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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

This was Chokers’ Day. A few hours after the Mumbai Indians collapsed from a winning position, thereby denting their semi-final chances, the Chennai Super Kings outdid them as panic struck at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The Bangalore Royal Challengers seemed certain to crash to their sixth successive defeat but even they might struggle to fathom how they pulled off this robbery.It was one-way traffic for most of the game. Chasing a modest 127, Chennai appeared to be in cruise control at 60 for no loss, and later at 85 for 2, but Stephen Fleming’s dismissal induced some panic. Anil Kumble’s inspirational 3 for 14, the best figures for Bangalore in the IPL, played a part before Dale Steyn turned the heat on the lower order. The pitch hardly played a part in this low-scoring match – one where both sets of batsmen tried their best to outdo themselves in throwing it away.Chennai are still in with a good chance of making the semi-finals but this shock defeat yet again exposed their batting’s frailty. Fleming and Parthiv Patel got them off to a rollicking start, cutting and pulling with ease, and there appeared to be no demons in the pitch. Fleming was in fine touch, even against spin, but he refused to ride his luck after Vinay Kumar bowled him off a no-ball. He was out two balls later – sweeping a fast one from Kumble straight into the hands of B Akhil at deep square leg.That was enough to open up the weaknesses in the middle order. Chennai have been over-reliant on S Badrinath and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the two frittered it away, triggering a wave of recklessness. Dhoni, who promoted himself to No.3, struggled with his timing before a frustrated loft landed in Kumble’s hands at long-on. Badrinath tried a perilous sweep against Kumble, one where he moved across the stumps, and he was to regret it soon as the ball hit him plumb in front.Albie Morkel and S Vidyut fell to Steyn’s pull-trap – both top-edges that reeked of complacency against a bowler who was cranking it up to 145kph – and one only needed to look at the Bangalore fielders’ expression to understand how surprised they were. The startling freeze ended amid farcical scenes – Suresh Raina appeared to be in a daze against his Uttar Pradesh state-mate, Praveen Kumar, and even declined a single when they needed an improbable 16 off 5 balls.Bangalore were pleasantly stunned to end up as party-poopers. Their batsmen let them down earlier in the day with an insipid display. One might have expected them to express themselves more freely, now that they’re out of contention for a semi-final slot, but they continued to plumb the depths.Manpreet Gony and Morkel led a purposeful Chennai bowling effort, utilising the nip in the air, and were backed up by some electric fielding and catching. Bangalore, who chose to bat, never managed any sort of momentum – they even endured a 44-ball phase without a boundary – and the fact that they were the slowest side to reach a 100 summed up the inertia.Gony has enhanced his reputation with every game and it was some sight to see the crowd chant his name in unison. He struck with his fourth ball: pitching it short of a length and angling away from the right-hander, he induced an edge from Jacques Kallis. He forced another edge out of Shreevats Goswami – Gony’s timely maiden forced him into an indiscreet drive in the bowler’s next over. Goswami, rooted to the crease, nicked to the wicketkeeper and walked even as the umpire, I Shivram, failed to detect the edge.Virat Kohli and Misbah-ul-Haq were undone by a couple of sensational catches – Morkel back-pedalling and completing a skier inches from the square-leg boundary, hurting his head in the process, and Parthiv Patel, behind the stumps, pulling off a full-length dive to complete a one-handed take.It was again left to Rahul Dravid to survey the debris and he took his time to consolidate. Five fours reeled off his bat towards the end but Mark Boucher’s dismissal – just when it appeared as if they would string together a partnership – hurt them. Dravid couldn’t last the distance – Dhoni pulled off a fine catch at cover – and the tail didn’t have much of a chance with Morkel keeping it straight. Kumar’s 11-ball 21 was a feeble attempt at making a match out of it but little would he have imagined bowling the last over to win his side the game.

