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Australia’s spearhead Mitchell Starc has no chance of playing the Boxing Day Test if the example raised by his fellow fast bowler Pat Cummins is any indication. Starc has a bruised heel on his right foot, the same injury Cummins suffered during his November 2011 Test debut and which then dogged him throughout the following summer – he did not play again for Australia until mid-2012.While Cummins was then a teenager and Starc is far more seasoned, the niggardly nature of the injury makes it a complicated one for Australia’s medical staff and selectors to assess. As Cummins described, it is a problem that requires rest, and with a four-Test tour of South Africa looming in February, there is little room for recovery should the injury be aggravated in either of the two remaining dead Ashes Tests, however much Starc may want to play.”I think that’s certainly part of the thinking of the selectors, the skipper and everyone around him,” Cummins said in Melbourne. “I know for him he just wants to play every game that’s in front of him but it’s a funny kind of injury. It’s not super common but if it’s not treated well it can drag on for a long time, a bruise where you have to walk all day and bowl on.”I chatted to him about it, I had a similar one on my Test debut and it’s one of those ones there’s no way around. You can’t strap it differently, you can’t try to bowl off the other foot, it’s hard to hide from, so it’s just trying to get it early enough and not really damage it. He knows all that, the staff know all that and I’m sure they’ll work it out.”He’s doing everything he can to get right, he’s been on crutches the last few days to try to take some weight off the heel. But hasn’t tried to bowl yet or anything, we’ve just got down to Melbourne so I think the next couple days they’ll assess that. He’s absolutely itching to get out there and play, but got to make sure he’s right.”With Starc highly unlikely to play, the breach is set to be filled by the Tasmanian seamer Jackson Bird, who has spent most of the year in reserve after playing the most recent of his eight Test matches in the 2016 Boxing Day fixture against Pakistan. Bird is less a fast bowler than a seam and swing merchant, but he knows how to bowl on the MCG’s drop-in pitch, having excelled there on his debut against Sri Lanka in 2012 and also having performed well at the ground for Tasmania.”The wicket is pretty flat, the drop-in wicket,” Bird said. “Whatever length you try and bowl, you have to really bowl the ball into the wicket. Hit the wicket as hard as you can – there usually is a bit of movement on the first day or two. I find whatever length you bowl you really have to hit the wicket. Then in the second dig it usually goes reverse swing, you just have to find the right length that’s going to hit the top of the stumps and try and stand the seam up, hit the wicket hard to get the most out of it.”Mitch has still got a couple of days of training to recover, or try to recover, hopefully for Mitch’s sake his heel isn’t too serious and hedoes get up but in saying that, it’d be unbelievable to play an Ashes Test on Boxing Day. Either way, I’ll be ready and preparing as I normally would for any Test match.”In the first two Tests I left early and went and played Shield cricket for Tassie [Tasmania], so I got a fair few overs under my belt and felt like the ball came out really nicely in those couple of weeks I was away. I had a week in the Perth nets working on a few different things with Sakesy [David Saker, assistant coach]. I haven’t played a Test match since this game last year, so I’ve been ready to go for 12 months basically. If I get the opportunity, I’m really looking forward to it.”Bird said his year as a drinks waiter had been frustrating, albeit mitigated by the quality of the pace bowlers ahead of him in the queue. “It’s a little bit frustrating to not get an opportunity but I’m completely realistic in where I sit behind the fast bowlers ahead of me,” Bird said. “They’re all world-class fast bowlers, I’m under no illusions where I sit.”I’ve just got to prepare as if I’m going to play. I just need to be ready to go if any of those guys don’t come up. That’s the spot I’m in at the moment. I’m not complaining, I’m in a better spot than some blokes are. So I can’t complain too much, it’s great to be around the Australian team, especially in the Ashes.”You can only have 11 players in the team and when we’ve got such good fast bowlers around at the moment, someone’s got to miss out. It’s just been me for the past 12 months and the conditions we’ve played in haven’t helped my cause – a lot of those Tests were in the subcontinent. It is frustrating missing out – and some of the circumstances of the last 12 months made it a little bit more frustrating, but that’s the way it goes. Sometimes you’ve got to cop it on the chin and can’t complain too much about it.”The wicketkeeper Tim Paine is expected to join the squad in Melbourne on Sunday after spending some extra time at home with his family after his father-in-law suffered a stroke. “Tim’s one of the most mentally strong players I’ve ever played with,” Bird said. “He’s shown that the last couple of weeks, to get back into the Test team and perform how he has after such a long period out with career-threatening injuries when he thought he might not get back. If there’s anybody who can compartmentalise that, I think it’s him.”

When Ravindra Jadeja was left out of the ODI squad earlier this year, he slammed a double-century in his first Ranji Trophy innings of the season. Now, with the Sri Lanka limited-overs series ongoing, Jadeja – who has struck three first-class triple-centuries, the most by an Indian – stuck to the destructive pattern and struck six sixes in an over en route to a blistering century on the opening day of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) inter-district T20 tournament.Jadeja smashed a 69-ball 154 as Jamnagar brushed aside Amreli by 121 runs in their opening game at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ‘B’ ground in Rajkot. The win gave last year’s semi-finalists Jamnagar four points.Opening the batting with Divyaraj Chauhan, who has turned out for Saurashtra in seven first-class matches, Jadeja was dismissed only in the 19th over. In the 15th over, Jadeja launched a brutal assault against offspinner Nilam Vamja and carted six sixes in a row. Vamja ended up conceding 48 in two overs.By the time Jadeja was run out in the 19th over, he had unleashed mayhem to propel Jamnagar’s total to 239 for 6. He scored 120 off his 154 runs in boundaries – 15 fours and 10 sixes. Jadeja’s efforts were supplemented by another Jadeja – Vishwaraj – who struck 39 off 23 balls.The SCA inter-district T20 tournament features 16 teams divided into four groups. Jamnagar play their next game against Botad on Saturday.

Angelo Mathews will be fit for Sri Lanka’s tour of India in November, while Kusal Perera and Asela Gunaratne are also expected to return to the national set-up.

SLC to name head coach by end of the year

Sri Lanka Cricket expects to announce a new head coach by the end of the year, though it is unlikely to happen prior to Sri Lanka’s upcoming tour of India in November.
SLC confirmed that they were in conversations with a couple of coaches about the vacant position. Interim coach Nic Pothas, who has been in charge since the abrupt departure of Graham Ford in June, is also in the running.
“We are discussing with about three or four coaches, including Nic Pothas. We hope to finalise the decision by the end of the year,” SLC CEO Ashley De Silva said.
“When it comes to recruiting a new coach, we have to be sure to select the right one, therefore it takes some time. As for the names, some of them are still working in other places so if it gets leaked they won’t be happy. We’ll reveal it when the time is right.”
It means that Sri Lanka will head into arguably their toughest tour this year without a permanent head coach. De Silva refused to confirm if Pothas would retain his role as interim coach for the tour of India.

All three were unavailable for the recently concluded Pakistan tour, but will be welcomed back warmly following Sri Lanka’s recent struggles in limited-overs contests. Sri Lanka have lost their last 16 white-ball matches, including both ODI and T20I series whitewashes against Pakistan and India.Their next assignment is a full tour of India starting with the first of the three Tests on November 16 in Kolkata, followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is.”Angelo and Kusal Janith [Perera] have both recovered and they will be considered for selection for the Indian series. Asela Gunaratne is fit as well,” SLC CEO Ashley De Silva said.Sri Lanka’s interim head coach Nic Pothas, who was speaking alongside Sri Lanka’s three captains for the Pakistan tour, hinted that after a string of such negative results change in personnel might be the best way forward.”It’s pretty obvious what the mood will be like when you’ve lost 16 games,” Pothas said. “With respect to new faces, that’s a conversation that we need to have with the selectors. But I think it stands to reason that in any walk of life, when you’ve had negative results for a period of time you need to see some change somewhere.”While Sri Lanka ended the series with eight straight defeats, they had started it on a much more promising note, becoming the first team to win a Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, since Australia in 2002. Pothas was keen to point this, as he stressed on the other positives derived from the tour.”On the Test series, let me remind you that we made history,” he stated. “We did something that no other nation has ever done in the UAE. It tends to have been forgotten due to the fact that ODIs follow the Tests. But we have to give huge credit to the team and to the captain.”Overall across the whole tour we can certainly glean a lot of positives. The fielding has improved out of sight and certainly was one of the shining lights throughout the month that we were out there. And the bowling as well was of a very high standard; the execution of the plans was very pleasing.”Obviously, some of the batting didn’t go according to plan, but that’s the cricket world and other teams are allowed to play well. It was also one of the best bowling attacks in the world so it’s always going to be tough, but I think on the whole the series started off very well with that Test win. Certainly the attitude, the character and the fight shown by that team was very, very pleasing.”The tour also saw a Sri Lankan team return to Pakistan for the first time since 2009, when their team bus was attacked by armed gunmen in Lahore. The decision to play a match in Lahore resulted in several players pulling out of the game, but also provided opportunities for several fringe players.Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain Upul Tharanga was among those that pulled out, which gave Thisara Perera the opportunity to captain the T20 side. Despite losing all three matches, Perera was full of praise for his young charges.”In truth when speaking about the Lahore visit, it was a much changed team to the one we initially expected to take part,” Thisara said. “Even though it was a young side, when captaining them I realised that they were much more mature than I had thought. The support they gave, their attitude, as a captain it was a great help in terms of handling the team.”The team didn’t have many players with international experience. Most were inexperienced, including me as captain. Nevertheless the players had the drive to play and win. Although it was a youthful side, a lot of them had experience playing domestic cricket. Their attitude was also right. That’s the attitude we need in the team. Although we didn’t perform as we would have liked with the bat, the bowlers did us proud.”The second match, we had the match in our hands till the last ball, I think we lost the victory as we didn’t have the experience to handle it. If these players are given a chance they can do a lot more for Sri Lanka cricket.”

In the last two years, it would seem that India have earmarked Umesh Yadav for long-form cricket. The 29-year old fast bowler has played 19 out of 24 Tests in this period, but only 21 of the 40 ODIs, and he might just prefer it that way.”The thing with ODIs is that there will always be games. I enjoy playing Tests more,” Umesh said at a press conference at his home ground in Nagpur. “You have time in a Test and there are situations and match simulations (in the preparations) to know how to respond to a situation. I like those challenges. I like that because it increases confidence and also makes a bowler more accurate. You know the line and length you need on a particular surface and you focus on that. I am more than happy to play as a Test bowler.”However, Umesh clarified that he was not quite ready to start picking and choosing formats. “Playing both Tests and ODIs is good and particularly for me, because I am at an age when the more cricket I play the better it is for me,” he said. “I don’t want to be at a stage where I am saying I don’t want to play this format or that, I want to keep going. I would love to play in all formats.”To a certain extent, India now have enough seamers of quality and variety that they can manage their workloads better without losing their potency as a team. At the start of the Bengaluru ODI, Australia captain Steven Smith rated Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the world’s best death bowlers in 50-overs cricket. And over the course of a long home season in 2016-17, Mohammed Shami and Umesh won praise from their own captain, who said they were among the top five quicks in Test cricket.Separating them to play the respective formats they are good at seems not only the logical choice, but also helps the players function at peak fitness. “I think it’s good for the fast bowlers,” Umesh said. “If you continuously play Test cricket, it’s lot of load for fast bowler. Playing in sub-continent conditions is very tough. Slow wicket, no pace and bounce for fast bowlers, you have to give your 100 per cent. It’s very hard for the fast bowlers to come to one-day cricket with the same intensity [immediately afterwards]. It is better you get some rest. It also helps you recover from small niggles. It’s a good concept as we get proper rest and look after ourselves properly.”Umesh also felt that fast bowlers could not afford to become full-fledged Test or one-day specialists because of their fitness needs. “If you are playing a lot of Test cricket, say 15-20 Tests in a year, then you have to decide what to do. Because you can’t otherwise say I only want to play Tests – there are fewer Tests in the year, so what will you do the rest of the time?”It is important for a player’s body to have match practice. We say it’s good to keep practicing and everything will be fine, but that’s not the case. Until you don’t play matches, your physical form is not ideal and you don’t have that match-situation awareness. When you’re bowling in a match, you have to use your whole body and you know what lines you have to bowl. In the nets you do practice but at that time, you don’t really understand where the ball is going and what a situation is. There’s a big difference between bowling to batsmen on your team and the opposition’s batsmen.”So if there is a situation where we are playing four Tests against a team and then there are ODIs, I prefer playing Tests first. The way my body responds and how fit I am, then I will say I am ready. But there is no such thing for me that I will play only Tests or only ODIs. If you don’t accept all the challenges in cricket, then what are you a fast bowler for?”

