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Kieron Pollard, the West Indians’ stand-in captain for the warm-up game, has said the new fielding restrictions in ODIs were challenging for bowlers and captains

Mohammad Isam in Khulna28-Nov-2012Kieron Pollard, the West Indians’ stand-in captain for the warm-up game against BCB XI in Khulna, has said the new playing conditions for fielding restrictions in ODIs were challenging for bowlers and captains. West Indies and Bangladesh will be the third and fourth teams to experience the amended playing conditions when they begin the five-ODI series on November 30.”It was very challenging,” Pollard said, after winning the warm-up match with the new playing conditions. “The bowlers have to mind their Ps and Qs. They can’t let it stray because there are not many guys outside [the circle].”Having said that, the rules have been set and players have to just follow, so I think it is something that we have to get used to. I hope we can get the right combination and have the right tactics to counter the restrictions.”Under the new conditions, only two fielders will be allowed outside the 30-yard circle in the first ten overs, and three during the Powerplay. At other times, a maximum of four fielders can be placed outside the circle, a reduction from the earlier five.The one-day series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand earlier this month was the first with the new restrictions and Mahela Jayawardene said they were harsh on the spinners. That sentiment was shared by left-arm spinner Enamul Haque jnr, who played for BCB XI against West Indians and Bangladesh, and had to bowl without that extra fielder outside the circle for the first time in his career. Enamul took 3 for 31 and 0 for 58 in those games.”I think it is going to have a negative impact on Bangladesh’s cricket on the international stage,” Enamul told ESPNcricinfo. “We depend mainly on spinners but with this new rule it will become very difficult to cut out the runs. Today we conceded 12 boundaries from the one gap that couldn’t be filled during those non-Powerplay overs. I think these extra runs will hurt the chances of Bangladesh because of the higher number of spinners we usually pick in limited-overs cricket.”The introduction of two new balls in one-day internationals was supposed to be a disadvantage for bowling attacks like that of Bangladesh, which depend heavily on spin, but Enamul said it wasn’t as damaging as the new fielding restrictions.”Spinners have been more adaptable to the new balls than the fielding restrictions. What this new rule does is it takes out the security of an extra man in the deep,” he said. “The only thing to do is bowl as straight as possible and to think about using variations with a lot of accuracy. Otherwise runs will be leaked.”Pollard said the powerful batsmen in the West Indies line-up will enjoy the larger gaps in the outfield, but cautioned against playing over-ambitious shots. “It can be good and bad,” he said. “If you want to hit the ball outside, being too eager because of the four fielders, you can still find one of them. We have a lot of power-hitters so clearing the boundary and the ball falling in gaps is important for us. Hopefully we can capitalise on it until there’s any further changes.”I think captains will have a hard job in setting the fields and bowlers will have an even tougher job trying to restrict the batsmen. You’ll see a lot more 300-run games in place of the 270-280 games because of that extra guy inside.”

Anthony McGrath appears to have ensured his continued involvement
in Yorkshire’s Championship line-up after scoring a defiant century to bring his side back into their contest with Hampshire.

Myles Hodgson at Headingley18-May-2012
ScorecardAnthony McGrath’s Yorkshire career seemed in decline but a century against Hampshire and some useful bowling spells this season have given him new life•Getty Images

