New Zealand batter set to be available for full season across formats

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2024Lancashire have signed New Zealand batter Tom Bruce as their second overseas player for 2024. The 32-year-old will link up with the club in April and, like Australia’s Nathan Lyon, is expected to be available across formats for the full season.Bruce, who has been capped 17 times in T20Is, averages 49.85 in first-class cricket and his arrival will help cover for the departure of Dane Vilas after seven seasons at Lancashire.Bruce’s most-recent New Zealand appearance came in 2020, while he captained the A side to victory in two four-day games against Australia A last September. His likely availability while the T20 World Cup is being played was cited as a factor in his signing by Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s director of cricket performance.”Tom will be available throughout the 2024 season, and this was a big draw for myself and Dale [Benkenstein] when going into the market for our overseas signings for this year,” Chilton said. “This will allow Tom to settle in, become part of the squad and create consistency and stability in our team selections throughout the summer.”Tom is a hugely experienced cricketer, and we feel that his skillset will be a good fit within our squad. He has had a hugely impressive few years with the bat in domestic cricket over in New Zealand – with an outstanding record in both the Plunkett Shield and Super Smash competitions as well as for New Zealand A and is very close to full international selection.”With the ICC T20 World Cup taking place in June and July this year at the same time as the Vitality Blast, the availability of overseas options is at a premium. Therefore, Tom’s quality, experience and full season availability makes him a strong addition to the squad.”We believe that Tom will offer us a lot of options as he strengthens our middle order in the County Championship whilst his powerful hitting will give our batting line-up a new dimension towards the backend of an innings in the Vitality Blast and Metro Bank One Day Cup.”Lancashire finished mid-table in County Championship Division One last year, after back-to-back runners-up spots, and were beaten at the quarter-final stage of both white-ball competitions.That led to the departure of Glenn Chapple as head coach, with Benkenstein recruited from Gloucestershire during the off-season.”This is a really exciting opportunity for me, and I can’t wait to get over to England in a few months’ time,” Bruce said. “To have the opportunity to spend a full county cricket season with a club like Lancashire is a dream come true and to have Emirates Old Trafford as my home ground was another massive draw for me once I heard about the interest.”I feel that I have a lot to add to Lancashire and after speaking to Mark Chilton and Dale Benkenstein I am really excited about what we can achieve together with such a talented group of players in the 2024 season.”

India all but batted England out of the first Test as early as the second day, overhauling their 246 for a first-innings lead of 175 and three wickets still in hand. India began the day 127 behind, lost a wicket in the first over, but kept on batting enterprisingly, moving into the lead in only the 57th over. KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja led the batting charts with contrasting fifties.It was only after five wickets fell that England managed to bring some control into the proceedings. All five fell to attacking shots, only the second time it has happened since ESPNcricinfo started doing ball-by-ball commentary. The other instance was England trying to set up a declaration in Barbados in 2022.The other side of the aggressive intent was that wickets kept falling. Everyone bar R Ashwin got himself in. Everyone including Ashwin kind of gave his wicket away. No one other than KS Bharat fell lbw, bowled or caught at the wicket.The closest one got out to falling to a plan was when Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a catch back at Joe Root in the first over of the day. Root went on to create chances from both Rahul and Shubman Gill, but was taken off after just four overs despite looking like the best spinner on display. Rahul edged the first ball he faced, Ben Foakes failed to collect it, and the umpire called the resultant run a bye. Even if Foakes had caught it, England were out of reviews after burning them all in the first 14 overs.KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja led the batting charts on the day with contrasting 80s•BCCI

Debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley got another long spell during which he got on the board with the wicket of Gill. Among the specialist batters, Gill was the only one who frequently defended well in front of his body. As the dots accumulated, Gill looked for the big release shot. He got away when he miscued Root, but ended up hitting Hartley straight to midwicket.England immediately went to the only pacer in their attack, Mark Wood, to look to test Shreyas Iyer. But Rahul hit him for three boundaries even before he could bowl to Iyer – the back-foot punch past point was one for the highlight reels. The hallmark of Rahul’s batting was his willingness to stay back against spin and keep picking singles. Twenty-six runs of his half-century, brought up off just 72 balls, came off the back foot.Iyer’s method might not have been so foolproof, but he was ruthless each time the bowlers erred. And they erred frequently. A classic example was Rehan Ahmed’s first over of the day. When you first encounter Rehan, two things make the batter’s job difficult: he bowls with a scrambled seam and he bowls both the legbreak and the wrong’un out of the back of the hand. Naturally, Iyer struggled to pick him. The first ball went past the edge, the second took the edge but fell short of slip, the third hit the glove but went right down, and yet he offered a short ball, which gave Iyer the boundary.The first maiden of the day came immediately after lunch. In the second over from that end, the third after the break, Iyer picked a wrong’un and perhaps wanted the bowler to know he had done so, but the slog sweep that he committed to ended up with the only boundary fielder on the leg side, deep midwicket. In Rehan’s next over, Rahul picked the variations all right and went one better by hitting two sixes, both down the ground. The second of those took India into the lead.The partnership between Rahul and Jadeja began on steroids, crushing any hopes of momentum England might have had with that early wicket after lunch. The partnership reached 52 in 51 balls, but soon Rahul picked out deep midwicket with a long hop from Hartley, 14 short of what would have been only a second home century to go with seven away from home.Axar Patel added to England’s misery in the final session•Getty Images

At long last, England managed some control, bowling 11.1 overs leading up to tea for just 21 runs to Jadeja and Bharat. Jadeja, a proper old-fashioned player of spin, was happy to just wait for the bad ball except for not letting Jack Leach settle by stepping out to him. Bharat didn’t start convincingly, but post tea, he, too, started getting the regular ordinary ball. He went from 10 off 44 to 41 off 81 but missed trying to sweep a second boundary in a Root over.Ashwin and Jadeja, great partners with the ball, soon got into a misunderstanding to give England their first set of two quick wickets, but India already led by 112 at that point.Axar Patel was yet to come.Both Jadeja and Axar batted like proper top-order batters, keeping the good balls out and putting away the bad ones. It is unfair almost to have to bowl to batters of such ability for the eighth wicket, but the spinners on show failed to question them enough.Axar ended a sedate day for himself with a four, six and four off the last three balls. Despite that, India went at under three an over since the wicket of Rahul, but they still added 133 runs for the loss of just two wickets. It meant more mileage on the pitch, more time for it to break, and also more runs in the bank for India. Jadeja ended the day with a century in sight, and his partnership with Axar read 63 in 19.3 overs.

The Reds are once again investing a fortune in a forward of undoubted potential, but very little experience

Three years ago, Liverpool paid an initial £64 million ($86m) for Darwin Nunez, a young striker with just one prolific season under his belt. The gamble did not pay off. On the contrary, it backfired badly, with the Uruguayan now regarded as one of the most disappointing deals in the club's history.

It's fascinating, then, that Liverpool have now committed even more money to signing another forward with a less impressive CV than that of Nunez back in 2022.

So, why were the Reds willing to stump up an initial £69m ($92.7m) for Hugo Ekitike? And what chance does he have of succeeding where Nunez failed so spectacularly? GOAL explores one of the biggest and most intriguing transfers of the summer so far…

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  Disastrous Darwin decision

  Liverpool began their search for a new No.9 long before the end of the 2021-22 season. As far as the Reds' recruitment team was concerned, there were three outstanding young strikers in Europe at the time – Nunez, Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland – and that view would have been shared by scouts all across the continent.

  As Liverpool's former director of research Ian Graham recently revealed, Haaland was out of their price range, meaning they were left with a straight choice between Isak or Nunez. Then-manager Jurgen Klopp favoured the latter, so the Reds signed the Uruguayan. It proved a disastrous decision.

  While Isak established himself as one of the most feared forwards in the Premier League after joining Newcastle from Real Sociedad in August 2022, Nunez became a laughing stock, a maddeningly frustrating forward mercilessly mocked for his atrocious finishing.

  Liverpool's desire to sell him this summer has, thus, come as no surprise. He has had numerous chances to prove his worth at Anfield and, rather fittingly, failed to take any of them.

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  Failing to land Isak – again

  Nonetheless, It would be unfair to be overly harsh on Klopp for buying Nunez. The striker really did look like a potential star at Benfica. He was big, strong, quick and had scored 34 goals in 41 appearances in all competitions during the 2021-22 campaign.

  What's more, six of those goals had come in the Champions League, including one apiece in both legs of Benfica's quarter-final tie with Liverpool. With his direct, all-action style and mix of pace and power, Nunez had tormented the likes of Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate, who were only too happy to see him go from opponent to team-mate just a few months later.

  Of course, excitement soon gave way to bewilderment, as it became painfully clear that Nunez simply couldn't be relied upon to stay onside – let alone score goals. In that sense, Liverpool are lucky that they're likely to make back quite a bit of the money they wasted on Nunez, even if Napoli's withdrawal from the race to sign him is an undeniable blow.

