Misbah-ul-Haq likes idea of playing against top teams to better prepare for ICC World T20

Smriti Mandhana bats for more Test matches to help India Women mature at playing under pressure

India women’s team opener Smriti Mandhana was dismissed at the stroke of lunch on Day 3 of the one-off Test against England in Bristol while the visitors were following on in the second innings. The left-hander batsman has said that the slight pressure of staying unbeaten till the end of the day might have played the part. “Definitely, a slight pressure of ending the day ‘not out’, might have played a part (in the loss of wickets in a heap) and that will come with experience,” Mandhana said. “The more we play Test matches, the more we’ll get used to the conditions – one over before lunch or one over before the day’s end and all those sessions, so we can be more mature about (approaching them) and not take pressure,” she added. India had a brilliant start to the proceedings in the first innings after Mandhana and debutant Shafali Verma put up 167 runs for the first wicket in reply to England’s 396. But Verma just fell short of her maiden Test ton after she miscued a stroke off Kate Cross and was caught by Shrubsole for 96. Mandhan soon followed her for 78 and the left-handed batter’s dismissal saw a flurry of wickets. India were soon reduced to 197/8 to eventually get bowled out for 231. The home side enforced the follow-on later in the day. Ecclestone bagged four wickets for England. India on the other hand were 83/1 with Verma scoring yet another half-century when stumps were called.

WI vs SA | 2nd Test | Day 1: Dean Elgar, de Kock resurrect Proteas after early jolts by Windies pacers

South Africa captain Dean Elgar was back in form after he scored 77 against West Indies in the first innings of the second Test at St Lucia. Batting first, the visitors didn’t really have a great start after they lost some early wickets to get reduced to 37/3. Opener Aiden Markram was the first one to depart without troubling the scorers off Shannon Gabriel while Keegan Peterson and Rassie van der Dussen followed him. Peterson only managed to score 7 before Jayden Seales removed him while Der Dussen was undone for 4 after he was cleaned up by Kemar Roach. Elgar was then joined by Kyle Verreynne in the middle and the two provided some resistance to the Proteas to put 87 for fourth wicket before Verreynne was sent back in the hut for 27. Gabriel scalped his second wicket after Verreynne was caught by Joshua Da Silva off him. Wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock replaced Verreynne and joined hands with the skipper to steady the ship for the visitors once again. The two batsmen stitched a partnership of 79 for the fifth wicket. Elgar eventually got out while in-form De Kock continued his good run in the series to notch up a half-century before the stumps were called. South Africa were 218/5 with De Kock and Wiaan Mulder at the crease at stumps. For West Indies, it was Gabriel who made a comeback in this Test had a couple of dismissals while Roach and Mayers had a wicket apiece. The Dean Elgar-led side lead the two-match series 1-0 after they thumped the hosts in the first match by an innings and 63 runs at the same venue.

PSL 2021 | MS vs ISU: Battle of supremacy awaits final league game as Sultans look to tame Sherus from Islamabad

Nobody would have thought at the premature end of the first leg that Multan Sultans, reeling at the bottom of the Points Table would be vying for the bragging rights at the league stage against the table-toppers Islamabad United. But such has been the rise of the Mohammad Rizwan led side, that after four consecutive wins, it will look to tame the most successful Pakistan Super League team, of this season, as well as of all seasons. While Sultans are coming on the back of four consecutive wins or so to say without dropping even a single point in the Abu Dhabi leg of the tournament, United has been a force to reckon with in this season so far as well. The real bat and ball battle The match between Sultans and United is going to be a pepper battle between bat and ball as they have been the two teams with contrasting richness in resources producing similar results in this Abu Dhabi leg. Since June 9, the United have had the luxury to have in their side, ultimate batters like Usman Khawaja, Colin Munro and Asif Ali. The three combined have added 541 runs at a strike rate of more than 176, which is lethal, to say the least. On the other hand, Sultans boast of Shahnawaz Dhani, Imran Tahir and Imran Khan. The trio has wreaked havoc with the ball in the Abu Dhabi leg. In total the three of them have taken 23 wickets in just four games. They are the reason why Sultans have been able to bowl out two teams in just the four games they have played in this leg. In total, the side from Multan has picked up 34 wickets in the Abu Dhabi leg, most for any team in the league. However, all these stats don’t mean that Multan doesn’t have good batsmen or United don’t have good bowlers. The presence of Mohammad Rizwan and Hasan Ali on both sides respectively proves that they do. When it comes to the battle, it is going to between the bowling of Multan and batting of Islamabad to decide which team goes into the Playoffs as superior of them all at the league stage. Multan Sultans vs Islamabad United: Match Details Match Number- 30 Date and Time: June 19, 2021, 11:30 pm IST, 06:00 pm GMT, 10:00 pm Local Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV Pitch Report The pitch would be a used one as one match would have already been played on the wicket. It, being a doubleheader affair might become a little help for the spinner of the amount of dew remains as it was during the last doubleheaders day on Thursday, June 17. In that match, spinners of Karachi King bought a lot of purchase and thus similar sort of help could be expected in the second innings over here as well. Weather and Toss It is projected that humidity would be around 74-80% throughout the game with temperatures hovering in the early thirties. All these are indications that there is going to be a lot of dew. In normal circumstances, it would mean that team winning the toss would bowl first. However, in the Abu Dhabi leg of the PSL, teams defending a total have won nine out of 14 times, including four times in the last four games. Thus a decision after toss would not be an easy one to make. Team News Multan Sultans The Sultans have been winning with the same combination from the last two games, thus it doesn’t seem they would go for a change until injury forces them to. Probable XI Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Sohaib Maqsood, Johnson Charles, Rilee Rossouw, Khushdil Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Blessing Muzarabani, Shahnawaz Dhani, Imran Khan, Imran Tahir Islamabad United Having qualified comfortably, United change its team combination in the last game to give rest to a few key players, including regular Shadab Khan ahead of the Playoffs. In this game, considering its importance, most of those players might come back. However, it would be hard to bench Akif Javed and Brandon King, both of whom performed well in the last game. Considering that Akif Ajved does play, then either Muhammad Musa or Mohammad Wasim Jr. would sit out. Probable XI Usman Khawaja, Colin Munro, Asif Ali, Brandon King, Shadab Khan (c), Iftikhar Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Muhammad Akhlaq (wk), Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Akif Javed Dream XI / Fantasy XI Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Usman Khawaja, Colin Munro, Sohaib Maqsood, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan (vc), Hasan Ali, Imran Tahir, Shahnawaz Dhani, Imran Khan

PSL 2021: Watch skipper Mohammad Rizwan cheer up Blessing Muzarabani after a rough over

Sometimes on a cricket field and almost always in life, it’s the belief of the leader (captain, guide, mentor) that does wonders for players and individuals. We have seen many leaders who have shown immense faith in their players and made them extraordinary. Be it Sourav Ganguly- Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni-Ravindra Jadeja etc. If that belief is supported with a bit of cheer up when the chips are down, it boosts the confidence of the player instantly. Something of this sort happened in the 28th match of the Pakistan Super League. Multan Sultans skipper Mohammad Rizwan ran from his position as a wicketkeeper to put a hand on the shoulders of one of his bowlers, Zimbabwe’ Blessing Muzarabani when he was hit for three consecutive boundaries which included two sixes from an experienced James Faulkner. Although Rizwan with his height (5’ 11’’) couldn’t reach the shoulders of 6 foot 6-inch tall Muzarabani, so he rather wrapped his hands around the latter’s waist, the moment was funny, but at the same time heart touching as well. Earlier in that very over, the 24-year-old had taken the wicket of Agha Salman to add to his dismissal of Mohammad Hafeez. Sultans won the game defeating Qalandars by a huge margin of 80 runs. While this was Sultan's fourth consecutive win of the season, it was Lahore's fourth consecutive defeat.