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Scorecard
Amid a confusing conclusion, Sydney Sixers pulled off the highest successful BBL chase at the SCG – hauling down Melbourne Renegades’ 170 with three balls to spare – to move a step closer to finals qualifications.Finch starvedAaron Finch spoke after Renegades’ defeat to Stars on Saturday about how he was frustrated to keep falling in the 20s and 30s. So, having won the toss and chosen to bat (just the third time that has happened this BBL) he will have been pleased to make 57, his second – and Renegades’ third – half-century of the season. Only problem is, he was starved of the strike when at his most dangerous – in the Powerplay. He faced just eight balls for 12 runs in the first six overs as Sunil Narine, and then Cameron White, were dismissed without making a huge impact.Finch grew into his innings, but with the field spread and the boundaries fairly long, he was unable to accelerate as he would have hoped. Indeed Renegades’ efforts to clear the ropes were not limited to their captain – they hit more twos – 18 – than they did fours and sixes – 17.Ferguson shows his worthMuch has been made of the fact that Australia used four No. 6 batsmen in their six Tests this summer. Well, two of them were on show – and looking in good touch – here. The forgotten man, Callum Ferguson, was perhaps lucky to be retained in the Renegades team ahead of Marcus Harris, but after a slow start he anchored the rest of the innings well. Renegades had gone ten overs without taking ten from an over, but Ferguson – know for his classical strokeplay – smote the first two balls of the 20th over from Sean Abbott into the Bill O’Reilly Stand, with the first travelling 108m, the second longest six of the tournament.Is there anything Aaron Finch can’t do?Opening batsman, captain, death bowler. Now, wicketkeeper. Finch has done the lot this season. Rainfall had made the ground wet and Peter Nevill was hit on the forehead by a skidding throw from the deep and – after a lengthy delay – was asked by the doctor to leave the field for a concussion test. Much to the enjoyment of his team-mates, Finch strapped on the gauntlets. Just an over later, Nevill was cleared to return, but the trick worked – Sixers had been cruising to their target before the incident, but a ball after Finch padded up, Michael Lumb sent Thisara Perera straight to Narine at short third man!Sixers chase – and that thrilling final overSixers’ chase went to the final over because the weight was spread and none of the top four capitalised on impressive starts. Openers Daniel Hughes and Michael Lumb set things up with a stand of 72. Then Nic Maddinson and Moises Henriques both got themselves in and got themselves out, with the former stumped off Narine and the latter picking out the man on the fence off the excellent Perera, whose variations and defensive bowling were outstanding in his first game for the Renegades.And so came the confusing final over, from which Sixers required nine. With Brad Haddin set – but not striking the ball well – James Pattinson found a dot ball. Haddin threw his hands at a shortand wide ball, and got four through point, then – with the umpire’s arm outstretched for a no-ball – scrambled two into the legside. Sixers needed two from three, and from the resultant free-hit, Haddin was brilliantly caught on the fence at long-on by Cooper, but they sprinted through for two. As the umpire incorrectly signalled six, and Finch called for him to check Cooper’s foot, neither team appeared to know the game was over. But after the game, Haddin explained the ingenious strategy he and Jordan Silk used, and made it clear they knew what was happening.”It wasn’t confusing for us!” said Haddin. “Silky just said to get it as high as I can off the free hit and we will run two, which would win us the game. I actually thought that Tom Cooper trod on the fence, but we knew exactly what we needed.”The Renegades were a bit more confused, however. Captain Finch said after the game, “I thought they needed three when Jimmy [Pattinson] bowled that last ball!”

