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BCCI president Sourav Ganguly will not play the one-off exhibition match on September 16 that will act as a curtain raiser to the second season of the Legends League Cricket (LLC). In a letter to the league, Ganguly expressed his inability to play citing “professional commitments and continuous work with cricket administration”.”It’s [Legends League Cricket] a wonderful idea of bringing retired cricketers back on the cricket field and engaging with fans across generations,” Ganguly said in a statement from LLC. “However, due to my professional commitments and continuous work with cricket administration, I will not be able to take part in this game. I am sure the fans are eagerly looking forward to this league and there will be large crowds at the stadium. The league is bringing together the stalwarts of the game and I am sure there will be exciting cricket on display.Ganguly said he would be at Eden Gardens to watch the game between Indian Maharajas and the World Giants, led by England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan. The match will also commemorate 75 years of India’s independence and the proceeds from the game will be donated to Kapil Dev’s Khushii Foundation, which supports the education of female children.The Indian Maharajas team includes former players like Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Parthiv Patel among others. The Giants have former South Africa stars Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Dale Steyn and Herschelle Gibbs in their ranks, Sanath Jayasuriya and Muthiah Muralidaran from Sri Lanka, and Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson from Australia.The final of the second season of LLC is scheduled for October 8. The tournament comprises four teams led by Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Pathan and Harbhajan.

Pace bowlers Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Sen bowled New Zealand out for a paltry 167, sharing seven wickets between them, as India A posted a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the first of the three one-dayers at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday to take the hosts 1-0 up in the series.After asking the visitors to bat, Thakur – who had replaced the injured Prasidh Krishna in the squad – struck in his second over on a pitch that had pace and bounce on offer, cleaning up opener Chad Bowes for 10. Known for his outswingers and nip-backers, Thakur soon after removed Dane Cleaver with a short ball, forcing him to pull only to be caught at fine leg after a top edge.Sen, making his debut for India A, bowled in tandem with the senior quick to trap No. 3 Joe Carter leg before wicket. That was the third wicket of a collapse which saw New Zealand A slide from 14 without loss to 74 for 8 in a span of 16 overs.However, there was some resistance from the lower order, thanks to tailenders Michael Rippon and Joe Walker. Their 89-run partnership off 126 deliveries for the ninth wicket eventually lifted New Zealand A to 167. While Rippon top-scored with 61 from 104 balls and hit four boundaries, Walker made 36 off 49, hitting three fours and a six during a stable partnership.But Walker was run-out in the 39th over, and it took India A less than more overs to bowl New Zealand A out, as Thakur ended with 4 for 32 – including getting Rippon out last – while Sen returned figures of 3 for 30.A below-par score on a batting-friendly pitch was never going to pose a threat, and India A made short work of the chase.After Prithvi Shaw perished for 17, Ruturaj Gaikwad and No. 3 Rahul Tripathi, who got 31, stitched 56 runs. Gaikwad’s three fours and two clean sixes helped him accumulate 41 before he was caught-and-bowled by Rippon.But an entertaining partnership followed between India A captain Sanju Samson and the in-form Rajat Patidar. Samson was welcomed with a rousing cheer from the 200-odd spectators as the pair put on an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 69 to chase down the target with seven wickets and more than 19 overs to spare.Samson remained unbeaten on 29 – including hitting three sixes – while Patidar, who punished the bowlers whenever they went full, struck a quick 45 off 41 balls. His knock included seven boundaries.The second of the three one-dayers will take place on Sunday at the same venue, with the visitors now in a must-win situation to remain alive in the series

Big picture

In the aftermath of two derbies, two different moods. Zimbabwe upset with having had to carry on in the conditions they did against South Africa, but no doubt relieved to have come away with a point. Pakistan, meanwhile, anguished at seeing two points slip away in that wild last over at the MCG against India.In other times, that kind of loss might have felled other Pakistan sides, but there’s something more settled about this one. They may rue not picking a fourth pacer at the MCG, but Mohammad Nawaz was not far from winning it: a little luck with the deflection off the stumps on the free-hit, a little fortune with that no-ball call, and they’re sitting pretty now. In the dressing room after the game, Babar Azam was not letting heads fall, telling Nawaz he was still his match-winner. Imperfect they may be, but they’re more together than most Pakistan sides of modern vintage.Related