Customs Academy qualified for the quarterfinal of the 17th Karachi Gymkhana Callmate Festival, beating two-time champions Airport Gymkhana by 97 runs Saturday.Airport Gymkhana won the toss and put the Customs into bat but with Afsar Nawaz (68), Azher Shafiq (53), Kashif Saddiq (42) and Aamir Bashir unbeaten with 32, Customs ran up a total of 223 for five wickets in their 25 allotted overs.Left-arm Asif Mujtaba bagged two for 40 for Airport Gymkhana.Chasing 224 for victory Airport Gymkhana lost four wickets for 56. Although Ahmed Zeeshan (29) and Atif Zaidi (21), tried their level best to stem the tide, Airport Gymkhana never really recovered form their early setback and were dismissed for 126 runs in 24.2 overs.Afsar Nawaz three for nine, Nisar Abbas two for 10 and Imran Ali two for 18, bowled a tidy line and length for the winners.With this victory three teams, Airport Gymkhana, Dewan Mushtaq Sugar Mills and Customs finished their group matches with four points apiece. However, Customs lying third till Friday evening with win and one defeat, topped the ladder with a plus 3.36 run rate. Dewan Mushtaq Sugar Mills finished off as runner-up with plus 1.79 run rate while Airport Gymkhana slipped down the ladder to minus 1.18 and were squeezed out from the quarter-finals.Sunday’s fixture: Sui Gas v KESC 9.00 a.m; Al Noor Gymkhana v Baqai Dolphins at 1-30 p.m.Impressive DolphinsBaqai Dolphins moved into the quarterfinals of the Dalpat R. Sonavaria Ramazan Cricket Trophy, beating Asghar Ali Shah CC by 80 runs Saturday. Batting first, Baqai Dolphins recovered after a bad start and with Hassan Raza (44), Mohammad Imran (42), Anwar Saeed (31) and Atiq uz Zaman (27) scoring freely, reached 167 for eight wickets in 20 overs. Ahmed Iqbal bagged three wickets for 16 runs.In reply Asghar Ali Shah CC were restricted to 87 runs for seven wickets at the end of their 20 overs. Nadeem Babar (27) and Omair-ul Haq (23), were the only two batsmen who batted with confidence. Sohaib Hashmi three for 12 and Atif Maqbool two for 23, were the main wicket takers for the winners.Babar grabs hat trickCantt Sports registered a 59- run victory over Khatri Sports in the Seventh Danish Trophy Ramazan tournament played Saturday.Batting first Cantt Sports reached 139 for six in their 20 overs through Khursheed Malik (35) and Zeeshan Khalil (28). Right-arm medium pacer Baber Rehman had figures of three for 26, which included a hat trick.Khatri Sports in reply could not face the bowling of Taleem Shah two for 18, Mohammad Javeed two for 22 and Tariq Mahmood two for 19 and were skittled out for 80 runs in 19 overs.Sunday’s fixture: KGA Gymkhana v Mohammad Hussain CC 1.00 p.m.Afzal Sports in semisAfzal Sports registering their third win in the four matches played, qualified for the semifinals of the Ford & Lord Trophy Ramazan cricket tournament played Saturday after handing out an eight-wicket defeat to Shaheen Colts.Shaheen Colts batting first, scored 127 all out in 20 overs with Irfan Qureshi (28) and Mohsin Sultan (23) getting amongst the runs.Left-arm Jaffer Qureshi bagged three wickets for 24 runs. In reply Afzal Sports reached the winning score of 128 for two wickets in 17.5 overs. Jaffer Qureshi with a quick knock of 68 runs, steered his team to victory. Talha Shabbir picked up both the wickets that fell for only 23 runs.Sunday’s fixture: Sadiq Sports v Khatri Sports 1-30 p.m.Tooba Sports winTooba Sports beat Afzal Sports by four wickets and Jamshed