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Exciting 19-year-old Queensland quick reported soreness after playing in the T20 Max competition and scans revealed a stress fracture

Alex Malcolm08-Sep-2025Back injuries among Australian fast bowlers is nearing epidemic levels, with Queensland teenager Callum Vidler the latest in the list, ruled out of the Australia A white-ball tour of India and the start of the domestic summer with a partial stress fracture.Fresh off the news that Test captain Pat Cummins has a hot spot and Cricket Australia contracted quick Lance Morris is undergoing back surgery, there had been hopes of accelerating Vidler’s progression given the promise he showed in the Sheffield Shield final in March following his performances in Australia’s Under-19 World Cup victory last year.He was set to play in the white-ball portion of Australia A’s tour of India later this month and had been preparing by playing three T20 matches in the T20 Max in Queensland for his club side Valley.Related

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But scans late last week detected a partial fracture in his L3 vertebrae. Queensland general manager of high performance Joe Dawes confirmed that Vidler has to now undergo a rehab process but there is no time frame on his return.”Callum experienced some back pain during training and promptly reported it,” Dawes said. “Unfortunately, the scans came back confirming a stress fracture so he will spend some time recovering and then start a rehab plan. He’s naturally very disappointed but accepts that injuries are part of the game. We’ll work closely with him to ensure he has the best recovery to get him ready for a return to cricket.”Australia A had already lost Morris and his replacement Brody Couch from the red-ball portion of the series with India. Couch had suffered a side strain but is expected to be right for the start of the Shield season with Western Australia while Morris is out for a year.South Australia’s Henry Thornton was called in as Couch’s replacement for the red-ball matches in India and will now remain on for the three white-ball matches as weekVidler, 19, impressed with his performance in the Shield final last March when he bagged 4 for 64 and 1 for 60 while showcasing impressive pace on a sluggish Karen Rolton Oval pitch. He is part of the quartet of quicks from his Under-19 group, which has Tom Straker, who was also selected for the Australia A white-ball team to tour India, Mahli Beardman and Charlie Anderson. Beardman is currently recovering from stress fractures while Anderson has had significant back issues in the recent past and is being carefully managed.The injury leaves Queensland thin in terms of their fast-bowling stocks just a week out from the start of the Dean Jones Trophy.

Karnataka, Baroda, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Haryana have qualified for the Super League; four more teams will join them

Saurabh Somani17-Nov-2019The closing stages of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy’s league phase have been enlivened by a tight race for the Super League and two prominent names making a comeback, Prithvi Shaw and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Sunday was to be the last day of the league stage for all five groups, but reschedules have meant there will be seven matches from Groups C, D and E played on Monday. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super League, to be followed by semi-finals and the final.Shaw smacks half-century on comeback
Having served out his eight-month ban for consuming a banned substance, Shaw returned to action for Mumbai in the familiar environs of the Wankhede Stadium with 63 off 39 balls at the top of the order in a Group D match.Assam had to bear the brunt of a Mumbai side smarting from a shock defeat against Meghalaya in their last match. Mumbai piled up 206 for 5 after being asked to bat, while Assam could muster only 123 for 8.But while Aditya Tare, Shaw’s opening partner, was the game’s top-scorer, smashing 82 off 48, Shaw was the cynosure. It was his first knock at a representative level since the IPL Qualifier for Delhi Capitals against Chennai Super Kings on May 10.He came through the test well, though Assam’s bowling didn’t pose the greatest challenge, hitting six fours and three sixes in his knock. Shaw will now need to build on a successful start to his comeback to challenge for a spot in the Indian team again. In his absence, Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal have established themselves as unquestionably the first-choice openers in the Test team.Bhuvneshwar Kumar in his delivery follow-through•AFPBhuvneshwar makes a solid comeback
Injuries, and team dynamics, have meant Bhuvneshwar has slipped from being a three-format India player to one who is looked at primarily for limited-overs cricket. Even with the white ball, Deepak Chahar’s emergence as a swing bowler of considerable skill has meant Bhuvneshwar’s absence hasn’t quite been an unfillable void.Before the T20I series against Bangladesh, chief selector MSK Prasad had said, “Bhuvneshwar Kumar might come in the next series.”Bhuvneshwar took some strides towards an international comeback, making a steady if understated return to competitive cricket. He played his second match in three days for Uttar Pradesh, in Group B. His comeback game was against Manipur on November 15 in Thumba, where he took none for 13 in three overs. Against Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, he bowled his full quota of four overs and took 1 for 23.Kerala made 119 for 8 in 20 overs, before Uttar Pradesh, set a revised target of 44 in seven overs, ended on 42 for 4, losing by one run. That result had significant ramifications for who ended up qualifying.Karnataka, Baroda, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Haryana qualify
Karnataka, Baroda, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan have already qualified for the Super League, with Groups A and B having completed all their matches.Some matches remain in Group D, but Mumbai and Haryana have qualified from that group. Mumbai are on an impregnable 24 points. Haryana have 20, with a match against Meghalaya left. Even if they lose, there is no other team on 20 points. Puducherry are on 16 and can equal Haryana on points if they beat Madhya Pradesh, but Haryana had won their head-to-head match against Puducherry.Both Karnataka and Baroda finished on 20 points in Group A, having five wins and one defeat each, and sailed through comfortably. The going was tighter in Group B. Tamil Nadu were the group leaders with 20 points, but Rajasthan, Vidarbha and Kerala all finished on 16 points each. They had all beaten each other once, which meant Rajasthan, with a net run-rate of 1.938, qualified ahead of Vidarbha (0.566) and Kerala (0.503).Two rain-affected matches that were decided by a margin of just one run played a part in deciding the Group B table. Vidarbha had beaten Rajasthan by a single run on November 12 despite Chahar’s heroics, and, on Sunday, Kerala beat Uttar Pradesh by the same margin. If Kerala hadn’t won, there wouldn’t have been a three-way tie and in that case, Vidarbha would have gone through by virtue of having won their head-to-head game against Rajasthan.Meanwhile, Rajasthan did all they could to qualify, destroying Tripura in a nine-wicket win. They first restricted Tripura to just 69 for 7 in 16 overs, and then smashed their way to 74 for 1 in five overs, ensuring their net run-rate would be high enough to take them through in case of a three-way tie – which is exactly what happened.Group C currently has out of eight teams on 16 points each, making the race very right. Two Group C games are still remaining. The winner of Maharashtra v Punjab will straightaway qualify, since they are two of the teams on 16 points. Railways, also on 16, will join in if they can beat Himachal Pradesh in the other game. Himachal have only eight points, though, so if they win, it could leave five teams on 16. Punjab have a net run-rate superior to all others, so if they lose to Maharashtra, they’ll still be in position to qualify – should Railways lose. The team with the second-highest net run-rate right now is an unlikely one: Chandigarh. It will be quite a story if they qualify.Jharkhand are on top of Group E, but both Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir are close behind, and the latter two have matches in hand. The next two teams are Gujarat and Odisha, who will also be in action on the final day, which makes Group E’s scenario uncertain till the end.

Steven Smith fronted his Australian team-mates to apologise for drawing a dissent charge and fine in the Sheffield Shield as the captain Tim Paine reminded all members of the squad that they need to maintain standards of behaviour “regardless of who we’re playing for”, as they ramped up preparations for the Pakistan Test series.After a period of more than a year in which the Australian team had earned significant respect for improved behaviour, while being lauded by Cricket Australia’s board for making only one ICC code of conduct transgression – an audible obscenity by Adam Zampa during the World Cup – in 18 months since the Newlands scandal, standards have slipped this season with no fewer than eight code of conduct breaches being recorded across state, second XI and under-age tournaments. The pair of breaches in the last Shield around arrived from two of Australia’s most high-profile players.In addition to James Pattinson’s suspension for abusive language while playing for Victoria against Queensland, Smith was fined 25% of his match fee for obvious dissent when given out caught behind while playing for New South Wales against Western Australia at the SCG. At one of the team’s recurring “values” meetings, held at the start of every major assignment since Justin Langer was appointed coach, Smith told his team-mates he was sorry for raising the ire of officials and admitted he needed to improve his body language and conduct when dismissed.ALSO READ: James Pattinson out of first Test after code of conduct suspension“I came in and apologised to the group yesterday for getting a code of conduct,” Smith said in Brisbane. “I don’t think there was a great deal in it but I’ve copped it and I have to look at when I get out and the way I sort of conduct myself. I know lots of kids watch me play and watch all of us play and the way we conduct ourselves when we get out as well as when we’re batting.”So we have to be very mindful of that and sometimes just bite the bullet and just conduct ourselves in, I guess, a better manner at times. Sometimes your emotions can get the better of you out on the field. We’re playing a game [where] everyone is trying to do their best and sometimes that happens.”The transgressions of Smith and Pattinson underline the fact that occasionally, international players are given to dropping their guard in matches not subject to major international broadcast or media attention, even though all domestic matches are streamed online in their entirety. Smith noted that, within reason, the place for letting out frustrations about a dismissal or decision disagreed with is within the dressing room itself, away not only from cameras but also spectators.”When you get behind closed doors, go for your life, do what you need to do to let your frustrations out,” he said. “Within reason – you probably don’t want to punch anything. Mitch Marsh can probably attest to that. We’re Australian players regardless of where we’re playing and what we’re doing. We sign up to values and in our contracts we’ve got a code of conduct there we have to play by. I got pinged and so be it. I felt I should apologise for that.”Paine said that greater consistency in behaviour across all levels of the game was something that all team members were clear about trying to achieve. “I think it’s more just a reminder that we’ve got to set those standards all the time,” Paine said. “Whether we’re playing for Australia or we’re playing club cricket or we’re playing for our states or we’re not playing cricket, there are standards we set ourselves to live by day in and day out so it’s important we do that whether we’re on the field off the field, regardless of who we’re playing for.”We’ve had a couple of instances this week but we always revisit them. We did again last night, just to brush up on what’s expected and what we expect of the group. Both of those guys apologised, they know that they fell a little bit short of what we set ourselves in the Test team. And the fact that it’s important that we maintain that when we go back to state cricket and lead the way there. They’re disappointed with that but we are going to keep on top of it and maintain the level that we’ve set so far in the last couple of years.”Pat Cummins, one of the joint vice-captains, said that more often than not, the knowledge of team-mates that mistakes had been made and values not lived up to provided as stinging a punishment as any fine or ban. “It’s pretty clear how we want to play and go about it and our standards we set ourselves,” he said. “You’re going to get fines, breach notices or whatever it is, but to be honest, the feeling around the group is enough of a punishment. You now when you’ve stepped out of line. He [Pattinson] has owned up to it, he’ll be super remorseful and it’s a good lesson for him to learn.”We’ve identified five key values, and we just want to stay on top of those, so every few months it’s just trying to talk about them and say ‘what does this look like’. We’ll break up in groups, talk about different values and also it gives us something to measure against that at the end of the series to see how we’re tracking. It’s run by the players, we own it, we know what standards we have to uphold, and it’s a good little reminder and it’s no different for the T20, one-day or Test side, if someone comes in, these are the expectations.”

MatériaMais Notícias

da aposte e ganhe： O jovem atacante Coutinho, 20 anos, vive a expectativa de disputar pela primeira vez uma edição do Campeonato Paulista da Série A1 com a camisa do São Bento. Na temporada anterior com a equipe de Sorocaba, disputou o Campeonato Brasileiro da Série C e marcou dois gols em oito jogos, agora o atacante deseja melhorar as suas marcas pelo Azulão e conquistar os objetivos junto ao clube.

>Confira a classificação do Brasileirão e simule os jogos restantes

– Sem dúvida alguma estou muito feliz por ter a oportunidade de disputar um dos maiores campeonatos do Brasil, que é o Campeonato Paulista. Agradeço ao São Bento, que retorna a divisão de elite do futebol paulista, por esta chance. Vou trabalhar para retribuir a confiança que o clube está depositando no meu trabalho – declarou o atacante.

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da gbg bet： Entusiasmado com a possibilidade de disputar pela primeira vez a Série A1 do Campeonato Paulista, Coutinho acredita que o São Bento possa fazer uma boa campanha na competição, além de elogiar e valorizar o trabalho do técnico Edson Vieira. Entretanto, o mesmo espera por dificuldades e adota a cautela sobre uma possível classificação para a fase quartas de final. O time está no grupo B ao lado de São Paulo, Ponte Preta e Ferroviária.

– Acredito que temos tudo para fazer uma boa campanha neste Paulistão. O trabalho do professor Edson Vieira é muito bom e isso conta bastante em uma competição muito equilibrada. Isso sem contar que estamos em uma chave com grandes equipes e de nível técnico alto. Vamos trabalhar firme e forte para fazer um bom papel – concluiu Coutinho.

No terceiro nível do futebol nacional, Coutinho entrou em campo pelo Bentão em oito partidas e anotou dois gols – contra Boa Esporte e Volta Redonda. A estreia na edição desta temporada do Campeonato Paulista da Série A1 acontece no dia 28 de fevereiro contra o Mirassol, no estádio Walter Ribeiro, casa do Azulão sorocabano.

A maiden T20I win over Afghanistan could boost morale for struggling side, while Afghanistan could look to test bench strength in dead rubber

The Preview by Mohammad Isam19-Sep-2019Big pictureThis game is the first of two dead rubbers in this tri-series, but try telling that to Hamilton Masakadza. This will be his last international match and, having contributed for so long to Zimbabwe cricket, a win over a side that has totally dominated them in T20Is will make for a sweet exit.Afghanistan, on the other hand, will once again rely on their heavy hitters and their spin attack to stop Zimbabwe, a formula that has worked on each of the eight occasions the teams have met in this format. In this series, Asghar Afghan, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi have scored most of the runs but Afghanistan will also hope to see Hazratullah Zazai recover from a batting slump. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who impressed on his debut earlier in the tri-series, would look to bounce back from the first-ball duck in the second game.Among their bowlers, Mujeeb Ur Rahman stopped Bangladesh in their tracks with his maiden four-wicket haul in the previous game, also his T20I best. Fareed Ahmad, the left-arm quick, also looked impressive, although medium-pacer Karim Janat hasn’t been among the wickets.Zimbabwe haven’t had as many impressive individual performances. Richmond Mutumbami did justice to his call-up against Bangladesh on Wednesday with a half-century but his efforts did not have an impact on the result. Ryan Burl, who made a quickfire fifty in the first game against Bangladesh, has struggled for consistency, as has Regis Chakabva. And the side’s senior batsmen, including Masakadza, haven’t scored enough to put pressure on the opposition.They have some variety in their bowling attack but apart from Kyle Jarvis, the others haven’t quite stepped up. Neville Madziva, Ainsley Ndlovu and Sean Williams will look to do a better job with the ball.Form guideAfghanistan WWWWW (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LLLWLIn the spotlightLike his team, Hamilton Masakadza, too, has had a rough time in the tournament, scoring only 62 in three innings so far. In his final match, a big knock from the Zimbabwe captain could well have a big impact on the morale of the side.Getty ImagesWith two matches to go before the final, this would be the right time for Hazratullah Zazai to get back among the runs. The opener hasn’t scored a fifty in his last 14 international innings, after his 67 against Ireland in March this yearTeam newsHaving played their first two matches in the series with an unchanged XI, Afghanistan now have the luxury of two matches to test out their bench strength. Fast bowlers Dawlat Zadran and Naveen-ul-Haq, seaming allrounder Fazal Niazai and wicketkeeper Shafiqullah and left-arm spinner Shahidullah and Sharafuddin Ashraf are their options should they rest a few key players.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 3 Najeeb Tarakai, 4 Asghar Afghan, 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Karim Janat, 10 Fareed Ahmad, 11 Mujeeb Ur RahmanRichmond Mutumbami’s fifty should keep him in the side but Zimbabwe might consider recalling quick bowler Tendai Chatara and allrounder Tony Munyonga to bolster the bowling.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Brendan Taylor (wk), 2 Hamilton Masakadza (capt), 3 Sean Williams, 4 Regis Chakabva, 5 Tinotenda Mutombodzi, 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Richmond Mutumbami, 8 Neville Madziva, 9 Kyle Jarvis, 10 Ainsley Ndlovu, 11 Chris MpofuPitch and conditionsIn the match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury pitch offered runs to batsmen, who were ready to take time to assess the situation. There’s chance of a late shower on Friday evening.Stats and trivia Masakadza will retire having played the most T20Is for Zimbabwe. He has missed only four of Zimbabwe’s 69 T20Is, all in 2015. He is also their highest run-getter in the format, with the most 50-plus scores and the most boundaries. Mohammad Nabi’s unbeaten 84 in Afghanistan’s previous game against Bangladesh is the third-highest score by a No. 6 batsman in all T20Is.

England manager Gareth Southgate defended his decision not to make changes to his team after Sunday's 2-1 win over Slovakia at Euro 2024.

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• England come from behind to beat Slovakia
• Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane on target
• Southgate did consider taking Bellingham off

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  England are into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 but had to do it the hard way against Slovakia. The Three Lions trailed for most of the match and only managed to force extra-time when Bellingham grabbed an equaliser in the 95th minute. Harry Kane then headed home the winner for the Three Lions to complete the comeback.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bellingham scored a brilliant overhead kick to level the tie for England but had otherwise put in an unusually poor performance for Southgate's side. The manager, who has been criticised for his reluctance to changes his team, revealed afterwards that he had thought about taking Bellingham off but felt vindicated after leaving him on and seeing him score against Slovakia.

• WHAT SOUTHGATE SAID

  He told BBC Sport: "With 15 minutes to go you wonder if he is out on his feet. Him and Harry Kane produce those moments and that is why you don't makes changes when people are clamouring for more changes. We had enough attacking players on the pitch.

  "We were thinking should we take him off, but you know he is capable of those sorts of moments. We know in the game itself we needed to better with the ball, we couldn’t find the right solutions in the first half and we did it better in the second.

  "Under that pressure they kept probing. In the end it is the old fashioned long throw that gets the goal, those moments can happen when you keep wearing a team down."

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Bellingham has now scored six times in second-half stoppage time in the 2023-24 campaign for club and country. All six goals have either put his team in front or been equalisers.

Former New Zealand captain says drive to keep going has been harder to maintain in recent months

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Aug-2019

Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand captain, has called time on his cricket career four years after his international retirement. The ongoing Global T20 Canada, where he is representing the Toronto Nationals, will be his last.This means McCullum will not turn up for Glasgow Giants as one of the icon players in the inaugural Euro T20 Slam from August 30.”As much as I’m proud of what I’ve achieved in my 20 years professional career – more than I ever could have dreamed of when I first entered the game – I have felt the drive to keep going harder to maintain in recent months,” he wrote on Instagram. “My style of cricket has always been full noise, full throttle. From Culling Park to Lord’s and everything in between, there have been some wonderful memories. Unfortunately, the sacrifices needed and commitment required to play that type of cricket have now become too great.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

McCullum has been an in-demand T20 cricketer since his international retirement in 2015, with stints in the IPL with Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash, Lahore Qalandars in the PSL and Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL.In December 2018, McCullum went unsold at the IPL auction. In February, he called time on his BBL career with Heat after a relatively strong season in which he made 302 runs in 13 innings. At the time, he expressed his desire to continue playing T20 cricket worldwide.Only two weeks ago in London, McCullum was signed by Glasgow for the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam, where he was to team up with Dale Steyn, among others. However, the want to “plough on regardless” didn’t appeal to him.”I owe it to myself and the teams I represent to close that chapter rather than just plough on regardless of what I know to be true,” he wrote. “In T20 cricket, I’ve enjoyed so many varied challenges, I can leave the game knowing I left no stone unturned.”An early pathbreaker of sorts in T20 cricket, McCullum’s highest so far is the unbeaten 158 he made for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural IPL game in 2008. He is currently second in the list of highest T20 run-aggregators of all-time, with only Chris Gayle ahead of him.

Only 12.4 overs were possible on a stop-start day in Bristol’s County Ground

The Report by Shamya Dasgupta26-May-2019
Match abandonedUnlike the Bangladesh v Pakistan game in Cardiff – where the captains couldn’t even go out for the toss – there was a bit of action in Bristol. Just about.West Indies, after opting to field, got to bowl a total of 12.4 overs – in spells of 8.2, 1.1 and 3.1 – at Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, in which South Africa scored 95 runs, before the stop-start encounter was called off, everyone having had enough of watching the rain.It was South Africa’s last warm-up fixture before their tournament opener on May 30 against hosts England at The Oval in London, and they would certainly have wanted a proper hit out. Amla, who had scored a 61-ball 65 in their earlier game against Sri Lanka, looked good again, scoring 51 in 46 balls, while de Kock, who didn’t get a bat in that 87-run win, also hit his stride, scoring a 30-ball 37.Rain was always in the air, and while Jason Holder opted to bowl first to “make good use” of the conditions, Amla was the one to actually cash in early on, a flick to midwicket and a cut past point earning him two boundaries in the first over bowled by Holder.Sheldon Cottrell looked impressive with the new ball initially, bowling with pace, and getting some balls up to around the throat, till the batsmen had his measure in the sixth over. The first reared from a back of a length to rap de Kock’s gloves, but Amla leaned into a drive beautifully on the third ball, and de Kock sent the last two balls of the over for fours down the ground and over the slips.The team fifty came up in 7.1 overs, and Amla and de Kock looked good to go on and give South Africa a super platform when, after two balls in the ninth over, the players had to rush off the ground. Point of concern – Shannon Gabriel, who bowled those two deliveries, looked like he had suffered a strain of some sort, and didn’t come back to complete the over after the break. Andre Russell did, instead, and after three more balls from Holder, we were off again.The rain was such that there was always a chance of play resuming, and after a long wait, the two teams took guard again for a 31-overs-a-side playoff. Perhaps seeing the writing in the clouds, Amla and de Kock really opened up. Between them, they hit five fours and a six – Amla ramping Oshane Thomas over third man – in the 19 balls of play possible, before they went off again, this time for good.From South Africa’ point of view, the form of the two openers was a big positive, while West Indies mainly took back negatives – their bowlers lacked discipline, and the fielding looked a bit worse for wear at times. Holder agreed after the game that West Indies needed to be tidier with the ball. “We have to make some slight adjustments in terms of our length as we were probably a little bit too short,” he said. “We offered a bit of width at times as well. In these conditions, where the ball doesn’t do as much, I just think we need to be as accurate as we possibly can in terms of line and length. Then we can try and create some problems there. I think if we can stack up some dot balls and stack up some pressure overs together, more often than not you get the wickets you want.”While South Africa now go straight into the main tournament, West Indies have another workout slotted against New Zealand on Tuesday, May 28, to try and iron out the creases.

Responding to Kent’s 309, visitors reduced deficit to 101 on a day reduced to only 71 overs

ECB Reporters Network18-Jun-2019

Wily Nottinghamshire veterans Chris Nash and Samit Patel dug in throughout much of the late afternoon gloom in Tunbridge Wells to edge their side into the solid position of 208 for 4 at the mid-point of their Specsavers County Championship match with Kent.Responding to Kent’s first day total of 309 at The Nevill Ground, Nottinghamshire moved on cautiously by adding 178 runs for the loss of four wickets on a day reduced to only 71 overs of action by rain and bad light.Patel reached 42 not out after an uncharacteristic 139-minute stay, while Nottinghamshire captain Steven Mullaney was unbeaten with one having survived the final three deliveries of the day.Kent had winkled out Nottinghamshire’s first-wicket partners during a hard-fought morning of cut-and-thrust cricket as openers Ben Duckett and Ben Slater resumed on their overnight score of 30 without loss.The pair were perhaps fortunate to survive an overcast opening hour as Kent all-rounder Grant Stewart sent down a muscular ‘hit-the-pitch’ stint from the Railway End, while Harry Podmore bowled fuller lengths and swung the ball from the Pavilion End.The two seamers each beat the outside edge on three or four occasions apiece, but the visiting left-handers survived to post their 50-run stand within 17 overs.Kent’s leading wicket-taker Matt Milnes replaced Stewart to breakthrough in the 20th over of the innings by running one back in from around the wicket to trap Duckett on the back foot and flush in front of his stumps.After a useful and luckless seven-over stint, Podmore gave way for third change Wiaan Mulder to strike in his second over by finding Slater’s outside edge for a catch behind the stumps.Just one wicket fell in the rain ravaged mid-session, that of Joe Clarke who fell for a painstaking 12. Fending outside off to a Milnes away-swinger, the right-hander edged low to see Ollie Robinson, the Kent keeper, dive to his right to snaffle a low chance that would not have carried to slip.Patel came in with the game truly in the balance and sensibly kerbed his attacking instincts by taking a more measured approach.The 34-year-old might have gone with four against his name, but, after edging a Mulder leg-cutter to Ollie Rayner at second slip, he was saved by umpire Steve O’Shaughnessy’s call for a no-ball.Patel batted for 62 minutes for five runs when he finally middled a back-foot force through extra cover off Mulder for the first boundary of his stay.Another shower took the players in for an early tea leading to a scheduled 40-over third session during which Nash reached a cautious half-century from 94 balls and with eight fours.Kent hurried through to the second new ball by bowling spinners Joe Denly and Rayner in tandem and, by the 80th over, Nottinghamshire had reduced the match deficit to 102 runs with seven wickets still in hand.The third delivery with the new cherry broke a stand worth 90 runs when Nash, on 67, edged to the keeper off Podmore and marched off in high dudgeon complaining he had been distracted by a white cloth that had fallen from the bowler’s pocket just before his delivery stride.Three balls later, and much to Nash’s chagrin, all the players trooped off for bad light marking the end of a fascinating if rain-interrupted day.