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• Wounded Pakistan still 'feeling the pain and hurting', but morale remains intact

• Houghton furious with umpires for continuing play on wet outfield

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And at the risk of stating the obvious, they are also still a pretty good T20I side. They have the second highest number of wins and the third best win-loss ratio among Full Members since the last T20 World Cup. They will also take some heart from their middle order managing a competitive total after a rare joint failure of Babar and Mohammad Rizwan. They are also unlikely to come across conditions as tough for batting as they were at the MCG.Zimbabwe will look at all this, however, and recognise a side that they have had the better of twice in white-ball cricket in the last two years. As many as nine who may play in Perth will have beaten Pakistan in the Super Over of a tied ODI in Rawalpindi or a T20I in Harare.A little luck in that last over against India and Pakistan would have been sitting pretty now•Getty Images

Now, under coach Dave Houghton, Zimbabwe have also started taking a more attacking approach. That has crystallised most vividly in the form of Sikandar Raza, arguably the player of the tournament so far. But high-quality pace bowling has tested their batting resources beyond Raza twice now: Alzarri Joseph in the first round and South Africa’s attack in the wash-out.Pakistan have plenty of that.

Form guide

Pakistan LWWLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Zimbabwe WLWWL

In the spotlight

Shaheen Shah Afridi’s long-awaited, much-anticipated return to international cricket was an underwhelming one. Perhaps that was to be expected, given the nature of the injury and ensuing rehab and the length of time he was out. This was, remember, his first international game in three months. It led to both the Ws, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, asking on a TV show whether Afridi had been rushed back before he was fully fit. He didn’t get the kind of sustained swing that might have been expected after India’s opening bowlers did what they did. He wasn’t awful, just a little ordinary, and it was only in his last over when Virat Kohli went at him did his figures take a beating. He narrowly missed his lengths a couple of times in that over, a sure indicator of rustiness rather than anything more terminal. Away from the glare of a big game, against a lesser opponent, might be a good time for him to settle back into his groove.Zimbabwe’s pace attack has served them well in the tournament so far, though none more than Blessing Muzarabani. His height and the extra bounce on most Australian surfaces was always going to be a trump card for Zimbabwe to pull out at the tournament and it hasn’t been disappointing. He has sometimes struggled to hit the right lengths for each situation, but when he has, he has been difficult to keep out. It has come with decent pace as well. And he doesn’t mind Pakistan as opponents – it was his five-for in that Rawalpindi ODI (and two wickets in the Super Over) that secured a memorable triumph. Pakistan often struggle against bounce, and if Muzarabani gets it right, then, well, it could be a battle.Blessing Muzarabani will be Zimbabwe’s trump card•ICC via Getty Images

Team news

There was plenty of talk around Pakistan not playing a fourth seamer at the MCG, though with the definite benefit of hindsight on a surface that did plenty for fast bowlers. They could bring somebody like Mohammad Wasim in and drop one of the perennially under-fire Haider Ali or Asif Ali (especially as Wasim has six-hitting skills) from a deep batting order. But they don’t like changing unless they really have to, and it may not be that stage yet.Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Shan Masood, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Haider Ali, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Asif Ali, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Haris Rauf, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Naseem ShahRichard Ngarava’s slip in the rain against South Africa and subsequent ankle injury means Zimbabwe may be forced to disrupt their pace attack. Brad Evans – whom captain Ervine said would likely play if Ngarava is not fit – is not a like-for-like replacement, but he does bring genuine pace.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Craig Ervine (capt), 2 Regis Chakabva (wk), 3 Sean Williams, 4 Sikandar Raza, 5 Wessly Madhevere, 6 Milton Shumba, 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Richard Ngarva/Brad Evans, 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 Blessing Muzarabani

Pitch and conditions

The forecast in Perth is for partly cloudy conditions but no rain. The pitch has a green tinge and the new ball has swung. While there’s pace and bounce for the fast bowlers, runs can also be scored quickly, especially straight. Spinners often suffer if they bowl too full, but can tie it up in the middle overs by bowling a back of a length and forcing batters to hit to the vast square boundaries with the ground similar to the dimensions of the MCG.

