lucknow Super Giants to burn that book of conservative T20 cricket and play with much higher intent. As a result they didn’t have the ideal players operating in the death overs of each innings, but they had done enough damage in the middle overs on both occasions to win by 21 runs.The 103 that LSG scored in the middle overs is the second-highest in their history; both the efforts featured Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis batting a higher number of balls unlike in the first match when they were held back for the death overs. With the ball, LSG unleashed Mayank Yadav’s extreme pace – highest being 155.8kmph – and awkward bounce to take five wickets for 84. As it turned out, they lost out on some runs in the final few overs and had to bowl Krunal Pandya in the 19th, but the game was over by then.The first step – either made easier by a quad strain or a huge tactical move considering how it is near-impossible to remove Indian captains – was to give the captaincy to Pooran, leaving KL Rahul with just batting responsibilities.

The enterprising start

It would be indulging in pop psychology to say if that meant Rahul batted with more intent because he had only one field to make an impact in, but the change was there for all to see. Having taken the dew on by batting first, LSG needed all the intent from everyone. Rahul began attacking from the fourth ball he faced, didn’t stop after hitting a six and a four in the next over, and Quinton de Kock batted the way he usually does.The intent might have resulted in two wickets but LSG managed 54 runs in the powerplay.

Pooran, and best-laid plans

The first two overs after the powerplay suggested it might be difficult to take down spin, but in the third, Stoinis, batting much earlier than in the last game, punished Rahul Chahar’s errors in length brutally with two sixes, and got out trying for a third six in the same over.The introduction of Pooran as early as in the ninth over meant Kings took off both their spinners despite Harpreet Brar’s four-run first over and a decent record against left-hand batters this IPL.Two overs in, it was plain why spin was taken off. Pooran slogged a wrong’un from Chahar over the longer boundary for a six followed by a cut for four in front of square and then just a nonchalant loft back over his head for another six.

The slightly slower finish

This kind of batting can, at times, result in wickets. LSG had played only three overseas players in the first XI so their choice of the fourth would be between Ashton Turner and Naveen-ul-Haq. When de Kock fell in the 14th over for 53, or when Pooran did in the 16th for 42, LSG didn’t make any panicked move, trusting Naveen over the limited marginal impact a batter could make over Krunal and Ayush Badoni.Krunal did his part of the job well by scoring 43 off 22. The last nine balls got LSG only 10 runs, but they had effectively decided the extra runs they could have got off such deliveries was not worth giving up middle-overs runs for.Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan put on a 102-run opening partnership•BCCI

Kings set off running

Under the lights, a bit of dew, and nice medium pace to work with, Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow made a quick start to their chase, taking 61 in the first six overs. Dhawan got to a fifty off just 30 balls, the exact required rate to win the match. Like Stoinis did after the spin slowdown in the first innings, Bairstow broke the shackles with two sixes off Bishnoi in the ninth over.

Enter Mayank Yadav

Langer is not the only who “arrived” on Saturday night. Mayank is a 21-year-old fast bowler from Delhi who has had to struggle with injuries. LSG scouted him and looked after him while he was injured during the Ranji Trophy season. When they unleashed Mayank, Kings needed to go at pretty much the same asking rate as at the start of the innings and had all their wickets in hand.They weren’t quite prepared for the unerring pace of Mayank, though. He kept bowling uncomfortable lengths, went past 155kmph, and took out three batters, all three with the short ball, all three late on the shot. Bishnoi did his job at the other end, bowling the 11th over for just three. Mohsin Khan kept the pressure up. An injury to Liam Livingstone, which reduced him to hobbling between the wicket, didn’t help Kings.Dhawan went from 50 off 30 to caught on 70 off 50. He later acknowledged how he tried to use Mayank’s pace by moving around, and Mayank immediately started bowling yorkers at the stumps.LSG kept going for wickets, which is acknowledgement that even the best can get hit at the death so they are probably better off bowling in phases that have more correlation between quality and outcomes. By the time that they went to that one “weak” over, LSG had 48 to defend in the last two. Krunal conceded only seven.

