The Hundred | Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals: Where to watch Live, Probable XI, Fantasy XI

Welsh Fire, who have won both their games will face Manchester Originals who won the bounce against Birmingham Phoenix, having lost their opening match to Oval Invincibles. The Fire will miss the services of their dynamic leader Jonny Bairstow while Originals too will not have the luxury of having Jos Buttler by their side as both these leave for their national duty against India.

However, this absence of great players gives chances to youngsters from both sides to prove their mettle in the newest and most exciting format of the game- The Hundred. The match will be played at Sophia Gardens, the same venue of Sophia Gardens will host the match where Fiore played their first game against Southern Brave and won it as well.

Originals have won their last game as well courtesy of some brilliant bowling by what people call the second Warne, or Warne of England- Matt Parkinson. Will Fire be able to win this game and remove Trent Rockets from the top, or will Originals be able to get back to back wins?

Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals

Match Number- 12

Date and Time: July 31, 2021, 07:00 pm IST, 02:30 pm Local, 01:30 pm GMT

Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Broadcast and Live Stream: Fancode App

Pitch Report

The pitch at Glamorgan County’s home ground was refreshingly great for batting and resulted in a high scoring game in the first encounter there. After its slowness during the Sri Lanka tour of England, it was feared that might just ruin the glamour of The Hundred.

Weather Forecast

Since the match is taking place in the afternoon, the templates would be around 20 degrees celsius and the chances of rain are very less. Thus a good game of cricket would be at display in the Welsh capital.

Welsh Fire Probable XI

Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Ian Cockbain, Matthew Critchley, Joshua Cobb, Qais Ahmad, Jake Ball, David Payne

Manchester Originals Probable XI

Philip Salt, Joe Clarke (wk), Colin Munro, Tom Lammonby, Sam Hain, Carlos Brathwaite, Tom Hartley, Fred Klaassen, Steven Finn, Matthew Parkinson, Lockie Ferguson

Fantasy XI

Philip Salt, Colin Munro, Carlos Brathwaite, Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Tom Hartley, Matthew Parkinson, Qais Ahmad, Lockie Ferguson

Captain James Neesham

Vice-Captain Matthew Parkinson

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Not thinking of full time coaching role yet says Rahul Dravid

Former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid who was the coach of the Indian team during their white-ball series against Sri Lanka stated that he has not yet thought of taking up this role on a permanent basis. He is currently the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and visited with the Indian team to the island nation as Ravi Shastri was busy with the Test squad in England where they are busy preparing for the five-match Test series slated to begin on 4th August. Dravid admitted that there are a lot of challenges with full-time roles and despite enjoying his stint in Sri Lanka he hasn’t thought of anything far ahead. “I have enjoyed this experience but I have not thought of anything far ahead. I have been doing what I am doing,” he said I have not given any other thought but this tour and getting through the tour. I have enjoyed the experience of working with these guys, it has been great. I have not given any other thoughts to anything else. There are a lot of challenges in doing full-time roles, so I really don’t know,” Dravid further added. Dravid had earlier worked with the India U 19 team and was the coach when India lifted the U 19 title in 2018 under the captaincy of Prithvi Shaw. He has also with the Indian A teams but this was the first time he was working with the senior team. With as many as 9 players unavailable due to strict COVID protocols, India went onto lose the T20 series. Dravid felt that it wasn’t the easiest of conditions to bat on but agreed that Sanju Samson would be disappointed at the end of the series after his pretty ordinary showing. “It was not the easiest of conditions to bat in. In the one-day game that he got a chance, he got a very good start and got 46. In T20Is, it was a bit challenging, but yeah, when (you) would look back at the series, you would be a bit disappointed. But it’s not just Sanju, most of these young guys are talented and terrific players. We need to be patient with them,” Dravid said. “It was quite challenging after the first game, but I thought there are a lot of opportunities and learnings from games like these for the youngsters. It gives them exposure to international cricket. It is important for the players to hang in there and tackle the quality bowling line-up. The great positive for me is the way guys have fought," Dravid said.

Indian departs from Sri Lanka, Krunal Pandya undergoing mandatory quarantine in Colombo

After losing the T20I series against Sri Lanka by a 1-2 margin, the Indian cricket team left Sri Lanka on 30th July (Friday) after playing six white-ball matches over a course of 45 days. All-rounder Krunal Pandya who earlier tested positive for COVID-19 remains in mandatory isolation in Colombo and will fly back to India after his mandatory isolation provided he tests negative in the subsequent tests. It is still not known whether Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw who has been included in the Indian squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against England has flown to the UK directly from Colombo or will return to India on a charter plane before flying out again. "Yes, only Krunal will have to stay back in Sri Lanka for the time being due to the mandatory isolation period of one week," a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI on the condition of anonymity. "After one week, if he has two negative RT-PCR reports, he will be allowed to fly back. Currently, he is in the fourth day of his isolation. All others are free to depart as they have all tested negative," he added. India’s tour of Sri Lanka was marred by the deadly virus. Firstly the start of the tour was delayed by five days after Sri Lanka batting coach Grant Flower and data analyst tested positive. Even the 2nd ODI had to be rescheduled after Krunal Pandya tested positive. All the eight other members deemed close contact of Krunal had to isolate themselves. The list included his brother Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Prithvi Shaw, Deepak Chahar, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ishan Kishan and Yuzvendra Chahal.

The Hundred | Southern Brave vs Birmingham Phoenix: Where to watch Live, Probable XI, Fantasy XI

The Southern Brave will finally be at home afat6er travelling in two away games and losing both of them They would be facing Moeen Ali’s Birmingham Phoenix, who, after winning their first game at home, lost meekly to Manchester Originals in their first away game. The Hundred as of now has faced two washouts and hopefully, Southampton would be able to produce a full game. Stars such as Devon Conway, Quinton de Kock and James Vince would be at the display from the home side while the away side will have the likes of Liam Livingstone, Moeen and Imran Tahir to try and get them their second win. Southern Brave vs Birmingham Phoenix: Match Details Match Number- 11 Date and Time: July 30, 2021, 11:00 pm IST, 06:30 pm Local, 05:30 pm GMT Venue: The Rose Bowl, Southampton Broadcast and Live Stream: Fancode App Pitch Report This is going to be the first Hundred game at the Rose Bowl and hence there are no premonitions to judge as to how is it going to play. Mostly though, the pitch ash been a true wicket and is supposed to support the big-hitting game. Weather Forecast While there is a forecast of strong winds and rain during the daytime on Friday, July 30 in Southampton, the evening is supposed to have only 11-7% chances of rain and thus a match is in sight at the great venue that hosted the World Test Championship Final. Southern Brave Probable XI James Vince (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Devon Conway, Alex Davies, Colin de Grandhomme, Ross Whiteley, Chris Jordan, Craig Overton, Danny Briggs, Tymal Mills, Jake Lintott Birmingham Phoenix Probable XI Finn Allen, Miles Hammond, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali (c), Daniel Bell-Drummond, Chris Benjamin, Benny Howell, Chris Cooke (wk), Adam Milne, Tom Helm, Imran Tahir Fantasy XI Finn Allen, James Vince, Quinton de Kock (wk), Devon Conway, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Benny Howell, Adam Milne, Jake Lintott, Adam Milne Captain Liam Livingstone Vice-Captain Quinton de Kock

SL vs IND | 3rd T20: Wanindu Hasaranga leads Sri Lanka to first series win over India in 13 years

If you’re told that Sri Lanka will win the T20 series 2-1 and lose the ODI series 1-2 against India before the start of the tour, most definitely, you would have burst out laughing. There would have been nothing but excess optimism on the side of the person predicting such a strong Sri Lankan performance, while you would have backed all your arguments with non-contestable facts. Well, Cricket is a game of uncertainty and that any team on a given day can turn victorious irrespective of their past and future they potentially deserve are some of the age-old cliches of this game, and Sri Lanka dug deep to prove all of that right against India. On the night of the series decider, India were depleted once again with just five batsmen left to be picked from and the hosts buoyant after a strong win in the last game. India batted first after winning the toss in a decision that raised many eyebrows as it allowed Sri Lanka to attack their main weakness—a thin batting lineup. The problem compounded when an ever so impressive Dushmantha Chameera, who has walked away from the series with reputation several notch higher found the outside edge of Shikhar Dhawan’s bat to send Indian skipper back to pavilion on the first ball. By then, Ruturaj Gaikwad had already played a delightful cover drive but could not get going rapidly. His news partner Devdutt Padikkla struggled to get off the hook straight away and the mounting dot balls kept telling on him. Padikkal bats in a much organised manner but he really felt the pressure when Sri Lanka squeezed him for runs and ultimately led to his demise in a bizarre manner. Sanju Samson has not been able to read Sri Lanka’s emerging rockstar—Wanindu Hasaranga’s deliveries one bit in all the four matches he has played, and the story could not have been any similar. This time though, it was quite short as well and the leg spinner celebrating his 24th birthday sent back both Samson and Gaikwad in the same over to put a big question mark on India’s batting. Nitish Rana too failed to cash in on the perfect opportunity to become a hero while Bhuvneshwar Kumar fell in an attempt of making things happen with the bat. Hasaranage picked as many as four wickets, giving away only nine runs and India were staring at their historic lowest total in T20Is. Kuldeep Yadav batted with control and steered India past their lowest total in T20 international history but the score was not enough to stop highly-spirited hosts. India needed nothing short of a miracle to defend the score of 82 and Sri Lanka were in no mood to let go of the opportunity to win their first series against India in 13 years. Rahul Chahar provided India with timely breakthroughs but Sri Lanka had the luxury of time at the crease and in the end, they could nullify all India had to throw at them. India were plagued by Covid-19 and the writing was always on the wall with just five specialist batsmen to choose from in the last two games on the tour. However, those five batsmen left a lot to be desired and also did not enhance their reputation one bit. For Sri Lanka, the leadership of Shanaka brought much-needed calmness and assurance in the leadership position as he allowed people such as Hasaranga and Chmaika Karunaratne to take the centrestgae and own the flow of the game. The Sri Lankan team management deserves all the plaudits for turning things quickly after losing the second ODI of the series from a winning position.