  However, Liverpool's hopes of righting a wrong by belatedly bringing Isak to Anfield appear to be over, with Newcastle having understandably deemed it better to let the Reds have Ekitike rather than Isak. That development has disappointed plenty of supporters, who were salivating at the prospect of seeing the Swedish striker in the same side as Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz.

  After all, Isak is, unlike Ekitike, Premier League-proven. His quality simply cannot be questioned after netting 44 times in his last 64 outings in England's top-flight. Ekitike, by contrast, remains something of an unknown quality in the eyes of most Liverpool fans – but, crucially, not to the club's recruitment team.

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  Winding road to the top

  Liverpool haven't suddenly turned their attention to Ekitike after missing out on Isak. He was a long-term target.

  The media first got wind of their interest in the Frenchman long before the end of his breakout season in Germany, but nearly every elite European club has been monitoring his progress since he started making a real name for himself at Reims following a highly successful loan spell at Danish outfit Vejle, in 2021.

  Indeed, Newcastle first tried to sign Ekitike in January 2022 but he joined Paris Saint-Germain instead that summer, admitting that, as a Frenchman, he found the lure of Parc des Princes impossible to resist. In hindsight, that move was a mistake. There was very little room for such a raw teenage talent in a forward line containing Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

  "I progressed at such a high speed at Reims, but I also came back down at the same speed," Ekitike later explained. "Not everyone has experienced that and I don't wish it on anyone, it's not easy."

  Eintracht offered him a way out of PSG in the summer of 2023, but he was initially reluctant to take it, so desperate was he to prove himself at Paris. However, after earning just nine minutes of game time during the first half of the season, Ekitike belatedly accepted a move to Deutsche Bank Park in January 2024 – and he's not looked back since.

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  Catching fire in Frankfurt

  Ekitike improved exponentially in Frankfurt. As he said himself, he went from substitute to star in just over a year. Forming a formidable partnership with Omar Marmoush was key, but it was the way in which he revelled in the role of leading man following the Egyptian's January move to Manchester City that really made Liverpool and others sit up and take notice.

  There was a legitimate fear that Eintracht's bid to finish in the top four of the Bundesliga would collapse without Marmoush – but Ekitike excelled as a lone frontman. He was directly involved in 12 goals after Marmoush's exit – seven of which he scored himself – as Dino Toppmoller's ended up finishing third.

  By that point, sporting director Markus Krosche knew that the club had little chance of holding onto "one of the most interesting players on the European market". His only objective, therefore, was ensuring that Eintracht got top dollar for their prized possession – and it's fair to say that it's been realised.

  There's simply no hiding the fact that a fee that could rise to £79m ($106m) is an outrageous sum of money for an inexperienced forward who Eintracht paid €16.5m (£14/$19m) for just 18 months ago. At least Uruguay international Nunez had impressed in the Champions League; Ekitike has only made four goal-less appearances in Europe's premier club cup competition, while he's yet to be capped at senior level by France.

  However, all of that doesn't necessarily mean that Liverpool have signed another dud – far from it, in fact.

England coach gives qualified backing to seamer following below-par return to Test whites

Vithushan Ehantharajah27-Feb-2024As England nursed the collective disappointment of their series defeat, head coach Brendon McCullum defended Ollie Robinson after a tough first outing in India. But Robinson finds himself at another juncture in a Test career only in its third year, with questions remaining about his robustness.Robinson had been primed for a pivotal role during the backend of this five-match series, and England pulled the cord for the fourth Test in Ranchi after impressive showings in the nets. The selection did not pay off.Despite starting the match with a maiden Test fifty, which helped propel England to a first innings of 353, Robinson disappointed with the ball. His average speed was in the late 70s mph – at one point, he dipped into the 60s – and there was nowhere near the level of incisiveness that 76 Test wickets at 22.92 show he can provide. He also bowled six no-balls, continuing a difficult relationship with that front line.Related