In 2013, Australia played India in an ODI series before a home Ashes encounter – same again in 2017. In 2013, Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann skipped the tour in order to prepare for the England challenge – same again in 2017. In 2013, Mitchell Johnson played a key role as the ODI spearhead before flying home early to prepare for England – Pat Cummins is in that boat in 2017.Further strengthening the case for Cummins to be spared from full duty in India is the fact that both Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are currently recovering from injury in the hope that they will be fit to take part in a trio of Sheffield Shield matches that prelude the Ashes. Given his high pace and steep bounce, Cummins stands some chance of having the sort of impact Johnson did four years ago, provided he is well looked after. He has bowled 334.5 overs across formats in 2017, playing all four of Australia’s most recent Tests, and the IPL as well.David Saker, the assistant coach responsible for the pacemen who is deputising for Lehmann in India, did not shy away from the prospect of Cummins being rested at some point during the limited-overs series due to begin on September 17.”At this stage we’re planning for him to play all the games,” Saker said. “We’ll look at [resting him], it’s obviously been brought up between all of us. We know that his workloads are up there, but we know it’s an important series. It’s Australia v India, you don’t get any bigger than that. He’s really determined to play well over here. It’ll be game-by-game basis, we’ll play it by ear.”In discussing Hazlewood and Starc, Saker revealed there was uncertainty about exactly when the pair would be ready to play for New South Wales, with the former recuperating from a side strain while the latter is in the final stages of his own recovery from a foot problem that reared its head during the India Tests earlier this year.”We’re hoping they’ll be ready before the first Shield game or second Shield game and that will give them good preparation,” Saker said. “We’ve probably got a bit of a blessing that we’ve got three Shield games before the first Test of the Ashes and it’s probably as good a build-up as you’d want for an Ashes.”So in that sense as long as they’re ready to go by the first Test in Brisbane [on November 23] and ready to play and perform, I’ll be really happy. This time last year, we were in South Africa and it was the same thing, Hazlewood and Starc were rested for that tour. And they got through a really heavy workload in the summer, got through all the Tests. It’s not such a bad thing that they’re not here, as long as they’re ready to go for that first Test in Brisbane.”The bowlers subbing in during the ODI series in India are Nathan Coulter-Nile – himself an unused Ashes squad member in 2013-14 – and Kane Richardson. Other pace bowling options are provided by the allrounders James Faulkner and Marcus Stoinis, who are among the players in contention to occupy the No. 6 spot in the batting order during the Ashes.

Rangana Herath will be rested for the third Test at Pallekele after pulling up from the second Test with a stiff back. Two players will be further added to Sri Lanka’s squad to replace Herath and the already-injured Nuwan Pradeep.Though there is no injury to Herath as such, he has had a heavy workload over the past three weeks, in which he bowled 71.1 overs in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, as well as a combined 91 overs in the two Tests against India. Considering his age, and the fact that Sri Lanka will have to play a Test series against Pakistan over the next two months, the selectors have made the decision to leave him out.”This is where our player management comes in, because we don’t want to break anyone,” SLC cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha said. “We made the call not to risk Herath because he’s also bowled close to 200 overs in the three Tests. That’s a lot for his body.” Herath also confirmed he will stay in Colombo and receive treatment, rather than traveling to Kandy with the team.Though he has had a modest series against India so far, Sri Lanka’s attack will nevertheless be significantly weaker in his absence. He was the best of their bowlers at the SSC, taking 4 for 154, and had also taken 11 wickets in the difficult victory against Zimbabwe at Khettarama. Dilruwan Perera will now be the senior spinner, with left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara and left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan also in the squad.Herath is the fourth Sri Lanka player to become unavailable during the India series, after both Asela Gunaratne and Pradeep picked up injuries in the first and second Tests respectively, and Suranga Lakmal was ruled out by a back complaint. Herath is not in the habit of missing Tests, however. The last Sri Lanka match he missed had come more than two years ago – against Pakistan in July 2015 – and that was because he was dropped from the XI. The last Test for which he was unavailable was the 2014 Boxing Day Test against New Zealand in Christchurch, when he was nursing a leg injury, and also attended the birth of his second child.The Pallekele Test is scheduled to begin from August 12. It is, however, a dead rubber, with India having already won the series 2-0.

