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Duckett, Crawley reach fifties as England close in on Ireland’s modest first-innings total

Valkerie Baynes01-Jun-2023 is a TV quiz show in which contestants must guess the most obscure answer to each question, an answer that’s right but which no member of the public surveyed by the show has thought of. But it was Stuart Broad who provided the most obvious solution of all amid the murmurings that there was little point to this Test – as evidenced by Ireland’s undeniable focus on World Cup qualification and England’s understandable caution with their thinning seam-bowling stocks and eagerness to experiment in that department.It would be impossible to argue to Broad that a third five-wicket haul at Lord’s – his first at this ground in a decade – carries zero meaning, just as it would be to tell England that any kind of rehearsal for their upcoming Ashes campaign is pointless. In the same way, it would be futile to tell Ireland that if they are to boost their Test experience – still only seven matches old – that there’s no point turning up. The international season has to start somewhere, so it might as well be here and now, right?Broad’s 5 for 51 restricted Ireland to 172 after they were sent in to bat under overcast skies by a side that loves to chase. The total fell short of Ireland’s first innings the last time these sides met at Lord’s, four summers ago, when they then bowled England out for 85 in their reply before capitulating for just 38 in the fourth innings and the hosts won by 143 runs.Related

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By stumps on the opening day, after the cloud cover had given way to baking sunshine by lunchtime, England had closed the gap to just 20 runs in assertive fashion with nine wickets in hand. Zak Crawley reached fifty off just 39 balls before he perished to a juggled return catch by Fionn Hand, on debut as Ireland’s third seamer, Crawley’s 11 fours comprising some exquisite cover drives interspersed by some streaky inside edges. Ben Duckett reached his own half-century off 53 balls and remained unbeaten on 60 at the close, joined by Ollie Pope on 29.Broad took a flurry of three wickets in the space of eight balls to leave Ireland floundering at 19 for 3 early in the morning session and claimed two more, shortly after lunch and early in the evening session, as James McCollum, Curtis Campher and Paul Stirling all made it into the 30s but failed to press on. McCollum was patient, Campher spirited and Stirling enterprising but the task was too big, and arguably made even bigger by the well-publicised absence of Josh Little, their best bowler who is resting after the IPL and before next month’s 50-over World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe as well as the European T20 World Cup Qualifier in Scotland a month later.With his usual new-ball partner James Anderson sitting out to manage his return from a groin problem ahead of the Ashes, Broad opened the bowling with Matthew Potts and while the latter probed impressively, it was Broad broke through with the second ball of his third over, a fuller one which pitched a fraction outside off stump then angled back beautifully as PJ Moor walked across his stumps and was struck halfway up his front pad in line with middle and leg.Crawley pulled off an excellent dive from second slip to snaffle Andy Balbirnie’s outside edge as the Ireland captain departed for a five-ball duck and Broad claimed his second. Harry Tector followed two balls later, advancing to Broad and tucking the ball straight to Potts at leg slip.Broad thought he had a fourth wicket immediately, as did umpire Paul Wilson, when he struck Stirling flush on the front pad as he played across the line, but Stirling survived on review when ball-tracking showed it to be missing leg stump by a whisker.Debutant Josh Tongue, the Worcestershire seamer originally drafted as injury cover for Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who is also being kept on ice after hurting his ankle playing for Sussex, replaced Broad from the Pavilion End in the 11th over and tested McCollum immediately, sending down twin maidens to begin with. He conceded 40 runs off 13 wicketless overs but he bowled excellent line and length while finding extra bounce and carry.Stuart Broad leads England off the field•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

McCollum survived an England review for caught behind off a Tongue short ball which beat his inside edge, nipped back sharply and just evaded the bat as it sailed over the stumps, brushing his thigh pad instead. By lunch, he had faced 93 deliveries for his 29 not out, whereas Stirling reached 30 off 35 balls, including back-to-back fours off Tongue among his five boundaries, before he shaped to sweep Jack Leach and the ball looped off his glove to a waiting Jonny Bairstow, back behind the stumps after nine months out of international cricket with a broken leg.Broad struck again in the fifth over after lunch as McCollum edged to Joe Root at slip and he bowled Mark Adair with an excellent inswinger that clipped the top of off stump as Ireland lurched to 169 for 8 shortly after tea.Campher fell advancing on Leach and missing as the ball rattled his stumps to give the England spinner his third and Potts claimed his second wicket, having broken a 38-run stand between Campher and Andy McBrine, when he had Hand caught behind to wrap up the innings.