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Robinson sent down just 13 overs in the match, all of them in the first innings, before dropping Dhruv Jurel on 59, which allowed India an extra 41 runs in their reply. He was subsequently hidden in the field, and went unused in the second innings as England tried in vain to defend a target of 192. It was a chastening return to action after almost eight months.Speaking after the match, Ben Stokes said Robinson was fit to bowl and that a spinning track was the reason he was not utilised. But considering he has previously shown excellence on a variety of surfaces, along with his self-stated desire for the heat of the battle, it felt like a loss of faith from the England captain towards a player he had seemingly coaxed out of a funk in his first summer as Test captain.McCullum, however, revealed Robinson was carrying an injury he picked up while batting, which explains his listless spell with the ball: “He actually twinged his back while batting in the first innings, which is why in those initial couple of spells, he was down on pace. We saw the following day when his back improved a little bit his pace got up to where it normally is.”The head coach went on to vouch for Robinson, whose last competitive match was the summer’s third Ashes Test at Headingley – where his involvement was curtailed by a back spasm – but seemed at a loss to explain how such a well-planned selection had backfired.”I don’t think it was too soon, it was seven months since his last Test so if anything, it’s probably too long between,” McCullum said. “Everything he did leading into the Test match suggested we’d see not just the Ollie Robinson we’d seen previously but a better version of it.”For one reason or another it didn’t quite work out for him and obviously he’s not just as disappointed as everyone else, he’s the most disappointed out of everyone. Our job is to make sure we get around him and make sure we give him as much support and confidence to be able to go again when the next time arises. It’s just sport right? You have great expectations and sometimes you’re not quite able to deliver.”The player himself seemed primed for a big impact in India, arriving fitter and raring to make amends for a disappointing three Tests against Australia last summer. He has trained well throughout but there remains a sense he could give more.Ollie Robinson suffered a back strain while batting in Ranchi•Getty ImagesAmid a sea of multi-year central contracts, Robinson’s 12-month deal was aimed at motivating him to show he was worthy of a longer-term investment in the next cycle. Now a player who was supposed to replace Stuart Broad – even usurping Broad at points during his first 18 months as a Test cricketer – may find himself further down the pecking order, though McCullum suggested he retains his faith.”It’s a tough game for him no doubt and he’s hurting a lot. We’ve all seen Robbo bowl better than what he did and he’ll be the first to admit that. We’ve just got to get around him and make sure he chisels out a few of those things that didn’t work well this week. We know he’s a very good bowler. His record suggests he’s got talent and it’s just making sure that we can release the talent so he can get to the levels he wants to get to.”We know how skilled he is and we know his high release point and ability to move the ball off the seam and the skills he possesses are good enough for this level. We’ve just got to make sure we find a way to get the best out of him.”England are not blameless. They know he is a bowler who needs overs to be fighting fit, especially considering the lengthy gap between appearances.The tourists opted against warm-ups and engaged in what was a hugely positive pre-season camp in Abu Dhabi. But in hindsight, it would have been beneficial to get Robinson time in the middle, which could have come with England Lions. Their third match against India A in Ahmedabad started the day before the second Test in which James Anderson played as the lone quick in a spin-heavy attack.The management were also blindsided ahead of the tour when Robinson announced a new podcast with his partner, Mia Baker, a golf influencer. The pair have recorded episodes throughout the tour and, while largely innocuous, England, who exercise a degree of creative control over the extra-curricular activities of their contracted players, have been irked by some of the content, particularly when Robinson mentioned the ECB had initially made an error with his visa application. The revelation came at a time when the governing body was scrabbling around to sort Shoaib Bashir’s visa issue, which resulted in the Somerset offspinner arriving a week late, missing the first Test.The sixth episode, released this week, in which Robinson discussed the team’s mid-series break in Abu Dhabi, has subsequently been removed.Robinson’s previous Test appearance came during the Ashes in July•AFP/Getty ImagesWhether Robinson plays the fifth Test in Dharamsala remains to be seen. Conditions more amenable to seam suggest he could get a shot at redemption, though it seems likely England will stick with Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley along with Anderson, who is two away from 700 career wickets.One guarantee McCullum did offer was Jonny Bairstow will earn his 100th Test cap. It has been a challenging series for the 34-year-old, but scores of 38 and 30 on a tough pitch in the last Test has McCullum believing Bairstow will mark the occasion in style.”Yes he’ll be playing his hundredth Test. We expect a good Jonny. Jonny loves a milestone too. He won’t shy away from that. He’ll play. It’ll be really emotional for him.”Everyone knows Jonny’s story and as you guys will know he is quite an emotional character at times and big milestones like that do mean a lot to him. It’ll be a really emotional time for him and we look forward to sharing it with him.”The majority of the squad headed to Bangalore on Tuesday morning to get their golf fix. A smaller group – including Stokes – will make their way to a resort in Chandigarh on Wednesday, with the only concrete plan a trip to the cinema to watch . They will meet back up together in the foothills of the Himalayas next Monday, ahead of the start of the concluding Test on March 7.While England will look to take a creditable 3-2 scoreline home, McCullum hopes it will be the start of a new, more ruthless chapter for his charges. Having spurned opportunities in the Ashes and now again here, the time has come to learn from those mistakes.”We weren’t quite good enough when it mattered – or they were better, to be honest, than us being not quite good enough. Against Australia, we had our chances and weren’t quite able to get across the line. This team is still developing as a team. We’re a good cricket team. I think we’ve got the opportunity to be a really good cricket team.”There’s times in games where we haven’t quite screwed down on our method just yet. I still think sometimes we get outside the element of what needs to be done in the moment… or we have too much noise in our mind, so we need to find a way to be really totally present when those times arrive, identify that this is a crucial moment in the game, and try and strip away all the external stuff and just make a decision, and make it work.”If we do that, I think we’ll see this team go to the next level. We’re going good. We’ve lost this series and we didn’t win the Ashes – but we’re a better cricket team than we were 18 months ago. And we’ve got the opportunity in the next 18 months to do some pretty special shit.”

