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Hardik Pandya’s men have pretty much everything going their way unlike Sunrisers

Himanshu Agrawal14-May-2023

Big picture: Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad at opposite ends

Monday evening in Ahmedabad could see one team make the playoffs in successive years since it started playing in the IPL, and the other fall short of it for the third time in a row. If Gujarat Titans win, they will be the first team this season to qualify for the playoffs – they will do so with a game in hand – while Sunrisers Hyderabad will be eliminated with two matches remaining.But even if Sunrisers happen to cause an upset, they will be barely alive, and dependent on other results for their own fortunes. Titans have been so good that two losses in their last four matches have also kept them at the top of the table. Sunrisers have had exactly the same run in as many previous games, but had been erratic enough before that to now find themselves ninth.The hosts have pretty much everything going their way: a solid opening pair, an in-form middle order, finishers on fire, and the highest wicket-taker of the season so far. Contrast that with Sunrisers’ sliding campaign, and you can make out the difference between the sides: only one of their batters averages over 30 after a minimum of eight innings, and only one bowler has at least ten wickets, compared to four from Titans.But Sunrisers know that a collective performance and a win against a settled side, whom they haven’t faced this season, will not only keep their faint hopes flickering, but might also potentially disturb the equation for other teams.

Form guide

Gujarat Titans LWWLW

Sunrisers Hyderabad LWLWL

Team news: Little still away

Titans’ left-arm quick Josh Little is still away on national duty, and is set to miss this match. Sunrisers should have all players available for selection.

The big question

Impact Player strategy

Titans swapped Mohit Sharma with Shubman Gill in their loss against Mumbai Indians, and are likely to continue with it depending on whether they bat or bowl first.GT probable XII: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Hardik Pandya (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Abhinav Manohar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Mohammed Shami, 12 Mohit SharmaSunrisers had brought on Vivrant Sharma for Anmolpreet Singh against Lucknow Super Giants, albeit the former didn’t get to bowl after coming in at the end of their innings. If Vivrant is left out against Titans – he is yet to bat in this tournament, and has bowled only two overs in two games – then they might swap Anmolpreet with T Natarajan or vice-versa.
SRH probable XII: 1 Anmolpreet Singh, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram (capt), 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Vivrant Sharma, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Marco Jansen, 11 Mayank Markande, 12 T NatarajanDavid Miller is yet to score a fifty this IPL•AFP/Getty Images

Stats that matter

• David Miller has now batted ten times this IPL, but is yet to hit a half-century. The last time he had batted for at least eight innings but did not get a fifty was in 2016.
• For a minimum of 1000 runs scored this season, Sunrisers’ Nos. 3-7 batters have the lowest strike rate (134.45), have hit the least number of fifties (three) and have struck the least sixes (49) among all sides this IPL.
• Only two batters have ever scored at most 80 runs in a T20 innings, and yet strike ten sixes. Rashid Khan did just that in a losing cause against Mumbai Indians. And while he is also the leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets so far, he remains the only one this season to have got both right- and left-hand batters at least 11 times each.

Pitch and conditions

Ahmedabad has had scores of 175 and above while batting first in five out of six matches so far. And Titans’ two defeats at home have both pretty much been jailbreaks by the opposition: the first one fashioned by Rinku Singh, and the other by Ishant Sharma. As for the weather, it is expected to be hot and humid.

A round-up of the first week of BPL 2022-23, which had an almost even serving of interesting cricket and on-field drama

Mohammad Isam14-Jan-2023

Shakib Al Hasan’s outbursts, and a DRS drama

It all started on the second day when Soumya Sarkar refused to walk off the field during Dhaka Dominators’ match against Khulna Tigers despite being given lbw by both the on-field and TV umpire. He kept insisting that the ball hit his gloves, forcing the umpires to go back to the TV umpire to check again. Sure enough, the decision changed as replays suggested that the ball did touch his gloves. The Khulna fielders were not happy with the decision. They started to protest but to no avail. It is understood that the full-fledged technology that aids reviewing decisions via the DRS was not available as the BCB couldn’t find the right technicians to run the equipment needed for this, despite having all the equipment available.Related

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During Fortune Barishal’s match against Sylhet Strikers on the same day, Shakib Al Hasan, who had set the scene of this season’s BPL with a scathing broadside on the organisers, took on the square-leg umpire after a bouncer wasn’t judged as a wide.Two days later, Shakib rushed onto the ground to confront the umpires after there was a to-and-fro between the Rangpur Riders captain Nurul Hasan and the Barishal openers. Nurul changed his opening bowler – twice – based on which Barishal opener took strike first up. Shakib argued with on-field umpire Gazi Sohel until finally left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan started off the innings. Shakib, Nurul and Anamul Haque (one of the Barishal openers) were fined 15% of their match fees for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision.