Alastair Cook has said that the ECB needs to give serious consideration to employing a full-time spin-bowling coach for the national side after the punishment inflicted on the England attack in India.Cook observed how his spinners, specifically Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, had appeared more comfortable and confident when Saqlain Mushtaq was with the team as a spin-bowling consultant, a stay which ended after the third Test in Mohali and that had already been an extension on the original deal which had only covered the first Test in Rajkot.England have not had a full-time spin-bowling coach since Mushtaq Ahmed ended his tenure in 2014. Saqlain was first used by England last summer when he joined the squad during the Test series against Pakistan and he has made a favourable impression.”The coincidence when Saqlain was around and how much better we bowled as a group, that’s something the system or whoever needs to look at, in terms of our spinners,” Cook said.While Moeen struggled ever to really gain a foothold in the series with the ball, Rashid’s returns certainly back up Cook’s view. Rashid took 18 of his 23 wickets in the series during the three Tests when Saqlain was present. In those matches he averaged 28.67 while in the final two Tests he took five wickets at 69.England used six spin bowlers throughout the series: Moeen, Rashid, Zafar Ansari, Liam Dawson, Gareth Batty and Joe Root. Their combined returns across the five Tests amounted to 40 wickets at 48.10, which was second worst return for a group of English spinners in India, behind the 1992-93 side. On that tour, a 3-0 whitewash, India’s batsmen flayed the frontline combination of John Emburey, Phil Tufnell and Ian Salisbury to such an extent that Graeme Hick emerged as the leading spinner. Salisbury had begun the tour as a net bowler before being drafted into the Test side after Emburey and Tufnell had been treated with disdain in the warm-ups.Significantly, too, the class of 2016 also conceded runs at a higher rate – 3.55 an over – than on any previous tour of India, which meant Cook was unable to rely on them even for control during long days in the field. The lack of control from the spinners had also been exposed during the two Tests in Bangladesh, while there had been the same problem against Pakistan in the UAE last year when England’s quick bowlers had been outstanding but any pressure was released when the spinners bowled.”I think everyone can see we are suited to playing in seaming conditions,” Cook said. “There’s no point hiding behind that fact. These conditions have tested us to our limits and I really don’t want to be disrespectful to Mo and Adil but they are not as good as Ashwin and Jadeja yet. They haven’t quite got the control and consistency, certainly in the first innings when there’s not much happening.”Mo has done an amazing job for us over a long period in terms of becoming England’s No. 1 spinner. He’s two wickets away from 100 so he’s done amazing things and will only get better and better.”Without being disrespectful, without two gun, world-class spinners, winning in these conditions is going to be hard. In other conditions with our seamers and spinners, who are decent without being completely world-class, we’ll compete with anyone. But this is as hard as it gets for this side at the moment.”

Trevor Bayliss has hailed England’s performance in the first Test against India as “the best since I’ve been with the team.”Appointed just ahead of the 2015 Ashes, Bayliss’ period in charge as coach has seen notable victories over Australia at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, and an impressive win over South Africa in Johannesburg. But although England were held to a draw in Rajkot, Bayliss was delighted with the commitment shown by the side in gruelling conditions and on surfaces on which English players traditionally struggle.And, so impressed was Bayliss with the improvement in his team since the defeat in Dhaka, he suggested it proved England could win the series if they maintained that level of performance.”Win, lose or draw, I thought effort-wise that’s probably the best performance we’ve had since I’ve been with the team,” Bayliss said.”The way the guys played in this Test should give us plenty of confidence. Our batters played well against their spinners, and our spinners and seamers all bowled well. We acquitted ourselves very well.”We’re under no illusions that these next four Tests could be even tougher than this one. But if we put in more performances like that, we’ll probably be playing consistent cricket – and that’s what we’re after – and we’ll have a chance of winning more games. So we’ve got to continue putting in that effort. But if we do, we’ve a chance of winning.”Bayliss was particularly effusive in his praise for new opening batsman Haseeb Hameed. The 19-year-old debutant scored more than 100 runs in the match and evoked in Bayliss some of the same characteristics of Kumar Sangakkara, who he worked with during his time as Sri Lanka coach.”It’s early days for Hameed,” Bayliss said. “But the early signs are that he’s a very, very good player.”For one so young, 19, his composure is very good. He knows how his game works – something that players years in advance of him would like to have – and without wanting to put too much pressure on him, the signs are good.”He’s one of those batters, a little bit like a Sangakkara, who just loves batting. Whether it’s in the nets, having throwdowns or with a tennis ball in the changing room, he just loves to have a bat in his hand.”It was obviously a very good start. He’s been with the squad for about six weeks, but it feels like he’s been here for two or three years – he’s got that type of a personality.”Without committing himself, Bayliss hinted England may well stick to the same XI for the second Test in Visakhapatnam, which starts from November 17. Stating he liked the idea of playing three spinners of varying types – England picked an offspinner (Moeen Ali), a left-arm spinner (Zafar Ansari) and a legspinner (Adil Rashid) in Rajkot – his words suggested Gareth Batty (also an offspinner) may miss out again.”We went with these three guys, but we could very easily have gone with Batty,” Bayliss said. “He’s actually also been bowling quite well. But we thought on this occasion we would have a look at a spinner of each type and those three performed well in this game.”James Anderson also looks set for more frustration. While England are encouraged by his progress, he may have to wait until the third Test to make his return from injury with Bayliss requiring a little more evidence before selecting him as one of a three-man seam attack in tough conditions.”We’ll assess him in the next couple of days,” Bayliss said. “But from all reports, he’s been bowling well in the nets. The medical staff say he’s in better shape than he was when he came back and played against Pakistan. We’ll put him through his paces again. He’s a guy who’s always looked after himself, so he’s nicely fit.”

