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Vote for the best individual Border-Gavaskar Trophy performance by an Indian in Australia since 2000

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2024Update: This poll has ended. Virat Kohli’s performance goes into the quarter-finals. Check the other polls here.ESPNcricinfo LtdAnil Kumble bowled 88.5 overs and took 12 wickets at the SCG•William West/AFPAnil Kumble – 8-141 & 4-138 in Sydney, 2004Match drawn, series drawn 1-1Anil Kumble’s match-winning ability was unquestionable at home but he hadn’t earned a similar reputation overseas. This Australia tour was an opportunity to improve that aspect of his game. Having started the tour on the bench, he replaced an injured Harbhajan Singh in the second Test. By the time the final match began at the SCG, with the series level 1-1, Kumble had bowled the most overs by an Indian bowler and taken a five-for in the famous win in Adelaide.In Sydney, after India posted 705 in the first innings, Kumble bowled 46.5 overs to pick up 8 for 141, his second-best haul after his perfect ten, and give India a lead of 231, which they extended to 442 before declaring late on the fourth day.Bowling another 42 overs in Australia’s second innings, Kumble went on to take 4 for 138 – his match-haul of 12 was his best overseas – but India were only able to take six wickets in total, falling agonisingly short of what would have been their maiden series win down under.By Shashank KishoreWatch the highlights of these performances on the Star Sports network at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm IST, from October 25 onwards.Virat Kohli was batting on another level in Perth 2018•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesVirat Kohli – 123 in Perth, 2018India lost by 146 runs, series level 1-1Virat Kohli was already one of India’s greatest batters before 2018. He stepped up to an even more rarefied level that year, scoring 1322 runs at an average of 55.08 over 24 innings, of which 22 were played in South Africa, England and Australia.Conditions in all three tours were hard on batters, but the more challenging they became, the more Kohli seemed to relish them. When he walked in to bat in Perth, everything must have looked familiar. India had lost the toss and conceded a bigger total than they should have, bowling well but not without spells of releasing pressure. Then they lost early wickets.In similar circumstances, Kohli had scored 153 at Centurion and 149 at Edgbaston. Now, from 8 for 2, he proceeded to play an even better innings. This was a proper trampoline of a pitch, and Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were routinely getting the ball to rear throat-high from just back of a length. Kohli negotiated the vertical threat expertly, though not without suffering blows to his arm and ribs, but the standout feature of his innings was how well he dealt with Australia’s attempts to sucker him with full balls after pushing him back.Almost every time there was an opportunity to drive, he did so pristinely, down the ground or through the covers with a decisive front-foot stride. A 20th century version of this list would have undoubtedly contained Sachin Tendulkar’s 114 in Perth in 1992. Kohli’s innings came at Perth Stadium and not the WACA, and just as the new ground seamlessly carried forward the old one’s legacy of pace and bounce, a new master had carried forward an old master’s legacy.Karthik Krishnaswamy

The team has two Pakistanis and two South Africans – one of whom is now playing for Namibia – making up the overseas contingent

Deivarayan Muthu03-Oct-2022 1. Brandon King (Jamaica Tallawahs) Runs: 422, Average: 38.36, Strike rate: 135.25In CPL 2019, King topped the run-charts for Guyana Amazon Warriors and broke into West Indies’ white-ball squads soon after. Three years later, King marked his homecoming to Jamaica Tallawahs by topping the run-charts once again and establishing himself as one of the top white-ball openers in the Caribbean. His century against Amazon Warriors at Providence and unbeaten 83 in the final against favourites Barbados Royals were among the highlights of Tallawahs’ campaign.Related

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King slams 83* to lead Tallawahs to third CPL title