Mashrafe Mortaza key in Sylhet’s impressive start

Away from the controversies, new franchise Sylhet Strikers did all the running in the first week, winning all four of their matches. Mashrafe Mortaza, who has led three different franchises to four BPL titles, was key to the team’s success. He has been the team’s leading wicket-taker so far, with seven wickets in four games. Mohammad Amir, predictably, did well, but so did Rejaur Rahman who opened the tournament with a four-wicket haul.

Batter of the week: Towhid Hridoy

Towhid Hridoy’s form was the talk of the BPL’s first week. The 22-year-old put himself back in contention for bigger opportunities by becoming the second Bangladeshi batter to score three fifties in a row at the BPL. He showed positive intent and impressed with his strong leg-side game. However, he hurt his finger in his last innings and is now likely to miss two weeks of action.

Bowler of the week: Rejaur Rahman

To keep up with their overall improvement over the last two years, the Bangladeshi fast bowlers started the BPL emphatically. Rejaur took a four-wicket haul in the first game of the tournament, while youngsters Robiul Haque and Hasan Mahmud also showcased their abilities. Experienced players like Mashrafe and Al-Amin Hossain also put their hands up.

Sam Hain’s 63 off 39 balls rescued Rockets from 54 for 5 against Southern Brave

ECB Reporters Network01-Aug-2023Defending champions Trent Rockets kicked off their Men’s Hundred campaign with a six-run victory over 2021 winners Southern Brave in a low-scoring contest at Trent Bridge, Daniel Sams and Lewis Gregory taking three wickets each.Sam Hain’s 63 off 39 balls rescued the Rockets from 54 for 5 with support from Imad Wasim – a last-minute substitute after Rashid Khan’s 11th hour withdrawal – but with Chris Jordan’s 3 for 18 the stand-out performance in a solid bowling display, 133 from 100 looked below par.Yet, on a slow pitch that was offering the bowlers some help, it was too much for Brave, who were 41 without loss from 37 balls but lost five wickets for 32 in the next 28, a position from which they never recovered, despite some late heroics with the bat from Jordan, bowled out for 127 from 99 balls.Related

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Asked to bat first, Rockets lost their top three batters for 25 inside the powerplay. Alex Hales miscued Craig Overton to mid-wicket and Dawid Malan sent up a steepler off the same bowler that James Vince had plenty of time to get under. In between, George Garton produced a beauty to bowl Tom Kohler-Cadmore.Neither Colin Munro nor Gregory fared any better at imposing themselves, the former skying one from Tymal Mills that was comfortably caught at mid-off, with skipper Gregory hit squarely in front by Jordan to perish for two as Rockets reached the 50-ball mark at a miserable 54 for 5. Scoring chances were generally scarce as the Brave attack kept their discipline, backed up for the most part by some excellent fielding.Hain at last gave a subdued home crowd some excitement when Overton returned for his final set to be hit for three boundaries in a row, the middle one a falling-over scoop that carried over the rope and he and Imad were able to put together something of a recovery.They added 78 in 49 balls – 48 of them in the last 25 – before both fell in a dramatic finale to the innings that saw Jordan run out Hain then bowl Imad and Matt Carter with his next two deliveries before Luke Wood survived the hat-trick ball.The priority for Brave in the chase would have been to lose no early wickets and though they were merely level with Rockets for runs after their opening 25, the difference was that the wickets fallen space on the scoreboard still showed zero.Things looked much less comfortable at halfway. Devon Conway’s top edge off Gregory pinged off his helmet to point, then Imad entered the attack with two wickets in eight balls. His first delivery did for Vince, stumped going down the pitch to one that spun away, before Finn Allen, who had looked the man most likely to carry Brave home, holed out to long-on, leaving Brave 51 for 3 from 48 balls.As panic set in, Garton skewed Matt Carter to short fine leg and Tim David, looking to ease the pressure, picked out Hales at long-on, before another slightly freakish delivery saw James Fuller caught behind off glove and pad to leave Brave six down for 89, needing 45 from 22 balls.Leus du Plooy was caught behind in a scoop attempt, Jordan pulled Wood for six, was dropped at short third on 16 – a gallant one-handed effort by sub fielder John Turner – but was yorked by Sams for 22 off 11 with nine needed from three before Overton was run out and Mills leg before.

