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Offspinner Akshay Wakhare’s second five-wicket haul of the match skittled Services for 99 and sewed up Vidarbha‘s 192-run win – their second of the season – in Nagpur. Vidarbha are now second on the Group D points table, which is led by Punjab.Resuming on 111 for 2, Vidarbha extended their second-innings score to 223 for 6 before declaring the innings. Akshay Karnewar’s career-best 48 not out off 28 balls and Wakhare’s unbeaten 17 off 16 balls helped Vidarbha set Services 292.Wakhare then starred with the ball, taking out opener Navneet Singh and captain Nakul Verma inside the first ten overs. He then sliced through the middle order to hasten the collapse. Legspinner Karn Sharma chipped in with three wickets to finish with a match haul of five wickets. Rahul Singh (33), Vikas Yadav (30) and Amit Pachhara (10) were the only Services batsmen to reach double figures in their second innings, which lasted only 28.1 overs.Seamers Sandeep Sharma and Barinder Sran bagged seven wickets between them to dismiss Chhattisgarh for 297 and wrap up Punjab‘s second win of the season, in Raipur.Chhattisgarh added 126 runs to their overnight score of 171 for 4 before being bowled out in 102.4 overs. Ashutosh Singh led the hosts’ resistance with 119 off 222 balls – his second century in two matches – but he received little support from the middle order. Vishal Kushwah (45) and Sumit Ruikar (36) added a counterattacking 74-run stand for the eighth wicket. Anmolpreet Singh scooped the Man-of-the-Match award for his career-best 267.Chasing 141, Bengal scored 65 for 4 in 15 overs, and settled for a draw with Himachal Pradesh in Kolkata. The hosts, though, walked away with three points by virtue of their first-innings advantage.After being bowled out for 206 in their first innings and handing Bengal a first-innings lead of 213, Himachal Pradesh put up stiffer resistance in their second dig. Resuming on 207 for 2 on the final day, Himachal Pradesh lost Nikhil Gangta and Paras Dogra early, but opener Priyanshu Khanduri moved to 95, before Ashok Dinda had him caught behind in the 84th over. Rishi Dhawan then rallied the lower order with an unbeaten 51 off 90 balls, including seven fours, and hauled the score to 353.Saha was promoted to the top in the fourth innings and had a crack at the target, hitting an unbeaten 34 off 42 balls. But wickets falling at the other end did not help Bengal.

Sam Cook, a complete unknown only a fee weeks ago, personified a season of excellence as he took 5 for 20 to skittle Yorkshire for 74 and round off a tumultuous season for Essex during which they have remained unbeaten in the Specsavers County Championship for the first time in their history.The champions’ 10th victory of the 14-game campaign was followed by resounding applause and sprays of champagne post-match as they received the Championship trophy for the first time in 25 years. It was the moment they had waited for since the title was claimed a fortnight ago when they still had two games to play.For Yorkshire, who were in the same celebratory mood just two summers ago, their total was their lowest since 1999 as they succumbed by a massive 376-run defeat in just 29 overs. There were still 25 overs remaining in the day when Matt Fisher was left on his back by Neil Wagner to end the season. It was as well they claimed the points required to avoid relegation on the first day otherwise their feeble effort could have been terminal.Cook, who made his first-class debut for his home county less than two months ago, had taken a career-best 5 for 18 in the second innings at Southampton in the last game. The second five-fer of his embryonic career came before he returns next week to Loughborough University for the final year of his history degree course.Cook put the skids under a Yorkshire top-order chasing an unlikely 451 to win with four wickets in 32 balls in a six-over, pre-tea burst.Adam Lyth looked surprised to be given out caught behind to Cook’s second ball, and Kraigg Brathwaite played down the wrong line to be lbw to Porter in the next over. Alex Lees’s middle stump was sent cartwheeling by Cook and Yorkshire were already on an inexorable slide at 17 for three in the sixth over.Cook claimed his third wicket for 11 runs when the Ashes-bound Gary Ballance fell lbw for just five. Jack Leaning was stuck in his crease playing forward and edging to James Foster to give Cook wicket No4.Simon Harmer joined the party when Andrew Hodd became his latest lbw victim. Thirty-five for six.Essex announced at the tea interval that Porter had signed a two-year contract extension taking him through to the end of the 2020 season. He had a double celebration first ball after the break when he had Steven Patterson caught behind to claim his 200th first-class wicket for the county.That preceded Cook’s fifth wicket with his first ball upon his return for a second spell. Jack Brooks hung out his bat and played tamely into Varun Chopra’s hands at first slip. Thirty-seven for six at tea had become 38 for eight.Karl Carver helped Matt Fisher put on 34 for the penultimate wicket in nine overs to give some respectability to the score before he departed lbw for nine. Fisher, who had taken three Essex second-innings wickets for 69, was the only batsman to make it into double figures. He was the last man to go for 25, caught behind for Foster’s eighth catch of the match, after Wagner had him flailing with a bouncer.It meant Division One’s leading wicket-takers had shared 147 Championship wickets with Porter leading the way with 75 from Harmer.At the start of the day, Essex’s overnight second-wicket century stand ended in the fourth over when Dan Lawrence went lbw to give Coad his 50th and last Championship wicket of the season. Lawrence’s 83 came from 156 balls, and with Nick Browne he put on 139 in 49 overs to lift Essex from 6 for 2 on the second afternoon.Browne followed on the same personal score when Lyth made amends for a difficult dropped catch chance when the opener was 59. This time, Lyth held on to a snick at second slip to end Browne’s 166-ball innings that including 11 boundaries. James Foster then became the 10th lbw victim of the match to give Fisher the first of three wickets.That brought together ten Doeschate and Harmer, who put on 75 in 21 overs for the sixth wicket. Ten Doeschate’s innings was full of nudges and nurdles, eight of them going to the boundary, and a ninth clearing the ropes at long leg.He was finally out straight after lunch, in Fisher’s second over with the new-ball when ten Doeschate tried to withdraw his bat and was caught behind. The partnership with Harmer was worth 75 in 21 overs with the captain departing for a 92-ball 57 with eight fours and a six.Harmer claimed his second half-century of the match, following his 64 in the first innings, when he clubbed Fisher through the covers from the 79th ball he faced. The seventh-wicket pair added 42 in eight overs with Neil Wagner, whose bright and breezy 23 came from 26.before he edged to second slip to give Fisher his third wicket at a personal cost of 69.Ten Doeschate called his batsmen in 50 minutes after lunch following the second ball of the 96th over, when Porter hit the second of two fours in a five-ball 10. Essex had reached 334 for 7 without the requirement for the injured Tom Westley to bat.

Liam Norwell was in the wickets again•Getty Images

Liam Norwell took the final three wickets in Leicestershire’s second innings to finish with a first-class career best return of 8 for 43 as Gloucestershire completed a ten-wicket victory at the Fischer County Ground.His return was the best in Division Two of the County Championship this season, and also meant the young seamer had taken ten wickets in the match for the second time against Leicestershire this season.”We made three changes for this match, with Matt Taylor, Josh Shaw and James Bracey coming in, and they all took their chance and made an important contribution to the victory,” Richard Dawson, Gloucestershire’s coach, said.”We’re still searching for the big partnerships of over 100, but we had three or four partnerships of 50-plus, and they helped us build a solid first innings score in difficult conditions. The challenge now is to take this form into our match against Kent at Bristol next week.”Liam Norwell is a class act, there’s not many better seamers around in county cricket at the moment.”With Leicestershire resuming on 152 for 7, leading by only eight runs, Gloucestershire’s only real concern was the weather, but play started on time, and Norwell made an immediate breakthrough, with a delivery which Matt Pillans edged to George Hankins at third slip.The end was not long coming as Clint McKay then edged an expansive drive to Gareth Roderick behind the stumps before Dieter Klein edged to Chris Dent at second slip.Gloucestershire openers Dent and Cameron Bancroft needed just 3.3 overs to score the 15 runs needed for the visitors to complete their third victory of the season, and leave Leicestershire still winless after a hapless performance in which only captain Mark Cosgrove, who hit 170 of the 382 runs Leicestershire scored in the match.”Obviously we haven’t played our best game over the last four days, and today was another disappointing effort,” Cosgrove said. “It was an opportunity to play good cricket which we didn’t take, but the season’s not over, there are two more games to show we’re good cricketers, and we have to turn it around quickly.”We’ll look hard at selection, especially after a game like we’ve played here. It could be tough at Worcester, with Ashwin in the side they’ll probably prepare a dry turning wicket, but we have to look at it as another opportunity to do well.”It is a tough ask to lift players in these circumstances but we’ll regroup and try and have a good lead-in to the game next week. We do need some positives going into the winter because otherwise it could be a very long pre-season for some of the boys.”

