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Northern Diamonds produced a clinical performance with bat and ball to defeat Western Storm by seven wickets in their Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Emirates Riverside.The Diamonds were on point with the ball as Linsey Smith produced career-best List A figures of 5 for 34 to dismiss the Storm for 183. Captain Sophie Luff top-scored for the visitors with a fine innings of 65, but their total was always going to be tough to defend.Hollie Armitage led from the front in the Diamonds’ run-chase. The skipper blasted a half-century from 53 balls, and was unbeaten at the end on 68 alongside Bess Heath to guide their side over the line with ease, earning their fourth victory in five games in the competition.After being inserted, the Storm made a solid start through Fi Morris, who scored a brisk 30. However, Beth Langston dismissed Georgia Hennessy for 5 before notching a second wicket in her first seven-over burst to remove Morris.The visitors were able to settle into a rhythm with Luff and Alex Griffiths at the crease. The two players put on fifty in just 46 balls to put the Diamonds under pressure, and the hundred was brought up at the end of the 18th over. Jenny Gunn was forced to leave the field after pulling up before bowling her second over, and was replaced by Katie Levick.Smith earned her reward for a fine spell to remove Griffiths for 36, breaking a partnership of 65 for the third wicket. Storm collapsed after Griffiths’ dismissal, falling from 109 for 2 to 112 for 6 in the space of three overs. Luff was defiant amid the clatter of wickets, scoring a half-century from 57 deliveries.She shared a stand of 61 with debutant Chloe Skelton for the seventh wicket to propel the visitors towards a score over 170, but Smith returned from the Finchale End to surge through the tail. She removed Luff for 65 with the final wicket of the innings.The Diamonds enjoyed a rapid start to their chase aided by wayward bowling from the visitors. Lauren Winfield-Hill and Armitage were able to calmly see off the early overs to settle their team into the innings.Hennessy prised out Winfield-Hill with a delivery that kept low for 16. However, the home side were not deterred as Armitage and Sterre Kalis took the game away from the Storm to whittle down the total with ease. Kalis and Leah Dobson were both dismissed by Stephanie Hutchins, but it was too little too late for the visitors.Armitage completed a deserved half-century to allow the hosts to close in on victory. She and Heath produced an unbeaten stand of 54 to deliver the win, with Armitage dispatching the winning runs with a boundary through the leg-side.

On a difficult, sticky and turning Mirpur deck, 21-year old Afif Hossain hit an unbeaten 31-ball 37 to drag Bangladesh out of a bit of a mess, helping rescue the hosts from 67 for 5 to winning with eight balls to spare. After the victory, Afif said he knew all along that as long as he was not dismissed, Bangladesh would emerge victorious. However, he said that a useful piece of advice from Mahmudullah, the T20I captain, went a long way in achieving that outcome.”When I went out to bat, Riyad bhai just told me one thing. To take two-three overs to settle in,” the 21-year old said. “And personally, my ambition was to return after finishing the game. First thing I did was to assess the wicket and to understand what needs to be done on this surface.”I was aware that if I stay late, I can finish the match. The plan for both Nurul Hasan and me was to just score without losing a wicket because the run-rate was under check.”Afif Hossain is pumped after taking Bangladesh to victory•AFP/Getty Images

After the match, Mahmudullah said that Afif and Nurul showed “maturity” in their partnership. He said that their half-century stand brought “relief” to a “tensed” camp that was downcast after sliding into a losing position after a terrific bowling show.The T20I captain also praised Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib blitzed his way to a 17-ball 26 to keep Bangladesh ahead of the required run-rate early on after returning 1 for 22 in his four overs. Mahmudullah said that “Shakib once again showed how important a player” he is for the Bangladesh team. Shakib’s momentum-building innings, in a low-total run-chase, allowed Afif and Nurul to play risk-free cricket when the pressure was high.Henriques praises Mustafizur’s skillsThat Afif had to take Bangladesh only past 122, however, was courtesy of the bowling effort in the first innings. Left-arm seamers Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam shared five wickets for 50 runs in their combined eight overs, and Afif said their returns had equal impact on the match result that now sees Bangladesh lead Australia 2-0 in the five-match series.”Our pace bowlers made full use of the home advantage we have,” Afif said. “It was natural that our bowlers would bowl to a plan that is successful on these decks. But it needed backing up from the fielders too, which we received.”Mustafizur – who finished with an economy of 5.75 and the wickets of Josh Philippe, Matthew Wade and Ashton Agar – was also the beneficiary of praise from the opposite camp. Moises Henriques, who has played both with and against Mustafizur in the IPL, said that for Australia to put up better totals, it would be paramount to combat the sort of skill Mustafizur brings to games on slower surfaces.”Today Mustafizur showed how quickly he adapts,” Henriques said after the match. “He bowled 24 slower balls (laughs) and did not bowl anything pace on. He just summed up the conditions really well tonight.”The amount of revolutions he gets on the slower ball even on a good wicket is hard to play anyway, let alone on a surface like that. We need to find a way to combat that, and try and get as many runs as possible. It’s quite clear it’s not a 160 to 200 wicket, but we need to find a way to get to 140 or 150 whatever that might be.”

Mushfiqur Rahim could be one of two players asked to stay back with the Bangladesh contingent after their ODI series against Zimbabwe, to avoid a longer quarantine period ahead of their T20I series against Australia next month. Rahim had been granted a leave by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) after he had requested to skip the T20Is against Zimbabwe.The BCB and Cricket Australia (CA) had agreed on the condition that both sets of players must be in quarantine ten days before entering the tour’s bio-bubble in Dhaka. Being in the Harare bio-bubble counts as being in this quarantine, which means Rahim’s personal break – which was supposed to be from July 22 – wouldn’t allow him to enter the Bangladesh-Australia bio-bubble until the day of the first T20I between the two sides, proposed to be in the first week of August.Related

• Mushfiqur Rahim out of Australia T20Is after missing quarantine deadline

• Mushfiqur Rahim to miss remainder of Zimbabwe tour

• BCB to enforce strict measures for Australia's visit

• Rahim to opt out of playing T20Is on Zim tour

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that they have to keep the Australia series quarantine in mind, but said a final decision will be taken after discussions with the team management in Harare. Any player on the current Zimbabwe tour who wants to be available for the full Australia series has to remain in Zimbabwe till July 27.”Everyone has to be in quarantine for ten plays to play in the Australia series,” Abedin told ESPNcricinfo. “We have planned to keep two players from the ODI side that’s playing against Zimbabwe, with the T20I side, just in case. We are not taking any chances because there is always the chance of someone getting sick.”After discussion with the team management, we will finalise on July 15 about whether Mushfiq will remain in Zimbabwe. Mushfiq wanted a break from the bio-bubble which is completely understandable. It is very difficult to live inside a bio-bubble. Even we have got tired staying at home, and imagine how the players feel being in hotels for such long periods.”Bangladesh play the ODI series against Zimbabwe from July 16 to 20. The T20Is are from July 23 to 27, and the return flight will bring them home on July 29. Australia, currently in the West Indies, are likely to arrive in Dhaka on July 27 after their last match on that tour on July 25.Apart from the ten-day quarantine, the BCB have already agreed to other requests from, CA including the visitors avoiding the airport hallrooms, stricter control in the team hotel, and playing all five T20Is in Dhaka.