Rafael Leao paid a touching tribute to compatriot and Liverpool star Diogo Jota, who, along with his brother Andre Silva tragically past away on July 3 in a car crash in Spain. Leao scored an outrageous goal in the pre-season friendly between AC Milan and the Reds in Hong Kong and then gestured 20 with his hand to indicate Jota's jersey number at Anfield.

Leao broke the deadlock against LiverpoolPaid a touching tribute to compatriot JotaAC Milan beat Liverpool 4-2Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Leao followed a through ball from Christian Pulisic in a quick counter-attack and rushed towards the Liverpool goal. Van Dijk tracked back and closed in on the Portuguese winger and even tried to block the shot, but Leao found the back of the net with a powerful strike. After scoring the early goal, the Milan star gestured 20 to pay a heartfelt tribute to Jota in front of the Liverpool fans.

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Arne Slot had earlier left out Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez from the matchday squad amid speculations over their Anfield exit. While Nunez could head to Napoli or the Saudi Pro League, Diaz has attracted strong interest from Bayern Munich.

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Arne Slot's side went down 4-2 against the Serie A giants in their first pre-season friendly of their Asia tour. They will next face Yokohama F Marinos in the J League World Challenge final on July 30.

The wicketkeeper-batter has excelled in the finisher’s role in the IPL in the last three seasons, and is back in the reckoning after a stellar show for RCB

S Sudarshanan20-Apr-20241:57

Does Karthik have few more seasons of cricket left in him?

Dinesh Karthik will be 39 by the time the T20 World Cup starts in June. But he is showing no signs of slowing down and has said he would do “everything I can” to be on the flight to the competition in the West Indies and the USA.On the back of a stellar show for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024, Karthik is back in the reckoning as the wicketkeeper that bats in the lower-middle order. He has scored 226 runs, the third-most for RCB, at a strike rate of 205.45 primarily batting at Nos. 6, 7 and 8.”At this stage in my life, it would be the greatest feeling for me to represent India,” Karthik said on the eve of RCB’s game against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. “I am very, very keen to do so. There is nothing bigger in my life other than representing India in this T20 World Cup.Related

Dinesh Karthik set to end IPL career after 2024 season

“I also feel there are three very, very stable, honest people who are at the helm to decide what should be the best Indian team for the World Cup — Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar. And I am completely with them. I respect any decision that they take. But all I can say is I’m 100 percent ready, and I’ll do everything I can to be on that flight to the World Cup.”Ahead of the competition, Karthik had indicated that IPL 2024 will be his last and that he would also take a call on his international career soon. But the last three years in the IPL have liberated him to an extent that he made a strong case for the finisher’s role and made it to the T20 World Cup in 2022, which was his last outing for India.Dinesh Karthik kept RCB fighting with 83 off 35 as they chased 288•BCCI

No batter has scored more than Karthik’s 604 in the last three IPLs while batting at No. 6 or lower. And his strike rate of 175.07 is the best among those with over 280 runs in the said position since IPL 2022. He attributed his success to understanding his strengths and preparing accordingly.”These days as a player, you need to understand your strengths,” he said. “I’m not a [Andre] Russell or a [Kieron] Pollard who can just mishit a ball and get a six for it. So, I need to understand how I can beat gaps and what sort of balls I can hit for boundaries. And I realised there was a certain pattern in which bowlers were bowling to me, so I needed to try and work out a solution for that.”Hence, when I practice, I try and understand, okay, if this is what they’re going to bowl at me, how am I going to get a boundary, visualising a field that is going to be in place for me. So, I worked backwards, and that’s helped me really learn a couple of shots more, at the back end. It’s been great to go out there and express myself, and it’s been thoroughly enjoyable to do what I’m doing for RCB as a finisher.”Recently, India captain Rohit Sharma was heard on stump mic joking about Karthik’s World Cup aspirations. ” World Cup (Good going, DK! He has the World Cup in his mind),” Rohit was heard saying when RCB played Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. In that match, Karthik scored an unbeaten 53 off 23 and helped RCB to 196 for 8 after walking in at 108 for 4 with under eight overs to go.”[I was] quite impressed, watching DK bat a couple of nights back, and Dhoni as well, came to play four balls, made a huge impact, that was the difference,” Rohit said on the podcast hosted by Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist. “It will be hard to convince MS although he is coming to the US, to do something else. He is into golf now. DK will be easier to convince I guess.”

