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It might not have had much of a bearing on the result of the match, but the third umpire might have looked at the wrong replay when the on-field officials turned to him to check on a no-ball during the match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.Jasprit Bumrah is no stranger to bowling no-balls – his costliest one coming in last year’s Champions Trophy final – but he got away without scrutiny when he dismissed Umesh Yadav, the eighth Royal Challengers batsman to fall, on Tuesday. The on-field umpire immediately asked to see if he had overstepped. The replay shown, though, has Umesh at the non-striker’s end, and the heel of Bumrah’s front foot lands well inside the crease. The commentators were surprised that it was even checked. “No need to go [to the third umpire] for that,” commentator Sunil Gavaskar said on air.It went unnoticed that Umesh was in the picture at the non-striker’s end until Twitter user @ronak_169 brought it to ESPNcricinfo’s notice. While this was not significant to the result – Royal Challengers were 137 for 7, chasing 214, with only 13 balls left – it once again raises the possibility of this human error in more critical stages of the match. Nor is this the first time that the third umpire has ruled on a no-ball when watching the wrong replay.In the 2011 IPL, Sachin Tendulkar was ruled out similarly. The first two replays showed that the bowler Amit Mishra was close to overstepping, but a third angle, from cover, had him just okay. It was later noticed that in the third replay, Tendulkar was at the non-striker’s end. Later that year, in a Test match in Barbados, MS Dhoni was ruled out off a no-ball even though on-field umpire Ian Gould suspected Fidel Edwards had overstepped and went upstairs to check. The wrong replay was shown to the third umpire on that occasion, which the broadcasters, , then admitted as “a human error, compounded by a senior replay operative having to return home at a very short notice”. There must be others that go unnoticed.This kind of error often occurs when the replay operator clicks twice, thus going to the previous ball and missing the ball in question. In this case, Umesh was indeed at the non-striker’s end one ball before he got out. There is no plausible reason for this to be anything other than an innocent human mistake, but such an error has the potential to attain major significance in a tight situation.In this particular instance, perhaps the third umpire could have been more vigilant. Perhaps checking who is at the non-striker’s end when checking for no-balls can be added to the third umpire’s protocols, but by no means is it an exhaustive check: in this case, for example, if the previous ball had been a dot played out by Umesh, a wrong replay would have shown Virat Kohli at the non-striker’s end.The trickiest part of the situation is the delegation of the decision-making arm to the broadcaster, which is not neutral in international cricket. The ICC doesn’t pay for the technology used for decision making, which means it cannot hold the broadcasters accountable for any errors. If ICC does assume control of the decision making, the money will have to ultimately come from the member boards’ share of profits, which reduces the likelihood of this happening in the near future.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:25

Bangar: Tewatia’s introduction turned the match

A sensational display of end-overs bowling from Mohit Sharma and strangulation by legspin from Rahul Tewatia, playing his first game this season, helped apply the choke on Kolkata Knight Riders. By securing one of three wins they needed, Kings XI lived to fight another day.In what was an engaging last five overs off which Knight Riders needed just 50, Mohit brought out all his slower variations – the knuckleball, back-of-the-hand slower deliveries and offcutters – and delivered them with precision to deny Chris Lynn, who wiped out half of Knight Riders’ 168-run target off just 52 balls, and Manish Pandey. The pair’s dismissal off successive deliveries off the 18th over helped close out a tight game, with the Sharmas – Mohit and Sandeep – defending 29 off the 12 deliveries to ensure three playoff spots were still up for grabs.Knight Riders’ productive first sixKings XI made four changes, two of those being forced. One of them – Hashim Amla – had just smashed a 60-ball 104, his second century of the season, in the previous game. Even so, the rest of the batsmen stuttered as they finished with just 189 when they should’ve posted 210. Now, without Amla, who along with David Miller was unavailable because of national duty, Kings XI needed a robust beginning from the openers. Manan Vohra, who had earlier in the tournament shunted up and down the order to accommodate both Shaun Marsh and Martin Guptill, sparkled briefly, but his dismissal brought about a restrained approach. The first six overs fetched just 41 for the loss of the openers. Knight Riders had begun well.Maxwell, Saha keep the innings aliveOn a surface where the ball was deviating just about enough to keep the medium-pacers interested, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme bowled six overs in tandem, conceding just 22 off the first four immediately after the Powerplay. Kings XI limped to 63 for 3 in the first half. They went 17 deliveries without a boundary after Shaun Marsh’s dismissal in the ninth over, before Maxwell cut loose – hitting de Grandhomme for two successive sixes off legitimate deliveries to trigger a surge. Maxwell’s picking of lengths was impressive as he played the pull effectively against the pacers. Wriddhiman Saha, on 10 off 17 at one stage, pinched crucial boundaries to move to a run-a-ball 26. At 115 for 3 with five to play, Kings XI needed big back five overs. But they were denied.Kuldeep Yadav, returning in place of Piyush Chawla, was rewarded for his willingness to flight the ball as he had Maxwell caught at wide long-off in an attempt to hit him for a third successive six. In his next over, he had Saha stumped after being biffed across the line one ball earlier. A cameo from Tewatia lifted them to 167, not underwhelming but not match-winning either.Getty Images