Pakistan batter, demoted to No. 6, hits unbeaten 129 to rescue Derbyshire

ECB Reporters Network12-Jun-2023A brilliant exhibition of counter-attacking batting by Leus du Plooy and Haider Ali halted Yorkshire’s victory charge in its tracks and rescued Derbyshire on the second day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match at Chesterfield.Derbyshire’s decision to move Haider down the order – from opening to No. 6 – proved to be inspired as the Pakistani batter scored his first century for the county and shared an unbroken record-breaking fifth-wicket stand with du Plooy.of 231 from 311 balls.They had come together with Derbyshire heading for defeat at 17 for 4 after Dawid Malan’s 106 guided Yorkshire to 353 and a lead of 242 with Scottish spinner Mark Watt taking a career-best 5 for 83.But du Plooy’s 96 and Ali’s 129 lifted the home side to 248 for 4 and a lead of six when bad light followed by an electrical storm ended play with 10 overs left in the day.Yorkshire had looked set for an even bigger lead until the dismissal of Malan sparked a collapse that saw the last five wickets fall for 28 runs.Malan completed his second hundred of the season from 130 balls but when he failed to get enough on a lofted drive at Watt, Suranga Lakmal took off to his left at mid-off to hold a brilliant catch. Lakmal hurt his right elbow when he fell but was able to take the second new ball although it was the spinners who did the damage.Dom Bess was bowled as he pushed out at Alex Thomson and after dispatching Watt for a big six over long-on, Jordan Thompson drilled the left-armer to mid-on. Matthew Revis edged a big drive at Ben Aitchison before Watt snared his fifth victim when Fisher drove to long-off on the stroke of lunch.File photo: du Plooy clips off his pads•Getty Images

Yorkshire’s advantage was still a substantial one and it looked more than enough when Derbyshire’s top order folded for the second time in the match. Coad struck in his second over from the Pavilion End when a full length ball beat Harry Came’s defensive push and Luis Reece went in the next over.Fisher trapped Reece on the crease and Wayne Madsen went without scoring after he pushed out at Coad and was caught at first slip. When Fisher found the outside edge of Matt Lamb’s bat, a two-day finish looked on the cards but after an uncomfortable start, du Plooy and Haider counter-attacked to put Yorkshire on the back foot.Bess came in for heavy punishment with Haider coming down the pitch to drive his offspin for six and du Plooy swept him for his 10th four to reach 50 off 61 balls.Related

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Haider forced Revis behind square to go to his half-century from 60 balls and when Coad returned to the attack, he dispatched him for three fours in the over. Bess was launched down the ground for another six and by tea, the partnership was 150 in 29 overs with the arrears now down to 75.It had been a spirited response to what looked a hopeless position and it was Yorkshire who now had some problems to solve. They slowed the scoring rate at the start of the last session but there were few signs of the breakthrough Yorkshire were desperate for.Haider swept Bess for his 16th four to reach an outstanding century and then opened up by taking four boundaries in an over from the spinner.The pair passed Derbyshire’s previous highest fifth wicket stand against Yorkshire of 184 by John Eggar and Alan Revill at Bradford in 1949 and when the weather closed in, it was the visitors who were relieved to get off the field.

