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Former India wicketkeeper-batter Karuna Jain has announced her retirement from all formats of cricket. She played 44 ODIs, five Tests and nine T20Is for India between 2004 and 2014.”With a lot of happy and satisfied feelings, I am able to make this announcement of my retirement from all forms of cricket and looking forward to contributing back to the game,” Jain, 36, wrote in a post on Instagram.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been a part of my cricketing journey from the very beginning to all my coaches, support staff and my team-mates whose (sic) been a part throughout my career. Each one of them has taught me something different about the game and life that made me the player and person I am today. It’s been an incredible journey I’ve been able to have and it would not have been possible without everyone who supported me during my ups and downs.”Jain scored an unbeaten 68 on ODI debut – becoming just the fifth Indian woman to get a fifty on debut – against West Indies in Lucknow in 2004. It is still the third-highest score in women’s ODIs by a wicketkeeper-batter on debut – behind Reshma Gandhi (104*) and Anju Jain (84*) – in women’s ODIs. She is also one of only two wicketkeepers to have scored a women’s ODI hundred for India – Gandhi being the other. She still holds the record of being the fourth-youngest Indian woman to score an ODI hundred.”My family being the biggest support and my brother being a cricketer himself made it easy and challenging for me to adopt the game and deliver the best in every time I stepped onto the grounds,” Jain wrote. “I could continue to play the sport and contribute for a very long time because of unflinching support and sacrifices done by them.”Jain’s 58 dismissals as a wicketkeeper are third-most for India in women’s ODIs. While she played for Karnataka for a large part of her domestic career, she also played for Air India, for Nagaland in 2018-19, and then for Puducherry in her final couple of seasons. She also picked up eight wickets with her offbreaks in domestic white-ball cricket.She was part of the 2005 Women’s World Cup squad – where India finished runners-up – as a back-up wicketkeeper. She played the Women’s World Cup in 2013 and the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2014.

Afghanistan had the better spinners for the turning surface in Tarouba, but three run-outs in their chase of 240 allowed Pakistan to seize the advantage instead. Allah Noor, Sulaiman Safi and Izharulhaq Naveed were all out trying to pinch runs that weren’t there, and Pakistan made the most of the freebies to complete a 24-run win and secure their place in the quarter-finals of the Under-19 World Cup.Afghanistan lost their captain Safi, the No. 3, in the 29th over when he tried to take on Zeeshan Zameer’s arm from the deep. In the next over, the well-set Noor had to go after a direct hit from mid-off. Those two wickets reduced Afghanistan from a comfortable 104 for 2 to 113 for 4.The Afghanistan batters coming in thereafter had to try and settle in when the track looked its trickiest, but they couldn’t last long. Pakistan captain Qasim Akram’s offbreaks accounted for Mohammad Ishaq and Khyber Wali in the 34th over, Naveed was gone with another direct hit from mid-off, and despite Noor Ahmad’s 18-ball 29 giving Pakistan a late scare, they held on.Seamer Awais Ali was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers. He got the opening breakthrough in the chase, breaking a 38-run stand when he removed Nangeyalia Kharote for 12 in the 11th over. And at the death, he dismissed Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai (39) and Noor to finish with figures of 3 for 36.Pakistan’s batting was constructed on the back of a solid 73-run fourth-wicket stand between Abdul Faseeh and Akram, who helped the side recover from 92 for 3 to 165 for 4 through the middle overs. Before their stand, two identical googlies from left-arm wristspinner Noor had opener Muhammad Shehzad – who scored an attractive, counter-attacking 43 – and the No. 4 Irfan Khan edging attempted drives to first slip.Faseeh, the No. 3, brought out his strokes as his innings progressed, getting to his half-century in Akram’s company. But a mix-up between the batters broke the stand, giving Afghanistan a sniff when Akram had to walk back for 38.Then came a golden spell from legspinner Naveed to rattle Pakistan further. Faseeh struck a Naveed full toss to deep midwicket to be dismissed for 68, Abbas Ali couldn’t put a cut away and instead saw his stumps rattled, and Ahmed Khan failed to pick Naveed’s googly and was bowled for a first-ball duck.From a position of strength at 165 for 3, Pakistan had gone to 173 for 6, and it appeared they would not be able to bat the whole 50 overs. But No. 8 Maaz Sadaqat thumped seven fours in his 37-ball unbeaten innings of 42 to give Pakistan the late push. He helped add 35 runs in the last five overs, and Pakistan finished with a 239 for 9, a score that proved too much for Afghanistan in the end.Tom Prest smashed an unbeaten 154•ICC via Getty Images

England laid down the gauntlet in their final Group A match by completing a third-consecutive comprehensive win to not only end their group with a spotless record but also post the highest innings score of the competition thus far.Their captain Tom Prest smacked an unbeaten 119-ball 154, including 13 fours and four sixes, to lift England to 362 before legspinner Rehan Ahmed collected a four-for to wrap UAE’s innings up for 173.England’s batters enjoyed time in the middle before their likely quarter-final against South Africa. Opener George Thomas made a 43-ball 41. Jacob Bethell struck eight fours and three sixes in his 55-ball 62. And while Prest smacked 13 fours and four sixes in his 154 – the highest individual score of the World Cup so far – William Luxton, too, got among the runs with a 45-ball 47.UAE’s chase of 363 began poorly, with left-arm seamer Joshua Boyden removing Aryansh Sharma in the first over. Four more wickets quickly followed, and by the 15th over, UAE were 61 for 5. Naseer, who conceded 81 runs with the ball, hit a half-century from No. 7, but UAE were eventually bowled out for 173. Ahmed removed Naseer and three others to finish with 4 for 30 in his ten overs.In the other Group A match, defending champions Bangladesh stayed in contention for qualification by steamrolling Canada by eight wickets. Right-arm seamer Ripon Mondol and offspinner SM Meherob took four wickets each to bowl Canada out for 136 before their batters chased the target down in 30.1 overs.Bangladesh’s win makes their final game against UAE a virtual knockout, with the winner going on to face India in the quarter-final and the loser going to the Plate round.Canada opener Anoop Chima made a slow 63, at a strike rate of 53.84, and his innings was, by far, their best batting contribution. Apart from the opening stand of 34, Canada could not make any significant partnership, and the Mondol-Meherob combination ran through their batting order.Bangladesh’s chase of 137 was anchored by opener Iftikher Hossain’s steady 61. His innings had seven fours, and he put on a 76-run stand for the second wicket with Prantik Nawrose Nabil (33) after opening batter Mahfijul Islam fell early. Following Nabil’s dismissal, Hossain reached his fifty and together with the No. 4 Aich Mollah (20*), finished the chase with 119 balls to spare.

Superstar Andre Russell has become the latest authoritative source to heap praise on Tanveer Sangha, declaring the young spinner has a big heart and a bright future.Russell and 20-year-old Sangha, who only made his BBL debut a year ago but has already been part of Australia’s Twenty20 squad, went head to head in a thrilling over at Showground Stadium on Sunday night.A well-set Russell had taken the power surge and was eyeing the boundary, with Melbourne Stars needing 35 runs from 36 deliveries at that juncture.Related

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Russell emerged victorious, heaving one ball back over Sangha’s head and into the stands as he marched Melbourne to a six-wicket win over Sydney Thunder.But Sangha, having already dismissed Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell, was denied the scalp of Russell in cruel fashion when he edged the ball onto his foot and the stumps, only for the bails to somehow remain in place.”The ball hit the stump – like hard…happy to still be batting and have a laugh about it,” Russell said.Sangha could be a bolter in Australia’s Test squad for tours of Pakistan and India next year, having enjoyed a productive start to the domestic season in all three formats. Russell, one of the most in-demand T20 guns for hire on the franchise circuit, was suitably impressed and made a point to seek out the tweaker after play.”I commended him and I said ‘listen, you have a big heart and I like spinners that are not afraid to bowl to big hitters’,” he said. “He was doing really really well. He was bowling into my body and mixing his pace.”He’s not afraid to bowl in the power surge over to me…he did well, so hats off to him. He just has a bright future. He has a long way to go and if he can be doing this, now, he’s just improvement [to come].”Sangha was chuffed to hear Russell’s feedback. “Obviously best in the business, it’s always good to get some stuff like that from him,” he said.Sangha relished the chance to test himself against one of the best T20 batters in the world.”He [captain Chris Green] is like, ‘do you want it?’. I’m like, ‘yeah 100 percent I want it’,” he recounted. “I know there’s a lot of pressure. But I just want to compete in the big moment, have the ball.”Sangha last month claimed 4 for 21 to spin New South Wales to a crushing one-day win over Victoria. Victoria coach and former Test opener Chris Rogers, having previously mentored Sangha at Under-19 level, noted at the time that he was “going to do some very good things”.

South Africa’s chase veered, almost stalled, and threatened to careen off a cliff – particularly when Wanindu Hasaranga claimed a T20I hat-trick to go with the ODI one he took on debut. But, in the end, taking the game deep, trusting their finisher, and hoping Sri Lanka’s inexperience would show, ended up working for them.With 14 required off the last five balls, Lahiru Kumara missed his length twice, put two balls in David Miller’s arc, and the batter cleared his front leg, brought that big back lift down, and smoked Kumara waaay over deep midwicket, for two sixes that very nearly cleared the stands. He got a single off the next ball, meaning South Africa were tied, with two balls remaining. Kagiso Rabada, who had fielded brilliantly, then edged the next ball for four, and South Africa were home with a ball to spare.The victory means South Africa stay in the running for a semi-final spot, while Sri Lanka find themselves needing several other results to go their way if they are to be in contention.Earlier, Sri Lanka had stumbled through the middle overs – not for the first time – against spin. Tabraiz Shamsi took 3 for 17, as Sri Lanka slumped from 61 for 1 to 110 for 6, the run rate slowing substantially as those wickets fell. They ended with a total of 142, the last wicket falling off the last delivery. It never really seemed enough, even if their bowlers did well to make it seem a good total.

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Nissanka shows his T20 smarts
It wasn’t necessarily an exemplary T20 knock. But for this very flawed Sri Lanka side, it was good enough. Pathum Nissanka made only 18 from his first 20 deliveries, in the powerplay. But he stuck around, surviving a close lbw chance off Keshav Maharaj through the middle overs, to accelerate later in the innings, hitting three fours and a six off the last nine deliveries he raced to finish with 72 off 58.Shamsi bosses it yet again
The world’s top-ranked T20I bowler showed why he is so highly rated. He gave away only a single run in his first over, which suggested Sri Lanka were looking just to play him out safely. But then he got wickets in each of his remaining three overs, even when batters weren’t trying to be especially aggressive against him. He got two caught-and-bowleds – Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Avishka Fernando coming down the track looking for singles, but failing to get to the pitch, and spooning catches right back at Shamsi. For his third scalp, Shamsi got Hasaranga to hole out to long-on. He finished with the game’s best figures of 3 for 17.Wanindu Hasaranga pegged South Africa back with a hat-trick•ICC via Getty

Hasaranga hat-tricks Sri Lanka back into the game
As if totally unwilling to be done by Shamsi – the only bowler above him on the T20I rankings – Hasaranga got three wickets of his own, all in a row. The first of these was probably the most important wicket. It wasn’t Hasaranga’s best googly, but he deceived the in-form Aiden Markram nonetheless, and knocked back his off stump. That wicket had come off the last ball of the 15th over, and then when he next came back to the bowling crease, in the 18th, Hasaranga got two wickets first up. He had Bavuma caught at deep midwicket off a genuine half-tracker – Bavuma not managing to clear the fielder, or miss him. Next ball, Dwaine Pretorius holed out to long-on, and South Africa seemed in serious trouble, with six wickets down and 31 still needed from 16 balls.The big finish
Miller just bided his time, and waited for Sri Lanka’s weakest death bowler. Rabada had thankfully struck a six off Dushmantha Chameera in the penultimate over, to keep South Africa in touch. Rabada had the strike at the start of the last over too, but he got a single first ball, and when Miller got to the crease, he was just intent on hitting sixes, and Kumara bowled him the two perfect balls to smash. Miller finished with 23 not out off 13.

Big picture

Last season, Sunrisers Hyderabad ended Kolkata Knight Riders’ playoff hopes with a win against Mumbai Indians in their last league game. Sunrisers were a better-looking team then, and they claimed their spot in the top four with a strong NRR.This season, they became the first to drop out of contention for the playoffs – two wins from 11 games usually do that; they just didn’t click as a unit, but their bowling has sort of come together in the last couple of games. They came close to winning against table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in their last match. And they do have the chance to spoil Knight Riders’ party, once again.

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Knight Riders have been in this situation in the last couple of seasons as well – and faltered, finishing fifth, on both occasions. They wouldn’t want to complicate it this time, too, and a win here could strengthen their chances.They have a better chance this time too. Among the teams in the middle – five fighting for two spots – they have the best NRR. They will be facing the two bottom-placed teams in their next two games, and they have the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy winning games for them.But they have not been consistent. For one, they have been struggling with their combination in the absence of Andre Russell. Their captain Eoin Morgan has still not found form. They are coming into the match on the back of a loss, to Punjab Kings on Friday. Their focus will be on getting their playing XI right. And it might not be easy to pull that off.

Qualification chances

Mumbai Indians’ defeat on Saturday means Knight Riders are now in control of their own destiny. If they win their last two matches, their tally of 14 points and an excellent net run rate (currently 0.302) will almost certainly ensure qualification.However, if they lose to Sunrisers, they will have to hope that the three other teams who are currently on 10 – Mumbai, Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals – also lose at least one of their two remaining games and finish on no more than 12 points. Then Knight Riders could still qualify with a win in their last game against Royals.

In the news

It is not clear when Russell and Lockie Ferguson, who have been out with injuries, will be fit to play. Knight Riders brought an extra batter in Tim Seifert for the last game, while Tim Southee, who initially replaced Russell in the XI, took Ferguson’s spot on the day. They do have the option to bring in allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, who can not only chip in with his bowling, but can also provide the much-needed batting heft in the middle order. Head coach Brendon McCullum on Friday said that the team sees Shakib mainly as a batter in the top three, though it “doesn’t mean he can’t slot in somewhere else”.Will Shakib Al Hasan get a look in? If he does, who goes out?•BCCI

Likely XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Tim Seifert/Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Prasidh Krishna/Sandeep Warrier, 11 Varun ChakravarthySunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Priyam Garg, 5 Abhishek Sharma, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Siddarth Kaul, 11 Sandeep Sharma

Strategy punt

Wriddhiman Saha has a great record against Knight Riders in the tournament: he has scored most of his IPL runs against them, strikes at 140 against their bowlers, and made his tournament best of 115* against them in the 2014 final. Barring him, all other Sunrisers batters have scored at less than 110 against Narine. However, Saha has been dismissed by Narine thrice in ten meetings. Knight Riders will want to take advantage of this match up and send Narine to bowl up front to the opener.

Stats that matter

• Iyer has been superb at the top of the order for Knight Riders. The 193 runs he has scored is the third-highest by an uncapped Indian player after five matches in the IPL.
• Shubman Gill’s average of 19.9 is the lowest among batters who have scored a minimum of 200 runs in IPL 2021.
• Dinesh Karthik needs five more to get to 4000 runs in the IPL.
• Knight Riders have won four out of the last five games against Sunrisers.

Marnus Labuschagne admits England’s concerns about this summer’s Ashes have merit but he fully expects a resolution will ensure he confronts a full-strength opposition.England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has made it clear he would likely opt out of touring Australia if his family wasn’t able to be part of the trip, while captain Joe Root noted he is waiting for more information.The issue has been bubbling away in recent months, during which Cricket Australia has been in talks with state and federal governments.Ben Stokes has already taken an indefinite break from the sport, with CA and its English counterpart both worried about the impact of biosecurity bubbles on players’ mental health.Related

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Australia’s strict border policy is unlikely to be drastically eased by the end of this year, while interstate travel also remains clouded by Covid-19.Labuschagne couldn’t recall discussing the issue with Root and veteran paceman Jimmy Anderson, whom he crossed paths with while playing county cricket this year, bhe understood the tourists’ unease.”The welfare of players and making sure families can come out here is important,” Labuschagne told reporters in Brisbane. “You don’t need to be a cricketer to recognise the importance of making sure the mental health of all players is in a good space.”Especially with a T20 World Cup followed by an Ashes, it’s a really long four or five months.”But I have no doubt, between the government and Cricket Australia, we’ll be able to sort it out and get ourselves in a position where we can have a full-strength England against a full-strength Australia.”Injured spearhead Jofra Archer is already a confirmed omission but Labuschagne, steeled for his first home Ashes series, is keen to lock horns with 39-year-old Anderson.”Everyone out here wants to see Jimmy come to Australia,” he said.The future of coach Justin Langer was a topic of intense speculation in recent weeks but disgruntled players have seemingly agreed to move on for now.Labuschagne, who has gone from strength to strength under Langer since being thrust into the 2019 Lord’s Ashes Test as a concussion substitute, said “it’s never nice when it comes out like it has”.”It’s been spoken about, that it comes to a head now. Conversations have been had, we can all move forward,” he said.Labuschagne, speaking at the launch of a community cricket initiative in Brisbane, remained upbeat that Australia’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in Hobart will proceed as planned. It shapes as Australia’s first Test since losing to India in January.”We all want more Test cricket,” he said. “That’s not always possible.”

A Lewis Hill century and 85 from Louis Kimber guided Leicestershire to a six-wicket Royal London Cup win over Somerset at Taunton.Hill cracked 107 off 106 balls, with seven fours and two sixes, sharing a fifth-wicket stand of 158 with Kimber, whose runs came from just 57 deliveries, to set up victory with more than five overs to spare.Somerset made 326 for 7 after losing the toss, George Bartlett hitting seven sixes in his 108, a maiden List A century, and 17-year-old debutant George Thomas contributing a promising 75. But it didn’t prove enough on a flat batting track in increasingly sunny conditions.The hosts were reduced to 104 for 5 in the 22nd over, despite a fluent 57-ball half-century from opener Steve Davies. A 3100 crowd saw Sam Young, Eddie Byrom, James Hildreth and Lewis Goldsworthy fall cheaply, Ben Mike striking with his first delivery of the match in the eighth over.Davies struck six fours and a six in his 61, but when he was caught behind off Will Davis, Somerset had lost half their wickets for modest reward.Thomas walked out with pressure on his young shoulders. But Bartlett began a recovery, reaching his fifty by hitting offspinner George Rhodes back over his head for six.Local product Thomas struck the ball with increasing authority as the pair brought up a hundred stand in 110 balls. The teenager moved confidently to his half-century off 63 deliveries, with five fours and a six.Bartlett was playing some majestic shots and brought up his hundred off 84 balls. Thomas then clouted successive sixes off Mike before losing his middle stump to the next delivery and departing to a standing ovation.When Bartlett was out in the final over, he had made the highest score by a Somerset No. 6 in List A cricket, beating the 106 made by Ian Botham against Hampshire in 1981.George Bartlett scored his maiden List A hundred•Getty Images

Leicestershire began by moving to 49 in the ninth over before Harry Swindells got a leading edge to Sonny Baker and skied a catch to backward point.Rhodes fell lbw to Josh Davey for a duck and Somerset looked to be taking a grip when Rishi Patel fell to Ned Leonard for 40, a first victim for the young seamer. But Arron Lilley signalled his intentions with three sixes, including two in the same Leonard over, and Hill also looked in good touch.Their entertaining stand of 61 in 6.2 overs ended when Lilley, on 39, clipped a catch to deep square off Baker with the total on 146.Hill went to fifty off 53 balls. He greeted the introduction of Thomas into the attack with a six over midwicket. Kimber helped keep the required run-rate at around six and a half an over and the pair brought up a century stand in 14 overs.A big six over deep square off Marchant de Lange took Kimber to a 46-ball fifty and he celebrated by clearing the ropes twice more in the same over, the 39th, which cost 29 runs.It only remained for Hill to reach a chanceless hundred. Kimber fell to a big shot late on and his partner followed, but the outcome had been settled.

Stumps West Indies and Pakistan’s last Test match four years ago was a classic, and if the events at Sabina Park are anything to go by, we may be in for another one. On an attritional day of Test cricket that didn’t swing as much as it just gently swayed, the two teams continue to be neck-and-neck. Simple math would dictate the hosts have the edge, leading as they do by 34 runs with two wickets still to spare, but with Yasir Shah in the fourth innings a historically significant factor, all bets are off.Kraigg Brathwaite (97) dominated the day, surviving almost through to the end after having to settle nerves after the frenetic finish of last night. He saw off each of Pakistan’s pace bowlers, the first new ball, a dangerous middle order collapse, the introduction of Yasir and two full sessions. But then it all changed as West Indies’ most threatening partnership – 95 between the captain and his predecessor was broken.Jason Holder was playing with delightful fluidity as his side pushed past 150 and bore down on Pakistan’s first innings score ominously. Yasir, not nearly at his best, was dispatched to the boundary repeatedly, and soon enough, a backfoot punch off Hasan Ali got Holder to his 11th half century. Eight runs later, though, he was gone, a victim of Faheem Ashraf’s subtle seam movement.Brathwaite, of course, remained and was even eyeing up a personal three-figure score – ideally before having to face the new ball in darkening conditions. It is hard to say if that played a role in his decision to hare back for a couple down to fine leg, taking on Hasan, whose direct hit caught the opener well short of his ground. He had departed three runs shy of what would have been a splendid hundred, with the wicket coming at a time when West Indies had firm control over the Test.Once Brathwaite fell, the visitors had a real opening, but wayward lines with the new ball, particularly from Shaheen Afridi, saw the lower order continue to eke out runs as Joshua Da Silva manipulated the strike intelligently. By the time the umpires began worrying about the light, West Indies already had a decent lead they will be keen to build on tomorrow.In overcast conditions in the morning, Mohammad Abbas had picked up exactly where he left off the previous day and was the pick of the bowlers, peppering the corridor of uncertainty between a good and full length. Roston Chase and Brathwaite had to be especially sure of their footwork, with the seam movement Abbas was generating an additional challenge.Afridi let his high standards dip somewhat, beginning with two leg-side deliveries that trickled away for four leg-byes each. It settled West Indies’ nerves, and once Chase drove Abbas straight down the ground, the runs off the bat became more frequent. Before long, they had brought up a half-century stand.But just as West Indies looked poised to take control, Pakistan struck. Hasan, who had been testing the pair in his first three overs, especially when they got on the front foot, coaxed an expansive front-foot drive from Chase that wasn’t really on. It produced a tickle through to Mohammad Rizwan, with an anguished look from the batter revealing quite how ordinary the shot was.The second session was a dogged, scrappy affair that – one sensational over from Afridi aside – West Indies negotiated with relative conviction. The problem for them, though, was that this time would be defined by four balls from Afridi more than anything any batter could manage.Just after West Indies brought up their hundred, Pakistan broke through with the wicket they had threatened before lunch. Jermaine Blackwood’s punchy counter-attacking knock might have been evocative of Rizwan’s cameo on the first day but it wasn’t nearly as assured, with all four of his boundaries coming off shots he wasn’t in control of. Afridi landed one in the slot for him to go after, but with the ball wobbling in the air, Blackwood only managed to toe-end it to Abbas at long-on. The very next ball, Kyle Mayers was struck full on the pad, and found himself departing for a golden duck.It might have gotten worse for West Indies. Two balls later, the irrepressible Afridi had Holder trapped in front, with the umpire raising the finger. The allrounder would survive by the barest of margins, with the review showing the ball pitching just outside leg stump.Holder understood the magnitude of the moment, and dug in. He did not score until a straight drive off his 12th delivery, and didn’t score again for 22 more balls. He knew the chance would eventually come, and launched into a wayward Yasir over towards the back-end of the session.Brathwaite, meanwhile, was pretty much batting on a different surface. His patience was exemplary, his shot selection immaculate. When Pakistan appeared to be having one of their purple patches, he had the awareness to retreat completely into his shell and place an even greater value on his wicket, and with Holder keeping the scoring ticking over at the other end, West Indies began to take control.The quick departure of both let Pakistan back in, though, and it feels increasingly as if it might all come down to fine margins again. Just as it did in 2017.

Stafanie Taylor became the second West Indies Women player to claim a T20I hat-trick as the hosts swept Pakistan Women 3-0 in North Sound. After dismissing Pakistan’s top-scorer Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig and No.11 Anam Amin off successive balls in the final over of the first innings, Taylor followed up with an unbeaten 43 off 41 balls to secure the chase, completing the job in the last over of the game.Offspinner Anisa Mohammed, who was the first West Indies Women player to take a T20I hat-trick, in 2018, also played her part on Sunday, returning 3 for 24 in her four overs. But it was Shamilia Connell, the Player of the Series, who set the tone for the victory by nipping out both the Pakistan openers in the powerplay after the tourists had opted to bat first.Related

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Mohammed, Hayley Matthews and Taylor then prolonged Pakistan’s misery with regular strikes and thrifty bowling. No.5 Riaz was the only Pakistan batter to pass 25 although her runs came at the sluggish strike rate of 82.85. Opener Muneeba Ali and No.7 Ayesha Naseem were the only Pakistan batters to strike at over 100. Pakistan managed just one boundary in their last five overs, with Taylor capping the innings with her hat-trick.The West Indies captain wasn’t done yet. After watching Matthews, Deandra Dottin and Kyshona Knight fall in the powerplay, she anchored the chase with stands of 41 and an unbroken 48 with a fit-again Chedean Nation and Kycia Knight. Taylor struck four fours during her unbeaten 43 and eventually won the Player-of-the-Match award. Diana Baig provided some consolation for Pakistan, returning 2 for 17 in her four overs.This was West Indies Women’s first T20I series victory – and series sweep – since they beat Ireland Women 3-0 in Dublin in the pre-Covid era in May 2019.

England have taken a one-nil lead in the T20I series against Sri Lanka with a comfortable eight-wicket victory in Cardiff achieved with 17 deliveries to spare.A much-changed Sri Lanka side – there were six alterations from their previous T20I in March – never really got to grips with the variation and control of the England attack or a slightly sluggish surface that rendered strokeplay tricky. At one stage they went 10 overs (from 4.2 to 14.1) without hitting a four and there were just three sixes in their innings.Eoin Morgan, the England captain, appeared to have an almost endless array of options and variations on hand in the field. And with Adil Rashid producing the third most economical four-over spell of his T20I career (he conceded 17) and Chris Woakes (three overs for 14) and Liam Livingstone (two overs for nine) adding equally miserly support in conceding just one boundary between them, Sri Lanka never looked to be on course for a competitive total.While Dasun Shanaka, with his second T20I half-century, helped Sri Lanka plunder 25 off the final two overs of the innings to drag his side to something approaching respectability, only one of his colleagues, Kusal Perera, made 20 and Sri Lanka only took their run-rate above a run-a-ball in their penultimate over.That left England chasing a modest 130 for victory. And even without the injured Ben Stokes, that was unlikely to test the side ranked No. 1 in the world in this format.Related

• Eoin Morgan defends rest-and-rotation policy ahead of T20Is against Sri Lanka

• Jofra Archer's absence tests England's seam-bowling bench strength with eye on T20 World Cup

Jos Buttler and Jason Roy, took 61 from the powerplay to all but end the game as a contest. If Buttler, timing the ball beautifully both through and over the off side, was the more pleasing on the eye, Roy was no less effective as he thrashed through the leg side. It was some surprise when he was brilliantly caught attempting to flay one over mid-off.By then, though, the openers had added 80 from 55 balls. And while Dawid Malan (seven off 14) was unable to get into his stride, Buttler brought up a 38-ball half-century by taking 10 off two deliveries from Akila Dananjaya – a pulled six followed by a drive for four – and ensured England cruised over the victory line with quite a bit to spare.Perhaps the one-side nature of the contest was no big surprise: this was the No. 1 ranked T20 side playing at home against the No. 8 ranked side, after all. Spare a thought for Sri Lanka, though. In the age of Covid, we have become accustomed to teams performing without the warm-up matches and acclimatisation we once expected. Here, though, Sri Lanka were up against a side who are in the middle of their domestic T20 tournament – the Vitality Blast – and had only had a couple of inter-squad matches to prepare by comparison. It was hardly ideal and it may well have shown.Buttler’s opening statementButtler came into this game having spent the last couple of weeks batting in Lancashire’s middle-order in T20 cricket. And with the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes also vying for the opening position in this format, he may have felt he had something to prove. If so, he did a fine job of making his point with an innings that was both controlled and brutal. Early on, it was his shots through the off-side – a lofted drive and a back foot punch, in particular – that caught the eye, but as the ball softened and the sluggish pitch made such strokes less productive, he produced some powerful thumps through the leg side. He gave only one chance, from the final ball of the match, when an outside edge was dropped by Kusal Perera. It was Buttler’s second T20I half-century in succession and his third in four innings. For a man who scores at his rates, that is a remarkable level of consistency. He also scored a century in his final IPL innings.Shanaka’s fightShanaka recorded the second half-century of his T20I career to justify his recall to the Sri Lanka side. Shanaka hadn’t played an international match in this format since March 2020 but here, coming in with his side in some trouble (they were 52 for 4 in the ninth over), he provided the resistance. He looked hurried by Mark Wood initially – he was beaten by his first three deliveries and, after 16 balls, had scored just nine – but, as he settled, he unveiled some powerful strokes and accelerated nicely in hitting 23 from the eight deliveries before his dismissal from the final ball of the innings. Twice in succession, Wood was punished for some width by being cut to the boundary, while he also hit two-thirds of the sixes of the innings: a ferocious drive over long-on off Chris Jordan and a pull off Sam Curran. None of it was enough to take Sri Lanka to victory but he did, at least, give his bowlers something to defend.Like a LivingstoneSome were surprised by England’s decision to prefer Livingstone to Moeen Ali as their spin-bowling allrounder. But Livingstone’s ability to bowl both leg and offspin does give him an edge in being able to adapt to left or right-handed batters. He has been in decent form with the bat in domestic T20 cricket, too, scoring an unbeaten 94 a couple of weeks ago and 45 and 65 in his two most recent games. He didn’t have a chance to bat here but impressed with the ball in delivering two well-controlled overs containing both offbreaks and leggies and without conceding a boundary. It was a performance that provided his captain with a buffer should any of his frontline bowlers have an off day and must have done Livingstone’s T20 World Cup chances no harm at all.Hope in HasarangaSri Lanka’s bowlers weren’t given much of a chance by their batters. But at least Wanindu Hasaranga gave Sri Lanka supporters some cheer with a really well controlled spell of leg-spin that saw him concede just 12 runs and deliver 14 dot balls. With just a little luck he could have had a couple of wickets, too, as England’s batters struggled to predict which deliveries would turn and which would skid on. Malan missed one which slid past his outside edge and Bairstow came within an ace of playing on to another which hurried on to him. The impression was that, given a decent target to defend, he could have caused England quite a lot of trouble.The return of ChrisThe last time Chris Woakes played a T20I, Barack Obama was president of the USA and David Cameron was prime minister in the UK. So a lot has changed since November 2015. But with Jofra Archer missing and Woakes having enjoyed a decent IPL, England recalled him for his first international game since September; a remarkably long time for a player with a central contract who spent much of the winter in the squad’s bio-bubbles. While Woakes didn’t take a wicket, he more than justified his recall in conceding just one boundary in three frugal overs which contained 11 dot balls and cost only 14. With his control, his variations and his experience, he may well have put himself back in contention for a place in the T20 World Cup squad.