Tom Curran almost stole victory for Surrey•Getty Images

Aneurin Donald’s brilliant 76 off 40 balls shone out under the Kia Oval floodlights as Glamorgan strengthened their position at the top of the NatWest T20 Blast’s South Group table by squeezing past Surrey by six runs in front of a crowd of 21,256.But Tom Curran almost stole the match for Surrey at the death, his remarkable 51 not out from 27 balls making a mockery of 48 runs being required from the last three overs to overhaul Glamorgan’s 181 for 6. In the end, having hit the second ball of Michael Hogan’s final over for six to bring the equation down to nine from four balls, Curran was foxed by two slower balls from the veteran Australian seamer which he swung at and missed.A scampered two from the penultimate ball left Curran, who hit three sixes and three fours, needing seven from the last ball. He hit it into the offside, opted not to run but still walked off to an ovation for a courageous attempt to achieve the seemingly impossible with Surrey finishing on 175 for 7.Donald, still only 20, hit two sixes and 11 fours in his T20-best as he and the prolific Colin Ingram, who scored 42 from 31 balls with three sixes, swept Glamorgan towards their eventual total by adding 95 in just 8.3 overs for the second wicket after they had opted to bat first.It was Glamorgan’s fifth win of the group stage and took them to 14 points while Surrey, who have now lost four of their ten games, remain on 10 points.Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph praised Donald’s batting plus Michael Hogan’s nerve in the thrilling final over.”Tom Curran did incredibly well to get them so close, and there is so much noise out there in front of a crowd of that size that it’s difficult to communicate,” he said. “But Michael kept his cool after the second ball six and showed his experience to switch to around the wicket and bowl two vital dot balls. It was a brave decision.”Aneurin batted brilliantly up front and it was a pretty solid batting performance although we might have got 20 runs more after the start we got.”Surrey’s chase did not start well, with Jason Roy nicking the first ball of the innings, from Lukas Carey, to the keeper but Mark Stoneman joined Aaron Finch in a stand of 64 in six overs before carving to deep midwicket in Graham Wagg’s first over to go for a useful 21-ball 34.Finch, who had got off the mark by swinging Michael Hogan for six from his first ball, and who also hit Marchant de Lange for six, reached 33 from 22 balls before mishitting Ingram’s occasional legspin straight to long on in the eighth over, and Surrey’s decline continued as Moises Henriques and Sam Curran were both held in the deep.Aneurin Donald helped keep Glamorgan top of South Group•Getty Images

From 84 for 3 after ten overs, Surrey slid to 101 for 6 as Rikki Clarke could only score 6 on his Surrey return before becoming one of de Lange’s three victims.Ollie Pope, caught at midwicket off de Lange, scored a sparkling 26 and Surrey’s hopes rose further when Tom Curran swung Hogan for six in an 18th over costing 16 runs and also containing fours by both Curran and Stuart Meaker.That left 32 needed from the last two overs, and Curran immediately swatted Graham Wagg’s left arm seam over wide midwicket for six. Riding his luck, with an inside-edged four to fine leg, Curran ensured that 15 came from the over – setting up the superb finish.When Glamorgan batted, Donald was quickly into his stride, pulling for six the fourth ball of the innings from Jade Dernbach – and the second ball he faced – before taking three fours from Sam Curran’s opening over with a lovely straight drive, a paddle-pull to wide long leg and then a crashing drive through extra cover.Another flipped four, off Dernbach, followed before the wicket of Jacques Rudolph slowed Glamorgan for a while. From 30 for no wicket after three overs, they could only score 46 for 1 from the initial six-over Powerplay after Roy leapt to take a brilliant catch at backward point to send back Rudolph for 4.The bowler was Clarke, who has rejoined his first county Surrey, for whom he played from 2002 to 2007. Initially, the move is on loan from Warwickshire ahead of a permanent move from next season, with Dom Sibley already going the other way in a reciprocal deal, and 35-year-old allrounder Clarke struck with his fifth ball in the fourth over. His first two overs cost only eight runs and he finished with 1 for 23.Ingram, however, still managed to hit his first ball, from Clarke, for four and he was soon pulling Tom Curran for four and launching Gareth Batty’s offspin for six in the eighth over. Another six arrived when Ingram pulled the younger Curran out of the ground beyond the Peter May Stand as the Welsh county reached the halfway mark at 87 for 1.Batty was then plundered for 22 in an over by Donald, with three leg-side fours and a smeared six being followed by a delicate lap for four by the youngster from the last ball of the 11th over.A four and straight six by Ingram off Henriques’s medium pace quickly followed but the rollicking second wicket stand ended in the 13th over when Donald skied paceman Meaker to midwicket.Ingram went six balls later, cutting Henriques to point, and three more wickets fell in the final overs as Glamorgan’s middle-order sought to add as many as they could. David Miller’s 24 from 19 balls included a last over six off a Tom Curran full toss the ball before he fell attempting to clear long-on, while Wagg also swung Clarke for six.

