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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:30

‘Mumbai should not experiment more for playoffs’

Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on a counter-attacking second-wicket partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Moises Henriques to outplay Mumbai Indians and keep their playoff chances alive. Dhawan and Henriques walloped a stand of 91 that came off just 11 overs as Sunrisers razed a target of 139 with 10 balls to spare and maintained their stronghold at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium with their sixth win in seven matches at the ground.The win was set up as their bowlers exploited a sluggish pitch to stifle Mumbai. That the visiting team was able to recover to 138 was down to their captain Rohit Sharma, who played an innings of class and poise to give his team a chance.Sunrisers’ position on the table remained unchanged, but they stayed afloat as the race to the playoffs got tighter. The win also brought the curtains down on Delhi Daredevils who do not stand to qualify for the final four anymore.Switched on, switched offSunrisers oscillated between sharp and lax in the early exchanges. Their bowlers made good use of a slow surface where shot-making wasn’t at its easiest. Bhuvneshwar Kumar set the tone with a tight first over. And with Mohammad Nabi following suit, it took 10 deliveries for Mumbai to crack. Lendl Simmons lost his middle stump, swinging wildly and missing a quicker, non-turning offbreak from Nabi. Mumbai were 4 for 1 after two overs.Mohammed Siraj undid some of that good work next over, when Parthiv Patel and Nitish Rana capitalised on poor lines and lengths to punish him for 16. The surge, however, was short-lived. While Nabi got a few to stop and turn, the odd ball kept the pacers interested as well. Siddarth Kaul got a shorter one to hurry on to Rana, who lobbed a catch to mid-off trying to fetch a pull. Kaul’s next ball wasn’t too dissimilar. This time Parthiv played the line, but couldn’t keep the slap down, picking out point where Vijay Shankar let it burst through. Fortunately for Sunrisers, they weren’t left to rue the chance, as Kaul took pace off and Parthiv chipped a knuckle ball to long-on two overs later.Rohit bats on a different planeBefore Monday, Rohit had faced 37 balls of legspin and scored just 35 while perishing four times. On Monday, off the first ball he faced from Rashid Khan, he deftly used the width to guide him through third man for four. Then, with Mumbai having limped to 59 for 3 at the halfway stage, Rohit broke the shackles by going against the spin of Rashid, launching him over long-on for six. Overall, he collected 16 runs off the 11 balls he faced from the legspinner.Rohit then settled into a beautiful rhythm. That he rarely played across the line showed how well he had read the pace of the surface. His three fours off Moises Henriques in the 14th over further demonstrated his class. When Henriques took pace off, Rohit picked it early and pierced the cover region; when Henriques banged it in at pace, Rohit calmly opened the face to steer it into the gap.Unlike Rohit, the rest of Mumbai’s batsmen struggled against Rashid. Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, especially, hardly picked him. Hardik, who had helped Rohit stitch together 60 for the fourth wicket, tried to slog his way out and skewed a top-edge to cover. But Rohit continued to pinch singles and find the boundary. By the time he fell, he had struck over 50% of his team’s runs. Following his dismissal, Mumbai added just 12 more off 11 balls and lost two wickets.Big loss, big hittingWith Sunrisers desperately in search of a win, Mitchell McClenaghan pinged the back pad of David Warner first ball of the second over. Pressure on. But Mumbai conceded the early advantage through poor bowling. They hardly made an effort to take the pace off the ball. To Mumbai’s misfortune, the pitch did ease up in the second innings for the batsmen. It compounded the shorter lengths they tried out as Dhawan and Henriques relished the pace and picked their areas.Dhawan’s sixes over long-on off Karn Sharma – a muscular heave to a fuller one from outside the crease and a flat-batted shovel to a shorter one – showed how well he had sussed out the pace of the surface. Henriques, on the other hand, impressed with his strokeplay off the back and front foot. Successive fours off Malinga in the 11th over – to a full-toss and a shorter one – exposed the predictability of Mumbai’s bowling.When Henriques fell to a slower offcutter from Bumrah, shortly after Harbhajan had put down a return catch, Sunrisers were left with 41 to get off 47. And though Yuvraj Singh struggled with an injured finger, Dhawan closed out the game without undue risks.