Had circumstances been different at the start of this summer, Anthony
McGrath may not have even featured in Yorkshire’s Championship
line-up, but he appears to have ensured his continued involvement
after scoring a defiant century to bring his side back into their
contest with Hampshire.Now 36, McGrath’s struggles for runs last season – when he scored only
one century and one half-century in 23 Championship innings – put him
under threat for his place at the start of this summer, particularly
after Yorkshire strengthened their batting by recruiting Australian
Phil Jaques during the winter.Rather than shirk from the challenge, McGrath has demonstrated his
versatility by claiming wickets and scoring 90 in Yorkshire’s recent
win against Leicestershire, and has now scored his first century since
last August to prevent Hampshire establishing control of the match.Without McGrath’s controlled contribution, Yorkshire would have been
facing a major first-innings deficit and the prospect of battling to
save the game on the final day. Instead, he helped prise 162 priceless
runs out of the final three wickets to enable a declaration 28 runs
adrift on 399 for 9.”Going into the season, we had plenty of batting options,” he said.
“It was always going to be tough on selection, so whoever played was
always going to have to get some runs. I failed early on at No 3 and
got pushed down to 6 or 7. I’ve felt really good all season, to be
honest, but it’s about getting runs on the board.”Yorkshire’s first target, batting under cloudy conditions, was to save
the follow on after resuming 178 runs away from making Hampshire bat
again. Although they enjoyed their share of good fortune with both
Gary Ballance and Jacques Rudolph edging through the slips during a
149-run stand, they appeared to have reached a position where they
could take control of the game.That position was undermined by the loss of four wickets either side
of lunch that left Yorkshire in danger of following on with a major
deficit. The experience of McGrath, playing 17 years to the day after
making his Yorkshire debut against Glamorgan at Bradford, in batting
with the lower order proved the key point of the day.Teaming up with Ryan Sidebottom 191 runs adrift, McGrath carefully
guided Yorkshire closer, firstly to the follow on target and then gave
them the opportunity to declare with 10 overs remaining, only for bad
light to halt proceedings with 2.4 overs unused. They enjoyed their
luck, with Sidebottom being dropped on 20 by James Tomlinson in his
delivery stride.McGrath also received a reprieve, missed on 61 by Simon Katich at slip
off Kabir Ali, but they added 84 for the eighth wicket before
Sidebottom edged Kabir behind. McGrath continued aggressively and hit Liam
Dawson’s left-arm spin for four and a straight six off successive
balls to take Yorkshire nearer saving the follow on.Once Steve Patterson edged Dawson to slip, leaving McGrath 16 short of
three figures as last man Iain Wardlaw arrived at the crease, he was
forced to adopt a more tactical approach and for the first time in his
four-hour innings he refused singles to keep the strike.The landmark, which included 14 fours and a six, was reached with a
two to cover off Dawson and marked with considerably less fuss than
the England captain at Lord’s – McGrath bent down, straightened his
pads and took off his helmet, before politely acknowledging the crowd’s
applause.”It’s been tough for everyone around the country to get runs,” McGrath said. “There are a few guys who have got 600 to 700 runs, but for
everybody else it’s been pretty sparse. You’ve got to fight it out and
have a bit of luck, like I did today, but when you get in you’ve got
to try and cash in.”I just want to play in the first team so I’m happy to play in any
position. It was a tough year last year as we all know, so I’m really enjoying it at the moment. It’s a satisfaction to reach three
figures with the troubles I had last year. I think the situation of
the game took away my thoughts of reaching a hundred though.”Hoping to bowl 10 overs at Hampshire before the close, Yorkshire were
only given 7.2 overs before bad light closed in, but enough time for Dawson to slap an Adil Rashid long hop straight to point to suggest there may be life in the game yet.

