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Sussex 181 and 332 for 4 dec (Orr 119, Haines 94, Head 49*) drew with Kent 165 (Podmore 37, Atkins 5-51) and 257 for 7 (Finch 115*, O’Riordan 47)Kent clung on for a draw in their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Sussex, after an engrossing final day at Canterbury.Jack Carson took 3 for 87 and Sean Hunt 2 for 48, but despite a cluster of wickets in the final hour, Sussex were unable to polish off Kent’s tail.Hastings-born Harry Finch made 115 from 212 balls against his home county as Kent closed on 257 for 7, after Sussex had declared on 332 for 4, 40 minutes into the morning session.The visitors began day four on 277 for 3, and Matt Quinn, who finished with 3 for 118, took the only wicket to fall when he had Oliver Carter caught by Marcus O’Riordan for 18.Travis Head reached 49 not out when the visitors declared, setting Kent a target of 349 to win. The hosts’ reply got off to a desperate start when Ollie Robinson had Joe Gordon caught behind for a duck in the first over, but O’Riordan and Finch batted through to lunch, with Kent on 52 for 1.Related

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O’Riordan was dropped three times before he was finally run out in bizarre circumstances for 47. Chasing a single, he nearly ran into his batting partner Finch. As he veered sideways to avoid a collision, the ball was gathered by Tom Haines, who ran him out with a direct hit.Heino Kuhn faced 27 balls before he was bowled by Carson for 4, leaving Kent on 139 for 3 at tea. Finch reached three figures with a glance off Carson that just eluded leg slip before nestling against the rope, but Kent’s outside hopes of a win dimmed when Dan Lincoln was out for 41, caught by Robinson off Carson.Conversely, Sussex’s hopes surged when Carson then had Harry Houillon caught by Danial Ibrahim for 9.Hunt had Finch caught behind and when he subsequently trapped Hamid Qadri lbw for 4 there were still five overs remaining, but Harry Podmore and debutant Bailey Whiteman survived a tense final spell to finish not out on 36 and 0 respectively.The result means Sussex finish bottom of Group C while Kent are fifth, leaving both sides in the third tier when the championship resumes in late August.

Zimbabwe’s white-ball tour of Ireland has been postponed and could take place in August-September as Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) awaits clearance from the government to travel to Ireland. The tour, comprising three ODIs and five T20Is, was originally scheduled to begin on August 6, with the first ODI in Belfast, but was postponed because of complications around Covid-19 protocols.”We recognise that with Zimbabwe being on the UK Red List, but a Category 2 country in the Republic of Ireland classification, approval for the series was always conditional upon the evolving advice of government,” Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom had said in a release last month.”It is now anticipated that the series will be held in August-September 2021, but that some venue changes may be required to accommodate the latest advice received.”The three ODIs and the last three T20Is were to be played in Belfast whereas the first two T20Is were originally scheduled for Bready. ZC has now set August 19 as the new departure date, subject to government clearance.”We have applied to the Sports and Recreation Commission for permission to travel but we have set August 19 as the departure date,” ZC managing director Givemore Makoni told . “Everything will be announced once we get clearance from the SRC.”Earlier this year, Ireland’s white-ball tour of Zimbabwe was postponed amid Covid-19 reshuffle. ZC had then clarified in a statement that the postponement had been due to a squeeze on the schedule, rather than due to any concerns around Covid-19.Zimbabwe have not qualified for the upcoming T20 World Cup, but the (re)scheduled ODIs against Ireland will be a chance for them to drag themselves off the bottom of the World Cup Super league points table and push for qualification for the 2023 ODI World Cup. In their most recent ODI series, Zimbabwe were swept 3-0 by Bangladesh at home. As for Ireland, they are placed seventh on the Super League table, although they have had the benefit of playing 12 matches; Zimbabwe have played only six.

Big Picture

Time is running out for both sides. Mumbai Indians have lost three on the bounce and need to win every single game to get to 16 points, largely considered a safe zone. Punjab Kings are also on the same boat, but with the confidence of having notched up a tight win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a low-scoring contest in Sharjah two nights ago.Mumbai’s go-to batters in recent times, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, have suffered a form slump. Kishan’s strike rate of 86 is the lowest for a player who has made a minimum of 50 runs this season. As for Yadav, he has managed just single-digit scores in the last four matches.

