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Bangladesh seemed to have one foot in the Asia Cup final, for which India have already qualified, after keeping Pakistan to 135 for 8 on a used Dubai surface. Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain shared the spoils for Bangladesh.It was Taskin, who had been rested for Wednesday’s match against India, who had struck in the very first over when he had the in-form Sahibzada Farhan carving a catch to point for a run-a-ball 4. In the next over, Saim Ayub holed out to mid-on off Mahedi Hasan, who was also back in the team, bagging his fourth duck in six innings at the Asia Cup. In all, it was Ayub’s ninth duck in 45 T20I innings; only Umran Akmal has bagged more ducks (10 in 79 innings) for Pakistan in the format.Fakhar Zaman was going nowhere in the powerplay – he managed only 12 off 18 balls during this phase. Then, when he tried to hit his way out of trouble, he sliced Rishad to wide long-off for 13 off 20 balls. In his next over, Rishad removed Hussain Talat with a wrong’un, leaving Pakistan at 33 for 4 in the ninth over.After taking two catches, Rishad had struck twice with the ball, having the Bangladesh fans in the crowd dancing to his tunes. Rishad could’ve also had Afridi, who was dropped twice off him in the 12th over. Rishad gave away just a single boundary, finishing with figures of 4-0-18-2.Afridi hit the first six of the innings in the 13th over and struck one more in the next over before miscuing a knee-high full-toss off Taskin to the keeper. The fast bowler came away with figures of 4-0-28-3 and along the way became only the third Bangladesh player, after Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, to 100 T20I wickets.That Pakistan crossed 120 was down to late cameos from Mohammad Haris (31 off 23 balls) and Mohammad Nawaz (25 off 15 balls). Eleven runs off the final over pushed Pakistan past 130, but it was still Advantage Bangladesh at the halfway stage.Regular captain Litton Das, who missed a second game in two days with a side strain, knew it and warmly welcomed back his bowlers.

Tea A stunning partnership worth 195 between Harry Brook and Joe Root put England on the cusp of a series-sealing win at The Oval. India had taken control of the fifth Test when Brook walked out to bat at No. 5 with 268 runs still required, but he seized the moment with an audacious 91-ball hundred, his tenth in Tests and his first in the fourth innings of a match.Brook was given a life late in the morning session, picking out Mohammed Siraj at long leg with a miscued pull shot only for Siraj to tread on the advertising toblerone on the boundary rope. Rather than prompting a change in approach, the reprieve led Brook to double down, slapping India’s seamers around as he raced to 38 off 30 balls at lunch.If he rode his luck at times, his attacking intent worked in his favour: soon after lunch, Prasidh Krishna drew a thick outside edge which flew away between the solitary slip and gully, with the field spread to try and keep a lid on England’s scoring. He continued to bludgeon anything short through the leg side, but rotated the strike with ease through the afternoon.

Brook’s celebrations are typically restrained but he showed his emotion when sprinting back for two to reach three figures, pumping his fists, swishing his bat and throwing his head back in relief. He was out seven balls later, losing his bat as he attempted to swipe Akash Deep for a third boundary in a row, but the damage had been done.Root, meanwhile, played in Brook’s slipstream, ticking over with few qualms and occasionally freeing his arms – including belting Ravindra Jadeja back over his head for four, and swinging a high full toss over midwicket. India could not dislodge him, reviewing unsuccessfully after Siraj trapped him on the pad on 88, and he responded with back-to-back boundaries to reach 98.India’s session was personified by the exhausted Akash Deep: he attempted to stop a boundary by sticking out his boot, only to divert the ball back over the rope, and then lost his footing when Jacob Bethell skewed a caught-and-bowled chance back to him. Siraj kept charging in, bowling 17.1 overs in the first two sessions, but could not conjure up another game-breaking moment.

