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An unbeaten 18-run stand for the tenth wicket took India past the finish line after the hosts were reduced to 190 for 9

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2018
Smriti Mandhana flicks the ball in front of square•BCCI

How would you describe the 2017 Women’s World Cup final? A thriller? If so, the next ODI between India and England turned out to be nothing less – this time in the opener of the three-match series in Nagpur.It took a last-wicket stand of 18, between Ekta Bisht and Poonam Yadav, to help the World Cup runners-up beat World Champions England in a thrilling finish. Before their performance with the bat, the two India bowlers also took seven wickets to dismiss England for 207.A collapse, one reminiscent of their failed run-chase in the World Cup final at Lord’s, had reduced India from 166 for 3 to 190 for 9, but with 18 needed off the last three overs, Poonam joined Bisht at the crease and scored four runs – all in singles – in the 48th over.A front foot no-ball off the first delivery of the 49th over from stand-in captain Anya Shrubsole, the Player of the Match in the World Cup final, conceded five as Bisht found the backward-point boundary. Three nervy singles and another four, from Poonam, made it 12 runs off the over. Shrubsole hung her head, clutching her knee in dismay, and India needed two to win off six balls.Bisht then worked a single towards third man off Natalie Sciver, before a wide down the leg side sealed victory in 49.2 overs. The run-a-ball scores of 7 by Bisht and 12 by Poonam handed India their first win in the 50-over format this home season, following a 3-0 hiding against Australia in Baroda last month.India should not have struggled in the low chase after Smriti Mandhana made 86. With the equation reading 37 needed off 72 balls, Veda Krishnamurthy, Sushma Verma and Jhulan Goswami played out 46 balls for 13 runs, before left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone removed all three batsmen in consecutive overs. Her 4 for 37 followed offspinner Danielle Hazell’s 2 for 24 that had left the hosts wobbling at 41 for 2 inside the Powerplay. One of Hazell’s wickets was that of Mithali Raj, lbw for a duck in her 192nd ODI appearance.Georgia Elwiss is bowled by Ekta Bisht•BCCI

Mandhana subsequently steered the chase with two fifty partnerships en route to her sixth half-century in seven matches. With Harmanpreet Kaur (21 off 38) she added 51 for the fourth wicket and shepherded India close to the hundred-run mark, before sharing a 71-run stand with Deepti Sharma. Variable bounce and turn on the Nagpur pitch forced Mandhana to be cautious, but she managed to hit five fours and three sixes.England had also collapsed after opting to bat. They slid from 71 for no loss to 124 for 6 in the middle overs. Leading the undoing for the visitors was legspinner Poonam, who dismissed Danielle Wyatt (27) and Amy Jones in the 12th over. She followed up with a second caught-and-bowled dismissal in the 16th over – Tammy Beaumont for 37 – before Bisht ran through the middle order with three wickets.A semblance of resistance, however, came from Fran Wilson, whose 78-ball 45 hauled England to 181 for 8 on the back of three partnerships, including the 40-run eight-wicket stand with Hazell. After Wilson holed out in the 46th over, Hazell provided a final flourish. Her 52-ball 33 lifted England past 200, but Bisht bowled her in the final over to set India a target of 208.

Nuwan Pradeep has been ruled out of the rest of Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa with a fractured hand

Firdose Moonda22-Jan-2017Nuwan Pradeep has been ruled out of the rest of Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa with a fractured hand. He sustained the injury during the shortened opening T20I on Friday night, at Centurion, when he was struck while trying to take a catch in his follow through in his first over.Farhaan Behardien hit a low full toss straight back to Pradeep, who put up his hand in an attempt to take the catch, but it served more as evasive action as the ball was heading straight at his face. He managed to complete his two overs, but was ruled out of Sunday’s T20I at the Wanderers and was spotted with his right hand in a sling during the match. He will return to Sri Lanka this week.Sri Lanka’s other injury concern is opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka, who was earmarked to open the batting in the T20s but has hampered by a back injury. Gunathilake is being assessed by Sri Lanka’s medical team and a call will be taken on his availability as soon as possible. Sri Lanka’s team manager Ranjit Fernando told ESPNcricinfo the prospects of Gunathilake playing in this series are “not good.”

