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After Royal Challengers Bangalore ambled to their second sub-hundred total and lost by 61 runs, a visibly disconsolate captain Virat Kohli conceded that his team lost the game rather than Rising Pune Supergiant winning it.”I think it is everyone for see. We lost that game. It is hard for a captain to stand here and speak after performances like these,” Kohli said after the side’s third successive loss. “But, [I have] got to embrace it, got to take it in the journey, take it in my stride and move forward and learn from these kind of games, these kind of days.”We are just not getting good performances together. It is lack of intent, guys fearful of getting out and failing and that’s never a good feeling. So, that’s all it boils down to. We lost the game rather than them winning it.Royal Challengers barely escaped being bowled out for the third game in a row after totals of 49 and 134 in their last two completed games. With the exception of Kohli – he made 55 of the team’s total of 96 for 9 – the other batsmen finished with single digits. Royal Challengers were on 49 for 5 at one stage and didn’t strike a single six until the 17th over. Kohli couldn’t point to any specific reason as to how how a batting line-up consisting of himself, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle could fail continuously.”Could be a few reasons, could be expectations, could be even looking at our side,” Kohli said. “We made the playoffs last year, good batting line-up, so all kinds of things play in your head. You can’t really pinpoint something unless you know as an individual. It could be hesitation to get out, hesitation to get runs, all those sort of things as batsmen, you know, they can creep in very quickly.”Mathematically, Royal Challengers could still make the playoffs, but Kohli didn’t rate their chances too highly. “We are almost not in the race for the playoffs now, pretty much All we can do now is just enjoy the four games,” he said. “Not worry about failing, not worry about not getting runs and just go out there and express ourselves.”Coach Daniel Vettori reiterated Kohli’s statements on staying focused for the next four games. “There are still four more games to go and they are really important for the pride of the franchise,” Vettori said. “We travel to Mumbai tomorrow. We need to play well there.”Vettori was pleased that Royal Challengers’ bowlers had restricted Rising Pune to 157. He was particularly appreciative of Pawan Negi, who conceded only 18 runs in his four overs and picked up Rahul Tripathi’s wicket. “Our bowling performances throughout the season have been exceptional. A real improvement from where we were last year and some of that is down to the wickets we have played on,” Vettori said.When asked about the batting failures, Vettori admitted that they had a different batting line-up in mind at the start of the season, but injuries to KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan forced a rethink in strategy. “A number of guys I suppose, aren’t in the form expected of them,” Vettori said. “Virat has led us exceptionally well, not only with the captaincy but with his batting. The group knows where we haven’t performed, that’s what we need to rectify.”Rising Pune, on the other, had no problems with either fear of failure or expressing themselves, as they completed their fourth win in five games. While lauding his team’s “complete” performance, captain Steve Smith singled out pacer Lockie Ferguson for doing everything asked of him.Ferguson, playing only his second game, finished with figures of 2 for 7 in four overs, including the wicket of de Villiers. “That’s a magnificent effort, isn’t it?” Smith said. “Three overs of dot balls from Lockie, hit good lengths and bowled good bouncers as well. He is an exciting player for the future.”Smith, however, admitted Rising Pune didn’t get the runs they were looking for. “We didn’t know what was enough at the halfway point, to be fair. The wicket was a little bit slow and obviously Bangalore players have some quality plyers in their line-up. I thought we came out and bowled really well. We executed our plans really well tonight.”

Mark Robinson, England’s head coach, has praised the professional manner in which his new-look squad has built towards this summer’s Women’s World Cup, and believes they are entering the right frame of mind to manage the expectation that will come with being the host nation at cricket’s oldest global event.England will not go into the World Cup as favourites – that is the top-to-bottom message from the squad as they begin the countdown to their opening fixture, against India at Derby on June 24. But, after a year of dramatic upheaval in 2016 that centred around the enforced retirement of Charlotte Edwards, Robinson feels that the squad’s ambitions have been recalibrated and their professionalism renewed ahead of what promises to be a defining year.”There’s nothing bigger than a World Cup in England, so I’m feeling that excitement and so are the girls,” Robinson told ESPNcricinfo during the launch event at Lord’s. “This is one of the reasons why I came to do this job, to take part in the big global events.