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Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya’s workload is being managed to such an extent that he isn’t a shoo-in as an allrounder, which is hampering team balance. Krunal Pandya has bowled his full quota in just one of the three games so far in UAE, while his batting form hasn’t been noteworthy yet. This has meant there’s simply way too much pressure on Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock and Kieron Pollard in the batting department.Kings have tried to fix things that aren’t broken. They dropped Chris Gayle for the first game of phase two, only to bring him back for the next two. They signed Aiden Markram to lend all-round depth, but the South African hasn’t bowled a single over so far. They signed Adil Rashid despite having two impressive legspinners in Ravi Bishnoi and M Ashwin, both of whom have turned in match-winning performances. Ishan Porel, a benchwarmer for a better part of two seasons, was back on the bench after a lone outing.The batting hinges heavily on Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul, the bowling on Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami. Such has been their shuffling of personnel and batting order that Harpreet Brar, who turned in a magical match-winning performance earlier in the season, neither has a fixed batting spot nor is considered a frontline spin option. Shahrukh Khan, a big-ticket uncapped signing, can’t seem to get a game. It’s time the Kings find a combination and stick by it.Given all this, by the end of the contest, one team will be left searching for their calculators.Punjab Kings’ batting hinges heavily on Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul•BCCI

In the news

Hardik has returned to the XI after missing the first two games but didn’t bowl on Monday. The team management hasn’t explained the reason behind this but insist they’re merely managing his workload. Hardik has been named in India’s T20 World Cup squad as a genuine allrounder. Chief selector Chetan Sharma believes he should “bowl in every single game” at the tournament. Only time will tell if Hardik’s lack of bowling time will be a hindrance.The Kings have everyone fit and available for selection.

Likely XI

Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Adam Milne/Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Trent BoultPunjab Kings: 1 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Harpreet Brar, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Nathan Ellis/Chris Jordan, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed Shami

Strategy Punt

Jasprit Bumrah was brought back for a second over inside the powerplay against Royal Challengers specifically to dismiss Virat Kohli. Mumbai is heavy on match-ups, and perhaps they may have noticed Mayank Agarwal has been out to Bumrah twice in two games without scoring a run. Give him the first over.Nearly half of Gayle’s dismissals in T20s this year – 13 dismissals in 27 innings – have been to spin. His balls per dismissal against spin stands at 16.5, his worst in a calendar year. So, the mantra is simple: when he comes on, Mumbai will get their spinners on. One way to offset this is to surprise the opposition by opening with Gayle. That will mean Agarwal drops down to three, given Rahul has been prolific against Mumbai. His 51-ball 77 last season in the UAE helped Kings force their game into a Super Over before they prevailed against Mumbai.

Stats that matter

• Mumbai Indians are one of only two teams to have a scoring rate of less than seven an over in the middle overs this season
• Rohit’s 163 runs against spin is the third-most for a player this season. He strikes against them at 135.
• Since IPL 2020, the Kings have lost six out of eight games where Rahul has been dismissed below 25.

The deadlock between the PCB and PSL franchises over a new financial model is set to continue, with a new board taking a more hardline approach in the negotiations.As franchises contemplate a final, take-it-or-leave it offer from the PCB and push for an extension before responding, it’s become clear that a change in administration has hit the ongoing negotiations hard – the Ramiz Raja-led group has put down what amounts to a fresh set of terms. The franchises have to respond to the offer on Monday, following another meeting among themselves on Sunday.Three options are available to them: (a) they agree to the terms, (b) they don’t agree, or (c) they ask for more time, which looks likeliest.The new terms include the PCB offering the six franchises a hike in their share from the central revenue pool from next season; a fixed 95% of all revenue streams in the new deal, as opposed a variable amount between 85% to 90% previously. But, at the same time, the plan to give them rights in perpetuity after the tenth season has been removed. Instead, franchises would have to pay an increased franchise fee [existing fee + 25% or 25% of market value of the franchise, whichever is higher, is the hike in fee value].Related