After having to deal with some tragic news off the field, Luke Wright continued his good form with another match-winning innings for the Melbourne Stars, helping them to an eight-wicket win against the Hobart Hurricanes

The Report by Will Macpherson06-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLuke Wright has had to deal with much more than some good form on the field•Getty Images

Luke Wright has had a strange few days. It began, on Saturday night, with the innings of his long career, on the night of the Big Bash League’s short life. Perhaps the most significant statistic was 80,883, but Wright’s unbeaten 109 won the Melbourne derby for the Melbourne Stars. It was a knock of staggering, bunted beauty, short-arm-jabbing and clearing the front leg for his life.Hours after, however, everything looked a whole lot less rosy. Getting back to his hotel at 4.30am, at least two sheets to the wind, he checked his phone. There lay a raft of messages from England, asking him to call urgently.The news, inevitably, was bad. Sussex – the county Wright captains – fast bowler Matthew Hobden had died, aged 22. Details were hazy. Hobden was a popular, friendly, gentle, perhaps slightly slow, soul, the sort no one dislikes. The sort everyone will miss, and the sort with everything before him. For Wright, memories of the death of another good friend taken far too soon, after Tom Maynard, were all too fresh.”From the best night ever to the worst,” he tweeted upon waking with a headful of dust on Sunday morning. Wright’s immediate plan was to fly home, to be with those close to Hobden at Hove, and to play his part in Sussex’s strong front in the face of unthinkable, shocking tragedy. After a million and one phone calls, it was decided he would stay in Melbourne, and soldier on with the Stars.Wright and his Sussex team-mate and good friend George Bailey asked the Stars and the Hobart Hurricanes to wear black armbands for today’s fixture in memory of their mate Matt.And so his strange few days ended the same way it started, with a match-winning knock at the MCG for the resurgent Stars. Wright’s 99-run stand with an uncharacteristically sedate and straight Glenn Maxwell saw the hosts home after a slightly rocky start to their pursuit of 125.Earlier, had the Stars written out their exact game plan in note form, it might have looked something like this: win the toss, bowl first. Bowl probing, nagging, frankly irritating spin first up, and snag a wicket in each of the first two overs. Field like demons, and nab a pair of run-outs for your trouble. Remain patient in the middle overs, in the knowledge that your earlier efforts have left your opponents with limited wiggle room. As the death overs approach, let the pressure tell and see off the set batsmen. Then, to the finisher and the tail, bowl yorkers. Just yorkers. The result: 124 all out, four wickets in the first six overs, six in the last five. What a simple game.Maxwell took the first wicket, Tim Paine slapping the third legal delivery to James Faulkner, who took a fine jumping catch at mid-on. Three balls later, Michael Beer had strangled Kumar Sangakkara down the leg side, although it may have just hit his pad, and an over after that, Bailey ran out Ben Dunk, who had pierced the infield in a manner he has not managed in recent weeks. Having been 20 for 3 against the Melbourne Renegades two nights ago, the Hurricanes were 21 for 3 now.Bailey ran the rebuild, but soon lost Dan Christian to a fine Wright direct hit, running to his left from mid-on. Bailey found a magnificent cover drive off Adam Zampa, launched Faulkner for a long and straight six and sent Scott Boland over Kevin Pietersen at long-off. But his partner for 10 overs, Jonathan Wells, was done in the flight by Zampa, and by the over’s end Bailey was gone too, beaten for pace.Faced with the magnificent John Hastings and Boland, who continuously aimed for the toes, Hurricanes’ tail was unable to drag them to respectability, with the innings finishing with three wickets in three balls; Cameron Boyce and Sam Rainbird bowled by Boland’s toe-crunchers, then Shaun Tait was run-out looking to improve the score, with a single.Hurricanes bowled well first up, and when Pietersen hared towards Wright – whose scream of “no” came a little too late for the ever-eager Pietersen – a steadying influence was required. Or two, as it proved. Wright and Maxwell took no risks in picking off their target, and remained in utter control. As the end approached, Maxwell launched Boyce over cow corner, then down the ground for four.Then, consecutively, they brought up their fifties – Wright’s with a pull to the wide long-on boundary, followed by a long look at the night’s sky – before Maxwell ended the over, the game and his BBL season (he, along with Faulkner and Boland, will join up with Australia in Perth on Friday) with a skipping six over long-on.Wright had done a smiley stint on the mic for and, post-game, his typical cheeriness belied all that had gone before. He admitted that five days on, his first knock still hadn’t quite sunk in. “What a terrible celebration,” he lamented, “but it’s one of those moments I can tell my grandkids about.” One senses that the news that came in between may take rather longer to compute.