Narine tees off, Lynn consolidatesTwo quiet men, who don’t believe in intimidating opponents with words, let their blades talk. Sunil Narine’s no-frills approach fetched him four fours in a 10-ball 18. Lynn, playing in only his second game after returning from a shoulder injury that kept him out for three weeks, didn’t show signs of “not being a 100 percent” as he revealed during a flash interview. Time and again, he was tested against the short ball, only for the deep midwicket and wide long-on boundaries to be peppered with regularity.The best shot of his knock – a flat-batted swat off Matt Henry which he fetched from outside off – showed how brutally effective he can be even if not at full tilt. Yet, this wasn’t as brutal a knock as the one against Royal Challengers Bangalore. By bringing up a half-century off just 29 deliveries, Lynn ensured Gautam Gambhir’s struggle against spin – he scratched around 17 deliveries for 8 before mistiming a slog to deep midwicket – didn’t deeply disturb the asking rate.Tewatia spins a webOne ball after sending back Gambhir, Rahul Tewatia, playing his first game this season, saw off Robin Uthappa, but to not give any credit to Axar Patel would be doing injustice to his efforts. Running around from straight deep midwicket, he covered quick ground before putting in a dive to catch the dipping slog sweep inches from the ground near deep square leg. Now, the choke was on. Axar followed it up by conceding just three in his next over. The spinners – Tewatia along with Axar and Swapnil Singh – at that stage had combined figures of 2 for 30 off six overs. Knight Riders needed 86 off 54 balls.Maxwell’s punt on Mohit pays offBy leaving two overs of Mohit in the last five, Maxwell gambled. Considering the form Lynn was in, it was a tough proposition. But the pressure applied by the spinners left Knight Riders with a steep task against a bowler, who justified the INR 6.5 crore investment, at a crunch moment when the game was on the line and Kings XI’s chances of staying alive was hanging by a thread. That he bowled just three overs may have been a decision Kings XI could have rued, but on the night, it was his experience that prevailed.

Centuries from Amandeep Khare and Ashutosh Singh helped Chhattisgarh recover from Umesh Yadav’s twin-strikes upfront to end the day at a comfortable 246 for 3 against Vidarbha in Nagpur. The pair added 227 for the third wicket before Umesh dismissed Ashutosh for 113 in the day’s final over. Karn Sharma, the legspinner, who impressed for India A and has 31 wickets in four first-class games so far this season, finished with none for 65 off 24 overs in his first game for Vidarbha.Punjab, searching for points after conceding a lead and losing outright in their first two games, racked up 396 for 3 against Goa in Poorvorim. Jiwanjot Singh, the opener, struck 215 of those and was still going strong when stumps were drawn.Jiwanjot struck an unbroken 236-run fourth-wicket stand with Anmolpreet Singh, 103 not out, when play ended. Anmolpreet, promoted No. 4 in the absence of Yuvraj Singh, struck 11 fours and two sixes. Uday Kaul missed out converting a start into three figures, falling for 66, while Manan Vohra was out for a three-ball duck in the first over.Half-centuries from Nikhil Gangta (89*) and Ankush Bains (68) spared Himachal the blushes against Services in New Delhi. They recovered from a precarious 92 for 4 to finish on 273 for 5 at stumps. Prashant Chopra, the opener who struck a triple century in the tournament opener, failed to convert, falling for 55. Bains and Gangta, chasing his second century of the season, batted for a better part of the day to add 159 and help the side stage a remarkable recovery.

England are going to have to improve significantly if they are to win the Women’s World T20, Mark Robinson believes. Despite winning the Women’s World Cup only a few months ago, the England coach admitted his side’s T20 cricket is not at the same level.Part of the issue, he believes, is simply that they do not play enough. England went into their Ashes T20 matches having not played international T20 for nearly 18 months (from July 2016 to November 2017) and, as a consequence, are unsure of their best side or tactics. Clearly, however, they are looking for more pace from their bowlers and more power from their hitters ahead of the tournament in the Caribbean in November.”We have to address some areas we haven’t done very well in T20,” Robinson said as he looked ahead to England’s T20 tri-series against India and Australia in India. “We’ve looked at the Big Bash and the Super League to see how our players do. And our batters don’t come out of it with big numbers.”I watch the Super League and the Big Bash and the overseas players are dominating a bit. I don’t want that. I want our players to dominate. I’m challenging my players to dominate. We know we need to win big moments and Powerplays.”We’ve got to look to improve that. What we’re doing at the moment isn’t going to win you a World Cup. And we have to change that.”In the long-term, Robinson believes the standard of England’s fast bowling must improve. The game around the world, he feels, is disproportionately dominated by what he refers to as “dobbers” but, as the standard of pitches improves, he feels greater skills will be required.”At the moment our game is being dominated by dobbers,” he said. “Not spinners but slow bowlers. The women’s game is a trial by spin. The standard of fast bowling is not good enough in world cricket. If the wickets improve like they have been then they – the bowlers – are going to have to get better.”The ability to bowl the wide yorkers and the ability to bowl the bouncer is really important. You are going to want to have impact bowlers. New Zealand have Lea Tahuhu and South Africa have Shabnim Ismail and they are really important on good wickets as they can grab you a wicket.”That’s one thing that is starting to change now. The bowlers have to fight back – not dumb down – and get better and not be bossed all over the place like we were in the last two Ashes games.”One advantage enjoyed by England’s men but not extended to the women was the erection of a tent at Loughborough enabling players to practise on grass ahead of the tour. “The tent is put up for the men,” Robinson said. “We don’t get that luxury unfortunately. Maybe in a few years’ time we will.”

Match Facts

July 6, 2017
Start time: 0945 local (0415GMT)Tendai Chatara’s discipline has earned him four of Zimbabwe’s eight wickets in the series so far•AFP

Big Picture

One comfortable pursuit of 317 for Zimbabwe, one crushing home victory set up by Sri Lanka’s spinners – not much about this series has been predictable, and the teams are now about to venture into more uncertainty. In the past two years, the ground at Hambantota has probably hosted more elephants than cricket matches, and no one is quite sure how the pitch will play after such a long hiatus. Will it tend to be on the faster, bouncier side, as it had been between 2011 and 2015? Or will it – as the hosts might prefer – take a little extra turn now?

Mumba replaces injured W Masakadza

Zimbabwe left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza has been ruled out of the series due to an ankle injury, and has been replaced by seamer Carl Mumba. Masakadza’s last ODI appearance for Zimbabwe was in 2015, and having made a return to the squad, he did not get a game against Sri Lanka. Mumba’s sole ODI match so far came against Sri Lanka in November last year.