Perth Scorchers might have missed out on Chris Gayle but they have secured another international star after signing the South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs for the Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2011Perth Scorchers might have missed out on Chris Gayle but they have secured another international star after signing the South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs for the Big Bash League. On the second day of the tournament’s initial contract window, Perth had already named half their 18-man squad, with Gibbs and Michael Hussey the major new signings.Hobart Hurricanes also confirmed their first players, with the Pakistan allrounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan set to return to the city after previously playing Twenty20 cricket with Tasmania. Hobart also locked in the Tasmania pair of Tim Paine and Xavier Doherty, both of whom are Cricket Australia-contracted.The SCG-based Sydney Sixers signed the local allrounders Steven Smith and Moises Henriques, while South Australia’s Daniel Harris and Cameron Borgas will line up for Adelaide Strikers. Brisbane Heat added Chris Lynn and Nick Buchanan, two young Queensland players, to their squad, while Mitchell Marsh, Tom Beaton and Nathan Coulter-Nile will join Perth.But the biggest-name recruit on Friday was Gibbs, who will join his former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur, who is Perth’s mentor. Arthur said Gibbs, 37, who no longer plays for the South Africa national team, and Hussey, would be significant assets for Perth as they aimed to win the inaugural BBL title and qualify for the Champions League.”When recruiting international players you need to make sure these players bring outstanding qualities and add value to your set-up, and I firmly believe in Herschelle we have exactly that,” Arthur said. “I have known Herschelle for many years and have seen him destroy some of the best attacks in world cricket. I am looking forward to seeing him take to the KFC Big Bash League in a similar manner and I’m sure the Perth Scorcher’s fans will really warm to him.”Mike [Hussey] is a legend of Western Australia cricket and despite the fact we may not see him line up for Perth very often, we wanted to make sure he was not going anywhere else. If for any reason he has a chance to play more KFC Big Bash League matches than anticipated, we want to ensure he is doing it in the orange colours.”The squads so far
Adelaide Strikers Daniel Harris, Cameron Borgas
Brisbane Heat Nick Buchanan, Ryan Harris, Chris Lynn
Hobart Hurricanes Xavier Doherty, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Tim Paine
Melbourne Renegades No players yet
Melbourne Stars No players yet
Perth Scorchers Tom Beaton, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Herschelle Gibbs, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Luke Pomersbach
Sydney Sixers Moises Henriques, Steven Smith
Sydney Thunder Chris Gayle, David Warner

India’s bowlers backed up a strong performance from their batsmen to seal a 10-run win over West Indies in the fourth ODI in Rajkot

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2011India’s bowlers backed up a strong performance from their batsmen to seal a 10-run win over West Indies in the fourth ODI in Rajkot. The series is now tied at 2-2 with the final ODI to be played at the same venue on January 19.West Indies won the toss and elected to field on what looked like a good pitch for batting. The India openers Poonam Raut and Neha Tanwar started off slowly and India managed to reach only 38 runs in the 15th over before Tanwar was run out. That brought Mithali Raj to the crease and the tempo of the game changed. Raj looked in fine form as she carted the West Indies bowlers all over the park. She and Raut added 108 for the second wicket before Raut was dismissed for 63. Raj, however, continued in the same vein as she reached her century off 100 balls, the last 50 runs coming off just 34 balls. She was unbeaten on 106 as India reached 216 for 4 in their 50 overs.West Indies’ chase started off strongly as openers Stafanie Taylor and Julian Nero added 127 within 33 overs before they were run out in quick succession. That derailed the chase as the remaining batsmen failed to string together substantial partnerships. Shemaine Campbelle hit some big blows and West Indies were still in with a chance when they needed 13 runs off the last over. However, offspinner Diana David held her nerve to dismiss Campbelle and No. 10 Anisa Mohammed in the final over as West Indies were bowled out for 206.