CC beat Young Pak Flag by 28 runs in the Fourth Sundip Trophy tournament played Friday.Afzal Sports batting first scored 160 for four in their 20 overs through Eshan (63) and Zahidulah (33). Nazir Butt captured two wickets for 26 runs.In reply, Tooba Sports reached the winning total of 161, losing six wickets after 19.1 overs.Raja Mushtaq hammered (50) with Shahid Baig and Nasir Sheerazi notching up 35 runs apiece.In the other encounter, Jamshed CC reached 157 for seven in their 20 overs with Arif Akram (66) and M. Kamran (26) batting well. Usman Khan picked up three wickets for 28.Young Pak Flag in reply could only muster up 129 for eight wickets. Imran Shams hit up 50 runs and Saqib Mehmood 20.Aamir Ahmed three for 22 was the most successful bowler for the winners.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will take a top-strength team into their tourmatch against England this weekend at Allan Border Field.The Queensland selectors today made one change to the team that playedthe last Pura Cup match against NSW, adding Australian One Day spinnerNathan Hauritz in place of left-arm spinner Matthew Anderson.Test players Matthew Hayden and Andy Bichel were not available for thematch as both players will be in camp from Sunday with the Australianteam, preparing for the First Orange Test match at the Gabba fromNovember 7-11.The three-day tour match against England will start on Saturday, withEngland scheduled to arrive in Brisbane late on Thursday. The touristswill train on Friday at Allan Border Field.The Bulls are keen to disrupt England’s preparation, having gone withinone wicket of beating their rivals on the previous Ashes tour. The tourmatch in 1998 was played in Cairns, with England winning a thrillingmatch late on the third day.England also beat the Bulls later in the summer in a day/night limitedovers match at the Gabba.Bulls pace bowler Michael Kasprowicz, who played alongside new Englandquick Simon Jones at Glamorgan during the off-season, said the matchpresented a dual opportunity for Queensland.”We get to test ourselves against international opposition and maybegive them a few headaches before the first Test but we also get a chanceto build our form for our Pura Cup clash against Victoria in Melbournenext week,” he said.The match is at Allan Border Field, 1 Bogan St Albion. Play starts 10amdaily. Tickets: $8 adults, Children U-16, pensioners: $2. Entry willalso be via Brothers Rugby Union, Crosby Road.Meanwhile the selectors have also named former Australian pace bowlersAdam Dale and Scott Muller in the Queensland Academy of Sport team toplay South Australia in the ACB Cup 2nd XI match in Adelaide next week.Dale is continuing his steady comeback from major shoulder surgery lastseason, taking 6-61 for Wynnum-Manly on Saturday, while Muller has beenamong the leading wicket-takers for the Gold Coast in the first threerounds of the Brisbane XXXX First Grade premiership.XXXX Queensland Bulls v England, Allan Border Field, Sat-Mon: JimmyMaher (c), Brendan Nash, Martin Love, Stuart Law, Andrew Symonds, LeeCarseldine, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, NathanHauritz, Joe Dawes, Damien MacKenzie (12th man to be named).Queensland Academy of Sport v South Australian 2nd XI, Adelaide,Mon-Thurs: James Hopes (c), Duncan Betts, Jerry Cassell, Daniel Payne,Clinton Perren, Chris Simpson, Chris Hartley, Scott O’Leary, Adam Dale,Scott Muller, Scott Brant, Matthew Anderson. (all 12 to play).