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Last week, objecting to the hike, the franchises had written to the PCB, saying, “… we believe that this is a punitive clause which punishes the Franchises who have built the PSL from scratch. […] If this clause is removed then the franchisees shall be in a position to invest more in the development of the franchises and consequently improve the quality of PSL. The overall effect of this clause is that if the Franchisees invest and work towards the growth of their brand then that same growth shall be counterproductive to their efforts and consequently leave them with paying a higher franchise fee.”In its new, final offer, the PCB has also revised the franchise fee payment schedule and done away with the regular practice of paying player fees themselves and adjusting that amount from when they pay out from the central pool revenue. In this new model, the board is asking franchises to pay 50% of the player fees in advance.The board-franchises impasse has been on since 2018, with franchises arguing that the model, as it was, has prevented profitability for them. The league is now six seasons old, but four out of the six franchises, it is believed, are yet to break even on their investments. Franchises have long felt the current model is skewed in that, while the PCB has made money off the league as the sole beneficiary, the franchises as stakeholders have not made similar headway.Another longstanding point of contention has been over the exchange rate of the US dollar. The price of franchises when they were auctioned was set in US dollars. In 2015, when the first five franchises came on board, the rate was PKR 105 to a dollar. The rupee has consistently and significantly lost value since then, presently hovering as high as PKR 170 to the dollar. This has hurt the franchises. In 2018, ESPNcricinfo has learnt, all parties were close to agreeing to peg the rate at PKR 138.6 to the dollar, after taking independent advice. But an agreement couldn’t ultimately be reached, as the PCB said it didn’t have faith in the independent advice that was given.The matter has remained unresolved since. While franchises have been paying their fee every year – though not without delays from some – as per the USD rate on the day, the board has signed its commercial and broadcasting deals (the latest three-year cycle has ended this season) according to USD rates locked in 2018. The current board has told franchises it cannot now agree to the September 2018 rate because it has expired. Instead, the PCB has offered to lock the rate to the day the new agreement is signed.In 2020, the franchises took the battle to the Lahore High Court, though ultimately the court asked the parties to settle the matter out of court. That led Ehsan Mani, the previous board chairman, to set up a one-man panel with a retired chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to arbitrate on the issue. Tassaduq Hussain Jillani submitted that report last month, though the PCB has not shared the details of it with the franchises, citing it as confidential.”The PCB should review the matter since there has been a massive increase of the franchise fee amount in rupee terms owing to rupee devaluation, something that was not envisaged by PCB or Franchises at the time,” Najam Sethi, the former PCB chairman who was in charge when the league began, told ESPNcricinfo.The last two seasons of the league have been disrupted by the pandemic, which has, Sethi said, hit the value of the central revenue pool, which is shared by the franchises. “Why doesn’t PCB make public the Justice Gillani report on how to move ahead with the Franchises? All models will break down if only one side makes money,” he argued.The original franchise agreements, from 2015, were formed by Salman Sarwar Butt, at the time the project director responsible for selling franchise rights. “PCB was required to play the role of a franchisor by forming a team of experts to regulate its product rather than just relying on the central pool,” Butt told ESPNcricinfo. “They were meant to bring in the intellectual capital to assist. We haven’t seen any development of these income streams.”So, while the PCB is happy with their franchise fee, it was evident that franchise owners would start feeling the revenue crunch in the absence of other revenue streams that they should have developed with the initial assistance from the PCB.”The change in administration at the PCB has hit the ongoing negotiations hard•PCB

One of the major sources of revenue was expected to come from merchandise sales, but franchises have often complained about piracy issues. That would, however, involve pulling in government and law-enforcement agencies to clamp down on piracy vendors. At least three franchises have their apparel and other products online but it has yet to become a major revenue stream.”The PSL as a product and brand has grown substantially, which you see through the tripling of broadcast and central sponsorship values,” Butt said. “However, the values of franchise sponsorship has struggled and that is largely because the market was not really fully explored. Cricket is the most popular game in the country, but you have to market it wisely and properly.”Back in 2015, we were new to this product, and the agreements were signed with an open mind envisaging growth. There was certainly some nervousness as there was no proof of concept in our market at that time. However, we were positive about it despite the league being played in UAE.”At the heart of it, the sports franchise model has to be looked at as a retail brand and business building endeavour in which you build the brand of the franchise, create a following of fans and then co-opt with product and service providers to sell to the co-opted and co-branded products and services and monetise the fan base. This very important work needed to be led by the PCB but we didn’t really see that happen.”As for the future, Butt said, “Our contracts at the time were written offering flexibility to review accordingly as circumstances evolved. I don’t know why there’s been a reluctance by the PCB to change the financial model. In the first few years, franchises should have been given maximum amounts from the central pool to help them as they grow their own business streams. The clause about increasing the franchise fee by 25% to its market value after ten years can also be looked at. The teams can be given in perpetuity if certain conditions are met and can be taken away if they are not.”Six years ago, we were launching and circumstances were very new. So, a relook is always on the cards, the IPL has done the same.”

Since the start of 2013, India have won 19 tosses in Tests at home. Apart from the two weather-affected draws, they have won 16 matches, and only one by fewer than 100 runs. This Kanpur draw in the 19th is arguably the best performance by a side against arguably the biggest challenge in Test cricket today: to face India in India and lose the toss. It is hard enough to face India in India, but once they get the first use of the pitch, it is a nightmare, which shows in these numbers.New Zealand captain Kane Williamson could look back with some satisfaction at the effort, especially after coming here with a “disjointed” preparation. “There was a lot of heart and effort going into that end result. Having said that there were so many contributions throughout the game that kept us right in it for long periods, certainly after losing the toss. There was a really strong partnership, Wriddhiman Saha getting that fifty and putting them back on the front foot and allowed them to declare and try to fight for that winning result.

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“For us, having that experience, going out, batsmen spending time in the middle and bowlers getting overs under their belt after a fairly disjointed preparation was really valuable. For us it is really important that we make adjustments quickly again. We go to a new venue, and it will be different.”It was Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson who kept New Zealand in the game with 14 wickets between them on a surface that India’s spinners did all the damage. That once again raised the old question if it was necessary to play two spinners in India and not your best bowlers even if that means playing a third seamer. Williamson defended his spinners Ajaz Patel and William Somerville there.”I mean you are always trying to adjust to conditions,” Williamson said. “The spinners that we have have been outstanding for us in a number of games and these sort of conditions. I think they will be much better for the hit out there. They have both come out of Auckland where they have been locked in their houses for a few weeks. So it has been a bit of a rush to get some overs under their belt.”Having said that, they did make valuable contributions with the bat and the ball. The way the two seamers as well operated was simply outstanding and really gave us a fighting chance in this match.Related

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“Tim and Kyle’s efforts kept us in the game and gave us a fighting chance to change the momentum. There was not a lot of pace to play with. Tim was able to change his angles and was certainly immaculate with his lengths and created opportunities for us, which is really special. Certainly at his best, and it was really great to see.”Remarkable start to Test cricket for Kyle, the fastest in our country to 50 wickets by some way. It is a really special effort and to do it in a number of different conditions. Tom Latham and Will Young as well. The contributions they made with the bat. Their sort of defiant attitude to committing with their plan and sticking to it was great to see.”New Zealand started the day needing 280 more runs with nine wickets in hand. They were given hope by the nightwatchman Somerville, who hung around with opener Latham for the entirety of the session. However, Williamson said India’s bowling was good enough to never let them entertain thoughts of a win.”Coming into the day we were aware that all three results were possible,” Williamson said. “Having said that there was a lot of hard work to do to give yourself a chance to chase versus trying to chase too early and finding yourselves in a sticky position. It was a matter of trying to take the day deep. And if we were close we would have had a crack if we were in the right position. But we weren’t in the end.”India were able to put us under pressure throughout the sessions. Scoring was tough to come by, and there was a lot of navigating low bounce and balls that spun and those sort of things. If things unfold ideally, then it would have been great to try and get close to the desired result. Having said that, I think going through that second session, it was quickly off the cards. Then we saw a lot of contributions from the guys where they really knuckled down and fought hard to get a draw in the end. That was the next best thing for us.”