The match in Delhi takes on significance in indicating where India and Australia are in their in terms of their bid to lift the World Cup trophy

Daniel Brettig12-Mar-20198:18

Hodge: Australia will have the belief to get the job done

Big Picture

India and Australia enter the final, decisive ODI of their bilateral series at the cusp of a World Cup but also another important juncture – the end of their pattern of lengthy 50-over series dating back to 2001. Since that time, the two nations have played off in no fewer than six 50-over bouts played out over at least five matches and as many as seven, with the ledger standing at 3-2 in Australia’s favour. From May 2020, all 50-over series that are part of the ODI League will be capped at three matches’ duration, and had that rule been in effect, this series would have been over at 2-1 to India.Instead, Australia were able to claw back to level pegging with Ashton Turner’s Mohali pyrotechnics. That effort also vaulted the team – led by Aaron Finch and coached by Justin Langer – into legitimate World Cup-contender status on the basis that they had finally uncorked the kind of scoring power required to match not only India but also the tournament hosts England. Of course there are a few complications to this, not least that Turner was only substituting for Marcus Stoinis, even as room will somehow have to be found for at least David Warner and perhaps also Steven Smith in the World Cup XI. Peter Handscomb and Usman Khawaja have made good strides on their call-ups to the ODI sides, while Finch and Shaun Marsh are both looking shaky.For India, meanwhile, there are fewer personnel questions but more queries about how well they are actually playing at this point of the calendar. That a previously struggling Australia have been able to push Virat Kohli’s team in both series at home and away since January not only indicates that Langer’s team are making progress. It also suggests that India have some work to do in terms of tactics and mindset before the Cup begins, and with the IPL rollercoaster to follow immediately after this series there will be precious little time to do it. The schedule, then, means that the Delhi decider takes on more significance, as a marker flag for where India and Australia are headed in their bids to lift the global trophy in the last cycle before the ODI league comes in to being.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
India LLWWW
Australia WWLLLLGetty Images

In the spotlight

Numerous variables swirl around the place of Rishabh Pant in India’s plans ahead of the World Cup. With MS Dhoni ensconced as the first-choice gloveman, Pant needs runs to give himself a chance of squeezing into the first XI as a batsman alone. But equally important, and this is of longer term import to India than merely their goals for 2019, is whether Pant as a wicketkeeper is capable of complementing Virat Kohli as a leader in the field in the manner that Dhoni clearly has. While Pant has nothing like Dhoni’s experience, a wicketkeeper is duty-bound to support his captain with tactical advice and keen marshalling of the outfielders.Granted a chance by injury, Ashton Turner will likely get another chance to solidify his place in the Australian side on the cusp of a World Cup in the series decider. His combination of power, composure and invention gave the selectors a poser given the lengthy record of good scores in losing teams that Marcus Stoinis had built up prior to his broken thumb. Equally, there is the question of whether Turner can provide some all-round benefit to the team – he first emerged is an off-spin bowler, playing a tour match for the Australians on the 2013 Ashes tour, before his batting developed further.

Team news

MS Dhoni is out for the final game too, and Mohammed Shami is being rested as a precautionary measure. There must also be a be a temptation to field KL Rahul one more time, but who goes out?India (possible) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 KL Rahul/Ambati Rayudu, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Vijay Shankar, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit BumrahMarcus Stoinis’ broken thumb opened up a spot for Ashton Turner, while Jason Behrendorff and Nathan Lyon would appear to be vying for the final bowling spot.Australia (possible) 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Peter Handscomb, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Ashton Turner, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Nathan Lyon, 10 Jhye Richardson, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

A fine and mild if slightly cloudy day is forecast for Delhi.Associated Press

Stats and Trivia

• Australia last won a bilateral ODI series in India in 2009, and have never won an ODI series from 2-0 down
• According to the ODI league due to begin in 2020, this will be the last five-match ODI series between Australia and India before all series that are part of the league are capped at three games

Quotes

“The wicket remained good throughout. We’ve been on the wrong side of the dew twice in two games, but that’s not an excuse. Especially with five down, giving 10 runs an over in the end was a bit of a harsh pill to swallow, but, look, it was very difficult to bowl in the end.”
“As a cricket fan and a kid who has watched a lot of cricket growing up, I know how hard it’s been historically for Australian teams to win series over here in India. So to win this series, it’d be awesome in itself but also great preparation leading up to the UAE then beyond that to the World Cup.”