England batsman Michael Vaughan has been voted Player of the Year by the Professional Cricketers’ Association.Vaughan scored 900 Test runs at an average of 90 in his seven Test matches this summer, with four centuries and two fifties.The other four players nominated were Nick Knight (Warwickshire), Ronnie Irani (Essex) Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire) and Mike Hussey (Northants).Young Player of the Year was Worcestershire’s Kabir Ali. James Anderson (Lancashire), Jim Troughton (Warwickshire), Rikki Clarke (Surrey), and Gordon Muchall (Durham) were the other players nominated for this award.

Somerset Sabres gave a spirited display in their final NUL National League match of the season at the County Ground on Sunday to record their third successive victory when they beat Durham Dynamos by 175 runs.After winning the toss and batting first the Sabres lost Piran Holloway in the first over and Jamie Cox followed with the score on 27 both victims of Steve Harmison who looked dangerous.Twenty one year old Matt Wood then steadied the situation. The young Devonian shared a third wicket partnership of 53 with Mike Burns (54), he put on 84 for the fourth wicket with Keith Parsons(40) and then added 50 for the sixth wicket with Rob Turner(21).Wood remained unbeaten on 88 when the innings closed with the Cidermen on 254 for 6.When the Dynamos batted they were quickly in trouble and lost Ashley Thorpe with the score on 7 when he was caught by Keith Parsons off the bowling of Simon Francis.Michael Gough and Brad Hodge then took the visitors onto 40 when Gough was trapped LBW by Matt Bulbeck.With the score on 54 Hodge became another of Bulbeck’s victims, and 4 runs later Gordon Muchal followed the Australian back to the pavilion.The introduction of Pete Trego into the attack for the fifteenth over resulted in a two wicket maiden as the young all rounder bowled Gary Pratt with his first delivery and followed it up with another wicket later in the over when Burns snapped up a sharp chance at mid off to see the back of Ian Pattison.From 64 for 6 there was no way back for the Dynamos who were eventually all out for 79 in the 22nd over to send a large crowd home from the County Ground with happy memories to carry through the winter.After the match as large crowds stood on the pitch in front of the Colin Atkinson Pavilion Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "This was a good way to finish the season and it has sent everybody home feeling good. The way we played today is what we have talked about all season and its just a pity that it has come too late to save us."He continued: "We have won our last three NUL games and this will give us a good starting point for next season when we can hopefully carry it on."Mike Burns, who took over as captain from Jamie Cox who was hit on the hand when he was batting told me: "The boys played well today, we batted well and then bowled in the right places and fielded well. It’s just a pity that we haven’t put it together like this earlier on in the season."Regarding this season he told me: "We have been very unlucky with injuries to players at crucial times, and then the weather has intervened in several matches. I have played consistently myself but would have liked to have scored 200 more runs."Looking forward to 2003 he told me: "We have got some quality players and shouldn’t be in the second division. We will be an unknown quantity to several of the sides and will be looking to bounce straight back up."Pete Trego, who at one stage had figures of 3 wickets for one run but ended with 3 for 14 told me: "I really am very happy with the way things have gone for me today. It’s been good to get some wickets, and it helped me coming onto bowl with a newer ball which swung a bit for me."Chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "This has been a really good result to finish with and I hope that it sends everybody home on a happy note. We all know what it is that has to be done next season and we will do it."

Match details

Delhi Capitals (6th place) vs Lucknow Super Giants (7th place)
Delhi, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture: LSG, DC or neither?

Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants are in a tough spot ahead of their game on Tuesday. DC need to win big, and then hope an improbable sequence of other results falls in their favour to have a shot at finishing in the top four. It’s unlikely to happen, and their last league game is a chance to finish a disappointing campaign on a high at home.LSG have a better chance than DC of making the playoffs, but the huge defeats in their previous two games have severely damaged their net run rate and their prospects. They need a win in Delhi, and another in Mumbai to get to 16 points, and then hope Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad don’t make it to 16 as well because both those teams have far superior net run rates. Fourteen points will not be enough for LSG.The challenge for LSG in Delhi is two fold. They are the second slowest batting side this season, scoring at 8.35 runs per over, so their batters will have to level up at the venue with the highest run rate (11.06) this season. LSG’s bowlers have also taken the fewest wickets in IPL 2024 – 57 in 12 innings, which is less than six per game on average – and they might have to do better than that to rein in Jake Fraser-Mcgurk and co.

Form guide

Delhi Capitals LWLWW
Lucknow Super Giants LLWLW

Previous meeting

Kuldeep Yadav took 3 for 20 in Lucknow, dismissing KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran, as LSG were restricted to 167 for 7. The IPL then had its first sighting of Fraser-McGurk, who top-scored with 55 off 35 balls in DC’s six-wicket victory.Kuldeep Yadav bowled a match-winning spell in Lucknow earlier this season•BCCI

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Delhi Capitals
Rishabh Pant is available for selection after he was suspended for DC’s previous game against RCB for a third slow over-rate offence. He is likely to replace Kumar Kushagra in the XI. DC had started with three foreign players against RCB, with David Warner coming in as Impact Player for the chase. He is likely to start if they bat first against LSG.Probable XII: , 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Abishek Porel, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Shai Hope, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Rasikh Salam, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mukesh Kumar, 11 Ishant Sharma, Lucknow Super Giants
LSG didn’t use an Impact Player in their previous game against SRH because they managed to stop the collapse when batting first, before getting blown away in 9.4 overs in the chase. While chasing in the two matches before that, they brought in Arshin Kulkarni to open and subbed out Mayank Yadav and Yash Thakur respectively. Mohsin Khan is fit again after hitting his head on the turf against KKR and missing the next game against SRH and he could come in for Yudhvir SinghProbable XII: 1 KL Rahul (capt & wk), , 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Ashton Turner, 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Mohsin Khan, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Naveen-ul-Haq,