Taylor could yet return for World Cup

Mark Robinson says that Sarah Taylor has not yet given up hope playing a part in England’s World Cup campaign, despite missing much of the past year while battling anxiety issues.
Taylor, 27, is arguably England’s most talented female cricketer, and retained her ECB contract this winter while undergoing treatment, having not played since England’s World T20 exit last March.
“There is hope,” said Robinson. “It’s her dream to get back and playing. She’s done really well, I suppose the most important thing is that she gets fitter and feels well again as a person, but she’s working hard on both.
“She’s back in training, and everything we do is a graduated level of return. Sometimes she’s in and has to pull herself out slightly again as her progression continues towards that dream.
“Whether she makes the World Cup or it’s a bit too early, remains to be seen, but at the moment she’s back, she’s training and we are doing it step by step with her.”

“The goal is to get back to being the No.1 country in the world. We’re not there yet, but we’ve made some big strides and big improvements, and this will be a big test to see how far we’ve come this summer.”Twelve months ago, the challenge awaiting England’s women was made abundantly clear as Australia dumped them out of the World T20 with a five-run victory in their semi-final in Delhi. Though the margin may have been tight, the gulf between the teams was not, and in a remarkable post-match press conference that effectively marked the end of Edwards’ decade-long reign as captain, Robinson blamed their shortcomings on an inability to run sufficiently quickly between the wickets.”The fitness should be a non-negotiable,” Robinson said. “It shouldn’t be an issue that you have to talk about as an England coach, so hopefully we’ve addressed that. There’s still some room to go, and there always will be to a degree, but we’ve made such a big shift.”Now, with Heather Knight installed as Edwards’ replacement as captain, England are unbeaten in four series to date (three in ODIs and one T20) during which time many of the players who could help them challenge once again for major honours have been identified.At the top of the order, Lauren Winfield and Tammy Beaumont have emerged as a dynamic and record-breaking opening partnership, Nat Sciver has blossomed to become one of the leading allrounders in the world, while Alex Hartley’s emerging left-arm spin was a critical factor in a hard-earned 3-2 series win in the Caribbean in October.”We went to the West Indies for a tough series in incredibly tough conditions and our fitness stood up, so that’s all you want as a coach,” said Robinson. “We’ve won, and won in a style that probably hasn’t been seen before. We’ve made some really good progress, all we can do is keeping having attention to detail on the little things and see where it goes. Embrace the expectation, but manage it at the same time. Don’t live with any challenges that you might regret down the line.”Lauren Winfield’s hunger to succeed has helped propel England’s regeneration•Getty Images

One of the key moments of England’s regeneration came against Pakistan at Worcester in June, during Knight’s second match in charge. As if primed to produce a statement of intent, Winfield led the line with a career-best 123, adding a record 235 with Beaumont, before Sciver applied the coup de grace with a remarkable 80 from 33 balls. England finished on 378 for 5, their highest ODI total of all time, and set themselves a template for the season to come.”It’s about trying to let them go, and let them understand they are allowed to make mistakes,” Robinson said. “Heather is a young player at 26, her best years are ahead of her, and that is exciting. It’s about not thinking of the burden and worrying that ‘if I don’t get these runs, we’ve lost’. And that is the case for all of our batting line-up.”Winfield’s opportunities had been distinctly limited in the previous regime. In 29 appearances spread over three years, she had mustered a solitary half-century in a T20 at Edgbaston, and played no part in the World T20 after yo-yoing up and down the batting order in both forms of white-ball cricket.”In the previous era, there was probably talk of the team relying on one or two players and if those players failed then we generally failed,” she said. “I don’t think there was extra motivation in terms of wanting to perform, but we were hugely excited about the opportunity. Myself and Tammy had been in and out of the team in various different positions at the top and in the middle of the order, and we finally got an opportunity to do the role we’d always wanted to do.”As a team it was important not just to win, but to really heavily dominate, and we managed to do that. We were convincing and showed the world what we can do.”We’ve got the foundations and performances under our belts now that give us confidence and belief that we belong in the arena which, to be honest, when you’re in and out a lot, you don’t have that. You go in and tell yourself you’re confident, but it’s a little bit false. Once you’ve got a few performances under your belt, it’s more instilled and the belief is really there.”Winfield epitomises the more hardened professional edge that Robinson has brought to the England regime in the past few months. “Something we are striving towards as a team is being the best possible athletes that we can be,” she said. “And if we do that, we’ve got half a chance of being pretty good cricketers as well.”A talking point for a number of years has been our fielding,” she added. “The game has moved on, and the gaps are not as big between the teams now. If you have ten runs between a win or a loss, then that special catch or that boundary save, or that over where you are up and down for twos, is crucial.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:36

