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Kirstie Gordon took 5 for 12 and Sarah Bryce completed four stumpings as The Blaze maintained their 100% record in the Charlotte Edwards Cup with a seven-wicket victory over Thunder at Emirates Old Trafford.Slow left-armer Gordon’s fine bowling and Bryce’s sharp work behind the stumps restricted Thunder to 111 for 9 on a pitch that was being used for its fourth T20 match in as many days and this total proved to be no sort of target for a Blaze team featuring the England opener, Tammy Beaumont.Beaumont made 34 not out and overshadowed her England colleagues Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone as Blaze strolled home with 4.2 overs to spare.Thunder won the toss but The Blaze grabbed the initiative in the opening overs, restricting their hosts to 22 runs in the powerplay overs and taking two vital wickets.Fi Morris, the hero of Thunder’s victory over Sparks on Thursday, was caught by Teresa Graves at backward point for 1 off the seventh ball of the match and Seren Smale was smartly stumped by Bryce off her sister, Kathryn, for a 13-ball 2.Emma Lamb hit two fours but in the eighth over, she was caught at deep mid-on by Marie Kelly off Gordon for 20 and it was only taking ten runs off the tenth over that enabled Thunder to reach the midpoint of their innings on 44 for 3.Eventually, Ellie Threlkeld and Danni Collins maintained some much needed acceleration until their 43-run stand was ended by Lucy Higham in the 14th over when she had Threlkeld caught at mid-off by Gordon for 20.New batter Ailsa Lister lasted only half a dozen deliveries before she holed out to Kelly off Higham for 4 and the off-spinner took her third wicket when Collins was stumped by Sarah Bryce for a gutsy 30 when attempting a reverse sweep.Kathryn Bryce bowled the 19th over and it was the most productive of the innings as far as Thunder were concerned, 17 runs coming off it, thanks in part to a four and six by Ecclestone.The England slow left-armer put on 26 in 14 balls with Cross before Cross became Sarah Bryce’s third stumping and Gordon completed a memorable afternoon by bowling Ecclestone for 20 and having Phoebe Graham stumped first ball.By contrast with their hosts, The Blaze openers, Beaumont and Teresa Graves, encountered few problems getting the scoreboard moving and the pair had put on 50 in 6.2 overs before Graves skied Sophie Morris to Tara Norris at mid-off and departed having made 29 off 24 balls.Kathryn Bryce then added a further 36 in five overs with Beaumont and the No.3’s departure, caught at midwicket by Norris off Fi Morris for 21 did nothing to halt The Blaze’s stroll to victory. Sarah Bryce was caught at cover off Cross in what proved to be the final over of the game.

Immediate contacts of anyone testing positive for covid-19 in the bubble during South-Africa India series will not need to isolate. The person who has tested positive will also not need to leave the bubble, and will be allowed to quarantine in the hotel room as long as they are “clinically stable”.These are part of the “strict” norms for the Bio-secure Environment (BSI) put in place by Cricket South Africa in coordination with BCCI as the Indian contingent is set to arrive in Johannesburg later this week.With all members in the BSI being fully vaccinated, both boards have agreed it would be easy to deal with any positive case within the bubble.”Considering that all those within the ecosystem will be vaccinated, the positive case will isolate within the hotel room if clinically stable,” CSA’s chief medical officer Shuaib Manjra told ESPNcricinfo. “Contacts will continue playing and training with non-medical interventions strictly observed, and tested daily.”CSA had originally put together a more relaxed bio-bubble plans after the third wave of the pandemic receded in South Africa in October. These have have now been modified following the emergence and quick global surge of Omicron, the latest covid-19 variant.”Whilst at the end of the third wave we considered moving from a strict BSE to a managed environment, the Omicron variant and high levels of community transmission have forced a strict BSE,” Manjra stated.Omicron was first detected in November in the Gauteng province by local public health experts who shared the findings with the World Health Organisation and other countries. In a stern warning to the world, the WHO said Omicron carried a “very high global risk” and “another major surge” in infections/death could be “severe”.Despite that grim message the BCCI decided to carry on with the India’s tour of South Africa albeit after a rejig in schedule. The T20I leg of the tour has been scrapped altogether for now, with the Tests that were to start on December 16 now beginning on Boxing Day.The first indication of India’s willingness to go ahead with the tour came after BCCI allowed the India A team to complete their shadow tour comprising three four-day fixtures against South Africa A. That series was played entirely in Bloemfontein behind closed doors.Asked whether crowds would be allowed during the India tour, Manjra remained optimistic. “According to government regulations only 2000 fans currently are permitted.”However fresh restrictions from the South African government later this week could potentially have an impact on crowd presence. South Africa currently remains on adjusted alert Level 1 – the most lenient restrictions since the pandemic began – with open borders, a midnight to 4am curfew, mandatory face-mask wearing and indoor and outdoor gatherings limited to 750 or 2000 people respectively.The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) is expected to tighten these measures over the festive period, which begins on Thursday, a public holiday, and will last until after New Year’s Day. The NCCC will meet on Tuesday with an announcement set to come before Thursday.