There is also often a powerful crosswind to contend with, at the venue, which tends to favour the more adaptable side. In the past, batsmen who have chosen to base their innings around hitting with the wind have prospered in Hambantota: not only do their strokes carry further, the balls they hit into the air have also been notoriously difficult to catch. Sri Lanka, who have dropped no fewer than six chances across the first two games, may be especially vulnerable if the breeze picks up. Bowlers have also had highly contrasting experiences with the wind: it has helped boost the natural swing of some, and put others off their game completely.Whatever the conditions, appropriate use of the sweep shot is likely to have come up in Zimbabwe’s team discussions over the past 48 hours. They had lived by the stroke in the first game, then died by it in the second. They may aim to be more selective in their deployment of the stroke in Hambantota.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLLWL (completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LWWLL

In the spotlight

All through the Champions Trophy campaign there was wonderment in Sri Lanka as to why Lakshan Sandakan was not in the XI. Now that he has taken 4 for 52 upon his return, the head scratching has only intensified. For now, Sandakan is not a bowler who offers a lot of control, and perhaps on the less spin-friendly tracks in England, the selectors and team management felt he may become a liability. However, if any bowler has appeared as if he may correct Sri Lanka’s inability to take wickets through the middle overs, it has been Sandakan. The selectors might do well to now provide him with a secure place in the side, in order to determine if he can in fact fulfill that wicket-taking role, in the longer term.A longer run in the ODI side can help determine if Lakshan Sandakan’s potential, seen in his 4 for 52, can be fulfilled•AFP

Though batsmen’s handling of spin has dominated the series narrative so far, it is the skillful seam bowling of Tendai Chatara that has brought Zimbabwe half of their eight wickets in the series so far. There is no booming swing or searing pace for Chatara, but so far in the series, there has been a discipline to his bowling, and even on an unresponsive Galle pitch, he was one of the only quicks to glean some movement off the seam. If he can quickly modify his bowling to suit Hambantota’s unique conditions, Zimbabwe could again make an early breakthrough, as they have in each of the first two games.

Team news

Spinner Amila Aponso and seam-bowling allrounder Lahiru Madushanka have been dropped from the squad for the last three ODIs, and in their place are seamer Lahiru Kumara and batsman Chamara Kapugedera (Suranga Lakmal was originally slated to be in the squad until he took ill). Unless the flu that has been making its way around the Sri Lanka side incapacitates another player on Thursday, the hosts may not wish to make a change to their winning XI, however.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Upul Tharanga, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Wanidu Hasaranga, 8 Dushmantha Chameera, 9 Lakshan Sandakan,10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Nuwan PradeepDespite the loss, Zimbabwe have a fairly settled outfit, and they may stick with the same XI. If any place is under scrutiny, it may be that of seamer Donald Tiripano. Chris Mpofu could potentially replace him.Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Solomon Mire, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikander Raza, 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Peter Moor (wk), 8 Malcolm Waller, 9 Graeme Cremer (capt.), 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 Chris Mpofu/Donald Tiripano

Pitch and conditions

Forecasts for this part of the country are notoriously unreliable, but the weather is expected to be dry and hot, with temperatures in the low thirties. How the pitch will play is anyone’s guess.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have won seven and lost six of their 17 matches at Hambantota.
• 2017 is Chatara’s most successful ODI year so far, having taken 15 wickets in nine matches at 24.46.
• In addition to having become the third bowler to take a hat-trick on ODI debut, on Sunday, Wanidu Hasaranga became the first Sri Lanka spinner to claim a hat-trick in the format.

Quotes

“Assessing the conditions a little bit better is crucial. When the wicket is flatter like in the first game, you can play all your shots freely and chase down a huge score like that. In the second game it was probably not a wicket where you can go for your shots regularly. We need to do bit of work on that – assess conditions and stick to our plans.””Nuwan Pradeep has been our best bowler in the last three years in Test and ODI cricket, but for some reason he doesn’t pick up many wickets. He has improved his fielding too. He is one of the hardest working cricketers in the side.”