Faf du Plessis has encouraged fans to “relax” when considering South Africa’s transformation policy, now that the team has showed they can win with it in place. Since the targets – which require the national team to field a minimum of six players of colour on an average, including two black Africans over the course of a season – were announced in early September , South Africa have played six ODIs and won all of them, while also nearly meeting their transformation requirements.Across the ODIs – one against Ireland and five against Australia – South Africa’s average was just under their target of six players of colour, and they fielded at least two black Africans in every game. Their XI included seven players of colour against Ireland, with four black Africans, five players of colour in three of the five ODIs against Australia, and six in the other two. They will have the opportunity to make up for the shortfall in later matches this season.”People will relax now and see that it’s not that bad. People were expecting big changes and big defeats, but now, people can relax and see there is enough talent, no matter what colour you are,” du Plessis said. “Our cricket is in a healthy state. People can be confident that even with those targets, we are a force to be reckoned with.”One of the concerns with implementing the targets was that it would affect the balance of the team, but JP Duminy’s return to form, and the unearthing of Andile Phehlukwayo and Tabraiz Shamsi have meant that South Africa had all bases covered in the series. Perhaps, reassuringly, while the players of colour proved themselves in this series, there was also enough room for white players, too, to show their worth. Phehlukwayo, in his first international series, was the leading wicket-taker, Duminy returned to form with two important half-centuries, and Shamsi is putting his hand up as a successor to Imran Tahir. Rilee Rossouw, previously on the fringes of the side, and David Miller, who had been dropped, also had stand-out showings in a series in which South Africa’s inclusivity did not go unnoticed.Du Plessis confirmed the team has “embraced” the transformation targets, especially now that the specifics are in the public domain. “We try and embrace it. The positive is that it is open and there is a honest policy out there. Everyone knows what it’s all about and everyone can buy into it. As long as you are open and honest, you can move forward,” he said.Prior to September, South Africa insisted there were no targets at the national level, although they unofficially aimed to include four players of colour in an XI. That was evident at the 2015 World Cup when Vernon Philander was brought into the team in place of Kyle Abbott despite missing large swathes of the tournament due to injury. This happened after the coach and captain met with the CEO, who reminded them to pick the best team with transformation guidelines in mind. The fall-out from that incident hung over South African cricket for many months, during which performances slipped.Last summer, South Africa tumbled from No.1 to No.6 in the Test rankings, were booted out of the World T20 in the first round, and appeared a spent force. Pressure grew on coach Russell Domingo, whose contract is in place until April next year, and it was expected he would be replaced. However, a team culture camp before this series rejuvenated the players and coaches, and du Plessis credited Domingo for his resilience at a tough time.”As a squad, we made a huge transition when we went away and had a hard look at ourselves, and the coaches were part of it. They were really eager to try and improve themselves, and since that day, they have been brilliant. Russell has stepped his game up, he is challenging people and players now, and the coaching staff are demanding more from players,” du Plessis said. “It’s important we don’t take that for granted because we have an extremely tough Test tour of Australia coming up. I accept that we won’t win every series, but it’s important for us to know what we need to do to be at our best. Russell has been really good. There was a lot of pressure on them after the West Indies tri-series and that’s normal. You get that when a team doesn’t perform, but full credit must go to him for how he has stepped up.”South Africa will shift from limited-overs to Tests and will play six in succession – three in Australia and three at home against Sri Lanka – in a bid to climb up the rankings again. The first Test in Australia starts on November 3 in Perth.

