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It was a tale of two birthday boys in Bengaluru. Baroda’s left-arm quick Lukman Meriwala celebrated by nabbing three top-order wickets in the same over, before Bengal allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed kept his side alive with a half-century in the chase of 173. Shahbaz ran out of partners though, and Baroda beat Bengal by 41 runs to book their place in the semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.Bengal were off to a steady start with 28 runs on the board after three overs, before Meriwala’s dream over. He had Karan Lal chopping on for 6, trapped Sudip Kumar Gharami lbw for 2, and took a stunning return catch to dismiss Writtick Chatterjee for a duck.Next over, Atit Sheth added to the damage by having a dangerous-looking Abishek Porel caught at mid-on for 22 off 13 balls. That is when Shahbaz walked out at No. 6, and joined hands with Ritwik Roy Chowdhury. Despite being 31 for 4 in a tall chase, Chowdhury and Shahbaz counterattacked by cracking four boundaries and a six off the first nine balls of their partnership.Shahbaz then swung Sheth for six and also drove him for a boundary in the eighth over, while Chowdhury whacked Hardik Pandya for six over fine leg in the tenth. But next ball, Hardik had Chowdhury caught behind, leaving Bengal at 88 for 5 at the halfway stage, and Shahbaz with too much to do. Although Shahbaz kept losing partners, he smacked 55 off 36 balls with three fours and four sixes before falling to Sheth in the 18th over.The base for Baroda’s total of 172 was laid by their openers Shashwat Rawat and Abhimanyusingh Rajput. They had taken their time to settle in on a slow pitch, with Rajput riding his luck in the powerplay. First, he was dropped on 4 by Chowdhury off Mohammed Shami in the opening over of the game (Shami would finish with the expensive figures of 4-0-43-2). Then, with Rajput on 16, Bengal’s review for a not-out on-field call for lbw off Kanishk Seth returned umpire’s call.Rajput and Rawat upped the rate with 50 runs on the board after the powerplay and all ten wickets intact. Shahbaz was slashed over extra cover for four and reverse swept for six. In the eighth over, Rajput swat-pulled Saksham Choudhary for six over long-on, before Rawat heaved and Rajput slapped Shahbaz for six and four more.Their stand ended on 90 in the tenth over, and that started a phase where Baroda lost 4 for 23 within five overs. But handy cameos from Shivalik Sharma (24 off 17), Bhanu Pania (17 off 11) and Vishnu Solanki (16* off 7) ensured Baroda posted 51 in the last four overs. In the end, the 172 they took their side to proved more than enough.

England 291 (Duckett 114, Sajid 7-111) and 36 for 2 need a further 261 to beat Pakistan 366 and 221 (Salman 63, Bashir 4-66)With a twinkle in his eye and a twirl of his moustache, Sajid Khan helped turn the Multan rematch Pakistan’s way. A first-innings seven-for was followed up by crucial lower-order runs to help set England a daunting target of 297 to win the second Test. Sajid then struck with his third ball to remove Ben Duckett, England’s centurion on day two and a key man in their hopes of a successful chase.Sajid may be an unassuming offspinner on paper, and something of an afterthought in selection – he described himself as “always the first to be kicked out” after taking four England wickets during the second evening to put his side on top. But with his shaved head, luxuriant facial hair and colourful celebrations he has brought some much-needed character to Pakistan’s attempts to break a winless run at home that stretches back to 2021.Having claimed three of the four England wickets to fall during the first hour on day three, securing a 75-run lead for Pakistan and personal figures of 7 for 111 – the best for an innings in Tests at Multan – Sajid came to the crease during the evening session with the scoreboard reading 156 for 8. England were eyeing up a chase in the region of 230-240, only for Sajid to join Salman Agha in putting on a bristling stand of 65, by far the highest of a day on which 16 wickets fell and the spinners prospered.Salman did the bulk of the scoring, making his third 50-plus score of the series to steer the target up towards 300, and England’s pain in the field was only increased by the knowledge that he could have been dismissed twice in single-figures. Brydon Carse was the unlucky bowler, as two chances went down in the space of three balls: Jamie Smith failing to hold a regulation nick behind the stumps before Joe Root shelled another to his right, the fact he was wearing a helmet and standing in close only partial mitigation.Pakistan’s recent issues in the third innings have been well-documented, failing to capitalise on positions of varying promise against Australia and Bangladesh, and it seemed as if they were primed for another stumble after losing three wickets to Shoaib Bashir to be 43 for 3 at lunch. Saud Shakeel helped steady things, although he too had a life off Carse as Root couldn’t get his hands up to a flashed cut at slip.When Shakeel was trapped lbw by Jack Leach, the first of three wickets to fall in the space of five overs after tea, England had hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly. But Salman immediately countered, hitting three fours from his next seven balls and going on to his half-century by lofting Leach clean over long-off for six. The ninth-wicket pair took less than eight overs to raise the 50 stand, as England’s target rose rapidly – eventually leaving them needing the second-highest successful chase in Pakistan, and by far their highest overall in Asia.Salman Agha made a vital contribution as Pakistan’s lead grew•Getty Images

