All posts by csb10.top

Interim head coach Marcus Trescothick has defended his young ODI squad after their crushing eight-wicket defeat to the West Indies, saying the result is not reflective of English white-ball cricket.England’s loss to the West Indies was a twelfth ODI defeat in 18 matches since the start of the 2023 World Cup and gave a brutal reality check to a new-look eleven that included four debutants.On a tacky surface, England were bowled out for 209, before putting on an encouraging, but ultimately fruitless display with the ball as Windies opener Evin Lewis let loose for 94 off 69 balls.”I think it’s certainly not where England cricket is at,” Trescothick said after the game. “Because for a long period of time now you’ve not had our main team in white-ball games. You don’t really know where white-ball cricket is.”I think with the system that we’ve had and the volume of cricket that we’ve been trying to play and still look after the players, I think you could put a team together tomorrow for a World Cup, and it would probably look different to what you had this series and some of the series that we played against Australia.”So I don’t think you can judge it to say, look where white-ball cricket is at the moment. It’s been a tough period of time, there’s no doubt about it, but that’s been challenges from numerous different things.”The current series is missing several players due to the tour being sandwiched by England’s Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. But the squad picked for the Australia series was close to full strength, with Joe Root and Gus Atkinson rested but other absences such as Jos Buttler and Mark Wood missing through injury. The same could be said of the previous group to tour the Caribbean last year, when the squad picked was meant to signal a new age, while the World Cup squad was certainly first string. All this alongside uncertainty over Ben Stokes’ white-ball future.The nature of the defeat has called into question England’s absolute policy on prioritising youth, with Jordan Cox, in just his fifth List A match, walking out on debut for England at No.3, with the 21-year-old Jacob Bethell at No.4. Of the top six, only Phil Salt and Will Jacks had batted in those positions for England more than once in their careersJohn Turner, Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley and Jamie Overton made their ODI debuts in Antigua•Getty Images

“It’s probably a better question for the selectors more than anything else. It’s not my decision who comes in,” Trescothick said.”But I think you can see from the plan of the England team in the last year, probably, and maybe a little bit further back, how much we want to invest in the next generation.”Playing people who have played before would probably be going against the mantra of what we’re trying to do at the moment.”England’s innings saw five of the top six caught in the 30-yard-circle, as the balance between defence and attack eluded them to be bowled out in 45.1 overs.”We’ve got to try and bat 50 overs first and foremost,” said Trescothick. “The real skill in white-ball cricket in particular is the tempo and the balance between aggression and batting for long periods of time.”We will always be a team that is going to try and be aggressive, the pitch made it quite tricky to do that.”This is Trescothick’s last tour at the helm of the white-ball team before Brendon McCullum takes over the job in January. Placed in charge of an exceptionally inexperienced group, one of the biggest challenges, according to Trescothick, has been finding the balance between emphasising the opportunity is a ‘free hit’ to England’s youngsters, while also instilling a win-first mentality.”I am trying to get the priority right at the moment. I want to win every game and we dictate that in the dressing room. But we also want to see a few players in the environment before the structure changes and Brendon takes over. So, why not give them the opportunity to thrive in this environment?”That’s very much how we’re framing it. The opportunities are there for the guys to come in. We’ve seen four debutants in this match, we’ve got a couple other young guys in the squad who may make their debut across the next two weeks. [With the opportunity] you’re going to be further up the ladder than you were six days ago. So go out there and show what you can do.”Trescothick’s own role in the white-ball set up beyond January is undecided.”I don’t know just yet,” he said. “We’ve got a bit of a plan behind the scenes, but nothing has been confirmed as such.”I am not going to say which way it’s all going to sit, because it would probably give it away too much, but obviously Brendon’s going to come in and take control of the full show and then he will dictate what and where we are going to be and how that’s going to look.”