Clive Lloyd has said that “all aspects” of West Indian cricket need to be examined after he was invited to be part of an emergency summit on the game following the Test team’s 27 all out against Australia at Sabina Park.West Indies came within touching distance of equaling the lowest-ever Test total of 26, made by New Zealand in 1955, with the last wicket of Jayden Seales falling the ball after a misfield had allowed them to scrape past the figure.Lloyd, who was extended invites alongside Viv Richards and Brian Lara by Cricket West Indies president Dr Kishore Shallow, added he was “always available to help” and stressed the urgency to find solutions, particularly around the Test match batting.Related

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“We have to examine all aspects of West Indies cricket from grassroots to the international level,” Lloyd said in a statement provided to ESPNcricinfo. “Everything must be looked at closely and carefully. West Indies cricket is an institution. It has given so much to the people of this region and we must do all we can to revive it.”I’m always available to help in any way. How we can marry the ideas we have with what is necessary and have healthy discussion on the way we move forward, that’s what I’m thinking. It has been nearly 100 years since we have been playing top-class [Test] cricket and we have to get it right.”Brandon King, who made his Test debut in Barbados, was the only West Indies batter aside from Anderson Phillip to average over 20 against Australia and his 75 in Grenada was the highest individual score from either side.During the series, head coach Daren Sammy regularly addressed the side’s batting challenges, with an indication they were attempting to score quicker if they struggle to bat time. However, Lloyd was of the view that they had to find ways to be able to build innings adding that pitches around the Caribbean needed to be addressed which has also been a topic raised by Sammy.”We need a couple of Larry Gomes, more batsmen like him,” Lloyd said. “We need batsmen who put a heavy price on their wickets and when they get in look to stay in. There is nothing wrong with digging in and ‘batting ugly’. We have to find ways of fighting, occupying the crease, and staying in for long periods to wear down the bowlers. We have not been doing that.”Obviously, the mental side of our game needs to improve. We have to go back to the basics. We have to look at schools’ cricket, club cricket, first-class cricket – are we playing enough; we also have to look at the pitches – how are we preparing them and how they are playing.”West Indies have finished eighth in the three editions of the World Test Championship. Their next series two series in the current cycle are away trips to India and New Zealand.CWI has recently commemorated 50 years since West Indies’ 1975 ODI World Cup victory where Lloyd was captain and Player of the Match in the final his century against Australia.

Jofra Archer could play his first Test in more than four years after being added to the England squad to take on India at Edgbaston next week.The inclusion of Archer is the only change made by the selectors after England took a 1-0 lead in the series with a five-wicket victory Headingley. The second of five Tests will start on Wednesday.Archer, who made his first appearance in red-ball cricket since May 2021 when picked for Sussex’s match at Durham in the last round of the County Championship, joins a group of six seamers vying to play in the second Test, with Jamie Overton and Sam Cook both retained alongside the trio of Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue.England Men’s squad for second Test against India•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Archer has not been involved with the Test set-up since the 2021 tour of India, with the last of his 13 caps coming in Ahmedabad. He was subsequently sidelined by the recurrence of an elbow problem and then a back stress fracture, and played just seven limited-overs internationals between March 2021 and May 2024.He has since returned to regular white-ball action, and made a long-awaited first-class return at Chester-le-Street at the weekend, bowling 18 overs and taking 1 for 32 as Sussex drew with Durham.Speaking after the second day’s play, Archer admitted that the mental challenge of playing multi-day cricket would be the toughest to adapt to. “It felt all right today,” he said. “I’ve been playing for a year, and bowling for two years, including the build-up, so everything is fine.Related

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“Now it’s a different challenge, because I know my body can hold up to it. The mental part of the game [will be tough]. Over the next couple of days, I’m going to have to battle a bit with it, but it’s all good. It’s a new challenge, and I’ll keep trucking along.”The second and third Tests, at Edgbaston and Lord’s, will be played back-to-back and England may well look to rotate their attack. Tongue was England’s most-successful bowler at Headingley, with match figures of 7 for 158, while Ben Stokes took five and Carse four. Woakes, playing his first Test since December, had figures of 1 for 148 but might be expected to find greater rhythm after missing the start of the season with an ankle injury.England Men’s Test squad: Ben Stokes (capt), Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes

After a whirlwind period abroad, where he made his Test debut and opened in the Champions Trophy semi-final against India, allrounder Cooper Connolly is back in his home comforts of the WACA as Western Australia’s dreams of a historic fourth straight Sheffield Shield title go on the line against Victoria.Ahead of the last round of the season, WA sit fourth but just 2.37 points behind second-placed Queensland in the race to play South Australia in the final starting on March 26. Almost two points behind WA, Victoria are also a mathematical chance to qualify.WA will need to beat Victoria and also rely on both Queensland and New South Wales not claiming victories in their respective matches. Their bid to become the first team to win four straight titles in the six-team era – since Tasmania joined the competition in 1977-78 – does look forlorn in what has been a tough season for a team that has battled inconsistency, injuries and unavailability.Related

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The mercurial Connolly is hoping to give WA a spark in what will be his first Shield match since October. “Always love coming back to play for WA,” he told reporters on Friday. “I actually haven’t played many Shield games, but I’m looking forward to getting around the boys again.”Just playing some cricket back at home will be nice and hopefully some results go our way and we can play a Shield final.”Connolly, 21, started the Shield season with back-to-back half-centuries against Queensland and Tasmania, having memorably clubbed 90 on first-class debut in last season’s final, before a hectic period ensued.He played in an Australia A match against India A before fracturing his hand in an ODI against Pakistan in Perth after he was struck by quick Mohammad Hasnain. Connolly recovered in time for the BBL, where he played a starring role for Perth Scorchers and was named player of the tournament alongside Glenn Maxwell – an x-factor type of player he has been likened to.Connolly’s BBL form helped him gain selection on the Sri Lanka tour, ahead of Maxwell, and he made his debut in the second Test. With just four first-class matches to his name, there were some eyebrows raised and Connolly had a tough initiation after throwing his wicket away on 4 batting at No.8 while his left-arm spin proved ineffective and he only bowled five overs across two innings.But Connolly soaked in the experience and the opportunity to learn from his teammates, especially stand-in skipper Steven Smith. “Just taking in his knowledge and seeing what I guess worked for me,” he said. “Just learning as much as I could, embracing it and having fun.”I felt like it wasn’t really a surprise [making his Test debut]. I felt like if I was going to play, I earned my opportunity. It was an overall great trip to Sri Lanka and I loved it.”Just a month later, Connolly found himself again in the spotlight after he replaced injured opener Matthew Short for the semi-final against India in Dubai. It was a bold call with Connolly having played just three ODIs previously and he had only opened once before in List A cricket.Cooper Connolly trapped Rohit Sharma lbw in his first over•ICC/Getty Images

Opening the innings with Travis Head, he faced nine deliveries from quick Mohammed Shami, making contact with the ball only twice, before edging behind for a duck. But Connolly bounced back with the ball and claimed his maiden international wicket when he dismissed Rohit Sharma plumb lbw.”I don’t think my opportunity [in the semi-final] was a surprise,” Connolly said. “I felt like I was picked in that squad for a reason to go out there and showcase some skills.”To walk out there in a semi-final was an unbelievable experience and I’ll take a lot of learnings from it.”While the conditions will be different, Connolly is unlikely to find respite in a WACA surface that was looking particularly grassy on match eve. With so much at stake, the pitch might be something similar to the one rolled out last month against South Australia in a match that was the shortest outright result in Shield history.But WA’s batters won’t have to deal with Victoria spearhead Scott Boland, who has not travelled to Perth as he manages knee soreness.WA will be without speedster Lance Morris after he played rare back-to-back Shield matches. Coming off a stress fracture last winter as well as a quad strain late in the pre-season, Morris, a Cricket Australia contracted player, has a restriction of around 30 overs a game. He bowled 32 overs against NSW, claiming a first-class career best of 5 for 26 off 20.3 overs in the first innings.Brody Couch is set to be a like-for-like replacement having had a strong Shield season since crossing over from Victoria with 21 wickets at 22.85. WA won’t have the services of Cameron Green, who is working his way back from back surgery, and IPL bound Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie.Having not been snapped up at the IPL auction, this match against Victoria might be Connolly’s last for some time given he currently has no playing commitments in the off-season.”The dream would be to play the IPL eventually… [but] I’m just concentrating on what’s in front of me,” he said. “Not looking too far ahead, just trying to enjoy playing cricket and hopefully put some scores on the board while working on my bowling.”