Afghanistan are closing in on playing their maiden Test, and are in talks with Zimbabwe for a full series later this year. The series is likely to be hosted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). Afghanistan were conferred Test status by the ICC in June earlier this year.ESPNcricinfo understands the series is likely to comprise one Test, five ODIs and between two to three T20Is. With Afghanistan not in a position to host cricket at home, the ACB is looking at hosting the series either in India or the UAE.It is understood that Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) sent an e-mail to the ACB last week giving an in-principle nod. Both boards will take a final decision once ZC finalises the dates of the scheduled tri-series in Bangladesh, which, as per the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP), is to be played between January-February next year. Ideally, ZC wants to play Afghanistan in the UAE and then travel to Bangladesh.If the plans materialize, it will give Afghanistan a significant boost, after they have hopped into the top echelons of international cricket since gaining ODI status in 2009.During this period, Afghanistan registered memorable results, including three consecutive limited-overs series victories against Zimbabwe before recently drawing the ODI series in West Indies in June.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jason Holder took his maiden five-wicket haul as he led West Indies to victory•AFP

The wine is oxidising fast. Add Antigua 2017 to the list of matches MS Dhoni has failed to finish off since 2014. He scored India’s slowest half-century in 16 years as they failed to chase down 190 on a slow pitch against a spirited attack that managed to tide over a costly drop and a tactical blunder in the concluding stages. Jason Holder compensated for bowling Roston Chase in the 44th over with a maiden five-for, but it was Kesrick Williams, playing only his second ODI, who frustrated the hell out of Dhoni, conceding just 13 in four overs after the 40th and taking Dhoni out with the last ball he bowled.Four years ago, in the West Indies, Dhoni found himself in a similar situation on a similarly slow track, chasing 202, leaving himself 15 to get in the last over with the last man for company. He got it in three hits.Here, India needed 16 off the last two, but Dhoni couldn’t inflict any damage against Williams’ mix of slower deliveries and quick length ones. Perhaps it was the bigger boundaries than Queen’s park Oval’s from four years ago, perhaps he doesn’t trust himself that much anymore, but here Dhoni pulled the trigger sooner. He could have taken a single off the last ball of the 49th and left himself 13 to get in Holder’s final over, but he blinked first and drilled a length ball straight into the lap of long-on.Moments after the match, Dhoni was seen sitting dejected in the balcony, a little lost even, when a member of the India squad had to shake him physically to shake his hand. Dhoni knows this is the kind of chase he has built his reputation on. It will be harsh to talk of him when the batting around him failed more miserably, but everybody – Dhoni himself – knows these are Dhoni finishes.When Dhoni walked in, he brought a sense of calm to a faltering batting. Shikhar Dhawan departed early, not respecting the slowness of the pitch and driving Alzarri Joseph on the up. Joseph’s grandmother, operating the manual scoreboard at Sir Viv Richards Stadium, cheered on.The bigger blows were to follow. West Indies’ adherence to their bowling plans has never been more apparent than when they have bowled to Virat Kohli when he is new at the crease. They believe he doesn’t like the bowl up at his throat, and 41% of their bowling to Kohli has been in their own half. Different batsmen react differently to plans against them. Kohli hates to watch a plan succeed for a while before overcoming it. He wants to dominate. Out went his trusted weaving and ducking, and in came the hook shots. Holder’s third bouncer in the sixth over produced the top edge, and we had a game on now.Dinesh Karthik, replacing the injured Yuvraj Singh, and playing ahead of Rishabh Pant presumably because he was selected in the squad before Pant, did worse against the bouncer. After taking 13 balls to get off the mark, he top-edged one that was barely chest high.In came Dhoni to join Ajinkya Rahane, who had again looked comfortable against the new ball and had been dropped on 23. The two began to bat cautiously; the asking rate was not an issue at this point. The old maxim of “India win if they bat 50 overs” still held true even as Rahane and Dhoni laboured through their 54-run partnership.West Indies were markedly different from two nights ago when they had failed to squeeze India after taking two early wickets. Here there were no easy singles as first Williams and Devendra Bishoo, and then Ashley Nurse, dried up the runs. While Rahane did get the odd boundary, Dhoni said an absolute no to taking any risk.MS Dhoni’s 54 off 114 balls was the slowest ODI fifty for India since 2001•AFP