Sajid survived being caught at long-on, when Duckett was forced to throw the ball back in as he crossed the rope, then overturned being given out lbw to a Matt Potts full toss when UltraEdge detected an inside edge; he might have been out on 20, but with the DRS momentarily down, England couldn’t review for caught behind.Carse eventually broke through when Salman spliced a pull to midwicket, belated reward for the fast bowler’s perseverance and skill in demanding conditions, and Potts bounced out Sajid. But the spinner took centre stage again with the ball in hand, eyes bulging like a cartoon supervillain after Duckett had top-edged a sweep straight up to depart for a two-ball duck in the first over of the chase.Noman Ali then produced a beautifully flighted delivery to have Zak Crawley stumped by a distance, the opener collapsing to his knees even as he turned to see Mohammad Rizwan break the bails, as England slipped to 11 for 2. Ollie Pope and Root saw them through to the close but there was plenty of work still to be done on a pitch that has increasingly taken spin if England are to extend their winning run in Pakistan.It was all a far cry from the first Test at this ground, when only 13 wickets fell across the first three days – the count now up to 32 at the same stage in the pitch second’s incarnation.England’s prospects had been undermined by the four-wicket burst from Sajid on the second evening, and he did not have to wait long for his second Test five-for when play resumed. Carse holed out to long-on before Potts got in a tangle trying to work off his pads to be bowled between his legs. Noman then claimed his 50th wicket in Tests as Smith, looking to hit out in the company of the tail, could only miscue high to long-off.A last-wicket stand of 29 between Leach and Bashir cut into the lead, before Sajid’s seventh brought the innings to a close. It was then Pakistan’s turns to get the jitters, as the top three all departed in the space of 15 overs before lunch.Bashir had not enjoyed much success on tour to date but rose to the occasion after being thrown the new ball by Ben Stokes. His third over produced the breakthrough, with Abdullah Shafique adjudged to have feathered a catch behind down the leg side – although it took some lengthy deliberations by the third umpire, Sharfuddoula, after England had gone to the DRS. Shafique’s dismissal brought an end to Pakistan’s opening stand at 9 – the ninth time in ten innings that he and Saim Ayub have failed to reach double-figures together.Shan Masood did not last long, squared up by one that ripped away off a length to hit the splice for a sharp catch to Pope, in close under the helmet at second slip. There was turn and bounce aplenty for England’s spinners and with the final delivery before the break, Bashir dislodged Ayub, who propped forward to provide a simpler chance to Pope.Pakistan needed solidity and they got it in the form of three dogged stands in the 30s featuring Shakeel. The debutant Kamran Ghulam provided further signs of his ability, following his first-innings hundred, before being trapped plumb lbw by Leach. Rizwan then resumed his battle with Carse, eventually falling to him for the third innings in a row after England got the ball to reverse swing. Whether they can reverse the course of this Test may depend on keeping Sajid from top billing on day four.

. Seam irrelevant: . Spinners finding turn from the straight with men parked round the bat: .With the first ball of his next over, Sajid found another ripper that fizzed off Duckett’s outside edge to nestle in Salman Agha’s midriff at slip. Before the over was finished, he had the dangerous Harry Brook too, who had thumped the legspinner Zahid Mahmood for two ominously emphatic fours in his brief stay but had no answer to a fizzing offbreak that ripped into his stumps from a full length.Then, with Zahid put out to pasture once more, back came Sajid’s fellow fingerspinner, Noman Ali, whose second ball bit into Ben Stokes’ inside edge and ballooned to short leg, to extract the England captain for 1 from five balls in his first competitive innings since August. Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse endured to the close, but with the surface only heading in one direction now, parity is surely a pre-requisite if this match is not to slide further out of England’s control.Ben Duckett brought up his hundred off 120 balls•Getty Images