India handed out one final shellacking to Bangladesh on their final night of the tour, but this was one for the ages. The second-highest T20I score, three short of 300; Sanju Samson’s silken 40-ball century, Suryakumar Yadav’s improvisation and power; and then the finish by the powerful lower middle order.There was no respite for Bangladesh: 22 sixes (joint-highest for a Test-playing side) and 25 fours combined for the most runs in boundaries in a T20 innings, a record 18 overs went for ten runs or more, one of them went for five sixes, and three bowlers conceded 50 or more. Two of the 26 dot balls turned out to be no-balls, a catch went down, and a run-out was missed.Samson, Suryakumar stun BangladeshWhen Tanzim Hasan got Abhishek Sharma out with a bouncer first ball, little would have Bangladesh known that would be their last moment of joy for the evening. Samson had already messed around with Taskin Ahmed’s lines by backing away and hitting four successive fours in the second over. The new batter, Suryakumar, took only one ball before hitting his first six.Related

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Samson wasn’t to be left behind. He backed away and got the better of Mustafizur Rahman too with a six and a four. Suryakumar then capped off the powerplay with shots that should be considered audacious but are the norm for him, managing to pull balls well behind square when most batters would be happy going just behind. The last of those was a pull over midwicket, taking India to their joint-highest powerplay score, 82.Suryakumar was to unfurl a carved six over backward point that he had no right sending there, but the most memorable shots came from Samson. Some of his eight sixes were audacious but they were not muscled. His control percentage for a strike-rate of 236.17 was a high 81.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The most incredible of Samson’s sixes was when he almost stepped on the stumps to create a short length on a Mustafizur slower ball, and drove it off the back foot over extra cover. Legspinner Rishad Hossain, who went for 55 last match, was just shot. He kept erring in length, starting the first over with a short ball, but in his second he kept letting Samson hit him for sixes down the ground without having to use his feet. Some of it was the pitch, but a lot of it was his lengths: too full. In the end, Rishad’s two overs went for 46 runs.The innings was a monkey off the back for Samson, whose talent had yet to translate into numbers in international T20s. It showed in his extravagant celebrations on reaching both the fifty and the hundred, India’s second-quickest. For a change, Suryakumar had to be content with being the support act in the 173-run second-wicket stand.Punishment continuesUsually you expect a bit of relief when you break such a long stand, but Riyan Parag and Hardik Pandya had other ideas. Parag took three balls to hit his boundary, Pandya the same. Between them they scored 81 off 31 balls, hitting four sixes apiece. Pandya managed to outdo the Samson back-foot six over extra cover when he made his off Tanzim even bigger. Again a good slower short ball with no room, but it still sailed over extra cover.Two wickets in the final over made sure India didn’t get to 300, but that was hardly any consolation for Bangladesh.Final ritesIt could still get worse and it did for Bangladesh. The chase began with a brute of a bouncer from Mayank Yadav for a golden duck for Parvez Hossain. Mahmudullah’s last outing in T20 international at 8 off 9 to go with bowling figures of 2-0-26-1. Ravi Bishnoi, playing his first match of the series, showed off India’s spin riches with three wickets. Towhid Hridoy’s half-century, at a strike rate of 150 with three fours and five sixes, did manage to prevent the biggest T20I defeat for a Test-playing team bug it was Bangladesh’s biggest loss in terms of runs.

