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Three times in 33 completed games: that’s how many times Sri Lanka have beaten India in ODIs. Add to this the fact that Sri Lanka’s tri-series final against India on Sunday will be their first final in any ODI tournament featuring three or more teams since 2009, and you begin to understand the scale of the task at hand for an ever-improving Sri Lanka unit.India, meanwhile, are pretty close to the textbook definition of well-oiled machine: their batting has been clicking, their spin attack – led by Sneh Rana – has been penetrative and dogged, while their fielding (arguably their weakest link) has been more good than bad. The weaknesses are few.But, on Sunday, all that fades into the background. Sri Lanka will be buoyed by self-belief with the memory of that momentous Asia Cup triumph, where they had beaten India ten months ago, albeit in the T20 format. But if that defeat wasn’t a reality check for India, their loss to Sri Lanka in the round-robin stage of the ongoing tri-series will have, no doubt, allayed any complacency that might have been setting in.Related

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On that note, here are some of the key talking points ahead of what could be a riveting final in Colombo.

Can Sri Lanka contain India?

India have scored in excess of 300 in four of their last ten ODIs – including one score over 400 – and in two more of those, they have scored at least 275. In fact, the only games in which they did not exceed these benchmarks were when they were chasing. Suffice to say, India’s batting is on song.In that sense, how Sri Lanka manage – or fail – to contain this Indian batting unit will go a long way towards deciding the tri-series final. During their two group meetings, the first saw India capitalise on the better of both the batting and bowling conditions to steamroll Sri Lanka. But in the second, Sri Lanka managed to keep India below 300, and then nervelessly chased 276 down.Sri Lanka themselves will admit their best chance at victory will be to win the toss and chase, but India have the personnel to make the flip of a coin irrelevant.Chamari Athapaththu averages only 24.07 in her last 13 innings•SLC

Will the real Athapaththu please stand up?

You take Chamari Athapaththu out, and you take out half of Sri Lanka’s batting. That used to be true for the better part of the last decade or so. But of late, Sri Lanka’s batters have shown that they can get the job done even without their talismanic captain’s contributions.Against India last time out, Athapaththu’s 23 off 33 balls was just one of several – eight – double-digit scores that helped Sri Lanka hunt down 276 with the likes of Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshika de Silva stepping up. And against South Africa before that, Athapaththu contributed just 6 runs even as Sri Lanka chased down a middling target of 236. Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari put their hands up on that day.But while that bodes well for the future of the side, Sri Lanka’s best batting potential can be realised when Athapaththu is in full flow. Sri Lanka’s highest successful ODI chase, and their only one above 300, came courtesy an all-time great knock of 195 by their captain. But since then, in 13 innings, Athapaththu has had just two scores over fifty, while averaging only 24.07. That last one, though, came against South Africa on Friday, and Sri Lanka will be hoping that that signifies a timely return to form, especially in the lead up to the ODI World Cup later this year.

Death-over struggles

Across the tri-series, Sri Lanka have been arguably the best side at capitalising in the middle overs. In both their group-stage wins, against South Africa and India, they bettered their opponents between overs 10 and 40. However, at both the start and finish of games, any pressure created has been released.In Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma, India have the explosiveness to turn losing positions around•SLC

South Africa struck 114 runs in the final ten overs on Friday, while even during their win against India, Sri Lanka leaked 70 runs in the last ten overs despite having limited India to just 151 runs through the middle.Sri Lanka’s failure to capitalise on the platform set in the middle overs with both bat and ball has been a genuine weakness in their game, and one that India will be keen to exploit. Particularly, as India, with the likes of Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma lower down, have the explosiveness to turn losing positions around.

Weather and conditions

The heat has been a trial in and of itself across this series, with the South Africans in particular struggling to handle it over long periods. But, on Sunday, the weather forecast points towards a slightly more bearable day’s play, with the potential of overnight showers leading into a cloud-covered morning and afternoon.If these conditions come to fruition, then that, combined with it being a Sunday final – one with free entry into the stadium – should (hopefully) mean the stadium fills up more than it has for the round-robin games.Runs, too, have been plenty this series, despite Khettarama’s reputation as a tough-scoring surface. With a fresh pitch set for the final, the conditions are primed for another engrossing contest.