Trent Johnston, who has been in the vanguard of Ireland’s recent renaissance, has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the year

Ger Siggins15-Jul-2013Trent Johnston, who has been in the vanguard of Ireland’s recent renaissance, has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the year. The 39-year-old will play in the World T20 qualifiers in UAE in November, and finish his Ireland career in the ICC Intercontinental Cup final in Dubai in early December.”It’s been a difficult decision and I’ve racked my brains ever since I came back from the UAE tour in March”, Johnston said. “It’s becoming harder to recover after matches now, so much so that I can hardly walk for a couple of days.”He explained that after that two-week tour he could only put on and take off his socks with the help of his children, Charlie (10) and Claudia (13). “I knew then my time was limited and although it would have been great to play in another World Cup in Australia, it was just beyond me. It’s time to move on to new things and give Phil Simmons a chance to find somebody to replace me.”Johnston’s announcement comes just after Ireland qualified for the 2015 World Cup and the final of the Intercontinental Cup. “I’d set myself personal goals at the start of the year and I’ve been slowly ticking those boxes as we go along. I always knew we were going to qualify for the 2015 World Cup with the squad we have, and the standard we’ve been playing at for a few years now. I’ve achieved a lot in my career and I’m pretty happy with how it’s all went.”A native of Wollongong, New South Wales, Johnston played several first-class games for that state before he was released in 2000. During the 1990s he had played as a club professional in Dublin, where he met his Irish wife Vanessa, so was intrigued by an approach by a former team-mate, Jason Molins, who was by then Ireland captain. Molins had worked out that by virtue of his marriage Johnston was now entitled to an Irish passport – and a place in the team currently taking shape under Adrian Birrell (who was last week appointed assistant coach to South Africa).He packed his bags and made his Ireland debut one week after his 30th birthday – and went on to play 186 games for his adopted country, including 65 ODIs, 28 T20Is and 27 first-class games. His 264 wickets is the third-highest ever for Ireland, while his 60 appearances as captain is second only to his successor, William Porterfield.It is as the charismatic captain of the first Irish side to play in a World Cup that he will be best remembered. Their first two results, a tie with Zimbabwe and win over Pakistan, took them into the Super Eights, with Johnston’s six into the grandstand the final blow for Inzamam ul-Haq’s team.