Pakistan made it unnecessarily complicated for themselves, but their bowlers had done enough in the first half to ensure they held on for an exciting four-wicket win in the first T20I against Bangladesh in Dhaka. In a gritty, and sometimes ugly, contest where ball didn’t come on to bat much, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Shadab Khan stifled the Bangladesh batters, especially in the first ten overs, to keep them to a below-par 127. Bangladesh managed just three boundaries and seven sixes all innings, with Nurul Hasan and Mahedi Hasan providing a late boost to the innings.

Hasan reprimanded, Bangladesh fined

Hasan Ali has earned himself a reprimand and a demerit point – his first one – for his send-off to Nurul Hasan in the first T20I, while the Bangladesh players were fined 20% of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate (one short of the target) in the game.

It was the sort of target Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam tend to knock off with ease, but on these surfaces in front of a raucous home crowd, Bangladesh weren’t going to let go easily. Mustafizur Rahman found movement with the new ball and castled Rizwan with a beauty early, while an off-colour Babar chopped on to Taskin Ahmed. Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik, too, fell cheaply to put Bangladesh on top. So it was left to Fakhar Zaman and Khushdil Shah to grind their way to keep Pakistan in touch with the asking rate, and for Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz to provide the fireworks at the end.Bangladesh off the boil
Coming off a World Cup where they disappointed, this was Bangladesh’s chance of a reset. But, instead of batting with abandon after winning the toss, they appeared to be playing within themselves, preferring caution to bravery as Pakistan’s bowlers applied the squeeze. It wasn’t until the sixth over that the first boundary was struck, and by the halfway stage, they had hobbled to 40 for 4. The lower-middle order led an impressive recovery and 87 off the final ten meant Pakistan had a chase on their hands.Taskin Ahmed sets off on a celebratory run after sending back Babar Azam•AFP/Getty Images

A poor finish for Pakistan
An odd statistical quirk of Pakistan’s generally spotless bowling performance was how each of the five bowlers had their figures spoilt somewhat by expensive final overs. The final overs of Nawaz, Shadab, Wasim, Hasan and Haris Rauf went for 15, 13, 12, 11 and 15 respectively. It meant five bowlers who had allowed just 61 in their first three overs collectively had leaked 66 in their fourths.Bowlers give Bangladesh a chance
All the good work the bowlers had done looked to have unravelled in a frenetic first ten overs of the Pakistan chase. The two-paced nature of the pitch had Babar checking many of his shots, while Mustafizur sent Rizwan packing early with a classical inswinger. Babar was fortunate not to fall a few balls earlier than he did, when a nick through to the keeper wasn’t reviewed. An untidy hoick by Haider saw him fall for a duck, but Shoaib Malik’s dismissal was the most unforgivable of all.One of the most experienced men in the game, Malik made the schoolboy error of strolling out of his crease while the ball was alive, and in the hands of Bangladesh keeper Nurul Hasan. He spotted Malik’s brainfade and had a shy at the stumps, catching the veteran out of his crease and reducing Pakistan to 24 for 4 in the powerplay.Fakhar, Khushdil heroics
When you think of Fakhar and Khushdil performing heroics for their side, you probably imagine them teeing off, blasting big runs. Instead, the two men who hit 34 each, got their runs at less than a run-a-ball, their combined 68 coming in 71 balls. The middle order had dug in after the early losses, ensuring the asking rate was within touch. They were aware Pakistan had the firepower to catch up at the death, so even when the two fell within three overs of each other, Shadab and Nawaz had an equation they could work with. The two allrounders will grab the headlines, but without the toil of Fakhar and Khushdil, they wouldn’t have had the opportunity.