Hosts ended Day 2 with a 185-run first-innings lead, with Jayasuriya bagging 5 for 102 for visitors

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2024In their only tour match ahead of their three-match Test series in England, Sri Lanka face a fight to save the game after conceding a heavy first-innings deficit to an inexperienced Lions team in Worcester.Sri Lanka were bowled out for 139 in just 43.5 overs on Wednesday, with no batter reaching 30 and Gloucestershire’s Zaman Akhter taking 5 for 32, the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career. Lions took a six-run lead heading into the second day after losing four wickets on the first evening, three of them to Prabath Jayasuriya’s left-arm spin.But by the time rain brought the second day to an early finish, Lions had secured a first-innings lead of 185. Hamza Shaikh, the 18-year-old Warwickshire batter on first-class debut, made 91 from No. 4, sharing a 104-run stand for the seventh wicket with Kasey Aldridge, the Somerset allrounder, who himself made 78.Related

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Jayasuriya finished with 5 for 102 from his 31.2 overs, with Kasun Rajitha taking 2 for 51 from 19. But Lahiru Kumara, who has not played a competitive match since June, was expensive, leaking 92 runs from his 18 overs and dismissing only tailender Ajeet Singh Dale.Lions are fielding an under-strength side, with two first-class debutants in Shaikh and Farhan Ahmed, whose elder brother Rehan has played in all three formats for England. The ECB have only pulled one player – Josh Hull, who has made two appearances for Manchester Originals – out of the Hundred, which features most of the country’s best young players.Sri Lanka have not played a Test since their tour to Bangladesh earlier this year, which ended at the start of April, and most of their squad have not played any first-class cricket since the domestic four-day tournament finished in early May. Vishwa Fernando, who is not playing against Lions, took 12 wickets in two appearances for Yorkshire in June.Sri Lanka’s 18-man squad will travel from Worcester to Manchester after the tour game ahead of the first of three Tests against England, which starts on Wednesday at Emirates Old Trafford. They will be joined in Manchester by former England batter Ian Bell, who has been recruited as a batting coach for the series to provide local knowledge.

Raza, Williams, Muzarabani and Ngarava form the core of the squad, which will be led by Ervine

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2024Zimbabwe have named seven uncapped players for their upcoming historic Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests against Afghanistan. Batters Ben Curran and Johnathan Campbell, wicketkeepers Tadiwanashe Marumani and Nyasha Mayavo, and pace bowlers Trevor Gwandu, Takudzwa Chataira and Newman Nyamhuri have all been included.While six of these seven players have been with the national team before in the white-ball formats, 26-year-old right-arm seamer Chataira has earned his maiden national call-up. He is currently sixth on the wicket-taker’s chart for the ongoing Logan Cup first-class competition.Curran – the middle brother of England internationals Tom and Sam, and son of former Zimbabwe international Kevin Curran – has been rewarded for being the leading run-scorer of the Logan Cup. Nyamhuri, the 18-year-old left-arm seamer who made his Zimbabwe debut in the first ODI against Afghanistan and is also part of the T20I squad, now has the opportunity to make an international debut in all three formats inside a month.The experienced quartet of Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava form the core of the Test squad, led by Craig Ervine.Related

• Rashid Khan back in Afghanistan Test squad for Zimbabwe series

The selection committee has left out seven players from the Zimbabwe squad that played a one-off Test against Ireland in July. They are batters Clive Madande, Roy Kaia and Prince Masvaure, seamers Tendai Chatara, Tanaka Chivanga and Victor Nyauchi, and left-arm orthodox spinner Wellington Masakadza.The two-Test series will mark the first Boxing Day Test in Zimbabwe since 1996 and their first home New Year’s Test in their history. Afghanistan have also included seven uncapped players in their squad for the series.Zimbabwe Test squad: Craig Ervine (captain), Ben Curran, Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Takudzwa Chataira, Joylord Gumbie, Trevor Gwandu, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Brandon Mavuta, Nyasha Mayavo, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Newman Nyamhuri, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.