‘Our attitude made the difference’ – Mendis

A day after their bid for a victory was thwarted by Netherlands’ Roelof van der Merwe, Oman thumped Hong Kong in emphatic style, bowling them out for 87 and chasing the target down in 11 overs. Having put Hong Kong in to bat, Oman had them four-down inside the Powerplay and eventually bowled them out in 18.3 overs. A win over Scotland in their final Group B match will virtually guarantee Oman a place in the semi-finals thanks to a dramatic boost to their net run rate during today’s speedy victory.Left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed struck off the third ball of Hong Kong’s defence but Oman were untroubled thereon as Zeeshan Maqsood and Aqib Ilyas reached 41 for 2 after six overs. Forced to stay aggressive with their field settings in a desperate bid to bowl Oman out, Hong Kong left the boundary exposed with only one man at deep square leg guarding the rope. Hong Kong could only prise out one more wicket though as Aqib peppered the rope, finishing with ten fours and a six in his unbeaten 56 off 30 balls.Bilal’s burst
One day after a double-strike in his opening over against Netherlands, left-arm fast bowler Bilal Khan continued his impressive showing with the new ball. Bilal benefited in the first over as Nizakat Khan exposed his stumps and was bowled around his legs. Babar Hayat, however, was set up brilliantly by the bowler. After offering some width that Hayat seized on for a boundary, Bilal bowled a full inswinger next ball that the batsman was late on for an easy lbw decision.Bilal found late movement to nab Anshuman Rath in the fifth over, with a delivery that jagged away as Rath attempted to run the ball to third man, only to give an edge behind. When Aizaz Khan became the fourth Hong Kong wicket in the Powerplay, Oman gained a stranglehold that they never relinquished.Comeback kid
Seamer Kaleemullah took some punishment in the second over from Aizaz, being hit for three boundaries through cover, midwicket and down the track. In the bowler’s next over, Rath made it a fourth, with a drive over mid-off as Kaleemullah was punished for bowling too full. Brought back in the 12th over, with Hong Kong six-down, he found a better length by dragging it back slightly. Ehsan Khan was pinned in front with the second ball of his new spell and, after a cracker first up, Ehsan Nawaz, found the edge on a delivery teasing the fourth-stump line in the double-wicket maiden over. The wickets effectively wiped out Hong Kong’s chances of mounting a fightback.Aqib’s off-side show
Coming in to bat after the fall of Arun Poulose in the first over, Aqib showed a liking for spin-bowling as he carted Nadeem for two fours and six over long-on in the fifth over. He provided even better entertainment through the off side, however, in the 11th over against offspinner Ehsan Khan.A small target and a packed infield gave Aqib a license to thrill. With 17 left to win at the start of the second half of the innings, he lofted Ehsan over mid-off and then backed it up with a pair of sumptuous drives through point and cover for a trifecta of fours. He was back on strike for the final ball of the over and sealed victory with another delightful drive through wide mid-off. Batting has been Oman’s main weakness, as they have struggled to find someone to provide consistent support to Maqsood. They may have found the solution in Aqib.

A rollicking hundred from Kedar Jadhav and a near-hundred from Naushad Shaikh led Maharashtra to 352 for 5, at nearly four runs an over, against Assam at the IIT-Chemplast ground in Chennai. Having chosen to bat, Maharashtra made a solid start through their captain Swapnil Gugale, who added 54 for the first wicket with Murtaza Trunkwala and 29 for the second with Shaikh before falling for 50 off 81 balls (8×4). Jadhav entered the scene and dominated the bowling, scoring 115 off just 106 balls, with 15 fours and three sixes, and adding 183 for the third wicket with Shaikh before falling to the left-arm spinner and local boy J Syed Mohammad.Shaikh and Ankit Bawne then put on 59 for the fourth wicket before both fell for the addition of only two runs to Maharashtra’s score. Shaikh fell for 97, having faced 163 balls and struck 12 fours, while Bawne went for 38. Chirag Khurana and Vishant More saw out the remaining 12.5 overs of the day, adding 25 runs in that time.Amitkumar Gautam played a lone hand, scoring a century while the rest of the batting crumbled around him, as Rajasthan folded for 238 against Delhi in Wayanad. Only two other batsmen passed 20 – Salman Khan scored 31 at No. 6, and Deepak Chahar 47 at No. 8 – as Rajasthan, sent in to bat, stumbled against seamers Sumit Narwal, Navdeep Saini and Vikas Tokas, who shared the first eight wickets. Gautam was seventh out for 106, having faced 182 balls and hit 15 fours and two sixes. Left-arm spinner Manan Sharma took the last two wickets as Rajasthan were bowled out in 71.3 overs.Having recovered from the thumb injury that had kept him out of action since India’s second Test against New Zealand, Shikhar Dhawan made a solid start to his comeback, scoring an unbeaten 29 off 39 balls to drive Delhi to 37 for no loss at stumps. Gautam Gambhir, released from India’s squad after the first Test against England, was batting on 6 off 28 at the other end.Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan returned to the Delhi side after national duty and injury respectively•PTI

