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ScorecardMiddlesex defeated Glamorgan by the slender margin of two runs in a high-scoring game at Sophia Gardens, and achieved their second successive win in the competition.Glamorgan, meanwhile, suffered their third loss and need to win nearly every game to have any chance of qualifying.The home side needed 16 from the last over and would have tied the game had the final blow from Timm der Gugten against the Middlesex pace bowler Tom Helm, with six needed, not landed a metre or so inside the boundary.Earlier, Middlesex, who were put in on a true pitch, made 304 for 6 with three batsmen passing 50, but no one going on to reach three figures.Paul Stirling and Nick Gubbins gave their team a rapid start, with 50 coming in the first seven overs, with eleven boundaries struck by the openers, before Stirling wafted at a ball wide of the off stump, with the edge well taken by wicketkeeper Chris Cooke.Gubbins was strong through the offside, but shortly after reaching his half century, he was well held low down on the cover boundary by Aneurin Donald, his 53 coming from 55 balls with 4 boundaries.Steve Eskinazi and Eoin Morgan then settled into a productive partnership, and at 185 for 2, Middlesex appeared set for a large total, but Colin Ingram had other ideas, as he dismissed Morgan, Eskinazi and John Simpson in his first three overs.Morgan had made 57 from 55 balls, before attempting to hit Ingram into the River Taff, he holed out on the long on boundary. In his next over, he had Eskinazi caught down the legside by Cooke, before Simpson gave Cooke his third catch when he edged behind.The visitors then recovered, thanks to a breezy 62 not out from James Franklin, and with a wayward over from De Lange yielding 20 runs, Middlesex went past 300.Glamorgan, needing to score at 6.1 an over, also made a promising start, with Nick Selman and Aneurin Donald, who was dropped for the two opening games, racing to 50 in the ninth over. They put on 86 before they were dismissed in successive overs by Ravi Patel. Donald edged to the wicketkeeper, before Selman was unlucky to be given out LBW with a ball that pitched outside leg stump.Worse was to follow, when Shaun Marsh drove Stirling’s first ball back at the bowler, with Glamorgan having lost three wickets for ten runs after their good start. Ingram was then joined by David Lloyd, and after a steady start they accelerated, with Lloyd, the junior partner, playing the major role. He was the first to reach 50 before driving Patel and Nathan Sowter for two straight sixes.When Steven Finn and Helm returned to the attack, they were also struck over the ropes, but when the fourth wicket pair had added 126, Ingram swept Patel into the hands of Cartwright at deep square leg. Cooke soon followed, then Lloyd’s excellent innings ended when Sowter fired one down the leg side to have him stumped for 92 from 75 balls.When Andrew Salter was out, Glamorgan required 37 from 28 balls, then 22 from the last two overs. But when Wagg was bowled in the penultimate over, Glamorgan’s chase faltered, for all der Gugten’s attempt to remedy matters at the last.

Even if Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not been completely fit this tournament, he is the leader of the Sunrisers Hyderabad pace attack. Siddarth Kaul, meanwhile, has been their leading wicket-taker and arguably their best quick bowler this season, and he showed it when he bowled Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu off consecutive deliveries on Tuesday.So when Sunrisers had to defend 22 off two overs, who did Kane Williamson pick to bowl the 19th and who did he save for the end?”In terms of choosing between those two, they are both very good operators,” Kane Williamson said in his post-match press conference. “Siddarth in his over before executed beautifully so we wanted to keep that rhythm going. And, you know, a few near-misses and a little bit of fortune, a few edges and that’s sort of the way it goes. But once again, in terms of our view and a number of areas that we want to touch upon because we would like to have got a few more runs on the board.”Before this match, Kaul had bowled the 19th over three times while defending totals and Bhuvneshwar twice. And both did equally well: Kaul’s three overs only went for 21, and Bhuvneshwar’s two for 13.On Tuesday, Kaul’s 17th over only went for four runs, including a leg bye, leaving Chennai Super Kings needing 43 off 18 balls. Faf du Plessis was batting on 41, but his team only had three wickets in hand. Williamson wanted to keep Kaul and Bhuvneshwar for the last two, so for the 18th over he had to choose between Sandeep Sharma (3-0-30-2), Shakib Al Hasan (2-0-20-0) and Carlos Brathwaite, who had conceded only 11 runs in his first two overs but was playing only his second match of the season.Williamson went with Brathwaite, who went for 20 with du Plessis carting him for three fours and a six.BCCI

“Yeah, certainly we backed Carlos with his death bowling,” Williamson said. “That’s why he’s in this side, as another death option. Unfortunately, that’s the game we play that when you’re under pressure sometimes life gets a little bit tough and credit to the way Faf batted, he batted beautifully.”To be fair, that’s not what I look at in terms of where we wanted to correct ourselves. I think with the bat, we could have taken some better options in order to get maybe another 15-20 on that surface. Couple of things didn’t go our way, but that’s the nature of the sport. We’re moving on from that, but I think we could’ve taken a few smarter options to get a bit more on the board.”But the way we fought back with the ball in hand, it’s obviously very tough to swallow because we certainly back our death bowling to close games out from that point. We have been on the right side of a number of those results throughout this league and today wasn’t to be.”When asked why didn’t go with the more experienced Shakib, Williamson said: “In terms of spinners on that surface, you are always weighing up I guess who to go with and for us we have such good seam death bowlers so we always back those guys. So it’s a balance but you just weigh it up on the right surface. If it stops and turns then sometimes that spin option is nice to have. It was offering a little bit for the spin, but they had to bowl well to get it out of it so we were backing our seamers.”I think the bowlers were outstanding today. A few balls here and there, in the death I think, when it’s a low-scoring game, a couple of edges… you know, it’s such a fine line. It was just a shame. We always backed ourselves to close games out from that point, but saying that there’s a number of other areas that we would like to touch on going into our next game.”Death bowling for us is a strength, but today CSK played well and showed their depth with the bat. Obviously, [Shardul] Thakur coming in and he can obviously hit the ball a bit as well and proved to be effective. So… frustrating, but we’re off to Kolkata and it’s important we show some signs of improvement there.”The edges that turned the match further in CSK’s favour came at the beginning of the 19th over when they needed 23 from 12. Thakur edged Kaul’s first two balls for four, either side of the keeper, taking away a lot of weight off du Plessis’ shoulders. While praising du Plessis for his innings – he may have sat out the game had Sam Billings been fit – CSK coach Stephen Fleming also acknowledged the luck his side enjoyed.”Yeah, that’s a good point and I can’t [explain how we keep pulling such wins off],” Fleming said. “The game obviously has its ups and downs and turns but we have had a season where we have won from unwinnable positions. Today was one of those, it seems.”It’s been individual players who have got us out of trouble and different players all the time. Of course, MS [Dhoni] is a usual culprit. The player today who hasn’t played that much came out on a bigger stage of the tournament today and for Faf to do that is testament to his skillset and his mindset as well. Sometimes dumb luck: you just pick the guys at the right time and they just play and innings for the team that means so much and we saw one of those today.”

Lancashire risk having to give up home advantage in a potential T20 Blast quarter-final due to hosting a Liam Gallagher concert at Old Trafford this weekend.The club have officially requested to the ECB to have the quarter-final scheduled for August 26 – the last of the four – if they secure a home draw in order to give the Old Trafford outfield as much time as possible to recover from the sold out 50,000 capacity concert on August 18. They have also invested an extra GBP30,000 in equipment and manpower to give them the best chance of bringing the playing area back up to standard.However, there is no guarantee that the ECB would agree to the request of a specific day and Lancashire’s outgrounds – Liverpool, Southport and Blackpool – have been ruled out as options which means they would need to choose a neutral venue.The county are certain of a quarter-final berth, but whether it is home or away will not be known until after the final group matches on Friday evening. Lancashire currently sit in second spot in the North Group – which would mean home advantage – but are level on points with Worcestershire following their heavy defeat against Birmingham.A statement said: “Lancashire Cricket Club has confirmed that should Lancashire Lightning secure a home quarter-final fixture in the Vitality Blast it intends to host the fixture at Emirates Old Trafford.”The venue will host a sold-out 50,000 capacity Liam Gallagher concert this Saturday (18 August), and the club has invested over GBP30,000 in additional outfield protection, specialist equipment and labour, ahead of, and after, the concert to ensure the outfield is ready for a home fixture.”Confirmation of a home quarter-final depends on the final Vitality Blast fixtures on Friday, and the club has formally requested the Sunday afternoon (26 August), which is the last quarter-final fixture slot with the ECB and will provide the best opportunity to ensure the outfield is ready after a detailed and intensive preparation plan.”The concerts staged at Old Trafford have often been controversial but provided vital funding for the club when they were threatened with going out of business. However, earlier this year the chief executive Daniel Gidney said they were no longer a necessity given how the club had recovered financially and its other income streams.”We don’t need concerts financially,” Gidney told the Manchester Evening News. “But from a community basis and commercial perspective they are still important to us. The quality of the pitch and outfield comes first. We need to look at technology so we can hold concerts without ever compromising or sacrificing the quality of cricket.”If Lancashire do manage to stage a home quarter-final it will be the last cricket at Old Trafford this season with plans having already been in place to allow extra time to relay the outfield ahead of next summer when the county will host World Cup matches and an Ashes Test.

2:12

Chopra: Ireland’s bowling looked club-class

India’s opening batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, set off a rollicking start to their tour. Their 160-run stand, the second-highest for India in T20Is, provided momentum enough to last the rest of the game in a 76-run win at Malahide. In response to India’s 208 for 5, the hosts couldn’t even trump the pair’s effort, succumbing to India’s wristspinners through the middle overs.As is often the case when the two open together, it was Dhawan who first took on the bowling. Having been the benefactor of the first of at least six dropped chances across both innings, Dhawan was ruthless. Never was this more evident than in the sixth over when, after stepping out and copping a bouncer in the grille, Dhawan completed the over by stepping out again creaming a length ball out of the ground, straight over the bowler’s head.Rohit began edgily, before joining his partner in feasting on the length balls fed by the seamers, hardly any of which were faster than 130kph. Their preferred method was to loft over the infield, a tactic provided for nicely by a flat, insipid surface. Ireland used four seamers in the Powerplay with no success, before some respite through George Dockrell’s first over immediately after. But when Rohit skipped down the track to launch offspinner Simi Singh high over deep midwicket for his first six, there would be no further control.It wasn’t a complete batsman-dominated innings. There were chances. They found Stuart Thompson, in particular, many times. By the time he finally held onto one – his fourth chance – to get Dhawan, India had made 160 in 16 overs.Suresh Raina, who along with Manish Pandey, was a surprise pick ahead of Dinesh Karthik, was promoted to No. 3 and had a brisk five-ball innings for 10 before falling to the first short ball bowled at him. With Rohit approaching a third T20I hundred at one end, India went for complete aggression at the other with, first MS Dhoni and then Hardik Pandya being pushed above Virat Kohli.But Peter Chase bowled a freak final over, managing to get Rohit – for 97 – Dhoni and Kohli, in the space of four balls to put one final, extremely belated dent to the innings.Malahide’s 9400 spectators were witness to an immediate display of aggression from Paul Stirling, who stepped out and got squared by a Bhuvneshwar Kumar outswinger first ball. That single down to third man would be his only run. With his next display of aggression, he only managed to chip one to mid-on.India dropped James Shannon thrice within the first four overs, none of them patently tough ones. The reprieves allowed a struggling batsman to find his feet against a good nagging pace attack, before he started picking out the leg side at will with predominantly front-foot hoicks. Normally a middle-order batsman, pushed up on the day for the dropped William Poterfield, Shannon found his best in the middle overs.Three of his best shots came against Chahal, each one muscled to completion against balls that were turning away from him, landing either side and far behind deep midwicket. But when he attempted the same against Kuldeep, he was promptly caught in front with a front-of-the-palm yorker.With that, the wheels came off. Neither the in-form Simi at No. 4, nor the experienced Kevin O’Brien at No. 6 got into the chase and with their tame dismissals against Kuldeep and Chahal, respectively, any hopes of Ireland coming close were dashed. And with Wilson running past a Chahal legbreak immediately after O’Brien had fallen, Ireland were all but done at 96 for 6.Kuldeep capped off the embarrassment, lulling the lower order batsmen forward with dipping, fizzing deliveries which they scarcely had an idea about. In doing this he slipped in a maiden, before tonking the off stump of Stuart Poynter as he wicketkeeper looked to flick one from leg stump. That was his fourth wicket, and at 4 for 21, he had the best figures in his exciting young T20I career.

Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani has been asked by the BCCI ethics officer Vineet Saran to respond to a conflict-of-interest complaint filed against her.The complaint was made by former Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) member Sanjeev Gupta, who raised the issue that Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai franchise in the IPL, is also a director at Reliance Industries (RIL), whose subsidiary Viacom 18 bought broadcast rights for the IPL from 2023 to 2027 for a sum of INR 23,758 crore (US$ 3 billion approx).Viacom 18 secured the digital rights to stream the IPL in India, and also the media rights (both TV and digital) for Australia and New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa, at the e-auction* conducted by the BCCI in June.According to Gupta, Ambani’s positions as a team owner in the IPL and as a director in the company that owns the subsidiary that has acquired IPL broadcast rights, represents a conflict of interest.”It is submitted that RIL website states that Viacom 18 is a subsidiary company of RIL,” Mr. Gupta wrote in his complaint about the alleged conflict of interest, according to PTI.Saran, a former Supreme Court judge, has given Ambani until September 2 to file a written response to the complaint.”You are hereby informed that a complaint has been received by the Ethics Officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India under rule 39(b) of the rules and regulations of BCCI, regarding certain acts, allegedly constituting ‘conflict of interest’ on your part,” Saran wrote in his notice to Ambani. “You are directed to file your written response to the accompanying complaint on or before 2-9-2022.”Gupta, the person who filed the complaint, has a history of raising conflict-of-interest issues in Indian cricket. In the past, he has filed such complaints against Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla among others.*ESPNcricinfo and Disney Star are part of the Walt Disney Company. Disney Star was also part of the e-auction and acquired the IPL TV rights for India from 2023 to 2027

A patient yet effective 55-ball 78* from Dane Cleaver, and a dominating effort from New Zealand’s bowlers handed the visitors a resounding 88-run win over Ireland in the second T20I in Belfast. The victory sealed the three-game series for New Zealand, giving them an unassailable 2-0 lead with one game still to go.For the second game in a row, Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie’s decision to bowl first proved costly, as New Zealand posted 179 for 4 in 20 overs. Cleaver, playing only his second T20I, hit five fours and four sixes, and stayed right till the end after coming in to bat at No. 3 in the fifth over.Then New Zealand’s well-rounded bowling unit did the rest, helped in part by some unnecessary attacking shots or risky runs from the Ireland batters. If it wasn’t for a 37-run stand for the eighth wicket between Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy, Ireland’s total could’ve been far lesser than their eventual score of 91.The spin twins Ish Sodhi and Michael Bracewell were the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand, taking three wickets each. Sodhi’s scalps of Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker and George Dockrell broke Ireland’s back in the middle overs, leaving him with figures of 3 for 21 but Bracewell had the widest smile by the end of the game. Bowling his first over in T20Is, the offspinner cleaned up the Ireland tail with three wickets in three balls, thus making him only the third New Zealand bowler after Jacob Oram and Tim Southee to achieve a T20I hat-trick.Spinners headline Irish collapse
Ireland’s chase of 180 began with some potential as Mitchell Santner was walloped by Paul Stirling for a six and a four in the very first over. Then when Lockie Ferguson was dispatched by Stirling for four more through the covers, it seemed like the Ireland opener could be the big-hitter around whom the rest of Ireland’s batters could rally.However, three balls after the Ferguson four, Stirling fell slicing a catch to mid off, and thereafter the floodgates opened. From the other end, Jacob Duffy had Gareth Delany bowled for a first-ball duck in the fourth over with the batter failing to get forward to a fullish ball, and Harry Tector then paid the price of being impatient, run-out to a direct-hit from Glenn Phillips at cover while trying to take the fielder on for a quick single.Having gone from 23 for no loss to 27 for 3 in the space of eight deliveries, it was up to the prodigy Campher and Balbirnie to stick a partnership together, but the latter was the next to go, becoming Duffy’s second scalp. Duffy went full and wide, got the ball to swing away under cloudy conditions, and all Balbirnie’s drive could do was take an outside edge to Cleaver wearing the gloves. After a quiet – and rare wicketless – over, Sodhi got among the wickets too in his first over of the game.Tucker tried to slog sweep the legspinner, only to lose stock of where the mistimed ball went. It had dribbled past him to the wicketkeeper, and as Tucker tried to pinch a single thinking the ball has gone elsewhere, he was stumped. Next ball, Sodhi brought a slip fielder for the new batter and Dockrell edged it to James Neesham in the cordon.With the score at 45 for 6, and ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster giving Ireland less than 1% chance of a win, the pressure was off the Ireland lower order. Mark Adair, in particular, hit a few lusty blows after Campher became Sodhi’s third (and Ireland’s seventh) wicket. Adair went 4, 4, 6 off Sodhi’s third over to ruin his otherwise tidy bowling figures and then drilled Neesham over his head for another boundary. His partner for the eighth-wicket stand, Barry McCarthy, tonked Neesham and Bracewell for a couple of fours too.But Bracewell’s offbreak had Adair caught at deep midwicket for a 22-ball 27, and with the batters crossing, McCarthy too was out next ball, slogging to the same region. On a hat-trick, Bracewell had better luck than Sodhi, taking his third wicket in three balls as the No. 11 Craig Young tried to clear cover, only to slice a catch behind point, and ending Ireland’s innings at 91.Dane Cleaver attempts a reverse sweep during his highest T20I score•Sportsfile/Getty Images

Cleaver follows his cousin’s footsteps
Having made his T20I debut at the age of 30 only two days ago, it was another chance for Cleaver to make the most of the opportunity of batting at No. 3 for New Zealand with senior batters being rested for the T20Is. Coming in at a position favoured by his first-cousin Kane Williamson – after the fall of Finn Allen’s wicket, Cleaver made a sedate start, but kept upping his gears right until the 20th over.Allen’s blitz at the top had allowed New Zealand to race to 40 for no loss after four overs, but he fell for a 20-ball 35 trying to take McCarthy on in the fifth over. With Martin Guptill struggling with his timing, and Cleaver playing but missing the swinging deliveries offered by the Irish seamers, it seemed like the hosts would provide yet another squeeze to the New Zealand top order like the first T20I.But Cleaver grew in confidence, in particular trusting the bounce on offer to play the pull on numerous occasions to finally get off the blocks. Even with Guptill falling for a 17-ball 11 in the ninth over, Cleaver motored along at a strike-rate of under 110 to move into his twenties in Phillips’ company for the third wicket. Together, they added 53 in 5.2 overs, and as Cleaver’s confidence grew, so did his choice of shots. He scooped McCarthy for an ingenious six over the keeper one time, and then played a sliced drive on purpose to beat the fielder at deep point.However, Cleaver did receive a reprieve on 40 when he skipped down the ground to a Dockrell slider, only to miss it. But the wicketkeeper Tucker failed to grab it, and Cleaver offered no further chances. He picked Adair’s two slower balls in the 16th over well enough to smack them for boundaries, then brought up his maiden half-century in 39 balls with a six over deep midwicket. Daryl Mitchell, the No. 5, contributed just 14 runs in his 48-run stand with Cleaver, letting the man in form enjoy most of the strike.Cleaver would go on to thump Young for a pulled six in the 18th, then tonked Josh Little for three fours in four balls in the 19th, and earned his final boundary off the innings’ penultimate ball by slicing a four behind square on the off side. In all, New Zealand made 50 off the last five and Cleaver finished unbeaten on 78 in 55 balls. His performance eventually eked out the Sodhi-Bracewell efforts in the second innings to also earn him the Player of the Match award.

Yorkshire 110 for 9 (Conners 5-28) beat Derbyshire 109 by one wicketYorkshire Vikings edged a thrilling Royal London One-Day Cup match against Derbyshire by one wicket on a poor Chesterfield pitch to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages.Chasing a target of 110, Sam Conners took 5 for 28 to reduce the Vikings to 88 for 7 and they lost two more wickets before Harry Sullivan got them over the line in the 32nd over.On a pitch where some balls took off and others stayed low, Derbyshire were bowled out for 109 with Ben Coad taking 2 for 15 in 10 overs and Jack Shutt 2 for 5. Harry Came top scored with 19 from 58 balls but Yorkshire also ran into trouble until George Hill, 21, and Sullivan sealed a tense victory.Conners said: “We were saying we got the worst of it but I think the boys batted really well in the situation we were in with the ball doing absolutely everything. We didn’t get enough but on a pitch like that I think the boys did what they could.”After the Vikings won the toss, Derbyshire struggled from the start on a pitch of variable bounce that was extremely challenging to bat on. Four batsmen were hit by balls that reared alarmingly while Came was almost bowled by one that skidded through.Related

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Billy Godleman was surprised by a ball that stopped on him and Luis Reece, who was struck on the hand, was caught at point off a leading edge.Shan Masood, who is expected to join Yorkshire next season, made only five before he was caught behind pushing forward at Matthew Waite.Only one run came from the bat in seven overs which highlighted the problems facing the batsmen and when Brooke Guest drove Matthew Revis through the covers, it was the first boundary for 10 overs.Guest was another victim of the pitch when he was lbw staying back to Coad, Anuj Dal cut Matthew Revis to point and when Came was bowled pushing forward at Sullivan, Derbyshire had slipped to 69 for 6.Mattie McKiernan swung a full toss from Sullivan for six but was lbw to Shutt with the last three wickets falling in three overs to leave Yorkshire with what looked a modest target.But they were soon in trouble with Will Fraine bowled by a shooter from Conners and Finlay Bean athletically caught at point by Dal off a leading edge against Aitchison.Harry Duke, badly dropped at mid on by Luis Reece, was caught by the same fielder when he miscued a pull to give Conners his 100th Derbyshire wicket in all formats.When Aitchison plunged forward to take a return catch off a leading edge from skipper Jonny Tattersall, the Vikings were in trouble at 37 for 4 but some firm blows from Waite eased the pressure.The momentum shifted again when Conners returned to bowl Waite with another ball that kept low before Matthew Revis edged a drive to first slip.Conners claimed his fifth wicket when he bowled Tom Loten and after Hill took his side to within nine of victory, he was caught behind trying to steer a wide ball from Aitchison.With the scores level, Coad was yorked by Nick Potts but Sullivan kept his nerve to hit the winning run off spinner Mark Watt.

Big picture

Day by day, match by match, we are getting closer to the real thing. Neither Australia nor England have been short on T20Is of late and now they face each other for three more, beginning in Perth before two more back across the country in Canberra.The sides have been doing a fair amount of tinkering with their teams in recent games, but it has been as much to do with workload management as anything. Barring late-injury dramas, it still feels they are close to knowing their World Cup XIs – England perhaps have two spots up for most debate and for Australia, provided Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis can bowl, it still appears just the final batting place to resolve.While there is nothing hugely significant riding on this series – the main thing will be certain players finding form and others avoiding injury – it has the makings of a very good contest. Australia found their groove in the second outing against West Indies while England played some excellent cricket in Pakistan to take the series 4-3 with wins in the last two games.Related

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• Fit-again Stoinis not feeling threatened by Green's emergence

• Smith's T20 World Cup hopes hang by a thread as 'incredible' David shines again

• Buttler eager to unleash Stokes, but World Cup doubts remain over Livingstone

The short nature of this trip to Perth, which is not an ideal schedule for the home side, and was not the original fixture until this game was moved west after the venue lost its ODI against South Africa, means Australia will field a fresh frontline attack from Friday in Brisbane with only Cameron Green of the five bowlers used with the squad.For Green, provided he is in the XI, this will be his first international on his home ground with Perth having not staged international cricket since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. If Marsh, Stoinis and Ashton Agar play, Western Australia will be well represented. Josh Inglis is also in the squad along with former WA player Tim David.Depending how England manage their fast bowlers, there is the enticing prospect of seeing Mark Wood operate on a Perth pitch after he sent down some thunderbolts in Pakistan.

Recent form

Australia WWLLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
England WWLLWMitchell Marsh will hope to make an impact on his home ground•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Ben Stokes is now a two-format player having retired from ODIs earlier this year, but he hasn’t played a T20I since March 2021 against India. Rightly or wrongly, his career in the format is still most-remembered for being taken for four sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the final over of the 2016 T20 World Cup final. He has never quite found his perfect role in the England side, with a top score of 47 not out in 28 innings and 19 wickets with an economy of 8.77. There is a squeeze of highly-destructive hitters in England’s middle order, so it’s a rare occasion of the pressure being on Stokes to prove he should be among them.This is a big week for Marcus Stoinis. He has struggled to stay on the park in recent months and his side injuries are frequent enough to be something of a concern. But he had a significant part to play in Australia’s World Cup triumph last season and he is important in balancing the side, although his bowling is not of Green’s quality. He has every right to be in the World Cup XI, but he’ll want to make this series count.

Team news

Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell have all stayed on the east coast and will rejoin the squad in Canberra, so there will be four new bowling options. It would make sense to give Kane Richardson and Agar a game after their recent side issues as they are in the World Cup squad, but it could also be another opportunity for Nathan Ellis to impress. Steven Smith is likely to be forced out of the XI as Australia may continue to tinker with their batting order.Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Cameron Green, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Aaron Finch (capt), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Daniel Sams, 9 Ashton Agar, 10 Nathan Ellis, 11 Kane RichardsonLiam Livingstone is not available for selection as he continues to recover from an ankle injury while Chris Jordan may be held back for the Canberra games. Captain Jos Buttler will return at the top of the order, which leaves the major selection call between Alex Hales and Phil Salt to partner himEngland (probable) 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales/Phil Salt, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

There hasn’t been much cricket at this ground over the last couple of years – just a handful of BBL and WBBL matches – but it’s normally a good pitch that offers pace for bowlers and batters to work with, although it is still early in the season. The forecast is, by Perth standards, on the milder side with just a very slim chance of a shower.

Stats and trivia

• England featured in the first international at Perth Stadium, an ODI in 2018 which they won by 12 runs
• In the one previous T20I at the venue, Australia cantered home by ten wickets against Pakistan in 2019
• Aaron Finch needs 12 runs to become the first Australia men’s player to reach 3000 T20I runs. Smith needs three runs and Matthew Wade 28 for 1000 in the format.

Quotes

“Adapting to conditions quickly is going to be a key factor for us to get up and running. It’s all about peaking at the right time for this World Cup.”
“Don’t leave any energy in the tank. Give it our best shot. We are here on home soil. We want to entertain and we want to take it deep. We have to start well against New Zealand.”

Big picture – Subplots add to the intrigue

This Australian international summer – hyped as possibly the biggest cricket season ever – started with a whimper after persistent drizzle in Perth ensured the first ODI was rather forgettable.But Australia did dominate a game that lasted less than 50 overs and they can clinch the three-game series with victory in Adelaide. While the series-opener will be erased from the memory of the fans who endured the constant rain delays – a further frustration was that it hardly rained during some breaks – there were some notable takeaways for both teams.Perhaps most pleasing for Australia was the new-ball performance from quicks Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc as they tore through India’s top order before the damp weather set in. Hazlewood, particularly, relished the extra bounce and pace on a ground that will host the first Ashes Test in a month.Related

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• Frustrated Short looks to make most of India opportunity

• 'I hide' – Renshaw blocks out Ashes speculation

With Pat Cummins set to miss the Ashes opener, Hazlewood’s importance has grown and he looked in good physical condition in the first ODI having struggled with injuries in recent years.While the Ashes hovers over basically everything in Australia right now, winning this series is important for Australia as they look to build consistency in 50-over cricket after a patchy run.ODI debutants Matthew Renshaw and Mitchell Owen performed well as did fringe players Matt Kuhnemann and Josh Philippe in a welcome sign for the team’s depth amid a transition ahead of the 2027 World Cup.Josh Hazlewood starred with two key wickets in the opening ODI•Getty Images

India, however, had very little to take out of the first ODI apart from a late cameo from debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy and an impressive new-ball spell from left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh.Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma struggled in their returns, while Shubman Gill had a rare recent failure on his ODI captaincy debut. India were rusty in their 50-over return since the Champions Trophy and it was a particularly tight turnaround for those who played in the Delhi Test against West Indies, which only finished on October 14.India will surely present a much more formidable challenge in Adelaide and they will need to if they are to force a series-decider. Like in Perth, the sellout crowd in Adelaide should be mostly filled with blue shirts to again underline India’s heft in the sport.

Form guide

Australia WWLLL
India LWWWW

In the spotlight: Matthew Short and Rohit Sharma

While those in the Ashes frame are hogging the spotlight, Matthew Short has gone under the radar given he is not part of those discussions. But Short has for some time been on the fringes of Australia’s white-ball teams, pegged back by inconsistencies and, more recently, injuries. Unlike Renshaw and Philippe, Short did not make the most of his opportunity in the first ODI, making just 8 off 17 and falling tamely to left-arm spinner Axar Patel. Short is likely to be retained at his favoured Adelaide Oval, where he has long dominated for Adelaide Strikers in the BBL. He will need to perform well with competition starting to heat up amid a transition of the batting order.Rohit Sharma succumbed under the early onslaught in Perth, nicking Hazlewood to second slip on 8. In his return to the field since the IPL, he scratched around, but did show off his trim physique with hard running between the wickets. Rohit has been working tirelessly in the Adelaide nets as he hopes to turn back the clock and alleviate some pressure amid doubts over whether he can make it to the next World Cup.3:07

Kotak: ‘Too early to judge’ Kohli and Rohit

Team news: Alex Carey and Zampa return

Regulars Alex Carey and Adam Zampa will return, likely at the expense of Philippe and Kuhnemann. Carey missed the opener due to Sheffield Shield duties and he will take the gloves with first-choice white-ball wicketkeeper Josh Inglis still on the sidelines with a calf injury. Zampa was unavailable in Perth owing to paternity reasons and he will squeeze out Kuhnemann, who had a rare opportunity in the XI and did well bowling in the death.Australia (possible): 1 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 2 Travis Head, 3 Matthew Short, 4 Alex Carey (wk), 5 Matthew Renshaw, 6 Cooper Connolly, 7 Mitchell Owen, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam ZampaIndia are likely to stick with the same batting order, but question marks hover over the makeup of their attack. Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav was unlucky to miss out in Perth although Axar and Washington Sundar – both preferred for their all-round abilities – bowled quite well, taking two of the three wickets to fall. Spinners are normally under the gun at the smaller Adelaide Oval making it an intriguing dilemma for India’s hierarchy. Prasidh Krishna’s ability to swing the new ball might get him the nod over Harshit Rana, who struggled in Perth.India (possible): 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Axar Patel, 7 Washington Sundar/Kuldeep Yadav, 8 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 9 Harshit Rana/Prasidh Krishna, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed SirajWashington Sundar was preferred over Kuldeep Yadav in the opening ODI•PTI

Pitch and conditions

There has been rain in Adelaide in the lead-up, with the SACA ground staff using UV lights to dry the wicket ahead of the match. In a relief, no rain is forecast on Thursday, although conditions are expected to be overcast and cool. The Adelaide Oval is renowned as a batting paradise because of the shorter boundaries square of the wicket.

Stats and trivia

• Kohli needs 54 runs to move past Kumar Sangakkara and into second place on the ODI runs list.
• Travis Head needs 50 to reach 3000 ODI runs.
• Starc is five wickets away from joining Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Shane Warne as the only Australians to take 250 ODI wickets.
• Australia have not beaten India in an ODI in Adelaide since January 2008. India completed successful chases in the past two matches between the teams in 2011 and 2019.

Quotes

“Adelaide’s always a good place to play and it will be heaving tomorrow. It’s a sellout so it’s a great chance for guys to show off their skills.”
“Both Virat and Rohit looked in good touch. They batted well in the nets yesterday. I believe they are doing well.”

Brian Lara and Mickey Arthur are part of an independent panel assembled by CWI to undertake “a comprehensive review” of West Indies’ first-round exit from the men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.West Indies, champions in 2012 and 2016, bowed out of the tournament before the Super 12s stages after defeats to Ireland and Scotland in their first-round group, an outcome which CWI said had “caused great disappointment and frustration among all West Indies cricket stakeholders” and saw Phil Simmons step down from his role as head coach.Related

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Lara and Arthur – who are currently employed by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Derbyshire respectively – have been brought in as part of a three-man working group which will be chaired by Justice Patrick Thompson Jr, a high court judge at the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.They have been asked to conduct “a thorough and independent review of the West Indies men’s T20 team’s preparation and performance” and will speak to “as many stakeholders as practicably possible” over the next six weeks, including selectors, squad members, management staff, board officials, ex-players, territorial boards and franchises and the Caribbean Premier League.They will collate their findings and submit their recommendations as part of a final report to CWI’s board of directors by December 15.Ricky Skerritt, CWI’s president, said: “It is vital that players, coaches, administrators, and all of us who love West Indies cricket, recognise that creating a sustainable learning culture, throughout the organisation, is a prerequisite for player growth and team improvement.”Emotion-based and knee-jerk type decisions have failed CWI repeatedly in the past. I am confident that this independent World Cup review process will produce findings and learnings that should be of great benefit to our cricket system going forward.”