Former Test batsman Rob Quiney has announced his retirement from first-class cricket after he was not offered a Victoria contract for 2017-18.Quiney, 35, played two Tests against South Africa in 2012-13 and was a fixture of Victoria’s squad over the past decade, winning five Sheffield Shield titles with the Bushrangers in 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2017. He will leave the game with 5674 runs at an average of 36.84 from 96 first-class appearances.Quiney’s retirement came as Victoria revamped their contract list for next summer, also losing captain Matthew Wade to Tasmania and allrounder Marcus Stoinis to Western Australia. Left-arm spinner Michael Beer, who is also a former Test cricketer, was not offered a new contract, while Evan Gulbis and Ian Holland were also omitted.As expected, Peter Handscomb was confirmed as the state’s new captain, replacing Wade. Young batsmen Will Pucovski and Blake Thomson were handed full contracts, along with wicketkeeper Sam Harper and fast bowler Xavier Crone. Rookie deals were given to fast bowlers Mitch Perry and Zak Evans, as well as Will Sutherland, the son of Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland.”Although we’ve lost some senior experience for this season, we’re fortunate to have a number of our younger players having gained valuable experience over the last two years and they know what it takes to be successful at first-class level,” Shaun Graf, Cricket Victoria’s general manager of cricket, said.”Add young stars Will Pucovski and Will Sutherland to that mix and it’s an exciting time for Victorian cricket – it’s hard to think of a time when we’ve been in a stronger, more successful position in the state’s history.”Graf said Quiney had been a significant contributor to Victoria over the past decade.”Rob Quiney has been a tremendous figure in Victorian cricket throughout his highly decorated career,” Graf said. “He embodies all of Victoria’s values and it’s a testament to his skill and character that he’s been able to achieve so much success as a player, particularly playing in our five most recent Sheffield Shield titles including the three-peat.”Quiney won consecutive Bill Lawry Medals as Victoria’s Shield player of the year in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and a Dean Jones Medal as the state’s one-day player of the year in 2011-12. In 2012, he was also named the State Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal night.He won his call-up to Test cricket in November 2012, when he replaced the injured Shane Watson for the first Test against South Africa at the Gabba. He made 9 in his only innings and retained his place for the second Test in Adelaide, but was axed after completing a pair in that match.Victoria squad Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Daniel Christian, Jackson Coleman, Xavier Crone, Travis Dean, Aaron Finch (Cricket Australia contract), Sebastian Gotch, Peter Handscomb (capt, CA contract), Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, John Hastings, Jon Holland, Glenn Maxwell (CA contract), James Muirhead, James Pattinson (CA contract), Will Pucovski, Jake Reed, Matthew Short, Peter Siddle, Blake Thomson, Chris Tremain, Guy Walker, Cameron White. Rookies Zak Evans, Sam Grimwade, Jackson Koop, Tom O’Donnell, Mitch Perry, Will Sutherland.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSarah Taylor helped England nudge ahead early in their chase•Getty Images

