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South East Stars 153 for 4 (Redmayne 38*, E Jones 36) beat Sunrisers 111 for 5 (Scrivens 62*) by 19 runs – DLSGrace Scrivens’ stylish half-century proved in vain as Sunrisers slipped to a 19-run defeat under the DLS method to finals day-bound SE Stars in a game reduced to 18 overs aside at The Oval.The England A captain in New Zealand last winter struck 62 not out off 48 balls with a six and eight fours, but with only Jo Gardner (23 from 16) offering meaningful support, the visitors were 111 for 5 and behind the clock in the chase for 154 when the rain drove the players off with 13 balls remaining. Dani Gregory took 2 for 21 while Tilly Corteen-Coleman (1 for 14) kept up her remarkable record of taking a wicket with her first ball.Earlier, Stars’ impressive score of 153 for 4 was built around Australian debutant Georgia Redmayne’s patient 38, the fireworks being provided by Emma Jones (36 from 23), Phoebe Franklin (23 from 21) and Bryony Smith (21 from 11). Mady Villiers was the pick of the Sunrisers attack with 2 for 23.Morning and afternoon rain delayed the start until 3:50pm, but Smith made up for lost time after losing the toss and being put into bat, plundering four boundaries from one Eva Gray over, the pick a back-foot drive creamed through extra-cover.Smith fell in the next over bowled by Villiers, the spinner luring her down the track to be stumped by Amara Carr, who then caught England opener Sophia Dunkley, holding onto a skied top edge.Franklin though picked up the baton, a delightful square cut and a bludgeon over the head of mid-on among her four fours. Villiers cut the innings off in its prime when Franklin hoisted one into the hands of Gray at cow corner but that was the cue for Jones to unleash her power.The all-rounder hit two mighty sixes, the first at long-on where Jo Gardner got fingertips to it but could only parry the ball over the rope. No such doubt about the second blow however which sailed five rows back into the seats at deep square.Left-hander Redmayne was content to play second fiddle in a stand of 57 and when Jones departed to a catch on the fence, the Aussie gave the stage to Alice Davidson-Richards, who smote a six and a four in reaching 16 off 6.Chasing 154 for an unlikely win, Sunrisers were soon in tatters. They lost Villiers without a run on the board, Jones in the action with a catch on the fence from the bowling of Stonehouse.Lissy Macleod then top edged one from Ryana MacDonald-Gay into the hand of keeper Redmayne and when Corteen-Coleman produced her latest party trick to trap Carr lbw for a duck the visitors were 19 for 3.Skipper Scrivens, who’d watched the carnage from the other end, responded with the first six of the reply, before being given a life by Aylish Cranstone, who spilt a regulation chance at point from the bowling of Jones. By then though Gregory had struck twice in three balls to remove Amu Surenkuma and Flo Miller.Scrivens continued to hit boldly, reaching 50 in 41 balls and Gardner too cleared the ropes but the task was just beyond them.

Mark Chapman bludgeoned 78 off 28 balls before New Zealand survived a late onslaught to record their first T20I victory of the home season in a bounce back against West Indies at Eden Park.West Indies were down and out in the 208-run chase at 93 for 6 in the 13th over. They needed 18 an over from there but the required rate suddenly nosedived as Rovman Powell launched stunning hitting at the death.Needing 16 runs off the final over, West Indies were suddenly in the box seat after a couple of Matthew Forde boundaries meant they required eight off four balls.Related

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But Powell holed out to quick Kyle Jamieson on the fourth ball in a game-changer before Forde could only score a single off the final delivery as West Indies fell three runs short.Jamieson held his nerve with a superb slower ball in a major relief for New Zealand, who were under pressure after a seven-run defeat in the series-opener at the same ground just 24 hours earlier.After New Zealand were sent in to bat, Chapman ignited his side in favourable batting conditions and completely dominated the middle-latter overs with a slew of belligerent blows.While chasing, West Indies succumbed to spinners Ish Sodhi, the only change from either team from game one, and Mitchell Santner combining for six wickets.There was a late twist but the result snapped the West Indies’ five-game T20I winning streak.DRS was used in this match after technical issues meant the technology could not be in place for the opener.