There was a fair bit of overnight rain in Kolkata, the venue for the IPL 2025 opener between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), but around mid-day, the sun made an appearance to raise hopes of an uninterrupted game. The forecast, though, is for overcast conditions to remain for most of the day and for occasional showers throughout the day, including during match time.A bulletin from the Indian Met Department on Friday had said an “orange alert” had been issued for the region – Gangetic West Bengal.Kolkata has been hit by spells of persistent – though not heavy – rain in the lead up to the season opener with rain cutting short both teams’ training sessions on Friday. Earlier in the week, a KKR intra-squad practice match was washed out after only one innings. Light rain had hit the city on Wednesday and Thursday too, although both teams completed their training sessions then.The KKR vs RCB fixture is scheduled for a 7pm toss and a 7.30pm start. The league stage of the IPL allows for an extra hour of time extension, which means a five-overs-a-side game must end by midnight. In case of a no-result, the two will share one point each.After the game at Eden Gardens, defending champions KKR travel to Guwahati to face Rajasthan Royals (RR) on March 26, while RCB fly to Chennai to face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 28.An opening ceremony has also been planned before the toss.

Super Over An extraordinary night of drama delivered a thriller, with UP Warriorz sending a crowd in excess of 28,000 into stunned silence after RCB failed to knock off the nine runs they needed in the Super Over.In a game that seemed to be headed RCB’s way until the last two overs in regulation time, Sophie Ecclestone’s incredible final-over hitting against Renuka Singh, which went for 17, forced the game into a Super Over. But the showstopper for the night was a sensational final over Ecclestone delivered to deny Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh as Warriorz sprung their campaign back to life with a second straight win.Related

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The high-octane end

Forty-two needed off 18, with two wickets in hand. Ecclestone had pottered to 3 off eight balls, and had no option but to go for broke, especially with Chinelle Henry, seemingly the last hope for Warriorz, gone.Ecclestone got stuck into Georgia Wareham by muscling two sixes in a 13-run over. But when Saima Thakor was run out a ball after swinging one out of the ground in the 19th over, it was all on Ecclestone to knock off much of the 18 runs they needed off the last six.She hit 17 in an extraordinary sequence of 6, 6, 4, 1, taking Renuka to the cleaners as she repeatedly missed her lengths. But Ecclestone’s single off the fifth ball that left Warriorz needing one off the last ball, brought rookie Kranti Goud on strike.When Goud missed and the batters ran, Richa Ghosh did an MS Dhoni, choosing to sprint to the stumps and knock the bails off rather than risk an underarm throw. And just like that, the WPL had its first Super Over.Sophie Ecclestone’s sixes took the game into a Super Over•BCCI

Ecclestone’s dream night continues

When Kim Garth bowled Henry, who had muscled an incredible eight sixes in her 23-ball 62 against Delhi Capitals, with a slower delivery with Warriorz needing 47 off 22, she wouldn’t have envisaged having to bowl the Super Over.Yet, when she did, and conceded just 8 while dismissing Henry again, she wouldn’t have imagined finishing on the wrong side of the result. But, five minutes later, she watched in agony as Mandhana and Ghosh failed to find their hitting range on the face of some nerveless bowling from Ecclestone.It was a performance straight out of fantasy for the world’s No. 1 T20I and ODI bowler, who had also quite extraordinarily just conceded six runs off the final over in RCB’s innings. Three of those deliveries were pinpoint yorkers that denied Ellyse Perry a final charge towards what would have been an extraordinary century.

Perry, Wyatt-Hodge set RCB up

Perry offset Mandhana’s early loss – against offspin for the 11th time in the WPL – by welcoming Ecclestone with back-to-back fours, her step-out to bisect cover and mid-off being the standout. Perry’s intent-laden approach brought her a first six when she launched Thakor down the ground. At 42 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, RCB had a base.All through her innings, Perry was bubbling with flair. She became the first player to hit the 200-run mark in each of the first three WPLs. She also overtook Meg Lanning to become the highest run-getter in the tournament’s short history, during the course of a 94-run second-wicket stand with Danni Wyatt-Hodge.The five-over period between seven and 11 brought RCB just 33, but the pair was able to flick the switch. Goud, who hustled Wyatt-Hodge with an excellent bumper early on, was picked away for three back-to-back fours in the 13th.In doing so, Wyatt-Hodge exhibited her range of shots – a cut when offered width, a swat back past the bowler when it was dug in short, and a pummel over extra cover when the bowler went full. Wyatt-Hodge brought up her maiden WPL half-century off 36 balls against the side that had traded her out. But her dismissal brought Warriorz two more wickets – of Ghosh and Kanika Ahuja.Ellyse Perry brought out her glorious drives from the start•BCCI

But Perry didn’t pass up an opportunity to go all out in the death overs. She took a liking for Deepti Sharma’s predictable lengths and bowling into the surface by picking her for a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 2 in the penultimate over – hitting the ball to different areas, from deep cover to long-on to deep midwicket.Perry’s use of angles to try and get inside the line and sweep the bowlers off their lengths was particularly noteworthy. She finished unbeaten on 90 off 56, with RCB hitting 105 off the last nine overs.