Multan Sultans continued their dream start by handing defending champions Lahore Qalandars their third straight loss in the Pakistan Super League on Wednesday. Iftikhar Ahmed smashed 24 runs in the penultimate over, and earned Sultans a five-wicket win over defending champions Qalandars in a rematch of last season’s final.Qalandars’ much-trumpeted pace attack, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, has now failed to defend in three successive games, as Haris Rauf continued to struggle and Zaman Khan also proving expensive (2-52).Sultans now sit pretty on top of the table with six points from three straight home wins, while Qalandars are yet to get first win under their belt.Skipper Mohammad Rizwan, who was dropped on 40 by Afridi, went on to compile this season’s top-score of 82 off 59 balls before Ifthikar charged against Zaman’s pace in the 19th over, smacking two sixes and three fours, and guided the home team to 170 for 5.Iftikhar wiped the hopes of Qalandars for its first win with a robust knock of unbeaten 34 off 11 balls after the home team needed 21 off the last two overs.The inclusion of left-arm spinner George Linde (1 for 26) of South Africa seemed to have beefed up Qalandars’ bowling in the absence of injured Rashid Khan when he bowled brilliantly in the middle overs after Qalandars posted 166 for 5, but Iftikhar’s onslaught against Zaman sealed the game.Earlier, Rassie van der Dussen (54) scored his second half-century in three games and Fakhar Zaman made 41 as they put on 94 runs for the second-wicket stand and pushed for a daunting total before Sultans pulled back despite dropping four catches.Khushdil Shah, who dropped two catches in the last game against Islamabad United, floored two more chances on Wednesday, but fast bowler Mohammad Ali (2 for 28) continued to impress with his swing and variations which restricted Qalandars in the end.

Cricket Australia will consult BBL clubs over potential changes to contracting rules in a bid to try and keep overseas stars for future finals series.The BBL celebrated a return to life this summer with the shorter home-and-away season coinciding with a 27 per cent increase in average crowds. There were crowds of beyond 40,000 in five matches for the first time since 2017-18, while the Melbourne Renegades saw their average increase by 63 per cent.But officials know challenges still loom. Six overseas players will miss the finals having jetted out for the UAE’s lucrative ILT20 after the last round-robin week of competition. Perth Scorchers’ Laurie Evans, Brisbane Heat’s Sam Billings and Colin Munro, Sydney Sixers’ James Vince and Adelaide Strikers’ Jamie Overton and Adam Hose will all be absent.Related

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Clubs were aware of the player availability when they were picked in the draft, with the huge money on offer in the UAE from clubs often owned by players’ IPL franchises hard to resist. Officials hope to find an answer for future seasons and finals series, with an overwhelming message from players that they would like to stay.It is understood that contractual discussions are likely to feature in end-of-season talks when the embargo period ends after Wednesday’s final. One suggestion, floated by Billings, is more security for overseas players out of the draft, with multi-year deals one idea to offer more certainty when negotiating arrival dates with rival leagues.”We have seen this year the role overseas players continue to play in the BBL,” BBL boss Alistair Dobson told AAP. “They have been great performers on the field, they are fan favourites and the broadcasters love them.Laurie Evans has left the BBL for the ILT20•Getty Images

“However, we need to continue to evolve our competition and make our competition appealing to the players to come and play in the BBL. And ideally, [to] have them play as many games as possible has been and will continue to be a clear focus for us.”A more compressed schedule next season with no break for the Perth Test is also expected to aid in luring overseas talent for more matches.In a big summer for the BBL, first-placed Brisbane had average crowds increase by 45 per cent before Friday night’s grand-final qualifier against Sydney Sixers on the Gold Coast. Perth were also up 35 per cent, while attendances in Melbourne grew by 39 per cent.The rise comes despite five abandoned matches included in the figures, with numbers close to what they were in 2018-19 before the competition’s slide.The reduction from 56 regular season games to 40 is part of that, allowing organisers and broadcasters to return to the every-game-is-an-event mantra that the BBL thrived on its early years.”This year it has only got stronger and gives us a bigger platform for next year and beyond,” Dobson said. “Fewer games adds scarcity, but it also provides capacity and oxygen to our schedule and ensures every game is promoted in a bigger and better fashion.”

Tammy Beaumont has made an impassioned plea to preserve the ODI format as a cornerstone of women’s cricket, amid the explosion of T20 franchises and a push by a handful of top-ranked nations to play more Tests.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo on the eve of England’s three-match T20I series and four-day Test against India in Mumbai – and just a fortnight after the men’s 50-over World Cup ended, igniting debate over whether the format was on the brink of extinction – Beaumont said it was crucial for the women’s game to nurture all three versions of the international game.”The more the game goes on, I think the more it’ll diversify and there’s more talent in every country, so now you can almost field very different teams depending on the format,” Beaumont told the podcast on Tuesday. “I just hope that other formats outside of T20 aren’t left behind because that’s a real issue that has happened in the men’s game.Related

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“One of the few good things about the women’s game, being quite a long way behind the men’s game still, is that we can learn from the mistakes of the men’s game. The WPL and all the franchise leagues, and the investment, and the amount of money that has come into the women’s game are absolutely amazing and some might say overdue, but also I think we need to protect where the game’s come from.”We see the men’s game talking about 50-over cricket: ‘is it even worth doing?’ Well, if only four nations are playing Test cricket in women’s cricket, then we have to protect 50-over cricket at all costs.”I think everyone would love to have loads of Test-playing nations and play big Test series but, at the moment, that’s not a reality. At the same time, if you’re just a Test match player and you play two Tests a year, you’re not playing much cricket. Hopefully we can keep and protect all formats of cricket and not just jump on the wave of T20 and leave everything else behind.”Beaumont hasn’t played a T20I in nearly two years, having lost her place following the 2022 Women’s Ashes in Australia as then-head coach Lisa Keightley plumped for a more youthful squad, ahead of England’s failed home Commonwealth Games campaign later that year.And while current head coach Jon Lewis has said the door is not shut on Beaumont’s T20I career, she remains out of that squad in India, despite setting this year’s Hundred alight with a 61-ball 118, the competition’s highest score across genders, en route to becoming the season’s second-highest run-scorer in the Women’s competition.In Danni Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Maia Bouchier and captain Heather Knight, England have a wealth of top-order batting options and, while Beaumont is a mainstay as ODI opener and automatic pick for the December 14-17 Test following her double-century against Australia in June, breaking back into the shortest format has proved extremely difficult.But her desire to promote the 50-over format feels less motivated by her personal circumstances than from her broader perspective as a broadcaster, having branched into that field while still playing. She regularly commentates on England Women’s internationals she is not involved in, as well as Hundred games, and has covered some England Men’s fixtures too.”If we’re going to say teams want to play Test matches, we want to push it in the women’s game, but realistically at the moment the money-maker is T20, and T20 franchise cricket in particular. You can’t go from T20 cricket to Test match cricket, it’s so different,” she added. “The only thing that is a bridge between the two is 50-over cricket.”England, Australia, India can afford to put on Test matches, that maybe people aren’t coming to yet, and invest in the marketing and put an event on for four or five days. Other cricket boards can’t afford that. A 50-over game they can do, they can invest in it and see the game grow and then, when they might be ready to take on Test cricket, players know how to potentially build an innings.”Not an innings over six hours, over two days or whatever, but a longer innings, whereas T20 is only going to go one way, where you’ve got to go at a strike-rate of 150-plus from the off. There’s definitely room for all three, and the Hundred in my opinion… but we’ve got to work with all three formats at the moment across the globe and protect all of them.”Beaumont admits, however, that Women’s internationals have posed the toughest challenge of her commentating career, not least during England’s 2-1 T20I home series defeat to Sri Lanka, after they had beaten Australia in both white-ball legs of the drawn Ashes. Then, the inevitable noise swirled around whether she should be back in the T20I side.”It’s probably the most difficult thing, but I think it’s about having quite clear principles in what I want to be as a commentator,” she said. “Sharing a dressing-room with the players, my key principle is if I wouldn’t go and say it to their face, I don’t say it on air because at the end of the day their parents are watching, their family’s watching at home, friends. Anything you do say, if it’s overly critical or overly harsh and you wouldn’t say it to their face, they’re going to find out.”I’ve said to the girls, if I do say something on air that you don’t agree with, just come and talk to me because I would never want that to jeopardise anything at all. But at the same time, I am outside the T20 squad. It only takes an absolute gun opening batter to come along and I’d probably be out of the ODI side squad as well at some point. So I’ve got to think about the future.”Not that she doesn’t harbour ambitions to return to the shortest format at international level, where she is stranded on 99 T20I caps.”That’s up to the selectors,” she said. “They’ve got a good idea of what their World Cup team might look like and you’ve just got to keep putting your hand up and churn out runs and put in match-winning performances.”At the same time, you can’t control everything. There’s so many good T20 players in England now, particularly opening the batting. Everyone’s putting their hand up to try and have a go in the powerplay. If I got an opportunity it would be amazing but at the same time, just keep going.”