The door has not yet been completely shut on the BCCI as far as the ICC’s finance model is concerned. ESPNcricinfo understands that immediately after the BCCI was outvoted at the ICC Board meeting on Wednesday, the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar informed Amitabh Choudhury, the BCCI secretary, that the settlement offer of an additional $100 million was still on the table.Under the new finance model, the BCCI stands to receive $293 million from the ICC revenue across an eight-year cycle. The BCCI had wanted $570 million – the share it would have received under the previous Big Three finance model – but Manohar had made a counter offer of an additional $100 million over the $293 million to raise the Indian board’s share to nearly $400 million.On Wednesday, the ICC board read the letter submitted by Choudhury on the mandate given to him by the BCCI and rejected his proposal.How did the BCCI lose?
Hours before before the ICC Board met, Choudhury and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri conducted discussions with heads of various boards such as the ECB, Cricket Australia, the WICB, Associates representative Imran Khawaja, and Manohar.It is understood that both BCCI representatives wanted to try and find a “middle path” on the finance model. The idea was to get as close to the $445 million figure the Committee of Administrators (CoA, appointed by Supreme Court of India to supervise the BCCI) had asked Manohar for in March.There was then a separate meeting between Choudhury and three members of the ICC working group, which had drafted the new constitution. Manohar, ECB president Giles Clarke and CA chairman David Peever once again placed the offer of an additional $100 million to Choudhury.ICC chairman Shashank Manohar (right), ECB chairman Giles Clarke (left) and CA chairman David Peever once again offered the BCCI a settlement•Getty Images

“Earlier the offer had been made by Manohar, but this was a formal offer from the ICC working group. He [Choudhury] turned it down,” an official said. “He was told that in that case the original proposal had already been approved in February and we can’t change that. Hence the ICC model went through.”With Choudhury refusing to enter a discussion on the settlement deal, the ICC working group was left with no choice but to ask for a show of hands. The BCCI was taken aback when Full Members whom it understood to be in its corner swayed to the ICC side. The BCB, Zimbabwe Cricket and the WICB have been BCCI allies for a long time, but on Wednesday they voted against it. The case of the BCB and ZC was surprising only because both had submitted strong reservations at the outset of the ICC Board meeting. ZC even called the draft constitution “discriminatory.”The official said one main reason behind these three boards changing stance was the ICC’s decision to provide them financial help. It is understood ZC could be given $19 million to clear its debt while the WICB had asked for $40 million as a grant.What now for the BCCI?
A ray of hope still exists, considering Manohar wants the BCCI to be happy. A source who has worked closely with Manohar since he arrived at the ICC last year said he has no “desire to alienate” the BCCI. He has asked the ICC to continue engaging with the BCCI.The other reason for the BCCI remaining optimistic was a significant decision the ICC Board agreed on: to move the finance model out of the constitution. The BCCI feels there is still some room for manoeuvre.The working group will meet once again during the ICC’s annual conference in June to approve the final changes to the constitution, governance structure and finance model – all of which would be finally ratified by the ICC Board. “All the boards want this resolved also,” the official said. “What happened yesterday does not mean India has diminished.”Choudhury told the ICC that he would need to head back to the BCCI, which will take a final decision at a special general body meeting (SGM).The official said India still had the bargaining power because of its importance in bilateral cricket. He pointed out that the ICC might need to increase its settlement offer and “go beyond” the proposed $100 million.”There are two ways of resolving this now. One is the SGM says okay, 390 is good. Let us go ahead. The ICC will agree immediately and resolve it. Or [the SGM] says we need more time. Then there will be another round of negotiations [with the ICC].”However, the scope of any further negotiations, the source pointed out, were remote. “He [Manohar] would still want to negotiate with the BCCI, but would he take it beyond $390 million? Questionable.”One other interested party, which could play the catalyst, is the CoA. It has been keeping a close watch on the events in Dubai this week. Any decision taken by the BCCI office bearers would need to be conveyed to the CoA, which would need to approve anything that is sent in writing to the ICC as per the court order. “The CoA can step in, but it will only step in also at $445 million,” the official said.