AB de Villiers has denied that his leadership role may be on the line if South Africa fail to progress out of the first round of the Champions Trophy. After having lost to Pakistan in a rain-ruined encounter earlier in the week, South Africa must now beat India on Sunday to make the semi-finals.The spotlight fell on de Villiers in the aftermath of the Pakistan game because of the tactics he employed. With the rain threat evident days before the match de Villiers chose to bat first, though it is widely accepted that chasing teams have the advantage in shortened matches. South Africa totalled a below-par 219 for 8. In defense of that, de Villiers took off his most dangerous bowler, Morne Morkel – the only bowler to dismiss any of the Pakistan batsmen – and replaced him with the expensive Wayne Parnell to significantly reduce South Africa’s chances of being on the right side of a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculation.Later, de Villiers admitted that had he “known it would only be 27 overs, I would have attacked a lot more on the field”.De Villiers did not attend Wednesday’s post-match press conference so he could not be asked about whether forecasts in the lead-up to the match had been studied, but he defended himself in the lead-up to Sunday’s game. “I think my captaincy is pretty good. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every second out there. We lost the last game, so that’s never ideal for a captain, he said. “But I understand what I’m trying to do out there. I’m really enjoying the captaincy. I think I make some good calls.”But it is exactly those calls that have been questioned repeatedly, especially in the light of de Villiers’ captaincy record in other formats.After taking over both the ODI and T20 teams following Graeme Smith’s stepping down, after the 2011 World Cup, de Villiers initially struggled to get the hang of handling the side and was relieved of the wicketkeeping duties to concentrate on batting and captaincy. In February 2013, he handed the T20 reins over to Faf du Plessis but a year later, made known his desire to captain the Test side, when Smith retired. Hashim Amla got the job but stayed in it for only 18 months before resigning in the middle of a home series against England in early 2016. De Villiers took over temporarily and was then given the post permanently but injury prevented him from ever playing as the full-time captain. He stood down last last year, after du Plessis won series against New Zealand at home and Australia away. Du Plessis was then confirmed Test captain, with de Villiers only leading the one-day side.Of all South Africa’s ODI captains who have led in more than 10 matches, de Villiers is only more successful than Kepler Wessels. Under de Villiers, South Africa have won 59 out of 102 matches (58%), under Wessels 38.5%. By contrast, Shaun Pollock’s team won 64.1% of matches they played and Graeme Smith’s, 61.7%.Du Plessis has only captained the ODI side in nine matches, but has lost just once. Among his wins was a 5-0 whitewash over Australia last October and public opinion has swung towards du Plessis taking over in all formats. De Villiers, though, is determined to stay on even if he is being written off. “The pencil’s in your hand, and I unfortunately can’t control what you’re going to write but in my mind I’m a good captain,” de Villiers said. “Unfortunately it’s going to come down to the result again tomorrow – hopefully it will be a good one.”

Umar Akmal and Azhar Ali have been recalled by Pakistan for the squad that will travel for the Champions Trophy in England. This after the pair were dropped following Pakistan’s 4-1 defeat in the ODI series in Australia in January, and did not feature in the limited-overs series against West Indies earlier this month.The development marks a tumultuous three months for Azhar, who was captain of that side in Australia, before being stripped of the leadership role and omitted from the ODI squad altogether. Now he will take his place in a squad led by former vice-captain Sarfraz Ahmed.Kamran Akmal, who was the leading run-scorer and declared Man-of-the-Tournament during the Pakistan Super League, has once again been dropped. He had been called up to the limited-overs side that toured the West Indies and played all games in the shorter formats, scoring 90 runs in four T20I innings, and 68 in the three ODIs.It was a disappointing return for a man riding a wave of form from the PSL, but his failure to convert that into international runs has seen him pay the price. In addition, his discomfiture in the outfield, having played most of his career as a wicketkeeper, was evident, and two dropped catches – including a very easy chance – couldn’t have helped his cause.Fahim Ashraf, 23 is the only player in the 15-man squad yet to put on an international shirt in any format. He was part of the ODI squad for the three-match series against the West Indies, but did not make the final XI. Fakhar Zaman is also yet to make his ODI debut, although he did play three of the four T20s against West Indies earlier this month.Pakistan are placed in Group B of the Champions Trophy, and begin their campaign against current holders India on June 4, before taking on South Africa and Sri Lanka on June 7 and June 12, respectively. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-final stage.

