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Glenn Phillips ruled out of Zimbabwe tour with groin injury

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New Zealand allrounder Glenn Phillips has been sidelined from the ongoing T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe, also involving South Africa, and the following two-Test series against Zimbabwe, with a groin injury. Phillips had suffered the injury while playing for Washington Freedom in the Major League Cricket (MLC) final on July 13.When he was assessed upon arrival in Zimbabwe, it was determined that he would require “a number of weeks” to recover, according to an NZC statement. Tim Robinson, who was a late addition to the T20I squad for the tri-series as cover for players involved in the MLC knockouts, will remain with the side for the rest of the tri-series.Phillips’ replacement in the Test squad will be named in due course.”It’s obviously disappointing to lose someone of Glenn’s calibre,” Rob Walter, New Zealand’s head coach, said. “Much like Finn [Allen], we really feel for Glenn and that he misses out on this series.”We know he was eager to get out on the field for the Blackcaps and unfortunately, he won’t be able to do that for this series. We know he’ll work hard to get himself back onto the park, and I look forward to when that happens.”Phillips will return to New Zealand along with fellow allrounder Jimmy Neesham and wicketkeeper-batter Mitch Hay who were also called in as cover for the start of the tri-series alongside Robinson.Phillips joins Ben Sears (side injury) and Finn Allen (foot injury) on the sidelines. New Zealand, though, will be boosted by the return of left-arm fingerspinner Ajaz Patel for the Test series. Having worked his way back from a serious knee injury, Ajaz proved his form and fitness for Central Districts in the Global Super League (GSL) in Guyana.New Zealand have started their T20I tri-series campaign with a 21-run win against South Africa in Harare.

Morris ruled out for up to 12 months after opting for back surgery

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Australia quick Lance Morris will miss the entire 2025-26 season, and is expected to be out of action for 12 months, after opting for the same surgery that Cameron Green underwent last year following another stress fracture in his lower back.Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday that the centrally contracted Morris, 27, would undergo pars stabilisation surgery in Christchurch to address an ongoing lumbar bone stress injury after being ruled out of the ODI series against South Africa. He had also been due to feature in the four-day matches on Australia A’s tour of India.After lengthy discussions between Morris, CA medical staff and the surgeons, he will follow the same path that Green took last October. Fellow Australia quick Ben Dwarshuis, India star Jasprit Bumrah, New Zealand quicks Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson among many others have had the same procedure with screws and a titanium cable fused into their lower back to stabilise the stress fracture and prevent future occurrences.Related

  • Vidler ruled out of Australia A tour of India with a partial stress fracture

  • Australia's pace depth: Who's in the Ashes mix if Cummins and co run aground?

  • Owen, Morris, Short ruled out of South Africa series

  • Morris hopeful of early Shield return despite 'frustrating' injury issues

“I feel this is the most logical way to realise my full potential and return to my very best cricket for the Scorchers, Western Australia and Australia long into the future,” Morris said. “I also take great confidence in others who have undergone similar procedures and returned to their best. I plan to work hard through my recovery and return when the time is right.”The surgery is performed by New Zealand based surgeons Rowan Schouten and Grahame Inglis who have two decades of experience performing the surgery on fast bowlers with a staggering return to play success rate. Former Australia team physio and now full-time CA injury case manager Nick Jones has vast experience in the rehab following the surgery having worked through it with Green and another Australia quick Jason Behrendorff back in 2019.It is a significant step for Morris who has had an incredibly frustrating run with injury. Since bursting into Test calculations at the start of the 2022-23 summer when he took 26 wickets in four Sheffield Shield matches while bowling at speeds over 150kph, he has not managed to play more than three first-class games without interruption since.He has been carried as a Test squad member during the Australian home summers and went on the Test tour of India in 2023. He featured in three Shield matches at the start of the 2023-24 home summer and made his ODI debut in February 2024 following an uninterrupted BBL but strained his side in his second game in Canberra and played just one ODI last summer.Lance Morris has been around Australia squads with only limited appearances•Getty Images