Navgire sparks life into chase

With Chamari Athapaththu again on the bench, Warriorz needed some firepower up top, and when Kiran Navgire smashed a 27-ball 51 four nights ago against Capitals, it seemed like they had found an answer.Navgire tantalised yet again, her uncomplicated stand-and-deliver mantra bringing her 24 off just 12 balls, as she swung at anything remotely in her zone before she was bowled attempting to hoick Renuka. Vrinda Dinesh’s run of low scores stretched into a fourth game as she picked out mid-off for 14 as Warriorz lost two early.

Warriorz rise after slide

An injury to Shreyanka Patil opened up a spot for Sneh Rana as a replacement, and she inflicted more agony for Warriorz when she struck twice in two overs. This put Warriorz in freefall mode, even though Shweta Sehrawat sparked life into the innings with a sprightly 31. But at 125 for 7 in 15, only a freak Henry innings would have silenced the crowd. But when she chopped on to Garth in the 17th, Warriorz needed a miracle, and Ecclestone scripted one.

Allegations of pitch tampering have hit Ranji Trophy 2024-25 after Jammu and Kashmir refused to bat on day three of their final-round clash against Baroda at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara.J&K alleged the surface was tampered with overnight to help the home team, Baroda, to force an outright result in their favour to ensure qualification for the knockouts.The Baroda Cricket Association denied the allegations, saying it was merely a case of pitch dampness that isn’t unusual during the winter season. A J&K spokesperson refused to comment on the matter.Related

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Play was held up for approximately an hour and 25 minutes and needed the intervention of the match referee Arjan Kripal Singh before J&K resumed their second innings from their overnight score of 125 for 1 at 10.55am.The match officials extended play by an hour beyond the scheduled close to make up for lost time. J&K had already taken the first-innings lead and were handily placed, leading by 205, when play began.The day was dominated by the spinners as J&K lost 8 for 112 to be bowled out for 284 setting Baroda a target of 365. Shubham Khajuria top scored for J&K with 94 while wicketkeeper-batter Kanhaiya Wadhawan scored 84. For Baroda, the spin trio of Krunal Pandya, Ninad Rathva and Mahesh Pithiya picked up three wickets apiece. In response, Baroda were 58 for 2 at stumps, losing both their openers who fell to Sahil Lotra’s offbreaks.Mumbai’s bonus-point win over Meghalaya has made this fixture even more crucial. J&K can qualify for the quarter-finals even with a draw, whereas Baroda must chase down the remaining 307 runs on the final day to make it through.

A decade ago (allow us the leniency of three weeks because it was actually Boxing Day 2014), a young Temba Bavuma made his Test debut at St George’s Park to mark one of the most significant full circle moments in South Africa cricket.Bavuma, who traces his roots back to the Eastern Cape, was the first black African specialist batter for the national men’s team and represented hope and change; the former for a majority population disenfranchised by segregation and the latter for what a team of the future could look like: inclusive, representative, and accessible to all.Now, Bavuma is captain of that same team and their most senior batter. He leads a side that is in the running for their first World Test Championship (WTC) final. Like the narrative that has (perhaps unfairly) followed him from day one, he has come the full circle.Related

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So, what’s changed between the Bavuma of 2014 and the Bavuma of 2024?”I’ve got less hair,” he joked at St Georges’ Park on the eve of the second Test against Sri Lanka. “In terms of the way I view the game, I see it a bit differently. When I came here as a 24-year-old, I was naive to a lot of things. Now, ten years later, having gone through the journey, the ups and downs, you appreciate things a lot more. You don’t take things for granted. And you try to find moments and memories in everything that is happening around you.”The Bavuma of 2014 entered a team filled with superstars who had already started retiring and that were about to enter a slide. They beat West Indies in his first outing, but went on to lose heavily in India, which ended a nine-year unbeaten away run, and opened up a period of uncertainty. In every year that Bavuma played, a big name called it a day.The leadership changed hands three times in the first two years from Hashim Amla to AB de Villiers to Faf du Plessis and the champion fast bowlers were battling serious injuries. South Africa slipped down the rankings and were taken less seriously as a Test team while Bavuma himself was considered a bit-part player.Temba Bavuma is airborne as he upper-cuts•Gallo Images/Getty Images