Stats and trivia

• Rizwan, who fell for 4 against India at the MCG, has not been dismissed for successive single-digit scores in T20Is since February 2019.
• Raza is the third highest run-scorer in T20Is this year and has the second-best strike rate – 155.23 – among the top 20 run-scorers this year. Only Suryakumar Yadav has more runs at a higher strike rate.
• Zimbabwe have never beaten Pakistan in an ICC tournament.

Quotes

“The morale of the boys is high. We are trying to prepare for the next game and come back strong and remain in contention for this World Cup.”
“I’m pretty sure Pakistan will be coming hard for us. The first five-six overs with the new ball has been challenging for every team. It’s a key area to get through.”

Gurinder Sandhu held his nerve as Sydney Thunder produced a frantic one-wicket victory over Melbourne Stars on the last ball in a low-scoring thriller to launch the BBL season. Chasing a modest 123, Thunder’s chase imploded due to reckless batting, and they appeared down and out several times against a pumped-up Stars attack on a tricky Manuka Oval surface.But they clawed back through the late heroics of Sandhu, who hit a six when Thunder needed seven off the last three balls. They achieved the tense victory off the final delivery through a bye in a major relief for Thunder.Stars were left heartbroken, especially new captain Adam Zampa, who had claimed his 100th BBL wicket as he appeared on course to celebrate his first match in charge in style until the dramatic late turn of events.Related

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• Deal done: Smith to play for Sydney Sixers in BBL

• Zampa, Stoinis, Boult key for Stars in Maxwell's absence

Amazing last over kick-starts new season
There is a lot riding on this new BBL season after a couple of tough Covid-19 affected years. But tournament organisers couldn’t have scripted a better opening first night, with this nerve-jangling match capped by an incredible last over.Needing eight runs for victory, Stars appeared in the box seat after substitute fielder Brody Couch took a spectacular high-flying catch at long-off in what might just be the catch of the summer across formats. It was the second gem from Couch, who had earlier juggled a catch low to the ground, reviving memories of Mark Taylor’s classic snare against West Indies at the SCG.But the twists kept coming, with a calm Sandhu nailing a six before it came down to the last ball delivered by Beau Webster, who beat the batter only for wicketkeeper Joe Clarke to completely miss the ball after he had taken his glove off in anticipation of a run-out.Trent Boult struck twice in his first over•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Boult makes immediate impact
Stars’ pace attack had been pinpointed as their weak point during a couple of indifferent seasons, and Trent Boult’s signing – albeit for half a season – was hoped to make a major difference.He started the fightback in Thunder’s opening over with consecutive wickets of Matthew Gilkes and Rilee Rossouw. Boult was supported by paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile, who snared three wickets, and looked fit and firing after a strong pre-season.The injury-prone Coulter-Nile had only played 13 BBL games over the past two seasons, but if he can stay fit, Stars’ chances of ending their title drought improve immensely.Stars rue Burns continuing after hamstring injury
Heading into the match, there was uncertainty over the availability of Stars’ batters Joe Burns and Marcus Stoinis after they contracted Covid-19. Both felt well enough to play, although they travelled to the ground separately from their team-mates and sat in a different dressing room.Burns came to the crease after the early wicket of Clarke, but in the sixth over, suffered a hamstring injury while running between the wickets. Even though clearly hampered and looking disconsolate, a hobbling Burns decided to stay at the crease, and tried to stand and deliver.But it didn’t work, with Burns struggling to connect. He laboured between the wickets with anything other than singles out of the question. After three fruitless overs, Burns finally decided to retire hurt, with Stars desperately needing to lift the tempo through incoming batter Stoinis. But Stoinis, held back from his customary opener’s role, fell first ball, and Stars never recovered.Burns is expected to miss a month, according to coach David Hussey, while Stoinis was unable to take the field in Thunder’s innings after feeling unwell.Farooqi’s fast and furious debut
In a bid for a much-needed spark, Stars took the two-over Power Surge – an innovation the tournament has stuck with this season – in the 13th over.But Thunder countered by bringing back left-arm paceman Fazalhaq Farooqi, who was up to the challenge by bowling Hilton Cartwright around the wicket, and then dismissing top-scorer Nick Larkin two balls later.The double strike highlighted an impressive BBL debut for Farooqi, who bowled consistently around 140kph, laced with several menacing full-pitched deliveries.After eye-catching performances for Afghanistan at the recent T20 World Cup, Farooqi joined Thunder as a replacement for David Willey, who withdrew from the tournament. It looms as an inspired selection after Farooqi finished with 2 for 20 from four overs.