Chapman ignites New Zealand

There was pressure on New Zealand’s batting order after a meek effort in the series-opener, where only incredible late hitting from Santner got them close.Devon Conway struggled to get going but did help lay a platform with a 55-run opening partnership with Tim Robinson, whose premeditated ramps knocked the seamers off their lengths.But New Zealand were only modestly placed at 59 for 2 in the ninth over after Robinson’s dismissal. Chapman had a sighter before launching in the 13rd over, whacking Romario Shepherd for a trio of sixes.He was on a roll, finding gaps with a mixture of timing and power to record a 19-a ball half-century – the fastest in his T20I career. It was a welcome return to form for Chapman, who had only made 39 runs from four previous T20I innings during this home season.Chapman finally miscued straight in the air in the 17th over before Santner again showed off his big-hitting at the death as he finished off the innings in style with a six.

Forde backs up, Hosein held back

There was intrigue over how Forde would pull up from game one having made a successful comeback from a shoulder injury.He once again performed exceptionally well with the new ball to prove he’s well and truly fit and firing having not played competitive cricket before this tour since July.Ish Sodhi, who replaced Jimmy Neesham, picked up three wickets•AFP/Getty Images

Forde bowled three overs on the trot in the first game before being hammered in his final over by Santner at the death. Captain Shai Hope decided to bowl Forde out and the gamble worked when he once again knocked over Conway with an almost identical delivery from the first game that seamed in wickedly.Forde finished with 1 for 17 from four overs, but West Indies’ attack struggled mightily after that. On a ground with small dimensions, Hope didn’t seem to trust left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein who bowled just one over in the first T20I.He came on in the 16th over – the latest he had ever bowled in the format. Hosein was on a hiding to nothing and greeted with a six by Daryl Mitchell before Chapman whacked consecutive blows into the crowd in an over that ultimately cost 23 runs.Other than Forde, every other bowler’s economy was over eight runs an over.

Sodhi stars in return

New Zealand was expected to stick with their line-up from the opener, but allrounder Jimmy Neesham was a late scratch after he was hit on the shoulder while batting in the warm-up.Sodhi took Neesham’s place and grabbed his opportunity having not been part of the England series. He came on in the eighth over with West Indies needing a move on after a sedate start.Alick Athanaze had him in his sights but made a hash of a reverse sweep to gift Sodhi a second-ball wicket. His tail was up with Sodhi on the next delivery unsuccessfully reviewing a caught behind shout against Ackeem Auguste.Romario Shepherd and Rovman Powell’s impressive partnership went in vain•AFP/Getty Images

But he soon dismissed Auguste, largely thanks to a terrific catch from a diving Chapman in the outfield. Sodhi then deceived Jason Holder with a googly to rattle the stumps although his figures took a little of a beating in his final couple of overs.

Shepherd, Powell and Forde’s late hitting in vain

West Indies looked dead and buried at 93 for 6 in the 13th over. But they can never be totally written off due to their muscular batting through the order. Shepherd and Powell gave them hope after they smashed five sixes in a six-ball whirlwind.Shepherd fell for 34 off 16 balls, but Powell remained undaunted and received support from Forde as the ball kept flying into the terraces. They whittled it down to 16 in the final over but ultimately fell short.In the end the task proved too great and the West Indies will rue such a slow start. But they will know that no chase is out of reach and the late fireworks will spook New Zealand, who will need to reassess their plans in the death overs.