Australia are likely to abandon plans for a three-day intrasquad practice match in Brisbane due to the continued bad weather but have confidence in the Ashes preparation they are putting together.Australia had selected 24 players, minus the absent Tim Paine, to hold a three-day match at Redlands in Brisbane starting on Wednesday (Australia A will then play England Lions) but Queensland’s weather has ruined best-laid plans with up to 100 millimetres of rain expected to fall on Tuesday and Wednesday as heavy thunderstorms are forecast. There is also a further thunderstorm forecast for Thursday.The Australia hierarchy are confident the players who had returned from the T20 World Cup have received adequate centre-wicket practice during their 14 days quarantine with only one session lost to rain, while the remainder of the Test specialists have been able to play anywhere between two and five Sheffield Shield fixtures in the lead-up to the first Test.Despite Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Steve Smith having not played a first-class fixture since last summer, assistant coach Andrew McDonald believed the prolonged three-week training block coming from the T20 World Cup will have those players well prepared for a change in format.Related

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“We’ve had fantastic facilities up here,” McDonald said on Sunday. “The weather’s been challenging at times, but we’ve still been able to get on in the centre. I think we’ll be really well prepared.”And also these guys have got a lot of Test experience to draw upon. So changing formats is something that they’ve been able to do and deal with across their careers. This will be no different but I think the advantage in this one is that we’ve had two weeks of quarantine training to shift gears into Test mode and then we’ve got another eight days on the other side of that.”I don’t think there’s too many Australian teams that would have had potentially a month to build into a red-ball series. So I think that’s a real positive. I don’t think they’ll be too many excuses come that first session.”Cancelling the three-day game would mean the selectors wouldn’t have a full match scenario to make their final judgements, although that may not have a huge bearing.Travis Head and Usman Khawaja are fighting for the final batting spot in the middle order, but chairman of selectors George Bailey said two weeks ago that they were already leaning one way and that what happened ahead of the first Test would not have much of a bearing on the final decision. Bailey also noted that the three-day game was never designed to be a bat-off.The other choice Australia have to make is who will replace Tim Paine after he stepped away from cricket indefinitely for mental health reasons. Alex Carey and Josh Inglis appear to be neck and neck in the race to debut at the Gabba. Carey has played nine domestic matches, and five Shield games, this summer while Inglis has only played one back in September before he went to the T20 World Cup where he only played one practice game as a specialist batter and faced just three balls.Australia’s attack looks to be set heading into the first Test with Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Nathan Lyon likely to be the quartet again as they were last summer. Western Australia quick Jhye Richardson is putting pressure on Starc after taking 23 wickets in four Shield fixtures this year but Australia are keen to have the left-armer in the line-up for at least the Gabba and the day-night Test in Adelaide given Starc’s prowess with the pink ball.

Hobart Hurricanes ignited their stuttering BBL season with a brilliant effort, halting Melbourne Stars’ batters in a contest marred by a contentious deliberate short run by Tim David. Hurricanes were hit with a rare five-run penalty after David intentionally grounded his bat about two meters short of the crease during the first run while trying to run two in the last over of the innings. But it seemed to spur the hosts who then restricted the powerful Stars batters in a desperately needed win for Hurricanes.Hurricanes’ reshuffle lifts struggling batting
A desperate Hurricanes rejigged their batting, with Ben McDermott promoted to open in place of struggling D’Arcy Short. And it did the trick, with big-hitting McDermott, who normally bats at No.4, getting Hurricanes off to a flyer with fellow opener Matthew Wade. He hit the first ball of the innings from Glenn Maxwell to the boundary en route to a 14-run opening over.Ben McDermott hit 67 as Hobart Hurricanes restricted Melbourne Stars•Getty Images

Such was the belligerence of his new opening partner that Wade was uncharacteristically outpaced, although he crossed 2000 BBL runs in the process. Their 93-run stand ended in the tenth over when Wade holed out to a fine catch by Hilton Cartwright as Hurricanes resisted the temptation to elevate David, with Short instead coming to the crease.His form struggles, however, contributed to McDermott’s loss of momentum and eventual demise for 67. Short now seems like a mile off the dynamo who was once the BBL’s best batter as he crawled to 6 off his first ten balls. He briefly rediscovered his old touch when he blasted 14 off Andre Russell in the power surge but soon fell for 26.Hurricanes then strangely brought in Peter Handscomb instead of David, who belatedly had a chance at the death and showcased his brute strength with a massive six off Russell in the penultimate over. David made a quick fire 12-ball 22, and was also involved in a rather comical controversy; however, Hurricanes might soon need to start using him far earlier.Zampa-less Stars fight back well
Stars had the tough task without talisman Adam Zampa, who was rested after his heavy workload in recent months, particularly on a belter of a pitch, and with Hurricanes’ openers on fire. But they performed brilliantly to claw back into the contest initially through Qais Ahmad, who held his own against the tide, while young quick Brody Couch continued to impress with his zip and accuracy.Stars successfully reverted their tactics in the backend of the innings by bowling full and wide, as the experienced pair Russell and Nathan Coulter-Nile frustrated Hurricanes, whose innings ran out of puff. It was an impressive comeback from Stars, with skipper Maxwell doing a stellar job by rotating his bowlers and implementing a well-planned strategy.Joe Clarke top-scored for Stars, having hit consecutive sixes off Sandeep Lamichhane•Getty Images

Stars’ high-voltage batting fails to spark
Stars fancied their chances but lost the key wickets of Marcus Stoinis and Maxwell in the opening eight overs to dent their chances. The pressure was on English import Joe Clarke, who had made two ducks in his only innings this season, but he rediscovered his best with a 37-ball half-century.Clarke made his move in the tenth over with consecutive sixes off Sandeep Lamichhane, who leaked 18 runs in a momentum-shifting over. The wicketkeeper-batter found a willing ally in Joe Burns, who made a timely BBL season start with a composed knock.But just when Stars looked the goods, Clarke and Burns departed in quick succession as the visitors fell away. Too much was left to do for Russell, playing in his penultimate BBL game this season, and when he fell in the 18th over, the result was effectively sealed. Stars suffered their third defeat of the season, and continue to be hard to read as they strive for a first BBL title.Hurricanes revive their campaign
Five less runs to play with courtesy of the short-run penalty, Hurricanes were under pressure but they put in an inspired performance having struggled with the ball this season. Perhaps David’s controversy motivated them because Hurricanes were sharp in the field and particularly animated when they took wickets.In the thick of the action, David took a superb forward-diving catch to remove the dangerous Stoinis and set the tone for Hurricanes. Harry Brook added another stellar catch to dismiss Maxwell as Hurricanes then kept their cool amid Clarke’s onslaught.They looked a much different team with Riley Meredith hitting his straps, as the speedster bowled at speeds around 150kph and claimed three wickets in his second game this season. With Tom Rogers also bowling well at the death, Hurricanes issued a reminder of why they were highly rated heading into the season.

The league phase of the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy is likely to be played between February 16 and March 5. As per the plan devised by BCCI, the 38 teams that take part in the Ranji Trophy are likely to be spread across nine shortlisted venues. These venues include: Chennai, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Rajkot, Cuttack, Guwahati, Kolkata and Hyderabad.Keeping in mind the tight window in which it has to conduct the premier first-class tournament, the BCCI shortlisted venues with several grounds so that simultaneous matches could take place within a particular group.More than one state association, which houses the shortlisted venue, confirmed that they had unofficially heard the BCCI planned to have four teams per venue in the Elite Group. It could not be confirmed whether the six teams in the Plate group would be housed in one venue or more. The state associations said they were expecting an official confirmation from BCCI imminently.On January 27, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had confirmed that the board had decided to host the Ranji Trophy in two phases. While the league stage was set for February-March, the knockouts were slated for June, leaving the April-May window for IPL 2022.Related

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The Ranji Trophy was originally scheduled to start on January 13, but had to be postponed indefinitely because of rising Covid-19 cases in India. When making the decision to hold the Ranji Trophy, Shah said that recovery rates from the third wave of the pandemic were encouraging, but the BCCI would continue to have biosecure bubbles for the tournament to mitigate any risks.”Ever since the decision on postponement was made, the board was working on several models to ensure that the tournament takes place as soon as the environment is safe and conducive,” Shah had written in a letter to state associations. “We will continue to have biosecure bubbles to mitigate any potential risk. The board is committed to providing a healthy and secure environment and seeks your support in ensuring a safe tournament for all our key stakeholders.”