Baroda, Punjab, Delhi, and Assam booked their places in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy semi-finals on Thursday. While Baroda eliminated defending champions Mumbai, Punjab won a closely-fought contest against a Rinku Singh-inspired Uttar Pradesh. In the other two games, there were relatively straightforward wins for Delhi, who knocked out Vidarbha, and Assam, who outplayed Kerala to reach the semis for the first time in the T20 competition.

Sopariya, Solanki knock Mumbai out

Right-arm medium pacer Soyeb Sopariya ran through Mumbai’s top order to set up a memorable victory for Baroda in Mullanpur. After inserting Mumbai to bat, he trapped opener Jay Bista lbw in the first over. He also sent Ajinkya Rahane back in the third over, and then had Yashasvi Jaiswal nicking off for a 14-ball 8 right after the powerplay.Sopariya eventually finished with figures of 3 for 16, while fellow quick Lukman Meriwala took a wicket and conceded just 18 runs.Shivam Dube (48 off 36) and Sarfaraz Khan (33 off 22) tried to get Mumbai’s innings back on track, but Abhimanyusingh Rajput dismissed both set batters to help restrict Mumbai to 148.Baroda lost an early wicket in their chase, but opener Jyotsnil Singh and No. 3 Rajput steadied them till the eighth over. Then, Mumbai effected a mini-collapse as Baroda slid from 64 for 1 to 88 for 4 in 21 deliveries.But Vishnu Solanki, at No. 5, ensured Baroda got the job done, even as he lost three partners at the other end. Solanki hit two sixes and five fours in his unbeaten 49 off 30 as Baroda chased the target with seven balls to spare.File photo: Rinku Singh blasted 77 off 33 but it went in vain•Sportsfile via Getty Images

Rinku fireworks not enough for UP

Rinku Singh added another sensational rescue knock in his already glowing resume, smashing 77 not out off just 33 deliveries, but Punjab still trumped Uttar Pradesh in a thriller in Mohali to reach the semi-finals.Rinku came out to bat with UP struggling at 53 for 3 in the 12th over. He started quick, hitting a boundary off the third ball he faced. Rinku found support in Sameer Rizvi as they plundered 116 in 53 balls. Rizvi finished unbeaten on 42 off 29, hitting four sixes and a four, while Rinku notched up four fours and six sixes, three of which came off the final over bowled by Arshdeep Singh.Punjab slipped to 14 for 3 in the fourth over thanks to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohsin Khan. But Nehal Wadhera and Anmolpreet Singh rescued them with a 72-run stand.UP bounced back, courtesy Mohsin. He removed Anmolpreet for 43 off 29 and Wadhera for a 39-ball 52 in the 13th and 15th over, respectively.Punjab still needed 55 off 31 deliveries and Sanvir Singh and Ramandeep Singh brought their big-hitting prowess to the party. Sanvir made 35 not out off 13 deliveries, while Ramandeep scored 22 to take Punjab home in the final over.