In his first eight years, he scored only one century and though most of his 20 fifties came in trying situations, numbers mattered. As did reputation. Between 2021 and 2024, he missed ten Tests through injury, was made white-ball captain and led the T20 side through two group stage exists at World Cups.Bavuma was also replaced as T20 captain and promoted to the Test leadership. Some of what Bavuma went through would have made a less steadfast cricketer walk away, but the strength of his conviction made him stay and now that he marks a decade as an international, he is glad he did.”I’ve been very grateful for the journey that I’ve been on, everything that has come with it. People always say that in hard times you really get to discover yourself, and I really do think that is true,” he said. “The one thing that hasn’t changed or won’t change is my passion and love for the game. It’s through that I’ve been able to overcome everything that has come my way. And, also there’s an ambition and a fire inside of me of certain things that I want to achieve.”One of those things must be the WTC final, which he spoke about as having put a “bigger value on Test cricket.” Another has to be hundreds. He now has three, two of them as captain. When Bavuma leads the side, he averages 54.22 which speaks to how that has brought out the best in him even as he has worked to balance the roles of skipper and senior batter.”The challenge that I’ve found as captain is separating those two. It’s important that you are able to do so,” he said. I focused a lot more on Temba the captain, to be honest, and everything that comes with it and I haven’t really given the energy and time that Temba the batter requires.”Yet the runs have come and Bavuma puts that down what time away from the game has forced him to do. “Being injured and not being able to be in the middle gave me time to kind of reflect on myself as a batter, what my goals are, how I want to go about doing my business, and obviously putting in the time and effort to do so.”Bavuma’s latest niggle is an elbow problem which kept him out of the matches in Bangladesh. He now bats with significant strapping and has had to put his beloved golf clubs down to prioritise his batting. Those are all things Bavuma is willing to do as he chases his cricketing dreams and despite being ten years in, he has promised there’s more to come.”I feel that I’ve got a couple of more years in me. Mentally, that is; physically, not too sure,” he said. “As long as I’m still enjoying the game, I’m still passionate about the game, I still get joy from seeing other guys perform and become inspired, I’ll still be well and truly on this journey.”

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) wanted to hold on to “players who have a mindset to win” and those that “put the team before their personal goals and aspirations”, franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka said after announcing the team’s retention list ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.LSG let go of KL Rahul, who had captained the team for the three seasons since it came into existence in 2022, following their seventh-place finish in IPL 2024. Rahul will go into the mega auction, where he is expected to be one of the biggest draws.LSG retained Nicholas Pooran for INR 21 crore, the second most expensive player retained – level with RCB’s Virat Kohli and behind only SRH’s Heinrich Klaasen (INR 23 crore) – along with Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 crore), Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (INR 4 crore) and Ayush Badoni (INR 11 crore).Related

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Pooran was an “automatic choice” as the team’s top retention and the decision to keep him took “two minutes”, Goenka said. “We had a very simple mindset to go in with players who have a mindset to win, who put the team before their personal goals and aspirations,” he added. “And we wanted to retain as much core as possible within our available purse. We had a strong bowling unit, that’s why we went with three bowlers [Bishnoi, Mayank and Mohsin] from the previous season and all Indians. Pooran was a no-brainer. Ayush has done well for us at No. 6 and No. 7.”While Rahul was LSG’s top-scorer in IPL 2024 with 520 runs at a strike rate of 136, Pooran’s 499 runs came at a strike rate of 178.Mayank made his IPL debut in 2024 but played only four matches before he was ruled out by injury. He made a strong impression in that time with his 150kph speeds and picked up two Player-of-the-Match awards.Mohsin and Bishnoi picked up only ten wickets apiece in IPL 2024, while Badoni scored only 235 runs in the lower-middle order. But with Mohsin only 26 years old, and Bishnoi and Badoni both 24, LSG view them as long-term prospects.With five players retained, including two uncapped players, at a total cost of INR 51 crore, LSG have INR 69 crore remaining to spend at the mega auction. They have one right-to-match option to use if they want to buy back one of their capped players.