Kolkata Knight Riders have bought New Zealand allrounder Colin de Grandhomme as a replacement for Andre Russell, who is currently serving out a one-year ban for a doping-code violation.De Grandhomme, a medium-pace bowler and a lower-order batsman, made his debut for New Zealand in February 2012. In seamer-friendly conditions, he is capable of generating enough lateral movement to trouble the batsman despite his leisurely pace of 120 kph. He took 6 for 41 in his first Test against Pakistan in November last year. Making him a value addition is his batting strike-rate in all T20 cricket – a whopping 171 after 91 innings.Considering a relaid Eden Gardens pitch afforded surprising assistance to the fast bowlers in its first international match, Knight Riders appear to be stocking up on pace bowling options. They already have Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter-Nile, both known for generating swing and seam.Despite the reinforcement, Knight Riders would feel Russell’s absence. He was an important part of their title-winning run in 2014 and was Man of the Tournament in 2015.”We are not on the back foot,” the allrounder Yusuf Pathan said. “Russell was an important cog in our wheel not only on-field, but in the dressing room also. He is a great character to have. There are situations when players miss out. He will be missed in the dressing room. But we have to look ahead and work with what we have.”Captain Gautam Gambhir echoed similar sentiments. “Either we can see Russell’s absence as a challenge or look at it as an opportunity in bold letters,” he told . “I as an individual, and KKR as a group, are looking it as an opportunity.”Knight Riders begin their IPL campaign on April 7 against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot

Trent Boult became the second-most expensive New Zealand player in IPL history when he fetched INR 5 crore (US$750,000) from Kolkata Knight Riders, but he won’t be splashing the cash. “A new pair of jeans, maybe,” was his modest idea for a purchase.Boult’s value sits behind only Brendon McCullum’s, who went for INR 7.5 crore (US$1.12 mn) in 2015, and confirms his rise into one of the finest white-ball pace bowlers in the world. Last year he was benched for the majority of the tournament – playing only once for Sunrisers Hyderabad – but in the absence of Mitchell Starc, he will be the premier left-arm quick at this year’s event.He is certainly an in-form bowler. In the one-off T20 against South Africa, at Eden Park, he claimed 2 for 8 off four overs – in a total of 185 – which followed 6 for 33 in the deciding Chappell-Hadlee ODI. Seeing his price rise, in a bidding war between Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, was a “surreal” experience and he struggled to get his mind around how some players were valued so highly.”We were in a car with a couple of the lads following the Twitter feed,” Boult said. “To see the name come through with a figure like that next to it was pretty unbelievable. It’s bizarre how that much money can be put on the head of a player to play six or seven weeks.”Building up to [2015] World Cup I wouldn’t have put myself in the bracket of top five or six white-ball bowlers in the country. But my game has grown, I’m a lot more confident with the white ball and now things like this are knocking at the door.”Having been bought for such a significant sum, and given the balance of the Knight Riders squad, Boult can look forward to a lot more on-field time at this year’s tournament.”It’s a very hard one to read,” he said. “Different teams need different things. It was frustrating to only play one game last year but that’s the way the tournament is played – four overseas players [in the XI] so people have to miss out. I’m definitely looking forward to putting my foot forward for KKR.”The 27-year old will be one of ten New Zealand cricketers to feature in the upcoming edition of the IPL•BCCI