2. Kyle Mayers (Barbados Royals) Runs: 366, Batting strike rate: 134.55; Wickets: 8, Economy Rate: 5.37Mayers extended his rich form from West Indies’ international home season, leading the way with the bat for Royals, too. He regularly hit over the top in the powerplay and also maximised this phase with the ball in swinging conditions. His 4 for 4 in two overs against St Lucia Kings in St Kitts proved to be the best bowling figures in an innings this season. Mayers also works particularly well with King, which is why we have pushed the Kings pair of Johnson Charles and Faf du Plessis down the order. 3. Johnson Charles (St Lucia Kings, wk) Runs: 345, Average: 43.12, Strike rate: 133.20Charles had such a good season with the bat for Kings that he elbowed his way into West Indies’ T20 World Cup squad as the back-up opener to King and Mayers and back-up keeping option to Nicholas Pooran, ahead of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots’ Andre Fletcher. His three half-centuries in four innings towards the back end of the tournament played a crucial role in Kings making the playoffs. Along the way, he surpassed Chris Gayle to become the second-highest run-getter in the CPL, behind Lendl Simmons. 4. Faf du Plessis (St Lucia Kings) Runs: 332, Average: 41.50, Strike rate: 168.52Du Plessis usually aces the powerplay by taking on the quicks, but he can also do the job in the middle order, as he had shown during his IPL stint with Chennai Super Kings. King and Shamarh Brooks aside, he was the only player this CPL to hit a century. Du Plessis’ strike rate of 168.52 is the best among batters with a minimum of 200 runs in the competition. 5. Rovman Powell (Jamaica Tallawahs, capt) Runs: 281, Average: 35.12, Strike rate: 123.78; Wickets: 2, Economy rate: 13Having improved his game against spin and impressed in IPL 2022 for Delhi Capitals, Powell enhanced his reputation by captaining Tallawahs to their third CPL title overall and first since 2016. In addition to contributing with the bat under pressure, Powell often fronted up to bowl yorkers at the death. His leadership was vital to Tallawahs winning three knockout matches in four days after a mid-tournament slump.ESPNcricinfo Ltd 6. Jason Holder (Barbados Royals) Runs: 155, Average: 51.66, Strike rate: 120.15; Wickets: 17; Economy rate: 6.86Holder can bat anywhere in the line-up and bowl across phases – skills that make him an elite allrounder in T20 cricket. With the ball, he forged a strong partnership with left-arm seamer Obed McCoy and bested the opposition with his variations. His forties against Amazon Warriors in Tarouba and Guyana showed that he could pinch-hit as well as pinch-block, depending on the situation. 7. David Wiese (St Lucia Kings) Runs: 126; Average: 25.20, Strike rate: 150; Wickets: 12, Economy rate: 6.75Wiese was Kings’ second-highest wicket-taker, with 12 strikes in ten games, often denying batters pace by bowling cutters in the pitch. With the bat, Wiese manufactured his own pace, producing powerful cameos down the order. In the absence of Tim David, who left the CPL for Australia duty after playing just five games, Wiese stepped up to give Kings’ side a potent point of difference. 8. Imad Wasim (Jamaica Tallawahs) Runs: 138; Average: 19.71, Strike rate: 121.05; Wickets: 17, Economy rate: 5.97Imad is out of Pakistan’s white-ball sides on fitness grounds, but he continues to be an ever-present in Tallawahs’ line-up. Six years after Tallawahs them to the CPL title, Imad repeated the feat. He was thrifty as usual with his left-arm inswingers and arm balls, and also slid up the order to deny oppositions favourable match-ups. Imad’s explosive 15-ball 41 not out in an unbroken 103-run stand off 30 balls with Shamarh Brooks in the second qualifier was among the highlights of the season.Sunil Narine’s economy of 4.80 was the best among bowlers who bowled more than 20 overs in the competition•Ashley Allen – CPL T20 / Getty 9. Sunil Narine (Trinbago Knight Riders) Runs: 111, Average: 13.87, Strike rate: 120.65; Wickets: 11, Economy rate: 4.80Narine struggled with the bat as an opener and was eventually demoted down the order. In a way, his failures with the bat mirrored the overall batting failure of Trinbago Knight Riders. However, Narine, the bowler, continued to be un-hittable: his economy rate of 4.80 was the best among bowlers who had bowled more than 20 overs in the competition. 10. Alzarri Joseph (St Lucia Kings) Wickets: 18, Economy rate: 6.75After having won the IPL earlier this year with Gujarat Titans, Joseph torched the CPL with his high pace, hit-the-deck bustle and inch-perfect yorkers. These skills enabled him to take wickets in all three islands – St Kitts, Trinidad and Guyana – and top the charts. These skills also attracted the attention of Jo’burg Super Kings in the SA20 auction midway through the CPL. 11. Mohammad Amir (Jamaica Tallawahs) Wickets 16, Economy rate: 6.43Sure, Tallawahs’ batting was hit-or-miss in the league phase, but Amir and Imad were consistent with the ball, performing the dual role of taking wickets as well as plugging the flow of runs. The Pakistan left-arm seamer bowled just 11 balls in the second qualifier and missed the final altogether with a groin injury, but his powerplay bite was central to Tallawahs qualifying for the knockouts. He swung the ball both ways, collecting nine wickets in the first six overs at an outstanding economy rate of 4.99.