Trent Johnston’s career highlights

• He has played 65 ODIs and 28 T20s for Ireland picking up 65 and 29 wickets respectively

• He captained Ireland in 60 matches, the second-most after his successor William Porterfield

• He is the third-highest wicket-taker for Ireland with 264 wickets

• He led Ireland in their maiden World Cup appearance in 2007 when they beat Pakistan and qualified for the Super Eights

• He won the ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2005 and 2007

• Ireland were awarded ODI status under his leadership

• He announced an indefinite break from cricket in March 2008

• He returned to the game and resumed leading the Ireland attack from July 2008

• Ireland fell four runs short of beating England in August 2009, after Johnston’s Man-of-the-Match performance of 4 for 26 and 21* off 15

• He claimed his best international figures of 5 for 14 against Canada in the final of the 2010 World Twenty20 Qualifiers

• He introduced cricket to the ‘chicken dance’ during the 2011 World Cup

“I was incredibly proud to wear the shamrock and to lead your country 60 times including a World Cup was just massive for me”, he said. “That first World Cup put Irish cricket on the map and it has kick-started the cricketing expansion that we’re witnessing now. It was a privilege to be part of that.”With Johnston’s doing a ‘chicken dance’ after each wicket, Ireland went on to further impress in the second phase, beating Bangladesh to elevate them to the official ODI status at which they continue to challenge the Full Members. He also captained Ireland to their first international trophies, the Intercontinental Cup wins of 2005 and 2007.After a brief retirement following a gruelling tour of Bangladesh in 2008, Johnston returned to lead the Irish attack for four more years. That he is still a leading figure in Associate cricket on the brink of 40 is down to a Spartan work-ethic and being able to concentrate full-time on the game since being centrally-contracted in 2009. “The back-up I’ve got from Cricket Ireland, and my friends and sponsors Philip Smith and Patrick Nally of RSA, has given me a chance to play on long after I expected,” he said.Johnston intends to move into full-time coaching, and has already racked up a strong CV with the Leinster Lightning, who have dominated Ireland’s new regional competitions. “The Lighting has been a great experience for me, and a big step up from coaching clubs in an amateur set-up”, he told ESPNcricinfo. “Because funds are tight I’ve had to do a lot more and take more responsibility. You’re involved in selection, media work, and organising training sessions and game plans so it has brought a new dimension which is really interesting.”Towards the end of my Ireland career Simmo gave me extra responsibility in preparing the bowling department and working with the guys there, which was good experience, and I also went to the Women’s World Cup qualifier in 2011 as Jeremy Bray’s assistant.”Cricket Ireland isn’t in a position to hire Johnston, but hopes ICC funding down the line might provide an opportunity. “Warren Deutrom has been honest with me, but I don’t really know if I can stay in Ireland to progress my coaching career,” Johnston said. “It would be great to pick up a job as an assistant or bowling coach and continue to learn the trade. But I know to do that I’d have to travel, which would present challenges. That’s something we’ll deal with if it arises. Hopefully there will be offers and it’s my main priority now to get something nailed down for after December.”Current Ireland captain William Porterfield said: “It’s pretty hard to sum up the impact that TJ has had on Irish cricket and what he has achieved. He has brought so much to the squad both on and off the field, leading by example not only with the new ball, but in showing what it means to pull on the Irish jersey by his work ethic off the pitch. I look forward to enjoying the rest of the season with him and sending him out on a high in the Intercontinental Cup final in December.”Coach Phil Simmons also knows he has a large hole to fill in his attack. “Trent has been one of the pillars of this team. He’s been incredibly consistent and gotten vital wickets at crucial times spearheading the bowling unit. His experience has been invaluable, his dedication and work ethic has been exceptional.”Irish supporters will give the man they call ‘TJ’ a fitting send-off on September 3 when Ireland play England in the RSA Challenge at Malahide.