He played two Shield games at the start of last summer under careful management before playing eight BBL games out of 10 for Perth Scorchers. He played two more Shield matches at the end of the summer and took 5 for 26 in his last Shield game in March against New South Wales but has not played since.Morris’ management throughout the past two years since earning his first CA contract in 2023 has been a source of debate between CA, his state Western Australia and the fast bowler himself.There have been times when he has been feeling fully fit but regular MRI scans in his lower back have shown recurring areas of concern for CA medical staff which ruled him out of the 2023 Ashes and the 2024 white-ball tour of the UK.”It’s been a bit frustrating,” Morris told ESPNcricinfo in September last year. “I guess you call it a stress fracture, but when we scan it, it doesn’t have the natural characteristics of a usual stress fracture. So there was some confusion at first around exactly what it was.”The tricky one for me was I didn’t actually have any back pain when I was bowling.”He is also a bowler who has performed better, at first-class level especially, the more he has played but it has been difficulty to strike the balance of getting a string of games together without risking injury.There will be a hope that the surgery allows him to get some continuity as it has done for a number of fast bowlers globally. But with the exception of Henry recently, who does not bowl at the express speeds of others, many of the fast bowlers who have undergone the procedure have still had their red-ball loads capped with the recent management of Bumrah by India a prime example.Australia are very keen to have Morris fit and firing ahead of a brutal period of international cricket from October 2026 to November 2027, which includes three away Tests against South Africa, four home Tests against New Zealand, five away Tests against India, a home Test against England to mark the 150th anniversary of Test cricket a possible World Test Championship final, five away Tests against England and an ODI World Cup in South Africa.Fast bowling depth will be vitally important with Australia’s attack on the cusp of a significant transition. Mitchell Starc turns 36 in January while Josh Hazlewood turns 35 in the same month while skipper Pat Cummins turns 33 in May 2026.Morris and fellow injured West Australian CA contracted quick Jhye Richardson, who is 28, are in the ideal age bracket to come into the team when the big three finish up with Australia’s 2024 Under-19 World Cup winning quicks including Callum Vidler, Tom Straker, Charlie Anderson and Mahli Beardman just starting the transition from U-19 to first-class cricket.

Arshdeep's masterclass helps India pull off heist

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India won the Super OverIn regular play, Pathum Nissanka’s 107 off 58 balls and Kusal Perera’s 58 off 32, cancelled out a rapid 61 from Abhishek Sharma, and a 49 not out off 34 from Tilak Varma. India hit 202 for 5. So did Sri Lanka.In the Super Over though, Sri Lanka were very clearly out of steam on all fronts. First, they didn’t send Nissanka out to bat, choosing Kusal Perera (who sliced one to deep backward point first ball), Dasun Shanaka (who struggled with Arshdeep Singh’s wide yorkers), and Kamindu Mendis (who has never been an explosive T20I batter) out instead.Between these three, they managed a total of two runs. Suryakumar Yadav would almost laughingly put the first ball of their Super Over – bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga – through cover, to claim three first ball. This meant India went through to the Asia Cup final undefeated, and were really only tested in this match, in which they rested Jasprit Bumrah and Shivam Dube.Perhaps their aura had lost a little of its shine, but India pushing through to a victory even when Sri Lanka’s top order was batting beautifully, will be something India will take heart from ahead of the final against Pakistan.India’s innings, meanwhile, had gone smoothly. Abhishek produced another spectacular start, striking up a 59-run partnership with Suryakumar who contributed only 12 off 13 to that stand. Later, Tilak and Sanju Samson would put on 66 together.Pathum Nissanka celebrates his maiden T20I century•AFP/Getty Images