Another throwback display from opener provides a semblance of solidity on shortened first day

Vithushan Ehantharajah27-Apr-2023In the week it emerged IPL teams have been holding informal discussions to prise England talent from the county system, a Compton scoring at a strike-rate of 29.92 at Lord’s felt like something.Comfort? No doubt. As exciting as the modern game is, particularly this current iteration of the England men’s Test side, there’s always a time and a place for active passiveness, defensive intent and respectful defiance. Like, for instance, on a seaming deck at the end of a dank April against the Middlesex duo of Tim Murtagh and Ethan Bamber, 17 years and an inherent love of the conventional and wobble-seam between them. Without Ben Compton’s 38 not out from 127 deliveries, Kent’s scorecard would look a lot worse than 113 for six.A throwback? Yep, that too. The grandson of Denis (who has a whole stand bearing his name) and cousin of Nick is now very much his own cricketer. Four centuries among 1,193 runs last term got him that respect and crucially much surer footing in this world. The 29-year-old is your archetypal late bloomer, having spent an inordinate amount of time in second XI and Premier League cricket, a waiting room for players on the way in or those on the way out. This Compton seemed very much the latter.That’s now old hat, as is the idea Ben’s batting does not belong in this era. Last season’s runs kept Kent in Division One, and his start to 2023 – he is currently third in the top-flight run-scoring charts, with a 114 not out that took the side to victory in their opening match against Northants – underlines the value of his approach in facilitating what could be a bombastic batting line-up, but certainly wasn’t today.When Zak Crawley was hoodwinked by Murtagh – bowled top of middle stump through the gate by a back-of-a-length delivery that nipped in, after being set up with fuller ones moving the other way – we entered a familiar cycle. Of quote tweets and clown emojis, followed by queries as to why the left-hander signalling for gloves as his opening partner walked off isn’t the one in the national team.This probably isn’t the place to go into that, especially as we’ve got five more wickets to discuss after Middlesex won the toss and opted to bat on the lower, skiddier pitch on the square, close enough to Old Father Time you could nick his scythe. But to bastardise a line from Jeremy off Peep Show, “expansive players are the best, hit boundaries all the time” just about covers it.Of course, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes won’t be around forever. All it takes is a regime change and/or a catastrophic Ashes defeat to revert to the other extreme. In two years’ time, with a bigger haul of four-figure seasons, Compton might be front of the queue.For now, he can only work with what he’s got, which in this innings so far has been minimal width or driving opportunities, and little support. He was still able to drive and tuck, even nail a couple of pull shots – one which went for four, wrists rolled, off Tom Helm, who returned to the fold in place of skipper Toby Roland-Jones who is resting in this round.Former captain Stevie Eskinazi deputised, and was in play for the second wicket as Bamber drew a sharp edge from Daniel Bell-Drummond which required quick, safe hands at first slip. It was the first of three wickets to fall for just four runs: Jack Leaning, making a similar misjudgement to Bell-Drummond, caught second slip off Ryan Higgins, then Jordan Cox losing his off stump to Bamber for a four-ball duck.Out walked Sam Billings, skipper and one of the few on show in this match who has had a proper sup of the franchise nectar. Previous IPL duties mean this is one of the few Aprils he’s seen for Kent, and the endeavour to knuckle down was clear, beyond indulging a pick-up off his pads for a four that spent most of its time in the air, straight out of the bottom-hand-book.Ironic, then, that he would be sent on his way after lunch by Murtagh, trapped in front by a yorker. Had it been a different colour ball, Billings might have ramped it. It looked, for a moment, that his 11.2 overs with Compton were taking Kent out of the storm and into the one that ensured no play after 3pm. Joey Evison spent the same amount of time with the opener, before he became Bamber’s third after edging through to the gloves of John Simpson.Grant Stewart decided his form of doughtiness was to swing for the hills and sent Bamber close to Father Time with a heave into the Tavern Stand. All the while Compton was doing as he had done, holding his end down like a man keeping one end of a tent in place while the winds run amok with the other.Like the county game itself, all he needs is an ally to stick with him for the long haul if Kent are to post a first-innings score of note. And just like the county game, maybe it’s already too late.