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand fast bowler, has said West Indies opener Chris Gayle will test New Zealand’s bowlers on the upcoming tour of the USA and the Caribbean

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2012Kyle Mills, the New Zealand seamer, has said West Indies opener Chris Gayle will test New Zealand’s bowlers on the upcoming tour of the USA and the Caribbean, which starts with two Twenty20s in Florida on June 30.The New Zealand squad left for the tour on Sunday to play two Twenty20s, five ODIs and two Tests. Mills said that though West Indies lost their last two series against Australia and England, the inclusion of Gayle will give them a huge boost. “(Gayle is) the hottest batsman in the world at the moment,” Mills told . “He’s going to have his moments where he’s on top of you. It’s how you respond to that. It’s a test of character and a test of you as an international cricketer. Personally I’m really looking forward to it.”Mills, 33, said that his side will rely on the experience of its bowling attack to make early inroads. “We need to be ready from ball one. The quicker the bowlers find their rhythm the better off we’ll be. People like Jacob (Oram), Tim (Southee) and myself have been around the circuit a wee while so we’ve got a really good understanding of our own game and what needs to be done.”Mills added that while New Zealand had a fair idea about what kind of conditions to expect in the West Indies, they were less prepared for the two T20 matches in Florida. “The wicket wasn’t the best (in 2010). It was a slow wicket and it wasn’t a very high scoring game.”They think it’s going to be a bouncier wicket this time, which I’m sure will bode well for the batsmen. But it’s a great opportunity for New Zealand to showcase the game of cricket in a foreign country where there’s massive potential for the game to grow.”Mills said he used the three-month gap in the international calendar to work on his bowling variations. “In the off season I’ve been doing a lot of rehab, a lot of work on my game and the last four weeks have come around pretty quickly, but I’ve really been looking forward to it.”I’ve really concentrated on a few slower balls, because from my understanding over in the West Indies they’re going to be low slow wickets.”Edited by Carlyle Laurie

Michael Hussey has given a cautious thumbs-up to some of the proposed new rules for next season’s Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2011Michael Hussey has given a cautious thumbs-up to some of the proposed new rules for next season’s Big Bash League. The eight-team tournament might include features such as a super-over in which the batting team has its runs doubled, and the possibility that spectators could keep balls hit into the crowd.Cricket Australia asked fans to voice their opinions on the ideas via an online survey last week, seven months before the tournament is expected to kick off. Hussey has just arrived back in Perth after playing a key role in the IPL final victory for Chennai Super Kings, and he said the concept of the super-over “sounds all right”.”Who calls which over it is? The captain? I’d like it if I was batting, I’d call the super over as soon as I got out there,” Hussey said. “I haven’t thought about it too much but the concept sounds all right, especially if there was a Chris Gayle at the crease. He had a couple of overs in the IPL where he went for 27 and 34 runs off overs. It could almost be game over if he had one of those overs.”Hussey said the idea of fans being able to keep balls hit into the crowd had some merit. However, he said it was important the batsman was not disadvantaged for having cleared the fence.”It depends how green the wicket is,” he said. “If it gets to the 15th over and the wicket is still green, I don’t want a new ball coming out, that’s for sure. But I think it’s a good idea, a bit like baseball, maybe a souvenir for a kid out there. They are going to need a lot of back-up balls of the same over range. I don’t think it’s the worst idea.”Another proposal would allow bowlers to send down two bouncers per over, which Hussey said was fair for what has otherwise been seen as a batsman’s game. Hussey has never played a Big Bash match for Western Australia, having been on international duties during December and January ever since the tournament began.He’s just as unlikely to feature in this summer’s tournament, with the eight city-based sides almost certain to be without Australia’s star players due to international commitments. That looms as a potential problem for the Big Bash League, which Hussey said would never be as big as the IPL.”It won’t be of the same magnitude because of the volume of money they spend on their tournament compared with what we could spend on ours,” Hussey said. “But I think in terms of the quality of cricket we can definitely compete, attract some overseas players.”I guess we are a little limited in that we can’t attract all countries because when they play domestically clashes with our summer. But we can attract some real quality international players and we know that our first class system and our core players are very, very good.”