Basant Mohanty’s 3 for 46 led Odisha‘s bowling effort against group toppers Karnataka, who folded for 179 after being sent in to bat at the Palam Sports Complex in Delhi. Karnataka struck back thereafter, leaving Odisha 42 for 2 at stumps.Karnataka made a reasonable start to the day, with R Samarth and Robin Uthappa putting on 52 for the second wicket, but gave Odisha an opening by losing both their openers to run-outs. Samarth and Uthappa fell in the space of three balls, the latter out to Alok Mangaraj’s medium-pace, and Karnataka never really recovered, despite an 84-ball 54 (8×4) from their wicketkeeper CM Gautam, who was last out in the 67th over.A hundred from Sheldon Jackson and 78 from Chirag Jani lifted Saurashtra to 301 on a closely fought first day against fellow strugglers Vidarbha at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Sent in to bat, Saurashtra were rocked by the medium-pace of Rajneesh Gurbani, who took three of the first four wickets to leave them 101 for 4. Jackson, who had come in at No. 4, stabilised the innings, putting on 66 for the fifth wicket with Prerak Mankad (28) and 60 for the sixth with Jani before becoming Gurbani’s fourth victim for 116 (149b, 15×4, 2×6). Gurbani would go on to finish with figures of 4 for 85.Including Jackson, Vidarbha picked up three wickets for 11 runs to leave Saurashtra 238 for 8, before Jani and Vandit Jivranjani added 53 for the ninth wicket. Jani was ninth out for 78 off 117 balls (11×4, 1×6). Jivranjani ended not out on 5 off 38 balls as Saurashtra lost their last wicket at the start of the 87th over. Left just one over to survive until stumps, Vidarbha ended the day 4 for no loss.

Sharjeel Khan, the opening batsman, has earned a maiden call-up to the Pakistan Test squad for the tour of New Zealand.Sharjeel, 27, has been a regular presence for Pakistan at the top of the order in limited-overs cricket in 2016, having scored a bruising 152 off 86 balls against Ireland in August.Sharjeel has 4853 first-class runs at an average of 37.91 with 11 hundreds and 21 fifties. He came into contention for Test cricket after scoring 96 and 82 not out in successive innings in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

Pakistan’s 16-man Test squad

Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan
In: Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Rizwan
Out: Zulfiqar Babar

Another uncapped player was among the 16 that were chosen, middle-order batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who was with the team in England in July 2016, but was left out for the subsequent Tests against West Indies in the UAE.Zulfiqar Babar was dropped. With neither Christchurch nor Hamilton – the venues for the two Tests against New Zealand – known for producing turning pitches, Pakistan were content to partner Yasir Shah with left-arm spinning allrounder Mohammad Nawaz, who made his debut in Pakistan’s first day-night Test earlier this month; his first-class credentials include three centuries and 49 wickets from 31 matches. Zulfiqar, though the better bowler stats-wise, only averages 16 with the bat in first-class cricket.Pakistan have tried six opening combinations since the start of 2015, including playing the final Test of the England tour and the entire West Indies series with only one specialist – Sami Aslam, who has been retained. Azhar Ali was promoted up the order and scored his maiden triple-century from that position in October. But with Sharjeel – who has opened the batting in all but two of his 76 first-class matches – coming into the squad, Azhar could return to his usual No. 3 position.Younis Khan, captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq – touted as one of Pakistan’s most technically proficient batsmen – and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed make for a strong middle order. There is also Babar Azam, who made his Test debut in October following three successive ODI centuries.On the fast bowling front, Pakistan have three left-arm quicks in Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Rahat Ali, to go with right-arm seamers Sohail Khan and Imran Khan.