Worcestershire have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the build-up to their County Championship fixture against Kent earlier this month, which was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to a waterlogged outfield.The match, which had been due to take place at New Road between April 10 and 13, was called off by the umpires, Ian Gould and Richard Illingworth, after four consecutive blank days, following heavy rain on the eve of the contest that left the outfield like a “jelly-blancmange”, according to Tim Packwood, the head groundsman.The situation drew an angry response from Kent’s captain, Sam Northeast. “We turned up on the first day and knew pretty much straight away there would be no play over the four days,” he said. “It is unacceptable. This is not bad luck. I’d like to think there could have been something done.”We have had days of sun but not played any cricket. It’s not fair on the fans that travelled, sorted out hotels or taken time off work.”However, following an investigation by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC), the chairman Gerard Elias QC exonerated Worcestershire but invited the ECB to consider any actions or safeguards that might prevent a similar occurrence in the future.In particular, Elias found “no evidence that the pitch itself was unfit, or that Worcestershire CCC had, by the action or wilful inaction of its groundstaff, done anything which materially adversely impacted upon the possibility of play.”Despite recognising the “significant financial loss and inconvenience, as well as disappointment, experienced by both counties and their supporters”, Elias was satisfied that reasonable decisions and actions had been taken by the club in the period leading up to the match.Worcestershire’s players, he noted, had been able to practice on both the square and the outfit on the eve of the match and therefore could have reasonably believed that the ground would be fit for play the following day.Worcestershire have been plagued by floods and waterlogged conditions at New Road in recent years. In 2007, another Championship meeting with Kent was washed out without a ball being bowled, after which the club was unable to play at the venue for the final three months of the season.