Rawat, Dhull inspire Delhi into the semis

A 105-run partnership for the second wicket between Anuj Rawat and Yash Dhull set the base for Delhi’s win over Vidarbha in Mullanpur.After Umesh Yadav’s strike in the third over, Rawat and Dhull kept the scorecard ticking for Delhi. Rawat mainly played the anchor’s role, scoring a 53-ball 68, while Dhull made 43 off 29.Ayush Badoni also chipped in with a 17-ball 28 at the death to take Delhi to 176, even as Umesh registered a four-wicket haul.Vidarbha could never find their momentum with the bat, losing wickets in regular intervals and slipping to 85 for 6 in the 13th over. Vidarbha’s No. 6 Shubham Dubey tried to defy the Delhi bowlers with his 44 but it wasn’t enough. In the end, Vidarbha fell 39 runs short.Related

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Assam coast past Kerala

After unprecedented seven fifties in a row in this competition, Assam captain Riyan Parag failed to fire in Mohali, but they had little trouble in defeating Kerala to reach the semi-finals for the first time. Assam had gotten better of Kerala in their league-stage encounter as well.However, unlike their league stage match, the quarter-final was one-sided with Sumit Ghadigaonkar starring with his composed 75.He controlled the chase of 159, putting on important partnerships with opener Rishav Das and No. 5 Sibsankar Roy.Earlier, Assam had Kerala on the mat early as they slipped to 44 for 5 in the seventh over. But Salman Nizar and Abdul Basith hit half-centuries each and put on a 101-run stand to take Kerala to 158.After losing opener Denish Das trapped lbw in the first over, Ghadigaonkar and Rishav stitched a 69-run stand with the former dominating the partnership.With Roy, Ghadigaonkar added 49 runs and when he departed, Assam were only 14 runs away from victory. They got there in the end with 17 balls to spare.

Dhaka Division stunned defending champions Rangpur Division by beating them by 23 runs in the opening round of this season’s National Cricket League. In a low-scoring tier-1 game at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Anamul Haque’s four-wicket haul on the third afternoon tilted the game Dhaka’s way, as they bowl Rangpur out for 128 runs in their chase of 152.Dhaka managed only 166 in the first innings after being sent in by Rangpur, even as Rony Talukdar hit an unbeaten 102, his 11th first-class century. Apart from Talukdar, only two other Dhaka batters reached double figures. For Rangpur, Nobin Islam picked up his maiden five-wicket haul.In reply, Rangpur scored 238 and took a 72-run lead. Wicketkeeper-batter Mim Mosaddeak top scored with 71, while captain Ariful Haque scored an unbeaten 58. Left-arm quick Salauddin Sakil took four wickets for Dhaka.In their second innings, Taibur Rahman’s 66 kept Dhaka in the game, but Asadullah Galib’s 5 for 68 for Rangpur restricted Dhaka’s lead to 151, which wasn’t too threatening with so much time remaining.However, Rangpur slipped to 44 for 7 in the chase, before Nihaduzzaman’s fighting 56 from No. 8 kept them afloat. He added 75 for the eighth wicket with Sanjit Saha, before Sakil removed Nihaduzzaman and Galib in the space of three deliveries. Rangpur were shortly bowled out for 128.Naeem Islam marked his Dhaka Metropolis debut by reaching his 10,000th first-class run in the course of an 88-run win against Sylhet Division. Naeem moved to Metropolis after having played more than 150 matches for his northern native sides Rangpur and Rajshahi.He top-scored with 65 in the first innings after Sylhet opted to bowl, but Metropolis were bowled out for 243. Abu Jayed, Khaled Ahmed, Sahanur Rahman and Nabil Samad took two wickets each for Sylhet, and then their captain Zakir Hasan’s 15th first-class century gave them an eight-run lead. Left-arm seamer Abu Hider took three wickets for Metropolis.Metropolis managed only 212 while batting again, with medium-pace bowler Rejaur Rahman Raja taking a hat-trick to wrap up the innings. Raja became the second bowler from Sylhet to take a first-class hat-trick, following Enamul Haque Jr in the 2018-19 season.But it was all upended by left-arm spinner Arif Ahmed, whose five-wicket haul cleaned up Sylhet for 116 during their chase of 205. Hider took three more wickets to finish as Player of the Match, having also contributed 34 with the bat in the first innings.Chattogram Division kicked off their NCL tier-2 campaign with an 87-run win over Barisal Division. Having been sent in by Barishal at their home venue, Chattogram banked on 96 from Pinak Ghosh and 94 from Mominul Haque to reach 238. Offspinner Sohag Gazi took 5 for 54 for Barishal.Moin Khan’s 71 from the lower order kept Barishal ticking, but they ended three short in their reply. Chattogram built on that meagre advantage with fifties from Yasir Ali, Shamim Hossain and Nayeem Hasan and reached 308, leaving Barishal 312 to chase. Seamer Kamrul Islam Rabbi took 5 for 64 for Barisal. But Hasan Murad’s four-wicket haul skittled out Barishal for 224 despite Gazi’s 97.In the other tier-2 match, Khulna Division crushed Rajshahi Division by 400 runs at the latter’s home ground. Khulna, who had opted to bat, got 288 in the first innings with fifties from Mohammad Mithun and Afif Hossain. But Rajshahi were then blown away for 81, their fourth-lowest first-class total of all time, as Al-Amin Hossain and Soumya Sarkar took four wickets each for Khulna, thus securing a massive 207-run lead.Khulna chose to bat again rather than enforcing the follow-on, and Mithun struck his 15th first-class century as Khulna declared on 334 for 5. Mithun made an unbeaten 125 off just 149 balls, which included 12 fours and four sixes. Sarkar and Anamul Haque struck fifties, too.Set a mammoth 542 to win, Rajshahi were then bowled out for 141 to end up with their lowes-ever match aggregate of 222. Al-Amin, Ziaur Rahman and Nahidul Islam took two wickets each for Khulna.