West Indies have been hit by a bunch of injuries ahead of the third one-dayer against South Africa in Dominica

Cricinfo staff26-May-2010West Indies have been hit by a bunch of injuries ahead of the third one-dayer against South Africa in Dominica. The struggling home side, yet to win a match in the series, will be without experienced batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan (left hamstring strain), left-arm-spinner Nikita Miller (right side strain) and fast bowler Kemar Roach (left ankle soreness) at least for the next two ODIs.The West Indies selectors have also dropped the out-of-form Andre Fletcher from the 13-man list for the third and fourth one-dayers. Two players who weren’t picked for the first two matches, Jamaican allrounder David Bernard and 21-year-old batsman Darren Bravo, have returned to the squad.Bravo forced his way back into contention with a Man-of-the-Series performance in the recent A team tri-nation series in Bangladesh, where he scored a hundred and three half-centuries in five innings to make a tournament-high 309 runs. Bernard, who has been in and out of the West Indian one-day side since being selected last June after a six-year absence from international cricket, gets another chance to cement his place.West Indies are 2-0 down in the five-ODI series against South Africa, and lost both Twenty20s which preceded the one-dayers as well.West Indies: Chris Gayle (capt), Dwayne Bravo (vice-capt), Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Dale Richards, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor

The West Indies allrounder comes in as a pre-draft signing with the hope of improving on last season

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2024West Indies captain Hayley Matthews will return to Melbourne Renegades after the club secured her as a pre-draft signing on a one-year deal.Matthews joined amid much fanfare last season when taken as the third pick in the draft having produced some stunning performance for West Indies including her spectacular innings against Australia at North Sydney Oval.However, she struggled to replicate that with 255 runs at 19.61 and a strike-rate of 114.34 in a forgettable season for Renegades, who finished bottom with just two wins, although she did finish as their joint-leading wicket-taker with 14 at 27.64.Renegades’ prospects for the 2024-25 season will be boosted by the availability of Sophie Molineux after injury. Tayla Vlaeminck also missed the full campaign and is currently off contract.”We haven’t achieved what we’ve wanted to the last couple of years but with some key members back and some new additions cooking up as well, I’m confident we can go out there and put it all together,” Matthews said.Matthews is the fourth overseas player to be signed ahead of the WBBL draft following Amelia Kerr (Sydney Sixers), Nadine de Klerk (Brisbane Heat) and Marizanne Kapp (Melbourne Stars).Meanwhile, in domestic moves the two Sydney clubs have bolstered their pace attacks. Courtney Sippel, who is part of the Australia A squad to face India A next month, has signed a three-deal with Sixers to move from Heat while Taneale Peschel has moved to Thunder from Perth Scorchers.”At the Scorchers, I’ve been given…every opportunity, but I felt like I’d been stagnant for the last season or two,” Peschel said. “I always play the safe card and I’ve always stayed in WA and thought, okay, I’m still getting opportunity, I’ll stay here. I think just this year, something clicked.”I thought, I’ve got to try something else. I’ve got to stop playing a safe card. Who knows what something like a change to another team can offer my career.”Peschel, 29, was talked out of retirement earlier in her career by Lisa Keightley, the former Western Australia and Scorchers coach, who is now in charge of Thunder.”Taneale was playing club cricket, and she was the fastest bowler there, the best bowler there, and I just thought she had the potential to give it another crack at a higher level,” Keightley said.”Taneale is a highly skilled bowler and has pace that not many have. It’s what we are after to compliment our medium pacers. She has bowled at key times for the Scorchers, in the power play and at the death and done really well.”

The hosts will need more from the likes of Shakib and Mushfiqur if they are to force the series into a decider

Mohammad Isam02-Mar-2023

Big picture – Can the likes of Mushfiqur and Shakib stand up?