Inducted into the Hall of the Fame, the allrounder had an outstanding career on the field and is now hugely influential off it

Daniel Brettig05-Feb-2021A persuasive case can be made for the fact that between the retirement of Shane Warne in 2007 and the rise of Nathan Lyon as an established member of the men’s team after 2013, no spin bowler in Australia was in greater command of their craft than Lisa Sthalekar. Unquestionably, none was more influential.The aggressive and inventive use of spin bowling in the women’s game, primarily in T20 but also in other forms, can be traced largely back to Sthalekar’s reinvention of spin as an attacking weapon for New South Wales, who she captained to multiple domestic titles, and then Australia on the world stage. This after decades in which they had been seen largely as run-stoppers while the seam and swing bowlers rested.

On being inducted into the Hall of Fame

“As a player there were plenty of times when I sat in the auditorium watching those players being inducted and hearing their stories, and you kind of wonder ‘will I ever get that chance, will my career ever be seen in a similar light as those before me’ and I get this opportunity now. It’s been an interesting road as an immigrant coming into Australia and trying to fit in and sport was certainly the way that I did it.

“Cricket was my second sport but I soon fell in love with it pretty quickly. Once I realised that women’s cricket existed and there was a pathway for me to not only represent my state but my country, that was something I certainly wanted to achieve at about 15 or 16 years of age. My family, my parents were very supportive, my father was the one who first introduced me to the game of cricket where I really fell in love with it. Went to the SCG and that kind of sold me to want to play for my country and hopefully be able to play there.

“One coach that has been from my NSW Under-18s right up to the Australian level was Steve Jenkins, so a shout out to him for him putting up with me but also me putting up with him as well, and then also the captains and my team-mates. They’re the ones you experience so much with on tour and they drive you to be better and I was very fortunate to come into the NSW and Australian teams with absolute legends of the game who are already inducted – Belinda Clark, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Karen Rolton, the list goes on and on. So to be seen in a similar light to them I pinch myself. I’m very fortunate and very blessed to have represented my country and my state.”

Seldom can a cricketer have enjoyed a more triumphant career conclusion either, as Sthalekar twirled her way through opponents at the 2013 ODI World Cup in India, playing a major role in helping Australia to wrest back the crown they had lost on home soil four years previously, and bowling distinctively in her gold and green cap. As a person of colour, Sthalekar is a pioneering member of the Hall of Fame for other and equally significant reasons, as part of a personal story that intertwines so closely with the quantum leap made by the women’s game.”That’s something certainly that I’m proud of. I see myself first and foremost as an Australian cricketer and as I’ve gone on this journey I’ve realised that I’ve been seen as a role model for those of south Asian descent, an immigrant as well,” Sthalekar said. “Hopefully I’ve been a positive role model to all of them that you can make it in Australia; you can achieve what you want to if you keep your mind at it and (are) willing to work hard – anything is possible.”Unlike Warne and Lyon, of course, Sthalekar made her start in the game at a time when it was not exactly clear whether it was a game for her, with no women’s teams to speak of in the vicinity of her childhood home in Sydney’s west. “I didn’t even know women’s cricket existed,” Sthalekar recalled. “I remember speaking to my father and saying I wanted to play cricket and he said ‘I don’t think girls can play, because they’re all boys that play on Saturday mornings’.”In time, Sthalekar’s father went to West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook and got her a trial, before they discovered the existence of women’s teams more or less through happenstance.”I went down to my first trial and it was all boys there, certainly didn’t want to step out of the car, but my father insisted and I’m glad he did,” she said. “I was fortunate to be able to play with three guys all the way through to Under-16s and the penny only dropped because one of the senior players was actually dating a female cricketer at the time and said ‘there’s the Gordon Women’s Club’, so at the age of 13 I realised women’s cricket existed and joined – played boys’ cricket in the morning and women’s in the afternoon.”Lisa Sthalekar poses with the 2013 ODI World Cup trophy in Mumbai•ICC/GettyThe development of spin bowling as Sthalekar’s chosen skill was a largely self-taught affair, as she spent one whole summer learning how to deliver an effective offbreak, and can now admit that it was only in the later days of her long career for Australia that she was able to benefit from specific and directed advice as to how to develop further. Since retirement, she has enjoyed watching the rising stocks of left-arm spinners in particular, and hoped they all got greater chances to apply themselves in Test matches.”I still remember learning how to turn the ball, you know how they say get your seam to fine leg, that’s how you’re going to get your drop and drift and I couldn’t figure it out until I spent a whole summer in the nets by myself mucking around with different grips and techniques,” she said. “So a lot of it was self-taught, there weren’t a lot of spin bowling coaches going around. I got private coaching from a batting perspective from Wayne Seabrook, so spent a bit of time with him growing up, but when I came into the NSW side, I think offspinners were seen as very economical.Related

• Lisa Sthalekar named Federation of International Cricketers' Association president