Nissanka’s 127-run partnership off 70 balls, however, was the biggest of the tournament. It got Sri Lanka within sight of victory. But the remaining batters couldn’t quite get them across the line.What happened in the Super Over

  • Sri Lanka are required to bat first in this Super Over, but Nissanka, their best batter of the tournament, is not picked to come out straight away. (We’re sure, at this stage, that he will come in if a wicket falls, though.)
  • Perera and Shanaka are sent in instead, with Arshdeep tasked with bowling this over, in the absence of Bumrah.
  • Perera slices the first ball, a wide yorker, to deep point, where substitute fielder Rinku Singh takes a good running catch.
  • Kamindu Mendis, who does not have a track record of scoring quickly against high-quality opposition comes out next, even though Nissanka is just sitting there in the dugout. Predictably Kamindu struggles to get more than an edge to the next Arshdeep ball, and they scramble a single.
  • Shanaka can’t really hit Arshdeep’s wide yorkers either, and attempts a bye off the fourth ball.
  • Arshdeep appeals for the caught behind while wicketkeeper Sanju Samson runs Dasun Shanaka out at the striker’s end.
  • But because Arshdeep has appealed for the catch, the umpire gives Shanaka out. (The umpire’s finger is raised only after the run out is completed, but according to the rules, the out decision effectively overturns the run out.) Shanaka awake to this loophole, immediately asks the umpire: “It’s a dead ball, right?”, just after he reviews the caught behind decision.
  • It turns out Shanaka is correct as per the laws. Because he had been wrongly been given out caught behind, he is exonerated from the run out, even though the stumps were broken before the umpire’s finger was raised.
  • Shanaka gets to live another ball and perhaps propel Sri Lanka to a competitive Super Over score.
  • Shanaka top edges one to deep third very next ball, ending Sri Lanka’s Super Over.
  • India score three first ball and win.

Abhishek Sharma rocks the powerplayAlthough opening partner Shubman Gill was dismissed off the ninth ball of the innings, the tournament’s best batter still scythed his way through the powerplay. His best powerplay over came against Dushmantha Chamera. Abhishek came down the track and crashed him over long off off thifd ball, before raising the fifth ball over short fine leg’s head, then slicing the next one over short third.Abhishek Sharma brought up his third successive fifty•Getty Images

It only took Abhishek 22 balls to get to fifty. By the end of the powerplay, India were 71 for 1. Abhishek eventually miscued a Charith Asalanka half-tracker to deep midwicket, in the ninth over. His 61 came off 31 balls.Nissanka’s sublime inningsNissanka had scored heavily in the group stage, but had been quiet in the first two Super Four games. In this match, he exploded. He hit Hardik Pandya through point for four first ball, lifted other seamers over deep midwicket, and hooked others over backward square leg. He hit his fifty off 25 balls, and just continued to attack through the middle overs, as Perera also scored rapidly.Nissanka became Sri Lanka’s fourth T20I centurion (among men) at the end of the 17th over, when he thumped Arshdeep into the sightscreen. He got there of 52 balls. His eventual 108 off 58 is Sri Lanka’s highest individual T20I score.

Sairaj Bahutule joins Punjab Kings as spin bowling coach

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Former India legspinner Sairaj Bahutule has joined Punjab Kings (PBKS) as their new spin bowling coach ahead of the 2026 IPL season. He replaces Sunil Joshi, who held the role from 2023 to 2025.ESPNcricinfo understands Joshi decided to leave as he is set to take over as spin coach at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.”Sairaj’s deep understanding of the game, particularly his extensive experience in grooming domestic bowlers and managing strategy, will be invaluable to our side,” PBKS CEO Satish Menon said. “His expertise aligns perfectly with our vision of building a strong and cohesive bowling unit for the season ahead.”Bahutule joins a backroom team that has Ricky Ponting as head coach, Brad Haddin as assistant coach, James Hopes as the fast bowling coach, and Trevor Gonsalves as assistant bowling coach.”I’m really excited to join Punjab Kings as a spin bowling coach for the upcoming IPL season,” Bahutule said. “This is a team that plays a different brand of cricket, and I can see the potential is massive. They have a bunch of talented players, and I’m looking forward to working with them to refine their skills and help them reach new heights.”Bahutule was the spin bowling coach at Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2025. He had also been RR’s spin bowling coach from 2018 to 2021 before joining the National Cricket Academy and serving as support staff for India A assignments.Bahutule’s exit from RR follows Dravid’s departure from the franchise as head coach. Dravid has been replaced by Kumar Sangakkara.PBKS finished runners-up in IPL 2025 after finishing top of the points table in the league phase. They lost the final to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six runs.