India’s Test captain Virat Kohli hailed R Ashwin’s impact and Ravindra Jadeja’s relentlessness after India’s 197-run win over New Zealand in the series and season opener in Kanpur. For a while now Ashwin has hovered around the top in the ICC bowlers’ rankings, trading it with Dale Steyn and James Anderson. He is the top-ranked Test allrounder. In India’s win he took 10 wickets for 225, including a six-for in the second innings. Jadeja, on the other hand, took a five-for in New Zealand’s first innings, scored 42 crucial runs with the tail in India’s first-innings and a quick half-century to set up a declaration in the second.”Ashwin has been outstanding for the Indian team,” Kohli said. “If you see all the impact players in the world, he comes in the top three-four easily. There are quite a few players making big impact for their respective sides, especially bowlers. Bowlers are the ones I feel that win you Test matches, and Ashwin is one of them. The rankings – I’m not a big fan of them – suggest that Ashwin is the best at the moment.”There’s no doubt that he’s been bowling wonderfully well for the last couple of years. He works very hard on his game. He’s a very keen thinker of the game. He likes to talk cricket. He understands the game very well, [he’s a] very smart cricketer, very intelligent. That shows in his batting as well. He understands the situation and plays accordingly. He knows when to get runs and when to play the situation out. So it’s priceless to have a cricketer like Ashwin in your Test team. He gives balance with both bat and ball. I would wish him all the best that he keeps nurturing his skill so that we can keep dominating Test matches and keep winning Test matches as much as we can.”With the quality of bowlers Kohli had at his disposal, he was confident New Zealand didn’t stand a chance to defend their way out for a draw on the final day. The visitors had lost four wickets on Sunday evening and resumed the final day on a score of 93 for 4 facing a target of 434.”Having batted on that wicket, and all the batsmen will vouch for this, you could not have defended your way out of the game,” Kohli said. “On a wicket that spins and bounces, you need to put the bowler under pressure. It is not so much as releasing your own pressure but it’s more to put the bowler under pressure and disrupt his lines and lengths. That’s a strategy all batsmen will use on a wicket like this.”It’s very similar to a seaming wicket as well. Whenever you get the opportunity you want to get a boundary and put the bowler under pressure [and tell him] that he cannot make a mistake. We knew that it was impossible for them to be defending all day, and we knew that the one odd chance will come. That’s all you look forward to. You have to be optimistic and have to be positive in that particular phase when a partnership is going.”The team’s confidence in Ashwin and Jadeja let India play with only four bowlers, Kohli said. “Well obviously if you have a bowler of his quality, along with Jadeja who is so accurate…” Kohli said. “We know Kolkata is a much better batting wicket, so we can afford to maybe play an extra bowler there, you never know. But a place where it will help the two quality spinners that we have, and reverse swing coming into play as well – you know two crucial wickets by Mohammed Shami in the second innings, first breakthrough by Umesh Yadav in the first – it makes a massive difference. Those things are also very important moments in the game.”You obviously have to strengthen your batting on a wicket that might go 50-50. You never know, the game can slip away very quickly. And the extra batsman helped. I mean Rohit got runs in the second innings, pretty solid with Jadeja. Both were able to play positively, and gave us an hour extra to bowl at them. Maybe we would have otherwise declared with our tail-enders batting one hour after tea. But that gave us the whole session yesterday and we got four wickets. So that makes quite a bit of difference. Again, having intelligent people in the change room obviously helps you make better decisions as you go on. You understand the game much more, you understand the combinations much better and you can afford to take smart decisions according to the wicket that you’re playing on.”Apart from possibly playing an extra bowler, India could make a change at the top of the order for the Test in Kolkata, which starts from September 30. After he was dismissed in the second innings, KL Rahul played no further part in the Kanpur Test due to a hamstring strain. Soon after the match, Shikhar Dhawan, the reserve opener, was seen having a lot practice session on the centre track. That could be a sign.