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• Kallis, Zaheer Abbas and Sthalekar enter ICC's Hall of Fame

• When should women's IPL start? 'Probably yesterday' – Sthalekar

“Just tie down one end for us, the rest will come at the other end. It probably changed when I took over the captaincy of the NSW side, I felt I could have the fields that I wanted, I started to bowl a little more aggressively and toss the ball up a little bit more old school spin bowling from that point of view.”Then, from a coaching perspective, the first time a coach really gave me a lot of feedback in a match situation was Stuart Law, he was assistant coach of us in the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, and he ran on a message in the final that I needed to slow it up because the pitch was quite difficult and I was getting the ball to bite. He provided feedback and then John Davison was part of our 2013 World Cup campaign, so right at the back of my career I got probably the biggest mentorship from a former spinner and a revered international coach.”That final campaign in 2013 still brings a twinkle to Sthalekar’s eye, with her part in the final victory over West Indies remembered as much for a spectacular catch to close out the game as for the spell of 2 for 20 that showcased all that was great about her flight, drift, dip and spin, and the critical wicket of Deandra Dottin.”I didn’t tell too many people, I think I just told my family and four friends, didn’t tell any of my team-mates,” she said of her retirement plans. “I pushed myself to finish off that six months, prior to that I wasn’t necessarily enjoying my cricket, I wasn’t quite sure where it was going, and I’m glad I did that and I can probably thank Shelley Nitschke and Sarah Andrews, two of my team-mates at the time and one obviously in Sarah had already retired, but Shelley was still heavily involved in the game and they kept pushing me to keep going.After retirement, Sthalekar has done some prolific work as a commentator•BCCI”So I’m glad I did, because most female cricketers back then would play a World Cup, play the Ashes and then after the Ashes everyone retired. But within our side we had Megan Schutt playing for the first time, Alyssa Healy was on the sidelines, Meg Lanning had just come in, I was seeing that next generation and we had just won the T20 World Cup, we’d won the Ashes back in 2011 and then we’d finished with the 2013 World Cup.”I thought ‘right, we’re No. 1 in every format, it’s time to go’ and given the fact I came in when Australia were really strong and dominant, it was nice to leave the team in that situation and then allowing the next generation a chance.”Since then, Sthalekar’s influence has been huge, across her involvement with the Australian Cricketers’ Association and also some prolific work as a commentator, a job that presently has her in Abu Dhabi for the ongoing T10 tournament. She is outspoken about the fact that administrators cannot afford to let Covid-19 cruel the strides made by the women’s game up to and including last year’s T20 World Cup, and must continue to invest for the long-term.”I understand that women’s cricket was building up really nicely and the T20 World Cup played at the MCG on March 8 showed what you can do if you invest heavily and market it properly, and I felt like women’s cricket was just about to kick off because of that, and then a week later the whole world shut down,” she said. “What that showed me was national boards and everyone went back to automatic pilot – ‘what’s going to give us revenue, it’s the men’s game, we’ve got to get that up and running’.”I understand you’ve got to pay bills and money’s got to come in, absolutely, but if you can find a way to get men’s cricket up and running in a bio-secure bubble, then surely you can do that for the women’s game. I look at India and they are a prime example. The last time they played as a country was March 8, and we’re nearly coming up to a year. Some countries have done really well, Pakistan women’s side have a couple of series locked in and they’re playing South Africa at the moment, Australia leading the way as well and New Zealand and we’re in that same bio-bubble.”But I urge national boards and the ICC to make sure the women’s game grows globally and goes off the back of that T20 World Cup – I hope that 80,000 at the MCG becomes a common occurrence.”Given how far the women’s game has come since Sthaleker attended that first trial session for a boys’ team, such a vision should be well within reach.

Mere minutes after reportedly acquiring shortstop Carlos Correa from the Minnesota Twins, the Houston Astros seemingly showed they aren't done.

The Astros are acquiring outfielder Jesus Sanchez from the Miami Marlins for pitcher Ryan Gusto, according to a Thursday afternoon report from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

Sanchez, 27, has played his entire six-year career for the Marlins. He's seen action in 86 games this season, slashing .256/.320/.420 with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs. Sanchez has career averages of 21 home runs and 69 RBIs per 162 games, though he has played more than 100 just twice.

Houston is enjoying a five-game lead over the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers in the American League West division despite a glut of injuries.

Gusto, who will reportedly go to the Marlins in the deal, has started 14 games for the Astros this season. He's currently 7-4 with a 4.92 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 86 innings pitched.

Thursday nights were Ruben Amorim’s saviour at Manchester United last season, although there was to be no solace in that slot this week, following the dismal draw at home to relegation strugglers, West Ham United.