It was a stunning turnaround to cap an engrossing day of Test cricket, but even by Pakistan’s chaotic standards, the manner of their revival took the biscuit. Right up until the moment that everything clicked into place, their challenge had been falling apart.Their troubles had seemingly begun before a ball was bowled, with Aamer Jamal – their lone seamer – sustaining a hip niggle during his doughty innings of 37 in the morning session. He contributed just six expensive overs across three spells, and with Shan Masood showing little faith in his legspinner, Zahid, Duckett toyed with the fingerspinners, utilising his vast array of sweep options to drag their leg-side fielders in every conceivable direction.He duly reached a brilliant century (with a sweep, of course) from a brisk 120 balls, but it was still, remarkably, the slowest of his four to date in Test cricket. In the process, he became the fastest man to reach 2000 Test runs, from 2293 balls – a niche stat maybe, but one which reflected the extent to which he has not only bought into but personified, England’s Bazball mantra since his recall for their last tour of Pakistan in December 2022.Throughout his innings, however, there had been just the glimmer of the contest that could yet exist beneath the veneer of Duckett’s aggression. Zak Crawley’s innings was a case in point. With his preference for pace on the ball, he was far less assured against the spinners, and had two huge let-offs before finally snicking off to a loose drive outside off for 27, a decision Noman successfully reviewed.Crawley should have been run out on 20 after being sent back on a quick single to backward square but Sajid broke the stumps before the ball had arrived, and five runs later, he was ready to walk after being struck on the pads while sweeping, again off Sajid. But Duckett persuaded him to review with the ball shown to be missing leg.Duckett himself had a massive moment on 83 when Noman, by now bowling round the wicket to close off that full range of sweeps, beat his leg stump by a slenderest coat of varnish as Duckett instead wound into a reverse. He was twice clanged on the visor too as the ball bit and bounced out of the rough, and though he was disappointed to form part of the late collapse, the wonder in hindsight was how easy he had made it seem while the going was good.Matthew Potts enjoyed Salman Agha’s wicket•Stu Forster/Getty Images

The chaos of the closing overs was all a far cry from the more leisurely pace of the morning, in which Pakistan had resumed on a promising 259 for 5, on a surface that – while offering some turn and reverse swing – still had more in common with the road that had dished up 1599 runs in last week’s first Test.In cooler, hazier conditions, the pitch seemed to have acquired an extra yard of pace for the day’s opening exchanges, which Carse utilised to superb effect. Mohammad Rizwan had added just four to his overnight 37 when he was beaten by extra lift, angled into his splice, and Smith behind the stumps reacted superbly to cling onto a fast-travelling chance.It was due reward for an exemplary display from Carse, whose key wicket of Saud Shakeel on the first evening had also required him to extract some unlikely life from the surface. Agha then found some impetus with four fours through deep third, but Stokes, to his credit, refused to plug the gap in conventional style, instead choosing to add a gully to ramp up the risk-reward element to the stroke. Potts duly extracted some extra bounce, and Smith – for the third time in the innings – made a very sharp chance look simple.When Sajid punched a drive on the up to short cover, Pakistan were in danger of another damaging subsidence at 309 for 8, but Jamal and Noman’s key stand of 49 for the ninth wicket helped pump the innings past 350. England were nevertheless deeply satisfied with their day-and-a-bit’s work when Leach wrapped things up with his fourth of the innings. But, as had been ordained when Masood won the toss, runs on the board will be critical in this contest. Right now, notwithstanding Duckett’s brilliant response, England don’t have enough of them.

Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer shared nine first-innings wickets as Essex skittled Nottinghamshire for 93 on a morning of utter carnage at Chelmsford.Seam bowler Porter took his third five-wicket haul of the season, and second in consecutive Vitality County Championship matches, to finish with 5 for 35, season’s best figures that included three wickets in five balls.Simon Harmer also claimed his best bowling figures of the summer with 4 for 16 from 12.5 overs and then took the first two wickets of Nottinghamshire’s second innings. Allied with a season’s best 51 in Essex’s 457, it was a welcome return to form for the off-spinning all-rounder who has been dogged by persistent injury.Nottinghamshire’s inability to cope with Porter’s pace and Harmer’s guile on a wicket that had become less benign overnight, left them 364 runs adrift on first innings. When they followed on, captain Haseeb Hameed led the fightback with a patiently crafted unbeaten 100 from 151 balls and put on an unbroken 131 with Joe Clarke (62 not out) for the third wicket. At the close, Nottinghamshire were 180 for 2, still 184 runs from making Essex bat again.It was the perfect repost from Essex on the day the ECB confirmed their 12-point deduction after opening batsman Feroze Khushi was found to have used an illegally-sized bat in the reverse fixture at Trent Bridge in April. It does, however, end their dwindling hopes of challenging for the title.Nottinghamshire’s first innings fell apart spectacularly on a sunny, though chilly morning as 48 for 1 became 93 all out, with nine wickets clattering in 87 minutesThere was no sign of what was to come in the first half-hour as Ben Slater and Freddie McCann added 31 to their overnight score. But then Harmer came on and struck first ball when McCann moved forward half-cock and was the first of five LBWs in the morning. Harmer had two of the next three wickets to fall as Ben Slater was snaffled at slip and Jack Haynes was the second lbw victim.In between Porter replaced the unlucky Sam Cook, who had discomforted McCann on several occasions and might have had something to show for a venomous opening spell had Matt Critchley not dropped Joe Clarke at gulley. It did not prove too expensive as Porter had Clarke pinned lbw in his first over.Nottinghamshire’s South African wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne came out all guns blazing, reverse-sweeping Harmer for four and driving Porter over the long-off boundary. However, his nine-ball cameo ended on 12 when he drove Porter uppishly into the covers.Lyndon James departed to a stunning full-length dive low to his left by Michael Pepper to spark Porter’s three-quick-wicket burst. Luke Fletcher, first ball, and Liam Patterson-White fell lbw before Harmer wrapped things up by having Rob Lord caught at bat-pad.Following on, Hameed and Slater looked comfortable for a dozen overs after lunch before Slater misjudged a delivery from Harmer that beat the outside edge and bowled him. The teenaged McCann was bamboozled for a second time by Harmer, the sixth player to go lbw during the day.Hameed was particularly strong off the back-foot, punching the ball through extra cover for a succession of boundaries, and reached his sixth fifty-plus score of the season from 70 balls. That Nottinghamshire made a better fist of it in the second innings was illustrated by the fact they had overhauled their first-innings total by tea for the loss of just two wickets.Hameed found a willing partner in Clarke and the pair steadied things by putting the first fifty of their stand in 14 overs, taking another 15 for the second fifty. As confidence grew, Clarke came down the wicket and smashed Harmer over midwicket for six on the way to reaching his half-century from 105 balls.A quick single took Hameed to three-figures just before stumps off his 151st ball.

Andrew Flintoff will work with England’s batters ahead of their third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval next week, with Marcus Trescothick taking a short break ahead of his stint as interim white-ball head coach for September’s series against Australia at home.Flintoff has been involved in England’s white-ball set-up for the past year, including at June’s T20 World Cup, but will not be part of Trescothick’s coaching staff for the three T20Is and five ODIs against Australia next month. He recently had his first experience as a head coach at the Hundred, his Northern Superchargers finishing fourth and narrowly missing out on qualification.He is expected to link up with the Test squad on Wednesday for the first of two training days, and will be part of Brendon McCullum’s staff throughout the third Test. He is only filling the role on a short-term basis and is not expected to be involved on the winter tours of Pakistan and New Zealand.Related

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Trescothick will have a few days off after the second Test at Lord’s, which is scheduled to finish on Monday, before linking up with his white-ball squad ahead of the first T20I at the Utilita Bowl near Southampton, to be played on September 11. His backroom staff will be largely the same as Matthew Mott’s, with the short-term addition of England Under-19s coach Michael Yardy.He is yet to decide whether he will apply for the white-ball head coach’s role on a permanent basis. “I’m still very focused on the batting stuff with the Test team,” he told Sky Sports on Friday. “I’m going to let this play out and see what happens for this period of time, and see how much I enjoy doing the head coach’s role and then go from there really. I’m quite open to the idea of seeing what’s going to happen.”Trescothick will work alongside Jos Buttler, his old Somerset team-mate, who has been backed to continue as captain but may relinquish the wicketkeeping gloves in the T20Is. “It’s definitely something we’ll think about,” Trescothick said, “because we can try different options, give it a go for a period of time and see what reaction it has on his captaincy and on the team.”For whatever reason, there were a tough couple of World Cups that they had in the meantime and we’ve come out of those not feeling too great about our one-day cricket. But it’s still in a really good place, and Jos is going to lead that forward for a period of time at the moment – and I don’t see it changing.”