Misbah-ul-Haq has admitted his batsmen did not have “any clue” how to handle the reverse swing generated by the England bowlers on the final day at Edgbaston.Pakistan lost four wickets for one run in mid-afternoon as England’s seamers transformed conditions that Misbah described as “easy” before lunch to those which they “could not handle”.It lead Misbah to suggest, with tongue in cheek, that Pakistan might have to think about sending their young bowlers to England to learn how to master the art of reverse swinging the ball; an irony considering it was Pakistan bowlers who perfected the art and England, for many years, were tortured by it.”Until lunch it was easy,” Misbah said. “But after lunch they got it reversing and we were not having any clue. We were trying to cope with it, but we could not handle it.”Anderson and Broad are used to these conditions. They are really experienced. Full credit to England for the way they fought back after we had a lead of more than 100.”I think we’ll just have to send someone to learn from England now how they’re reversing this ball. We could not do it even on the fourth day. I think they are really doing it well.”While Alastair Cook rated the victory as one of his most pleasing as England captain, he dismissed the possibility that England could reach No. 1 in the Test rankings over the next few weeks as “an irrelevance.”It is possible that, if England win the final Test and India do not win against West Indies, that England could reach the top spot. But Cook feels his side are still a couple of years from their peak and seems to regard the landmark as something of a distraction at present.”If we become number one there, that’s fantastic,” Cook said. “But it will be a bit of an irrelevance, because this side has still got much further to go.”If we do win at The Oval, I wouldn’t say we are anywhere near our potential. I thought that might come in a couple of years’ time.”Cook was especially pleased by the nature of the win bearing in mind that nobody in his side scored a century or claimed a five-wicket haul. Instead it was an impressive team performance with all five of his frontline bowlers claiming two wickets in the second innings – including Steven Finn, who bowled with hostility and claimed his first wickets of the series – while all seven batsmen contributed decent scores. England were not reliant on one or two outstanding individuals.”Everyone will be in the dressing-room feeling proud to be part of the team and feeling like they contributed,” Cook said. “That doesn’t always happen.”In an absolutely ideal world, I thought there were hundreds left out there. But everyone responded, and I think this side might have just toughened up a little bit. It was hard in the second innings. We weren’t scoring any runs, but everyone dug in.”But Cook refuted Misbah’s suggestion that the reverse swing was lavish and instead suggested it was his bowlers’ skill that magnified the small amount of assistance they gained.”We bowled brilliantly,” he said. “It reverse-swung a little bit. I don’t think it did it massively. It just did enough and if it does a bit either way, Jimmy and Stuart are very good.”Misbah could at least take some consolation in the emergence of Sami Aslam. The 20-year-old responded to his surprise call-up – this was his first first-class game of the year – by scoring 152 runs in the match and looking a player with the technique and temperament to enjoy a long career at this level.But he admitted the balance of the Pakistan side – with just four bowlers carrying a heavy burden – was putting them at a disadvantage and highlighted England’s all-rounders as a key difference between the sides”Sami looks a compact player and has shown great temperament,” Misbah said. “I am happy that he did well against such type of bowling: experienced bowlers in their own conditions. The way he handled the pressure was good to see. It’s good to find this sort of opener for Pakistan.”But having just four bowlers is a problem. We used to have Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik who could bowl, but here we don’t have that option now.”England have Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes. Here Yasir Shah carries a tremendous load and this is a problem for us.”

New Zealand cricket’s core has become so keenly introspective that neither the exclusion of AB de Villiers nor the inclusion of Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander to South Africa’s Test XI will affect their approach to the upcoming series. Or so they say.”It doesn’t change the way we approach this match. We want to focus on how we play our best cricket,” New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said. “Any team that did have AB de Villiers and now doesn’t, it’s not a great thing for them. He’s the best player in the world so for them it’s a bit of a loss but at the same time they’ve got a lot of depth. There’s so much talent in this country. Whatever team they pick will be a good team.”In reality, the personnel New Zealand are up against will very much determine their strategy. They will know that the batting line-up – which includes two senior players in Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy who were both dropped last season – can be broken through more easily without de Villiers. They will also know that it will not give way like Zimbabwe’s did, when all it took was one short-ball barrage in the first Test and a fair amount of persistence in the second.In Zimbabwe, New Zealand had to rely on “more creative bowling to try to manufacture wickets on a surface that was very tough to take wickets on,” as Williamson put it. In South Africa, there will be some assistance but whether it will come in the form of swing through the humid air or turn from an early-season surface is yet to be seen. That means New Zealand will have to showcase more skill than they did in Zimbabwe but it also means South Africa will have to do the same. “We know South Africa have a very good seam attack and are well balanced in the bowling department,” Williamson said.Among South Africa’s six seam-bowling options are swing, seam, and left-arm bowlers who will be far more challenging than the more one-dimensional pack Zimbabwe fielded. New Zealand dealt with mostly medium-pace and part-time bowlers in Bulawayo with respect and only pushed on when they were looking for a second-innings declaration that would give them enough time to win the match. But in so doing, they showed how they plan an attack.South Africa should heed that. For all New Zealand’s downplaying of their higher ranking – Williamson insisted they “don’t pay too much attention,” to the Test charts – their steady improvement as a unit means they are confident enough not to simply follow the opposition’s lead but to set the tone in a Test match. “We know when we play our best cricket, we can beat anyone,” Williamson said.Now that anyone could be South Africa – a team New Zealand have never recorded a series win against – at a place where New Zealand have only won three Tests, one since readmission and none in Durban. If New Zealand are serious about showing how much they have improved as a Test side and how little the reputations of the opposition matter to their own game, this is their chance and Williamson has indicated the want to take it. “I don’t think we regard ourselves as favourites. We know that South Africa are always a strong opposition, regardless of the rankings. You are constantly playing in different conditions and different countries all the time so adapting is part of the international game. For us the focus is on playing our cricket”