India’s net run rate (NRR) ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 game against Pakistan was -2.90. They had to win and win big against Pakistan for that to become positive and move up in the points table. On a hot afternoon in Dubai, though, India achieved only one of those tasks – beating Pakistan by six wickets to earn two points and open the account with a sluggish chase.The win was set up by Arundhati Reddy and Shreyanka Patil, who combined for five of the eight wickets Pakistan lost. Pakistan huffed and puffed to 105 on the back of Nida Dar’s 28. But on a slow, spin-friendly surface, Pakistan also used their spinners well and denied India the launchpad: they eventually got home in the 19th over with only five fours hit – three by Shafali Verma and one each by Harmanpreet Kaur and S Sajana, playing for the injured Pooja Vastrakar. Back at her familiar No. 4 spot after being promoted to one-down in the opening game, Harmanpreet was the only India batter with a strike rate over 100, in the top six.

Pakistan show early intent

On the eve of the contest, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana spoke about using the power game to hit hard at their rivals. The openers tried to use their feet in a bid to walk the talk after Pakistan opted to bat. Gull Feroza tried to use her feet to counter Renuka Singh’s swing but was undone in the opening over. Muneeba Ali also used the crease so much that the runs hardly justify those. She used even the slightest of width to go over the in-field, like she did twice against Renuka inside the powerplay.Richa Ghosh took a stunner to dismiss Fatima Sana•ICC/Getty Images

Reddy-powered India ‘turn’ the tide

In the absence of Vastrakar, who was out with a niggle, Reddy had to shoulder additional seam-bowling responsibility and was brought on in the fourth over of the game. Immediately she induced a false stroke, with Sidra Amin chipping one towards mid-off. In her next over, Reddy delivered the perfect blow, getting Muneeba to scoop one straight to short fine leg only for S Asha to grass a sitter. A couple of balls later, though, Reddy struck by having Omaima Sohail miscue one to mid-off.A few quiet overs saw Muneeba being stifled, and Patil pounced on the chance to get among the wickets. Anticipating a charge from the Pakistan opener, she threw one wider outside off, past which Muneeba walked and Richa Ghosh did the rest. Dar found it slightly tough to keep the scorecard ticking on her own and losing partners regularly did not help.Reddy first trapped Aliya Riaz in front – the DRS not coming to the Pakistan allrounder’s aid after Hawk-Eye showed it to be clipping leg – before Patil dismissed Tuba Hassan for a three-ball duck. Sana showed a bit of intent and struck successive fours off Asha but fell to a terrific catch by Ghosh. She looked to slog the legspinner out of the ground but Ghosh dived to her right to pluck a one-handed stunner. Reddy then bowled Dar to pick up her third.

India’s strange chase

For India to get their NRR in the positive, they had to overhaul the 106-run target in 11.2 overs. However, India endured a boundary-less powerplay, with Shafali and Smriti Mandhana struggling to put away spin. Mandhana hit some crisp strokes but found the fielders in nine of the ten balls leading to her dismissal. In a bid to break free, she chipped one tamely to backward point.On cue, Sana kept spin on for 13 of the first 15 overs. They frustrated Shafali with lack of speed, as a result of which, she missed putting some of the juicy full tosses away. India ended their boundary drought in the eighth over when Shafali welcomed Tuba with a pull through midwicket. She hit a couple of more fours before holing out to long-on.At the other end, Jemimah Rodrigues – batting at No. 3 ahead of Harmanpreet – kept manoeuvring the field and helping India inch closer. However, boundaries were hard to come by and, when India lost her and Ghosh off successive balls, it seemed Pakistan could do the unthinkable. Harmanpreet then almost saw India home in the company of Deepti Sharma. However, she sprained her neck while turning awkwardly to avoid being stumped and walked back retired hurt. Sajana then came out to hit the winning four that helped India maintain their upper hand over Pakistan in women’s T20Is.

Reddy reprimanded

India fast bowler Reddy has been reprimanded for breaching level one of the ICC Code of Conduct in the game on Sunday. She was found guilty and as a result, handed a demerit point.Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.”The incident occurred in the 20th over of Pakistan’s innings, when Reddy, after dismissing allrounder Nida Dar, gestured in the direction of the pavilion.