Mehul Patel took his second five-wicket haul and career-best figures of 5 for 35 to help Gujarat snatch the first-innings lead against Railways in Lahli. Gujarat had been bowled out for 187, after which Railways were brought down to 63 for 7 as 17 wickets fell on the opening day. Railways were shot out for 124, before Gujarat responded strongly in the second innings, ending the day on 295 for 3 for an overall lead of 358.Railways resisted when play resumed, with Karn Sharma and Anureet Singh, the overnight batsmen, adding 52 for the eighth wicket. Mehul then dismissed Anureet for his fifth, before Rush Kalaria wrapped up the innings with two wickets in the 44th over. Karn scored 48 and Anureet made 27, finishing as two of only three batsmen to record double-digit scores.Priyank Panchal scored 101 and shared a second-wicket stand of 141 with Bhargav Merai (70) to sink Railways. Parthiv Patel, the Gujarat captain, and Manpreet Juneja added 98 unbeaten runs for the fourth wicket before stumps were drawn. Parthiv was not out on 39 and Juneja had made 59.Madhya Pradesh snuffed out two Mumbai wickets to end the second day in Raipur in a dominant position. After MP’s first innings ended on 445, Mumbai were reduced to 38 for 2, trailing by 407 runs.MP had ended the opening day on 239 for 2 with Rajat Patidar unbeaten on 83 and Devendra Bundela on 36. Patidar batted on and raised his century before being dismissed for 106, while Bundela scored 60. Patidar, Harpreet Singh and Bundela fell for the addition of 16 runs, before MP were buoyed by Shubham Sharma (83 not out) and Ankit Dane (47), and the duo’s sixth-wicket partnership of 102. Vijay Gohil and Tushar Deshpande took three wickets each.Mumbai lost Kaustubh Pawar and nightwatchman Balwinder Sandhu in their reply. Akhil Herwadkar played out 58 balls and stayed not out on 29.Uttar Pradesh piled on a mammoth 524 before taking a Tamil Nadu wicket late in the day at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. Tamil Nadu ended the day on 34 for 1, behind by 490 runs.UP began the day on 207 for 1, with Samarth Singh having struck his maiden century in only his second first-class match. Samarth added 72 more to his overnight tally, before being dismissed 13 short of a double ton. Umang Sharma, who resumed on 36, added only 10 more to his overnight score, but UP were lifted by contributions all around, including half-centuries from Eklavya Dwivedi, the captain and wicketkeeper, who struck 60, and Saurabh Kumar (51). T Natarajan, the left-arm medium pacer, inflicted the bulk of the damage, taking 4 for 83.Sandeep Sharma added two wickets to his overnight tally to finish with 4 for 96 as Bengal‘s first innings ended on 404 against Punjab at the Lohnu Cricket Ground in Bilaspur. Amit Kulia, Bengal’s new-ball bowler, then struck thrice in 16 overs as Punjab went into stumps on 168 for 4, behind Bengal by 236 runs.Bengal began the day on 332 for 5, with Pankaj Shaw unbeaten on 11 and Pragyan Ojha on 2. While Ojha fell on the same score in the 10th ball of the day, Shaw batted on and raised a half-century. He was the last man dismissed, for 55. Sandeep Sharma was supported by Vinay Choudhary, who took 3 for 75.Punjab lost Manan Vohra and Jinwanjot Singh early, while Yuvraj Singh, the captain, and Gurkeerat Singh got off to starts, but couldn’t convert them. Uday Kaul held up his end and scored an unbeaten 73, and in the company of Taruwar Kohli (26 not out) prevented further damage. Kulia finished with 3 for 44, while his opening partner Ashok Dinda took the other wicket.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn a nutshellHaving finished runners-up in the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League last year, Quetta Gladiators once again found themselves on the wrong side of the result in the tournament final. This time, it was Peshawar Zalmi who trumped them by 58 runs to lift the title.On a pitch where scoring runs was hard work, Quetta needed their batsmen to be smart. Instead, one after the other they perished to extravagant shots. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Asghar, whose flat non-turners fetched him 3 for 16, got two of his wickets due to the batsmen’s profligacy.That’s not to say Peshawar’s bowlers did not earn their wickets. Hasan Ali was skiddy, and found bounce and seam movement off the pitch. Mohammad Hafeez’s variations in trajectory and pace got him a wicket in his first over, an anxious Sarfraz Ahmed stumped, and by the eighth over, half of Quetta’s line-up had been sent packing. The rest of the innings followed the same template, and so swift was the slide that many of the cricket-starved fans in Lahore had already made their way out by the time the match ended.In stark contrast, Peshawar had raced away to 41 in four overs in their start and Quetta were able to apply the brakes only after the spinners came on. As the ball became old, it stopped on the batsmen, and variable bounce came into play, too.Quetta’s spinners were also able to make use of the dry, cracked surface to suffocate Peshawar with timely wickets. Rayad Emrit’s double-strike in the 17th over, which left the score at 112 for 6 helped Quetta seize some advantage in the end overs, and also allowed Sarfraz to keep a slip in place in the 18th over of the innings. But Darren Sammy flexed his muscles as Peshawar clubbed 33 runs in the final two overs.Where the match was wonEmrit, who arrived in Lahore on the morning of the final, sent down a superb three overs for 3 for 13 across two spells, despite jet lag. The start had been exactly as he would have hoped. The finish? Far from it.Emrit was taken apart for 18 runs in his final over, the 19th of the innings, as he got his lengths wrong and was punished by Sammy’s brute force. If the first boundary of the over had been a lucky one that came off the outside edge, the last had Sammy’s signature all over it – a full-blooded, bottom-handed thump that crashed into the sightscreen.Sammy clubbed two more sixes off the final over, picking Anwar Ali’s harmless lengths early and swatting them over long-on to finish with an unbeaten 28 off 11 balls. The late fireworks went a long way towards Sammy winning the Player-of-the-Match award and helped Peshawar recover from 115 for 6 after 18 overs to 148 for 6.The early burstThe short ball proved to be the worst option for bowlers from both sides as batsmen were able to comfortably ride the bounce and whack it either side of the wicket. No one benefitted more from that than Kamran Akmal, who scored 40 off 32 at the top of the order.Quetta’s bowlers, seemingly not learning from their mistakes, repeatedly dragged their length early on, and Kamran duly punished them, pulling with authority and piercing the off side with his cuts. Even after the opening burst had ended, Kamran was able to use the cut shot as an effective pressure-buster. Four of his boundaries came through the shot and helped set the tone for a good total, which eventually became a match-winning one after Sammy’s knock.Moment of the matchShahid Afridi’s finger injury denied fans a glimpse of the allrounder at the final but the packed Gaddafi Stadium was invested in a new hero. Sammy’s last-over heroics got the crowd into a frenzy and when the second of the two sixes vanished into the stands over long-on, the crowd broke into a chorus of “Sammy, Sammy!”Later, after Hasan Ali took out Zulfiqar Babar’s off stump to seal the game, Sammy called his boys for the selfie celebration as the crowd again erupted. Then, as if to show how much they had missed Afridi, every member of the team attempted the star-man pose.That Sammy had won over the fans was further validated when the Peshawar captain was greeted with loud cheers at the presentation ceremony. “To me, it’s just more than a game,” he said. “It first started in the draft. Lala [Afridi] made the big announcement that I would be the captain. This trophy means a lot. Lala influenced my decision to come here. I felt tonight I brought a lot of smiles in Lahore and Peshawar. It is an amazing day.”Peshawar is not just a cricket team, we do a lot for the fans, the foundation. Thanks to the PCB, and the PSL. I am glad I came to experience the atmosphere here.”