ScorecardDaniel Bell-Drummond breathed life into Kent’s T20 season•Getty Images

There were no press-ups on the square but Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond threw off his helmet and leapt, punching the air after his unbeaten 112 eased Spitfires to an eight-wicket NatWest T20 Blast win over Surrey in Tunbridge Wells.The former Millfield School and England Under-19 opener captivated a 5,000 sell-out crowd at the Royal Spa Town venue with a maiden List A hundred that helped post Kent’s sixth south group win and kept his side’s qualification hopes alive.Bell-Drummond dedicated his innings to Michael Carberry, the Hampshire batsman facing a battle with cancer who mentored him during his youth.He said: “To play like that after three weeks out through injury was amazing, it was beyond my wildest dreams. I started the week seeing a specialist about my thumb injury and ended it scoring my maiden T20 hundred. It was a brilliant feeling.”I’ve missed playing but hopefully that knock showed the hunger I have. I’m feeling a lot fresher than the rest of the lads because they’ve been toiling in the dirt while I’ve been trying to shake off this injury. We had training yesterday and I stayed behind for an extra session because I felt a little undercooked, needless to say, the other guys were thinking ‘there’s no need for that’.”Needing 181 for victory at an asking rate of 9.1 an over for victory, Kent made a miserable start when Joe Denly went for a first ball duck when playing back to Sam Curran’s second ball of the night.In his first game back and having been sidelined for three weeks with a hand injury, Bell-Drummond took up the attack, cleverly using the pace of the ball to steer the ball to all parts.The right-hander might have gone for 31 when Tom Curran downed a leg-side clip at mid-wicket, but he cashed in by lofting a straight six later in Jade Dernbach’s over as Kent reached 57 for one in their powerplay.Sam Northeast then launched a leg-side six off Zafar Ansari as he and Bell-Drummond eased to a second-wicket record in matches against Surrey beating the 92 set by Rob Key and Martin van Jaarsveld at The Oval in 2009.Bell-Drummond raised his 50 from 28 balls, Northeast needed 32 to reach the same milestone with four fours and two sixes and the records continued as the pair posted Kent’s highest second-wicket T20 stand against any county, beating the 135 raised by Denly and Azhar Mahmood against Gloucestershire at Beckenham in 2011, which had been equalled in 2014 by Rob Key and Northeast against Somerset in Canterbury.The fun ended when Northeast (57) went back to cut Ansari only to edge to the keeper, but their partnership of 151 had eclipsed, by one run, Kent’s record T20 stand for any wicket against all counties set by Bell-Drummond and Denly against Somerset in May.Bell-Drummond – who also posted his 1,000th T20 career run during the innings – marched on to his maiden limited overs hundred by pulling his 58th delivery from Gareth Batty through mid-wicket for his 14th four.With three needed off the final over, Bell-Drummond lent on his bat with 112 to his name at the non-striker’s end to watch Sam Billings clip the winning boundary with two balls to spare.At the start of the night Jason Roy gave Surrey a flying start after they chose to bat only for Kent’s wily bowling attack to claw back the run rate in the middle overs and restrict them to 180 for eight.Roy plundered an early boundary off Darren Stevens then a hat-trick of sixes off the first over of the night by Kagiso Rabada, the second of which caused a stir in the CAMRA real ale marquee.Dominating the strike, Roy raced to a 28 ball 50 with five fours and four maximums, but miscued the next ball from Stevens to Rabada at mid-off.Starved of the strike, Aaron Finch (7) made a desperate attempt to clear the ropes against David Griffiths only to pick out Rabada at deep mid-wicket as Surrey ended their powerplay overs on 69 for two.James Tredwell came on at the Pavilion End and saw his first delivery sail out of the park, but the shrewd off-spinner barely put a foot wrong thereafter turning the innings on its head with a four-over stint of three for 32.Tredwell held one back to deceive and bowl Tom Curran (12) then Steven Davies (23) yorked himself when trying to advance down the pitch to make it 108 for four.Lured by the short, straight boundary Dominic Sibley (14) also marched down the pitch heaving at Tredwell only to be stumped by Sam Billings.Having conceded 21 off his opening over, Rabada – the 21-year-old South Africa firebrand, returned with his dander up to york Rory Burns (10) and concede only 10 runs off his final three overs.With Surrey’s run rate plummeting Chris Morris (25) called for a second run to deep mid-wicket and was run out by Adam Ball’s throw from the deep then, in the final over, Sam Curran (19) was bowled by Mitch Claydon a Surrey fell well short of their anticipated total.