A tepid and uninspiring display saw the hosts almost sleepwalk to that eventual 1-1 scoreline, despite taking the lead through Diogo Dalot in the second half, with the Red Devils showcasing almost a refusal to put the game to bed.

Even with the returning Matheus Cunha reinstated in the forward line, it was particularly concerning just how light United looked with regard to attacking options, not least with Benjamin Sesko the only senior star who is currently sidelined in that department.

At the back too, the frustrating absence of the previously ever-present Matthijs de Ligt also left Amorim scrambling to rejig his defensive unit, with the surprise inclusion of 19-year-old Ayden Heaven having seemingly backfired.

Ayden Heaven's game in numbers vs West Ham

A January arrival from Arsenal, the teenage sensation looked impressive during his handful of outings last season, with club legend Wayne Rooney suggesting that it looked like he’d “been there for years”, following his standout, albeit brief, impact.

Cruelly struck down by injury against Leicester City just a few games into his United journey, Heaven has since been on the periphery in 2025/26, with his only start prior to Thursday having come in the debacle down at Grimsby.

As was the case that rainy night at Blundell Park, the England youth international had a rabbit in the headlights feel to his performance against the Hammers, notably receiving an early yellow for a rash challenge on Jarrod Bowen.

Unsettled in a new role at the heart of the backline, in the absence of De Ligt, Harry Maguire and the benched Leny Yoro, the youngster was somewhat bullied up against the experienced Callum Wilson, having failed to win a single duel at all, as per Sofascore.

Indeed, the towering defender was unable to make a single tackle or interception, while recording a lowly 67% pass accuracy rate from just 17 touches, before being rightly withdrawn at the break.

Such is his age, the £1m signing certainly shouldn’t be written off, with that showing unlikely to prove terminal for his United career.

If anything, more of the scrutiny should rest on Amorim, with the Portuguese’s substitutions also needing to be put under the microscope.

Man Utd substitute looks to be on borrowed time

As treble winner Roy Keane suggested post-match, the hosts were almost attempting to see the game out as if they were champions, knocking the ball around with little belief that they would need a second goal to win the game.

That approach perhaps stemmed from Amorim’s second-half changes, with Joshua Zirkzee and the aforementioned Cunha both withdrawn for midfielders Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte.

There were also eyebrows raised at the decision to remove goalscorer Dalot, not least with the Portuguese defender having actually looked settled in that unorthodox left wing-back berth.

That move remained even more bizarre considering the criticism that Amorim had directed at his replacement, Patrick Dorgu, ahead of the weekend trip to Selhurst Park, highlighting the “anxiety” that has been a feature of the Dane’s game of late.

Such woes were evident even during the 21-year-old’s cameo appearance, a display that epitomised the drop off that United tend to endure once alterations are made mid-game.

Minutes

22

Touches

28

Pass accuracy

93%

Key passes

1

Successful crosses

1/3

Successful dribbles

2/3

Total duels won

3/5

Tackles

0

Possession lost

6

Indeed, Dorgu memorably wasted a promising opening late on after producing a wayward cross that evaded everyone in red, having lost the ball six times from just 28 touches during his 22-minute outing.

Equally, there were audible groans from the Old Trafford crowd at one stage as the ex-Lecce starlet opted to let the ball run out of play for a throw-in inside his own half, rather than try and keep the play alive.

That might be a case of nit-picking, but nothing appears to be going right for the left-footer right now, with content creator Liam Canning of the assessment that he is “miles off the standard” required to be a success at Man Utd, suggesting the attack-minded talent is “nowhere near it”.

With Amorim now approaching a period where his squad will shrink even further amid the loss of Mbeumo, Amad and Noussair Mazraoui to AFCON next week, the likes of Dorgu and other peripheral figures will have to be relied upon more heavily.

On the evidence of Thursday and this year in general, United’s number 13 has shown little sign that he is up to that challenge.

18x ball lost: Amorim must ruthlessly bench overhyped 5/10 Man Utd man

This Man Utd ace struggled in their 1-1 draw at home to West Ham

ByJoe Nuttall Dec 5, 2025

The Philadelphia Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, handing their in-state rivals their fifth loss in their past six games.

The Pirates’ loss came despite having ace pitcher Paul Skenes on the mound, and going up against Phillies rookie Mick Abel, who was making the first MLB start of his career.

While Skenes was his usual dominant self, striking out nine and allowing just three hits over eight innings, it wasn’t enough, with a Phillies run scored on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning proving all Philadelphia needed to secure a 1–0 win.

After the game, the Pirates’ social media team posted a graphic celebrating Skenes’ dominant outing, which was also the first complete game of his young career, despite the loss.