MS Dhoni is set to remain with Chennai Super Kings next season, but perhaps not as a player.Speaking at the toss during his team’s last IPL 2021 league match against Punjab Kings on Thursday, Dhoni indicated that his association with Super Kings – whom he has captained since the inaugural IPL season in 2008 – would continue into the 2022 season.Related

• N Srinivasan: 'There is no CSK without Dhoni and no Dhoni without CSK'

• 'We have to decide what is good for CSK' – Dhoni on his future with the franchise

• 'Watch the ball, hit the ball': Vintage Dhoni rolls back the years to turn CSK's hero again

• How Chennai Super Kings kept the whistle alive

• IPL to become 10-team tournament from 2022

“You’ll see me in yellow next season but whether I’ll be playing for CSK you never know,” Dhoni said, when asked about his future by the toss presenter Danny Morrison. “There are a lot of uncertainties coming up, two new teams are coming, we don’t know what the retention rules are and so on.”The IPL will expand to a ten-team tournament next season, before which there is set to be a mega auction, which will mean teams are allowed to retain only a handful of their players. While Super Kings may find it difficult to let go of Dhoni for sentimental reasons – he has led them to three IPL titles, and has become inextricably linked to the franchise and the city it represents – his returns with the bat have diminished greatly over the last two seasons.Since the start of the 2020 season, he has averaged 19.73 and struck at 108.42, a steep fall from his corresponding IPL numbers until the end of 2019: 42.20 and 137.85. In Thursday’s match against Punjab Kings, Dhoni was out for 12 off 15 balls, bowled by a wrong’un from Ravi Bishnoi.The IPL is the only serious cricket Dhoni has played over the last two years. He announced his retirement from international cricket in August 2020, more than a year after playing his last match for India, the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.In case Dhoni decides to end his playing career at the end of the ongoing season, there is a chance that Super Kings might move him to a role in the coaching set-up. He is already set to play a backroom role with India during the upcoming T20 World Cup, as a mentor.Super Kings have already sealed a top-two finish in the league table, so Dhoni fans can expect to see him play at least two more matches – the first Qualifier against Delhi Capitals on Sunday, and either the second Qualifier on October 13 or the final on October 15, or both.