Misbah-ul-Haq has hailed Pakistan’s bowlers for the effort they have put in to win matches on the slow and batting-friendly pitches they have often had to play on in the UAE. Pakistan’s 133-run win in the second Test against West Indies in Abu Dhabi was their eighth win in their last 11 Tests in their adopted home.

Pakistan name unchanged squad

Pakistan named an unchanged squad for the third Test against West Indies, starting October 30 in Sharjah. Pakistan had named a 14-man squad for the first Test, played under lights in Dubai, before adding Younis Khan for the second Test in Abu Dhabi, after he recovered from a bout of dengue. Pakistan won both Tests and lead the series 2-0.

“Thanks to almighty . It wasn’t easy,” Misbah said, after Pakistan sealed their tenth series win under his captaincy. “I mean, on wickets like that, getting 20 wickets is always a challenge, and I think the bowlers just lived up to the expectations.”They worked really hard, especially Yasir Shah [who had match figures of 10 for 210], and the fast bowlers also contributed well on this pitch, and I think that was a big achievement, getting 20 wickets on this pitch.”Pakistan have developed a reputation for playing dour, attritional cricket under Misbah, and he said it was a necessary template to follow given the conditions the team played most of its matches in.”I believe in, first, you just go there and assess the conditions and then, really, within your resources, [work out] how you’re going to conduct your gameplan,” Misbah said. “If you just stay in your limits and execute your plans according to your strengths, then no matter what the conditions are, you could be successful.”In the UAE especially, you cannot really change much about your planning, because [of the] slow pitches, and it’s really tough to get wickets here, and you have to grind oppositions sometimes. That’s simply the format you have to follow.”But when you’re playing in conditions like we did in England and we’re going to [in] New Zealand and Australia, obviously we need to change that. There the conditions are different. We’re looking forward [to the tours], and obviously we have to play that kind of cricket there to win.”The numbers support Misbah’s contention. Teams that have won Tests in the UAE in the last 10 years have, on average, bowled 186 overs per match. In the rest of the world, they have had to bowl only 156 overs on average. And though West Indies lost both in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, they batted for more than 200 overs in each match. They have only managed this two other times in 17 Tests since the start of 2015.Despite their record on the slow UAE pitches, Misbah said Pakistan would prefer playing on surfaces that offered a little more help for their spinners.Misbah-ul-Haq: “It’s really tough to get wickets [on slow pitches in the UAE], and you have to grind oppositions sometimes”•Getty Images

“Our spinners are our strength and with Yasir being a world-class bowler, we expect to have turning and spinning wickets but this pitch had nothing for the bowlers,” he said. “Today it was fifth day and still was flat and didn’t do much but still our bowlers worked so hard to take 20 wickets and its a big achievement.”Yasir bowled 67.4 overs in the match and got through far more bowling than the left-arm orthodox spinners Zulfiqar Babar (43) and Mohammad Nawaz (14). Misbah said this was because there was little help in the pitch for fingerspinners.”In the first innings fast bowlers had to bowl more because at some stage there was a chance of reverse-swing and that’s why spinners weren’t utilitied much,” he said. “Yasir, being a wristspinner, was helpful but both the left-armers didnt bowl much because of the pitch condition.”Given the workloads the bowlers, Yasir in particular, got through, Misbah said it was natural that he didn’t enforce the follow-on despite having a first-innings lead of 228.”In every innings, you are fielding for over 100 overs, and I think bowling again with tired bodies will be tough,” he said. “You’ve got to give your bowlers some time as it’s tough for fast bowlers in such conditions to bowl and you can’t have Yasir Shah bowling 40 overs straight in two innings.”You might get this but then again for the next match you’ve got to have a complete new XI. So understanding the conditions, weather [is important] and chasing 150 runs in fifth day will be tough, and that is the reason I didn’t enforce the follow-on. Rather than pushing our bowlers, you bat and grind the opponent in full.”

ScorecardHamish Marshall signed off from Gloucestershire with a half-century•Getty Images

Hamish Marshall played his part in guiding Gloucestershire to an unlikely draw in their final Specsavers County Championship game of the season against Sussex in Bristol.Playing his last game for the county, after more than a decade of service, the 37-year-old New Zealander struck 77 between mid-morning and mid-afternoon to lay the foundations for a decent day’s batting from the host county.In the end, his 135-run partnership, for the sixth wicket, with wicketkeeper Phil Mustard, was the difference between losing and ending the campaign with a share of the spoils.