Harry Brook’s 171 in the first innings of England’s win over New Zealand in Christchurch has taken him up two spots to No. 2 on the ICC Test batters’ table, and with No. 1 Joe Root scoring 0 and 23 not out in the same game, the gap between the two has come down to just 41 rating points.With Brook emerging as Root’s closest challenger, and the Australia vs India Border-Gavaskar Trophy series taking a long break between Tests one and two, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had risen to No. 2 after his 161 in India’s Perth Test win, has dropped to No. 4, Brook’s earlier position. Kane Williamson stays in third spot after scoring 93 and 61 in Christchurch.Over in Durban, South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 233 runs in the first Test – after bowling them out for 42 in the first innings – and the heroes of that win have made gains within the top ten.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Temba Bavuma scored 70 and 113 in that Test, and that gave him a 14-spot boost and a place in the top ten at No. 10. Marco Jansen was the Player of the Match in Durban for his returns of 7 for 13 and 4 for 73, and that made him move up 19 positions on the bowlers’ table to ninth, and also took him up to second place – behind Ravindra Jadeja – on the allrounders’ table.

Full rankings tables

• Click here for the full team rankings

• Click here for the full player rankings

For South Africa, Tristan Stubbs, who scored 122 in the second innings against Sri Lanka, also rose 29 spots to No. 42 among batters.It wasn’t all bad for Sri Lanka, with Kamindu Mendis moving up two spots among batters despite a poor show in Durban. He scored 13 in the first innings (the only Sri Lanka batter to get into double-digits) and 10 in the second, but it was still enough for him to jump past Steven Smith and Saud Shakeel to seventh place. Dinesh Chandimal, meanwhile, rose two places to 17th as a result of his second-innings 83.

Heather Knight, England’s captain, has conceded the umpires made the correct call in taking the players off the field for rain with just five balls of the second T20I remaining, even though that denied her the chance to hunt down the 18 runs still needed to keep her side in with a chance of a squared Ashes series.Knight was going strong on 43 not out from 19 balls, having just struck Annabel Sutherland’s first ball of the final over for four, when umpires Ben Treloar and Eloise Sheridan decided the rain in Canberra – which had already caused a 20-minute mid-innings delay – was too heavy to ignore. She was visibly furious as she left the field, but later admitted her reaction was pure “frustration” at being denied the chance to “do something special”.”It was right decision by the umpires,” Knight said. “I was really in the zone to try and win us that game, and obviously frustrated that we were going off, but it wasn’t at the umpires at all. It was pretty wet, even when we were running it felt pretty slippy and it was quite hard to attack those twos. So yeah, it was the right decision, 100%.”The match was called off minutes later to confirm England’s defeat by six runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, and hand the Australians an unassailable 10-0 lead in the Ashes points table, with the third T20I to come in Adelaide on Saturday, followed by next week’s one-off Test at the MCG.”It was brilliant game of cricket,” Knight said, after England had finished on 168 for 4 in reply to Australia’s 185 for 5. “I felt like I could get us over the line. I felt really set, and I had some really good boundary options on a very good cricket wicket. It was an awesome crowd and they deserved a finish, and you could hear the frustration from the fans that that we were going off, and the game wasn’t able to reach its conclusion.”Related