Ellie Anderson three-for trumps Kate Cross’ hard-fought fifty for hosts

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay04-Sep-2025An impressive bowling display set Somerset up for an entertaining five-wicket DLS victory against high-flying Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford as they boosted their Metro Bank One-Day Cup semi-finals hopes.Sixth-placed Somerset restricted their second-placed hosts to 169 for nine from 44 overs and chased a revised 164 from the same allocation inside 35 for a bonus point.Ellie Anderson’s seam accounted for three wickets and Amanda-Jade Wellington’s leg-spin two before Niamh Holland and unbeaten Dani Gibson contributed 44 apiece to help secure a fifth win in 11 games. Wellington also added a steadying 25 not out to cap her impressive day.Inserted, Lancashire had been put under early pressure at 69 for seven inside 24 overs before England seamer Kate Cross’s composed 51 off 58 balls led a fightback which ultimately failed to prevent a fourth defeat in 11.Both sides maintained the group-table positions they held at the start of the day.This fixture was interrupted for just over an-hour-and-a-half by rain from 1.10pm onwards.The Red Rose made a disastrous start on an overcast and damp Manchester morning.Anderson – three for 44 from 10 overs – did the early damage with three of the first four wickets, including Ireland overseas batter Gaby Lewis superbly caught low down at cover by Holland for a debut eight.She also bowled Seren Smale and had Fi Morris caught at backward point following a sliced drive. The 21-year-old was bowling from the end named after her fellow Anderson, Sir James.Somerset let a few catches go begging, but none were too damaging.Australian Wellington’s spin then further tightened the screw.She had Ailsa Lister caught behind and a sweeping home captain Ellie Threlkeld caught at short fine-leg, finishing with an excellent two for 19 from 10 overs.But Cross and fellow England fast bowler Mahika Gaur calmly settled the ship with their side’s highest eighth-wicket partnership in List A cricket since the start of the professional era in 2020, including regional Thunder matches.Gaur contributed a determined career best 20, while Cross was more expansive. She was particularly strong against spin in hitting nine fours.It has been a bittersweet few weeks for Cross having been left out of England’s squad for the forthcoming World Cup before – on Sunday – winning the Hundred with the Northern Superchargers.Just after Gaur miscued the left-arm spin of Olivia Barnes to cover – 141 for eight in the 39th over – the rain came.Cross reached her fifty off 57 balls shortly after the resumption before heaving Mollie Robbins’ seam to deep midwicket. Robbins claimed the first and last wickets of the innings.Somerset made a stress-free start to their chase, with Holland and Bex Odgers sharing 64 inside 14 overs for the first wicket.The latter contributed 24 before falling lbw on the reverse sweep to the spin of Hannah Jones.And that was the start of a collapse which threatened their victory as the score slipped from 64 for none to 109 for five.Holland was caught behind off the seam of Danni Collins – 82 for two in the 19th over – before Fran Wilson and captain Sophie Luff both fell cheaply. Cross bowled the latter.But Gibson and Wellington steadied the ship and saw their side home by sharing 58 unbroken. Gibson hit four fours and a six in 36 balls.In the semi-finals race, Somerset are three points behind fourth-placed Surrey with three games remaining. Lancashire, meanwhile, are five points clear of Durham in fifth.

There will be a total of 74 matches played, 10 fewer than what was listed by the IPL in 2022 during the new media rights cycle

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Sep-2024There will be a total of 74 matches played in IPL 2025, the same as the last three seasons. That number, though, is ten less than the 84 matches listed by IPL in 2022 when the media rights for the 2023-27 cycle were sold.In the tender document for the new rights cycle, the IPL had listed a varying number of matches per season: ranging from 74 games each in 2023 and 2024, 84 matches each in 2025 and 2026, and a maximum of 94 matches for the final year of the deal in 2027. ESPNcricinfo has learned that one significant reason the IPL has decided not to have 84 matches in 2025 is to help the Indian international players manage their workload. India are currently favourites to make their third successive World Test Championship final, scheduled from June 11 at Lord’s, and the BCCI wants to ensure players get enough rest as part of their preparation if they qualify.Currently, the IPL dates for the 2025 season aren’t finalised yet but the window is likely to stretch between mid-March and last week of May. “We have not taken a call on organising 84 matches in IPL 2025 since we also have to factor the load on the players due to the increase in matches,” Jay Shah, the outgoing BCCI secretary, told the recently. “While it’s (84 matches) part of the contract, it’s up to the BCCI to decide whether to organise 74 or 84 matches.”Related

• The IPL was supposed to have been much longer by now. Why isn't it?