England know all too well the importance of taking a 1-0 lead against Bangladesh in Dhaka. The last time it happened, in 2016, England ended up winning the series 2-1 despite the home side bouncing back with a win in the second game. In fact, the last time Bangladesh won a bilateral ODI series after losing the first match was nearly eight years ago, against South Africa.This simple fact underlines Bangladesh’s dominance at home in the last decade. They have lost just two bilateral series at home in this period. It also means England’s three-wicket win in the first ODI on Wednesday was a big deal. They broke through Bangladesh’s fort by playing in a very different way than they are used to. Conditions obviously varied, with the Shere Bangla National Stadium offering a lot more to the spinners.Still, England used predominantly their seamers to attack and restrict the home side. They bowled Bangladesh out for 209, before Dawid Malan’s unbeaten century arrested their own batting slide to seal the win. It was a great effort from a batter who had a stealthy local experience: Malan has played more than 50 matches in Bangladesh in the last ten years.Related

• Malan shows how to play the perfect Mirpur innings

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• Moeen: England 'really looking forward' to thriving in packed Mirpur

But more experienced players of these conditions, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, didn’t quite do justice to their billing. Their dismissals in the middle overs, both out slogging spinners, prompted a readjustment from the rest of Bangladesh’s batting line-up. Najmul Hossain Shanto couldn’t kick on from his maiden ODI fifty, while Mahmudullah got out batting in first gear.Both teams will therefore look for batting improvements. Malan’s knock was the only innings of substance for England while Bangladesh needs their batters to make best use of the starts. What would however encourage both sides is their disciplined bowling. Taskin Ahmed and the Bangladesh spinners bowled their heart out. They couldn’t take the remaining three wickets, but they were defending a pretty low total.England’s bowlers looked to have understood the conditions well too, particularly Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali who ensured Bangladesh’s scoring never went too far. The second ODI promises to be another tight affair. The home side wouldn’t want to let go of their Dhaka dominance.

Form guide

Bangladesh LLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWWW

In the spotlight

It has taken Najmul Hossain Shanto 16 ODIs to reach his first half-century in the format, the second-slowest Bangladeshi to the mark (Litton Das took 17 matches to reach the milestone). It is an important stepping stone for Shanto, who has been trying to establish himself in internationals for the last two years. Admittedly, it is still early days but even Bangladesh’s all-time best batters have taken time to establish themselves, so Shanto has some company. Still, his dismissal for 58 in the first ODI could have been avoided with a bit more concentration.What Shanto couldn’t do, Dawid Malan did quite well. He didn’t allow the low run-rate or falling wickets at the other end get to him. Instead, Malan picked up crucial boundaries, and formed small but meaningful partnerships to smother Bangladesh’s charge on Wednesday evening. It was his second successive century, and fourth in 16 ODIs, but more importantly, he handed England a difficult win. Malan has done so well in his short ODI career, that he is now close to locking his place in the World Cup squad later in the year.

Team news

Ebadot Hossain and Hasan Mahmud are options if Bangladesh feel the Dhaka pitch isn’t suited to Mustafizur Rahman. The hosts have also drafted Shamim Hossain in to the squad for the second ODI.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Litton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Afif Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Taijul Islam, 11 Mustafizur RahmanEngland started the series with Sam Curran, Saqib Mahmood, Rehan Ahmed and Reece Topley on the bench. Rehan has been ill so appears unlikely to play but they are expected to rotate their seamers throughout the tour.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 James Vince, 5 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 6 Will Jacks, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Saqib Mahmood/Jofra Archer, 11 Reece Topley/Mark WoodShakib Al Hasan reacts to a missed chance•Associated Press

Pitch and conditions

Dew could prompt the team winning the toss to bowl first. It won’t be the worst decision in Dhaka as the ball will still have a bit of variable bounce with turn in the day time. The weather remains dry, but it is getting warm.