Ed Barnard was outstanding with bat and ball as Warwickshire beat Gloucestershire by six wickets at Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium to extend their winning start to five matches in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.Having claimed 3 for 16 to help dismiss Gloucestershire for 267 in 49.4 overs, the in-form allrounder posted a brilliant match-winning knock of 152 not out from 134 balls as the Bears chased down their target with 2.1 overs to spare.He dominated stands of 79 and 135 with Hamza Shaikh and Chris Benjamin for the third and fifth wickets respectively and helped himself to two sixes and 14 fours as Warwickshire continued to match joint-leaders Glamorgan blow for blow at the top of Group B.Jack Taylor had earlier done his utmost to make a game of it, Gloucestershire’s skipper scoring a brilliant unbeaten 139 from 115 balls with eight sixes and 10 fours. He shared partnerships of 101 and 54 with Ben Charlesworth and Graeme van Buuren for the fifth and sixth wickets respectively to rescue Gloucestershire from the wreckage of 43 for 4.But Gloucestershire were kept in check by the irrepressible Barnard, who took his wicket tally in the competition to 13, while teenage legspinner Tazeem Ali returned career-best figures of 3 for 55.Now unbeaten in their last five outings in the 50-over competition, Warwickshire can virtually guarantee a place in the quarter-finals by defeating nearest rivals Glamorgan at Edgbaston on Thursday. Beaten in three of their five outings, Gloucestershire will almost certainly have to beat Sussex in their next game at Bristol on Wednesday to keep alive their chances of making the knockout stages.Gloucestershire won the toss and elected to bat, but might well have been regretting that decision after Barnard made early inroads. He found early movement off the pitch to remove Cameron Bancroft without scoring and account for Ollie Price and James Bracey in single figures. Michael Booth had Miles Hammond caught at the wicket for 15 as Gloucestershire were reduced to 43 for 4.Relieved to finally see the back of Barnard, Charlesworth and Taylor launched a recovery, staging an unbroken stand of 50 from 65 balls and forcing Will Rhodes, who conceded 22 runs in three overs, out of the attack. Pulling and driving with refreshing freedom, Charlesworth was first to 50, attaining that landmark via 68 balls with his first six, lofted over long-off at the expense of Tazeem.Tazeem had his revenge when Charlesworth, who had accrued six fours and a six, holed out to midwicket with the score on 144 for 5 in the 31st over. Warwickshire’s three spinners sent down 22 overs between them, Tazeem, Jake Lintott and Rob Yates conceding a combined total of 116 runs.Tazeem had some success, having van Buuren held on the long-off boundary, but only after he had contributed 18 in a crucial stand of 54 for the sixth wicket with Taylor. Warwickshire’s 18-year-old legspinner also sent back Tom Smith, but the visitors were unable to take the prized wicket of Taylor.Gloucestershire’s captain certainly exacted a heavy price, going to his first hundred of the season from 101 balls, and then orchestrating a late flurry that saw the home side plunder 52 runs in 3.4 overs at the death. Taylor’s onslaught reached a climax when he smashed former team-mate Craig Miles for three successive sixes in the penultimate over.Mindful that Warwickshire had chased 328 to defeat Essex at Chelmsford last month, Gloucestershire were aware of the importance of taking early wickets. Matt Taylor obliged, persuading Yates to hole out to midwicket for 16, while Josh Shaw had Rhodes caught at the wicket without scoring as the visitors slipped to 46 for 2.But Barnard and Shaikh provided much-needed reassurance. Having already posted a career-best knock of 173 in this competition this season, Barnard went to his latest 50 from 52 balls, finding the boundary with sufficient regularity to keep the required rate below six an over.Appointed captain of the England Under-19 side in June, Shaikh is enjoying a breakthrough season, and he further enhanced his burgeoning reputation here, making 37 in a stand of 79 for the third wicket. Content to play second fiddle to Barnard, the 18-year-old demonstrated his quality on occasions, caressing van Buuren’s slow left-arm over square leg for six before slicing the same bowler high to cover and departing in the 25th over.Price then bowled the reverse-sweeping Michael Burgess, at which point the visitors were 136 for 4, requiring a further 132 runs from 22.2 overs.But they were unable to unseat Burgess, whose serene progress saw him go to three figures from 99 balls. He found a willing ally in Benjamin, these two making 50 from 56 balls to keep the chase on track. Playing within himself, Benjamin rotated the strike beautifully in making a valuable 45 not out from 59 balls, while Barnard displayed impressive concentration to see the job through, carrying his bat for a second time in five innings to break Gloucestershire resolve.

