Nottingham Outlaws sign Dan Christian as skipper for T20 Blast title defence

IND vs ENG: Shikhar Dhawan falls two short of a century

India opener Shikhar Dhawan fell two short of what could have been his 18th ODI hundred against England in Pune on Tuesday. Dhawan was dismissed for 98 off 106 balls by Ben Stokes after getting caught at short mid-wicket by England captain Eoin Morgan while trying a short-arm jab on short delivery. The left-handed batsman’s knock included 11 boundaries and a couple of maximums. This would have been Dhawan’s first hundred since World Cup 2019. He last scored a ton against Australia at The Oval. Though he scored a century during the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy where he notched up 153 against Maharashtra in Jaipur. India who were put in to bat by Morgan had a struggling start but vice-captain Rohit Sharma and his opening partner Dhawan soon got into the groove and stitched a stand of 64 runs before Sharma departed for 28. Skipper Virat Kohli who came in at number three then steadied the ship with Dhawan as the duo compiled a partnership of 105 runs for the second wicket. Kohli notched up yet another half-century in ODI format before flicking one from Mark Wood in the air to deposit it in Moeen Ali’s hands in the deep mid-wicket region. He was undone for 56 off 60. India then lost a couple of wickets in quick succession that included Dhawan’s dismissal and were reduced to 197/4. The home side earlier, etched wins in the Test and ODI series earlier. The Virat Kohl-led side thumped England 3-1 in the Test series and then beat the visitors 3-2 in the ODIs.

Sam Billings sprains collar bone joint, England hopeful of his return with bat

Middle-order batsman Sam Billings who hurt his shoulder while fielding the first ODI against India has suffered a sprain on his collar bone joint. However, the injury is not a reoccurrence of any previous injury and hence he might well be able to bat later in the second innings. Meanwhile, England captain Eoin Morgan too walked off the filed after stopping a shot from the bat of Hardik Pandya in the 41st over of India’s batting. England had won the toss and decided to bowl first. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan provided the hosts with a steady start before Rohit got out chasing a wide delivery from Stokes.

NZ vs BAN | 2nd ODI: Ton-up Tom Latham plays captain's knock to help Blackcaps clinch series

A captain’s knock of 110 runs from Tom Latham and important contributions from Devon Conway and James Neesham in the middle order helped New Zealand clinch the ODI series against Bangladesh in Christchurch. Chasing a target of 272 runs set by Bangladesh on the back of a much-improved batting performance after a debacle in the first game, the hosts were in trouble early on. The openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls started off on dominating note just like in the first game when they were chasing a low score. However, the target of 272 needed one of them to go big with the bat, and they failed to take New Zealand off to a brilliant start. An off-cutter that has been Mustafizur’s signature delivery over the years found Guptill playing a back of a length delivery early and the pacer had enough time in his hands to run back and carry out a caught and bowled. Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan has had an unpleasant start to his ODI career in the last game, but he was eager to make amends this time around. After enticing a false big shot from Nicholls that saw the left-hander losing his leg stump, he got the better of Will Young. The highly-promising batsman was trying to paddle the ball round the corner of an off-spinning delivery that turned ever so slightly and his stumps along with the Blackcaps’ chasing efforts were rattled. Young failed to cash in on the opening created by injury to Ross Taylor and the onus of resurrecting the Blackcaps fell on the shoulders of an ever so impressive youngster Devon Conway and stand-in captain Tom Latham. In between the wickets of Nicholls and Young, Conway made his intentions clear with two dismissive pull shots that went rapidly towards the ropes. As soon as there were two left handers in Conway and Tom Latham together at the crease, skipper Tamim Iqbal switched to the off-spinning twin of Mahedi Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The move paid dividends in the short run as the next four over yielded only 13 runs and the batsmen had to do something to keep the scoreboard going. Latham found a length to find a release shot towards the midwicket boundary in the fifth over of the partnership. But, the sluggishness continued for some more time before the skipper found another boundary with sublime timing once again against the turn. Iqbal brought back the pace of Taskin Ahmed and New Zealand kept on batting without panicking in search of boundaries. The duo added 113 runs in the middle overs and kept the runs coming for the Blackcaps at a decent run rate. The duo joined each other in just the 11th over of the chase when the Blackcaps were in need of more than 200 runs, and by the time Conway departed in the 34th over, the hosts were just around 100 runs away from the target and a series win that were to huge in the absence of Kane Williamson and Ros Taylor. More to follow

Shafali Verma regains top spot in T20I rankings

India women’s team batter Shafali Verma has regained the top spot in the ICC women's T20 rankings after some impressive performance in the on-going three-match series at home. Verma who had achieved the similar feat last year for the time in her career surpassed Australia’s Beth Mooney. The right-handed aggressive batter has so far scored 23 and 47 in two matches against South Africa in the series. South Africa opener Lizelle Lee gained three slots to go up to 11th spot in the rankings in the T20Is but lost her top spot in the ODI rankings to England’s Tammy Beaumont. Apart from this, Deepti Sharma is at 40th spot while has moved to 59 from 85 among the batters. Harleen Deol played a brilliant innings and notched up a half-century in the first T20I against South Africa in a losing cause. She has moved to the 99th spot among the batters while 146th among bowlers. Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad has moved to 25th spot from 34. South Africa’s 4-1 win in the ODI series against India has helped them overtake England to second position in the ODI rankings while India are still at fourth. Australia continue to be at the helm in both ODIs and T20Is. England are at two while India are at three in the T20Is. India and South Africa will play the final T20I on Tuesday in Lucknow.