Big Picture

As redemption stories go, India Women overturning the disappointment of 2020 to secure another chance at T20 World Cup glory would do nicely. The only problem is, they have to make it past Australia – again.After winning their opening match in Sydney during the last T20 World Cup, being outplayed when it counted most in an 85-run thrashing at a packed MCG for the final stung India. They can cling to key successes against the title favourites – the 2017 ODI World Cup semi-final, clinching one of the five T20Is in a Super Over during their recent home bi-lateral series, or their only other win over Australia at this event, in the group stages of the 2018 edition – or they can take the fight to their opponents now. With Australia having won 22 of their 30 T20I meetings overall and India only six, not to mention the Australians winning 54 of the 63 T20Is they’ve played against all opposition since the start of 2018, looking ahead may well be the way to go for an Indian side seeking an upset.Related

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Both teams are probably yet to strike the perfect performance in this tournament. While each have gone largely unchallenged they have made some of their matches look slightly harder than they were or needed to be, but both boast enough depth to have gotten the job done. Richa Ghosh has performed well with three unbeaten knocks in the middle order, although Australia bat deeper, and India need more than one of their top four to fire on this occasion. Renuka Singh has been potent with her lethal inswingers while Australia have balanced their strong seam and spin options nicely. India know they need everything to click if they are to topple the title favourites.

2023 Tournament form guide

India WLWW (most recent first)
Australia WWWW

In the spotlight

Shafali Verma heads into the match with scores of 33, 28, 8 and 24 so far at this event and with India needing a flawless batting performance from their top order. India could do with their Under-19 World Cup-winning captain, who scored a half-century against Australia in a losing cause during their third T20I in December, reprising or improving on that performance. Harmanpreet Kaur pushed herself up the order against Ireland seeking some touch after a similarly lacklustre tournament with the bat so far, putting even greater importance on India getting a good start through their young opener. Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues have both put in match-winning performances during this competition. Imagine what India can do with an on-song Shafali and Harmanpreet too.Alana King hasn’t had her chance to shine in the tournament•Getty Images

Legspinner Alana King is a proven match-turner but has gone wicketless at this World Cup. Used sparingly in the last group match against South Africa and the opening clash with New Zealand, where offspinner Ashleigh Gardner bagged five, it is a testament to Australia’s spin-bowling depth – they’ve also had the world-class left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen sitting on the bench since after their first game – that she hasn’t yet had her chance to shine. With India’s batters performing far better against pace than they have against spin compared to all other opposition at this event, King has the potential to cause them some problems if she takes her chance.

Team news

India may be tempted to swap out Devika Vaidya for an additional bowler or allrounder as they look to contain Australia. Radha Yadav is a gun fielder and a safe choice with India likely to opt for another spin option over seam. She made way for Vaidya against Ireland since she was unwell but could force her way back in if fit.India (possible): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh.Alyssa Healy is fit and available for selection after missing Australia’s final group game against South Africa when she felt some discomfort in her left quad and all precautions were taken given that she has only recently returned from a calf injury to the same leg. Australia coped ably without her, moving Ellyse Perry to the top of the order and bringing in allrounder Annabel Sutherland, but everyone knows what an asset a fit Healy is to her side.Australia (possible): Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (capt), Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown

Pitch and conditions

Newlands has been playing slow this summer but there was considerably more pace on the surface during the last of the group games on Tuesday. Cape Town had some rain in the lead-up to those matches which would have helped with that given that the square has been baking for a good couple of months now. Thursday’s semi-final is likely to be played on a fresh pitch with the fine, sunny but not-too-hot conditions of match eve forecast to continue into game day.