• Australia show off their depth in dominant Sydney display

• Amy Jones plays down Hartley row as England face must-win Canberra contest

• Australia hope Healy can play as a batter in Ashes Test

• McGrath, Harris, Schutt and rain help Australia win the Ashes

Despite being England’s fifth consecutive defeat of a dispiriting campaign, Knight said she was proud that her team had showed a “bit of mongrel” in what she identified as their best batting performance of the tour. With Danni Wyatt-Hodge leading the way with 52 from 40 balls, England had been ahead of the DLS rate until a break in play at 69 for 1 allowed Australia to regroup and claim two key wickets in a middle-overs squeeze.”As a batting group, we’ve been disappointed that we haven’t showed off our best cricket, and I think tonight was certainly our best,” Knight said. “We knew it was going to be tough and a lot had to go our way, but I’m really proud of the way we fought in the run-chase. We showed some brilliant skill level, brilliant intent, brilliant fighting spirit, led by Danni in particular, to try and get us over the line.”The “mongrel” comment itself stemmed from a pre-match pep-talk from Courtney Winfield-Hill, England’s assistant coach, and on the face of it, seemed to mark a departure from the team’s familiar mantra of “inspire and entertain”, a notion that has sounded increasingly hollow with each new loss on this tour. Knight, however, insisted that the team’s recognition of their status as role models remained integral to their ethos, even though she acknowledged that professional cricket is ultimately a results business.”It’s still a mantra that is really important to this team,” she said. “We’re always at our best when we’re trying to take the game on and enjoy it, but obviously, there’s more to cricket than that, and we know that it’s not as simple as just saying we want to entertain. We also want to win at the end of the day.”We haven’t done that this trip, and there’s a lot of players frustrated and hurting that we haven’t done that. We all really care about playing for England, and representing a team that’s really special.”Despite the improved performance, and her own contribution with the bat, Knight acknowledged that the confirmation of England’s Ashes loss would heighten the scrutiny on her position as captain after nine years at the helm.”I guess in any leadership position, you always feel the responsibility when the teams aren’t performing well and we haven’t performed as well as we want to, across the board,” she said. “It’s certainly frustrating, but that’s not really a question for now. I’m just focused on what we need to do to try and win the next game, and try and turn things around. Whatever happens at the end of the tour, that’ll be a conversation for later.”

Jos Buttler should promote himself in the batting order with his England captaincy on the line in Wednesday’s Champions Trophy game against Afghanistan, according to former England opener Nick Knight.Buttler walked out to bat in the 35th over in England’s five-wicket defeat to Australia on Saturday, hitting 23 off 21 balls from No. 6 before holing out to deep midwicket. He explained before the start of the Champions Trophy that he saw that position – where he has batted more than any other in ODIs – as his “super-strength”.But Knight, who played exactly 100 ODIs between 1996 and 2003, believes that England are not getting the best out of Buttler in his current role and must give him the chance to have a bigger impact on games. “I have really strong feelings about this,” Knight said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day show.Related

• England, Afghanistan put politics aside with tournament on the line

• Shahidi bats for Afghan women, but says it's something 'we cannot control'

• Carse ruled out of Champions Trophy with toe injury

“Jos Buttler, for me, is not taking enough part in the construction of an innings,” Knight said. “He’s one of the best in the world, simple as that, let alone one of the best in the team. He’s the best player. With your best player, you want them to play as much of a role within the outcome of the innings as possible.”I thought England made an error in the last game when they had that partnership broken between [Joe] Root and [Ben] Duckett and they brought in Harry Brook. Harry Brook is a very fine player but is a little bit out of touch at the moment. I personally would have just sent Buttler in. As soon as it ticks over to 20-25 overs, Buttler’s in next… Be flexible with your batting line-up, get your best player in.”Buttler struggled in the 2023 50-over World Cup and averages 26.16 in ODIs in Asia, but Knight played down the relevance of those stats. “I’ve seen him destroy attacks in the IPL – very good, high-quality attacks,” he said. “He can play in Asia, don’t worry about that. He’s scored hundreds galore in one-day cricket in those conditions. Really, it’s just about finding the best balance for him.”When you look at the best of Jos Buttler, he gives himself five, ten, 15 balls to get in… He’s one of England’s finest players of all time. He’s one of the world’s greatest in this format. Of course, he will have areas where he might get a little exposed from time to time but get him out there. Let’s give him that chance to really shine.”Buttler and Brendon McCullum share a joke in Lahore•Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images

Nasser Hussain, Knight’s England captain at the 2003 World Cup, also believes that Buttler was wasted down the order against Australia, with England posting 351 for 8 having been 200 for 2 after 30 overs. “The damage that Buttler could do [higher up] compared to what he can do at the end, I think I would have him up the order,” Hussain said on the Sky Sports cricket podcast.”If he bats at No. 3 or 4… he could get out for ten or 20, but if he gets in, Jos Buttler at his best – one of England’s, if not England’s, greatest batter – on that surface, could go on and get 150 because he’s so talented. If, on a pitch like that, England’s best white-ball player of all time is sitting and watching 40 overs of cricket from the pavilion, as an opposition captain, I’m thinking, ‘That’s good, I’m enjoying that’.”And also, this is a defining tournament now for Buttler. If they don’t get through the qualification here, the group stages, he could well lose his job. For that reason, if I’m Jos Buttler, I’m thinking, ‘My job is hanging on the line here, I have to have a massive impact on this game and on this tournament right now’. As opposed to, at the end of the tournament, wishing, ‘Why didn’t I promote myself and give it a go?’ They see it differently. They see him as the finisher.”Buttler is expected to continue batting at No. 6 when England face Afghanistan in Lahore on Wednesday. He conceded on Tuesday that he was “absolutely” under pressure. “Any time as an England captain you want to perform, you want to perform well, and you want to lead your team to winning games of cricket. We haven’t been doing that enough in the recent past.”