Smith given out after Real Time Snicko confusion; 'correct decision,' says Taufel

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Simon Taufel, the former international umpire, has defended the decision to give England’s Jamie Smith out caught behind on review on the second day of the first Ashes Test in Perth.Smith, on 15, was cramped for room looking to pull a back-of-a-length ball from Brendan Doggett and was given not out by standing umpire Nitin Menon. Australia captain Steven Smith reviewed the decision on the insistence of Travis Head (fielding at short leg) and Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), and it was ultimately overturned by TV umpire Sharfuddoula after a long delay.Smith, England’s wicketkeeper, started to walk off the field when he saw a murmur on the Real Time Snickometer (RTS) graphic on the big screen at Perth Stadium, but stopped after the footage was slowed down, with the small spike appearing one frame after the ball had passed the bat.

But after four minutes of consideration, Sharfuddoula overturned the decision. “[There is a] spike as the ball has just gone past the bat,” he said. “[I am] satisfied the ball has made contact with the bat. My decision… Nitin, you need to change your decision from not out to out. There’s a clear spike as the ball had just passed [the bat].”The thousands of England supporters at the ground booed the decision and sang, “Same old Aussies, always cheating.” But Taufel, speaking on Channel 7’s coverage, said the right decision had been reached, citing the difference between “edge-detection technologies” used in Australia and elsewhere.”This is the difficulty when we have two types of edge-detection technologies around the world,” Taufel said. “Primarily, we use Hawkeye Ultra-Edge. In Australia, it’s one of the few countries in the world to use Real-Time Snicko.”It’s very difficult to come into a series with limited experience around how to judge RTS, but the conclusive evidence protocols with RTS [are that] if you get a spike up to one frame past the bat, that is conclusive. And in this particular case, that is exactly what was there.”Unfortunately, he [Sharfuddoula] didn’t want to pull the trigger quite as quickly as perhaps he could have or should have. And the guys in the truck were doing their utmost to show him and to slow it down and to try rocking and rolling that frame. For me, the correct decision was made: a spike [on] RTS after one frame past the bat, the batter has got to go.”The decision was reminiscent of several similar controversies during last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India.Mark Waugh, the former Australia batter, suggested on Kayo Sports’ coverage that Smith’s initial walk towards the dressing room might have influenced the decision to give him out.”I think Smith gave it away there,” he said. “I don’t think the umpire would have been convinced that he’d hit that if he’d stayed there. You’ve got to think if that takes that long to make a decision that there’s got to be some doubt there. But when Smith walked off, I think that’s what convinced the umpire. I think that’s the longest DRS decision I think I’ve seen.”