By the time Rahane took his last risk, sweeping Bishoo against the turn, the asking rate hovered around 4.55. It was still in Dhoni’s control. You still felt Dhoni just needed to bat through. However, Dhoni was not batting like Dhoni does. He struggled to time balls, but more worryingly failed to find gaps. Bishoo and Nurse bowled 68 balls to him for 28 runs, slower than his innings strike rate of 47.36. Dhoni was even forced to play a sweep shot, which is the ultimate last resort for him against spin.As Kedar Jadhav fell, bat-pad to Nurse with Shai Hope leaping from behind the stumps, the asking rate closed in on a run-a-ball. Hardik Pandya ramped one for four to buy some breathing space, Dhoni began to take risky singles, and in the 40th over, India needed more than six per over. Would it still be an India win if they batted through?Dhoni definitely thought so. He kept waiting for the mistake from the opposition, a principle he has built the second half of his limited-overs career on. A tenet of captaincy he has handed down to Kohli. The mistakes weren’t forthcoming, though, as Williams began to bowl the gun overs perfectly.Holder is a leader by example, but his being at the forefront had cost West Indies 65 runs in 4.5 overs at the death in the last two matches. Perhaps he wanted to do the prudent thing. Perhaps he wanted to continue with offspin after Nurse’s success. Whatever be the reason, after three conservative bowling innings, with 55 required off 42, with that painstakingly increased asking rate at stake, Holder asked Chase to bowl his offspin for the first time in the series. Chase proceeded to gift Dhoni a boundary down the leg side – his first in 103 balls, then bowled a wide and then went for a six to Pandya to bring the equation down to 39 off 36. Surely now India win if they bat through?Surely not. Holder came back immediately to make amends with a leg-stump yorker to send back Pandya. In came Ravindra Jadeja who has got a bit of a reputation of being headless under pressure in limited-overs cricket. When the singles ought to do it, he went for the big hit, sending a Holder slower ball down long-on’s throat, making it 17 off 15. Dhoni should still have it, right?It seemed so as he took a single next ball, leaving Kuldeep Yadav, batting for the first time in ODIs, two balls to face from Holder. Both were dots. Williams began the 49th with a slower ball. Dot. Then, calmly, still as if in the middle overs of an innings, Dhoni pushed a single. Nothing wrong with it. That’s how Dhoni is. Last over it shall be, one on one, me vs you.Williams, though, squeezed out two dots against Kuldeep before bringing Dhoni back on strike for the last ball. And that’s when Dhoni blinked. That’s when he did the uncharacteristic thing. After having backed himself for so long, Dhoni didn’t back himself to do it all in the last over.Holder finished the innings with a flourish, making up with his bowling for the direction and purpose they lacked with the bat. When West Indies batted, you wondered if they would choose not to bat at all if there was a provision for the two captains to just negotiate and decide a total India had to chase. They would still have brokered a better deal than the 189 that they got, joint second-lowest total for a side batting first and playing out its allocation of 50 overs since the 2015 World Cup; the lowest belonged to Zimbabwe.If the lack of direction showed in the 192 dot balls faced by West Indies – at one point, Evin Lewis, a T20I centurion against India, had faced 15 straight dots from Umesh Yadav – they managed only tame dismissals whenever they tried to push the scoring rate. However, there was another factor at play, the slowness of the pitch, which they exploited decisively in the second half of the match.