He is facing 19 charges in total relating to alleged offences perpetrated between December 5, 2023 and April 12, 2024

AAP15-Apr-2024Former Australia Test cricketer Michael Slater has been remanded in police custody after being charged with more than a dozen offences.Slater, 54, had his case mentioned in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday.He is facing 19 charges relating to alleged offences perpetrated on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on various dates between December 5, 2023 and April 12, 2024.The charges include domestic violence offences of unlawful stalking or intimidation, breaking into a dwelling with intent at night, common assault, assault occasioning bodily harm and choking or suffocation.The former opening batter and TV commentator was also charged with breaching bail and ten counts of contravening a domestic violence order.Police confirmed they arrested a 54-year-old Noosa Heads man at a Sunshine Coast address on Friday following alleged domestic violence incidents over several days.Slater has been remanded in custody with the case due to be mentioned in the same court on Tuesday.After making his debut during the 1993 Ashes tour, Slater played 74 Tests for Australia, amassing 5312 runs at an average of 42.83 with 14 centuries. He also played 42 ODIs.Slater retired from cricket in 2004, and embarking on a successful TV commentary career.

Former bowler steps up after successful interim spell in charge that saw Foxes win One-Day Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2023Leicestershire have appointed Alfonso Thomas as their new head coach, having overseen the club’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup success while doing the job on an interim basis. Thomas, who has signed a two-year contract, will be assisted by James Taylor after his promotion from batting coach.Thomas took over after the departure of Paul Nixon in mid-season, having been Leicestershire’s assistant/lead bowling coach since March 2022. The former fast bowler has previously held coaching positions with Kent, Surrey, Hampshire and West Indies.With Taylor as his assistant, Thomas helped guide the Foxes to a dramatic, last-ball victory over Hampshire in the One-Day Cup final at Trent Bridge in September, bringing Leicestershire their first piece of List A silverware since 1985.”It wasn’t something that was planned, but after conversations with people close to me and seeing what we started to build last season I thought it’d be a real shame if I didn’t give it a go,” Thomas said. “James and I complemented each other really well. We communicated strongly and created an environment for the guys to be the best version of themselves, but also one where they were willing to do it together.”I’m very excited by the squad we’ve assembled. We have an opportunity for this club to play a brand of cricket that’s exciting, one which the people of Leicester can be proud of and that will see people queuing up to watch us play.”As well as their One-Day Cup success, Leicestershire were in the hunt for promotion from Division Two until the penultimate round of the season – having finished bottom of the pile in six of the preceding nine seasons.The club has also buoyed by the recent emergence of talented youngsters such as legspinner Rehan Ahmed – the youngest man to be capped by England in all three formats – and tall left-arm seamer Josh Hull.Claude Henderson, Leicestershire’s director of cricket, said: “Alfonso has shown his capabilities as a head coach, and turned a tough time for the club into a successful summer. Along with James and the backroom team, he got the changing room together and organised a high-performance culture.”Alfonso and James have built a solid partnership and we look forward to seeing what they can achieve together with an exciting group of players.”

The deal covers the broadcast of 14 international events across men’s, women’s and Under-19 World Cups

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2023The ICC has signed a four-year deal with Willow TV and Digital in the USA and Canada, giving Willow digital and broadcast rights for all men’s and women’s major events till the end of 2027.The first direct live TV contractual relationship between the ICC and Willow will cover the broadcast of 14 international events across men’s, women’s and Under-19 World Cup and T20 World Cup competitions. All the senior men’s and women’s ICC events will receive TV coverage, beginning with the men’s T20 World Cup in 2024, scheduled to be held in the USA and the West Indies.Related

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“USA is an important strategic market for the ICC and the direct partnership with Willow will provide us with a number of exciting opportunities to strengthen engagement with fans in the region,” Geoff Allardice, the ICC CEO, said.The ICC had invited bids for media rights to global cricketing events over the next four (or eight) years for the Australian, US, Caribbean and Canadian markets last September.This is the first time the ICC has unbundled its media rights, choosing to sell them territory by territory. In August last year, the ICC sealed a deal in the Indian market for an undisclosed sum. That winning bid, thought to be in the region of just over US$ 3 billion, came from Disney Star* and covers both television and digital rights to men’s and women’s global tournaments between 2024 and 2027. Days after the winning bid was announced, Disney Star announced it would in turn be licensing part of the rights to Zee Entertainment Enterprises in another landmark deal.In January this year, the ICC struck an eight-year deal with Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, giving them access to broadcast all World Cups between 2024 and 2031.

He will link up with Ricky Ponting in the US, even as he fights for a spot in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-2024Steven Smith has been confirmed as a signing for Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise Washington Freedom ahead of the second season of the tournament which begins on July 4. The move had been widely tipped, with Smith having signed as a brand ambassador for Freedom last year, and with Australia’s international schedule allowing a clear window for him to participate through July.New South Wales (NSW), Smith’s domestic team in Australia, have a high-performance partnership with Freedom, although NSW coach Greg Shipperd was replaced by Ricky Ponting in February.”I’m super excited about joining the Washington Freedom for season two of the MLC,” Smith said in a video posted on the Freedom’s social media channels. “I can’t wait to meet all of my new team-mates and play in front of some incredible crowds in America. I’m also really looking forward to working with Ricky Ponting again, and his amazing staff.” Freedom recently announced the signing of Rachin Ravindra, the New Zealand allrounder. They retained two overseas players from the 2023 season in Marco Jansen and Akeal Hosein.Smith, who owns an apartment in New York, has previously said it would be “pretty cool” to play in the USA.However, he faces a fight to earn a spot in Australia’s final 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in June, having been unable to play much T20 cricket in recent times. Since his prolific return to the BBL for Sydney Sixers in the 2022-23 season, where he made 346 runs at a strike rate of 174.74, Smith has played two T20Is in India, two matches in last season’s BBL and as many games against New Zealand in February, where he made 11 and 4 while opening the batting.But after the New Zealand series, he said he was relaxed about whichever way the selection call for the T20 World Cup fell, with Australia having to name their initial squad by May 1.Related

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“I think they’re pretty settled up top – to be honest – with [Travis] Head, [David] Warner and [Mitchell] Marsh in the top three,” he had told AAP. “I’m not really sure what [selectors] want to do. I’m not really too fussed either way. If I’m there, I’m there; if I’m not, I’m not.”Smith joins Adam Zampa (Los Angeles Knight Riders), Spencer Johnson (Knight Riders) and Tim David (MI New York) as confirmed Australian signings for the second season of MLC, with more expected to join for the tournament which starts immediately after the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies ends on June 29.

Things appear to be coming together nicely for England but a couple of selection questions remain

Andrew Miller13-Oct-2022

Big picture

Momentum is loosely aligned to confidence, but it’s a broadly nonsensical concept in professional sport – after all, if you’ve allowed yourself to live by it, presumably you’ll be obliged to die by it too. Sure, winning is all very well, but sometimes knowing where you went wrong is every bit as important. Take Aaron Finch’s blunt post-match comments in Canberra, where he pinpointed Australia’s “sloppy” fielding for the eight-run defeat that left them 2-0 down going into what is now Friday’s dead-rubber against England.Who knows where that momentum would be headed now, had Australia’s butter-fingers not offered up three clear-cut chances in the midst of Dawid Malan’s and Moeen Ali’s crucial 92-run stand for the fifth wicket. Or if Tim David hadn’t walked across Sam Curran’s leg-stump yorker with the game at his mercy in the 18th over of the chase.So with just over a week to go until the start of their respective T20 World Cup campaigns, here we are – with England’s rebooted white-ball team now boasting back-to-back away series wins after a blank home summer, and Australia seemingly in a scramble for their own readiness after a pair of untimely setbacks.Related

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And yet, as the Aussies know all too well from their own exploits in the UAE 12 months ago, history is bunk, especially in the T20 format. On that occasion they went into the World Cup with a troubling litany of setbacks stretching back five series and 18 months, through losses to England, India, New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh – and even then they got panned by eight wickets, and with 50 balls to spare, by a Jos Buttler masterclass in the group stages in Dubai. What happened thereafter, however, rather scotched any notion of prep.Certainly the team that Australia put out for the Canberra defeat was not far from the side that they would wish to take into their opening fixture against New Zealand on October 22. Ideally they’d like Glenn Maxwell to find a semblance of form, and for their big-three seamers – Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood – to prove a touch more incisive than their collective analyses of 2 for 110 in 12 overs, but there’s not a lot that they would seek to improve personnel-wise, even after this latest loss.It is England, by contrast, who still have a few key decisions to nail down. In particular, the Ben Stokes question, which looms over every aspect of their build-up. He’s scraped together a grand total of 17 runs from 20 balls across two innings, and his dismissal on Wednesday – a wild heave at Adam Zampa in a match situation that probably afforded him time to build into his innings – did little to dispel the swirling doubts about his role.But then, up he popped with an economical display in a rare new-ball role, followed by a first-ball breakthrough at the start of his second over, and by the time he’d pulled off the evening’s most startling feat of athleticism – a stunning one-handed boundary-save at long-off – his thirst for the action was once again self-evident. If finding a place for a man like Stokes is your major concern … well, it’s the proverbial “good problem to have”, isn’t it?