The punchline when day-night cricket first started was “big boys play in the night”. Nearly five decades later, at a T20 World Cup, the big boys from India are playing all their games in the morning. Afghanistan come into this crucial Super Eight match having played all their four league matches in the night. That, though, is not a disadvantage. In fact, their coach Jonathan Trott said they prefer playing in the morning. They quite fancy themselves as the big boys.”I think day games actually suit us better,” Trott said. “So, quite excited to play India in a day game. Obviously, they’re a very, very good side in the day. Obviously one of the favourites and with being favourites obviously it has added pressure for India, and hopefully we can come in obviously perceived as underdogs but in my mind very much not underdogs and fully prepared and ready for the battle that confronts us tomorrow, which I’m very excited about.”Part of the reason Afghanistan fancy themselves during the day is their bowling attack. Their spinners are world-class, and in Fazalhaq Farooqi, they have a swing bowler in the mould of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. These are exactly the kind of bowlers that can do without any threat of dew.Related

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“I think when you’ve got the spinners with the experience of T20 cricket, like we have, I think you would obviously say that’s one of our strengths, but yet one of our seamers is a leading wicket-taker in the tournament,” Trott said. “We’ve seen, certainly over the last couple of years, a more rounded side with regards to the ball and on conditions. So, if it swings and seams, we can take wickets; if it spins, hopefully, we can take wickets as well.”However, Trott did say the spinners can’t relax just because there won’t be dew. “If it’s going to spin, it’ll probably help us,” Trott said. “If it doesn’t spin, we’ve got to bowl well as spinners. Spinners can’t just rely on spin to be able to take wickets and pressure. So that goes for both sides, I’m sure. And India have got some good spinners themselves. So, it’s going to be a good contest.”Afghanistan might be surprise entrants into the Super Eight, having come through ahead of New Zealand, but they command respect from their opponents. “If you just look at their squad,” India’s coach Rahul Dravid said, “they might not have a lot of international experience as in the other formats of the game, but a lot of their players do play in a lot of T20 leagues, more than in fact some of our players do. They are sort of well-travelled cricketers, especially in the T20 circuit, T20 league, a lot of them. They are very prominent members of their IPL teams, other teams as well. So, certainly in this format they are not a team to be taken lightly. They are deservedly in the Super Eight, and we will not treat them any differently than any other team that we expect to play in the Super Eight.”

Torrential rain scuppered any chance of Notts Outlaws building on Friday’s first win of the season, forcing their North Group clash with Durham to be abandoned with just five overs possible at Trent Bridge.Wet weather early in the day meant the scheduled 2.30pm start was put back to 4pm, with the intention to stage a contest of 17 overs per side.Outlaws skipper Joe Clarke won the toss and elected to bowl first, after which Durham openers Alex Lees and Graham Clark enjoyed a flying start, putting on 58, of which 28 came in two overs from England paceman Olly Stone.Clark picked up two boundaries in Stone’s opening over and another two in his second, before pulling a huge six into the Fox Round stand.New Zealand left-armer Ben Lister completed the fifth over of the Durham innings – the minimum each side must face to constitute a match – but then rain returned with a vengeance, accompanied by thunder and lightning.It was a short-lived storm, barely lasting a quarter of an hour, but it deposited so much water on a playing area with little capacity to absorb more that umpires Paul Baldwin and James Middlebrook had no option but to call the game off, ironically during the sunniest weather of the day.The Outlaws, who had broken their duck for the season against Worcestershire on Friday night by exceeding their DLS target by one run in another rain-affected contest, take another point for a no-result.Bottom of the table with only three points at the halfway stage, the Outlaws would seem to have little chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages. Yet in an open group in which no team apart from leaders Lancashire Lightning has more than six points, a string of wins in the second half of the season could still see them go through.The same applies to Durham, third from bottom but on five points only one behind second-placed Yorkshire Vikings.