Ross Whiteley’s six-hitting prowess continued at Trent Bridge•Getty Images

Six-hitting Ross Whiteley supercharged Worcestershire Rapids as they completed their first victory of the season in the NatWest T20 Blast by defeating Notts Outlaws by 13 runs at Trent Bridge.Whiteley, who hit six sixes in an over against Yorkshire on Sunday, cleared the ropes on five occasions in making 42 from just 16 balls.Three came in one over from Harry Gurney which went for 24. Gurney finished with an analysis of none for 57, the most expensive in the county’s T20 history.His assault stunned Notts, one of the favourites to take the trophy, and underlined the call from his director of cricket Steve Rhodes for England to take him seriously as a candidate for their Twenty20 side.The loss was the first sustained at home by the Outlaws since May last year, a run of seven wins and two abandonments, which leaves them on six points from as many matches in this campaign, whilst the Rapids’ win lifts them up to three points.The home side had been set to score 209 for their fourth consecutive win but found themselves pegged back after an aggressive start and could only post 195 for 5.Riki Wessels made 49 and Alex Hales scored 44 in the chase but John Hastings proved to be an effective matchwinner for the Rapids, taking 3 for 31.Earlier, 60 from Joe Clarke and a punishing sixth wicket partnership of 60 in just 4.2 overs helped push the Rapids up to 208 for 8, after being asked to bat first.Clarke scored his runs from only 27 deliveries and hit seven fours and three sixes to get the visitors off to a flying start, which took them past 50 inside just four overs. Clarke took 28 off a single over from Luke Wood.After Notts had fought back strongly, Whiteley and Mitchell Santner took it away from them again with some destructive hitting.Santner also showed his big-hitting prowess with three maximums of his own in making 35 from 20 balls.Santner clubbed one of his rope-clearing blows off countryman Ish Sodhi, who took 2 for 41, including the prized scalp of Whiteley, who skewed the leg-spinner to point.Jake Ball had earlier removed Clarke and then added some lustre to his final figures of 3 for 34 by removing both Santner and Joe Leach as the innings drew towards a close.Notts had never chased down a target as large as 208 before but enjoyed an explosive Powerplay to set them on track, rattling up 76 without loss. Hales scored 50 of them, reaching the landmark in just 22 balls, with 12 fours – seven of them coming from eight consecutive deliveries bowled at him by Jack Shantry.With the game moving decisively away from them they were given a lifeline when Hales went after Brett D’Oliveira but failed to clear Ed Barnard on the deep midwicket fence, with the score on 92.When Brendan Taylor found 18-year old debutant Pat Brown on the midwicket fence, off Daryl Mitchell for 25, Notts still needed 80 from 46 balls.Outlaws captain Dan Christian made only two, hoisting fellow-Australian Hastings down to Clarke at long leg.The required run-rate rose to more than over 13, with 66 needed from the last five overs and home chances dipped further as Samit Patel became Hastings’ second victim, pulling to midwicket for 10.On 44 Wessels reached 4,000 runs in T20 cricket but he perished shortly afterwards and despite Tom Moores and Steven Mullaney throwing the bat in the closing overs the damage had already been done.

Match Facts

June 12, 2017
Start time 10.30am local (0930 GMT)

Big Picture

And so, it has transpired that two fundamentally flawed sides – seventh and eighth on the ODI rankings – now have the chance to scramble over the other into the semi-final of the most competitive one-day tournament around.How this came about deserves a brief recap. Pakistan, who barely strung together five overs of competence against India, choked South Africa’s top order with spin, before the quicks came back to wipe out the middle order with reverse swing. The next day, Sri Lanka, who had been swatted away like a gnat by South Africa, ran down India’s 321 for 6 with ease – Angelo Mathews so cool in the final overs, he practically had a cigar between his lips, and a drink in one hand.Even just two games in, both teams have put together such colourful campaigns. Sri Lanka’s old warhorse, Lasith Malinga, has been sporadically effective with the ball, but has been more entertaining in the field, where his slow-motion dives have brought to mind the keeling over of a ship. If you squint, you can just about see seismic ripples in the turf. Elsewhere, Sri Lanka have attempted singles advisable only on low-gravity planets, have committed batting hara-kiri against high-quality wrist spin, and players have strived en masse to rule themselves out of this game – Chamara Kapugedara, Kusal Perera and Upul Tharanga already unavailable, before a blow to Thisara Perera’s head at training also put him in doubt, though, thankfully, he appears to be fine now.Pakistan, meanwhile, had lost Umar Akmal to fitness concerns a week before the tournament, have seen ace bowler Mohammad Amir go wicketless in both matches, while other bowlers in the attack lurched from abysmal to dominant in the space of three days. Sarfraz Ahmed’s new captaincy has also been eventful. Mohammad Hafeez delivered ten overs and contributed the vital wicket of Quinton de Kock in Pakistan’s win over South Africa, but had not been bowled at all in the previous match, prompting much head-scratching, not least from Pakistan’s own coach.Look, these previews are often an occasion for considered analysis; a platform for weighing up relative strengths, and figuring out which side has the upper hand. But is there really a point with these two teams? When they play as they have, they are impervious to any kind of meaningful dissection. There is so little consistency from one game to the next, the whole exercise loses its value.And a Sri Lanka v Pakistan knockout has so much tragicomic potential that to discuss it beforehand is like giving out spoilers. This preview may already have said too much.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLWLL (completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WLWWL