Haddin and Bayliss have worked together before, winning the Champions League T20 for Sydney Sixers as captain and coach respectively, in 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2019Sunrisers Hyderabad have roped in former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin as their new assistant coach. Haddin will join Sunrisers’ new coach Trevor Bayliss in the support staff.While Bayliss replaced Tom Moody, Haddin will take over from Simon Helmot. Haddin and Bayliss have worked together before, winning the Champions League T20 for Sydney Sixers as captain and coach respectively, in 2012. Both of them have also been involved with Kolkata Knight Riders, although in different roles at different times. Bayliss was the Knight Riders coach from 2012 to 2015 and Haddin had played for them in 2011.Haddin comes to the IPL with international coaching experience with Australia. He was appointed their fielding coach for a two-year period in August 2017 after coaching Australia A earlier in the same year.Haddin retired from international cricket after the 2015 Ashes, which Australia lost 3-2, but five months after he had been part of the World Cup-winning squad. He finished with 3266 Test runs from 66 matches, averaging nearly 33, and 3122 in ODIs, at 31.53 from 126 matches.

Bairstow, Stokes among players who opted out due to workload in 2022

Matt Roller19-Jan-2023The ECB will make additional funds available to incentivise England’s leading all-format cricketers to take part in the Hundred in 2023, as part of a revamped recruitment system for centrally-contracted men’s players.The Hundred has an exclusive four-week window in England’s men’s international schedule for the first time in 2023, running from August 1-27. It starts immediately after the fifth Ashes Test and ends three days before the first of eleven limited-overs internationals against New Zealand and Ireland, which will serve as preparation for England’s 50-over World Cup defence.While there is an expectation that those involved in the fifth Ashes Test will not immediately return to play in the Hundred, the ECB hope to ensure that all-format players are available for a significant proportion of the competition. Several multi-format players including Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes pulled out of the Hundred altogether in 2022 in order to rest before England’s Test series against South Africa, and the standard suffered as a result.ESPNcricinfo understands that players on all-format central contracts were paid around £50,000 to play three games in 2022, with an additional £5,000 for any further games. In 2023, they will be paid £125,000 to play the full season, or the same fee on a pro rata basis if they make themselves unavailable for a portion of the season.The ECB’s increased investment in the biggest English names mirrors Cricket Australia’s renewed attempts to involve its leading men’s players in the Big Bash League. David Warner made his first appearance for Sydney Thunder since 2013 earlier this month after signing a lucrative deal, the majority of which fell outside of the BBL’s salary cap.The revamped regulations dictate that each team will sign a single ‘all-format’ centrally-contracted player, assuming player and team reach an agreement. The eight players who have that status and the teams who have the option to retain them are: Jofra Archer (Southern Brave), Bairstow (Welsh Fire), Jos Buttler (Manchester Originals), Sam Curran (Oval Invincibles), Joe Root (Trent Rockets), Stokes (Northern Superchargers), Chris Woakes (Birmingham Phoenix) and Mark Wood (London Spirit).Related

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In the unlikely event that two or more teams decide not to retain – or do not reach an agreement with – those players, a mini-draft will be held to determine which player joins which team. England’s other centrally-contracted players, including Moeen Ali, Zak Crawley, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope and Adil Rashid, will be part of the main draft mechanism, and can be retained by their teams if they reach an agreement on a salary for 2023.Intriguingly, Buttler remains on an all-format central contract despite the fact he has not played Test cricket since the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney. Ben Foakes signed his first central contract in October and has impressed in the last year and England are not lacking for attacking middle-order batters, but Buttler’s contract status suggests that his Test career might not be over yet.The Men’s Hundred’s retention window officially opened on January 13 and will close at 11.59pm on February 14. Teams can retain up to 10 players who held a contract with them in 2022, plus a centrally-contracted player.The ECB have also doubled the number of ‘wildcard’ signings from one per team to two, meaning each team will sign two players for £30,000 based on performances in the group stage of the T20 Blast. Overall squad sizes remain unchanged.ESPNcricinfo revealed in November that the ‘overseas wildcard’ spot has been scrapped, meaning teams will have three overseas players in their squad at any one time, rather than four. All three will be available to feature in any given playing XI.Women’s teams have been discussing their ‘marquee’ retentions with players over the last two months, ahead of the inaugural women’s draft in March.