If Kings XI win:

• RCB will be eliminated because the maximum they can get to will be 12 points. Sunrisers Hyderabad (18), Chennai Super Kings (16), Kings XI (14) and the winner of the game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals (14) will be out of reach.
• Kings XI will not only strengthen their chances of qualifying for the playoffs, but also have a shot at finishing in the top two.
• Mumbai Indians will have to win their last two matches to stay in contention, and even that may not be enough.
• Knight Riders and Royals will stay in contention.

If RCB win:

• RCB’s playoff hopes stay alive. If they win their remaining games, and if other results go their way, RCB could even qualify without worrying about net run rate.
• Kings XI will also stay in contention, because they could still finish on 16 points by winning their last two games. Even 14 points may be enough if other results go their way.
• Sunrisers will be assured of a top-two finish, because Super Kings will be the only team that could match or beat their present tally of 18 points.
• Mumbai could still go through if they finish on 12 points because of their strong net run rate.

Bangla bash: Rumana Ahmed (left) and Khadija Tul Kubra in Belgaum, on their tour of India•Annesha Ghosh/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Beat two-time runners-up (Pakistan): check
Beat six-time winners (India): check
Qualify for maiden Asia Cup final: check
Heading into the tournament, Bangladesh were labelled underdogs likely to pull off an upset or two. On Saturday, with their 70-run rout of Malaysia in the last league game, they surpassed last edition’s runners-up Pakistan on the points table and set up their maiden appearance in an Asia Cup final, where they will take on defending champions India.On the penultimate day of what has been a momentous week for the side, in which they consigned both Pakistan and India to big-margin defeats, Bangladesh strangled hosts Malaysia to 60 for 9 in 20 in their 130-run defence. Vice-captain Rumana Ahmed starred with the ball, picking her second three-for of the tournament, after a 59-run opening stand between Player of the Match Shamima Sultana and Ayasha Rahman hoisted Bangladesh to 130 for 4.While Bangladesh have preferred to chase mostly, Salma Khatun’s decision to bat found validation in Sultana’s 54-ball 43 that complemented Rahman’s 31 off 27. After Winifred Duraisingam, the medium-pacer, separated the duo in the 10th over, Sultana stitched together a 27-run second-wicket partnership with Fargana Hoque. Duraisingam’s second strike, in the 16th over, however, ensured Hoque’s contribution was limited to seven.A huge swell of impetus to the Bangladesh innings came via the 36 runs Sanjida Islam and and Fahima Khatun added at over 10 runs per over. Sanjida smashed 15 off 12 while Khatun peppered three fours en route to her 12-ball 26.In reply, only three batsmen in the Malaysia line-up managed double-digit scores. Duraisingam top-scored with a 35-ball 17 as two run-outs, coupled with Ahmed’s 4-1-8-3 which proved too strong for the opposition to muster a fight against. Malaysia’s slow-paced surrender ended in a ninth wicket for the Bangladesh attack, in which five of the six bowlers employed returned at least one wicket each.