It was just the second complete game loss a pitcher has delivered since 2016.

Pirates fans were, understandably, frustrated.

Not just with the team’s decision to celebrate Skenes in the graphic, but that they did so while the Pirates have done so little to form a winning team around their young, generational pitcher.

Skenes’s rookie season last year was one of the best the sport of baseball has ever seen from a pitcher. He showed everything a team could possibly hope for in a franchise cornerstone. But the Pirates faced some pretty heavy scrutiny over the offseason when they kept their wallets relatively shut and did not make any major moves to bolster the roster.

When the result is the team’s young ace putting up one of the best games of his career and still getting hit with a loss, it’s not hard to see why fans are upset.

Skenes has seven quality starts on the year thus far, putting him behind only Zach Wheeler and Hunter Brown in the stat. Despite that, he has just three wins, putting him in a 55-way tie for 49th in the majors.

The three remaining teams – Guyana Amazon Warriors, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Barbados Royals – all have a shot at the playoffs

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2025

Jaydon Seales picked up three powerplay wickets and ended with 4 for 15•CPL T20/Getty Images

Jayden Seales’ four-wicket haul and Amir Jangoo’s unbeaten half-century set up a crucial six-wicket win for Antigua and Barbuda Falcons over Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday. The win confirmed Falcons’ place in the CPL 2025 playoffs, with 11 points from ten matches.After Falcons chose to bowl first, Seales struck early and often, ripping through Amazon Warriors’ top order with pace. His opening burst included Moeen Ali falling in the fourth over, followed by the key wickets of Ben McDermott and Shimron Hetmyer in the final over of the powerplay, leaving Amazon Warriors reeling at 26 for 3.Shai Hope’s 14-ball 26, which included three fours and a six, briefly lifted Amazon Warriors. But Usama Mir’s ninth over proved pivotal – he bowled Hope and was involved in the run-out of Hassan Khan at the non-striker’s end.Amir Jangoo guided Falcons home•CPL T20/Getty ImagesAmazon Warriors were eventually bowled out for 99 in 18.2 overs, with Mir returning 3 for 17 and Seales 4 for 15.Chasing 100, Falcons stumbled early, losing Andries Gous, Kevin Wickham, Karima Gore, and Shakib Al Hasan inside the powerplay, raising hopes of an Amazon Warriors fightback. However, opener Jangoo anchored the chase with an unbeaten 51. His 57-ball stay, which included three fours and two sixes, ensured there were no hiccups even as more wickets fell around him.Despite tight spells from spinners Moeen (2 for 10) and Imran Tahir (2 for 27), and a couple of late wickets, Jangoo remained composed and guided his team home with four balls to spare.The win marked a significant step forward for Falcons, who become the third team to qualify for the playoffs, joining St Lucia Kings and Trinbago Knight Riders.Mathematically, all three teams in the second half of the table – Amazon Warriors, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (six points from nine matches), and Barbados Royals (three points from seven) – are still in contention for the final playoff spot. But if Amazon Warriors win their next game against table-toppers Kings on Saturday, they are through to the playoffs, and Patriots and Royals will be out.

Siraj took three of the last four wickets on the fifth morning to seal an epic win at The Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-20255:30

‘Such moments make you feel that the journey is worth it’

India captain Shubman Gill has said his team was “pretty confident” of taking the remaining four wickets on the final morning at The Oval to square the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series.Late rain on day four dragged the game into the fifth day, leaving England needing 35 runs and India four wickets. Mohammed Siraj picked up three of the four to seal a stunning win.”Yeah, we were pretty confident,” Gill said at the post-match presentation. “Even yesterday, we knew that they [England] are a little bit under pressure. We just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout. Pressure makes everyone do things that they don’t want to, and we just wanted to make sure that they’re feeling the pressure throughout.Related