Afghanistan have withdrawn from a proposed one-day series against Ireland next month due to a clash with their domestic T20 competition.Ireland, who lost 3-2 in their last ODI encounter with Afghanistan in Greater Noida in March, had hoped to host a three-match return series in Belfast in July.However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board have informed Cricket Ireland that they’re not in a position to approve the tour, due to a clash with preparations for their domestic franchise T20 event.”Of course, our preference is to give as many opportunities as possible to our senior men to play our closest rivals on our home turf, so we are disappointed the matches won’t proceed in July,” said a Cricket Ireland spokesperson.”We have enjoyed two very competitive recent ODI series against Afghanistan in Belfast and India. Hopefully we will continue to work with the ACB to see if there are further opportunities to reschedule the matches at a later date.”Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Shafiq Stanikzai said the series, which Ireland had proposed, had never been officially approved.”The proposal came from Cricket Ireland, to play them in three ODIs before our MCC game [on July 11],” Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. “We agreed in February or March, and the tour was approved by the ACB. Then it was kept on hold by Cricket Ireland, because they were waiting for the ICC board meeting. About two weeks ago, they approached us again to ask if we could go ahead and play this series. This time, the board didn’t give us permission because the team is busy, plus we have the T20 franchise tournament coming up.”The timing of the series proposal from Ireland was particularly inconvenient for Afghanistan, who are playing a limited-overs series in West Indies, which concludes on June 14.”The team has been playing for three months continuously,” Stanikzai said. “It makes no sense to come back from West Indies to Kabul for ten days, and then go back to Ireland. We need proper preparation for an Ireland series. We can’t have the team in Afghanistan for ten days and go straight back into competition phase. It would have been great if we could go straight from the West Indies to Ireland because then preparation would not be an issue. But since the proposed dates [from Cricket Ireland] were July 1-9, the schedule just didn’t work out for us.”Stanikzai stressed that the cancellation of the tour did not sour relations with Cricket Ireland, at least from the ACB’s point of view.”Ireland are our closest rivals, and we would like to play them more and more. We will be looking in the future for an opportunity to play Ireland. We will draw up a schedule with Ireland when we meet them at the Annual General Meeting in June to see when we can play each other again, hopefully in the latter part of this year. Our relations with Ireland are very friendly, and we want them to remain that way.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Afghanistan’s maiden fixture at Lord’s, when they take on an MCC side led by Brendon McCullum on July 11, is unaffected by this decision.

Pakistan will not tour Bangladesh this year as per schedule; the PCB said the series has been postponed indefinitely by mutual consent. Pakistan was to play two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I series in Bangladesh in July and August.”We had spoken about the possibility of hosting them [Bangladesh in Pakistan] this year,” PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan told ESPNcricinfo. “Pakistan have now toured Bangladesh twice without them reciprocating, and we feel we cannot tour Bangladesh for the third straight time. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the tour, and will explore another window in the next year or so.”Bangladesh last toured Pakistan in 2007-08, for a five-ODI series. Since then, Pakistan have toured Bangladesh twice, in 2011-12 and 2015. The PCB had invited Bangladesh for a two-match T20I series this year, only for the BCB to rebuff the invitation.On Pakistan’s last visit to Bangladesh in 2015, the PCB had reportedly taken US$ 325,000 and justified it by saying the series had “technically” been Pakistan’s home series. This year the BCB rejected all such proposals to share revenue, though it was open to playing at a neutral venue if necessary.The PCB, however, was not keen on that option. It is understood the Pakistan board feels that hosting teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the UAE – its adopted home – is not financially viable.Relations between the Pakistan and Bangladesh boards have been sour in the past. During the Zaka Ashraf regime, the PCB had stopped communication with the BCB and barred its cricketers – who had already been auctioned to various teams – from featuring in the Bangladesh Premier League.Bangladesh were the fourth team – after West Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka – to refuse to travel to Pakistan in the last two years. Nevertheless, the PCB is looking to build on hosting an incident-free PSL final in Lahore in March by inviting a team of international cricketers to play a T20 series in September. However, even the PSL final – touted a success – was marred by Quetta Gladiators’ entire foreign contingent deciding against travelling to Pakistan for the final.In another development, members of the ICC board were briefed on the security situation in Pakistan. According to Shaharyar, Giles Clarke, the head of the ICC task force on Pakistan, confirmed that Lahore would host a World XI in September.”We wanted to share the series between Lahore and Karachi but since the security assessment was focussed on Lahore only, it was decided to restrict the series to Lahore for now,” Shaharyar said. “The presentation about the PSL final was well received and all members understand that the World XI tour will further pave the way for major international cricket in the country. They were supportive overall and we are looking forward to host some of the top players of the world.”