England progressed to their fifth World Cup final but not before South Africa gave them a mighty scare in Bristol. England nearly paid the price for switching off. A cruise when Sarah Taylor and Heather Knight were at the crease turned into a full-blown collapse when they lost three wickets – one of those to a brilliant run-out and another to a rank full toss – in the space of eleven deliveries. At 149 for 5, chasing 219, it was game on.But England dug deep to find a way out. Fran Wilson and Jenny Gunn exhibited England’s batting depth to take them within six runs of victory. Wilson showed tremendous guts – none more than her scoop to a full ball over short third man off Shabnim Ismail with England needing 40 off 38 – to make 30, before falling in the 48th over.It should have been easily from there on, but pressure can do strange things. South Africa were taking every step to make Nelson Mandela Day a memorable one. The game hinged on a knife’s edge as it went into the final over, off which England needed three. Ismail, entrusted with the responsibility of trying to polish off the last three wickets, put down a sharp chance off the first ball to reprieve Gunn. Nerves were jangling. Then with two needed off four, she foxed Laura Marsh with a slower ball. The England players were on tenterhooks now.South Africa needed two wickets. Anya Shrubsole, hardly needed to bat in the tournament, was on strike. She saw width and flayed it through point to bring up the winning runs, runs that were like a dagger through South Africa’s hearts as another World Cup dream crashing down to leave them heart-broken even as a jubilant England side extended an arm of support to the wounded soldiers.If South Africa were to reflect on the heart-wrenching loss, as they would in all likelihood, they’d perhaps rue letting England drift away when Taylor whipped, scooped and flicked her way to a half-century. Up until then, they had managed to pull things back courtesy Ayabongo Khaka’s 10-over spell which yielded two wickets, including that of Tammy Beaumont, the highest run-getter in the tournament.But Taylor’s 78-run stand with Knight had a deflating effect. They also didn’t help matters early in the chase by being a little off-colour on the field. Trisha Chetty, the record-holder for most dismissals in women’s ODIs, had a particularly bad day, fluffing two opportunities along with a number of fumbles to leak runs.All of this meant South Africa had no control over proceedings until Dane van Niekerk brought them back with an inspirational effort – a one-handed pick up at cover to run Taylor out with a direct hit at the striker’s end in the 33rd over. They weren’t the same side from there on. Laura Wolvaardt’s acrobatic effort at square leg off a full toss sent Knight back. When Natalie Sciver was bowled around her legs by Sune Luus, South Africa’s hopes brightened.The tournament’s best batting line-up was seriously being challenged by a gun attack. But England had a Gunn in their ranks too, and she biffed two boundaries off the 47th over to bring the equation to under a run-a-ball, shortly after Mosaline Daniels removed Katherine Brunt. But at the end, South Africa were left to rue a lower-order collapse of their own, which left them at least 30 short of what they should’ve got.Wolvaardt and Mignon du Preez struck half-centuries, and together they put on 77 for the third wicket, to set South Africa for a tilt at 250, but they never gained momentum. Once Wolvaardt fell, England simply didn’t let the middle and lower order get away on a slow surface where manufacturing shots wasn’t easy.Yet, Wolvaardt’s control of her batting stood out when runs were hard to come by. She batted with the maturity of a veteran, who knew how to make up for the slow start. At the other end, du Preez improvised, often manufacturing strokes by walking across or using the depth of the crease to either flick or cut and pull.But the first sign of growing comfort resulted in Knight introducing spin. It was a sign that they’d done their homework. Laura Marsh and Alex Hartley tied the runs down in the middle overs, before Knight reaped the reward in her first over when Wolvaardt was out bowled trying to cut a skiddy delivery. Three balls later, a mix-up led to Marizanne Kapp’s run out.South Africa’s last roll of the dice at 250 were Van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon, who replaced Masabata Klaas, only because they needed the middle-order muscle. When she chipped a simple return catch off her third delivery, South Africa’s innings had quickly descended into free fall. It needed a pugnacious unbeaten 76 from du Preez to give them a fighting chance, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Match facts

Delhi Daredevils v Rising Pune Supergiant
New Delhi, May 12, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)3:41

Hogg: Zampa can match Tahir on economy, not wickets

Head to head

Rising Pune Supergiant lead 2-1, with both their wins coming last season. In their first exchange this season, Delhi Daredevils were powered by a maiden T20 hundred from Sanju Samson and a blistering unbeaten 38, off just nine balls, from Chris Morris that helped them win by 97 runs after scoring 205.

Form guide

Delhi Daredevils (sixth): beat Gujarat Lions by two wickets, lost to Mumbai Indians by 146 runs, beat Gujarat Lions by seven wickets
Rising Pune Supergiant (third): beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 12 runs, beat Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets, beat Gujarat Lions by five wickets

In the news

Pune will be without Imran Tahir and Faf du Plessis. The pair left for a preparatory camp in South Africa ahead of a limited-overs series in England before the Champions Trophy. Adam Zampa, the Australia legspinner, is likely to slot in for Tahir.Daredevils have a quick turnaround of little under 48 hours since their game against Gujarat Lions. Already without Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris and Angelo Mathews, who have left for national duty, they are unlikely to tweak their XI barring injuries.