In the spotlight

Babar Azam, one of the brightest young batting talents on the planet, has five hundreds and six fifties in 28 innings, a rocking average of 54.44, and – crucially for a Pakistan batsman of the last two years – a 21st-century strike rate of 89. He had just been warming up when the rains came down in Birmingham – his last stroke having been a regal on-drive off Kagiso Rabada. Having had a modest tour of England last year, Babar will be eager to cross fifty for the first time on English soil, and Sri Lanka’s limited attack may be the opposition to do it against.Also in possession of a potentially devastating payload of talent is another 22-year-old, Kusal Mendis, whose crinkle-free 89 on Thursday helped set Sri Lanka on track to victory. There are still flaws in his game – Pakistan might be wise to pack their slip cordon early in his innings, for example. But 26 innings in, there is a scientific composure to his game that has been the cause of quiet excitement for Sri Lanka fans. Only Joe Root has hit more ODI fifties than Mendis’ 11, since the latter’s debut almost a year ago.Kusal Perera’s hamstring injury may mean a straight entry into the XI for Dhananjaya de Silva•Associated Press

Team news

Kusal Perera’s exit from the tournament due to a hamstring injury means Sri Lanka’s batting will be in flux again. They have flown in Dhananjaya de Silva and, given Tharanga remains suspended for another match, de Silva may have to walk straight into the middle order. There is a chance Sri Lanka will play Lakshan Sandakan instead of Thisara Perera, but the selectors have generally been conservative, so Thisara could stay. De Silva and Gunathilaka both provide offspin options.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Nuwan PradeepThere is a chance of fast-bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf debuting, in place of Mohammad Hafeez. However, Pakistan will perhaps be unwilling to mess with a winning combination.Pakistan (possible): 1 Azhar Ali, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt, wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Mohammad Amir, 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Junaid Khan

Pitch and conditions

The weather is forecast to be cloudy but dry, with temperatures around the mid-teens. A fresh pitch is being used for this match. Scores of 280-300 have seemed about par in the two matches played in Cardiff so far.

Stats and trivia

• The last time these two teams met in an ODI outside Asia was back in 2002. Of their ten most recent encounters – each of which has been in Asia – Sri Lanka have won six.
• Angelo Mathews, who hit 52 not out against India, has averaged an outstanding 50.08 since the start of 2014, with a strike rate of nearly 88
• Since his debut in August last year, Hasan Ali has taken 33 wickets at an average of 25.9 and strike rate of just under 27 – better, by a distance, than any of his team-mates to have played more than one match during that period

Quotes

“We are not trying to get too far ahead. We just want to take one game at a time. We’re not thinking about the semi-final as of now. We’re just taking on Pakistan tomorrow. We’ve got to play really good cricket to beat them, and we all know that they’re a very dangerous team.”
“I think it’s an achievement. Everyone wanted to do well in this competition. I believe, and we believe as a team, we are moving towards the right direction. We know as a team we are gelling together.”