Overall it was an auction of limited success for New Zealand players with only Corey Anderson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson – the raw quick bowler – being bought, although nine current New Zealand players, plus Brendon McCullum, will feature. Despite his impressive T20 record, Guptill had to wait for the second round of bidding while Ferguson was even later, picked up in the dying moments of the auction when brought back into the pool for a second time.NZC have taken a pragmatic approach to the impact of the IPL on its international players, realising it risked alienating them if harsh restrictions were put in place over how long they could go for, given the limited earning potential from their New Zealand careers.It has created controversy in the past, with a core of senior figures arriving on the eve of a Test match against England at Lord’s in 2015. This time, players involved in the latter stages of the tournament will be allowed to miss the triangular one-day series in Ireland from May 12-24 which was viewed as a warm-up for the Champions Trophy.The 15-man squads for the Champions Trophy have to be named 30 days before the tournament begins – which would mean May 1 – but it is likely to be a shadow New Zealand team which competes in Ireland, although some players could become available for the latter matches if their franchises are knocked out.David White, the NZC CEO, said that while in an ideal world a full-strength squad would stay together, they had to continue to adapt to the impact of the IPL.”I think our strategic approach to this one has been bang on: encourage our Black Caps to continue playing for New Zealand by allowing them to share in the opportunities now available in the professional market,” White told the . “Don’t force them to choose between cash and country and risk a backlash.”At least on this occasion, they’ll be moving from one short-form, white-ball tournament to another. I think a compromise in which our players can feel they’re getting the best of both worlds is the prudent option.”The money is clearly game-changing for New Zealand players, but Boult said there was more to the IPL experience than counting the digits in his paycheck.”I’m not going for the money. The experience of playing there in front of thousands of people is the most exciting part. I’m looking forward to rubbing shoulders with a few more international players and growing my game.”But, still, a few team-mates made sure he bought the coffee on Monday morning. “Tim Southee pretty quickly reminded me it would be my shout.”

Scorecard
File photo – Ed Cowan built on his form to score another century•Getty Images

Ed Cowan’s 115 proved a lone hand for New South Wales in Wollongong as Tasmania made a bright start to their first Sheffield Shield match since the sacking of coach Dan Marsh.NSW lost regular wickets over the course of the day after being put in, four of them falling to the seam and swing of Simon Milenko. Tim Paine, recalled for his first Shield appearance this season, held a quartet of catches behind the stumps.Cowan, batting at No. 3 for the hosts, put on a strong display to follow up his double-century against Victoria at the MCG two rounds ago – he has prospered against the experimental Dukes ball being trialed for the back half of this Shield competition.His only real support came from the captain Moises Henriques, who made it to 47 in fourth-wicket stand worth 119 before falling to Sam Rainbird, who took two wickets. James Faulkner and Andrew Perrin also chipped in with two wickets each, as NSW folded for 253. Alex Doolan and Jake Hancock took Tasmania to 40 without loss at stumps.

Nick Cummins has become the first Big Bash League executive to graduate to a role of shepherding one of Australia’s state associations, moving from the Sydney Thunder to succeed the longtime Tasmania chief executive David Johnston.In a significant generational change to cricket administration in the Apple Isle, Cummins will commence at Bellerive Oval in April after four years at the Thunder, where he oversaw its evolution from the BBL’s major basket case to the dual men’s and women’s champions last season and now a respected organisation in the burgeoning league.He will take over from Johnston, who indicated in October that he would retire at the end of the season after holding the role for no fewer than 19 years.”Cricket Tasmania undertook an extensive recruitment and interview process though national employment consultants and Mr Cummins was the successful candidate in what was a very strong field of local, interstate and international applicants” The Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin said.”Nick will bring to Cricket Tasmania extensive experience in a wide variety of areas and also has an intricate knowledge of the Big Bash. Everyone at Cricket Tasmania looks forward to working with Nick into the future. At the same time we also recognise the outstanding service and commitment over 19 years of departing chief executive David Johnston.”Cummins said he was very happy to have graduated from the Thunder general manager position. “I was attracted to the role by the energy and optimism around the organisation, it’s an exciting time to be involved in cricket with the growth of the Big Bash, women and girls’ cricket and junior participation,” he said.”I’d like to thank Cricket NSW CEO Andrew Jones, chairman John Warn and the Board of Cricket New South Wales for their support during my time at Sydney Thunder. I’m very proud of what we have achieved at the club, none of which would have been possible without their guidance and encouragement.”I’d also like to recognise the contribution of my staff, coaches and playing group in building Thunder into the club it is today – a club with passionate support, packed houses and great standing within our community. Finally, I would like to thank the fans for the energy and positivity they bring to every game, win or lose.”Jones said Cummins had been a major player in the growth of the Thunder over the past four years. “Nick has made an enormous contribution to NSW cricket by taking the Thunder from cellar dwellers who lost 19 games in a row, to a highly respected club that won both the men’s and women’s Big Bash titles last season,” he said.”The Thunder is also now strong off the field, with 6000+ members, a full book of sponsors and every home game sold out at Spotless Stadium this season. The Thunder was also the highest-rating club team in NSW in any sport in 2016. Nick has also built a fantastic community foundation for the Thunder.”We are delighted for Nick that his performance has been recognised by Cricket Tasmania. Like our players, we want our staff to achieve their potential in the game, and Nick has well and truly earned the opportunity to take this next step. We will now advertise inside and outside cricket for a worthy successor.”One of Cummins’ first items of business is likely to be work on solidifying Tasmania’s claims to a regular Test match. Ironically it is NSW, the state from which he is moving, that has made no secret of wanting additional Test fixtures in the nation’s most populous state, either at Canberra’s Manuka Oval in the ACT or a second day/night Test for the SCG.Cricket NSW are expected to advertise the role of Thunder general manager next week.