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has said that being denied the opportunity to get some game-time after a six-month gap in Test cricket is the “most disappointing part” after their one-off Test against Afghanistan was called off without a ball bowled.New Zealand had this match to familiarise themselves with the subcontinent conditions, with the series against Sri Lanka and India coming up. But persistent rain and outfield issues in Greater Noida reduced the first-ever Test between the two teams to a no-show.”The most disappointing part for us is that we lost the opportunity to be match-hardened and match-ready when we go into our Test match [against Sri Lanka] next week,” Stead said at the post-match press conference. “The guys are really disappointed. It was an opportunity to play Afghanistan. It doesn’t come around that often.Related

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“They have some unique bowlers – it’s always good to get your head around how you face them. The way they play is a little bit different to other countries. It’s always learning what you can do when you get in those match situations.”The one-off Test was not part of the World Test Championship. However, Stead said the team was left “frustrated”, as the format is “very, very dear to the team’s hearts”.”Even though it was fine for those two days, there were thunderstorms the nights before and the ground was just too soft and the umpires deemed that unfit to play on,” he said. “So that is sort of out of the players’ hands in a way as well.”But we were frustrated. We have come here to play cricket and play a Test match and as Jonathan [Trott, Afghanistan head coach] said, Test cricket, certainly to our group of players that is here, that’s very, very dear to their hearts and every Test you get to play in is a big one.”So regardless of whether it has World Test Championship points or not, that opportunity to get out there for five days, it looked a great surface. The whole block looked fantastic, so it would have been a great match of Test cricket.”New Zealand are not slated to play another Test against Afghanistan in the current Future Tours Programme cycle. Stead welcomed the prospect of playing more Tests against Afghanistan, heaping praise on their recent achievements in white-ball cricket, including a win against New Zealand in the group stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup.Persistent rain and outfield issues in Greater Noida led to the one-off Test being called off•AFP/Getty Images

“I don’t make the decisions around the Future Tours Programme and big tours,” Stead said. “But I said it right from the start of coming here, Afghanistan have knocked just about every top team in the world over now. So they’re certainly a force and becoming more and more of a force in world cricket. That’s something for the Afghanistan and New Zealand boards to get their heads around.”It was our first Test match against Afghanistan and we were really excited about that. They’ve been great competitors of ours over the last few World Cups. We’ve had some great games of cricket.”Stead said New Zealand were “desperate” to make the World Test Championship final. Five of their remaining eight Tests in the cycle will be in Asia, but he is confident of the side adapting to the conditions.”The World Test Championship is alive and well, and we’re currently in third place, and we want to make the finals again,” he said. “We’ve been there once in the past, and we are desperate to get there again. So every test match we play will be an important one.”The conditions that we face in Galle will be, I’m sure, different to Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai when we come back here again. So it’s still about adapting to the different surfaces where I’m learning from those. But also banking the knowledge you have created in the past even though it’s been a couple of [sessions of] trainings out there, we’d still bank on what we’ve learnt on those sort of pitches.”