Inglis and Smith also made fifties as Australia chased down West Indies’ 231 with ease

Alex Malcolm02-Feb-2024A stunning debut spell from Xavier Bartlett and a classy all-round display from Cameron Green guided Australia to a comfortable eight-wicket win in the opening ODI at the MCG.Bartlett tore through West Indies’ top order on his ODI debut to finish with 4 for 17, the second-best figures on ODI debut for Australia behind current selector Tony Dodemaide, while Green claimed 2 for 40 and then made 77 not out in his first innings at No. 3 in ODI cricket to showcase his immense all-round talent.Related

• Bartlett makes a massive impact on 'almost not real' Australia debut

Josh Inglis also made a blistering 43-ball 65 while Steven Smith made an unassuming unbeaten run-a-ball 79 as Australia mowed down West Indies’ under-par total of 231, which was underpinned by a career-best 88 from Keacy Carty and 59 from Roston Chase.It was Bartlett’s spell that set up the win. The 25-year-old Queenslander and Lance Morris became the first debutants for Australia to open the bowling together in an ODI since 2016, and just the third pair since 1975. Bartlett claimed a wicket with his third ball in ODI cricket, clipping the top of Justin Greaves’ off stump with a magical outswinger. He should have had a second three balls later as he hooped an inswinger into Alick Athanaze’s front pad but the umpire thought it was shaping down and Smith opted not to review it. The ball-tracking projection suggested the ball was smashing the top of leg stump.Keacy Carty was steady despite wickets falling at the other end•Associated Press

It did not cost Bartlett though, as he showcased the new-ball skills he displayed in the BBL, swerving one the other way across Athanaze to scratch his outside edge. Later, in his six-over spell with the new ball, he shaped another outswinger away from the right-handed Shai Hope to catch a thick edge, which was well-pouched by Matt Short at slip.He had figures of 3 for 10 with a maiden after his opening spell. He later returned to pick up his fourth wicket with the first ball of the 48th over but could not grab a fifth as Sean Abbott finished the innings in the 49th over.After Bartlett’s burst, West Indies slumped to 59 for 4 when Green picked up the first of his two wickets. But Carty and Chase steadied the ship with an impressive century stand.Carty deserved a century of his own. Having passed his highest ODI score after losing Chase, he was 12 runs shy when Hayden Walsh Jr called him through for a kamikaze single to cover and Abbott produced a direct hit with Carty miles short of his ground.It was a cruel end for Carty after playing so well. Walsh squatted low at the other end hoping for the ground to swallow him up, knowing fully well he had barbequed Carty trying to get off strike.Carty took a particular shining to the extra pace of Morris, producing two jaw-dropping flicks for six over backward square. He was also savage when Australia’s new firebrand overpitched, thumping several of his 140kph-plus offerings back down the ground.Morris’ debut was far less eye-catching than Bartlett’s as he conceded 59 from his 10 overs without claiming a wicket.Josh Inglis gave Australia a blazing start•Getty Images

While Carty took on the pace, Chase attacked the spin striking four of his seven boundaries off Adam Zampa. He bravely swept and pulled off the stumps, and profited as a result. But it would later bring about his downfall at a critical moment. He was bowled around his legs trying to sweep Zampa off middle stump, having gone across too far and completely misjudged the length.Australia could have wrapped the innings up a little sooner but some sloppy errors allowed West Indies to drag on. Travis Head dropped a sitter in the deep to deny Green a third wicket before Inglis and Marnus Labuschagne both fluffed easy run outs.Australia’s chase got off to a horror start with Head falling in Matthew Forde’s opening over for just 4, after bagging a pair in the second Test in Brisbane.But any hope West Indies might have had of reproducing their Gabba heroics evaporated in less than ten overs as Inglis smashed a 28-ball half-century to whisk the game away. Opening for just the second time in ODIs, having also tested positive for Covid on Thursday, Inglis smoked ten fours and a six in a statement innings. Anything fractionally short from Forde and Oshane Thomas was hammered, including a huge six over square leg. He also produced some stunning drives down the ground. He fell trying to reverse-sweep Gudakesh Motie.But his whirlwind knock allowed Green all the time in the world to settle, and after a sluggish start, he got flowing with two massive sixes off Motie and Romario Shepherd.Green benefitted from Smith’s calm influence at the other end. On another day, he might have felt more pressure to up the ante with higher-risk strokeplay, but the stand-in skipper was happy to cruise to the total without any unnecessary acceleration. They picked off the spinners in a calm century stand to guide Australia home with 11.3 overs to spare.