Aminul Islam has been re-elected as the BCB president at the board election on Monday. He will serve a four-year term, after having been in the same role for the last four months. Faruque Ahmed, the former president who Aminul had replaced in May, and Shakhawat Hossain, will be the vice-presidents.The day-long election, which included physical votes and e-ballots, was held in a hotel in Dhaka. A total of 23 directors were elected and two government representatives were announced later to form the 25-member body. The election commission said 115 votes were cast out of the 156 eligible voters.The election process is two-fold. The voters, called councillors, elect 23 board directors in three separate categories. Aminul was one of ten directors elected from the first category, which includes only the divisions and districts of the country. The second category is the all-powerful Dhaka clubs who elect the majority of 12 directors. The third category includes representatives from different institutions, former cricketers, captains, and several other organisations.The election commission announced the names of the board directors at 6.30pm, before the new 25-member body held an election among themselves to choose the president and two vice-presidents. Aminul, Faruque and Shakhawat were elected unopposed in these posts.Three former captains are now in the board of directors, including Aminul, Faruque and Khaled Mashud. Former Bangladesh cricketer Abdur Razzak was nominated from the Khulna sub-category unopposed, becoming a board director. He had left his job as a senior men’s selector recently.While the voting was held without major incident on Monday, the election commission representatives made allegations of “intimidations”. The build-up to the election, too, had several controversies. Tamim Iqbal, the former Bangladesh captain, had withdrawn from the race after complaining of interference, when BCB chief Aminul issued a letter asking for fresh nominations for the elections’ first category. The letter was cleared by the country’s courts the day before the elections.After he was confirmed as the new president, Aminul said he wanted to continue in this role after “falling in love with Bangladesh cricket’s development”. When he was elected on May 30, Aminul had said that his short-term role would be like a “quick T20 innings”.Aminul played 13 Tests and 39 ODIs, and led the side during their maiden World Cup appearance in 1999.Category 1 directors: Aminul Islam, Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury, Asif Akbar, Abdur Razzak, Julfiker Ali Khan, Mukhlesur Rahman, Hasanuzzaman, Rahat Shams, Shakhawat HossainCategory 2 directors: Ishtiaque Sadeque, Adnan Rahman, Fayazur Rahman, Abul Bashar, Amzad Hossain, Shanian Taneem, Mukhsedul Kamal, Nazmul Islam, Faruque Ahmed, Manjur Alam, Mehrab Alam Chowdhury, Iftekhar RahmanCategory 3 director: Khaled MashudGovernment representative directors: M Ishfaq Ahsan, Yasir Mohammad Faisal Ashique

Little known fact. Joe Root has never made a hundred in Australia.It will be the sub-genre of the summer. A much anticipated Ashes series, in which one of the greats of the game has the chance to complete a caveat-free career. An away win, and a full set of centuries in every Test-hosting nation he has played. Except for Bangladesh and the UAE. They don’t rate him in Dhaka.Matthew Hayden confidently made the claim that if Root didn’t end the Aussie summer with a Test ton, he’d strip nude to run around the MCG. But others aren’t so sure.”Wrists limper than a French handshake,” former Aussie legspinner and broadcaster Kerry O’Keeffe said on Fox Sports. “It doesn’t work in Australia.””The first two Tests are huge for Joe Root. They’re nickers’ Tests. Perth? They nick for fun there. And Brisbane day-night? Everyone nicks in Bris.”Joe Root is a nicker. When he was last here, in his first eight innings he nicked off. Australia knows this. What will be his defensive set-up? I’m very bearish about Joe Root.”O’Keeffe’s argument is that Root previously chose to stay inside the ball, as he was of the belief they wouldn’t target him with the offcutter, only for a different weakness to appear, that meant he was playing away from his body.It is a rare technical examination of a player who has averaged 58.00 since Brendon McCullum took over, but a prescient one given Australia’s recent tendency to produce pitches that favour their seam bowlers. Since the start of the 2021-22 Ashes, top-seven batters in Australia have averaged 30.22 per dismissal, compared to 38.14 in the four-year cycle before that. By contrast, England’s pitches have gone the other way. The average in the four years before McCullum’s appointment was 30.90; it has since been 38.94.”England play pretty well on the flatter wickets, the way they play,” Steve Smith said recently. “So, if there’s a bit in it like there has been the last three or four years, with our bowling attack, it certainly makes things a lot more difficult for their batters.”Nevertheless, Root sees no need to tamper with his technique. Arriving in New Zealand ahead of England’s three-match ODI series, it will be the final three hits he has before lining up against Australia in Perth.”A lot of that prep’s already started back home,” Root said, explaining how he’s balancing his preparation for an ODI series today with the carrot of the Ashes starting tomorrow.”I think how I’d prepare now is different to how I would have done 10 years ago. A lot more mental. I’ve clearly played against a lot of their guys now. Know how they operate, know what they’re likely to try to bring to the series.”I used to be very technical in how I prepared. I’d want to make sure that everything felt lined up and my feet were in the right place, my head was in the right place, whereas now I’m a little bit more concerned about how I’m looking at the game, how I’m going to approach different situations, whether that be the surface, whether that be different bowler types, different angles, and being able to manage those different angles when they come wide of the crease. Things like that.”Related