A bowler with a Test average of 10.36 could lose his place with the selectors facing one of their biggest calls

Andrew McGlashan19-Dec-2022Australia’s selectors are potentially facing one of their toughest calls for Boxing Day: in one corner you have Josh Hazlewood, 217 Test wickets at 26.16, and in the other you have new cult hero Scott Boland who has an average of 10.36 from five matches with a stunning record at the MCG.With Hazlewood confident in his recovery from the side strain which has kept him out of the last two Tests, allowing Boland to come in having missed out in Perth, the final XI to face South Africa in Melbourne could give an indication of whether the pecking order of Australia’s quicks has been changed.On one hand, how do they leave out Boland? He is a wicket-taking machine who five times in five Tests has taken multiple scalps in an over, the most recent on the helter-skelter second day at the Gabba.Related

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But then there’s Hazlewood, a world-class fast bowler with an outstanding record, albeit one whose Test career has stuttered over the last two years due to injury and conditions-based selection. Perhaps relevant will be Hazlewood’s first-class record at the MCG, where he averages 35.69, which is significantly higher than his career mark. Boland averages 24.35 at the venue.It’s the second time in two summers that a player initially outside the XI is making the case that he cannot be left out. Usman Khawaja returned last season, when Travis Head missed the Sydney Test with Covid, and his twin centuries meant room had to be found for him so Marcus Harris was left out two games after top-scoring on a devilish pitch at the MCG.This time there is not another potential fall guy in the XI to accommodate both Boland and Hazlewood assuming everyone else is fit.”It’s a good problem to have. I can’t state it any other way,” national selector George Bailey said. “Couldn’t ask for anything more…and effectively Uzzie was in the same position last summer. Travis gets the nod in the first Test. Uzzie waits, gets his opportunity and grabs it. And that’s a really important part of what this team is at the moment, that when that opportunity is there you grab it, you come in, there’s a really clear role you can perform. Barrell [Boland] is doing it, he’s been fantastic. Hoff [Hazlewood] has obviously done it for a very, very long time as well.”The South Africa Test will mark a year since Boland’s stunning arrival into the format when he claimed 6 for 7 to roll England on the third morning. At the time he was viewed as something of an MCG specialist, but subsequent success in Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide has reinforced that he is a mighty fine bowler in most locations.”He was on the radar for the MCG last year because of exactly what we’ve seen him do,” Bailey said. “He bashes a length, I think his ability to take multiple wickets in the same over speaks to how consistent he is and the questions he asks of the batter right from ball one. He’s going fantastically. [Josh will] keep building and clearly we’ve got a decision to make. I’m really glad that it is a tough decision to make.”When Hazlewood spoke on Sunday, he admitted it had been a frustrating period of his Test career and conceded being a three-format bowler, having established himself as one of the leading T20 performers, had brought challenges. However, although it is the second summer in a row where Hazlewood has suffered a side injury it has been described as a different problem and the medical teams are not concerned about a pattern emerging.”Let’s be honest, fast bowlers face injury more than any other type of cricketer,” Bailey said. “So they’re constantly under pressure with it. It’s a challenge trying to get [the balance] right. The flip side of that is I think Josh giving himself the opportunity through the IPL has seen him become the T20 bowler [he is]. He’s just a phenomenal bowler. It’s hard work.”Not that it can be a serious selection criteria, but how would the Melbourne locals react to Boland being omitted? Mitchell Marsh was booed during the 2018-19 Test against India after being picked in place of Victoria’s Peter Handscomb whose numbers then were far less compelling than Boland’s.”It’s very important to have two Victorian selectors on the panel,” Bailey joked. “Tony Dodemaide and Andrew McDonald will be in charge of that.”

Fakhar Zaman and KL Rahul became the new No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, while Babar Azam, Colin Munro and Glenn Maxwell slipped to occupy the spots right below the top three

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2018Australia T20 captain Aaron Finch has jumped three places to vault to the top of ICC T20I rankings for batsmen, while Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman and India’s KL Rahul rose to the No. 2 and No. 3 spots respectively. Finch also became the first player ever to break the 900-point barrier in the T20I rankings but ended the series with a final tally of 891 points.The new top three in the ICC rankings for T20 batsmen•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Babar Azam, Colin Munro and Glenn Maxwell all slipped, occupying the three spots below Finch, Zaman and Rahul.Finch had a prolific run in the tri-series against Pakistan and hosts Zimbabwe, piling on 306 runs in five games at a strike rate of over 200, which included a world record 172 off 76 balls.Zaman moved up 44 places on the table and reached 842 points following his own incredible form in Zimbabwe, which featured a career-best 91 off 46 balls in the final that helped Pakistan seal a record chase against Australia in Harare.Rahul touched a career-high 854 points following the first match of the T20I series in England – which the visitors won 2-1 – where he scored a match-winning 101, but a dip in the next two games saw him finish with 812 points.D’Arcy Short, Finch’s opening partner, entered the top 10 rankings for the first time. He made 165 runs at an average of 41.25 in the tri-series, including a 53-ball 76 in the final. The others who garnered career-best rankings following the two series were Jason Roy (No. 15 with 641 points), Jos Buttler (No. 17 with 614 points) and Zimbabwe’s Solomon Mire, who rose a staggering 202 spots to 25th place on the table.Among the bowlers, legspinners Rashid Khan and Shadab Khan retained the top two positions but there were movements down the table. Andrew Tye rose 41 places to seventh spot and Adil Rashid moved up four places to ninth.

The ground will host the first Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe later this year, from November 3 to 7

Mohammad Isam28-Jul-2018Sylhet is set to become Bangladesh’s eighth Test venue. The BCB has announced that the north-eastern city will host the first Test of the Bangladesh-Zimbabwe series later this year, from November 3 to 7. It will also host its first ODI, between Bangladesh and West Indies, on December 14.The venue so far has staged seven T20I games, six of them during the 2014 World T20, and one in February this year between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Zimbabwe, whose tour had to be rescheduled due to the BCB’s plan to shift the Bangladesh Premier League from October to January, will play the second Test at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.Zimbabwe will arrive in Dhaka on October 16, and start the tour with a 50-overs practice match at the BKSP ground in Savar on October 19. The three-match ODI series begins on October 21 in Dhaka, before the two sides move to Chittagong for the second and third ODIs on October 24 and 26.Zimbabwe will play a three-day practice match in Chittagong from October 29 to 31, before going to Sylhet for the first Test, which begins on November 3. The second Test will be held from November 11 to 15.

A 76-run win helped the Sixers climb out of the bottom of the points table

The Report by Mohammad Isam25-Jan-2019How the game played outSylhet Sixers climbed out of the bottom of the Bangladesh Premier League points table with a 76-run win over Rajshahi Kings in this season’s first match played in Chattogram. Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Nawaz took three wickets each to headline an excellent Sylhet bowling performance to shoot Rajshahi out for 104 in 18.2 overs.Laurie Evans’ early dismissal rocked Rajshahi, who failed to gain any momentum in their chase of Sylhet’s 180 for 6.Sylhet earlier put up a strong total, mainly because of a 62-run third-wicket stand between Jason Roy and Afif Hossain. Roy, in his first innings for Sylhet, struck four fours and two sixes in his 28-ball 42, while Afif scored 28 in 29 balls. Towards the end, Tanvir slammed four fours in his unbeaten 23 off nine balls.Turning points

• Sylhet added 90 runs in the second half of their innings despite losing a set Roy at the end of the tenth over.
• Zakir Hasan and Fazle Mahmud took up 5.2 overs to add 36 runs, and that didn’t really help Rajshahi to recover from their three early losses.
• Run-rate pressure led to Fazle, Christiaan Jonker and Mehidy Hasan falling in the 15th over to Nawaz.

Star of the dayThe experienced Tanvir wasn’t the captain for this game, but he delivered a very good all-round performance. First, he blasted 23 in quick time before picking up three wickets.The big missSoft dismissals hurt Rajshahi in their pursuit of 181. First, Mominul Haque’s attempted clip off Taskin Ahmed went straight to short fine-leg, and then Ryan ten Doeschate was bowled off a really short delivery from Alok Kapali.Where the teams standRajshahi are stuck in fifth place with three games remaining, while Sylhet have returned to the sixth spot following the win.