Scorecard”I don’t like things messy,” said the girl in the refreshments outlet as she wiped down the surfaces with uncommon zeal. It is fortunate she did not have a view of the cricket. “Messy” barely begins to sum up a second day at Taunton in which 18 wickets fell and a succession of batsmen were in suicidal mood.The upshot is that Essex, 10 for 0 at the close, need another 245 with all their second-wickets intact. It is by no means impossible, because this pitch is far better than the scores suggest, although an Essex victory would require no more of the batting tomfoolery that saw those 18 wickets tumble for 253 runs.Neil Wagner, New Zealand’s adopted South African, was the chief beneficiary of a haphazard day in which his persistent use of the short ball reaped more dividends than he could fairly expect even on a wicket which the batsmen had concluded was two-paced and did not trust as a result. But hell, if it keeps working, keep doing it. As he so often has for New Zealand.Wagner has found little swing in Taunton with his new-ball spells, when he pitches the ball up, but his old-ball tactic of bashing the ball into the middle of the pitch has brought untold joy. His burst of 5 for 17 in 34 balls saw Somerset decline to 124 for 9 before a last-wicket stand of 50 between Craig Overton and Jack Leach restored at least a semblance of responsibility. Wagner returned to end that, drawing Overton into an uppercut to third man, and finished with 6 for 48.Somerset’s batting coach Chris Rogers said; “I think a lot of the batsman will feel they have left a lot of runs out there. However, I do think this wicket is playing tricks. It is two-paced and it has become a bit of a lottery. But still, we could have tried to have seen Wagner off and we will need to address. The last pair valued their wicket and that will be a big lesson for the other guys.”A more pressing question is why Somerset dealt with it in such a ham-fisted fashion. Wagner, as a skiddy left-armer, is difficult to leave when he hammers the ball into a somewhat unreliable surface because of the angle he bowls and the height – or lack of it – he generates, but that barely begins to build a defence.Such tactics – as Wagner himself signalled afterwards – are exhausting and cannot be pursued with success before long. Five overs, 30 balls, 15 balls each, to see him off. Against an Essex side only fielding two frontline pace bowlers. Finally, it seems, the Internet age where nobody can concentrate for longer than two minutes has reached Taunton.Wagner’s assault began with Steve Davies, whose square drive off the back foot flew at catchable height to point. Peter Trego was strangled down the leg-side and, further down the scorecard, the shots got worse. Roelof van der Merwe attempted a one-legged whip and was caught at midwicket and Lewis Gregory top-edged a pull to long leg.That left Jamie Overton. Before lunch, Overton had bounced out Wagner: fast bowler bouncing fast bowler to warn him that fire could be fought with fire. Wagner therefore stepped up his short-ball assault and removed Alastair Cook from slip to strengthen the leg-side with the same intent. Blow me, if Overton did not top-edge a hare-brained pull straight up in the air. Perhaps an early contender for the daftest shot of the season. Utterly self-indulgent. There again, these days there is a lot of it about.Essex had not been much better. Resuming on their overnight total of 60 for 2, they lost eight wickets in barely doubling their score with only Cook providing any real resistance. Even Cook lacked his frolicsome approach of the first evening before he played on, 13 added in an hour to his overnight 39, pushing limply at Gregory.Left-arm spin will play a major part in Somerset’s attempt to win the game on the third day. Leach’s solidity will persuade Somerset that his simplified action – following the ECB analysis that deemed his action as illegal – will gradually pose the same threat that was such a central part of their Championship challenge last season. He took two wickets in Essex’s first innings, bowling Ravi Bopara behind his legs on the sweep in a solid introduction to the season. A simplified action looks as if little go wrong, but what he needs are the bowling figures to follow.Van der Merwe, his fellow slow left-armer, bowled the best deliveries of all, none better than the delivery which turned to strike Adam Wheater’s off stump. Perhaps he could have been further forward, but on a day of such batting inadequacies it would be harsh to complain too much.