Manchester Originals 181 for 6 (Salt 86) beat Trent Rockets 171 for 5 (Kohler-Cadmore 64, Tongue 3-32) by 10 runsManchester Originals edged out holders Trent Rockets by 10 runs to disappoint a record crowd at Trent Bridge, defending 181 for six after Phil Salt had smashed a stunning 86 off 32 balls.A strong fightback from the home side’s bowlers gave their side a chance, restricting the Originals to just 69 from their last 56 balls after Salt’s 12 fours and five sixes had seen them 112 for one from 44 and on for a massive score.Daniel Sams (2 for 28) and Lewis Gregory (2 for 30) were outstanding given that it was a flat pitch, with Luke Wood recovering from a 14-run mauling off his first set of five to finish with one for 31 from 20.Yet Josh Tongue (3 for 32) and Paul Walter (2 for 24) were superb for the Originals, Walter’s defending of 14 off the last set leaving most of the 15,500 spectators disappointed that Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s 64 off 42, Colin Munro’s 36 off 22 and Joe Root’s 35 off 23 were not enough to get the job done as Originals moved level with second-placed Southern Brave on points and left the Rockets in fifth spot.Reasoning that Trent Bridge is a tough ground to defend a total, Rockets opted to bowl first but may have been having regrets as Salt hammered 30 runs in the first 10 balls on the way to a half-century from just 20 balls as the Originals, 58 for one in the powerplay, set off at a ferocious pace.Jos Buttler, a spectator as Salt found the boundary seven times in that opening assault, lifted his first delivery over the rope at extra cover but missed out on many more as Ish Sodhi grabbed a fine low catch at midwicket.Sam Cook put Salt down on 47, a straightforward catch at deep square leg off Sodhi’s bowling. But after feeling increasingly uncomfortable as the Lancashire player took him for back-to-back boundaries and a huge six over long-on, raising his boundary count to five sixes and 12 fours, it was Cook who had the last word, his next ball a slower one that bowled Salt behind his legs as he stepped across his stumps.Now the Rockets took the pace off and Gregory accounted for Max Holden, caught at long off, and Ashton Turner, falling to a much more difficult catch by Cook on the legside rope in a 25-ball spell immediately after Salt’s demise to ball 45 that saw just 30 runs added.The home attack were bowling much smarter now and Sams picked up a second scalp with a slow yorker that was too good for Laurie Evans, while Wood, having conceded 14 in five balls at the top of the innings, went for just 11 in two sets, coming back for his final set to concede just six more and scatter Jamie Overton’s stumps for good measure.The Rockets would have been pleased with their work as they came off the field but 182 was still a demanding target to chase, one which looked bigger still as Alex Hales succumbed to the first legitimate ball of their innings, a near-unplayable ball from Tongue that had him caught behind off the splice.Root and Kohler-Cadmore soothed the blow with 65 off 40 balls, Root getting off the mark with a single before bringing the reverse-ramp into play for his first boundary, but ultimately perishing playing a similar stroke, caught behind by an alert Buttler off the left-arm seam of Paul Walter. Nonetheless, at 84 for two from 50, the home side had a good base.Kohler-Cadmore and Munro built on it pretty well but with 28 needed from 14 the outcome was in the balance and that balance tipped towards the Originals as Tongue returned to dismiss both in his final set, Munro caught behind off a thin inside-edge as the bowler cramped him for room before Kohler-Cadmore, looking to ease the pressure with time running out, holed out to point off a big top edge.Zaman Khan went for nine runs off his final set to leave 14 needed by Rockets off the last five and Walter was up to task, conceding only three and picking up a second wicket as Sams holed out off the last ball.