India are set to take a final decision on Jasprit Bumrah’s participation in the Champions Trophy on February 11, the deadline for submission of the final squads to the ICC, as uncertainty lingers over his fitness.ESPNcricinfo has learned that Bumrah has had a scan on his back at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru recently. The BCCI’s medical staff will now coordinate with the selectors and the India team management before the decision is taken.Bumrah was included in the provisional 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy announced on January 18, but hasn’t been able to play a part in the ODI series against England, India’s last fixtures before the tournament begins on February 19. While it was hoped that he would be able to play the third ODI in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, Bumrah has travelled to Bengaluru instead.In January, while announcing the provisional squad for the Champions Trophy, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said that based on information provided by the BCCI medical staff at the time, Bumrah was not “likely to be fit for the first couple of games” of the England ODI series. Agarkar had said that Bumrah was “asked to offload for five weeks” from bowling, before undergoing fresh scans on his back in first week of February.Bumrah has not played a match since he was unable to bowl in Australia’s second innings of the Sydney Test in early January. It is understood he had a stress reaction in his back, which required five weeks of rest.If India feel Bumrah is unlikely to play any part in the Champions Trophy, they could replace him with Harshit Rana, who played the first two ODIs against England. But if there is a chance Bumrah could be available in the later stages of the tournament, India could choose to keep him in the 15 and replace him later subject to ICC approvals. After February 11, any replacement needs the approval of the tournament’s technical committee.India are in Group A of the Champions Trophy along with Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand and will play all their matches in Dubai after not being given permission to travel to Pakistan – the official host of the tournament – by the Indian government. They begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, before playing Pakistan on February 23 and New Zealand on March 2.

Hampshire 55 for 1 (Gubbins 23*, Worrall 1-14) trail Surrey 253 (Sibley 100*, Wheal 4-65) by 198 runsIt was just after 5pm at the Kia Oval, with Surrey nine down, having spent a gorgeous day at the Kia Oval scrapping against Hampshire, that the probable past and potential future of English Test cricket locked horns.Words were spoken. Bouncers bowled. Attempts to guide a boundary over third missed three times. Sonny Baker, just two weeks into his County Championship career, was fed up. He’d bowled well all day, each delivery at 85mph or above vindicating the ECB development contract handed to the 22-year-old in February. But with just one wicket to show for it, this was all a bit of a tease.Baker’s first wicket of this match was not Dom Sibley – a caught and bowled of Matthew Fisher instead – but it should have been. A brilliant three-over burst of short stuff had produced a rib-high fend from Sibley, on 54, which Toby Albert grassed at short leg. It would have given Albert a hand in four of the top six dismissals, having taken three smart grabs in the cordon.Two players bred in very different eras, with very different priorities, were now engaged in their own mini-session, with a Surrey innings there to finish off for good. And Sibley, the sole survivor, with a say on just how good.Related