Centuries from opener Rassie van der Dussen (102 off 138 balls) and Dwaine Pretorius (115 off 79 balls) went in vain for Lions as they fell five short of the 312 target set by Knights in Kimberley. The win kept the Knights’ knockout chances alive.David Miller’s unbeaten 86-ball 123, his third one-day hundred since February, had propelled Knights to 311 for 6 after they had elected to bat. Shadley van Schalkwyk then defended 16 off the last over, despite conceding a six first ball, to seal their win.Van der Dussen had lost four partners by the 23rd over of the chase, and with Lions needing 210 runs off 167 deliveries, the opener was joined by Pretorius. They added 144 runs off 138 balls to keep the visitors in contention before van der Dussen was trapped in front by Dillon du Preez. Mulder (30* off 15) joined Pretorius – who struck eight fours and four sixes during his maiden List A century – and brought the equation down from 61 from 25 to 24 off the last two overs. Pretorious’ dismisal in the 49th over dented the chase, however, and van Schalkwyk conceded only a single when six were required off the last ball.Earlier, useful partnerships at the top helped Knights amass a challenging total. Opener Keegan Petersen hit five fours and a six in his patient knock of 75 but it was Miller whose rapid century – studded with seven fours and six sixes – helped them power past 300 with some support from the lower order. While he reached 50 in as many balls, he took only 28 deliveries more to bring up his eighth List A hundred. Pretorius and Wihan Lubbe were the only two of seven Lions bowlers who conceded less than six per over.Chris Morris earned the Player-of-the-Match award for his 3 for 30•Getty Images

Chris Morris and AB de Villiers made resounding returns to Momentum One Day Cup, as they helped Titans thump Warriors by seven wickets in the penultimate round-robin match of the tournament at Willowmoore Park in Benoni. Morris’ 3 for 30 set the tone for Titans as they bowled Warriors out for 147 and Titans chased it down with 131 balls to spare, led by de Villiers’ unbeaten 75, and claimed the top spot from Dolphins with six wins from nine matches ahead of the final set of games on Thursday.Morris made his presence felt at the very outset, bowling Warriors opener Gihahn Cloete off the second ball of the match. Fellow fast bowler Lungi Ngidi (3 -32) further compounded Warriors’ poor start, removing the two Colins – Ingram and Ackermann – with a double-strike in the sixth over. Captain JJ Smuts (39), the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, resisted Warriors’ slide with a 66-run fourth-wicket partnership with Yaseen Vallie, whose 61-ball 44 pushed Warriors to 113 before Morris had him caught behind in the 30th over. Jerry Nqolo (26) and Andrew Birch (16) were the only two other batsmen to get into double figures as Warriors folded in 41.2 overs, with the last three wickets falling for seven runs.In reply, Titans suffered the early loss of Jonathan Vandiar (1), but Aiden Markram and Heino Kuhn added 23 each, before de Villiers made short work of the chase, clobbering ten fours and one six on his way to a 62-ball 75. His unbeaten 87-run stand for the fourth wicket with Farhaan Behardien (24*) helped Titans chase down the target in 28.1 overs.Titans are now placed at the top of the table, a spot that will guarantee a home final should they stay there after the last round of matches.

The majority of England’s centrally contracted players (who are not otherwise engaged at the IPL) have been made available to play for their counties in the early rounds of the Specsavers County Championship and the Royal London One-Day Cup next month.The player availability, which was confirmed by the ECB on Friday, means that Essex’s return to Division One of the Championship, against Lancashire at Chelmsford on April 7, could provide some intriguing individual match-ups.In particular, England’s former Test captain, Alastair Cook, will face up to his long-term attack leader, James Anderson, in his first first-class outing since relinquishing the captaincy, while Cook’s likely opening partner for July’s Test series against South Africa, Haseeb Hameed, will be fronting up at the top of Lancashire’s batting.Joe Root, the new Test captain, will sit out Yorkshire’s opening Championship fixture against Hampshire at Headingley, as will his Yorkshire team-mate, Jonny Bairstow, who might have been playing in the IPL during the same period had he not gone unsold at the auction. Moeen Ali and Jake Ball will also miss the opening round of matches, for Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire respectively, following their busy winter schedules.However, those players will be made available for at least one of the opening three rounds of the Championship, before attention returns to white-ball cricket with the impending ODI series against Ireland and South Africa, followed by the Champions Trophy.Several other players who have featured in England’s Test plans in the past 12 months will also be available to their counties in that period, including Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Alex Hales, Steven Finn, Mark Wood, Keaton Jennings, Liam Dawson, James Vince, and Root and Bairstow’s Yorkshire team-mates, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and David Willey.The list, naturally, excludes the eight England players who will be on IPL duty in India, including the allrounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, the one-day captain Eoin Morgan, and the one-day opener, Jason Roy.All England players who are currently with their counties, however, have been made available for the opening three rounds of matches in the Royal London One-Day Cup, which has been brought forward in the season this year building to a final at Lord’s on July 1.

Central Districts confirmed a third-place finish to the league stage of the Ford Trophy after beating Auckland by seven wickets at Pukekura Park. Auckland crashed out, collapsing spectacularly to hand Central Districts the advantage.Having chosen to bat, Auckland were well placed to gun for a big total when they were 203 for 3 in the 33rd over, courtesy contributions from Jeet Raval (46), Sean Solia (60) and Colin Munro (62 off 43). Ajaz Patel’s dismissal of Solia, to end a 36-run fourth-wicket stand with Colin de Grandhomme (37 off 23 balls), triggered Auckland’s slide: they lost their last seven wickets for 34 runs and were bowled out in the 44th over. Left-arm spinner George Worker was the wrecker in chief, with figures of 4 for 22 in six overs.Central Districts took only 39.1 overs to romp home, thanks to an unbeaten 106 by their captain Will Young (104b, 15×4) and his partnerships of 81 with Jesse Ryder (54) for the second wicket and an unbroken 137 for the fourth wicket with Tom Bruce (70* off 53 balls).Central Districts finished on 16 points, while Auckland ended up on 15. Auckland were knocked out despite having the same points total and a better net run rate (+0.001) than Northern Districts (-0.307) or Otago (-0.448), since Northern Districts had earned more bonus points.Northern Districts, as a result, finished in fourth place and qualified for the playoffs despite losing their last match to Otago, by two wickets at University Oval.An unbeaten 143 (85b, 11×4, 8×6) by Anaru Kitchen helped Otago blaze through their chase in just 34.1 overs, though their frequent wicket losses kept Northern Districts in the game. Northern Districts may have fancied themselves when Otago slipped to 191 for 6, but Kitchen added 67 for the seventh wicket with Josh Finnie (32 off 16) to keep the match in the balance. Finnie and Derek de Boorder fell in quick succession to Ish Sodhi, who finished with figures of 4 for 85), before Kitchen and Christi Viljoen steered Otago home with an unbroken 26-run stand for the ninth wicket.Kitchen also opened the bowling for Otago and bowled economically, finishing with 0 for 21 from six overs. That spell – along with James Neesham’s 3 for 58 and Michael Rippon’s 1 for 34 – helped restrict Northern Districts to 288 despite half-centuries from Bharat Popli (69), Nick Kelly (67) and Daryl Mitchell (72 off 48 balls).Wellington ensured a top-spot finish after beating Canterbury by two wickets at Hagley Oval. An unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 20 between Matt Taylor (48*) and Hamish Bennett (5*) dragged Wellington home after they had slipped to 229 for 8 in a chase of 247. Despite the regular loss of top- and middle-order wickets, Wellington had always stayed in touch with the target thanks to Hamish Marshall’s 100-ball 108. Marshall was one of three batsmen dismissed by the legspinner Todd Astle.Canterbury’s 246 for 9 was achieved on the back of an unbeaten 50 from their No. 6 Cole McConchie, who held one end together even as the lower order fell apart around him, with no one from Nos. 7 to 11 getting into double figures. Canterbury had made a solid start to their innings, thanks to Tom Latham (38), Henry Nicholls (64) and Peter Fulton (43), and were at one point 190 for 4 in the 40th over of their innings. Left-arm spinner Luke Woodcock was Wellington’s most successful bowler with figures of 4 for 50.