Skipper John Simpson became the first Sussex batter for ten years to score five Vitality County Championship hundreds in a season as the second division leaders took charge against Glamorgan at Hove.Simpson also passed 1,000 runs in his unbeaten 112 as Sussex responded to Glamorgan’s under-par 186 with 407 for 5, a lead of 221.With promotion rivals Yorkshire and Middlesex in position to win their games, it is crucial that Sussex do the same and apart from a careless hour before lunch, when they lost four wickets for 25, they were in control at the 1st Central County Ground.Simpson has so far added 194 for the fifth wicket with Tom Clark, who played his part with an unbeaten 73, and just before bad light intervened at 4.20pm the pair took 19 off ten balls to ensure Sussex collected a fourth batting point.Ed Joyce – who also left Middlesex to move to the south coast – was the last batter as prolific as Simpson has been in what is his first year with Sussex, and not for the first time this season he made sure his team didn’t squander a good position.At the start of the day Daniel Hughes and nightwatchman Henry Crocombe extended their second-wicket stand to 78 and their only alarm came when Dan Douthwaite put down a tough chance at midwicket when Crocombe was on 25.Hughes looked on course for back-to-back hundreds but on 83 (14 fours) he chipped a straightforward catch to midwicket off Douthwaite, who was Glamorgan’s best bowler on a tough day. Crocombe forced Douthwaite through the covers for his seventh boundary to bring up a maiden first-class fifty before he was taken at short leg attacking off-spinner Ben Kellaway.The ambidextrous Kellaway, who later in the day switched briefly to bowling left-arm spin, had Tom Alsop caught at slip pushing forward and James Coles, the only right-hander in Sussex’s top seven, wafted at a ball he could have ignored in the last over before lunch to give Douthwaite his second wicket.Clark’s fifty was only his third of a difficult season and here he was tied down early on by Kellaway in particular. He didn’t score a boundary until his 58th ball when he cut Kellaway through backward point but with Simpson counter-attacking at the other end Clark grew in confidence and Sussex assumed control.Glamorgan only bowled eight overs of seam with the new ball before Kellaway was back on again at the sea end and the 20-year-old from Newport, who is playing only his fourth first-class match, impressed with his control on a surface offering some turn.But as the sixth-wicket stand prospered the only question was how many batting bonus points Sussex could secure in 110 overs. Simpson took two boundaries off Kellaway, the second of which took the left-hander to his 15th first-class hundred, as ten came off the 109th over and a pulled six off Ned Leonard from the first delivery of the next followed by three singles took them to a fourth point with two balls to spare.By then the light was fading and shortly afterwards umpires Nigel Llong and Sue Redfern took the players off but with two days left and a good forecast Sussex will feel they have enough time to press home their advantage and secure a seventh win of the season.

