Coming into a period of time now where rest and rotation is put behind us: Joe Root

Australia appoint Jeff Vaughan, Michael Di Venuto as assistant coaches

Australia have included Michael Di Venuto and Jeff Vaughan as the national side’s assistant coaches and the two will join the coaching staff headed by Justin Langer later this year. Di Venuto has worked with the Australian team earlier as well in 2013 as a batting coach and is presently with the squad in St Lucia. He was also appointed as the senior coach for the T20I series against India in 2016 after the then head coach Dareen Lehmann wasn’t available due to illness. The 47-year-old has also served as the head coach of Surrey and led the side to their first county title in 16 years in 2018. Di Venuto expressed delight at his appointment. "I'm excited to be rejoining the Australian team full time. I have spent some time around the group over the last month and really enjoyed being back with them," Di Venito said. "Since my last stint, I've gained terrific experience being Head Coach of Surrey CCC before COVID hit and also spent time with the Adelaide Strikers, Hobart Hurricanes and Tasmania more recently,” he added. Former South Australia player Vaughan also expressed his joy and said that his appointment is the " highlight” of his career. Australia are slated to play a five-match T20I series and a three-match ODI series against West Indies away from home. The first T20I takes place on July 9 at St Lucia.

Australian players likely to be available for remainder of IPL 2021: Report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has received a major boost as the Australian players are likely to be available for the remainder of the Indian Premier League slated to take place in the UAE as per a Cricbuzz report. Australia have a pretty schedule beginning in October. They would first lock horns with Sri Lanka ahead of the World T20 scheduled to be played in the UAE and Oman in October-November and this would be followed by a packed home summer. But despite a busy schedule, some of the Australian players would be available for the remaining fixtures of the IPL. The likes of Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams had made themselves unavailable for selection for the West Indies tour. In fact, captain Aaron Finch had expressed his disappointment at the players’ pulling out of the tour and said that it would be hard to justify going back and playing the second half of the IPL. “I think they would find it hard to justify going back and playing that second half of the IPL. Just purely based on the workload coming up with a T20 World Cup and a huge home summer. It's really tough. It's a tough situation that everyone has been put in, but personally, I would find it hard to do that knowing how difficult it is and how challenging it is mentally, and on your family as well. That's what I would think,” Finch had said. The IPL was suspended on May 4 after there was a rise in Covid-19 cases within the franchises and will now resume in UAE in September-October. The schedule of the tournament is yet to be announced.

ENG vs IND | 2nd ODI: Scintillating Sophia Dunkley, Brunt deny India the chance to draw level

When all the England known batters were out when Indian stand-in skipper Harmanpreet Kaur had applied relentless pressure, in walked Sophia Dunkley, plying only her second ODI. But the way she played, carrying the team over her young shoulders to victory, no one would believe that it was only her second ODI game and that she was only a few days old in 50 overs international5 cricket. Riding on the back of her unbeaten 73 from 81, the England Women beat India Women in the second ODI by five wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Dunkley was ably supported by Jones at first and then bowling all-rounder Katharine Brunt. In fact, Brunt and Dubnkley added unbeaten 92 for the sixth wicket, which is now the highest sixth-wicket partnership in ODIs for English Women in the history of the game. They broke the previous record held by Amy Jones and Jenny Gunn. India started their defence of a modest 221 very well with Jhulan Goswami removing last match’s Player of the Match, Tammy Beaumont at the score of 22. From there onwards, the Indian team got into the rhythms and kept on taking wickets, eventually reducing England to 92-4 in the 22nd over. There was a controversial decision just before the fourth wicket fell when Harmanpreet claimed a catch of England vice-captain Natalie Sciver when the score was only 82/3. But the umpire’s soft signal called it not out and due to lack of evidence, the third umpire could not overturn it. However, it didn’t hurt India as much as Sciver was anyways removed early. Post that wicket though, it was all England and Dunkley as a somewhat weird approach of saving the runs and not going for wickets cost India Women the game. Earlier in the day, England skipper Heather Knight won the toss and asked India to bat first. Openers Smriti Mandhan and Shafali Verma did give a positive start, adding 56 for the first wicket in 11 overs. However, post their dismissal, no batter was able to stand alongside the skipper Mithali Raj, who played a lone hand to take her team near to 200. She had a 68 run stand with Harman, but in that also, the vice-captain kept on struggling. If not for some late flourish by number 10 and 11 in Jhulan and Poonam Yadav who together added 29 in just 22 balls, India might have been staring at a below 200 total. From 192-7 with Mithali gone, the last pair added crucial runs. Kate Cross was the pick of the bowlers for England Women as he picked up five wickets for just 34 runs in her 10 overs. For this performance of her, she was named Player of the Match. With two losses in a row, Team India would now take the field on July 3 at New Road, Worcester to salvage some pride and test its bench strength.

WI vs SA | 4th T20I: With series on the line, levelling it is now a matter of prestige for defending World champions

In the last two games, something seemed to hit West Indies, as they were not able to replicate their performance of the first game with the bat. Now, having lost the second game by nine runs and the third one by just a solitary run, the onus is now on the World T20 Champions to come out in the fourth match, not only to save the series but also to showcase who is the boss. For the Proteas, Temba Bavuma has been an inspirational leader. While his performances with the bat might not have been great, but they were certainly important. What has been more than phenomenal is bowling changes and the use of Anrich Nortje, the prime bowler. The Proteas batting has been more than good enough and the inclusion of Aiden Markram in the last game was a great move as well. Quinton de Kock has been in good touch and the bowlers have performed exceedingly well, especially the left-arm chinaman, Tabraiz Shamsi. The 31-year-old has not conceded a four till now in the series. Nortje might just have three scalps, but he is very economically and was primality the reason for the team’s win in the second match where he gave away just four runs in the 19th over. West Indies’ bowling has been reasonably good as well. It is the batting where they are lacking, especially because of the failure of the three big guns in Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Chris Gayle. Though Gayle was dropped in the last game, as a big match player, he should be brought into the squad for this game. Although Fabian Allen has been terrific down the order, the silence of Dwayne Bravo with the bat is concerning as well. With all these issues on their mind, the team need to still come out and win the game. Will they be able to do it, o5nly time can tell. West Indies vs South Africa: Match Details Match Number- 04 Date and Time: July 01, 2021, 11:30 pm IST, 06:00 pm GMT, 02:00 pm Local Venue: National Cricket Stadium, St George's, Grenada Live Stream: Fancode Pitch Report The pitch as per the three ODIs seems to be a wicket that slows down eventually with the ball sticking in the wicket bit, especially if the pace is slow and the ball is allowed to grip. The batters have their say too, but only if they settle down. This has been shown repetitively by de Kock and in the first game by Evin Lewis as well. Weather Forecast and Toss With chances of rain hovering around 47-51% during the game and cloud cover near about 70%, rain not hitting the match would be the real surprise rather than otherwise. The humidly is also going to be very high. So winning the toss and deciding to bowl first is going to be the choicest decision without any doubt. Team News West Indies There has been no announcement of the change in the squad so far. So assuming that the same squad would be available for selection, it is highly improbable to see any changes in the XI that played the last game. Although Gayle should be included in5 it just because of his big-match temperament. Fidel Edwards would have to wait for another series to get his chance. Probable XI Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Obed McCoy, Kevin Sinclair South Africa The Proteas already made a change in the form of getting Markram in place of Heinrich Klaasen. Moreover, there seems to be no reason for them to disturb their winning combination. Probable XI Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi Dream XI / Fantasy XI Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Quinton de Kock (wk) (c), David Miller, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell (vc), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi