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In his seventh season – and second as captain – at Guyana Amazon Warriors, Imran Tahir, now the oldest player in the CPL at 45, became the first overseas bowler to take 100 wickets in the league. Tahir reached the milestone when he had Antigua and Barbuda Falcons’ Hassan Khan holing out to Gudakesh Motie right at the edge of the midwicket boundary in Amazon Warriors’ successful defence of 135 on a Providence turner.Tahir cherished the landmark, saying it was a game-changing moment. When Hassan, who is adept at playing spin, holed out for 10 off 12 balls, Falcons were reduced to 41 for 3 in the eighth over and were eventually bowled out for 108.”I think he [Motie] took a really good catch,” Tahir said after Amazon Warriors secured their spot in the playoffs. “I was quite pleased because Hassan is very dangerous and can play spin really well, so getting him out at that time was really crucial for the team. I am just glad it came off and it was a totally great effort from Motie. For me, that was the turning point to get back into the game.”After Motie completed the catch, Tahir set off on a signature celebratory sprint and even mimicked Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘Siuuu’ celebration. In his next over, Tahir trapped Kofi James with another slider, for 27 off 23 balls.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It was not a popular move when Tahir, 44 then, was named captain of Amazon Warriors last season, but he led the team to their first title. Continuing as captain, Tahir faced a stumbling block this time when he was injured midway through the season, but he returned to action and marshalled Amazon Warriors into the playoffs once again.”I just wanna be really grateful to Guyana for giving me the opportunity over the years to come and play here in this beautiful country,” he said. “Look, it’s a personal achievement [100 CPL wickets] but I hope my achievement includes whatever I’ve helped for the team and that’s what I look to do always. It’s a very good milestone and I’m very pleased.”Tahir also credited Moeen Ali for his calculated 42 off 33 balls, which propped Amazon Warriors up to 135 for 7 from 85 for 5. While Moeen was circumspect against Chris Green’s offspin, he lined up left-arm fingerspinner Imad Wasim for an electric sequence of 4, 6, 6, 6, 0, 4 in the 19th over.Related

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Amazon Warriors’ batters have been particularly good at acing their match-ups this season. For instance, when they met Falcons in North Sound earlier this season, Romario Shepherd played out Fabian Allen and Shamar Springer, who has quite a few slower variations in his repertoire, and instead smashed Mohammad Amir for 15 off five balls.”We knew it was going to be difficult from the start,” Tahir said. “I think we wanted to have a better powerplay, to be honest, but I still think we were okay because we didn’t lose a lot of wickets. It’s actually totally different than last year – it’s quite tough for the batters to adjust themselves. I think Moeen played really, really well.”Obviously, he had a chance, but then, I think, he capitalised on that all the way and he was incredible. One over changed the game. We were still thinking we could have done better but we knew 135-140 we can defend as a bowling unit.”The Providence has been a fortress for Amazon Warriors: their win-loss ratio of 1.71 at this venue is the best among all teams at home in the CPL. While Amazon Warriors have always had a deep and varied spin attack, which suited these conditions, Tahir attributed their sustained success at home to the Guyana crowd.”The support we get here from people,” Tahir said, “they are always here every single game and it’s sold out. As a professional sportsman, you want to play somewhere where you really enjoy and that’s what we felt over the years. I’ve been very lucky to be part of this franchise for the last seven years. It’s been incredible and that’s the only thing I can think of. The skills are there and obviously you’ve done your homework, hard work, this and that, but I think it’s the support and I just want to thank all the people in Guyana and all over [the world] where Guyanese people are. It’s incredible and we love playing here.”Jewel Andrew, 17, is among the positives for Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in CPL 2024•CPL T20 via Getty Images

‘Shoulda, coulda, woulda’ – Falcons captain Green reflects on the season

After Falcons suffered a group-stage exit in their first CPL season, their captain Green was left with a tantalising thought: what might have been. With Brandon King injured at the start of the tournament, Green took as captain and oversaw four home defeats in five matches in North Sound. Though Falcons did the double over the mighty Trinbago Knight Riders, they had already fallen out of the playoffs race.”It [captaincy] was a good challenge,” Green said. “I found out at the very last minute that I would be doing it in Antigua. Fortunately, I’ve got some really good people around me in my team. We had so much fun together and we had some really close losses unfortunately in those first two games and reflection on the season: shoulda, coulda, woulda. We showed glimpses of what we could do at times and then we were really poor at times and probably our fielding let us down and lack of big runs let us down as well throughout the tournament.”Green, however, was buoyed by the emergence of Jewel Andrew, the youngest player to ever feature in the CPL, and the re-emergence of Justin Greaves and Shamar Springer.”You look at some individual performances. Justin Greaves coming in and opening the batting and having the tournament he did,” Green said. “Shamar Springer, another one with the ball, and unfortunately he was injured. I’d have loved to see him get up the wickets column and finish a great tournament that he deserved. And then the youngster – Jewel Andrew how he started in the tournament and it’s a pity he didn’t play in the back end as well but at 17 years of age to come out and play the way he did. That’s three off the top of my head. Just outstanding individual performances throughout the tournament and they have got bright futures ahead of them along with other guys in the team.”

Dhananjaya de Silva hopes that his Sri Lanka team-mates can earn more opportunities in county cricket through their performances in England, which he believes would be particularly beneficial to their batters.Counties have been allowed to field two overseas players in their XI in each format since 2021. A relaxation of visa criteria has enabled a series of players with minimal or no international experience to win deals, yet Sri Lanka’s squad have largely found themselves overlooked – in part because of their touring commitments.Vishwa Fernando is the only member of the 18-man touring party to feature in the Championship this year, playing three matches for Yorkshire after making two appearances for Durham at the end of last season. Dimuth Karunaratne (three games for Yorkshire) and Asitha Fernando (two for Nottinghamshire) have also featured previously.Related

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Dinesh Chandimal revealed in Manchester that he has been trying to secure a county contract without success. “The last few years, I wanted to get a county deal,” Chandimal, who has scored 15 Test hundreds, said. “I didn’t get it so far. If I can do well in this series, hopefully I will be picked by one of the counties. It is my dream to play a season of county cricket.”Speaking ahead of Thursday’s second Test at Lord’s, Dhananjaya confirmed his own aspirations to play in the Championship. “Playing in these conditions will be better for the batsmen,” he said. “We are only getting the chance while we’re touring here. But if the batsmen can play county [cricket], it’ll be nice for them.”Sri Lanka have a three-month gap in their international schedule after the Champions Trophy, which could allow their Test players to feature in the early stages of the county season. Wanindu Hasaranga, who is not part of their Test squad, has twice signed for Manchester Originals in the Hundred but has been denied No-Objection Certificates by SLC.Dhananjaya said that Sri Lanka have prepared well for the second Test and will make two changes, with Pathum Nissanka – who has thrived in ODIs this year – and Lahiru Kumara replacing Kusal Mendis and Vishwa Fernando. “Overall, Pathum is the best batter in the country at the moment,” Dhananjaya said. “He has a good mindset and he has a good technique.”He also played down the absence of Mark Wood, suggesting that Chris Woakes had been harder to face. “The speed is not troubling me, but the line and length,” Dhananjaya said. “The opening bowler, he bowls in one area for 20 to 30 balls and that’s the problem we have: with the swinging ball, not the pace… if the plans work here, we’ll get on top.”

Deepti Sharma will return to the Hundred this year after signing for London Spirit as a replacement for the injured Grace Harris. Deepti played for Spirit in the competition’s inaugural season in 2021 and was an unused member of Birmingham Phoenix’s squad the following summer.The Hundred starts on July 23 with Spirit due to play their opening fixture away against Southern Brave the following day, but Deepti will miss the start of the competition due to the Asia Cup in Dambulla. She will be replaced by Erin Burns for the first two games, who is already in the country playing for Northern Diamonds.Deepti is one of three India players due to be involved in the Hundred this season, along with Richa Ghosh (Birmingham Phoenix) and Smriti Mandhana (Southern Brave). Like Deepti, both players are part of India’s Asia Cup squad so will miss the first week of the competition.Related

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The ECB confirmed the latest tranche of replacement players on Thursday afternoon, with Sophie Molineux (Manchester Originals) joining Harris in pulling out of the Hundred. Cricket Australia confirmed on Friday that Molineux had suffered a fracture rib and Harris a calf strain.Molineux has been replaced by Kim Garth, while Bethan Ellis will join her at the Originals after Mahika Gaur pulled out due to a side strain. Tash Farrant has been ruled out with a hamstring injury but is yet to be replaced at Oval Invincibles, while Beth Langston is in for Claire Nicholas at Welsh Fire.As ESPNcricinfo revealed on Wednesday night, England’s Test batters will be released to play in the men’s Hundred immediately after their third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston, while their bowlers and allrounders – including Ben Stokes – are only likely to play the second half of the group stages due to workload management.Further replacements include Leicestershire’s Louis Kimber, who takes up the injured Will Smeed’s spot at Phoenix, while Mohammad Amir has signed for the Invincibles – who are defending champions – for the start of the competition as short-term cover while Spencer Johnson concludes his commitments at Major League Cricket.

Hundred replacement deals:

Birmingham Phoenix: Louis Kimber and Tim Southee replace Will Smeed and Naseem Shah.
London Spirit: James Neesham and Matthew Taylor replace Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope while they are with England; Deepti Sharma replaces Grace Harris, with Erin Burns replacing Deepti until the end of the Asia Cup.
Manchester Originals: Kim Garth and Bethan Ellis replace Sophie Molineux and Mahika Gaur.
Northern Superchargers: Mitchell Santner replaces Daniel Sams.
Oval Invincibles: Harrison Ward and Mohammad Amir replace Gus Atkinson (while he is with England) and Spencer Johnson (while he is at MLC). Tash Farrant has withdrawn, replacement TBC
Trent Rockets: Riley Meredith replaces Joe Root while he is with England.Beth Langston: Beth Langston replaces Claire Nicholas.

Big picture: Can South Africa challenge upbeat India?

It’s been a while but women’s cricket finally returns to Chennai. Both teams are unfamiliar with the conditions: India haven’t played here since a Quadrangular Series in 2007; South Africa have only played one match in Chennai, a T20 World Cup game in 2016.But India are coming into this match not only having played a Test against England and Australia last December, but also comprehensively beating both those top sides. India’s spinners were key in those wins, and that will also be a big advantage for the home team going into this Test in what are expected to be spin-friendly conditions.Related

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India’s resources have only increased in the last several months. They handed maiden call-ups to several players and have had four players train at the National Cricket Academy exclusively for the red-ball format, boasting depth in both batting and bowling departments. Their offspin-allrounders Sneh Rana and Deepti Sharma played match-winning hands in the December Tests, while their batters posted two 400-plus totals in the first innings of both matches. Most of the international players also played in the Senior Women’s Inter-zonal multi-day series in March-April.India will also take confidence from the ODI series win against South Africa into the Test. Their mainstay Smriti Mandhana showed superb form, while the likes of Deepti and Arundhati Reddy shone with the ball.South Africa, on the other hand, will be playing their second Test of the year, having suffered an innings defeat against Australia in February in Perth. They also don’t have quality preparation with the red ball heading into this Test. The format is not part of their domestic system and South Africa also had only a couple of days to adjust to the conditions. They did have long net sessions over the last two days against Tamil Nadu’s Under-14 and Under-16 boys teams, facing more spin than pace.Laura Wolvaardt has called for South Africa women to play more domestic red-ball cricket•PTI

South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt said on the eve of the Test that adapting to the ball “staying low and turning a bit” will be the “biggest challenge”. They do have a left-arm spin option in Nonkululeko Mlaba, while Marizanne Kapp said Sune Luus, who bowled offspin in the second ODI, will also bowl.All things considered, it is advantage India going into the only Test.

Form Guide

India WWD (last three matches, most recent first)
South Africa LDL

In the spotlight: Deepti Sharma and Laura Wolvaardt

Deepti Sharma has been in brilliant all-round form lately. In the Test against England, she picked up a match haul of 9 for 39, which included superb figures of 5 for 7 in the first innings. She also scored a 67 in that game in a dominant Indian batting display. Deepti followed that up with a score of 78 and two wickets against Australia. She was in peak form in domestic cricket as well, taking 27 wickets and scoring 157 runs in three games in the Inter-zonal multi-day Trophy for East Zone.Deepti Sharma has been in excellent all-round form lately•BCCI

Captain Laura Wolvaardt has been a force at the top of the order for South Africa for a long time. But she’s been batting at a different level since last year: she averages 68.21 in ODIs with five centuries and three fifties, and 49 in T20Is with seven half-centuries. She scored 135* and 61 in the last two ODIs against India and will be a key player for South Africa in the Test as well.

Team news: India likely to go with Shubha at No. 3

Satheesh Shubha, who played the England Test in December, is likely to slot in at No. 3. Renuka Singh was rested for the last two ODIs against South Africa but had a bowl at the nets on the eve of the Test. Harmanpreet Kaur said that India would keep Renuka’s “workload in mind”.India (probable XI): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Satheesh Shubha, 4 Jemimah Rodrigues, 5 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Pooja Vastrakar, 10 Rajeshwari Gayakwad/ Saika Ishaque, 11 Renuka SinghKapp, who did not play South Africa’s Test against Australia earlier this year, is likely to slot back in. She, however, did not bowl in the ODI series last week. Wolvaardt said at the press conference that Kapp was “managing her workload and taking it on a day-to-day basis” with the T20 World Cup around the corner. Sinalo Jafta, who did not play the last two ODIs after she suffered a mild concussion, has trained all week and is available for selection.South Africa (probable XI): 1 Laura Wolvaardt (capt), 2 Anneke Bosch, 3 Marizanne Kapp 4 Sune Luus, 5 Tazmin Brits, 6 Delmi Tucker, 7 Nadine de Klerk, 8 Sinalo Jafta (wk), 9 Nonkulueko Mlaba, 10 Masabata Klaas, 11 Tumi Sekhukhune

Pitch and conditions: Expect spin to play a big role

The Chepauk surface is traditionally known for being slow and spin-friendly. A red-soil strip will be used for the match, and Harmanpreet expects it to start spinning “from the second or third day”.There was a cloud cover on the eve of the Test but there’s no rain threat to the game.

Stats that matter: Mandhana in sight of a milestone

• Mandhana is just 20 away from scoring 500 runs in Tests. She’ll be the ninth women’s batter from India to achieve that milestone if she gets there
• Deepti has played four Tests and has a fifty in each of those. She averages 63.40 with the bat and 13.75 with the ball. The average difference of 45.65 is the second best among allrounders with 300-plus runs and 15-plus wickets
• Chennai has hosted only one women’s Test before this – India vs West Indies in 1976
• Kapp made her Test debut when the two teams last played each other – in 2014 in Mysore. That was one of the only two Tests she would play in ten years

Another New Zealand-West Indies game, another last-over finish, another heartbreak for West Indies.For the longest time, the stars seemed to be aligning for West Indies. After Shai Hope’s unbeaten 69-ball 109 took them to 247 for 9 in the rain-reduced 34-overs-a-side contest, the visitors would have fancied their chances. And they were in this, particularly when New Zealand found themselves at 194 for 5, needing another 54 runs off 29 balls. But then, as it has so often happened in the white-ball leg of this tour, Mitchell Santner came clutch and took New Zealand to a five-wicket win, giving them an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.With the equation coming down to 40 off 18 deliveries, Santner took on Matthew Forde, who, by then, had gone at only four runs an over. Santner carted Forde for 4, 6, 4 to take 18 runs off the 32nd over. Santner then smashed Shamar Springer for four and six in the second-last over, leaving New Zealand eight runs to win off the 34th.Related

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It could still have been anyone’s game, but Jayden Seales bowled a chest-high no-ball, which Tom Latham calmly glided over the wicketkeeper. Then Santner fittingly sealed the chase with a crash through extra cover as New Zealand prevailed with three balls to spare. Seales was distraught, flinging his cap to the floor, sinking to it himself, and needing help from several of his team-mates to come off the field.As has been the case all through the series, the second ODI ebbed and flowed all the way through. Chasing 248, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra found the going tough on a treacherous Napier surface. But once the duo settled down, the runs started to flow. They added 106 runs off 99 balls, New Zealand’s first century opening-wicket stand in ODIs in 74 innings since February 2020.They were quite scratchy early on, though, against some tight West Indies bowling. Forde got the ball to move both ways as Conway played out a maiden first up. Ravindra got going with a couple of runs before Conway got off the mark with a crisp square drive through point. There were a couple of very tight leaves, while both batters were beaten several times outside off with the exaggerated movement as New Zealand squeaked to 13 for 0 after five overs.Conway took the attacking route when he thrashed Seales through point, while Ravindra deposited him over deep midwicket for the first six of New Zealand’s innings. Romario Shepherd was introduced into the attack right after the powerplay, but was unable to stem the flow of runs.Rachin Ravindra had a century opening stand with Devon Conway•AFP/Getty Images

Ravindra, by now in full flow, pulled Forde over cow corner before Conway went after Justin Greaves, pulling him over deep square leg. Springer was dumped over the leg side fence twice in an over as New Zealand started catching up. Ravindra reached his sixth ODI fifty in style by slog sweeping Roston Chase for six.However, Ravindra fell soon after, when, in a bid to up the scoring rate, he sliced Greaves to backward point, where Chase timed his jump to perfection. Will Young, short of runs, came in at No. 3, and failed to inject any momentum into the chase. He was beaten multiple times, and fell 14 balls into his innings, slog sweeping to deep square leg.Mark Chapman came and went as the hosts lost three wickets in a hurry. Conway, meanwhile, stood firm and continued to rack up boundaries regularly. He reached his fifty off 54 balls, and stepped on the accelerator with the required rate climbing. Just when it seemed Conway would break his century-drought, he fell for 90, thrashing a cut off Springer straight to point.With the required rate now past ten an over, Latham and Santner joined forces. They took their time to settle in, targeting the short square boundaries on both sides. It wasn’t until the 31st over, with the required rate in excess of 13, when Santner flipped the switch, and, along with Latham, took New Zealand over the line, helping them register their 11th straight bilateral ODI series win at home.Earlier, West Indies captain Hope showed his class as he single-handedly propelled his team from 130 for 6 in 24 overs to 247 for 9 in 34, on the way notching up his 19th ODI century.Shai Hope made 109 not out off 69 balls•AFP/Getty Images

The match, supposed to start at 2pm local time, was delayed by close to three hours due to rain and a wet outfield. When the toss did eventually take place, Santner, with a smirk on his face, had no hesitation in bowling first. From the outset, it was clear that batting would be hard work. Kyle Jamieson got the ball to move heaps as West Indies played out three maidens in the first four overs.After multiple wafts and across-the-line attempts, Ackeem Auguste pumped Matt Henry straight over his head in what was the first commanding shot of the day in the fifth over. But West Indies soon lost John Campbell, whose difficult innings was ended by Jamieson. He got a length ball to move away from off stump, and Campbell, looking to flay him across the line, only managed a thick leading edge that nestled into deep third’s hands.West Indies, having managed just 18 runs in the reduced powerplay of seven overs, targeted Blair Tickner, brought into the side in place of Jacob Duffy. Auguste first clubbed him over his head before Keacy Carty sliced him over point for four more.Carty’s innings was, however, short-lived as he fell soon to Jamieson, whose opening spell read 5-2-12-2. West Indies continued to go after Tickner as Hope got into his groove. He first hooked Tickner to the vacant deep midwicket fence, and then laced him through covers to bring up 6000 ODI runs. Among his compatriots, only Viv Richards has got to this mark quicker, by one innings (141 vs 142).Nathan Smith made an impact with the ball•Getty Images

West Indies lost Auguste soon, with his attempted pull spooning straight up for Jamieson to take a catch running back from midwicket. That didn’t impact Hope and the incoming Sherfane Rutherford, who refused to curb their aggressive instincts. Hope pulled Santner deep over midwicket, while Rutherford thumped Nathan Smith twice into the stands to get West Indies moving again.However, two quick wickets got New Zealand back into the game. Santner first got rid of Rutherford while Smith breached Chase’s defences with a peach of an indipper that decked back to castle his off stump. While Greaves also fell relatively early, Hope continued on his merry way.He reached his fifty off 42 balls, and just went up a gear. At 130 for 6 after 24 overs, Hope took charge and belted the bowlers all across McLean Park. He got decent support first from Shepherd, who pumped Henry for two sixes in three balls, and then dumped Tickner over deep midwicket.Once Shepherd fell, Forde took Jamieson to the cleaners, thrashing him for three fours and a six. Hope moved through his 90s in a flash, crashing Henry for back-to-back fours before reaching his first ODI century against New Zealand with the straightest of straight hits in the final over of the innings. Arms aloft, he soaked in the applause, finishing with 13 fours and four sixes. But it wasn’t enough.

Shreyas Iyer believes that going back to a more upright stance has helped him counter extra bounce. He has used this “new” stance – adapted from one he used in the past – in domestic cricket, against Australia A, and now, in the ODI series in Australia. While India scratched around on a seaming pitch in the second ODI in Adelaide, Iyer negotiated the tough spells, scoring 61 off 77.Iyer’s game against short-pitched bowling at high pace has always been a talking point. Not part of India’s Test or T20I sides, Iyer spent the time off working on his game to counter extra bounce. “Since last year, I wanted to have an upright stance [for conditions] where the bounce is a little bit more than expected,” he said.”And based on that, I worked with my coach and we developed this new technique, and it was kind of suiting me pretty well. And the way I grew up playing, it was very much that I predominantly had an upright stance, and I just was like, ‘Let’s go back to my old technique and see how it, you know, [holds] up.'”So, yeah, I backed myself and then, from there on, I started [trying the technique] in the domestic [games]… Till now, I’ve been continuing with the same stance.”Related

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Iyer grew up batting with this upright stance, but perhaps the back injuries he has battled made him make changes. “Even in Mumbai, when we play on red-soil wickets – where the bounce is a little bit extra than expected – I think it helps with the upright stance,” Iyer said.”And yeah, you’ve got to keep chopping and changing every now and then, because you don’t play on the same wickets [all the time]. Whatever the wicket demands, you’ve got to change your stance accordingly, and I think I’ve changed so many stances [that] I’m able to adapt anywhere at the moment.”Iyer last played for India during their undefeated Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE in March. Since then, he has played the IPL, two first-class matches, and then captained India A in the three one-day matches against Australia A. At some point during this break, he reached the conclusion that his body, at the moment, is not supporting his first-class cricket, prompting him to request the BCCI for a six-month break from red-ball cricket.”When I played red-ball cricket after the IPL, I realised that if I field for long spells on the ground, my intensity starts to go down. And the intensity that you need to maintain in international cricket, I wasn’t able to match up to it. In ODIs, you know you will get rest after one day and be able to recover. Not in Tests. That is why I made that call, and conveyed that message.”

There was no thrilling finale on the field but Leicestershire could celebrate nonetheless after securing the draw with Gloucestershire that, in the event, ensured their promotion to Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.With two fixtures still to play, the result at the Uptonsteel County Ground combined with the draw between Middlesex and Derbyshire at Lord’s guarantees that Leicestershire will finish in the top two in Division Two and end a 22-year-exile from the top division.Set 316 to win from a minimum 74 overs when Gloucestershire, who felt their outside chance of a promotion required them to win here, declared four overs before lunch on 175 for 3 in their second innings, Leicestershire were 93 for 1 from 30.3 when the afternoon’s third interruption for rain proved heavy enough for the final day’s play to be abandoned at around 4.10pm.It is a first promotion for Leicestershire since the County Championship adopted its current two-division format in 2000. Led for most of the season by Australian international Peter Handscomb – now back home preparing for his domestic season – Leicestershire have been the dominant side in Division Two all season after winning five of their first seven matches and suffering only one defeat.They last played in Division One in 2003 and have since become almost perpetual stragglers, finishing bottom of DivisionTwo on eight occasions. In four of those, the last as recently as 2022, they failed to register a single victory, famously going 37 matches over 933 days without a Championship win between September 2012 and June 2015.Leicestershire, whose next target is to secure the points they need to guarantee they are crowned Division Two champions, went into the final day in the comfortable knowledge that while a victory would seal the deal in terms of confirming promotion, a draw might do it anyway depending on the result at Lord’s, or at worst leave them needing minimal gains from their final two fixtures.Gloucestershire’s need for a win, therefore, put the onus on them to set up a finish, to which end they added 165 in 21 overs before declaring just before lunch, setting the home side 316 to win in a minimum 74 overs.Against a Leicestershire attack that was a man down because of Ben Mike’s ongoing hamstring problems, 21-year-old opener Joe Phillips further enhanced his growing reputation with an unbeaten 69 from 73 balls.Ben Charlesworth cleared the midwicket boundary off Logan van Beek and landed back-to-back sixes off Chris Wright in his 56-ball 61 before a miscue to deep third man ended his charge. Ian Holland limited Ollie Price to just 8 but Miles Hammond plundered another 28 from 26 before top-edging into the off side, Holland veering away in his follow-through to be under the ball when it came down.Gloucestershire asked Leicestershire to face four overs before lunch possibly more in hope than expectation. The wicket of Sol Budinger perhaps came as a bonus, the opener making no attempt to rein in his natural attacking instincts but perishing after just 13 deliveries, tempted by a widish ball from Ajeet Singh Dale despite having collected three boundaries already and picking out the fielder at wide third.The visitors’ cause was not helped by showers after lunch, which eventually washed out 43.3 overs of the scheduled 74.Yet there never seemed enough jeopardy in the fourth-day surface to make 10 wickets a realistic possibility. Rishi Patel finished unbeaten on 42 with acting captain Holland on 27. Gloucestershire’s frustration was cushioned a little by taking 15 points for the draw, but the gap between themselves and second-placed Glamorgan remains at more than 30 points.

In a major change, Shreyas Iyer, who skipped the second four-day match between India A and Australia A as part of his break from red-ball cricket, will now lead the India A 50-over side for the three matches against the same opponents between September 30 and October 5 in Kanpur. Earlier, on September 14, the BCCI had announced that Rajat Patidar would lead India A in the first one-day game, and Tilak Varma in the subsequent games.While no vice-captain has been chosen for the first match, Tilak, who is currently in the UAE as part of India’s Asia Cup squad, will be Iyer’s deputy for the second and third games.Meanwhile, Patidar, having recently led Central Zone to the domestic season-opening Duleep Trophy title, has been removed from the India A one-day squad and will instead lead the Rest of India squad against Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha in the Irani Cup, to be played in Nagpur from October 1.Related

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Along with Tilak, other Asia Cup squad members Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh will join the India A squad for the second and third matches. Leaving the squad after the first match will be Priyansh Arya and Simarjeet Singh, as was announced earlier.

India A squad for 1st one-day match

Shreyas Iyer (capt), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abishek Porel (wk), Priyansh Arya, Simarjeet Singh

India A squad for 2nd and 3rd one-day matches

Shreyas Iyer (capt), Tilak Varma (vice-capt), Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep SinghRajat Patidar will hope to add the Irani Cup to the Duleep Trophy•PTI

Gaikwad, Kishan add muscle to Rest of India squad

For the Irani Cup match, the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yash Dhull, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep and Khaleel Ahmed, among others, will join forces with Patidar to try and get past Vidarbha at their home base in Nagpur.Of the Rest of India players, Abhimanyu, Kotian, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel and Suthar have been part of the action in the four-dayers against Australia A in Lucknow.Returning from an elbow injury, which kept him out since the first leg of matches in IPL 2025, Gaikwad scored 184 in the first innings of West Zone’s Duleep Trophy game against Central Zone in early September, signalling his good form. Dhull is another batter who comes into the Rest of India squad in good form, having scored 133 in a Duleep Trophy game last month.The match will also mark the competitive comeback of Akash Deep, who was rested for the Duleep Trophy after his exertions in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series in England, where he played three of the five Tests and starred with a ten-wicket haul in the second Test at Edgbaston. He joins forces with Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar and Khaleel, with the spin department headlined by Saransh Jain, the Player of the Series at the Duleep Trophy, Kotian and Suthar.

Rest of India squad for Irani Cup match vs Vidarbha

Rajat Patidar (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Aryan Juyal (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Yash Dhull, Shaikh Rasheed, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Saransh Jain

Vidarbha squad for Irani Cup

Akshay Wadkar (capt, wk), Yash Rathod (vice-capt), Atharva Taide, Aman Mokhade, Danish Malewar, Harsh Dubey, Parth Rekhade, Yash Thakur, Nachiket Bhute, Darshan Nalkande, Aditya Thakare, Akshay Karnewar, Yash Kadam, Shivam Deshmukh (wk), Praful Hinge, Dhruv Shorey