Harshit Rana, with just 12 T20s to his name before Saturday night, found himself with the unenviable task of defending 12 runs off the final over in Kolkata Knight Riders’ first game of IPL 2024. On strike was a marauding Heinrich Klaasen, batting on 56 off 26 deliveries. The previous over, bowled by the IPL’s most expensive player Mitchell Starc, had just gone for 26 runs. Klaasen’s partner, Shahbaz Ahmed, had faced just four balls but had already hit 16. And when Klaasen pulled Harshit’s first ball of the over for six, it looked like Sunrisers Hyderabad were going to pull off an incredible heist.Sunrisers’ win probability, according to ESPNcricinfo, was 0.35% when their No. 6 Abdul Samad fell off the penultimate delivery of the 17th over. Then with five balls to go, they were 97.2% favourites at Eden Gardens. But Harshit held his nerve to dismiss both Shahbaz and Klaasen and deliver a win in front of a delirious home crowd.”To be honest, in the last over I thought anything could happen,” KKR captain Shreyas Iyer said after the match. “They needed 13 runs and we probably didn’t have the most experienced bowler bowling at that particular time.”But I had that belief in him. I knew that something [good] would happen.”Harshit, understandably, went into that last over with butterflies in his stomach, and at that point Iyer told him to just back himself. “This is the time where he could become a hero. That’s what I told him. ‘Back yourself. No matter what happens in this situation, we’re going to back you’.”To be honest, Harshit was a bit nervous when he was coming to bowl [the 20th over]. I looked into his eyes and I told him ‘this is your moment, buddy. You need to make the best use of it and don’t think much about it’.”I told him ‘Even if we lose, it’s fine. You just back yourself and you see to it that you execute whatever I say and what messages we got from inside’. It was a big cluster [of players] in between, but I tried to calm him down as much as possible and then the rest is history.”Andre Russell, who blazed an unbeaten 64 off 25 to take KKR to 208 after walking in at 119 for 6, praised Harshit’s attitude.”I think his body language was on point in the last over; he wanted the ball,” Russell said. “That is the body language we all need as professionals. If he was shying away from it, it could have gone their way.”He told me that he wanted the last over. So he claimed it and he did deliver for us. With the first ball gone for six, still there was some doubt there, but you know he came back strong and he got the job done.”Harshit finished the game with career-best T20 figures of 3 for 33.With Klaasen clearing the boundary at will against spinners and fast bowlers alike, the KKR dressing sent out a clear message – take the pace off the ball.”Well, the plan from the outside was that Klaasen was really hitting the pace balls. So let’s bowl it pace off and it worked really well,” batter Ramandeep Singh, who scored 35 in the first innings, told the broadcaster after the game.And it worked to perfection, with Harshit outdoing Klaasen with a slower ball in a key moment, when Sunrisers needed five runs off two balls.

How ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary captured the chaotic period of play between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Apr-202419.2 Harshal to David, OUT Hard length outside off. David looks to hit it down the ground but fails to clear long-offTim David c Curran b Patel 14 (7b 2×4 1×6 10m) SR: 20019.3 Harshal to Shepherd, 1 run A yorker that Shepherd digs it out towards long-on19.4 Harshal to Shepherd, dead ball A slower one, full and wide. Tilak fetches it and hits it aerially towards deep midwicket. But the spidercam comes in the way. So a dead ball19.4 Harshal to Tilak Varma, 1 run Almost an action replay, the only difference is that Tilak has hit this one towards long-on. Also, the spidercam had changed its location19.5 Harshal to Shepherd, OUT A slower one, full on the stumps. Shepherd swings with the angle but cannot clear Shashank Singh at deep-backward square legRomario Shepherd c Shashank Singh b Patel 1 (2b 0x4 0x6 3m) SR: 5019.6 Harshal to M Nabi, OUT A run-out. Was a yorker from Harshal that Nabi drilled straight back, into the stumps at the other end. The ball ricocheted towards Harshal who picked up and pulled out the stump with the ball in his hands. Nabi was well shortMohammad Nabi run out (Patel) 0 (1b 0x4 0x6 1m) SR: 00.3 Coetzee to Prabhsimran, OUT Flying Kishan in Mullanpur! Moves to his left and dives full length to pouch that. Coetzee is pumped up after an erratic start. Slants this into Prabhsimran on a length. He looks to swivel and pull but only gets a glove. The wicketkeeper does not miss and Mumbai are on the board.Prabhsimran Singh c †Ishan Kishan b Coetzee 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 00.4 Coetzee to Rossouw, 1 run Direct hit and he could have been in trouble. Pushes the fullish ball towards mid-off and takes on Hardik, and makes it with a dive because the throw was slightly wide0.5 Coetzee to Sam Curran, 1 run Full and outside off, slashed to deep third0.6 Coetzee to Rossouw, no run Fuller on middle and leg, defended back towards the bowler1.1 Bumrah to Sam Curran, no run Starts with a length ball, angling away, 129.7kph, defended towards point1.2 Bumrah to Sam Curran, no run Spears this full on the pads, swings in a touch, Curran misses the flick. The impact was outside leg1.3 Bumrah to Sam Curran, 1 run Length ball around off, taps it to the off side and sprints to the other end1.4 Bumrah to Rossouw, OUT BOOM, BOOM Bumrah! A perfect inswinging yorker to make a mess of Rossouw’s stumps. He was expecting a length ball and was sitting in the crease. But the freak of the fast bowler in Bumrah just spears it full and straight on off and middle and gets it to swing in a touch. Booom!Rilee Rossouw b Bumrah 1 (3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 33.331.5 Bumrah to Livingstone, 1 run Another yorker outside off, the inswinging one this time, Livingstone opens the face and ges it past the diving backward point1.6 Bumrah to Sam Curran, OUT Appeal from Kishan. A belated one. But Bumrah is quite convinced. Or is it about the ball brushing something? Wide given and Mumbai have reviewed. Fullish and angling in from around the stumps, Curran is on the back foot and looks to flick it away. Snicko returns a spike and Bumrah has two in the over! What a start. And he was the only one who seem to be certain about the nick. A feather of an edge and Mumbai have rattled the KingsSam Curran c †Ishan Kishan b Bumrah 6 (7b 1×4 0x6) SR: 85.712.1 Coetzee to Livingstone, OUT Caught Coetzee, bowled Coetzee and Mumbai’s celebrations continue. He takes a few steps forward to his left in his follow-through and takes a good, low catch to end Livingstone’s night. Back of a length around off, rushed Livi for pace. He goes for the pull but ends up getting it back towards the bowler off the cue end. 150kphLiam Livingstone c & b Coetzee 1 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50

Former Arsenal midfielder Anders Limpar has shared his view on incoming Gunners forward Viktor Gyokeres, describing him as a "goal machine". Arsenal have agreed to pay Sporting CP £64 million ($86.3m) for Gyokeres, inclusive of add-ons. Limpar expects Gyokeres to be a hit in his debut season at Emirates Stadium and has predicted how many goals he will score.

• Limpar gives verdict on Gyokeres
• Predicts how many goals striker will score in debut season
• Arsenal finally agreed fee with Sporting CP

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Gyokeres transfer saga is finally over as the Gunners have almost reached a full agreement with Sporting CP to sign the striker after months of negotiations. Talks had earlier stalled after disagreement over the payment structure of the €10 million bonus, but the issue has now been resolved.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Limpar, who spent four seasons at Arsenal, has shared his view on his Swedish compatriot's imminent arrival as he hailed the 27-year-old forward as a "machine", while predicting the number of goals Gyokeres will score in his maiden campaign at Emirates Stadium.

• WHAT LIMPAR SAID

  Speaking to , the 59-year-old said: "I know that pretty much all the Arsenal players are top professionals. I've been to the training ground, spoken to ]Mikel] Arteta. He's Mr. 100 percent professional. And that's what you get from Viktor. He's such a prospect when it comes to looking after himself, no scandals. He is a hell of a player. He's a No. 9, and can sniff a goal chance. He's going to be the perfect icing on the cake at Arsenal. And I don't have to look down on [Kai] Havertz, or [Gabriel] Jesus. But bringing in Viktor at this moment, at his best age and form. He's a goalscoring machine and with all the supply from the wings and from [Martin] Odegaard, he's going to score 25 goals."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

  Mikel Arteta's side will kick off their Asia tour with a friendly against AC Milan on Wednesday at the National Stadium in Singapore. The club will hope that Gyokeres completes all formalities as early as possible and joins the rest of the squad for the remainder of pre-season preparations.