Stats and trivia

• India are the best team in terms of scoring rate against pace bowling in this tournament, with Australia ranked second, but against spin, India’s strike rate drops by 31 runs and they are ranked sixth among the ten teams.
• Over the past five years, Australia have conceded 160-plus totals only eight times and five of those were to India.
• Australia have beaten India in 22 of their 30 T20I meetings and won three of their five T20 World Cup clashes.

Quotes

“As a group, we are very calm and we know that teams are going to come pretty hard at us and they have done over the last few years, and just to be able to absorb some pressure, I think is really important. You’re not going to have it all your own way… big games, there’re key moments that come up and tomorrow will be no different. I feel like we’re in a really good spot to be able to stay nice and calm and composed in those moments and hopefully get the job done.”
“They attack a lot so, whatever happens to them, even if the batter is out, they don’t stop attacking because they have batters from top to bottom. We also have batters from top to bottom so we will play an attacking game.”

Nottinghamshire struck two early blows against Warwickshire before rain wiped out the bulk of the opening day of their Rothesay County Championship Division One match at Edgbaston. Play started on time but just 9.2 overs were possible before the rain arrived with the home side on 34 for 2 having been put in.Having chosen to bowl, Nottinghamshire removed both opening batters in the first five overs. Rob Yates fell to the second ball of the match and Alex Davies to the 27th, Brett Hutton inflicting the damage with similar deliveries, rapid in-duckers which trapped the batter half-forward to win an lbw decision.Hamza Shaikh and Sam Hain, the latter looking in excellent nick, avoided further mishap before the rain arrived.It was a frustrating day for both teams who are keen to build on the momentum of a strong start to the season, each having secured a win and a draw from their first two games. Both have made one change to their team. Olly Hannon-Dalby, having recovered from a quad injury, returns in place of Tazeem Ali for Warwickshire. Nottinghamshire’s switch is in the pace attack where Josh Tongue replaces the injured Dillon Pennington.

Delhi Capitals (DC) were down and out at 7 for 3 and then 65 for 5 in their chase of 210 against Lucknow Super Giants in Visakhapatnam. But the lower order, led by Ashutosh Sharma, performed a rescue act that reduced the equation to 22 off two overs and then six off six balls. Last man Mohit Sharma survived a close lbw appeal off the first ball of the 20th over before taking a single. Ashutosh then smacked the winning six to seal DC’s one-wicket win, only the fifth in IPL history.DC vice-captain Faf du Plessis said the finish reminded him of the famous 438-run chaseSouth Africa pulled off against Australia at the Wanderers in 2006, calling that run “the most important single” of Mohit’s life.”Unbelievable, it actually reminded me a little bit of the 438 game against Australia when Makhaya [Ntini] got that important single towards the end,” du Plessis said. “That’s probably the best and most important single that Mohit Sharma has ever taken in his life – beautiful forward defence, just pushing it into the gap. What a story to get the big man back on strike to hit it for six.”Related

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Ashutosh walked in as DC’s Impact Player with the score 65 for 5 in the seventh over. After the 13th over of the chase, DC were 116 for 6, needing 94 runs off 42 balls with four wickets in hand. ESPNcricinfo’s win predictor gave them a 1.56% of winning.”A lot of the cricketers, if you ask them, they would complain about the [Impact Player] rule in the IPL,” du Plessis said, “but this is obviously why that rule is there – for games when you think that you’re completely dead and buried, someone comes in and plays like that. I’m definitely going to drink some more masala tea to make sure I can hit the ball like the boys do at the end.”To be honest, when I looked at the wicket and saw how much the ball was gripping and losing five wickets, I thought it was going to be an almost impossible task. But it’s even great for the old brain of mine just to make sure that you can never be out of a game completely. The extra batter really makes a big difference.”Ashutosh got together with Vipraj Nigam when DC needed 97 off 45 balls. Their 55-run stand off just 22 balls brought DC’s equation down to 42 off 24 before Nigam fell for 39 off 15. Ashutosh was unbeaten on 66 off 31.”As an overseas player, one thing that’s remarkable for me to watch is the amount of Indian players that are so powerful and they got the ability to just strike the ball so easily,” du Plessis said. “It wasn’t an easy pitch. There was a lot going on, but the two boys at the back end there, just the way they came in and just effortless hitting boundaries.”