Marshall emotional at end of Gloucester career

Hamish Marshall was proud to sign off his Gloucestershire career with one final half-century, as he prepares to return to New Zealand for a new role with Wellington Firebirds.
“It’s tough to leave something you love, but it was nice to get a few runs in my final innings,” he said.
“Of course I would like to be staying here. we have made a lot of friends over the 11 years we have been here. However, things change and you have to look at a new career. That’s what I have done, although I will be keen to come back and see everyone as soon as I possibly can.
“I have tried to entertain the people during my time here and I suppose it was nice to go out playing some free flowing shots. However, I shouldn’t have got out like I did.
“I think I’m just happy to be leaving a trophy-winning club.”

Resuming on their overnight total of 88 for 3, Gloucestershire still required another 119 second innings runs to make Sussex bat again. When they lost nightwatchman Josh Shaw and opener Chris Dent inside the opening 15 minutes of the final day, a heavy defeat looked the most likely conclusion to a game dominated by the visitors. Slow left-armer Danny Briggs took both wickets at 92 for 4 and 99 for 5.The departure of Dent, who had passed 50 off 112 balls with five fours, seemed to turn the game on its head. Marshall, determined to go out with a bang, and Mustard, whose loan from Durham was to finish in style, batted with patience and panache as Sussex struggled on a wicket that was, once again, starting to flatten out.Marshall reached his half century off 62 balls, with five fours and a six, with Mustard providing solid support.Eventually, Marshall played one shot too many and became Briggs’ third victim of the day, caught by Chris Nash for 77 off 97 balls with one six and nine fours.Mustard continued where his partner left off and with allrounder Jack Taylor, added a valuable 53 for the seventh wicket. Taylor, who was dropped by Jofra Archer on 14, off the bowling of Steve Magoffin, went on to make 33 before holing out to Tom Haines off a mightily relieved Archer.Mustard kept his calm at the opposite end and Sussex continued to hit a brick wall. The experienced left hander pushed and poked his way closer to three figures, with Craig Miles, at the opposite end, providing adequate support.In the end, the two sides shook hands at 4.20 with Gloucestershire, on 337 for 7, having successfully thwarted the visitors. Mustard ended the day unbeaten on 89 with Miles 16 not out. Together the pair added an unbeaten 50 for the eighth wicket and that was good enough.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:19

England 309 for 4 (Roy 162, Root 65) beat Sri Lanka 305 for 5 (Mendis 77, Mathews 67*, Chandimal 63, Gunathilaka 62) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJason Roy lit up a gloomy evening in South London with a stunning matchwinning 162 – the second highest ODI score ever made by an England batsman – as Sri Lanka’s best batting performance of the series was handed an inferiority complex by a relentless display of hard, clean hitting, allied to the sort of sharp running between the wickets that their own players couldn’t come close to emulating.Chasing a stiff Duckworth-Lewis-adjusted target of 308 in 42 overs, following a two-and-a-half hour break for rain that had robbed Sri Lanka’s own innings of vital momentum, Roy crashed 13 fours and three sixes in the course of a 118-ball onslaught to put the result beyond any doubt.Roy’s first hundred came up from 74 balls, his 150 from 109, and though he eventually fell with 27 runs still needed, bowled by a Nuwan Pradeep slower ball with Robin Smith’s 23-year England record of 167 not out at his mercy, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler were on hand to seal victory with a cool 11 balls and six wickets to spare. There was even time, before the fun was concluded, for Farveez Maharoof to revive the Buttler mankading saga from the same series two years ago, as he stopped in his run-up to serve England’s non-striker a pointed warning for backing up too far.The extent of England’s dominance evoked memories of a similar run-chase that Sri Lanka themselves pulled off at Headingley exactly ten years ago this week, and which Sky Sports presciently chose to replay during the long rain delay. The footage revealed a bygone era in which England’s cricketers were a white-ball joke and Upul Tharanga, Sri Lanka’s puzzlingly used No.8 batsman, was a thrusting No.1 who claimed a share in matchwinning 286-run opening stand.But in spite of that long and tedious hiatus – there had been enough precipitation in and around London to cause the final day of Middlesex’s Championship match at Lord’s to be a complete wash-out – it seemed the rain-gods south of the river were happy in the end to kick back and watch a masterclass from a batsman who had scored 279 runs from 220 balls since Sri Lanka last managed to prise him from the crease, in the tied first match of the series at Trent Bridge.Following the early loss of Moeen Ali, who was promoted to open after Alex Hales suffered a back spasm while fielding, Roy added 149 for the second wicket with Joe Root, whose 65 from from 54 balls was a timely reminder – after a string of single-figure scores – that failing to spend much time at the crease isn’t always the same thing as being out of form.Jason Roy fell five runs short of England’s ODI record•Getty Images