Match facts

March 28-31, 2017
Start time 1000 local (0430 GMT)Ed Joyce (in pic) needs 84 runs to reach 1000 runs in the Intercontinental Cup.•ICC/Saleem Sanghati

Big picture

When the Intercontinental Cup was initiated by the ICC as part of their global development programme, the concept of an Associate using the competition as a vehicle to vie for Test status was a pipe dream. Thirteen years on, it’s a prospect both Afghanistan and Ireland are faced with; the winner of the current Intercontinental Cup edition will take another step closer to cricket’s ultimate dream.Much discussion recently have pegged a double bump up for both sides, but that will depend on ICC’s reforms being approved, a long-drawn process if history is any indication. For now, only the champion of the Intercontinental Cup will advance to the 2018 Test Challenge, a four-match series against the bottom-ranked Test side, currently Zimbabwe.As such, the stakes remain high in the four-day showdown in Greater Noida, particularly since the format has undergone a slight tweak. Unlike previously where the top two sides met in a final at a neutral venue, the group topper after seven rounds will be declared the winner this time around. Therefore, it’s fair to say this clash will have plenty riding on it, perhaps more than any of the six previous finals have.If Afghanistan claim the full 20 points – six for a first-innings lead and 14 more for an outright win – they will sneak past Ireland by a point into the tournament lead. Their final two games are against Hong Kong and UAE, currently placed last. An Ireland loss would mean they’d be in an uphill battle to surge past Afghanistan since they arguably have the toughest remaining slate of any team in the competition – against Netherlands and Scotland.A full 20-point for Ireland win though would put them in a virtually unassailable position, up 39 points with only 40 left on offer for Afghanistan in the final two rounds. Ireland may also be content to play for a draw away from home, a result that would give them a minimum of three points to maintain their lead on the overall table.Though currently second and 19 points behind Ireland, momentum is on Afghanistan’s side. A thumping 10-wicket demolition of Ireland in the final of the Desert T20 Challenge has been followed by a 3-0 T20I sweep and a 3-2 ODI series win this month over the same opponent. In between the Desert T20 and hosting Ireland, they had another 3-2 ODI series win over Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe.Ireland, who have won four of the last five Intercontinental Cups, have been consistent in the tournament at least. This time around, they have stormed not only to four wins in four matches, but have also claimed full points including a pair of wins by innings margins. All set then for a cracker.

Form guide

Afghanistan LDWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Ireland WWWWW

In the spotlight

Rashid Khan has never taken the field for Afghanistan in the I-Cup. However, he took 12 for 122 on his first-class debut against England Lions in December to dispel any doubts over his capabilities in long-form cricket. Rashid was the leading wicket-taker in both the T20I and ODI series ahead of this with nine and 16 respectively across eight matches.Ireland’s Ed Joyce is the leading scorer in the competition with 592 runs in six innings. The bulk of that output came in a pair of double-century knocks against UAE and Namibia in June and October 2015. He kept up that form in limited-overs cricket against Afghanistan in the summer of 2016, finishing as the leading scorer in the home four-ODI series with 339 runs. However, he’s had a much leaner run since arriving in Greater Noida, making just 137 runs in five ODIs.

Team news

Zahir Khan, the left-arm wristspinner who is tied with George Dockrell for most wickets in the tournament, is one of several expected changes from the limited-overs leg as Afghanistan may produce a three-pronged spin attack: Zahir, Rashid and Mohammad Nabi.Afghanistan (probable XI): 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Javed Ahmadi, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Nasir Jamal, 5 Asghar Stanikzai (capt.), 6 Hashmatullah Shahidi, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Dawlat Zadran, 10 Yamin Ahmadzai, 11 Zahir KhanIreland’s lack of depth will be further tested by the absence of Kevin O’Brien, who flew home after suffering a hamstring injury in the fourth ODI. Boyd Rankin missed the T20I and ODI series with a back problem he has battled since the Desert T20 in January. If Rankin can’t go, Ireland may opt for offspinning allrounder Andy McBrine rather than specialist legspinner Jacob Mulder or medium pacer Peter Chase. That would leave Tim Murtagh and Craig Young as the two seam options.Ireland (probable XI): 1 William Porterfield (capt.), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Ed Joyce, 4 John Anderson, 5 Niall O’Brien (wk), 6 Andy Balbirnie, 7 Gary Wilson, 8 Andy McBrine/Jacob Mulder, 9 George Dockrell, 10 Tim Murtagh, 11 Craig Young/Boyd Rankin

Pitch and conditions

Afghanistan’s spinners took 16 of the 20 wickets in an innings and 36 run win over Namibia in the only I-Cup game at this venue. Spinners dominated throughout the just completed ODI series, highlighted by Rashid and Paul Stirling taking 6-fors in the same match. Slow bowlers are expected to continue prospering. Fitness levels will be tested with temperatures expected to hover around 40 degrees.