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This will be Root’s fourth Ashes tour. His individual record is respectable, averaging 35.68, but not befitting of a player of his own calibre. England’s record across that time, however, is diabolical: 15 matches, 13 defeats, two draws, zero wins.”They’re all different,” Root said of how the build-up to this series has compared to previous tours. “I look at it at this time and I’m in a completely different stage of my career. I’m no longer captain, I’m playing some really good cricket, and so are we. We’re playing in a really exciting way. We’ve got a great group of players that we can go there and hit them with different tools than we’ve had on previous tours, so when you look at it like that, it’s a really exciting prospect.”Clearly, Australia are really good in their own conditions, with a great record at home, especially against us, but that’s the exciting bit right? There’s an opportunity there to do something a bit different and hopefully achieve something really special.”Despite the ODI World Cup being two years away, these three matches against New Zealand are not without complete jeopardy. England are currently ranked eighth in the world after winning only eight of their last 23 fixtures. Failure to automatically qualify for the World Cup remains unlikely, but only if they nip in the bud a continued slide in the format.”I don’t think that’s necessarily anyone’s fault of what happened before,” Root said of the ODI group’s relative stability under Brook and McCullum, compared to previous leadership.”You look at the number of crossovers of Test series and one-dayers, it was physically impossible to get there. There was a one-day series against the Netherlands when we were playing a Test match at Old Trafford. You think how can that happen?”New Zealand themselves haven’t played an ODI since April, but remain ranked third in the world. The weighting of points in the ICC rankings is such that it presents a major opportunity for England to win some matches, and lift themselves away from any potential future problems.”I don’t think it’s arrogant to say you look at the quality that’s within our squad, and we’re not an eighth-in-the-world team,” Root said. “We should be competing and jostling for that top spot.”New Zealand are a very good team and if you try to sleepwalk into it or you’re preoccupied with what’s around the corner, then they’ll hurt us really badly. We want to keep making strides under Brooky after what was a difficult Champions Trophy. This is a great opportunity to build on what we started over the summer.”

Former left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has resigned as a Bangladesh national selector after deciding to contest in the upcoming BCB elections. Razzak, 43, collected his nomination papers to stand as a director candidate from the Khulna division on October 6.Razzak played 13 Tests, 153 ODIs and 34 T20Is for Bangladesh, and remains the third-highest wicket-taker for his country in ODIs. He is one of 61 nominations for the 23 directors’ position that will be contested in the upcoming BCB elections.The general members body, known as the councillors, will elect 23 of the 25 board directors, and the BCB president will be elected from that pool of 25 to serve a four-year term. The most prominent candidates are the incumbent BCB chief Aminul Islam and Tamim Iqbal, who have both announced that they will contest for the board president.”I had the honour of playing for the national team for 14 years and the privilege of serving as a national selector for over four years,” Razzak, who has been a selector for the Bangladesh men’s team since 2021, said in a statement. “I believe the time has come for me to step down from this position to explore the possibilities of contributing to the game that has given me so much, on a larger scale if the opportunity presents itself. I feel this is the right thing to do.”Following Hannan Sarkar’s resignation in February last year, Razzak was one of two members in the selection panel alongside chief Gazi Ashraf Hossain.Reflecting on Razzak’s tenure as a selector, Ashraf praised his colleague. “He was an invaluable member of the panel and brought his undoubted experience and vision to the selection process,” Ashraf said. “We thank him for his contribution and wish him the very best for the future, which we hope will remain closely connected with Bangladesh cricket.”