They won the toss, batted, and lost, when batting first was in vogue. Then they lost the toss, and got blown away. They won the toss again, chased, and lost, when chasing was in vogue.Between that third match and the final, they discovered that they play their best cricket when batting first. So, in the final of IPL 2020, the Delhi Capitals won the toss and did just that. And were blown away again. The Mumbai Indians were way too good for the second-best team of the tournament on four different occasions. With their fourth win over the Capitals, they sealed their fifth IPL title, their most comfortable to date, a crown jewel for the most dominant T20 empire across the cricketing world.Mumbai had made a big play for that title even before the start of the final. Offspinner Jayant Yadav was drafted in for only his second match of the tournament, to counter the Capitals’ left-hand hitters. Before Jayant got into the act, Trent Boult took out the Capitals’ superhero Marcus Stoinis. Despite a first fifty of this IPL from Rishabh Pant, the Capitals finished with an underwhelming 156. Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma then killed off the chase in the powerplay, with the captain going on to see the chase through.Trent Boult struck first ball•BCCI

Former Capitals boys strike
It was a perfect start for Mumbai. They wanted Boult to carry on taking early wickets, and he struck with the first ball, getting Stoinis with extra bounce and inwards movement. In Boult’s second, Ajinkya Rahane tickled one down the leg side, probably having moved too far across trying to cover the swing. That made it 16 powerplay wickets for Boult in this IPL, the joint-best for a season alongside Mitchell Johnson who got it in Mumbai’s maiden championship year – 2013.It was in the fourth over that Mumbai struck real gold. Against Jayant – like Boult, not long ago a Capitals player – Shikhar Dhawan had two options: the obvious one was to let the right-hand batsman Shreyas Iyer take Jayant on, or he could try to use the field restrictions himself. He took the less obvious route, trying the big sweep, exposing his stumps, and getting bowled. Capitals 22 for 3 in 3.3 overs.The Capitals’ old firm comes together
They are still young men, but Iyer and Pant had been the core of the Capitals’ revival last year. They are probably the two faces that come to mind when you think Capitals. Perhaps not wanting to waste the big overs against an out-of-form Pant, Mumbai chose not to encash the Bumrah match-up so early. The duo picked singles and twos off three straight overs of spin, getting themselves in, before Pant opened up.Left-arm spin, for some reason, has had the most success against Pant in T20 cricket. His dismissal to Mitchell Santner in the 50-over World Cup semi-final last year also comes to mind. In the last match against Mumbai, he had fallen to a slog-sweep off Krunal Pandya. Here, though, he went straight for his first six as opposed to the slog-sweep. And after that he nailed the slog-sweep. Mumbai were worrying all of a sudden with Pant reaching 32 off 20, and with the Capitals 75 for 3 in 10.Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer revived Delhi Capitals with a 96-run stand•BCCI

The next five overs went this way and that. Bumrah bowled one without a boundary, but Kieron Pollard – a sign Mumbai were panicking and wanted to get one over out of the way – was not allowed to settle. Nathan Coulter-Nile held his own, but Krunal conceded another boundary. Capitals 108 for 3 after 14.Coulter-Nile strikes, and Mumbai finish off wellUnder pressure as the third seamer, Coulter-Nile was picked over short fine twice, the first of those bringing Pant his only fifty of this IPL. It is not known if Pant noticed the fine leg go back because, later in the over, he appeared to just help along a bouncer. This didn’t look like an attempt to hit a six, and deep fine leg took an easy catch.Now Mumbai tightened the screws. Jayant bowled an excellent 16th over, turning two past the outside edge of Shimron Hetmyer. Boult came back to take out Hetmyer with a slower bouncer. Bumrah bowled the 19th without a boundary. Iyer seemed to run out of gas, not getting enough power into his shots. Having been 37 off 28 at one time, he scored just 28 off the next 22. He spent nine balls in the 40s, and took just five off six Jayant deliveries. The last six overs, when the Capitals would have wanted to do the business, brought 48 for 4.Rohit Sharma smashes one of his four sixes for the night•BCCI