In the spotlight: Fraser-McGurk and Rahul

Jake Fraser-McGurk has 330 runs this season, 296 of which have come in boundaries. His boundary percentage of 89.7 is the highest among batters with at least 300 runs in any T20 series across the world. He’s hit 33 boundaries in his first ten balls across eight innings, giving him the highest first-ten-ball strike rate (228) among batters with at least seven innings in an IPL season. And with a cut-off of 75 runs each against fast bowlers and spinners, he’s the only batter to strike at 200-plus against both type of bowlers in any IPL season. Fraser-McGurk has made a sensational entrance in the IPL, and he will want to end the season in style too.KL Rahul could do with some of that McGurk magic. He’s LSG’s top-scorer this season with 460 runs but his average of 38.33 is his lowest in a full season since 2015, and his strike rate of 136 pales in comparison to the pyrotechnics from several other openers in IPL 2024. The lingering image of Rahul after the drubbing against SRH five days ago was the talking to he received from LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka. Rahul led LSG to the playoffs in their first two IPL seasons, but will have to turn his form around to give them the best chance of finishing in the top four once again.

Stats that matter

• DC have beaten LSG only once in four matches so far, but that win was the most recent fixture earlier this season.
• Pant has a strike rate of 184 against the left-arm spin of Krunal Pandya (70 runs off 38 balls) with three dismissals in ten innings. His T20 record isn’t as good against the legspinner Ravi Bishnoi: 54 runs off 47 balls with two dismissals in six innings.
• Axar Patel could be an effective option against Rahul and Stoinis. Rahul has only 30 runs off 39 balls against Axar with two dismissals, while Stoinis’ record is worse: 22 off 38 balls with two dismissals as well. However, DC will want to keep Axar away from Pooran, who scores at a strike rate of 330.76 (43 off 13 balls) with no dismissals against him.

Pitch and conditions

In the four matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium so far, the team batting first has won after scoring 266 for 7, 224 for 4, 257 for 4 and 221 for 8, while the chasing team has responded with 199, 220 for 8, 247 for 9 and 201 for 8. It’s a high-scoring venue with short straight boundaries and shorter square boundaries. The forecast is for a warm evening with temperatures in the mid 30C range.

Quotes

“We would have liked to have been just a bit more consistent. But in saying that, we just need to deal with the fact of where we are now… If we, as a team, want to win the IPL, [we] probably need to win five in a row, which RCB have just done. So that’s proof that for us; it’s absolutely possible. But that’s just the big picture. We need to get over the line tomorrow before we can have any other aspirations.”

Big picture

England could, conceivably, have taken the nine wickets they needed to seal an unlikely victory had the weather not intervened most critically on the final day at Trent Bridge. India should have overhauled the remaining 157 runs they needed in that time to claim a deserved 1-0 lead in the series, despite requiring a record successful run-chase. And England would have, without doubt, been in a far better position had someone other than Joe Root done something with the bat. For all the beautiful scenarios that cricket – or sport for that matter – tends to throw up, here we are again with the series on a level footing after the drawn opener, but with both sides in possession of greater knowledge than they had a week ago, not to mention a few selection conundrums.England had rammed home what was more than an inkling during their series defeat to New Zealand that their batting line-up is out of touch, and in the absence of Ben Stokes, far too reliant on one man, Root. But England also learned that they can fight even after being considerably underdone after a lack of red-ball games. Just how sustainable that is as a strategy rather than as a fall-back in a crisis will be found out soon enough if their batters continue to fail.First-innings dismissals to excellent deliveries for Rory Burns and Jonny Bairstow aside, England’s batting left so much to be desired. No one besides Root even threatened the high-30s and Dom Sibley’s blockades of 18 off 70 and 28 off 133 bolstered his indomitable captain without providing any spark. Wholesale changes loom, some forced by injury, others by a pressing need to put runs on the board.Ollie Pope has had an extra week to recover from a quadriceps tear but may have to wait to make his return after a shake-up for the team’s balance, thanks to Stuart Broad’s calf muscle injury, a late niggle to James Anderson and the recall of an in-form Moeen Ali – England’s first sighting of spin this summer.India’s bowling attack, without R Ashwin, answered many questions; their pace attack was a highlight, led by Jasprit Bumrah’s nine wickets for the match. Ravindra Jadeja held his own with the bat, scoring fifty in the first innings while it was the middle order who struggled. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane all failed to crack double figures but none of that senior trio is likely to make way at this stage.At Lord’s the weather is set fair, meaning what began as an enthralling contest between these sides offers a similarly gripping second chapter.Saqib Mahmood could earn a maiden Test cap at Lord’s•PA Photos/Getty Images