Big Picture: Another World Cup build begins

There’s always another World Cup to plan for. The recent T20I series had the more immediate focus of next February’s tournament, but these three ODIs – the first for Australia and South Africa since the Champions Trophy – are the first step towards the 2027 50-over edition which the visitors will jointly host with Zimbabwe and Namibia.These two teams have so much ODI history and in 2023 traded blows in India with South Africa winning the group game but Australia taking the semi-final. They were due to meet at the Champions Trophy but the match was washed out.Related

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Since the Champions Trophy there have been three significant retirements between the sides: Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell from ODIs and Heinrich Klaasen from all internationals. They leave considerable holes to fill on the way to 2027.Australia have had to make changes to their initial squad for this series with Matt Short (side), Mitchell Owen (concussion) and Lance Morris (back) ruled out which has opened the door for Cooper Connolly, Aaron Hardie and Matt Kuhnemann. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins continue to rest but Marnus Labuschagne is in the squad and could play for the first time since losing his Test place in the West Indies.South Africa will be led by Temba Bavuma who was last seen holding the World Test Championship mace aloft in emotional scenes at Lord’s. Keshav Maharaj also returns to bring experience to the spin attack.

Form guide

Australia LWLLL
South Africa LWWLL

In the spotlight: Marnus Labuschagne and Wiann Mulder

Does Marnus Labuschagne‘s road to the Ashes start in Cairns? It’s perhaps a stretch, but despite the different format, runs in this series would certainly not be a bad thing as he embarks on trying to regain his place to face England in November. Labuschagne was dropped before the 2023 World Cup but earned a reprieve when called up as cover on a tour of South Africa and ended up making a vital 58 not out in the final against India. In a 12-month period from September 2023 to September 2024 he averaged 52.11 in ODIs with a strike rate of 85.43 but his last eight innings have brought a top score of 47.Last month, Wiaan Mulder sent the cricket world into meltdown when he declared on 367 against Zimbabwe. He’ll do well to stir quite as big a talking point in this series. His ODI record needs some work if he’s to cement a long-term spot. At the Champions Trophy his bowling had more of an impact than his batting where he finished as South Africa’s joint-leading wicket-taker including career-best figures of 3 for 25 against England.Dewald Brevis lit up the T20 series•Getty Images

Team news: Hardie could fill allrounder role; Brevis likely to debut

Green will return to the middle order, or potentially No. 3, while Josh Inglis and Alex Carey are set to continue featuring together. There will likely be some rotation among the quicks with three games in five days. Josh Hazlewood played all three T20Is so may be due to sit out.Australia (possible): 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Alex Carey, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodBrevis is set to make his ODI debut after a starring role in the T20Is. Kwena Maphaka has been added to the one-day squad after his success but may not make the XI with tall left-armer Nandre Burger available. Bavuma confirmed he would bat at No. 3.South Africa (possible): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Ryan Rickelton, 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Matthew Breetzke, 5 Dewald Brevis, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Pitch and conditions

Conditions were good for batting in the deciding T20I although there were occasional signs of the ball holding in the surface and slower deliveries from the quicks gripped. Dew will be a factor for the bowling side in the second innings although Aiden Markram said he would have batted first on Saturday. When Australia played New Zealand in three matches in Cairns in 2022 there was help for the bowlers with the highest total across six innings being 267. There won’t be any concerns with the weather.

Stats and trivia

• The 2022 series between Australia and New Zealand in Cairns were the first ODIs at venue in 19 years.
• Green’s highest ODI score of 89 not out came on this ground in that New Zealand series. Since that innings he has averaged 42.72 in ODIs
• Marsh has won the toss 20 times as captain across T20Is and ODIs – choosing to bowl on every occasion
• If Bavuma and Maharaj play two matches in this series they will reach 50 ODIs

Quotes

“Getting ready to spend three-and-a-half hours in the field will be a little bit different for a few of the boys. But as a group and as a whole, nothing really changes. [There’s a] bit of a mindset change, it’s obviously different format. But the same stuff rolls on.”
“It’s always exciting when you see the young faces. Obviously the big talk has been on Brevis…excited to see what he can also bring within the one-day stuff.”