• IPL begins March 21 weekend; WPL to start from February 7

• IPL 2025 to begin on March 14; dates for next three seasons revealed

• Ponting appointed Punjab Kings head coach

• Rathour joins Rajasthan Royals as batting coach

In 2022, the IPL became one of the richest sporting leagues in the world (in terms of per match value) when the media rights were sold for INR 48,390.5 crore (USD 6.2 billion approx.). The rights had been sold across four packages: A (TV rights in the Indian subcontinent), B (digital rights in the subcontinent), C (digital rights in India to a special package of high-profile games – including the playoffs and the final – ranging between 18 and 22 per season) and D (global media rights across five separate regions).The total number of matches in a season, the IPL said, would also determine the number of matches in package C, also known as the special package. This package includes the tournament opener, weekend evening matches, and the four playoffs, including the final. While the opening match and the playoffs will be mandatory, the IPL will determine the number and which evening matches from the double-headers will be included in this package, based on the total number of games in a season.A season total of 74 matches (as was the case in 2023 and 2024) means the special package had 18 matches. If there are more than 74 matches in a season, then the special package matches will rise by two for every ten additional matches. So if there are 84 matches in a season, the special package matches will rise to 20 and if the tournament has 94 games, the special package will have 22 matches.

Perry suffered back spasms and was forced off the field during Australia’s win against South Africa

AAP24-Mar-2022Injured allrounder Ellyse Perry has been ruled out of Australia’s last World Cup group game against Bangladesh on Friday, but they expect her to be fit for next week’s semi-finals.Perry suffered back spasms and was forced from the field during Australia’s win against South Africa on Tuesday. Australia’s physiotherapist Kate Beerworth said Perry’s back is settling with treatment.”She won’t play tomorrow but we expect that she will be available for the semi-final,” Beerworth said on Thursday.Perry was hurt when tumbling over a boundary rope in a fielding attempt against South Africa. She didn’t bat as Australia banked their sixth consecutive win of the World Cup.The Australians chased down South Africa’s 271 for 5 to win with 28 balls to spare after earlier in the tournament, reeling in India’s 277 for 7 to triumph with three balls remaining.Those victorious chases, propelled by captain Meg Lanning’s 97 and unbeaten 135, has further enhanced Australia’s belief, spinner Jess Jonassen said.”It’s huge, particularly for our batting group,” she told reporters on Thursday. “It was a really pleasing thing for our batting group to be able to go out and put a marker out there, I guess, make a statement.”The India game got a bit closer than we would have liked…[but] coming into our last-round game and then the finals, hopefully, it gives them even more confidence in higher pressure games.”And Jonassen warned that despite Australia’s perfect record in the tournament – they’re the only undefeated nation – there was some improvement to come.”It’s something that we have identified throughout the whole tournament so far that we are building towards this business end of the tournament,” she said. “I see Ash Gardner made the comments the other day that we’re looking for the perfect game, but ultimately, we are just looking to improve every game in different areas.”And we still have a bit to improve on, particularly with the ball. Against South Africa, we weren’t able to take wickets upfront, but we were able to hold them.”So just needing to tighten up in a few areas, which I think is really exciting considering we have gone undefeated whilst still identifying areas that we can still improve on.”