'We won that last hour' – Crawley hails England's 'perfect' end to the day in Brisbane

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England believe that the chaotic final half-hour at the Gabba swung the opening day of the second Ashes Test in their favour, after Joe Root and Jofra Archer’s unbroken tenth-wicket stand of 61 took them to 325 for 9 under lights.At the scheduled 9pm close, England were 269 for 9 after 68 overs, with Root unbeaten on 111. It was a remarkably similar situation to the opening day of the 2023 series between these teams in Edgbaston, when Ben Stokes declared with Root on 118 to give England four overs to bowl at Australia before the close.The added element of the pink ball – and the opportunity to bowl at Australia under floodlights – strengthened the case for a declaration, prompting David Warner on Fox commentary to say he was “absolutely baffled” that Stokes had not pulled the plug on England’s innings.Related

  • Root ton, Starc six as England reach 325 for 9 on opening day in Brisbane

  • Crawley settles the nerves as he bounces back from Perth pair

  • Starc on left-arm wickets record: Wasim still the GOAT

Steven Smith, who had floated the prospect of opening the batting with two nightwatchers in such a scenario, was at pains to slow the game down as much as possible, and Root remonstrated with umpire Sharfuddoula at Australia’s apparent time-wasting when Travis Head got padded up to spend a single ball under the helmet at short leg.But Root and Archer seized the opportunity to tee off, adding 56 runs in the final six overs of the day in a partnership that Zak Crawley said had changed the mood of the day for England’s players, who watched on from the viewing gallery outside the away dressing room. “We definitely won that last hour,” Crawley said. “We’re positive going into tomorrow.”Joe Root and Jofra Archer added an unbeaten 61 off 44 balls before stumps•Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Archer, batting at No. 11 for only the second time in Test cricket, started the carnage by charging Scott Boland and swiping him over square leg for the first six of the day off the first ball of an over that cost 19 runs. He then swung Mitchell Starc’s full toss over the sprawling Brendan Doggett at long-on, and Root reverse-scooped Boland over deep third in the following over.By stumps, Archer had registered a new Test best of 32 not out, while Root reached 135 overnight. Their stand was England’s first half-century partnership for the tenth wicket since Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson added 66 in the drawn Old Trafford Test in the 2023 Ashes, and their first in Australia since Norman Cowans and Derek Pringle in 1982.Starc, whose six wickets had put Australia firmly on top, was exasperated not only with the state of the old pink ball, but with his team-mates’ lack of situational awareness. “If you have a look at that ball, it’s basically bowling with a tennis ball,” he told SEN radio. “They chanced their arm, there were a few that dropped short. I think there’s a little bit of tactical nous in there as well.

“Hopefully, we take that tenth one early tomorrow and get batting with the sun out. We saw that it [the ball] didn’t do a whole lot, and day two is generally a good day to bat on. If we can get stuck into batting early tomorrow when there’s sun on the wicket – and their balls go soft as well – it could be a good day’s cricket.”Crawley, who had briefly changed back into his whites in anticipation of fielding, said that the situation had been “perfect” for England. “There was no talk of a declaration,” he said. “We were just saying, ‘Go really hard,’ and it was a win-win: if it comes off, then we’ll get 50 runs like we did, or if you got out, then we could have a crack at them under lights.”They’re valuable runs and it would’ve worked out either way… We were pretty happy with [being bowled out for] 260 and having an hour at them at that point, to be honest. We were quite optimistic about that last hour, and then it turned out we batted for all of it. It felt like it was a great chance for us either way – with bat or ball – to seize that last hour.”Australia only bowled 74 overs out of the scheduled 90 on the first day, which Simon Katich described as “an absolute joke”. They risk being docked World Test Championship points if they fail to bowl England out inside 80 overs. “The over rates are what they are,” Starc said. “If we keep taking the wickets, they won’t worry about it.”

Aimee Maguire cleared to resume bowling in international cricket

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Ireland left-arm spinner Aimee Maguire has been cleared to resume bowling in international cricket with immediate effect.Maguire, 18, was suspended from bowling earlier this year after being reported during the first ODI against India in Rajkot on January 10. Her action was deemed suspect under the ICC’s Illegal Bowling Regulations.Maguire has since remodelled her action and subsequently underwent an independent re-assessment at an ICC-accredited testing centre where she was cleared.”An independent assessment of Maguire’s remodelled bowling action at an ICC accredited testing centre concluded that the amount of elbow extension was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Illegal Bowling Regulations,” an ICC release said.Maguire made her ODI and T20I debut against West Indies in July 2023. She has so far played 11 ODIs, where she has picked 16 wickets, with best bowling figures of 5 for 19 against England last year. Maguire has also played nine T20Is, where she has nine wickets at an economy rate of 7.20.The 18-year-old is not part of the Ireland squad that faces Pakistan in a three-match T20I series, which begins in Dublin on Wednesday.