Recent form

Australia LLWWL(last five completed T20Is, most recent first)

England WWWWLGlenn Maxwell walks off after another low score•Getty Images

In the spotlight

So, momentum eh… what does Glenn Maxwell make of that phenomenon? He barely played a shot in anger at the last T20 World Cup – at least, not until the final, when his unbeaten 28 from 18 balls powered Australia over the finishing line against New Zealand, after he had contributed a grand total of two boundaries to their previous six tournament fixtures. Such are the reasons to believe he’ll be alright on the night this time around too, even though his slump in the past few months has been every bit as eye catching. He’s managed 51 runs in 61 balls since the start of June, and a gruesome 16 from 33 in the past month – in which his 8 from 11 against England on Wednesday was his highest, joint-longest and fastest-paced knock in six attempts. As Stokes might attest, No. 4 can be a tough berth to nail in this format, but unless Steven Smith gets a final chance to find his own form, Maxi’s pedigree may yet be trusted to tough this one out.Twelve months ago, Sam Curran was sitting in the Sky Sports studio, watching his team-mates pursue glory without him while he nursed a stress fracture in his back – an injury that was still hanging over him at the start of the English season when he was limited to 10 overs in his first three Championship matches of Surrey’s season. Now, with a love of the limelight that he has previously displayed for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, Curran has pounced on an opportunity to be England’s missing link in the middle order – a bowler with deceptive versatility who has sent down 31 of his 32 available overs in Pakistan and Australia this winter, for a world-class haul of 12 wickets at 19.33 and an economy rate of 7.48. His left-arm line has always been a challenge, particularly his deceptively steep bouncer, but Curran seems to have added extra pace since his injury – his game-changing yorker to Tim David was timed at 137kph. His batting hasn’t yet fired, but the threat he poses is undeniable, and his place in that first-choice XI is surely now indisputable.

Team news

The XI played on Wednesday was widely considered Australia’s starting side for the World Cup. They may give them another run, but also there’s a chance they will rotate again. Although he passed his concussion test, David Warner may be given the night off after his heavy landing near the boundary on Wednesday. Kane Richardson could be worth another outing before the real thing starts – his cutters may suit a somewhat sticky Canberra surface – Josh Inglis has not played since the India tour and there remains some uncertainty over the status of Ashton Agar.Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood/Kane RichardsonChris Jordan lost his central contract earlier this week, and – whisper it – maybe he’s close to losing his banker status as England’s go-to death bowler. Curran’s death overs in recent weeks have been exceptional, as have Reece Topley’s, while Chris Woakes – who is likely to get another warm-up outing here – offers a wise head at the crunch too. With Mark Wood also itching for another trot before the main event, it will be instructive to see if Jordan gets another chance to find his form on Friday, as he battles back from his long-term hand injury. On the batting front, Liam Livingstone must be nearing full fitness after his ankle injury, and while England originally earmarked this week’s Pakistan match as his comeback game, there may be a temptation to test-drive him sooner, especially with Stokes not yet firing, and with the series already in the bag.England (probable) 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 David Willey, 11 Adil Rashid.

Pitch and conditions

The surface wasn’t a road for the opening game with free-flowing strokeplay not easy from the outset. It made the quality of Malan’s innings stand out and also David’s striking. The weather forecast isn’t promising with heavy rain set to sweep through the capital, although there remains some hope that it will clear through in time for the game. There shouldn’t be problems with drainage.

Stats and trivia

• Moeen Ali, who will be playing his 65th match, needs 13 runs to reach 1,000 in T20I cricket.
• Glenn Maxwell (still) needs one six for 100 in T20Is. His last six in the format came in Pallekele on June 11

Quotes

“We are probably ready to go, I think. Maybe just in a holding pattern now for another two games. Sort of feels that way in the camp. We know our game pretty well in Australia.”
“When the big games come, he’ll score runs and that’s what you want from your gun players. Ben offers so much even if he’s not scoring runs: he opened the bowling [in the second T20I] and bowled really well and he was brilliant in the field.”