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)England DLDLL
India DLWWW

In the spotlight

It is 356 days since Zak Crawley’s double-century against Pakistan in Southampton. His only innings of note in the 14 he has played since has been 53, albeit in incredibly challenging batting conditions during the day-night Test against India at Ahmedabad in February. There is a sense that Crawley showed he has what it takes to make it during his knock at the Ageas Bowl nearly a year ago, and that he is a player worth persisting with for the future. However, England’s need to strengthen their batting is pressing. Dan Lawrence will make way as Jos Buttler moves up to No.6 to accommodate Ali, most likely at No. 7, but Crawley isn’t safe either. Haseeb Hameed has impressed in the nets, not to mention with his hundred against the Indians in a warm-up for this series, which hasn’t gone unnoticed given the current line-up’s struggles to support Root. Should Hameed make his first Test appearance since touring India in 2016-17, it could be at the expense of Crawley or Sibley. Crawley needs a strong showing, his time isn’t already up.Cheteshwar Pujara has gone nine Test innings without reaching fifty. His score of just 4 first-up in Nottingham didn’t help, although being 12 not out in the second innings buys time in the sense of what might have been had India had the chance to pursue their target on the fifth day. With KL Rahul finding some touch as opener, having been initially included in the touring party as a middle-order option, Pujara could be on unstable ground should Rahul drop down at any point to make way for the regular openers.

Team news

Broad faces a wait to play his 150th Test after his injury, with Mark Wood set to replace him for his first Test of the summer. Saqib Mahmood, drafted into the squad as cover, could yet make a surprise debut after Anderson missed training due to his tight quad. He impressed in the white-ball series against Pakistan, and looks set to compete with Craig Overton for the final place in the XI. Ali should slot straight in for his first home Test in two years after his impressive form in the Hundred and is likely to bat at No. 7 with England retaining Sam Curran at No. 8 in a four-man pace attack.England (possible): 1 Rory Burns, 2 Dom Sibley, 3 Zak Crawley/Haseeb Hameed, 4 Joe Root (capt.), 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Ollie Robinson, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Craig Overton/Saqib MahmoodWith Shardul Thakur sidelined with a left hamstring injury, Ashwin looks like an automatic selection, especially in warm (by this English summer’s standards) and dry conditions. However, with some cloud cover expected, India could seek to exploit their reverse-swing options in Ishant Sharma and/or Umesh Yadav. Mohammed Siraj is expected to play, so it will likely come down to a choice between Ashwin, if India opt for two spinners, or Sharma if they want a four-pronged pace attack. Mayank Agarwal, a late withdrawal after he was concussed by a Siraj bouncer two days before the first Test, has recovered and batted in the nets this week but Rahul has snatched the opening position for the moment with 84 and 26 at Trent Bridge.India (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Cheteshwar Pujuara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin/Ishant Sharma, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Pitch and conditions

What they say about death and taxes also applies to rain playing a part in England home series, as we saw in the first Test. But the good news is the elusive summer of 2021 appears to be emerging with warmer, drier weather expected for the duration at Lord’s but with some cloud. The pitch looked set to be a typical bat-first proposition on match eve.