Fifties by Jake Libby, Brett D’Oliveira and Adam Hose ensured Worcestershire would make Essex bat again in their rollercoaster match at Chelmsford.When bad light took the players off the field with 20 over remaining on day three of the Vitality County Championship match, Worcestershire had turned a 138-run first-innings deficit into a 165-run lead.Libby laid the foundations for the recovery with a 112-ball 65 at the top of the order. But it was an 80-run stand for the sixth wicket between D’Oliveira (51 from 71 balls) and Hose (64 off 91) – the pair coming together with two runs still required to erase the arrears – that gave Worcestershire hope of securing a third successive victory to move clear of the relegation area.Simon Harmer spearheaded the mercurial Essex attack, sending down 26 overs in the foreshortened day and taking 3 for 110, including the wicket of Hose to an extraordinary delivery. Essex will be looking for a first victory in four games on the final day to maintain their fading interest in the title race.Nightwatchman Joe Leach lasted just four balls on a grey, overcast morning before Sam Cook ended his 21-ball nought by inducing a thick edge through to the wicketkeeper. Gareth Roderick narrowly avoided a pair before he was turned around by Jamie Porter on six and nicked to second slip.Libby found good support from Kashif Ali in a 51-run third-wicket stand until Paul Walter was introduced and with his fourth ball had Ali following the ball across him through to slip.Libby survived a couple of scares but reached his fifty from the 90th ball faced, his eighth four helped on its way high over the wicketkeeper’s head. His latest partner Rob Jones took a liking to Harmer, hitting four successive boundaries, two of them identical shots on the sweep.However, the 55-run fourth-wicket stand was broken soon after lunch when Libby drove loosely at Cook and was caught low down at backward point. And six runs later, Jones went for another sweep against Harmer, this time more uppishly, and Dean Elgar completed the dismissal when running back from square leg.That left Worcestershire five down and still two runs short of making Essex bat again. That landmark was duly achieved and built on as Hose and D’Oliveira dug in obdurately initially to the extent that Porter came on for three overs and went off again without conceding a run. The first fifty of their partnership took 16 overs.The run-rate rose steeply with 31 runs added by the pair in the next four overs before Matt Critchley switched ends to give Harmer a rest and first ball had D’Oliveira fencing to second slip. Harmer’s rest spanned the tea break but his first ball after the interval brought the downfall of Hose, who padded up outside off-stump to a ball that turned prodigiously as it hit the crease to leave him bewildered to see the bails lying on the ground behind him.Harmer had a third wicket to his name when Ethan Brookes went to reverse-sweep, as he had successfully on several occasions in the first innings This time, however, the ball popped up off an edge to Robin Das diving full-length at short leg to cling on one-handed.With the floodlights on and the light deteriorating appreciably, Essex declined the option of taking the new-ball when it was due after 80 over, sticking with their spinners. The gesture proved in vain as the umpires deemed it too dark to continue an over later.

“Dig deep. Don’t give up. Test cricket is tough.”Kraigg Brathwaite is not expansive with the bat. Ditto with words. But in those pithy sentences, the West Indies captain sent a clear message to his players to not lose heart despite being beaten in two days and an hour at Lord’s .Brathwaite admitted West Indies had arrived at Lord’s with the aim of winning the first Test of the three-match series. His fast bowlers Kemar Roach (before he was injured) and Shamar Joseph wanted to ruin James Anderson’s farewell. Eventually, though, West Indies were simply the support cast at the Anderson gala attended by full houses including on Friday, for which the ECB refunded fans because there was fewer than 15 overs of play.”For me to the boys [the message] is generally: things will not always go as planned,” Brathwaite said after the defeat by an innings and 114 runs. “Also, we came to win the Test and it didn’t happen. But [there are] still two Tests remaining in this series and we still have six Tests remaining for the year. So it’s all a build-up. We can’t believe that because of this [England] win, we are out of it or anything. We got to dig deep, we got to keep believing and keep stressing on it. It’s easy to give up. It’s easy to say, ‘well, I can’t get it done’, but we got to keep believing and keep supporting one another.”West Indies’ batters committed basic errors with the bat•Getty Images

West Indies failed to bat 50 overs in both innings – 41.4 in the first, 47 in the second. No batter got to 50, with the unbeaten 31 from tailender Gudakesh Motie, who threw his bat around on day three, being their highest score. The disappointing bit for West Indies was that their batters were easily defeated and committed basic errors at the smallest nudge from England’s bowlers, especially debutant Gus Atkinson.Fast bowler Jayden Seales, who took four wickets on day two, had pointed to the batting failure on the first day when West Indies were dismissed for 121. Brathwaite, who made 6 and 4 at Lord’s, concurred.”Batting first, you want to put runs on the board in the first innings especially. We know where we went wrong. We know where we can be better. My thing for the group is stay mentally tough. It’s Test cricket. You go through successful periods, you go through tough periods, but you just got to be strong and believe in your ability. You got to believe that something’s around the corner. Just keep doing the right things. And everything will work out.”Related

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When asked what positives West Indies could take from this defeat, Brathwaite said bowling England out was a good start. “We got ten wickets. We did bowl them out albeit [for] 50-60 runs too many. With the bat, we got three guys that got 20-odd, they batted for close to an hour if not an hour. We caught decently as well.”West Indies do know how to win Tests and even series. They haven’t lost a Test series against England at home in two decades and are current holders of the Richards-Botham Trophy. Brathwaite said he, along with his predecessor Jason Holder, would remind the players of those facts and keep them inspired for the rest of the series.”We all have had some memories, we’ve all had glimpses of doing great stuff on this level … That’s what I call experience. That’s where experience comes in, Jason Holder has been great sharing his and I will continue to do it (too). As I said, we just got to dig deep on. Stay mentally tough.”