Ramachandra Guha, a member of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), has appealed to the KSCA to reconsider its “ill-advised” decision to boycott the annual BCCI awards and the MAK Pataudi Memorial Lecture on Wednesday evening (March 8) in Bengaluru. Guha further said the state body would insult the awardees – present and past – by abstaining from the function.”You have thereby insulted the great cricketers who have won the award this year, including the Karnataka cricketer Shanta Rangaswamy, the first to get the woman’s award,” Guha wrote in an email addressed to KSCA president Sanjay Desai. “You have also insulted the awards themselves, and you have insulted all past awardees, including EAS Prasanna, GR Viswanath, BS Chandrasekhar, Syed Kirmani and all the greats from Karnataka that [KSCA secretary] Sudhakar Rao and you played with.”

KSCA member hits back at Guha

The KSCA, in a statement signed by managing committee member Ashok Raghavan, responded to Ramachandra Guha’s comments on the association’s awards boycott, tagging his comments “despicable”. The statement said Guha was taking his job on the Committee of Administrators “far too seriously”, and that the member would continue to make “submissions every time when the [CoA] cross the line of authority either by way of their action or their words”.
“Your above remarks per se are uncalled for, unnecessary, disdainful, disparaging, despicable and condemnable to say the least,” the statement said. “I being the member of the Managing Committee, who has spent considerable time and energy in carrying out my duties… which is strictly honorary in nature, do not deserve such uncharitable remarks. I respectfully submit that I do not need a certificate from you or from anybody else for that matter, about my extent of love for cricket or lust for power as I personally know the hours I have spent in the Association for its betterment and smooth administration.
“… As a person of public repute far larger than me it is expected that you should have been more mature, measured and sensitive in your remarks… From your statements in the press it appears that you are taking your job far too seriously and making comments without even understanding the other point of view.
“… It is needless to state that the Apex Court has found some merit in your good self to bestow you with the onerous responsibility of a Member of the [CoA] and it would only be fitting if you could carry the confidence reposed in you by the Apex Court with maturity and wisdom.”

Guha called the decision to boycott the functions “foolish and petty”, and said it would send a message that the KSCA put its opposition to the reforms ahead of honouring cricketers. “Please do reconsider. Think of the message it will send – that KSCA hates reforms in cricket administration so much that it does not even wish to honour its own great cricketers. Do act like gentlemen and come join in the celebration of cricket and cricketers,” he said in the email accessed by ESPNcricinfo.BCCI CEO Rahul Johri had earlier invited state associations for the fifth Pataudi Lecture, to be delivered by former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer, and the board’s annual awards. However, the last paragraph of the invitation – “Kindly note that the committee of administrators is constrained to convey that only those office bearers who are qualified as per the Supreme Court orders are expected to attend the function” – struck a raw nerve with the KSCA.In its reply dated March 3, the KSCA said it would be a “humiliation to the very cricketing fraternity” to accept the invitation with constraints and restrictions. “It may seem very rude or undiplomatic, however, looking at the last paragraph of your invitation, we would like to ascertain that we are also constrained not to acknowledge, thank or even remotely think of attending this function,” the two-page mail, signed by Desai and Rao, said.Desai and Rao had also accused the CoA of treating cricketers and administrators shabbily. “Administrators and Cricketers who have contributed their time and energy and also have sacrificed immensely for the development of game over decades are being treated so shabbily by the Committee of Administrators as though all of them are of doubtful integrity,” their reply had said.Many state associations, who are likely to follow KSCA’s lead and stay away from the awards, have been critical of the CoA “overstepping” its role defined by the Supreme Court. Last week, these associations, barring Vidarbha and Tripura, sent the CoA separate emails saying they would not comply with its directives till they got clarification from the Supreme Court on aspects like eligibility of an office bearer.