Stats and trivia

Assistant coach fears damaging long-term effects of Covid bubbles on players

Aadam Patel26-Jan-2022Paul Collingwood believes that the Ashes were “one step too far” and that he is genuinely concerned about the long-term implications on the mental health of players that Covid bubbles are causing.Speaking in Barbados, where he is standing in for Chris Silverwood as head coach during England’s T20I series against West Indies, and on the island where he became England’s first ever World Cup-winning captain, Collingwood spoke explicitly on the realities of life in the bubble, and fears that the long-term impact of the pandemic on cricketers may be severely damaging.”I don’t think people have understood the impact and the effects that these bubbles have had,” Collingwood said. “Going to the Ashes off the back of a tough bubble in Dubai, I think was literally one step too far.”You can’t even explain what it’s like until you experience it. The simple fact is you cannot walk out of your front door and as soon as you’re told that you cannot do something as simple as going for a coffee, and you are penned in with the same guys. A lot of people will say ‘that must be fun’ and ‘you’ve got a lovely hotel’ [but] it hits you.Related

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“Take someone like Chris Woakes, the most loveable and down-to-earth guy. I have seen him in some serious mental states. We have seen Ben Stokes, someone we consider to be the most mentally tough cricketer in the world, being hit by this. I just hope there are no ramifications moving forward because when they come, they won’t be obvious next week or the week after. These are things that might come out down the line. That’s what scares me.”The England players underwent strict quarantine on the Gold Coast, and managed only two full days of match practice going into the first Test in Brisbane. Rory Burns’ golden duck set the tone for a dismal series as England were bowled out for 147 on the first day and went on to lose 4-0, hanging on for a draw in Sydney while nine wickets down.Despite England’s hammering, Collingwood stressed that England were facing an impossible task. “I reckon if you had given us the best England cricketers in the Ashes from the last 100 years and put them in the same environment that those boys have lived in over the past two years with the preparation that we had going into this Ashes even they wouldn’t have had a chance,” he said.Collingwood was part of the England squad that won the 2010-11 Ashes down under and understands precisely the physical and mental levels required to compete in Australia. He retired from international cricket after that winter and since then, England have failed to win a Test match in Australia, across 15 attempts.Collingwood was part of a group alongside Silverwood, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Woakes and Mark Wood that spent six weeks in a bubble in the UAE, before flying to Australia for their quarantine period on the Gold Coast and insisted that the lack of meaningful preparation only compounded the situation.And while he admitted that England made mistakes at the toss and in selection, he said that players should be praised for the efforts they had made in getting through the series in a strict environment, suggesting that Cricket Australia should have agreed to a compromise rather than packing five Tests into a short window during the pandemic.Collingwood has been touted as a possible successor for Chris Silverwood•Getty Images

“You are burnt out from the start after your team has been in the intense environment of a World Cup,” he said. “It wasn’t club cricket that these players were coming from. Then there’s just two days of preparation before going into the Ashes. Australia is the hardest place to go to when you’ve got your best team in form and everyone’s playing consistently. We’ve seen that from the past.”Yes, we made mistakes, 100%. We made selection mistakes, we made toss mistakes, but the fact we actually turned up and agreed to a five-match Ashes series, the guys should be given medals for that. It would’ve been much better if we’d done two matches and then three next year. That would’ve been a great compromise.”But no, Australia were not bothered that they were going to receive an England team who were mentally fatigued, they just wanted to get the product out there. They just wanted the Ashes. These guys deserve medals, not criticism. They should be told ‘well done’ for even going. It’s the equivalent of the England football team being asked to go to a World Cup, then from that bubble into the Euros. Would you expect a performance from that scenario? It’s ludicrous.”Ahead of another hectic schedule for England in 2022, which includes tours to West Indies, Netherlands, Pakistan and Australia, as well as a jam-packed home summer and another T20 World Cup in October, Collingwood hopes that at least in England, they can operate without bubbles, but fears that the damage may already have been done – not just for England players but also for cricketers around the world.”I almost think it is too late to get these messages across,” he said. “These sorts of things should have been brought out in the middle of last summer. We saw the signs then when boys were fading, and it is not healthy for the game. This isn’t just us. We have obviously played the most amount of cricket, but it will catch up with other teams as well.”