The chase is a runaway trainIn the last match between these sides, R Ashwin had trapped Rohit with a big offbreak first ball. The match-up was on. With two dots first up, both dipping short of Rohit’s reach, he took a risk third ball. He skipped down, Ashwin bowled a slider, which was too close to him to get any great power in, but Rohit went ahead with a straight loft. He cleared long-on by a couple of feet. That was the closest Capitals would come to Mumbai.In dream form, de Kock has been hitting out selflessly and getting Mumbai off to quick starts. In particular, he has been fierce against his compatriot Kagiso Rabada. He just likes pace on the ball, and he laid into Rabada, hitting 4, 6 and 4 in Rabada’s first. Stoinis got de Kock out with the first ball he bowled, for 20 off 11, but immediately Suryakumar Yadav hit him out of the attack with a four and a six the first two balls he faced. Mumbai 58 for 1 in five.Rohit sees it throughWhile in the background, Rohit wasn’t exactly slow at 23 off 14. The next three overs from spinners taking the ball away from both right-hand batsmen brought about a period of lull. The asking rate went up from 6.6 to 7.5. Rohit was facing legspin now, his weakness. If the Capitals were going to come back, it had to be now. Rohit dashed their hopes with two emphatic sixes down the ground off Praveen Dubey. Soon he ran Suryakumar out, but that only made him more determined and he kept picking the boundaries to never let the asking rate rise. Ishan Kishan was an able ally, handing over the strike at first and then making it a double-barrel attack. By the time Rohit got out, they needed just 20 off 22, a job easily accomplished.

The Orange Cap table

Pooran, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) No. 3, had started the IPL with a bang, and been the top run-getter from Game No. 7 to the Game No. 39, when a dry patch, combined with Sai Sudharsan’s prolific run, pushed him down to No. 2, with 377 runs from nine innings.MI’s Suryakumar, who has been super consistent in the IPL this season without really making an almighty splash, now has 373 runs after scoring 40 not out in 19 balls against SRH. He hasn’t had a single proper failure this season: 29, 48, 27*, 67, 28, 40, 26, 68* and 40*. That makes Suryakumar the new No. 3 on the table.Jos Buttler, the second Gujarat Titans (GT) batter in the top four with Sai Sudharsan, has 356 runs now, and is followed by the second LSG batter in the top five, Mitchell Marsh with 344 runs.A total of ten batters have now crossed the 300-run mark (Sai Sudharsan is the only one past 400): LSG’s Aiden Markram with 326, KL Rahul of Delhi Capitals (DC) with 323, Virat Kohli of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) with 322, Yashasvi Jaiswal of Rajasthan Royals (RR) with 307, and GT captain Shubman Gill with 305.No SRH batter is anywhere near the top after predictions before the season that they would finish the job they had started last season: break all IPL run-scoring records. Their best at the moment is Heinrich Klaasen, who is just outside the top ten and just behind the men with 300-plus runs, at No. 11 with 281 runs to his name after the 44-ball 71 he hit against MI.1:43

Is Rohit well and truly back?