Surrey face Durham in semi-finals on Tuesday, a day after Glamorgan play Essex

David Hopps15-Aug-2021It would be tempting to call Tim David’s match-winning hundred against Gloucestershire contemptuous, such was its mastery, but that would only cast more aspersions on standards in a 50-over tournament which is racing stout-heartedly towards its climax like a diminished Speed Dating event with the nation’s sexiest stars commandeered for the inaugural season of the Hundred.Surrey’s five-wicket win in this play-off against Gloucestershire gives them a semi-final against Durham at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday, 24 hours after Glamorgan face Essex. The final, at Trent Bridge, is a floodlit affair on Thursday and tickets for what was once the pinnacle of the season are only a tenner. Some Hundred players might theoretically be available, but whether they play in place of the young thrusters (some, not all, of them quite exciting prospects) who have kept the tournament alive is a different matter.David’s 102 encompassed 72 balls, with 11 fours and five sixes. He keeps things extremely simple: he sees things and deals with them. Vigorously. Maybe he should be in charge of the fixture list. He also figured in two run-outs, one of them his own, which fleetingly brought back memories of Surrey’s capitulation against Gloucestershire in the 2015 RL final, but in between he smote the ball to all parts to enable Surrey to surpass Gloucestershire’s modest 242 for 7 with five wickets and 44 balls to spare.He might also be the overseas player who the Hundred missed, a bear of a man shrewdly snapped up by Surrey for the Royal London Cup and the latter stages of the Blast. The Hundred deal never came for this Australian by way of Singapore, despite a big season for Hobart Hurricanes. He took a while to come to life, as if coming out of hibernation, but back-to-back hundreds at Kia Oval have left him with an average of 84.25 (outdone only by Durham’s Graham Clark among recognised batsmen) and a strike rate of 152.48 which is second to Dane Vilas among top run-getters. Anyway, it is as good as it gets although doubtless there may be a Batting Impact algorithm somewhere that suggests otherwise.David’s follow-up hundred was not quite as destructive as his remarkable 140 from 70 balls, with 11 sixes, against Warwickshire on Tuesday, but arguably it was no worse for that. His first wild shot probably came on 101 when he tried to put Matt Taylor onto the surface of Mars, but otherwise he just flayed balls that needed hitting. Gloucestershire’s bowlers have carried a weak top order all season, and that should be respected, but they asked him few questions.Jamie Smith was captaining Surrey at 21 in the continued injury absence of Hashim Amla, who fulfilled 12th man duties. Smith also made a controlled unbeaten 69 in a match-winning stand of 102 in 19 overs for the fourth wicket. The stand began after the run out of Ryan Patel, who pushed the ball straight to Chris Dent at short midwicket and was run out at the bowler’s end. It ended when Dent collected David’s push to short extra cover and attempted a lumbering return to his ground. Neither throw hit direct, but neither needed to.Gloucestershire’s total had owed almost everything an unbroken 105-run partnership in 111 balls from the pit of 137 for 7 between George Scott and Tom Smith. Scott, a former Middlesex all-rounder, produced a List A best while Smith’s unbeaten 51 not out was his second List A fifty.Smith swept particularly strongly against the spinners while Scott produced the stroke of the innings, a pick up six off Matt Dunn that sailed far over the mid wicket boundary, before also top-edging a high full toss from the same bowler over the fine leg ropes. With umpire Ian Blackwell rightly signalling for the no ball, that shot earned Gloucestershire eight runs.A slowly turning pitch disguised Surrey’s mediocre seam resources which could cost them dear in the climax to the competition. Dan Moriarty’s left-arm slows curbed the rate and Cameron Steel’s leg spin, although expensive, deserved better than his 1 for 55: he turned his googly substantially and his 33 county wickets in 61 matches smacks of under-utilised potential, even allowing for the standard of the competition.It was hard to find a wicket in Gloucestershire’s first seven that did not fall to batsman error. James Bracey, whose season began with England recognition, chipped back one of two wickets for David’s offspin off a horrible leading edge; Graeme van Buuren, playing as an overseas player while he waits to see if he can stay in England post-Brexit, was the only other batsman to threaten until his checked drive against Moriarty saw him fall at short extra on 37.Surrey’s reply also involved a brief and somewhat sad appearance from Ollie Pope who recovered from a thigh injury while in the England fold but who was released from the Test squad to play for Surrey in a competition that it can safely be assumed did not exactly smack, in its current guise, of career development. One does not have to look hard this summer to find a young England batsman looking glum in anything other than T20 (or its inferior substitutes) and here was another example.Pope made a single from three balls, the third seeing him leg before to a straight one from Taylor, a left-arm quick coming around the wicket. There was a time when it would just be recorded that Pope played across a straight one, but now off stump guard is all the rage so to avoid being drawn into another tiresome generational clash it is safest to observe that he missed it and whatever his mildly disapproving look at the umpire, Ian Blackwell, replays suggested that it would probably have shaved leg stump. Disapproval should best be aimed elsewhere.