England T20 specialist Tymal Mills and a clutch of Afghanistan players – including IPL-bound Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi – are among the high-profile names to be included in the draft for this year’s Caribbean Premier League.Mills, who was picked up for USD1.8m in the IPL auction last month, is one of four English players in the draft, alongside former Test spinner Monty Panesar. Mills’ availability is likely to be limited, however, as there is significant overlap between the CPL – scheduled to run from August 1 to September 9 – and the NatWest Blast, England’s domestic T20 tournament which this year takes place in July and August, with Finals Day on September 2.Rashid and Nabi are joined by compatriots Nawroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai and Najibullah Zadran. There are a number of other Associate players in the mix, including Canada’s Rizwan Cheema and Ruvindu Gunasekera; George Dockrell, Kevin O’Brien and Niall O’Brien from Ireland; Oman’s Sufyan Mehmood and Zishawn Qureshi of the USA.Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are all well represented in the 258-player pool, ahead of the draft scheduled for March 10.The list also includes a number of local players looking to be picked up, including two-time World T20 winner Marlon Samuels. Those retained by their franchises, as well as marquee players, will be announced separately.”T20 is capturing the world of cricket by storm, and with the huge numbers of talented players from across the cricketing world eager to sign up to the biggest party in sport, I’ve no doubt that the 2017 season will be our best yet,” Tom Moody, the CPL’s director of international cricket, said.”In attracting the cream of international talent from a healthy blend of established and fast-developing nations, it extends the growing international appeal of the sport and of the Hero CPL itself, and I have no doubt that we are going to see a hugely contested player draft in Barbados on March 10th.”

Match facts

Sunday, January 15, 2017
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)5:46

Agarkar: Can’t leave out Yuvraj after picking him in the squad

Big picture

The cricketing gods must be crazy. We are living in an era where India are regularly winning Test series 3-0 and 4-0, having done so only twice in their history until 2012. In ODIs, on the other hand, they are not starting as favourites in a series against even after beating them 4-0 in Tests. England are not the clear favourites either, but it says a lot about their metamorphosis since the 2015 World Cup that they start on even terms against a side that has beaten them in four of the last five bilateral ODI series and is 17-8 in recent ODI cricket between them. And England are not apologetic about pushing the boundaries in ODIs independent of how the Test side is performing.India and MS Dhoni have recognised that they, for a change, need motivation from their Test side. That the split captaincy doesn’t work. So Virat Kohli, who has tasted early success in Tests, takes over an ODI side that is desperately in need of new ideas and match-winners in the middle order.England have batting match-winners all the way down. Which is why they keep coming at you with the big shots, the switch hits and the reverse-sweeps. India will look to bat more clinically, relying as they do on a smaller base of batsmen, especially given Rohit Sharma’s absence. Either way there will be runs. A lot of them.The contest, though, will come down to the bowlers. One spell of 10 overs for 45 runs or one extra wicket in the middle overs. England will rely more on discipline of their pace bowlers, India on the spinners. A flat pitch will give England the advantage, and the slightest hint of slowness or turn will give India control. The day-night warm-up match played at the Brabourne Stadium between an England XI and India A showed a lot of what to expect: Chris Woakes and David Willey were tight at the start, keeping India A down to 304, and India A came back in their defence through the spin of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. England XI scored 156 for 1 off the 24.5 overs bowled by the quicks, and 148 for 6 in 24 overs of spin.The pitches for ODIs, though, are generally flat. And India wouldn’t necessarily want too much help for the spinners: they wouldn’t want to be chasing 250 on turning pitches, as demonstrated in the defeats against New Zealand in Delhi and Ranchi, and Adil Rashid cannot be underestimated in ODIs. Early starts to the matches – 1.30pm as opposed to 2.30pm in earlier years – should make dew and the toss less of a factor. Hopefully.

Form guide

India WLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWLWEoin Morgan comes into the series with scores of 3 and 0 in the warm-up games•AFP

In the spotlight

Dhoni has had his share of eulogies. Now the attention must shift to Virat Kohli. He operates differently to India’s most successful limited-overs captain. His first call of duty will be to deal with Dhoni’s batting order. Will he give Dhoni a long stint at No. 4 and start looking for other finishers? What plans does he have for Yuvraj Singh? How is he going to utilise his Test talisman R Ashwin, who had seemingly fallen out of favour with Dhoni in the final stages of his captaincy? Does Ajinkya Rahane have a place in India’s ODI plans when everybody is fit? And Kohli will have to keep winning matches with the bat while he does all that thinking.Kohli’s counterpart Eoin Morgan, on the other hand, is going through a bit of a Dhoni patch in a batting line-up full of power hitters. He is often required in pressure situations and during good times he hardly gets enough balls to face to register big innings. His last century came in June 2015, he has averaged 38.00 since then and has won one match award in 25 matches. These numbers by themselves shouldn’t put him under pressure, but he has scored 3 and a golden duck in the tour games after Sam Billings impressed as his replacement when he opted out of the Bangladesh tour. He too will now have decisions and runs to make.