The Purple Cap table

Prasidh Krishna, the GT quick bowler, is well ahead of the pack at this stage, with 16 wickets from eight innings, but seven bowlers are joint-second with 12 wickets, Hardik joining that group with his sole wicket on Wednesday.In case of more than one bowler having the same number of wickets, the rankings on ESPNcricinfo are based on bowling average, placing GT’s R Sai Kishore in second place, followed by Noor Ahmad of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), DC’s Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik, RCB’s Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj of GT and LSG’s Shardul Thakur, all 12-wicket men. Of them, Kuldeep has the best economy rate (6.50), followed by Noor (7.66). The rest have all gone at over eight runs an over.The following are some of the other tables that might interest you.Highest batting strike ratesBest bowling economy ratesMost sixesBest bowling figures in a match

Sam Konstas’ mentor Shane Watson has admitted the 19-year-old’s audacious start to Test cricket took even him by surprise, both in terms of the strokeplay and the way he carried himself in the field and with the crowd.Konstas scored 60 off 65 balls on the opening morning at the MCG, regularly scooping Jasprit Bumrah, and had a run-in with Virat Kohli who was fined for a shoulder barge. Later in the game he embraced the crowd when fielding on the boundary and was a vocal presence under the helmet, clearly getting under the skin of Yashasvi Jaiswal during the second innings.”I understood what his game plan was, what plan A was anyway,” Watson said as part of the ICC Champions Trophy tour at the SCG. “So when plan B sort of kicked in quite quickly, within a couple of overs, that was a little surprising. But the one thing that we’ve always talked about is trusting his gut.”Related

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While Watson was aware of the range of strokes Konstas had in his locker, even if showing them so early in Test was unexpected, he admitted the character shown in the field was not something he had seen before.”My experience of dealing and working with Sam has been a very quiet, reserved personality,” he said. “[He’s] a very deep thinker and certainly not an extrovert. But obviously what we saw in the Test match is that he absolutely is a showman. And he certainly rose to the occasion, as in he wasn’t overawed.”I know through my experience of debuting…you just put a lot of pressure on yourself because it’s your dream to be able to represent your country, wear the baggy green. But for Sam, it’s superhuman in a way that he sort of just didn’t have any of that at all. You can see it wasn’t put on. That’s just obviously who he is. And again, I hadn’t seen that side of him. It just shows that he’s built for this stage where most people it takes a bit of time to warm up to sort of get into that. Whereas Sam, he obviously just thrives on that.”Konstas has continued to enjoy the trappings of being a Test cricketer since arriving with the squad in Sydney, having photographs with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon during the annual New Year’s Day gathering at Kirribilli House. He also spent time chatting with Kohli, who his brothers took the opportunity to get a photograph with.Albanese joked about his role in Konstas’ rapid rise to the Test side after the century he scored against the Indians in Canberra. “Of course, he got his break in the Prime Minister’s XI [game],” Albanese said. “I’m claiming some of the credit, which is about my only contribution to national cricket.”Shane Watson on Konstas: ‘He’s certainly got all the gears and all the skills to be able to make adjustments’•Getty Images

On Friday, Konstas will become the youngest Australia men’s player to feature in a Test at his home ground of the SCG followed by the prospect of two Tests in vastly different conditions in Sri Lanka. India had already adjusted their tactics by the second innings in Melbourne where Konstas was kept quiet before being bowled by an inducker from Bumrah.”Look it’s going to be a different challenge for him now,” Watson said. “Because he’s shown what his plan B is. And we already saw in that second innings the field positions certainly changed. It’s going to be a good test of his evolution. To be able to continue to work through how he can take the game on against the best bowlers in the world. But he’s certainly got all the gears and all the skills to be able to make those adjustments quickly.”He is technically very correct and waits for loose balls. But he’s also got the other gears to be able to hit the ball down the ground. But when they do have third man fine and fine leg fine, the ramp shot is probably out. But you know what? I thought the ramp shot wasn’t going to come out in the first couple of overs, and it did. Sam will just trust what he feels and go with it. And that’s something very special that he taps into.”Australia captain Pat Cummins said there had been no instructions given to Konstas about how to go about his innings and believed he would be able to adjust to different scenarios.”Think he showed how adaptable he can be,” Cummins said. “That takes a lot of skill first of all, but we always encourage our players just to read the moment, play it how they see fit. For Sam he sensed the moment was to attack and put pressure back on the bowlers and he did that, it might be different this week; it might be ‘I’m going to play a slow game and kind of score runs that way’. Our message is always just to back yourself, have really clear plans and back your decision making.”