• Ben McKinney makes his mark as Durham thrive on opening day

• Kyle Verreynne leads Notts recovery with unbeaten century

• Deckchairs in demand as Sussex show they are here to stay

• Dawid Malan's classy 98 gives Yorkshire a healthy start

The 29-year old, 22 Test caps from a bygone age, has remained undimmed throughout his professional life. So it was no surprise that the sight of eight wickets falling at the other end elicited nothing other than the assumption of responsibility for what joy there was left to prise of Surrey’s homecoming in pursuit of a fourth straight County Championship title. And after engaging with Baker as the sun began setting towards Vauxhall, he set about his duty once more.A single was taken off the end of that over, digging out a well-guided yorker for a scampered single to midwicket. Baker took his cap in frustration, with little more he could have done. Sibley then smeared Brad Wheal over midwicket for six – the shorter side – before more diligent strike hogging to shield No.11 Dan Worrall. A loose wristy carve through backward point gave him a leg up to 97. Then more creeping before eventually pocketing the single that took him to a 23rd first-class century.The ovation was loud, those of the 5,639 through the gates on Friday that remained making themselves heard. Sibley skipped into a punch of the air, before removing his helmet and laying down his bat to face the dressing room and point one finger to the sky, and another to his temple.He need not have re-equipped himself. Just two deliveries later, Worrall was caught brilliantly at midwicket by Mark Stoneman to hand Wheal figures of 4 for 65 from 19.3 overs. Off Sibley went, 100* from 217 deliveries, the sixth time he has carried his bat in Championship cricket. Only Geoffrey Boycott (8) has done so more times since the Second World War.That it was the third against Hampshire – in 2017 and 2019 for Warwickshire – could have ramped up their disdain for him. But the bigger picture of dismissing the hosts for 253 inside 78 overs did them just fine.By stumps, Hampshire had chipped off 55, for the loss of just Fletcha Middleton. And beyond a few optimistic gasps, it was a relatively trouble free 16-over session. For all the positivity of a sun-soaked day in south London, not much of it belonged to those who call this home.That Wheal’s pace – allied with impressive command of length – and Kyle Abbott’s enduring class made a mess of Surrey’s international calibre top-half is nothing out of the ordinary. But Ollie Pope’s twitch outside off stump, Dan Lawrence’s cavalier driving and Ben Foakes’ misjudgement, playing on when focussing on consolidation, were familiar failings that put Surrey behind the game after the first session.Even Jamie Smith, the most productive outside of Sibley with 39, was found wanting, although his issue was being too respectful. Wheal’s short ball outside off deserved to be smoked, but Smith’s attempt to place rather than slap it into the stands at backward point counts as a misjudgement. Baker, lurking at deep backward point, pulled off a brilliant initial catch, before relaying to himself once he had confirmed his footing inside the boundary.It is easy and probably even a tad reductive to say these batters should have copied Sibley’s approach. By his own admission before the summer, Sibley’s tag as a blocker is not quite one he has to overcome. Rather, it is a “stigma” he is trying to break.The irony here is Sibley’s latest epic was a mix of speeds and shots – successful or otherwise. And even his own willingless to expand his game, which included a one-off appearance for Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League in January, is set against a constant assessment of the situation in front of him.His two sixes among the 11 boundaries illustrate this perfectly. The first, off Liam Dawson, was an attempt to to jolt the left-arm spinner out of a groove. The second, off Wheal, with the onus on quick runs in the final stand. As it happens, he struck more than Chennai Super Kings managed in their Friday IPL blowout against Kolkata Knight Riders.Having escaped with a draw from Chelmsford last week, Surrey find themselves second best once more, albeit with plenty of time to twist this game back around. As worthy as the Hampshire bowlers were for their rewards on day one, the defending champions will be a little alarmed that their stutter has carried into the second round.

Big picture – Can RR get their floundering season back on track?

They lost their first two games, then won two and have now lost two more matches to have just four points after six games. And if they thought it could get any easier, Rajasthan Royals (RR) now travel to the Arun Jaitley Stadium to face second-placed Delhi Capitals (DC), who seem to have most bases covered.RR’s top order has been found wanting and without the depth in their batting, their middle overs have lacked teeth. RR have the second-best powerplay run rate of 9.72 in IPL 2025, behind Punjab Kings, but that drops to 7.86 in the middle overs: the second-worst behind Chennai Super Kings (CSK).That’s where RR will have to buckle up against DC. In Kuldeep Yadav, the hosts have one of the most potent middle-overs bowlers. Kuldeep has bowled 18 overs in this phase and has gone at an economy of just 5.94, picking up nine wickets, the second most only behind Noor Ahmad.On a flat surface, RR desperately need their inconsistent batting to come good. Sanju Samson has scored just fifty so far, Riyan Parag form has been indifferent, Nitish Rana has just had one innings of note, while Shimron Hetmyer’s entry point has stirred some debate. Only Yashasvi Jaiswal with two fifties in his last three games seems to have found some consistency. RR will need the rest of the power-packed batting unit to fire.Jake Fraser-McGurk is yet to click in IPL 2025•Delhi Capitals