Eoin Morgan, by contrast, proved the wisdom of an alternative adage – one pertaining to Sod’s Law – when, having ground his way to 22 from 27 balls including a trademark lofted six to hint at a restorative innings, he was sawn off by the most stunning catch of the summer so far, a one-handed swallow dive from Danushka Gamuthilaka at backward point to intercept a Suranga Lakmal long-hop.Roy, however, needed no such luck, good or bad. The power and placement of his strokeplay was in evidence from his third delivery, when he latched onto a nugget of width from Lakmal to drill the first of his fours through the covers. This was his second hundred in as many completed matches and his first on his home ground at the Kia Oval, and that combination of peak form and utter familiarity with his surroundings meant that Sri Lanka’s attack never had a prayer.Striking the ball with high hands that enable him to impart power and speed into even the merest of blocks, and with fast feet that rarely fail to provide him a stable base from which to climb into his strokes, Roy turned the heat on a diet of toiling bowlers whose lengths were consistently too short for a pitch so true. Each of Roy’s three sixes were emphatic stamps of class – full-blooded golf swings into the stands at long-on – as the series was sealed with a game, at Cardiff on Saturday, to spare.The back of the run-chase was broken by Roy’s second-wicket stand with Root, whose ability to think on his feet was evident in a subtle change of strategy, particularly against the medium-pace of Angelo Mathews. Having been bowled by a Mathews inducker for 2 in his only previous dismissal of the series, Root resolved to hang back in his crease and play the ball strictly under his eyeline, and reaped the rewards with a typically stealthy knock, packed with cheeky boundaries behind square as he reached his fifty from a brisk but never hurried 37 balls.The ease of England’s victory arguably did a disservice to the combative efforts of Sri Lanka’s own batsman, particularly Kusal Mendis and Gunathilaka, whose 128-run stand for the second wicket was Sri Lanka’s highest partnership of the series.Mendis, who has been Sri Lanka’s most promising young batsman of a tough campaign, top-scored with 77 from 64 balls, his fourth and highest half-century of the tour and his most fluent yet. His application could, and probably should, have been even more handsomely rewarded, however, had it not been for the onset of rain, after one ball of the 19th over, which robbed his innings of all momentum.Five balls after the resumption, his attempt to take on Rashid’s wiles resulted in an open-faced miscue to a diving Liam Plunkett in the covers, and soon afterwards, Gunathilaka was gone as well. Displaying the skills he picked up at the Big Bash and honed during England’s World T20 campaign, Rashid used his googly to fine effect in the damp weather, and appeared to sucker his prey with the one that went the other way, as Gunathilaka made room for a lofted drive over the covers, but instead chipped a cramped drive to Moeen at wide mid-off.England were a more focused unit in the second half of their bowling effort, although they struggled once again to separate Sri Lanka’s old guard of Mathews and, in particular, Dinesh Chandimal, who followed his 62 from 77 balls at Bristol with a sparkier innings of 63 from 51.Mathews, passed fit despite his ongoing hamstring issues but never looking fully mobile, had been the silent partner for much of the second half of Sri Lanka’s innings, but nevertheless finished the innings in style, bringing up his fifty from 47 balls with an arrow-straight drive off a near-perfect Plunkett yorker, then celebrating with two more fours in consecutive balls. His efforts carried his side past the 300-barrier, but any thoughts of psychology coming into play were quickly scotched when Roy got into his stride. He is in a rare vein of form, and England are a team going places on his watch.