After two days of resolute batting, Jharkhand continued to pile the misery on a hapless Nagaland attack, finally folding for a massive 880 on the third day in Kolkata. Shahbaz Nadeem, who was on 123 overnight, finished on 177, while No. 11 Rahul Shukla remained unbeaten on 85, as the final-wicket stand yielded 191.While it was almost surprising to see Jharkhand continue to bat after they had ended day two at 769, Nadeem and Shukla’s intentions of getting quick runs was clear after a quiet first six overs of the day. Nadeem cracked three consecutive fours off Chopise Hopongkyu, and Shukla wasn’t to be left behind either. He quickly found boundaries off Raja Swarnkar before launching Shirkant Mundhe for six to get to his second first-class fifty.The partnership was past hundred by that time, and the pair resumed their attack after the drinks break, with Shukla smashing another four sixes – he hit six in total – as Nagaland ended up bowling more than 200 overs.Their reply with the bat wasn’t convincing either. Ashish Kumar cleaned up opener Sedezhalie Rupero for 8 in the fifth over of Nagaland’s innings before Shukla joined the action on the field by running Rupero’s partner Yugandhar Singh out for 9. Anukul Roy soon after had the captain Rongsen Jonathan caught for another single-digit score, as Nagaland stood at 43 for 3 at one stage.There was a brief fight with a 56-run fourth-wicket partnership between Mundhe and Chetan Bist, but Nadeem hit back with the ball after earlier frustrating Nagaland with the bat. He had Mundhe caught for 39, as the next man in Hokaito Zhimomi was forced to retire hurt on 5 for what seemed like a hand injury, meaning Nagaland were effectively five down.They ended the day a massive 750 runs behind, and with two full days of the game remaining, stare at a huge defeat unless something miraculous happens to rescue them.

Despite a flurry of wickets in the morning session, the final day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match between Glamorgan and Durham in Cardiff finished in a draw after half centuries from Kiran Carlson and Chris Cooke took the home side to safety.The day started with seven Durham wickets falling for 32 runs as Andrew Salter claimed career-best figures. Durham had a first-innings lead of 149 with Alex Lees finishing undefeated on 182.Four early Glamorgan wickets gave Durham some hope of claiming victory but the stand between Cooke and Carlson took the home side to safety with the teams shaking hands with 16 overs un-bowled.Durham will be left ruing the bad weather that took so much time out of this game on the first two days as they were the team best placed to push for a positive result.Durham resumed their first innings 114 runs in front with seven wickets in hand. In a madcap first hour they went from 351 for three to 383 all out. The destroyer-in-chief was Salter who finished with 7 for 45, his first five-wicket haul in the format, as the Durham middle and lower order attempted to press home their advantage with quick runs.Salter dismissed David Bedingham in the second over of the day, well stumped by Cooke with a ball that appeared to swing away from the batter. What followed was a succession of Durham players giving away their wickets with attempted big shots.As his side collapsed around him Lees stood firm, carrying his bat for the second time in his career on his way to his highest first-class score for Durham. While a quick conclusion of the Durham innings may not have been their plan as they started out the final day of this match, it did give them more time to claim the ten Glamorgan wickets they needed for victory.In the 14 overs they bowled before lunch, Durham claimed three Glamorgan wickets with the home side still trailing by 116 at the break. It could have been four wickets before the interval but Paul Coughlin put down a relatively simple chance at third slip that would have dismissed Colin Ingram without scoring.While the morning session was hectic, things settled down after lunch. Durham had Glamorgan 66 for four when Ben Raine had Ingram bowled but a partnership of 90 between Carlson and Cooke took Glamorgan into the lead.It was a breakthrough year for Carlson in 2021 with the Welsh batter scoring 928 first-class runs at an average of 48.84 and he was playing exceptionally before edging one through to the wicket-keeper on 61 off the bowling of Matthew Potts. Glamorgan will be hoping for more eye-catching innings like this one in 2022.Cooke made 59 in the first innings and was 85 not out in the second, those runs combined with the 205 not out he made in the last match of the 2021 season it is an impressing run of scores for the Glamorgan wicket-keeper.Durham take 15 points away from this match while Glamorgan claim 11.