Essex opener Nick Browne announces retirement

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Nick Browne, the Essex opener, has announced his retirement from the professional game.Browne, 34, was in his benefit season after more than a decade on the books at Essex but only made three One-Day Cup appearances. His last outing in the County Championship, the format which showcased the best of his ability, came in July 2024.Having made his county debut at the age of 22, Browne went on to become a mainstay at the top of the order, scoring 20 first-class hundreds – including four doubles, equalling the record of Graham Gooch for the club – and helping Essex to four-red-ball titles between 2016 and 2020.Related

  • Essex all but seal Division One status with watery draw at Edgbaston

  • Somerset handed points deduction for 'below average' pitch

  • Chahar joins Surrey for final Championship match of the season

  • Hameed wants 'four more days of quality cricket' as Notts eye Division One title

“The time has come to hang up the Gray-Nicolls boots and retire from professional cricket,” Browne said. “It has been my lifelong dream to play for Essex, starting with the club at the age of 8, the last 26 years of my life has been about Essex Cricket and I have loved every minute of it.”I want to say a massive thank you to all of the members and fans of Essex for your unwavering support throughout the years. I have played every ball, every session and every day like it is my last. I have tried to play with a smile on my face every day and hope I have given you some joy and happiness.”I am incredibly grateful to all my coaches who have thrown millions of balls at me over the years. They have supported me through so many great days and some average ones. To the boys who I have shared the dressing room with, thank you for everything. We have had so many great memories on and off the field from winning Championships to the late nights in the changing rooms.”To my parents, family, friends and my partner Alice, I have had the most amazing, unforgettable time playing cricket, I could not have done it without your love and support. You have always been there for me to celebrate me in the highs and the lows. I cannot thank you enough. I look forward to the next chapter.”Predominately a red-ball player, Browne passed 1000 runs for the season three summers in a row between 2015 and 2017. His runs helped secure the Division Two title in 2016, followed by Essex’s first County Championship in 25 years in 2017. He struggled to reach such heights again, but was part of another Championship-winning side in 2019, as well as the team that lifted the Bob Willis Trophy a year later.Having been almost an ever-present at the top of the order for a decade, he only played six times in the Championship last season and has not featured this term.Dan Feist, Essex’s chief executive officer, said: “Nick Browne is the epitome of dedication and professionalism. His contributions to Essex Cricket have been remarkable, and his commitment to the club is admired not just by those at Chelmsford but by players, officials and supporters throughout the county game.”Nick has been a true professional on and off the field, with a passion for the game and for Essex Cricket that stands out. We are grateful for his immense contributions and wish him every success in retirement and beyond.”

Weatherald's aggression opens route to Ashes selection

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Tasmania 171 and 244 for 5 (Weatherald 94, Silk 51*) lead Western Australia 172 (Hope 4-51, Meredith 3-36, Bird 3-38)Jake Weatherald missed his century but landed a fresh blow in his battle for a Test debut in the Ashes series.The Tasmania opener raced to 94 off just 99 balls on day two of the the Sheffield Shield clash with Western Australia in Hobart before he was caught in the deep hooking.Related