Craig Cumming, the former New Zealand batter, has been appointed as head coach of the Blaze for their first season affiliated to Nottinghamshire as part of the Tier 1 women’s domestic structure.Cumming has enjoyed success in his home country with Otago Sparks, leading them to two 50-over Hallyburton Johnstone titles in four years. He will arrive in the UK in the new year, after the conclusion of the Super Smash T20 competition.”I feel very humbled and privileged to be selected as head coach of the Blaze,” Cumming said.”I know some of the players and staff already, and have visited the team while in the UK over the last couple of years, so I know that everyone works to the highest standards. But most importantly, I know that I’m joining a brilliant group of people, both on and off the field.”I can’t wait to be part of this wonderful team, and I’m ambitious to help deliver more of the success they have had in the past couple of seasons.”Cumming’s appointment comes after Chris Guest, who coached the Blaze to their first piece of silverware in last season’s Charlotte Edwards Cup, left to take charge of England Women Under-19s.Blaze director of cricket, James Cutt, said: “Craig’s success as a coach speaks for itself. In a relatively short period of time, Craig has had a significant impact at Otago, who have been a pre-eminent force in New Zealand women’s cricket in the past few years. I’m excited to see how we can evolve under his leadership.”Guesty’s departure gave us an opportunity to look at how we could move forward from a position of strength, having put together such a strong record over the past two summers.”We conducted an exhaustive, global search to find the best candidate, and – amongst some very strong applicants – Craig’s credentials and pedigree were the most compelling.”There’s an exciting summer ahead for us, with an expanded fixture list and a squad with a blend of young talent and international experience, and I’m sure Craig’s fresh perspective will be a huge asset.”

Melbourne Renegades duo Georgia Wareham and Courtney Webb have produced a match-winning partnership to sink Sydney Sixers and keep the defending WBBL champions in finals contention.The win had significant ramifications ahead of next week’s finals, ending Sixers’ three-game winning streak and meaning Hobart Hurricanes will finish top of the ladder.That means Hurricanes will host the final on Saturday week. Adelaide will host Hurricanes tonight at Karen Rolton Oval, with Strikers needing an upset win to stay in the top-four hunt.By winning their last regular-season game Renegades also improved to fourth, while Sixers are third. But Renegades must sweat on other results to find out whether they play in the finals.Chasing 131 for victory, Wareham (49 not out) and Webb (33 not out) took Renegades to 134 for 4 from 16.2 overs on Friday in Melbourne.The pair put on a whirlwind unbroken 85-run stand, rescuing Renegades from a wobbly 49 for 4 in the tenth over.Wareham, who earlier took three wickets, finished with a furious flourish, cracking five fours and two sixes from her 29 deliveries. And Webb also found the boundary four times as Renegades (five wins, five losses) climbed from sixth to fourth on the table.Sixers (five wins, three losses) remain third after failing to capitalise on an Ellyse Perryspecial with the bat.Perry top-scored with 65 from 47 balls but Sixers struggled to 130 for 9. The allrounder dominated Sixers’ innings, hitting nine fours and a six, despite frequently losing partners.Only one other team-mate – Ash Gardner (16) – reached double figures amid some excellent legspin bowling from Wareham (3 for 21 from four overs).Alyssa Healy made a six-ball duck and the middle order failed to fire around Perry, who was dismissed in the 18th over when caught at long-on from the bowling of Alice Capsey (2 for 27).Ellyse Perry put on a one-woman show with the bat for Sixers•Getty Images

Renegades hit early trouble in their chase when Maitlan Brown snared two wickets in the second over.Opener Davina Perrin (28 from 27) and Capsey (10 from 15) briefly steadied before both fell in a three-over patch, leaving Renegades in serious strife four down.But Wareham and Webb launched a power-packed counter-punch with Brown (2 for 45) the only multiple wicket-taker for Sixers.All three games over the weekend will affect the top-four finishing order. The Melbourne Stars are second and on Saturday cannot afford a slip-up when they host the Sydney Thunder, who are out of finals contention.The late Saturday game will feature fifth-placed Perth Scorchers at home against bottom side Heat, while Sixers host Adelaide Strikers on Sunday in a massive end to the regular season.Only three points separates Stars from the sixth-placed Strikers.Tuesday’s knockout final will feature the third-placed team at home against fourth.The winner of that game travels to the second-placed team on Thursday for the challenger final and that will decide who faces Hurricanes for the title.