Rohit Sharma’s team will be looking to top Group A with another victory in Dubai

Shashank Kishore30-Aug-20226:15

Should India play their full-strength XI against Hong Kong?

Big picture

The build-up to India versus Hong Kong could not be more different to India versus Pakistan. The buzz around the training grounds, press conferences and the match – in terms of ticket sales and anticipation – is extremely low-key. It’s almost as though everyone’s just waiting for next Sunday, when India and Pakistan are likely to face off in the second of three possible meetings at this Asia Cup.But India will remember all too well just how close Hong Kong came to pulling off an incredible upset the last time these sides met. Chances to play India are rare and it’s an opportunity Hong Kong are keen to embrace, even if it means a few players sacrificing time with their newborns at home. How a bunch of semi-professional players handle their nerves could determine how far they go in the contest.Hong Kong’s cricket structure is possibly smaller than what you would find even in a tier-2 city in India. They have a pool of 20 players to choose from at the best of times. In comparison, India’s senior squad has a pool of 40 that plays simultaneously in different countries. And then there are 20 others who are part of the ‘A’ tour programmes, all training to be match ready. The gulf Hong Kong have to bridge is monumental.Related

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India had optional nets on the eve of the game, mindful of the heat and giving their senior players a break. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the day off as the rest of the squad trained in the afternoon heat.Hong Kong have preferred to train at night. They are coming off a steady diet of games – at least 30 – in the past three months alone in Namibia, Uganda Zimbabwe, Jersey and Oman. But everything pales in comparison to the opportunity ahead of them on Wednesday.They are excited, and nervous too, but Hong Kong’s coach Trent Johnston knows a thing or two about orchestrating upsets – Pakistan in Jamaica (2007), England in Bengaluru (2011) among his famous ones.

Form guide

India WWWLW (last five completed matches; most recent first)
Hong Kong WWWLWNizakat Khan narrowly missed a century in Hong Kong’s previous match against India in 2018•Associated Press

In the spotlight

All eyes were on Rishabh Pant at training on Tuesday evening, and he was smashing balls hard and far. Yorker-length deliveries disappeared into the arc between long-on and deep midwicket, short balls were swatted, and full deliveries driven handsomely. After being benched against Pakistan, Pant looked in imperious form.Hong Kong captain Nizakat Khan came so close to scoring a century against India four years ago. But he’s been in good form in the lead-up to his game, hitting a century against Jersey in a third-round clash of the ICC Challenger League B just three weeks ago. More recently in the Asia Cup qualifiers in Oman, he anchored a chase against Kuwait with a half-century.

Team news

India have spoken about their willingness to experiment. Don’t be surprised if they make some changes.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Arshdeep SinghHong Kong don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing, and will stick to their first XI that played the qualifiers in Oman.Hong Kong (probable): 1 Nizakat Khan (capt), 2 Babar Hayat, 3 Yasim Murtaza, 4 Kinchit Shah, 5 Scott McKechnie (wk), 6 Haroon Arshad, 7 Aizaz Khan, 8 Zeeshan Ali, 9 Ehsan Khan, 10 Ayush Shukla, 11 Mohammad Ghazanfar

Pitch and conditions

A fresh, hard surface will be used for Wednesday’s game and that should mean bounce for the bowlers. The biggest factor, though, has been the absence of dew in Dubai, which has reduced the difficulty of bowling second. And then there’s the extreme heat, which caused delays and brought the over-rate penalty into play in both innings of the India-Pakistan game.

Stats and trivia

• KL Rahul has an impressive T20 record in Dubai – 731 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 147.67, including one century and six half-centuries.
• Offspinner Ehsan Khan was Hong Kong’s leading wicket-taker in the Asia Cup qualifiers, picking up nine wickets in three games.
• In Hong Kong’s previous game against India in 2018, Ehsan dismissed both Rohit and MS Dhoni.