Theunis de Bruyn, a top-order batsman and current captain of the Knights franchise, was named as the only new cap in South Africa’s 13-man squad for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka, which start on Boxing Day. De Bruyn was added as the reserve batsman in place of Rilee Rossouw, who traveled with the squad to Australia but is nursing a foot injury.

South Africa Test squad changes

In: Theunis de Bruyn, Wayne Parnell
Out: Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Rilee Rossouw (all injured), Tabraiz Shamsi

South Africa could also not consider Morne Morkel – yet to recover from a back injury that has kept him out for all but one first-class match since the CPL – Dale Steyn or AB de Villiers in their squad. Left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell has recovered from a rib injury sustained during the one-day series against Australia in October to return to the squad but there is no room for reserve wicketkeeper Dane Vilas or left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi. Keshav Maharaj has been included as the lone specialist spinner. Dwaine Pretorius, who was called up when Steyn was injured in Australia, is also not part of the squad.Stephen Cook, who scored a century in the Adelaide Test after a poor tour of Australia, has been retained to open the batting with Dean Elgar and the rest of South Africa’s line-up takes on familiar look. Batting coach Neil McKenzie has tipped the out-of-form Hashim Amla to turn things around in this series while JP Duminy and Temba Bavuma will make up a top six headlined by new Test captain Faf du Plessis.Should de Bruyn be needed, he brings fine form with him. The right-hander, who played for South Africa at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup and began his career with Titans, was eighth on last season’s first-class run charts and is third this season, with 423 runs at 60.42. He was preferred over Colin Ackermann – who has signed as a non-overseas player for Leicestershire from next season – and Khaya Zondo, who sits second on the run charts.Parnell’s inclusion is more curious. He has not played a first-class match this season but has turned out for the Cobras in their last seven T20 matches. Parnell last played a Test for South Africa in February 2014, against Australia, but was included in the squad that played New Zealand in August. He did not play either of the two Tests and is likely to act as back-up to a pace attack that will comprise Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott.South Africa’s pace pack takes on a new look from the three prongs of old – Steyn, Morkel and Philander – and this squad will doubtless raise questions about Morkel’s future. He suffered a bulging disc in his back earlier in the year and has been struggling to return to full fitness since then. Morkel played one first-class match for his franchise, Titans, and in all three of South Africa’s practice matches in Australia but was not cleared to play a Test. After the first Test in Perth, South African team management said Morkel was “90-95% fit.”Since the end of that series, Morkel was due to play for Titans in the T20 competition but has been unavailable for selection while his injury continues to be monitored. Unlike de Villiers, who hopes to be fit for the ODIs against Sri Lanka mid-January and Steyn, who is targeting June 2017 for a comeback, there is no word on when Morkel may take the field again.South Africa Test squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Stephen Cook, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.