For DC, there are fewer issues, but Jake Fraser-McGurk’s form might have them sweating. He’s scored 46 runs in five matches at 9.2 and a strike rate of 100, a far cry from the sensational season he had last year. While the DC management has backed him, time might be running out for the youngster.DC have four wins in five games, but their loss against Mumbai Indians will sting them and they will want to get back to winning ways ASAP. A clash against a beleaguered RR might just be what they are looking for.

Form guide: Can DC make it five out of six?

Delhi Capitals LWWWW
Rajasthan Royals LLWWLRelated

• Mohit Sharma: Use of saliva is 100% helping the ball reverse swing

• 'As it is we are seeing such big sixes' – Mohit Sharma backs bat checks

• Karun Nair takes his long-awaited chance to light up big stage again

• Mohit Sharma: 'I feel it is important to have pressure. It always teaches you something'

Team news and likely XIIs: Is du Plessis fit?

There is still uncertainty over Faf du Plessis’ fitness with the word from the DC camp being that he is recovering. “He’s recovering well although I’m not sure (if he’ll play or not). As far as I know, it’s not a big concern,” Mohit Sharma said about du Plessis’ availability for the RR game. If he is fit, it is likely he will replace Fraser-McGurk at the top of the order, with Karun Nair slotting in at No. 3. If du Plessis is yet to recover, then DC might go with the same XII as the game against MI, with Nair swapping with Mukesh Kumar as the Impact Sub and vice-versa. Du Plessis, however, was not available for practice on the eve of the game.Delhi Capitals (probable): 1 Faf du Plessis/Jake Fraser-McGurk, 2 Abishek Porel, 3 Karun Nair, 4 KL Rahul (wk), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Ashutosh Sharma, 7 Axar Patel (capt), 8 Vipraj Nigam, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Mohit Sharma, 12 Mukesh KumarRR do not have any injury concerns but need to take care of other issues. They could possibly look at having Akash Madhwal come in place of Tushar Deshpande, while Kumar Kartikeya is again expected to come in as the impact player replacing Rana.Rajasthan Royals (probable): 1 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Dhruv Jurel, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Tushar Deshpande/Akash Madhwal, 11 Sandeep Sharma, 12 Kumar Kartikeya1:24

Bishop: Hasaranga and Theekshana need to get their lengths right

In the spotlight – Karun Nair and Riyan Parag

After what has been a barely believable domestic season for Karun Nair, he’s made a statement knock in IPL 2025. In his maiden appearance of this season, Nair smashed a 40-ball 89 to nearly take DC home against MI. His takedown of Jasprit Bumrah – 26 runs in nine balls – will remain the highlight of the season. He came in as an Impact Sub against MI, but that is likely to change going forward, especially if Fraser-McGurk’s lukewarm season continues. Incidentally, Nair has had a couple of stints with RR, the most recent one coming in 2022, the last time he played in the IPL and also had one of his best IPL seasons with them back in 2014.There were a lot of expectations from Riyan Parag after the bumper season he had in 2024, but it’s been a season of what-ifs for the batter so far. He’s scored at least 25 or more in five of the six innings so far, yet his highest score remains 43. Parag has looked compact most of the time he’s walked out but has thrown it away more often than not. Considering the placid surface in Delhi, RR will rely a lot on Parag to provide the top-order muscle he is capable of. Another important battle will be between Parag and the DC spinners. He does not have a great record against spinners in the IPL; a strike rate of 118.61, and that will be crucial considering he will come up against Kuldeep and Vipraj Nigam, two of the better spinners in the tournament this year.