Former India captain Anil Kumble has been appointed coach of the national side for one year, the BCCI announced on Thursday. His first assignment will be India’s four-Test tour of the West Indies.The question of who would take over as India coach has been a talking point since Ravi Shastri’s tenure as team director ended after the World T20. Some of the uncertainty was addressed when Anurag Thakur, after his appointment as BCCI president, said the vacancy would be filled before the Tests in the Caribbean.The BCCI put out an advertisement for a new coach in the first week of June and received 57 applications, including Kumble’s. However, it appears he was not among the 21 names shortlisted by the BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke’s office. The Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, assigned to pick India’s next coach asked for Kumble’s name to be included, at which point he became an instant favourite.The committee interviewed Kumble and a handful of other candidates in Kolkata on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, they made their recommendations to the BCCI. Thakur, along with Shirke, made the final call.”The CAC recommended a few names to the BCCI. After discussions with various stakeholders, we have taken the final call that for next one year Anil Kumble will be the head coach.” Thakur said at a media briefing in Dharamsala. He added the support staff would be appointed after consulting with Kumble.Kumble applying for the job was a surprise to many in the BCCI, considering he has not coached a cricket team before. The BCCI had preferred their candidates to have had that experience, but his pedigree as a player and two stints as mentor in the IPL worked in Kumble’s favour.The BCCI offered Kumble a one-year term to help him acclimatise to the job better and to give themselves the cushion to reassess if needed.”As for the one-year period, Kumble is now transforming himself from being a great on the cricketing field to probably becoming a great coach that we expect him to be. That transition has to be smooth. This is professional appointment. All professional appointments try to cover all bases. Therefore that is the reason we want to be able to be in a position to review our options should there be any need. I am confident that we will not have that need to address that need. That is the exact reason behind the one-year appointment.”A senior official privy to the selection process said a long-term contract was not a viable option considering the lengthy interval between now and the next World Cup in 2019. But he felt Kumble was in “the driver’s seat” to prove his credentials.”We have 13 Tests at home and then there is the Champions Trophy next year,” the insider said. “He is now in the driver’s seat. We have given him the keys and he has to now prove himself.”Kumble’s lack of experience is made up for by his standing as a player and captain in an 18-year-long international career. He finished as India’s highest wicket-taker in Tests, and the third-highest overall, with 619 wickets, including a best of 10 for 74 against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999.After being appointed Test captain in November 2007, he led India in 14 matches, winning three, losing five and drawing six, until his retirement a year later. Among his notable victories as captain was the Perth Test in January 2008, which was played after the controversial Sydney Test where, among other issues, India faced allegations of racism from the Australia side.Kumble is the first Indian to be appointed full-time India coach since Kapil Dev resigned in September 2000.According to Shirke, there were four overseas candidates who had made the shortlist of 21, including Tom Moody and Andy Moles, who, it is understood, were among those interviewed by the in Kolkata.”It’s not about Indian or foreign coach,” Thakur said. “There was no such limitation that we have to look for only Indian coach. We wanted the best for Indian team. We deserve the best. We have Anil Kumble with us. He has been a match-winner for India.”There has been speculation that the delay in choosing India’s head coach – the appointment was expected on Wednesday, but a subsequent BCCI press release said some “finer points” needed to be discussed – was the result of the Cricket Advisory Committee being unable to contact India’s Test captain Virat Kohli for his inputs.Without confirming as much, Thakur said that various “stakeholders” had been consulted.”The CAC looked into all applications. They have shortlisted few names which were suggested to the BCCI. When the names came to us we discussed with other stakeholders in the board, in the team and then you finally take a call on the various experiences [of the candidates]. All of the shortlisted names worked with various teams, in IPL, in various cricket boards, as well as the state units. So you take feedback not only from one sector, you take feedback from all stakeholders. We have taken little more time, but we wanted to be more transparent and wanted to pick the best.”Kumble has also served in administrative roles since his retirement. He was elected president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association in November 2010, served as chairman of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and also headed the BCCI’s technical committee from 2012 to 2015.