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“I think the way both the teams played in the entire series, every day coming on day four, day five, and never really knowing which team is going to win… it shows that both the teams came up with their A game and very happy to get over the line in this one.”Joe Root had said that the use of a heavy roller would benefit England on the fifth morning, but Siraj and Prasidh Krishna worked in tandem to give no respite to Jamie Smith and the tail.”When bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh are bowling like that then 35 runs is also too much,” Gill said at the post-match press conference. “As a batsman, you are under pressure as you feel the ball is doing something and it takes just one ball. And that is what we were reminding them about frequently. If the conditions are like this and the momentum is with you, then 30-35 runs is enough, then you know it is a matter of one or two balls falling in the right place and the game will get over there and then.”Gill said that India never thought about taking the second new ball, considering the movement both his strike bowlers had been getting since day four. “Also, we had the wicket-taking option on this wicket,” Gill said. “If they had to make the runs, they would need to score boundaries. We knew they were under pressure because in such a position the batting team is under pressure because it is matter of one ball.”Having been left heartbroken after he was the last man dismissed in the Lord’s Test last month, Siraj finished the game this time with the ball, when his pinpoint yorker uprooted Gus Atkinson’s off stump. Siraj put in a big shift, with his 30.1 overs in the fourth innings bringing him five wickets.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”Yes, definitely, he’s a captain’s dream”, Gill said of Siraj. “Coming in five Test matches, every ball, every spell that he bowled gave his all out, and every captain, every team wants a player like him. We are very fortunate to have him in our team.”While Siraj won the Player-of-the-Match award, Gill was chosen as India’s Player of the Series by the opposition coach Brendon McCullum for his chart-topping 754 runs in ten innings at an average of 75.40. Gill’s series aggregate is the second-highest for a captain behind Don Bradman’s 810 against England in the 1936-37 Ashes. No other batter has scored more runs in a series between England and India, going past Graham Gooch’s 752 runs in 1990.”Feels very rewarding,” Gill said. “I worked pretty hard before the start of the series. There were certain things that I wanted to work on as a batsman, and it was my goal to be able to be the best batter of the series. And to be able to accomplish that goal feels very satisfying and very rewarding.”I think once you are sorted mentally, you would be in a good space. But you’re only sorted mentally when you’re feeling technically correct. So, I think they’re both kind of correlated. If you feel like you’re getting in good positions, you’re always mentally more stable.”3:49

Bangar: Series result proves India is growing in stature

‘We want to be looked as a gun team’Having started the new WTC cycle with a series-levelling win, India are currently third on the table with 28 points in five matches. “This series was very important for us because the kind of maturity every player would feel [at] the end of the series would really help us in the long run in this WTC cycle,” Gill said.Asked if he would have felt the same had England chased the target, Gill admitted that his “feelings would definitely be slightly different”.”I think the scorecard of the series could not have really depicted what kind of cricket we played,” he said. “But this scorecard of the series that we have right now really shows how both teams played. This win was important for us to be able to get that morale high, especially after the kind of cricket that we have played over the course of two months.”When Gill’s India had landed in the United Kingdom in June, there were several questions asked – whether his team had the experience and the personnel to challenge Ben Stokes’ men. Two months later, India depart with the series shared. Gill credited head coach Gautam Gambhir for building the confidence of the team.”At the start of the series Gauti [Gambhir] said: ‘yes, we are a young team, but we don’t want to be looked as a young team; we want to be looked as a gun team’. And the way we played it today showed us that why we are a gun team, and we have gun players like him [Siraj] in our team and that’s what makes this team so special.”

Many Rangers supporters want to see sporting director Kevin Thelwell replaced, and now a big claim has emerged regarding his position of power at Ibrox.

Thelwell feeling the heat at Rangers

The Gers’ 3-0 defeat away to Brann in the Europa League on Thursday has done little to silence the dissenting voices, with Danny Rohl experiencing a sobering life in charge at Ibrox. It is hard to blame the German, but this will only increase the magnitude of the job being asked of him.

There are high-profile characters galore at Rangers who are under huge pressure, including sporting director Thelwell, with former defender David Weir mentioned as an option to replace him by Heart & Hand.

There is no doubt that Thelwell hasn’t hit the ground running in his role, having arrived from Everton at the end of last season, and unless something drastic changes, it is hard to see him remaining in the job for too long.

The same applies to chairman Andrew Cavenegh and CEO Patrick Stewart, and now a big claim has dropped that highlights the level of power Thelwell has at Rangers at the moment.

Thelwell influencing team decisions at Ibrox

Speaking on Hotline Live [Ibrox News], journalist Keith Jackson claimed that Thelwell actually helped pick Rangers’ starting XI against Dundee United last weekend, and may have also influenced the line-up vs Brann.

“What I’ve heard, whether it’s right or wrong, but I suspect it’s correct – I think Thelwell had a hand in picking the team at the weekend when Steven Smith was in charge. Would it surprise me if there was a little bit of influence from the sporting director in that lineup (vs Brann)? Not in the slightest.”

This update perfectly illustrates the control Thelwell has at Rangers, and many will feel that him picking the team at home to Dundee United only undermined the job that Smith was doing. Not only that, but the Gers failed to win the game, falling further behind Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts in the process.

The 51-year-old Englishman has a huge amount to do if he is to win round the masses, and despite only being sporting director for a matter of months, the writing is arguably already on the wall for him, having blown a huge amount of money on the struggling

Youssef Chermiti and decimated the defensive ranks in the transfer window.

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Thelwell’s biggest hope of staying on at Rangers is enjoying a strong working relationship with Rohl, and helping oversee massive improvements on and off the pitch, but even then, his critics are unlikely to go away any time soon.

When Rangers appointed Russell Martin as the new head coach at Ibrox, it looked like a decent appointment on paper for the Light Blues.

However, this has been nothing short of a disaster for Rangers. Martin was in charge of the Gers for 17 short games. During that time frame, he won just five times and saw his side score 21 goals.

They shipped 24 and kept three clean sheets, one of which remarkably came against their Old Firm rivals.

The writing has been on the wall for a while and it all came tumbling down after their 1-1 draw with lowly Falkirk on Sunday afternoon.

Matches

17

Wins

5

Draws

6

Defeats

6

Goals scored

21

Goals conceded

24

Points per game

1.24

Supporters blocked the team bus from leaving and a police escort had to ensure the manager left the ground in his car safely. Truth be told, he was never going to survive that.

Lo and behold, an announcement was made on Sunday night confirming his exit from Glasgow. He will go down as one of the club’s worst-ever managers.

So, what’s next? Well, a series of candidates have reportedly already been lined up.

The candidates to replace Russell Martin as Rangers manager

With Martin gone, Kevin Thelwell and Co will need to move quickly if they want to salvage the club’s season.

According to talkSPORT, one candidate to step into the vacancy is Steven Gerrard. That link is perhaps unsurprising given the volume of links to the Liverpudlian of late but he is currently a free agent and would be a hassle-free appointment.

Another manager out of work is Sean Dyche, and as per TEAMtalk, he is now the favourite to become the new head coach at Ibrox.

They reported this weekend that Thelwell, who worked alongside Dyche at Everton, could look towards the 54-year-old to move to Glasgow.

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The pair are said to still hold a positive relationship, so much so that Dyche is allegedly ‘very open’ to being given the job at Rangers.

The report notes that he ranks ‘very highly’ on the club’s shortlist as they now go about replacing Martin in the coming days.

Why Dyche could inspire Jose Mourinho-like change

You’d be hard-pressed in the current managerial market to find a head coach capable of doing a poorer job than Martin did in Scotland.

Hardly rated too highly after overseeing one of the worst Premier League sides, Southampton, in recent memory, his stock as a manager has only fallen further.

Dyche, however, has plenty of credit in the bank having done a sterling job at keeping Burnley in England’s top-flight for a number of years on a shoestring budget.

Truth be told, the former defender has rarely operated on a huge budget and given the level of finances in the Scottish Premiership, he should be fine in that regard.

While Everton didn’t pull up too many trees under Dyche, he still did an admirable job with the resources at his disposal. Having been appointed midway through 2022/23 when the Toffees were in bother of being relegated, he successfully kept them in the league and then guided them to a 15th-place finish in 2023/24.

It’s hardly awe-inspiring but as a head coach, he’s never been the flashy one. He’s let his results do the talking. After all, he has previously been described as “one of the most underrated managers in the Premier League” by content creator HLTCO.

Perhaps the most glowing review comes courtesy of former Everton man, Michael Ball. Speaking two years ago, he drew comparisons to a certain Jose Mourinho, someone who’s previously been linked with the Gers job.

Ball commented: “I have seen a lot of debate online following Saturday’s game about the way we [Everton] set up, but for me, the most important thing is that we are getting results.”

He continued: “Football is a results-driven business and picking up points is important if we [Everton] are to avoid another relegation battle. Even someone like Jose Mourinho has his own style of play, which is to park the bus, as they say, and he deployed that at Real Madrid, but the big difference is that he had Cristiano Ronaldo up front. What I am saying is that both managers have their own beliefs about how their sides should be set up to play.”

Youssef Chermiti and Bojan Miovski are no Ronaldo, of course they’re not, but for Dyche, the style of play does not matter, just as it doesn’t with Mourinho.

For Martin, that seemed to be all that mattered. Not once but twice not he’s stubbornly tried to imprint his style of play on a club and it’s gone horribly wrong.

When Southampton were promoted to the Premier League in 2024, he continued to play an expansive style of football and they were made to pay. At Ibrox, things didn’t go much better.

Dyche, however, is from a breed of managers who rely on solidity; they rely on organisation, they rely on a lack of chaos. All season long, Rangers fans have had to endure too much chaos. If they want a quick change of fortunes, then Dyche is surely their man.

Like Mourinho, he’ll get the job done and if that means dull football for a little while, then so be it. He’d certainly help make this Rangers squad more unified and more regimented.