Warwickshire 155 for 2 (Yates 53*) trail Kent 171 (Stewart 50, Hannon-Dalby 4-56) by 16 runsWarwickshire dominated the first day of their LV= Insurance County Championship with Kent at Canterbury, reaching 155 for two at stumps, a deficit of just 16. Rob Yates was unbeaten on 53, while Sam Hain was 29 not out.Earlier Oliver Hannon-Dalby took 4 for 56 as Kent were bowled out for 171, a score that would have been even lower had Grant Stewart not blasted 50 from 45 balls. The hosts’ last three wickets added 93, more than half their total.Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, originally signed for the Vitality Blast, made a rare first-class appearance and bowled five overs, taking nought for 17, having been awarded his Warwickshire cap in a short ceremony before the start.Kent chose to bat in broad sunshine at the Spitfire Ground, but approached their innings as if they were still in T20 mode. Their openers were diligent enough in seeing out the first ten overs but the loss of Ben Compton seemed to flick a switch, ushering in a spell of four wickets for 19 runs in the space of 4.5 overs. Chris Rushworth started the collapse when he found Compton’s edge and he was caught behind for 9.Joe Denly lasted just just four balls before he was lbw to Henry Brookes for 1 and Harry Finch’s first red-ball appearance of the season was even shorter as he made a three-ball duck, Rushworth finding his bottom edge and Michael Burgess taking a sharp catch standing up to the stumps.Jack Leaning had made a relatively untroubled 7, but when Tawanda Muyeye nudged the ball to mid-on he hared down the wicket and made it almost as far as the striker’s end before realising his partner hadn’t moved, allowing Will Rhodes to walk in and break the wicket.Jordan Cox nearly met the same fate and although he was spared by a misfield, he’d made just 15 before he pulled Hannon-Dalby to Alex Davies at square leg. A disastrous session for the hosts came to an end when the same bowler had Muyeye lbw for 38.If that decision was harsh, Muyeye was the only batter who could really claim he had been unlucky. Joey Evison went for 4 in the second over after lunch, victim of a tumbling catch by Burgess after he’d nicked Hannon-Dalby and it was left to Stewart to play the Stokes role. He smashed Hannon-Dalby for a six that sailed over cow corner and through the branches of the St. Lawrence lime tree and was joined by Matt Quinn for a stand of 40 that proved the highest of the innings.Quinn’s frenetic 15-ball cameo yielded a six and three fours before Brookes had him caught by the sub fielder, his brother Ethan, for 25.Arshdeep Singh hit his first ball for six, but he left the pyrotechnics to Stewart, who dumped Hannon-Dalby for successive sixes over cow corner before his luck ran out when the same bowler had him caught on the boundary.It had been an entertaining hour, but it looked a low score and lower still as Warwickshire advanced to 69 without loss. The opening stand was broken when Alex Davies was lbw for 42, perhaps unluckily, to Evison. Hamid Qadri then had Will Rhodes caught behind for 25, but Yates was on 42 when Kent missed a difficult chance to run him out and he and Hain were otherwise unflustered as they batted through the evening session.