  • Haskett makes an impression as Weatherald misses out

  • O'Neill bags five but late Victoria collapse in the gloom keeps NSW in touch

He had made 18 in the hosts’ first-innings total of 171, as no other player passed 41 on the tricky Bellerive Oval track until Jordan Silk (51 not out) late on day two.Tasmania were 244 for 5 when rain stopped play slightly before stumps were due to be called.Left-handed Weatherald, 30, topped last year’s Shield run-scorers’ list with 906 at an average of 50.33, and remains in the frame for a call-up for the first Ashes Test.His commanding strokeplay, particularly square of the wicket, was impressive and potentially the perfect complement to the more sedate Usman Khawaja, who is all but assured of one opening spot at Optus Stadium against England next month.Weatherald, a promising emerging talent at South Australia who has reignited his career with a move south, struck 13 fours and a six in his brisk knock on Thursday.It came after the visitors had taken a lead of just one run on the first innings, at one stage losing 3 for 3 to be all out for 172 after beginning the day 107 for 4.Brad Hope ran through the tail, while Riley Meredith and Jackson Bird both finished with three wickets.Matthew Kelly (3-47) was the pick of the WA bowlers in Tasmania’s second innings.

Mahmudul 'disappointed' after missing out on maiden double-hundred

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Right at the end of the third day’s press conference, Matthew Humphreys was asked what could be expected from Ireland on the fourth morning. They need another 215 runs to make Bangladesh bat again and have five wickets in hand.Humphreys saw the humour in the question. “I think me and Andy [McBrine] walk off 200 each,” he said.Ireland manager Chris Siddle then referred to Ireland’s previous Test in Bangladesh, when Lorcan Tucker held back the home team that had all but checked out of their hotel on the third day.”I remember the last time we played here in Dhaka,” Siddle said. “The Bangladesh team were checking out of the hotel on the morning of day three, and they still had to come back for day four, so maybe, you never know.”Related

  • For Shanto, return to form 'a good start, nothing more'

  • Shanto, Mahmudul and spinners put Bangladesh in command

Ireland can only hope for a miracle that would delay Bangladesh’s charge towards a 1-0 lead. After Bangladesh declared on 587 for 8, the experienced Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz and debutant Hasan Murad reduced Ireland had Ireland on 86 for 5 at stumps.The Bangladesh bowlers generally dominate at home, but their batting has also looked encouraging this year. The top three finally came together with Mahmudul Hasan Joy making a career-best 171 and Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque scoring 80s.Mahmudul, though, was disappointed after missing out on a maiden double-hundred. “I’m happy to return to the Bangladesh team after quite some time,” he said. “I was able to play a big innings for the team. It would have been better if it were a double-hundred. A little disappointed on that front.”Najmul Hossain Shanto completed his century in 112 balls•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Mahmudul, who was dropped from Bangladesh’s previous Test series due to a long lean patch, said that his recent form in domestic cricket helped him recover his confidence.”The NCL T20 hundred helped me boost myself more, because I performed very well there, and then I also had a good performance in the NCL four-day matches,” he said. “I am trying to do the same thing here as I did there – carrying the innings. I won’t do anything different. I’ll just carry on in the same way I played in the last NCL.”Mahmudul said that much of his batting form recovery came in an off-season camp with the Bangladesh Tigers programme.”I worked hard in the Tigers camp. I got a lot of help from the local coaches. [Mohammad] Ashraful has just joined us. I haven’t worked much with him before. He gave a couple of points. [Mohammad] Salahuddin sir knows me well. I didn’t make any big changes. They just told me to play my natural game, and to keep performing the way I have been.”Mahmudul, however, fell quickly on the third morning, though Bangladesh didn’t back down. Najmul Hossain Shanto slammed his eighth Test century, while Litton Das blazed his way to a neat 60.Shanto and Litton added 98 runs at 5.49 per over during their fifth-wicket partnership. It is exactly what Bangladesh wanted from them – particularly after the top three had provided such a solid foundation.”Shanto bats very aggressively whenever he comes in,” Mahmudul said. When we give a good start from the top, it becomes easy for those who bat later, like Mushfiq[ur Rahim] , Shanto , and others. The scoring option is very good then. I’d say his was a very good innings.”

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