Qualification scenario

Pune are on 16 points, but aren’t entirely safe because of an inferior net run rate. They need to win at least one of their two remaining games to guarantee qualification to the playoffs. Should they lose both, and Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers win their remaining matches, Pune will be knocked out. Unless Kolkata Knight Riders lose their final game, Pune will need to win both their remaining games to finish in a coveted top-two spot.

The likely XIs

Delhi Daredevils: 1 Sanju Samson, 2 Karun Nair, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mohammed Shami/Shahbaz Nadeem, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Zaheer Khan (capt)Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Rahul Tripathi, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Dan Christian, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Adam Zampa

Strategy punt

Zampa has dismissed Samson twice in the two games he has played against Daredevils. Considering Samson’s strike rate drops to the 130s against spin as compared to 150 against pace, there’s perhaps a case of Pune opening with Zampa or even Washington Sundar, the offspinner.

Stats that matter

• Rahul Tripathi is the second-highest scorer in the Powerplays this season, just 12 runs behind David Warner’s tally of 264 runs. Tripathi has been striking at 170.27 in the first six overs.
• Among the 26 seamers who have bowled 20 or more overs this season, only two – Andrew Tye and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – have better economy rates than Christian’s 7.25.
• Prior to the ongoing season, Amit Mishra has an economy of 7.23. This season he has conceded 8.57 runs an over, his second-worst since 2014 when he went at 8.92.
• Daredevils are among three teams who have taken 66 wickets, the fewest this season. Their economy of 8.77 is the second-worst among all teams in IPL 2017.
• Tahir is he second-highest wicket-taker this season with 18 wickets at 20.50. He has bowled 47 overs in 12 games. Only Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have bowled more overs. Zampa, who could replace Tahir, has played just two games this season.

Tickets for the Perth Ashes Test will not go on sale at the same time as those for all other venues as uncertainty continues to swirl around the status of the city’s new all-purpose stadium.A decision on whether the stadium will be able to host the third Test between Australia and England in December is expected to be announced in mid-May, after tickets begin to go on sale on May 1 for Australian Cricket Family members, before the general public sale on May 8.While announcing the Ashes fixture last year, Cricket Australia had announced Perth would host the third Test between December 14 and 18 but did not specify a venue.The 60,000-seater Perth Stadium in Burswood is a multi-purpose venue with drop-in pitches used for cricket. Plans to build the new stadium were announced in 2011 with its scheduled completion in early 2018.In September 2015, the Western Australia Cricket Association had announced that international fixtures against England, South Africa and India from the 2018-19 season would be played at the new Perth Stadium, with the WACA Ground being adapted into a boutique venue for hosting smaller countries. Sheffield Shield cricket and domestic limited-overs games would also continue to be played at the WACA Ground, while the Big Bash League games would be played at the new facility.The prospects of the Perth Stadium hosting an Ashes Test will also be affected by the delay in a public transport infrastructure project: a footbridge for use of spectators at the venue will reportedly only be completed later this year, many months behind schedule.Last week WACA announced that the stadium’s drop-in pitches had been successfully moved from their preparation grounds at Gloucester Park to the site where they will be tended to outside the new venue. However, the WACA chief executive Christina Matthews did not indicate whether the stadium was on course for an Ashes Test.”This is an exciting milestone and I congratulate all involved in reaching this stage, in particular our Turf Team, led by Head Curator Matthew Page,” she said. “The achievements to-date on the production of the wickets have been significant and the next phase will be even more so.”I have absolute faith that we have the best people possible involved in this project and we continue to expect that we will be able to produce a wicket that provides WA cricket and the wider community with as entertaining a game as possible.”Two former officials of Cricket Australia, Mike McKenna and Chris Loftus-Hills, are overseeing the development of cricket facilities at the new stadium. McKenna, CA’s former operations chief, accepted the role of chief executive of the Burswood stadium in September last year. Two months later, Loftus-Hill joined the team, having worked in collaboration with the Western Australia government and builders to prepare cricket facilities, including drop-in pitches, at the venue.