Charged with two counts of possessing child abuse material and one count of grooming a child

George Dobell17-May-2021Aaron Summers, the Australian fast bowler, has appeared in Darwin Local Court after being charged with child sexual offences.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that Summers, who has most recently represented the Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 league, was arrested in Fannie Bay on Friday afternoon. Police executed a search warrant and seized a mobile phone. The phone allegedly contained what the Northern Territories Police Service described as “a number of videos containing child abuse material” and evidence of contact with up to ten children in an “attempt to procure further illicit photographs”.Related

• Summers set to be first Australian to play Pakistan domestic cricket

Summers was subsequently charged with two counts of possessing child abuse material and one count of grooming a child. He has been remanded in custody.”The behaviour is despicable,” detective acting senior sergeant Paul Lawson said. “Young people should be able to enjoy their childhood without the fear of predators approaching them for their own appalling intentions. The Northern Territory Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team will continue to work with national and international partners to keep the most vulnerable in our community safe.”While Summers has enjoyed a brief career in the Big Bash League (for the Hobart Hurricanes) and the One-day Cup (for Tasmania), he is perhaps best known for becoming the first Australian cricketer to play in a domestic cricket competition in Pakistan when he signed for Southern Punjab.

The latest WBBL action as three out of the four matches produced results despite more Sydney rain

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2020On another weekend of rain-dodging, the Sydney Thunder were able to make it back-to-back victories as spinners Sam Bates and Heather Knight combined to take five wickets between them in their two overs in a Brisbane Heat chase reduced to five overs. The Heat were left needing 45 after the calculations, as the match was able to resume moments before the cut-off, and they took 11 off the first over. However, left-arm spinner Bates changed the game with a double-wicket maiden in the second over – her first scalp the big-hitting Grace Harris – which left the Heat too much to do. Knight, who starred with the bat the previous day, claimed three wickets in her six deliveries which gave Sammy-Jo Johnson the comfort of 24 to defend in the last. The Thunder had started well with the bat as Rachel Trenaman and Tammy Beaumont added 71 but they had lost 3 for 6 in two overs when the rain curtailed their innings.Alyssa Healy’s blistering innings seal the match for Sydney Sixers•Getty Images

A typically blistering innings from Alyssa Healy, as she crunched a 31-ball 60, powered the Sydney Sixers to victory which also have their net run-rate a handy boost in a chase they completed with nearly six overs to spare. The match was trimmed to 18 overs after more rain during the Renegades’ innings and they couldn’t recover from limping to 5 for 66 in the 14th over despite a crunching maiden WBBL fifty by Georgia Wareham who hammered 37 off the last two overs against Stella Campbell and Ellyse Perry. Campbell’s first three overs had been very impressive as she had 2 for 11 before Wareham’s late charge, her second wicket coming thanks to a rebound catch by Hayley Silver-Holmes at mid-off who had initially dropped the simpler opportunity. Healy set the tempo of the chase straightaway, taking 18 off Sophie Molineux’s over, and she continued to a 26-ball half-century. She fell to Wareham shortly afterwards but the hitting continued from Ash Gardner (20 off 8 balls) as the Sixers flexed their batting muscle.The Perth Scorchers were on course for victory before their game at Drummoyne Oval became the latest to fall to the weather. Despite losing Sophie Devine to the hugely promising Darcie Brown for a duck in the second over, they were halfway towards their seven-over target of 52 when the weather closed in again after 2.5 overs of the chase. The Strikers innings had struggled to get going as they were 3 for 28 after 7.1 overs with Taneale Peschel claiming 2 for 5 in two overs, but Stafanie Taylor gave a brief glimpse of her power with 30 off 16 balls.