James Pattinson retires from Test cricket, unavailable for upcoming Ashes series: Report

World T20 2021 | Morgan ready to drop himself, 'won't stand in the way of a team winning the WC'

England captain Eoin Morgan has made a bold statement that he is ready to drop himself from the XI if that would be the need of the hour. Morgan has had a lean patch during the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) while his highest T20I score for the national side in 2021 is 28. "It's always something I've said - it's always an option," he said. "I'm not going to stand in the way of a team winning the World Cup. I've been short of runs but my captaincy has been pretty good as it goes,” he added. Talking about his batting, the left-hander insisted that the position at which he generally bats, he has to take some risks in order to maintain the scoring rate. "As regards my batting I wouldn't be standing here if I hadn't come out of every bad run of form that I'd ever had. The nature of T20 cricket and where I bat means I always have to take quite high-risk options and I've come to terms with that,” Morgan said. The England captain didn’t feature in the first warm-up match against India in Dubai on Monday but has confirmed that he will play the next practice match against New Zealand on Wednesday. England will begin the World T20 campaign against defending champions West Indies in Dubai on Saturday.

CSA Provincial T20 | Rilee Rossouw century, Wayne Parnell fifty highlight first set of quarterfinals

The first two quarter-finals of the Cricket South Africa Provincial T20 tournament saw some amazing hitting by the veterans of South African cricket in Rilee Rossouw, Wayne Parnell and Farhaan Behardien. The match between Knights and Westerns Province even went down to the wire while Titans earned an easy win in the first quarterfinal against South Western Districts. With Wayne Parnell hitting 80 off just 29 balls, with his fifty coming off a record 18 balls, the Western province team almost reached the target of 224 set up by the Knights, falling short by just four runs even as Parnell hit 24 in the last over. The top-order batters didn’t really give much to the Parnell led side apart from Jonathan Bird who made 32 off 22. Parnell partnered first with Aviwe Mgijima for a 60 runs stand and then added unbeaten 43 with number 10 Tshepo Moreki. But all that wasn’t enough for the Province to make it to the semi-finals. Earlier in the evening courtesy of a Rilee Rossouw century in which he hit 112 of just 55 balls and Behardien’s 57 off 29 balls, Knights made 223-2 in their 20 overs. In the first quarter-final, Titans, courtesy of Donavon Ferreira’s 55 and Theunis de Bruyn’s 48 made 192-5 in their 20 overs. And then with the help of Aaron Phangiso’s 2-18 and other bowlers chipping around cancelled out Leus du Plooy’s 55 to roll over South Western Districts on 138 and win the game by 54 runs. In the next set of quarterfinals i.e. 3 and four Paarl Rocks would take on North West Dragons while Dolphins would be up against familiar foes in Warriors respectively. While Rocks skipper Pieter Malan would be the key for them, North-West Dragons would bank on the all-around abilities of Senuran Muthusamy. In the other quarter-final, while Khaya Zondo with his batting abilities will be key for Dolphins, JJ Smuts will hold importance for the Warriors. Both the matches will be played at Diamond Oval in Kimberly.

We have looked towards MS Dhoni as a mentor even when he was our captain: KL Rahul

India opener KL Rahul has said that having MS Dhoni back in the dressing room brings a sense of “calmness”. Dhoni has joined Team India in UAE as the mentor for the World T20 2021. “Obviously, MS Dhoni (being) back with the team feels amazing because we have played under him and we have looked towards him as a mentor even when he was our captain,” Rahul said during a Clubhouse session on 10 years of Red Bull Campus Cricket. Dhoni has been one of the most successful captains in world cricket having won three ICC trophies during his tenure. Talking about his leadership skills, Rahul added that he would like to grab as much knowledge as he can about the game and captaincy. “This gives us a sense of calmness, I have enjoyed spending time with him in the first two to three days and it has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to chewing his brain about cricket, captaincy and all things cricket,” he added. India lifted the World T20 in 2007, 50-over World Cup in 2011 and Champions Trophy in 2013 under Dhoni’s captaincy. The Men in Blue will now begin the campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday in Dubai.

World T20 2021: It's Ireland bowlers vs Sri Lanka batters as both teams aim to capitalise on positive start

With a win under their belt, Sri Lanka and Ireland will be up against each other in Abu Dhabi. Ireland’s Curtis Campher was on song after he scalped four wickets on four deliveries on the trot against Netherlands as the Irish team bundled out their opponents for 106 in 20 overs. Later, they did lose three wickets but went over the line quite comfortably by 7 wickets and in 15.1 overs. On the otters side, the Lankan bowlers thoroughly dominated the Namibia batting unit and bowled them out for 96 in less than 20 overs. But the Dasun Shabaka-led side had some early hiccups after they were reduced to 26/3. Nevertheless, Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa made sure that they anchor the side to a win eventually. Sri Lanka clinched a victory by 7 wickets. The one thing that the Sri Lankan team management would need to fix is the start with the bat. The Asian side did struggle to get a decent start despite chasing a low total especially with the likes of Kusal Perera and Dinesh Chandimal in the top order. Match Details SL vs IRE, 8th Match, Group A, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021 Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Pitch Report The track in Abu Dhabi is likely to assist the batsmen throughout the game but spinners can still have some advantage in the middle overs. Another major factor can be the occurrence of dew as it is an evening fixture. So, if you win the toss, elect to field as the bowling unit of both the sides unleashed some brilliance in their last respective matches. Ireland’s equipped bowling unit Curtis Campher’s hat trick and four-fer against Netherlands grabbed all the attention. But apart from Campher’s performance, Mark Adair and Joshua Little were also the pick of the bowlers after the way they kept the batters on the back foot. While Adair returned with figures of 3/9 in 4 overs, Little picked up one wicket for 14 runs in four overs. Paul Stirling bowled just one over but he was economical too as he only gave one run during the course. So, with the bowling attack of this kind and considering the way Sri Lanka’s top-order batsmen fared in their last encounter, they might face some difficulties to gather runs. Sri Lanka’s top order woes A cricket fan would expect a team of Sri Lanka’s calibre to chase down a target of 97 runs by 10 wickets in a T20I. But their top order which has experienced lads like Kusal Perera and Dinesh Chandimal in the ranks completely failed to fire against Netherlands. There came a stage when the Lankan lions were struggling at 26/3 but thanks to Fernando and Rajapaksa, they eventually won the game. But the problems and issues haven’t sorted yet. The kind of bowling attack that Ireland possess is lethal in slowing down the scoring rate at any given situation. So, Sri Lanka would need to get a decent and steady start to prevent themselves for getting under pressure. Probable XI Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara Ireland: Paul Stirling, Kevin O Brien, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, Neil Rock (wk), Simi Singh, Mark Adair, Benjamin White, Joshua Little CE Fantasy XI Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Kevin O’Brien, Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling, Wanindu Hasaranga (C), Simi Singh, Curtis Campher (VC), Dushmantha Chameera, Joshua Little, Maheesh Theekshana