Stats and trivia

• For only the second time this century, England have failed to register a win in their first three matches of a home season – their first win of the 2014 home season came in their fifth game.
• Joe Root is 14 runs away from going past Graham Gooch’s 8900 Test runs and moving to second among the highest run-getters in Test cricket for England. He is also 113 runs short of reaching 9000 Test runs.
• If neither Broad nor Anderson play, this will be only England’s second home Test to feature neither bowler since 2007 (after the 2012 Test against West Indies in Birmingham)

Quotes

“They’ve got 1000 wickets between them, so it’s going to be potentially a bit of a loss, but with that comes opportunity for other people. We’ve seen previously in the summer, look at the Pakistan series, the opportunity arose for other people coming in to rise to those challenges”
“The good thing is Jadeja has got runs in the first game already, so he will go into the second game confident. That already makes our batting a bit deeper, the lower order contributed with the bat as well”

South Africa are relishing the opportunity to practice playing under pressure as they build towards the 2023 ODI World Cup. They currently lie in last place on the Super League points table, but have played the joint-fewest matches, and have another 21 fixtures (seven series of three matches each) to work their way up. And as a team with a reputation for buckling in big moments, South Africa don’t mind getting there the hard way.”It gives us a good opportunity to get our ducks in a row. If it means that we have to play games under pressure or with a lot of consequence then so be it. It’s not a bad thing to have to go through that type of process,” Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s captain said. “It will go a long way in strengthening our mental resolve. We’ll know, going to the World Cup, that we’ve had to overcome a lot of tough moments.”Related

• Balbirnie – 'If Ireland don't qualify, we've got no excuses'

• South Africa look for Super League points against Ireland

• Bavuma wants to be more than SA's first black African captain

So far, South Africa have lost the only series they’ve played in the World Cup Super League – 1-2 to Pakistan in March – but they had a second-string XI for the decider after several first-choice players had to leave for the IPL. Now, they have all their frontline players available and can start working on the combinations they want to use for the tournament. “Our first priority is to start racking up those points. In saying that, we want to use this opportunity to really get to terms with how we want to go about playing our ODI cricket,” Bavuma said. “The time is still there for us to try out different options and give guys the opportunities to show what they can do with the overall goal of winning series and qualifying for the World Cup.”One position that will come into sharp focus is that of the allrounder, especially as South Africa’s search for one in the post-Jacques Kallis era has been long. In West Indies, South Africa opted for a spin-bowling allrounder in George Linde and did not use a seam-bowling allrounder for the four T20Is before bringing in Wiaan Mulder for the finale.With Dwaine Pretorius not on this tour after contracting Covid-19, Mulder may get more opportunities, especially as conditions in Ireland are expected to be more friendly to seam than spin, but Bavuma suggested the focus on specialists remains. “These conditions allow for us to play an extra allrounder which will give us an extra cushion in batting, but we still want to create a situation where batters need to take ownership of what they need to do,” he said.However, South Africa are also in need of another finisher to accompany David Miller and could turn to Andile Phehlukwayo, who did not feature in the Caribbean. “I see Andile playing a big part within the Proteas. He is an integral member of our squad. He is one of the few guys with a considerable amount of games and experience behind him and a guy like that cannot be thrown to the wayside,” Bavuma said.Phehlukwayo was underused against Pakistan earlier in the year and stand-in skipper Heinrich Klaasen hinted he was low on confidence, but Bavuma has seen a different side to Phehlukwayo on this trip and expects him to be back to his best. “Confidence is such a volatile thing for all of us. There’s days when you wake up you feel on top of the world and there’s days you feel like you don’t know which end of the bat to hold. I don’t think that’s something unique to Andile,” Bavuma said. “The best thing we can do as players is to keep supporting him and trying to get his mind as clear as possible. He is in a good state. He understands a lot more what his role is in the team.”Similarly, South Africa on the whole want to ensure they maintain a level of hunger for success among the group so they don’t take an opposition like Ireland for granted on the road to the World Cup. “There is a danger of us expecting things to happen but we’ve come here to different conditions to what we are used to at home and different conditions to what we experience in West Indies. The challenge for us is to find a way to dominate and master conditions here,” Bavuma said, “If we heavily invest our energy and bring about a certain intensity to that, we will get the results we want.”

Pitch prediction sometimes brings to mind the reading of palms or tea leaves.In the days before a Test, coaches and captains take familiar positions near one end of the track and stare pensively down at the clay; silently nodding or shaking heads, or murmuring softly under their breath. They drop ritualistically, to their haunches to lay hands on the surface, sometimes feeling it with closed eyes, as if searching for the pitch’s life force. Towards the end of the exercise, glances are often thrown skywards and divine guidance is sought. Occasionally, the pitch curator consulted.Members of both teams observed this tradition, at Seddon Park, on Tuesday, and if they were especially intense during the examination, it is because the Hamilton pitch has had many avatars in recent years. It bounced for Sri Lanka last December, when even a visiting seamer prospered with the short ball, and Sri Lanka’s top order treated the crowd to an unforgettable slapstick collapse. In 2013 it had sung for offspinner Sunil Narine, who took 6 for 91 in the first innings. In the two Tests before that, reverse-swing had defined the outcome. All the way back in 2010, when Australia came, pace and seam movement had proved significant.Pakistan say they are happy to play on any track, but two days out, this track is just as green as the one at Hagley Oval had been. And although it was a warm, cloudless day, Seddon Park’s curators also kept the surface covered for much of the afternoon. Much of the grass will be retained – all the better to mute Pakistan’s spinner, said New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling, who also plays on this surface for the Northern Districts domestic side.”A lot can depend on the cloud cover we get here when conditions are around,” he said. “It can swing when it’s overcast. I’m hoping it doesn’t spin too much because Yasir Shah is a world-class bowler, and we really don’t want to bring him into the game too much.”In addition to aiding swing, the cloud cover and rain expected for the first three days of the match may also prevent the track from drying out as much as Pakistan and Yasir would like. The forecast has improved through the week, however, and Watling suggested that even a little sunshine could change the pitch’s character.Todd Astle will likely lose his spot to Mitchell Santner, who has recovered from a fractured wrist•AFP

“Our pitches here can flatten out quite quickly. If it’s green on day one, I can guarantee that by the end of day two, if it stays sunny, it won’t be that green anymore.”If the pitch does turn out seam-friendly again, the visiting quicks had shown competence in such conditions – particularly on the third morning of the first Test, when the claimed six wickets for 96. Their success had largely come from bowling shorter lengths than they had initially ventured, the previous day.”Their bowlers are very good, and conditions like these can suit them,” Watling said. “They would have learned from that last match and will adjust their lengths accordingly. They would have learned a lot with the bat as well and we can expect a tougher challenge in this game.”New Zealand are likely to retain the quicks that played in Christchurch, but will likely swap Mitchell Santner for Todd Astle in the XI. Watling said the hosts’ attack is varied enough to be menacing, even if the ball does not move for as long as expected.”We know we always have Neil Wagner, who when conditions flatten out, can change a game and give you those couple of crucial wickets to bring our swing bowlers back into the game as well. We’ve got a good balance there. With Colin bowling quite a few overs for us as the allrounder, I think it really helps Kane.”

Spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and fast bowler Mohammed Shami, have been rested once again as India named an unchanged 14-man squad for the remaining two ODIs against New Zealand. The three bowlers had been left out of the squad for the first three ODIs too, keeping in mind a heavy Test schedule in the 2016-17 home season.Batsman Suresh Raina was not included in the squad because he was yet to regain full fitness after an illness. Raina had made a comeback to the ODI squad for the New Zealand series but was unable to play any of the first three games.Ashwin, Jadeja and Shami played all three Tests in India’s 3-0 sweep of New Zealand, bowling 146.3, 144 and 75.1 overs respectively. India have a five-Test series coming up against England in November and December, a one-off Test against Bangladesh, and then a four-Test series against Australia in February and March 2017.India lead the five-ODI series against New Zealand 2-1 after winning the third match in Mohali by seven wickets. The fourth game is in Ranchi on October 26.Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav