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Allrounder Annabel Sutherland has been ruled out of Australia’s tour to New Zealand later this month after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in her femur.Sutherland, who has so far played three ODIs and six T20Is, reported pain after the last round of the WNCL against Tasmania.Molly Strano, the offspinner who was also a late addition to Australia’s T20 World Cup squad last year after Tayla Vlaeminck was ruled out, has been called up as Sutherland’s replacement for the trip which includes three ODIs and three T20s. Strano has played seven T20Is but has yet to make her ODI debut.Related

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Sutherland had taken four wickets in four WNCL matches for Victoria alongside making scores of 13, 34 and 15.”It’s unfortunate that Annabel has been ruled out of the series, but our medical team were able to identify the issue early which allows her to go away and get herself right with a busy period coming up,” national selector Shawn Flegler said.”Molly comes into the squad off the back of strong performances for Victoria in the WNCL, where she’s the current leading wicket-taker. We’ve got plenty of pace-bowling options in the squad, so Molly gives us another spin option should we need it.”Australia’s squad includes two uncapped players, the pace bowlers Darcie Brown and Hannah Darlington, as the selectors start to have on eye on the future.The squad will depart on March 13 and undergo two weeks managed isolation in Christchurch ahead of the first T20I on March 28Squad Meg Lanning (capt), Rachael Haynes, Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Molly Strano, Georgia Wareham, Belinda Vakarewa, Tayla Vlaeminck

Nic Maddinson has withdrawn from the Australia A team to face Pakistan a three-day tour match in Perth for mental-health reasons.Maddinson, 27, has become the second player in recent weeks to step down from an Australian representative team due to mental-health issues after Glenn Maxwell stepped away from the T20 international squad during the series against Sri Lanka.Western Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft will replace Maddinson in the Australia A team for the day-night game at Perth Stadium.Australia A coach Graeme Hick said the squad was fully supportive of Maddinson’s decision to withdraw.”Nic has made the right decision and we are all behind him,” Hick was quoted in a statement. “It is braver to speak up than to suffer in silence and I applaud Nic for having the courage to put his health first.”While saddened to see Nic stand down, we welcome Cam Bancroft to the Australia A XI. Cam is obviously no stranger to quality international bowling and the Perth Stadium wicket. We have no doubt he will fit well into the team.”Hick later spoke in Perth about the players’ welfare, and the kind of pressure and expectations they face these days. “It is a concern in terms of the individuals involved, it’s not a situation they wish to be in,” Hick said at a press conference. “There’s a lot of pressure in the cricket environment at the moment. We wish them well, to us at CA, the players’ welfare and them getting better and doing what they need to get better is the first concern. I was only told late last night about Nic, haven’t spoken to him personally yet, so hopefully we get him back soon.”In any cricket now there’s a lot of expectations among the players, and how you handle it all, everyone deals with it differently. It’s tough, it’s professional sport, some deal with it better than others. I’m not in any position to judge or comment on it, I don’t know a lot about it personally, I don’t want to delve too much into it apart from that I feel for Nic, he’s been in great form this summer and hitting the ball really well, so it would’ve been a great opportunity for him.”Hick indicated that while it was a positive sign for the game that players felt comfortable being more open about how they were feeling, there would be plenty of pressure in the air come the first ball of the tour game on Monday. “There’s a hell of a lot done. The states and CA have people involved in the set-ups to deal with whatever issues [come up],” he said. “I think what’s great now is the fact that it’s not taboo, people are coming out and speaking about it a lot sooner than they used to, rather than staying quiet until it’s too late so to speak.”The fact people are speaking about it more openly is certainly helping the issue. I feel a bit for the batters that are here, because there’s potentially a Test match around the corner for them, so there’s added pressure there, but that’s all part and parcel of the pressure you have to deal with if you’re going to play professional sport, so it is an opportunity for Cameron as much as it is for anyone else.”Nic Maddinson makes the long walk back after being dismissed by Wahab Riaz•Getty Images

Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia’s head of national teams, said Maddinson would be given all the support he needed to return to full health.”The wellbeing of our players is always our primary concern,” Oliver said. “We are proud that our players are comfortable to speak honestly and openly about how they are feeling.”We will provide Nic with all the support and care we can and wish him a full and speedy recovery. We also ask that Nic’s privacy be respected at this time.”This is the second time Maddinson has needed to take personal leave from the game during his career due to mental health issues.The first came in early 2017, not long after his initial shock selection to play Test cricket in late 2016 and subsequent omission after just three Tests.Although he returned to New South Wales, his performances at state level tailed off dramatically and led to him losing his contract at the end of the 2017-18 season.But Maddinson was an outside chance to find his way back to Test cricket having been selected for Australia A on the back of 12 months of outstanding form for Victoria. Since moving to Melbourne without a contract, he has scored 952 runs in 13 Sheffield Shield innings at an average of 79.33, with four centuries including a 224 against South Australia this season.He has spoken openly about maturing as a person and a player since his three Tests in late 2016, conceding he simply wasn’t ready for Test cricket at that stage and has learned some valuable lessons from the experience.He has also spoken about the positive effect Victoria’s more relaxed environment has had on his game.Mental health is becoming a far more prevalent issue in Australian cricket than before. Moises Henriques was the first to go public with his battle. Australia women’s player Nicole Bolton has also opened up about her issues over the past 12 months.Maddinson’s Victoria and Australia A team-mate Will Pucovski also needed time out of the game last summer.Alex Kountouris, CA’s sports science and sports medicine manager, said in a statement that CA is committed to better understanding mental health and supporting those who were encountering issues in this area.”Mental health is a challenge faced by Australian communities and elite sporting organisations and cricket is no different,” Kountouris said. “Like other professional sports we are working very hard to better understand the challenges faced by our players and staff so we can support them.”We are all proud to work in an industry where players can feel safe to talk about these issues. It goes without saying that we offer all our players the support they need in the difficult times but importantly we are working on education, resourcing and research to better understand how we do this.”

Tony Mann, the West Australian wristspin bowler who scored the first Test century by an Australian nightwatchman, has died in Perth at the age of 74 after battling pancreatic cancer.In the midst of a long and successful first-class career for WA during the association’s strongest era, Mann played four Tests in the first season of the World Series Cricket split as Bob Simpson’s team played out a fascinating contest against India.His wristspinners brought early success to the tune of 3 for 12 in his first innings at international level in Brisbane, but it was to be as a nightwatchman where he made a most lasting impact during the second Test at his WACA home ground.ALSO READ: Rocket Mann, by Ashley MallettComing in to bat at No. 3 on the fourth evening after Bishan Bedi had snared John Dyson, Mann got through to stumps, but then carried on all the way through to a fluent 105. He dominated the scoring while he was at the crease and was not dismissed until the hosts were more than halfway to a steep target of 339 for victory, which they ultimately reached with two wickets to spare.Mann found the going harder after that and was dropped after the fourth Test, but his efforts helped ensure Simpson’s side claimed the series 3-2 without being able to call on the host of stars lured away by Kerry Packer. He carried on for WA until 1984, finishing his first-class career with exactly 200 wickets at 34.54, notable for his frequent use of a googly, almost to the point where his leg break became the variation ball.In addition to his wrist spin and lower order batting, Mann was famed for his fielding and in particular a fast, flat and accurate throw. So much so, in fact, that Mann was nicknamed “Rocket” in its honour.”We are deeply saddened to learn of Tony’s passing,” the Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said. “Tony was a strong contributor to the local community in Western Australia and Australian Cricket generally. He was an excellent allrounder – a left-hand bat and legspin bowler – through four Tests and 80 first-class matches.”Many fondly remember him for his feats in the 1977-78 Perth Test against India when he became only the second man to score a century as a nightwatchman. On behalf of the entire Australian cricket family, we send our condolences to Tony’s family.”WACA CEO Christina Matthews said: “Tony was a fantastic servant of the game, from a player to the head of cricket here at the WACA and going on to coach in a number of our programs. He played a big part in the careers of many WA players, including the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg and was never shy to drive everyone to be better.”On behalf of everyone at the WACA and the WA cricket community we send our deepest sympathy to the Mann family.”

Big picture

Must we succumb to building this game up beyond the point of hyperbole? Despite the fact that one side so heavily outguns the other in just about every department imaginable? Despite the fact that India and Pakistan have never played a World Cup game that has produced a finish to match the needle? Despite the fact that the game might not even happen, with an unfavourable forecast in Manchester beginning to take a turn for the worse?Yes, we must. There’s no avoiding it, and perhaps no reason to. This contest may not have produced as many high-quality cricket matches as you might expect from a rivalry of this intensity, but, with more eyeballs on this match than the final itself, cricket can ill-afford to turn its nose up to the casual fan base that tunes in to India vs Pakistan. It was the most anticipated game of the tournament when the fixtures were announced – perhaps indeed when the tournament format was announced – with Steve Elworthy revealing that the ICC had had 400,000 applications for tickets, and that they “could have packed out Wembley four times over”.But now to the cricket itself. India might have begun the tournament late, but they haven’t exactly been eased in, with their first three games scheduled against South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The third was washed out, but resounding wins in the other two mean they have cemented their position as co-favourites for the title, perhaps even edging ahead of England given the dominance of their displays. They have a pace attack that would be the envy of Pakistan – imagine saying that at any other point in these two countries’ histories – combined with the twin spin threat of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav to keep the middle overs tighter than any other team does. They front up to a Pakistan who haven’t quite figured out their best eleven yet, and will go into this game having to make a decision that potentially leaves them a batsman light.There is no escaping the fact Pakistan are unpredictable, and India will be professional enough to be cognisant of that. Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side have lost 12 of their last 13 completed ODIs, but it is notable that the win came last week against England when it really mattered, having been blanked by the same side in a bilateral series last month. The top three all average above 50 – though Fakhar Zaman’s recent form is a mild concern – and while the pace attack isn’t quite the threat they would like it to be, a resurgent Mohammad Amir may look to torment India’s top order once more. Shadab Khan, set to return after being dropped against Australia in a move that didn’t quite work out, is one of the few that matches his Indian counterparts for ability, and the two sides’ last meeting at an ICC tournament in England, which produced the heaviest-ever win in a game between these two teams, is one Pakistan will look to seek inspiration from.For India, the challenge will be to rise above the emotions of a derby game, while Pakistan must try and frame it as such. Stripped bare of emotions, the gulf between the two sides is a gaping chasm. With the balance tipping towards India each time the two sides play – India hammered Pakistan in the recent Asia Cup twice, which is more reflective of the trend than the Champions Trophy final – Virat Kohli’s men will look to approach this as just any other match, because the pressure of viewing it through the prism of history will only play into Pakistan’s hands. But then again, the mental baggage swings the other way, too; Pakistan have never once beaten India in a World Cup match, even in the years they were unquestionably the better of the two sides. Were they to turn all that on its head in a year when it looks less likely than ever before, this World Cup might just find the spark it has so plaintively awaited in its opening fortnight.

Form guide

India WWLLL (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan: LWLLL

In the spotlight

Much is made of Rohit Sharma‘s third-ball lbw to Mohammad Amir in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, and his second-ball dismissal to the same bowler in the same fashion in Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in 2016. What isn’t mentioned, however, is that on the other three occasions that the two have met since Amir’s return, Rohit has scores of 91, 52 and 111*. To say he’d be apprehensive about facing Amir is a product borne out of selective memory, but there’s no overstating the importance of that battle. India, who rely on a gun top order, are without Rohit’s usual opener Shikhar Dhawan, making his wicket even more prized for Pakistan. It will matter not a jot to them if Amir takes it or not, but on current form, he looks like the bowler Rohit – and indeed India – should be most wary of. Rohit, however, started off the tournament with 122* and 57, so perhaps it is Pakistan who should feel forewarned.Rohit Sharma curbed his natural instincts to finish the job for India•Getty Images

The most gushing – and at the same time damaging – compliment Pakistan fans can pay to Babar Azam is some sort of favourable comparison with Virat Kohli. The numbers suggest he could be on track to become Pakistan’s greatest batsman ever, but he isn’t nearly in a position where such comparisons are helpful or accurate. India will be well aware that his average against them drops from his career figure of 50.96 to 27.50, and he is yet to cross 50 in four matches. The contest against Australia, where he looked gorgeous for the all-too-short time he was there, will latch itself into YouTube clips for glorious immortality, but a longer, grittier, uglier innings would have won Pakistan the game – the sort of game Kohli would have won for India. Old Trafford is another chance for Babar to show he isn’t just a big player but also one who can rise to the big occasion.

Team news

India’s biggest concern is the unavailability of Shikhar Dhawan owing to a hand injury sustained against Australia. KL Rahul will be promoted to open the batting, with Vijay Shankar looking likeliest to take the middle-order slot vacated as a result.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedhar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit BumrahPakistan are wrestling with the balance of their side, and whether to play five specialist bowlers or stick with the extra batsman at seven. There’s uncertainty about the personnel, too, with Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali, both of whom had difficult outings against Australia, potentially in for a demotion. Haris Sohail looks primed to take one of those two places.Pakistan (possible): 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 6 Haris Sohail, 7 Shoaib Malik/Asif Ali/Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Hasan Ali 11 Mohammad Amir

Pitch and conditions

The pitch is flat, with almost no sign of green, which should suggest a high-scoring game. However, there is inclement weather predicted for the evening, meaning whoever wins the toss will look to put the opposition in.

Strategy punt

• Bring Kedar Jadhav on early, and give him a long spell. Against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final, India brought him on when starved for wickets, and he struck early, removing Babar Azam in his three-over spell. In the Asia Cup last year, his figures read 9-0-23-3, his career-best figures to date. Mohammad Hafeez gave his wicket away to Aaron Finch loosely in the previous game, and Pakistan are just the sort of team who might get frustrated by the bowler’s unorthodox action and nagging line.
• Open the bowling with Shadab. It worked, don’t fix it. Jason Roy was dismissed in Shadab’s second over, and the ploy will be suited even more with a new opener in India’s ranks. If Amir’s job is to target Rohit Sharma, Shadab plotting against Rahul at the other end with the new ball is likely to disrupt the batsmen’s rhythm, and may bring the early wicket Pakistan crave.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan and India have only ever played one ODI at Old Trafford, the venue of the clash tomorrow. That came in the Super Six stage of the 1999 World Cup, with India winning by 47 runs.
• Jasprit Bumrah’s figures in the Champions Trophy final read 9-0-68-0. They remain his worst ODI figures.
• Shadab Khan is one wicket away from 50 in ODIs, and should he get there tomorrow, will become the fourth Pakistan legspinner to do so.

If Australia want to take a series victory as well as retaining the Ashes they will have to do it the hard way after Jofra Archer claimed his second six-wicket haul, and Sam Curran enjoyed an eye-catching return to the side, to earn England a priceless 69-run lead despite another fine innings from Steven Smith.To no one’s surprise, Smith top-scored but this time fell for 80 – his lowest score of the series – when he was lbw to Chris Woakes, the moment when England probably believed they could end the innings with an advantage. While Smith was there, even with the tail, anything was possible and England would have feared the worst when Joe Root dropped him at slip on 66.Neither was it a quiet end to the day with Joe Denly, who was late to the ground on the second day after the birth of his daughter, dropped in the slips by Marcus Harris and against the final delivery Rory Burns – having already been clattered in the grille by Pat Cummins – was given lbw to a ball which DRS showed had pitched well outside leg stump. A day of solid batting – and that’s far from assured from either side in this series – and England will have a share of the series in their sights.Marnus Labuschagne continued in his role as Smith-lite but either side of that pair there were familiar problems for Australia with the openers again dispatched cheaply – David Warner with a hint of DRS controversy – and the middle-order failing to offer the support Smith needed.The major shift in the innings came after tea when Australia lost 4 for 27 – including the scalp of Smith – with Curran producing a terrific six-over spell of left-arm swing which accounted for Tim Paine and Cummins in consecutive deliveries. Archer then claimed his fifth wicket to halt a troublesome ninth-wicket stand, with a brilliant slower ball to remove Nathan Lyon, before a spectacular catch at gully by Burns rounded up Australia. It left Archer, who didn’t bowl his fastest but had excellent control, with 6 for 62 to follow his 6 for 45 at Headingley.England had resumed on 271 for 8 with Jos Buttler and Jack Leach taking their stand to 68 before the innings was wrapped up by Mitchell Marsh’s first five-wicket haul in Tests. If there had been a lot about the home side’s display that felt like groundhog day, the same could certainly be said when Australia came out to bat.Warner managed to get off the mark for the first time in four innings but didn’t go much further. It wasn’t Stuart Broad who removed him this time, instead a slash at a wide delivery from Archer which Ben Stokes, at second slip, was convinced had been edged and encouraged Root to review. The initial replays suggested daylight between bat and ball, but then a spike appeared on Ultra Edge. Warner appeared happy enough to walk off.Steven Smith looks pleased enough with life, but Ben Stokes doesn’t•Getty Images

Harris has struggled since replacing Cameron Bancroft and was squared up from around the wicket by Archer, who claimed 2 for 7 off seven overs in his opening spell, with Stokes again in the action as he grabbed a low catch at second slip to leave Australia 14 for 2. That marked the next stage of the contest: Labuschagne and Smith. Either side of lunch it went Australia’s way, although Smith was more uncertain than previously in the series, particularly against Archer and the different angled presented by Curran to whom he twice padded up leaving the ball. Labuschagne played the ball very sweetly off his pads and collected 10 boundaries in his 48.It was Archer who sparked England early in the afternoon with a hostile spell to Labuschagne who took a painful blow on the right arm before being pinned lbw, a plan coming to fruition for Archer who had probed away for such a dismissal – similar to how he removed him in the second innings at Old Trafford. After tea he would strike again, having Marsh caught at long leg off a poorly controlled half-hearted pull following another series of short deliveries which had also seen a rare error from Smith when he top-edged short of deep square.Matthew Wade wanted to be positive but was beautifully set up by Curran who sent down a series of away swingers before bringing one back into the pads which Wade played across. That was just a prelude from Curran when, after tea, he produced trademark left-arm dismissals by slanting one across Paine then swinging one back into Cummins’ boot in a spell that would read 6-4-6-2. There is a feeling no one really knows what sort of cricketer Curran will become, and how to best fit him in an England Test side, but the bare facts are he has won six out of six Tests at home and played a key role in most of them.Before all that, Smith had moved to another half-century by depositing Leach over long-on – in the process moving beyond 700 runs for the series and into the top 20 of all time – but Curran should have had the most prized scalp to his name as well when Smith tried to upper cut a short delivery. The edge flew high towards Root, but Stokes started to go for the catch which may have disturbed the England captain and it burst through.For a short while it looked more likely that he would run out of partners than be dismissed, but the first ball of a new spell from Woakes brought the moment England have strived so hard for when Smith missed a straight one. This has been a series full of surprising moments and that was another.

Among the themes of India’s tour of Sri Lanka was the chumminess of the two sides even in difficult bio-bubble situations. Hardik Pandya went viral in Sri Lanka when he was seen singing their national anthem. He had also given fellow seam-bowling allrounder Chamika Karunaratne – who describes Pandya as a role model – one of his bats. At another point in the series, India coach Rahul Dravid was seen having a brief conversation with Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka.And finally, ahead of the third T20I, Shikhar Dhawan was addressing a whole bunch of Sri Lanka players as they huddled in the outfield. After his team had sewn up the series against a depleted India side, Shanaka revealed a little of what he had hoped to get out of the interaction with Dhawan.”Shikhar is a player who has played [for] 10 years, and has a lot of experience,” Shanaka said. “What he has to say about making game plans, and situation handling is something that’s important for all of us to hear – for me as a captain, and the rest of the team.Related

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“He’s someone who’s mastered even his breathing pattern. I thought if we could speak with a player like him, our players would get some sort of knowledge about how to raise our game. We get advice from our former players too, but this was a chance to hear from a current player with a lot of experience. I’m grateful to him for that chance.”But Shanaka mentioned that the conversation with Dravid earlier on in the series was more general.”I talked with Dravid about how the India players approach their innings,” he said. “They are really positive from the moment they get into the ground, and I asked him a lot of the questions we also asked Shikhar.”Sri Lanka were ultimately able to win the T20I series 2-1, thanks in no small part to legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who claimed seven wickets and maintained an economy rate of 5.58 across his 12 overs in the series. During the course of the past week, he also became the second-ranked T20I bowler in the world.”He’s a player who has matured really quickly,” Shanaka said of Hasaranga. “I don’t think No. 2 is enough for him, he’s someone who should be at No. 1. I think he’ll get there quickly.”