Saif Zaib hit a battling 90 off 144 balls to lead a Northamptonshire fightback after a top-order collapse on the opening day of this Vitality Championship match against Derbyshire at Wantage Road.Zaib found fine support from Justin Broad in a partnership of 73 in 19 overs which enabled the hosts to post 219, a score that had looked extremely unlikely at 89 for 6 soon after lunch.For only the second time in Derbyshire history all seven bowlers used took a wicket, Zak Chappell, Martin Andersson and Jack Morley taking two apiece. Luis Reece and Brooke Guest then saw the visitors through to 65 for 1 at the close, trailing by 154 runs, Broad taking the one wicket to fall.Playing on the same surface used for last Thursday’s Vitality Blast quarter-final and one expected to offer turn, the hosts opted to bat first in overcast conditions after winning the toss. Playing with a rejigged batting line-up, the gamble seemed not to have paid off as wickets tumbled although Northamptonshire’s spinners would have drawn encouragement from the turn found by their Derbyshire counterparts.India international Prithvi Shaw was first to go when he edged the second delivery of the day from Chappell to third slip, the bowler’s 50th first-class wicket for Derbyshire. Home skipper Luke Procter, who played two textbook drives through mid-off, was then trapped leg before wicket by Reece before Gus Miller, promoted to open, was undone by an Andersson delivery which swung back in to also pin him lbw.Rob Keogh’s stay was equally brief, Andersson moving one away and drawing the edge, keeper Guest taking an excellent diving catch.James Sales played some attacking shots, slapping Andersson through the covers and smashing Reece over the head of mid-off for another boundary. His was the fifth wicket to fall before lunch though when he drove loosely to Chappell and was caught low down at third slip by Aneurin Donald.Lewis McManus started positively after lunch, driving Chappell down the pitch for four but became teenage quick Harry Moore’s maiden first-class wicket on Championship debut, courtesy of a pull straight to fine leg.That brought together Zaib and Broad together who began to restore a measure of respectability to the hosts’ innings. Zaib worked Reece through square leg for four before lunch and eased into a glorious cover drive off Moore after the interval, while Broad drove Chappell down the ground and punched him through the covers as Northamptonshire passed 100 in the 37th over.As Derbyshire deployed spin from both ends, Alex Thomson immediately found some turn to pose Broad some challenges before the allrounder swept him to the ropes. Zaib meanwhile also found the sweep an increasingly lucrative bet against the spinners.The pair took Northamptonshire past 150 up in the 50th over before Morley spun one away from Broad, drawing the edge with David Lloyd taking a good low catch at second slip. Ben Sanderson fell quickly in the next over, offering short leg an easy catch when he prodded forward against Thomson.Zaib though progressed serenely to his half-century, reaching the milestone off 100 deliveries as he played Thomson through midwicket. He survived a strong shout for a catch at short leg off Morley when the umpires adjudged the ball had been hit into the ground first. Zaib responded by dispatching Morley imperiously over long-off for six and powering Thomson through extra cover.But Morley then picked up a second wicket when he turned one back in to hit Dom Leech’s leg stump as he attempted to sweep.With Northamptonshire nine wickets down, Zaib pressed the accelerator, clubbing Morley’s left-armers through mid-off and then sweeping him high over deep square for four and six. His downfall finally came was stumped coming down the pitch to Lloyd.When Derbyshire began their innings after tea, Sanderson bowled a typically miserly spell from one end, Broad making the initial breakthrough from the other. He found some additional bounce from back of a length, surprising Harry Came who was caught on the crease, fending fended the ball to Sales who took a good low catch at second slip.Reece meanwhile started to find the boundary, cutting Broad crisply to deep point, while he and Guest both pulled Yuzvendra Chahal fluently for boundaries as Derbyshire finished the session without further incident, despite some strong appeals from the hosts’ spin contingent.

Josh Hull, the Leicestershire left-arm seamer, has been added to England’s squad for the final two Tests against Sri Lanka, following confirmation that Mark Wood will play no further part in the series after suffering a thigh injury.Hull, 20, is one of the most exciting young players on the county circuit, although his first-class record is modest with 16 wickets at 62.75. Standing at 6ft 7in, he played a key role in Leicestershire’s triumph in the Metro Bank One-Day Club last season, and impressed earlier this month on his England Lions debut, taking five wickets across two innings at New Road to help inflict a seven-wicket defeat on Sri Lanka’s tourists in their only warm-up game.He has only taken two wickets in three Championship games this season, but showcased an ability to push the speed gun up towards 90mph when making his debut in the Hundred for Manchester Originals last month.”It was about half nine last night when I got the call from Brendon McCullum,” Hull told BBC Radio Leicester. “It’s a very special moment.””It’s come around pretty quickly, I didn’t think it would happen this fast, but I am really excited to be joining them””I was happy with how I performed [for England Lions] but I never thought it would lead to a call this early. They’ve got Olly Stone there as the first replacement, so it will be a great opportunity to join up and be part of that environment.”Hull is currently in Bristol, taking part in Leicestershire’s Championship fixture with Gloucestershire, and is expected to join up with England’s squad in London on Monday ahead of the second Test at Lord’s, which begins on Thursday. The final Test of the summer, at the Kia Oval, takes place from September 6-10.Hull’s inclusion is the only change to England’s 13-man squad for the remaining two Tests, with Nottinghamshire’s Olly Stone likely to step into Wood’s role for what would be his fourth Test appearance, and his first since New Zealand at Edgbaston in June 2021. Stone has also been playing Championship cricket for Nottinghamshire this week, after being released from the England squad on the opening day of the first Test, alongside the reserve batter, Essex’s Jordan Cox.Related

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Wood’s status had been in some doubt from the moment he pulled up midway through his 11th over of Sri Lanka’s second innings on Friday evening. He took no further part in the match, and was subsequently sent for a scan midway on Saturday morning, with the results revealing a muscle strain in his right thigh.Though unfortunate in the short term, the diagnosis of a strain, rather than a tear, will be a relief for Wood and England, given the team’s busy winter schedule which includes three-Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand in the lead-up to Christmas.In his absence, England were made to battle for victory in the first Test, with Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal batting through the morning session of the fourth day to help post a taxing target of 205, which was eventually hunted down with five wickets standing, thanks to an unbeaten 62 from Joe Root.England squad for final two Tests: Ollie Pope (capt), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes

Sophie Munro produced a stunning spell on her Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy debut for Sunrisers to keep them in the top two with a tense win over Lancashire Thunder at Chelmsford.Seamer Munro, on loan from The Blaze, captured three wickets in four balls – including the key scalp of ex-Sunrisers batter Naomi Dattani – as she wrapped up her side’s first victory over Thunder in any format with figures of 5 for 25.Dattani’s knock of 36 seemed likely to steer Thunder past the home side’s total of 253, which might have been higher but for a middle-order collapse after skipper Grace Scrivens (51 from 54 balls) and Jo Gardner (63 from 78) had shared an opening stand of 94.Sunrisers then lost six wickets for 52, with left-arm spinner Hannah Jones returning four for 50 to become the tournament’s joint highest wicket-taker with 14.Even with drizzle and dark clouds hovering above the ground, Scrivens chose to bat after winning the toss and, despite some early swing for left-armer Tara Norris, the home side built steadily. They reached 48 in the 10th over before the drizzle developed into heavier rain and, once the players returned after almost an hour’s delay, the contest was reduced to 48 overs a side.Scrivens looked nicely set, taking successive fours off former team-mate Dattani as she advanced to her 50 only to be bamboozled soon afterwards by Fi Morris, with Ellie Threlkeld completing a stumping.Gardner might have gone the same way when she misjudged a ball from Sophie Morris, who bowled consistently to finish with 2 for 38, but the opener survived to post her first half-century of the tournament.Having pumped Fi Morris for two leg-side sixes, Gardner’s pursuit of a third proved costly as Katie Mack clasped the catch just inside the rope to trigger Thunder’s fightback. Fi Morris was also the architect of Jodi Grewcock’s downfall, deflecting Cordelia Griffith’s full-blooded drive onto the stumps to run her out and Jones then weighed in by having Flo Miller and Amara Carr leg before sweeping in the same over.Clean hitting by Mady Villiers took her to 35 from 26 with back-to-back boundaries off Jones but, when she was clean bowled by the next delivery, that appeared to signal an end to Sunrisers’ hopes of posting 250. However, the visitors surprisingly returned to Dattani and Phoebe Graham’s expensive medium pace and last pair Munro and Kate Coppack took advantage, adding a valuable 32 to set a slightly adjusted target of 255.Thunder openers Emma Lamb and Seren Smale looked comfortable at the start of the chase, working the ball around with ease and ticking along at above five an over in their stand of 63 from 69. Grewcock finally broke the partnership when Villiers’ diving catch at midwicket accounted for Smale and the spinner also collected the scalp of Lamb, caught top-edging a paddle two short of a deserved half-century.Mack – who registered a hundred in Thunder’s win over Sunrisers earlier in the tournament – looked on course for another match-winning knock with 33 from 42 until Eva Gray trapped her in front.With Threlkeld and Danni Collins both run out after mix-ups, the burden fell on Dattani’s shoulders – and she survived a couple of close calls against Scrivens, with a pull fumbled at midwicket and a stumping chance going begging.But Munro’s sixth over proved decisive as she dismissed Norris and Graham in successive balls and had Dattani caught behind before Jones holed out to long-off to round off the win with 16 deliveries to spare.