The big question

Pitch and conditions

Delhi has recently become a haven for batters with run-scoring at an all-time high. In the last seven games, teams batting first have posted scores in excess of 200 each time and have also won. The surface for the DC-MI game was once again a belter where the home side almost chased down 206. But, there was also some turn on offer and that could bring the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Nigam, Kuldeep and Maheesh Theekshana into the game.The temperature is likely to hover around the mid to late 30s on the Celsius scale, but the evenings are expected to be cooler.

Stats and Trivia

• Kuldeep’s economy in IPL 2025 of 5.60 is the best for any bowler with at least ten overs under his belt
• RR have taken the third-fewest wickets so far in the IPL: 29 in six innings
• RR are marginally ahead in the head-to-head count, having won 15 out of 29 matches between the two sides, with DC winning 14
• Mukesh has had the wood over Jaiswal in the IPL. Jaiswal has managed just seven runs in two matches against the pacer and fallen twice
• KL Rahul has a great record against Jofra Archer in the IPL: 89 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 151 without being dismissed even once

Quotes

“I am not someone who… if the game demands that I should tell Sanju [Samson] or anyone that I can do something here or bowl, then I will. But there is no need to overthink. I always try to take whatever comes my way and help the team, be it bowling, batting or fielding. I also want to bowl regularly, because I have bowled before and am a decent bowler. If situation arises, why not, I will talk to Sanju and let’s see what happens.”
.”KD (Kuldeep) is bowling very well not just for DC but in the entire tournament. Despite bowling on small grounds, dew being around, he is not being read that well right now and hopefully he won’t be later also through the tournament. The way Axar has been using him to pick wickets, break partnerships is great.”

BCB has appointed Shaun Tait as Bangladesh’s fast-bowling coach. His contract runs up to November 2027, with the expectation that Tait’s experience of working as a bowling coach in the subcontinent will be useful for the team.He replaces Andre Adams, whose contract ended via mutual agreement with the BCB. Adams had joined in March 2024, overseeing the development of the fast-bowling group from the T20 World Cup last year, and into the Champions Trophy this year.Tait takes over at a busy juncture for the side, as they look ahead to a long summer of T20Is interjected with ODIs and Tests. Bangladesh are building up to the T20 World Cup next year before they prepare for the 50-over World Cup in 2027.Related

• Despite injuries, Simmons rallies behind Bangladesh's quicks to step up in Pakistan

• Bangladesh to make all-format tour of Sri Lanka in June-July

• Litton Das named Bangladesh T20I captain; Mahedi Hasan to be his deputy

Tait said he was looking forward to a new era for the Bangladesh fast-bowling group, which he believes should bring in more results in the near future.”It’s a good time to be involved with the Bangladesh cricket team right now, a bit of a new era if you like,” Tait said. “It’s been spoken about many times recently – the young talent with the fast bowlers – which is great. This is international cricket, not a development team, and everyone expects the talent to bring results, which is very much my focus with the fast-bowling group and most importantly, getting more wins for the team. To have the opportunity to work with [head coach] Phil Simmons is equally as exciting and I’m looking forward to the journey ahead.”Tait worked closely with the likes of Shoriful Islam and Khaled Ahmed as head coach of the BPL team Chittagong Kings last season. He has also worked as a bowling coach with Pakistan, West Indies and Afghanistan, and served stints in the BBL, PSL, LPL, and in English country cricket.Tait, regarded as one of the fastest bowlers in history, played 59 times for Australia from 2005 to 2016, playing a significant role in their ODI World Cup triumph in 2007.

Innings Coming into this final, Punjab Kings had batted second six times in IPL 2025 and chased successfully on five of those occasions. They will back themselves to make it six out of seven now, after their bowlers executed cleverly set plans on an Ahmedabad pitch with tennis-ball bounce to restrict Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 190 for 9.This wasn’t a slow pitch that made shot-making difficult on the whole, but the ball dug into the surface on the shorter lengths – especially when bowled pace-off – misbehaved just often enough to keep the batters under control. And the PBKS seamers used this type of ball persistently and with great skill.Virat Kohli struggled for timing with his pull shot – which he played often – and eventually fell to one while scoring 43 off 35 balls. Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar and Liam Livingstone, meanwhile, began promisingly but fell just when they were looking threatening – all three to Kyle Jamieson, who used the slower legcutter with great success.2:30