Chris Lynn has stepped down as captain of Brisbane Heat after three years at the helm.The Heat reached the Challenger final last season before being defeated by Perth Scorchers – the first time they had reached the finals since 2016-17 – having finished fifth and seventh in the previous two seasons.Lynn also led the club during the 2015-16 season before handing over to Brendon McCullum.Queensland Cricket said it will decide on Lynn’s successor closer to the season but Jimmy Peirson, who deputised when Lynn was injured last season, will be the frontrunnerLynn had spent time considering his position since the season ended and informed Queensland Cricket he was standing down after returning from the postponed IPL.”It has been a huge honour to skipper the Heat for the last three years and I am very grateful for all the backing and support from the players, coaching and backroom staff and the loyal Heat fans and sponsors,” he said.”I am very proud to have led the boys and I have really enjoyed my time as captain. I have thought long and hard about my decision, and I think it is the right time for someone else to take over the reins and keep building with this talented group of players.””The group are in a really good space after last season’s BBL, and I think this is the best way forward for the club and for me as a player and I am confident the Heat can build on last year’s successful campaign”.Lynn is the leading run-scorer in BBL history with 2790 at 37.20 and a strike-rate of 151.05. He has also struck 172 sixes which puts him well ahead of the pack.He was comfortably the Heat’s leading run-scorer last season with 458 at 34.23 despite missing four matches through injury.”Something like this is never a simple or comfortable process, and Chris certainly has our full support for the decision he has reached,” Queensland Cricket CEO Terry Svenson said. “We certainly respect his choice, and the reasoning behind it. He hasn’t rushed things and has consulted with key people in his life to make this call.”Having spoken at length with him, I am very confident that he and Heat will both benefit from his decision and we certainly look forward to him bringing his experience and undoubted batting prowess to bear on the BBL 11 season and beyond.”

Sri Lanka’s batting was not good. That much is clear, right? In fact, we’re being diplomatic. It was awful. England’s bowling was decent, and the pitch was not exactly a flatbed, and yet, even despite all that, 111 for 7 was still a pathetic total. One that was always going to be run down, even if Sri Lanka had a good first seven overs with the ball.Sri Lanka’s batsmen repeatedly struggled for timing. Imagine a T20 innings in which only two players hit boundaries. Only Kusal Mendis (who hit a run-a-ball 39) and Isuru Udana (who made 19 not out off 14), found the rope – four fours and two sixes between them.England stuttered early in their response, slipping to 36 for 4 in the seventh over, but they bat so deep that their victory never really seemed at risk. Liam Livingstone and Sam Billings put on 54 off 48 balls for the fifth wicket, and essentially made the game safe for the hosts.England’s Powerplay dominanceAs Sri Lanka had made a poor score in the first T20I, and given their reliance on their top four, the Powerplay was always going to be a good indication of how this game was going to go. Once again, the visitors failed, this time, almost embarrassingly. First, Danushka Gunathilaka was run out attemping a quick single – Sam Curran booting the ball into the stumps like a babier-faced David Beckham to find the batsman short of his ground.In Curran’s next over, Avishka Fernando attempted to hook the bowler but holed out to deep square leg – the fielder having to run in several metres to complete the catch. Kusal Perera and Mendis attempted desperately to hit boundaries after that, trying to make something of the Powerplay overs. But their timing was woeful. And Sri Lanka were 26 for 2 after six overs.The Mark Wood ExpressOn a surface offering pace and carry, Mark Wood was quick and menacing. In his first over he was already into the high 140s kph/90mph range, and troubled Mendis, whose outside edge he beat. In later overs, he cranked it up to 150kph/93mph, and in the 14th over of the innings, he dismissed Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella off successive balls – the first off a big top edge that wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow settled under, and the second off a leading edge that went to cover. He finished with figures of 2 for 18 from his four overs.Billings and Livingstone see England homeSri Lanka had an excellent first seven overs with the ball too. In fact, at one point in the seventh over, the visitors had England 36 for 4 – Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Isuru Udana and Wanindu Hasaranga all having struck once apiece.But so modest was the required rate that Billings and Livingstone had the luxury of building steadily. They were watchful initially, only hitting out against the truly bad balls. As rain began to fall over Cardiff, they collected safe runs into the outfield to get England ahead of the DLS par score.The rain caused a long delay, cutting their innings short by two overs, but the target never seemed daunting. They cruised towards it – Livingstone remaining not out on 29 off 26 as Curran hit the winning runs after Billings became a second wicket for Hasaranga.

The IPL feels as loud as it’s ever been! In the latest episode of Stump Mic, Sanjay Manjrekar, Matt Roller, Vishal Dikshit and Kaustubh Kumar look back at the first week of the 2023 season, with focus on the new rules, numerous injuries, and more.