Early days to talk about batting line up for World T20: Rohit Sharma

Eoin Morgan outlines Jofra Archer's 'worsening' injury that needs attention

England skipper Eoin Morgan has confirmed the concerns surrounding the fitness of pacer Jofra Archer. Morgan has said that Archer’s pain has gotten worse and that it definitely needs attention from the medical team. Morgan outlined the long-term outlook of Archer’s pain due to a stress fracture in his elbow which has only progressed over the past few months. He did not confirm or rule out the pacer’s presence in the ODI series that will follow the T20I series against India. "We're not quite sure yet. We're going to wait until tonight and tomorrow to see how Jofra has pulled up. He's clearly had a progressive injury that has become worse and does need attention, so it'll be over to our medical team to make a decision and hopefully, the decision that Jofra comes to will be the best for us in the long term,” Morgan said after the final T20I of the series against India. "I think it's rare when a bowler isn't managing pain - what they do is a tough job and if you ask any of them, are they ever pain-free, it's a pretty rare instance if they say yes. Most of our bowlers are normally carrying niggles but certainly, Jofra's situation has definitely got worse, so it does need attention." Earlier, media reports including from the UK-based The Telegraph claimed that Archer will pull out of the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he makes an important part of the plans for the Rajasthan Royals.

WATCH: Jackson Bird rattles New South Wales

Tasmania’s Jackson Bird rattled New South Wales during their Sheffield Shield match in Hobart after he bagged a seven-wicket haul against them. Tasmania ended NSW’s first innings for a mere score of 32 in reply to their 333. The Mathew Wade-led side just used up 19.3 overs to conclude NSW’s first innings. The New South Wales team lost three wickets without bothering scorers and were soon left tottering at 19/6 to before ending the innings at 32 eventually, handing Tasmania a massive lead of 301 runs. Wicket-keeper batsman and NSW’s skipper Peter Nevill was the only batsman to reach the double-figure mark after he remained not out for 10. NSW’s four batsmen were undone for a duck while Sean Abbott was retired hurt. Peter Siddle and Rainbird also scalped a wicket apiece for Tasmania. Wade’s side then set a huge target of 493 runs as they scored 191 in the second innings. Paine top-scored for his side with 40. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon was pick of the bowlers for NSW in the second innings after he picked up four wickets while Jason Sangha removed three Tasmanian batsmen during the course. Earlier, Tim Paine struck 87 for Tasmania while captain Wade also notched up a half-century as Tasmania put 333 on the board in the first innings. Mitchell Starc, Trent Copeland and Harry Conway got three wicket each for their side. NSW is presently placed second with three wins and 28 points while Tasmania are at fifth spot with 12 points and no wins so far in the competition.

Will definitely like to partner Rohit Sharma at the top going into the World T20: Virat Kohli

Indian captain Virat Kohli played a little gamble in the fifth and final T20I against England after coming out to open the batting with Rohit Sharma in Ahmedabad. The experiment worked wonders for the side as Rohit and Kohli notched up an opening stand of 94 runs before Sharma departed 64. Well, India had struggled a bit with the opening combination but the way Rohit and Kohli fared at the Narendra Modi Stadium was quite exceptional. This was only the second time that Kohli opened with Rohit Sharma in T20I's. Now, with the World T20 in mind, captain Kohli has himself shown some interest in opening the innings with Rohit. “I am going to open in IPL as well. I have batted in different positions in the past. But I feel we have a solid middle-order now. So, I will definitely like to partner Rohit at the top going into the T20 World Cup,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “Two best batsmen in the team, one can play second fiddle if the other gets going. That can inflict a lot of damage to the opposition team. Other guys also feel a lot more confident when one of us is still in and is set.” Talking about his dominating partnership with Rohit, Kohli suggested that the two batsmen felt pretty positive while they were out in the middle. “Today Rohit and me were both positive in our intent. We knew we could trust each other and one of us can play second fiddle if one takes off.” India defeated England by 36 runs in the final T20I to win the series 3-2. While Sharma scored 64, Kohli remained unbeaten at 80 off 52 helping India post 224/2 in 20 overs. The home side then restricted Eoin Morgan’s team to 188/8 to eventually win the game and the series. India and England will now lock horns in the ODI fixtures scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

IND W vs RSA W | Match Report: Annie Bosch’s brilliance overpowers Harleen Deol’s all-round efforts

Anneke Elizabeth Bosch pulled a short ball from Arundhati Reddy past the short square leg for a four to finish off the proceedings of what was another brilliant outing for the South Africa Women on their already dream tour of India. The all-rounder was on top of her game tonight as she has been throughout the tour. The right-hander, who came in as an opening partner to Lizelle Lee was the most detrimental figure with her unbeaten 66 off 48 balls, in South Africa women’s victory in the inaugural T20I of the three-match series at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow. Bosch’s contribution was not only with the bat, but even with the ball she was superb, getting rid of two set Indian batswomen, debutant half centurion Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodriguez in the same over. Bowling in the death, she gave away only 11 runs in her two overs and took two wickets as well. It was her and Shabnim Ismail with their lethal death bowling that restricted India to only 130 even after being 104/2 at the end of the 15th over. Bosch, 27, was adjudged Woman of the Match for this scintillating performance of her. Chasing a modest target of 131 set by India, Sune Luus’ team didn’t have a good start as even after getting dropped for nought, Lee, the sensation from the recently concluded ODI series, was caught at mid-on, just when she was at four. But that was the only source of joy for a long time for the Indian team as Luus and Bosch built a strong partnership. The South Africans were also helped by some very poor display of fielding from the women in blue. While Lee was stropped early on, even Bosch was given a chance first in the 11th over, the first of Deol, where the keeper Nuzhat Praween couldn’t hold on to a sharp edge. Bosch was at 27 then. In the 15th over, a brilliant fielding from Deepti Sharma of her own bowling created a runout opportunity, but the keeper was too late to dislodge the bails after collecting the throw from the bowler’s end from Deepti. Once again in the sixteenth over, Rajeshwari Gayakwad dropped a sitter of Luus, off the bowling of Deol. Although that did not cost much as Luus was caught by Deol on her own bowling off the very next ball. But not having learnt a lesson, Richa Ghosh committed a school girl’s error at Point in the 18th over just when the run rate pressure was building on the South Africans. All this caused a lot of problems for the Indians as the South Africans won the game with five balls remaining. Earlier in the evening, after losing the toss Smriti Mandhana and her women were sent to bat first. India didn’t have a good start and lost skipper Mandhana early, who was standing in for permanent captain Harmanprret as she suffered from ‘Hip Flexor’ prior to the game. Even after losing Mandhana early, Harleen, first with Shafali Verma and then with Rodriguez created useful partnerships which helped India get to 130. Deol's 52 off 47 was the highest individual score from the Indian side. The second game would be played at the same venue on Sunday 21st March and Indian eves would have one last chance to make sure they stay alive in the series and get a shot at avenging the ODI series loss.