Stats and trivia

• Ireland captain William Porterfield needs 47 runs to pass Andrew White as his country’s all-time leading scorer in the I-Cup. Porterfield has 1506 runs in 21 matches, which puts him seventh overall behind Kenya’s Steve Tikolo (1918 runs).
• Ed Joyce needs 84 runs to reach 1000 runs in the Intercontinental Cup. He’d be the second-fastest to the mark if he gets there. Ryan ten Doeschate took just seven matches to cross 1000 I-Cup runs for the Netherlands.
• Mohammad Nabi needs three more wickets to surpass Hamid Hassan for the most by an Afghanistan bowler in the I-Cup. Nabi has 53 in 17 games. Three wickets will also take him into 10th position for most wickets by a bowler in the tournament’s history. Former Ireland captain Trent Johnston is number one with 91 wickets in 25 matches.

Quotes

“I feel this will be the best and most important game in the entire Intercontinental Cup league as both teams can top the league. Our strength is spin bowling and most of our batsmen are in good form. It’s a matter of performing well on the day.”
“It will be a big test for us – the conditions, the turning surface against a side that has a lot of spinners. We’ve been here for three or four weeks, played a lot of cricket on the same ground, so we could not have asked for better preparation.”

In 2015, Zaheer Khan had announced that he would retire from all forms of cricket after the ninth IPL season. Two years on, he’s set to lead Delhi Daredevils again in their quest for their maiden title, in the tenth edition. Zaheer hasn’t played a competitive game for a year, but believes a shift in roles – from being the leader of the bowling group to one who will play the supporting act – will help him ease into the demands of the shortest format.”It’s very difficult to not play any match and then to turn up here and play the whole season. I look at it as a challenge. I stick to my routines along with discussion I have had with my trainers and physios,” he said. “The process remains the same. I picked up the ball around December, got into it slowly and here I am now, ready to take on another IPL season.”Every time I get on the field, the excitement comes back. It’s the right dose of cricket for me at this stage of my career. I have supreme fast bowlers who will take the pressure off me. I’m not playing the lead role, but just the support role. I’m playing the role I enjoy the most. This is my way of giving back to the game.”Among the “supreme fast bowlers” he referred to are Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada, two of their latest acquisitions, and Mohammed Shami, who Zaheer confirmed was “fully available.”Cummins, earlier part of Kolkata Knight Riders, will start the tournament on the back of two intense Tests against India, while Rabada, in his first IPL stint, is coming off a full series with South Africa in New Zealand. “It’s good to have a bowling captain for starters,” Cummins said. “It’s easier to adjust to the T20 format from Tests than the other way round.”Zaheer was also hopeful that a young batting unit that was empowered to deliver under crunch moments in the past steps up in the absence of two high-profile players in Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy due to injuries.”We’ve always believed in youngsters and the potential they have. If you look at last season’s squad, you’ve got someone like Karun Nair, who has a triple century at the Test level,” Zaheer said. “Shreyas Iyer has made his mark, he’s part of the Test team. These youngsters are no longer youngsters, they’re seasoned campaigners now. That is the strength of DD this year.”You’ve got an Indian batting line-up [also having in their ranks Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant] which is more experienced and know more about of their roles. The squad is settled. We’re sitting pretty despite JP and Quinton’s unavailability. If you look at all the squads, you will find players who are missing out because of international duties and injuries. We’re prepared for the uncertainties.”Highly regarded in Indian cricket circles as a bowling mentor, Zaheer also explained the need to have fast bowlers playing as much cricket as possible, when asked if an entire IPL season could bring about injuries and fatigue to India’s fast bowlers, Umesh Yadav in particular, after undergoing heavy workloads during the course of India’s 13 home Tests.”When I was playing, I preferred to play more and more. When you’re in rhythm, you can maintain that,” Zaheer said. “You can maintain workloads at practice. Someone like Umesh, who has played all season, he isn’t going to realise when 20 overs are done. That’s the beauty of bowling fitness. With all the bowlers who’ve been playing Tests and some level of cricket, it will be easier in terms of bowling fitness. The more you bowl, the better you will get. I’ve always endorsed match practice is the best practice.”