Team news

India’s squad looks completely different to the one that beat New Zealand 3-2. The two Test spinners are back, and Yuvraj is part of the 15 too. Looking at England’s struggle against spin in practice games, India could look to stack the side up with batsmen who bowl part-time spin. Manish Pandey could make way for Yuvraj but where does the man in irrepressible form, KL Rahul, fit? One way out could be to give up on Hardik Pandya or Umesh Yadav and rely on Yuvraj and Kedar Jadhav for 10 overs. Otherwise one out of the returning Rahane, Rahul and the returning Shikhar Dhawan might have to sit out. And does Kohli make the call of sitting out Amit Mishra, the spinner who took five wickets in his last ODI, just because the Test spinners are back?India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Ajinkya Rahane/ KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt.), 4 MS Dhoni (wk), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin/ Amit Mishra, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Jasprit BumrahAs they suggested with their line-ups in the warm-up games, England could look to play six batsmen, including the allrounder Ben Stokes and the wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, and five bowlers. This means they might have to make more than one difficult decision, and leave out both Sam Billings, who scored a match-winning 93 in the first warm-up game, as well as the in-form Jonny Bairstow. England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Jos Buttler (wk), 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Liam Plunkett/Liam DawsonAmit Mishra took a five-for in his last ODI, but may have to sit out this one with R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja back in India’s squad•Associated Press

Pitch and conditions

The pitch is expected to be a regular ODI surface where 300 from both sides cannot be counted out. Two days before the match India’s coach Anil Kumble said there hadn’t been any dew until 7.30pm but you cannot be certain in this time of year in India when dew usually affects day-night games. If the dew does show up at around 8pm, it still has an hour and a half to play havoc in, and the last 90 minutes of an ODI can often sway the result.

Stats and trivia

• In four matches against India, Alex Hales averages 23 and has struck at 68.65 per 100 balls as against corresponding overall numbers of 37.77 and 94.49. In 2014, India choked his off-side game by cramping him with straight inswingers.
• England have won only one bilateral series in India in eight attempts, back in 1984.
• This is only the second ODI at this venue: in the first, Australia scored 304 and defended comfortably.

Quotes

I was actually pretty delighted to be given the captaincy for all the three formats. It adds to the responsibility and makes you a better player, a better person; that’s something I have always liked that aspect of captaincy.
You wake up on the weekend and all you wanted to do was play cricket. You look out the window and hope the sun was shining. So that kind of attitude is very important. It’s a nice way to play cricket regardless of you win, lose or draw.

India’s newly appointed limited-overs captain Virat Kohli has said having MS Dhoni in the team without the responsibility of leadership will be a “win-win situation” for India and himself. In an interview with the BCCI website the day after he was named captain, Kohli also said he feels “confident” taking charge in the shorter formats given his understanding of them, and is “excited” to build a team for the 2019 World Cup.”It’s a win-win situation for the captain coming in to still have Dhoni for his advice, his inputs and his cricketing brain,” he said. “But what I’m most happy about is that he’ll be able to play free cricket and express himself as the aggressive MS Dhoni we knew when he first came into the team. As a player, responsibility can take that away from you. I think it’s time he enjoys his cricket because he has taken so much burden for the country.”Dhoni stepped down as India captain on Wednesday, after a nine-year stint in the role. Kohli had been his long-time vice-captain.Kohli said he and Dhoni shared a good relationship, and Dhoni had been grooming him for the role of captain. “I’ve learnt a lot from him in terms of leadership and conducting myself. When you think ‘Dhoni’, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘captain’. For me he’s always going to be my captain because I started my career under him. He will always be the guy who guided me, who gave me opportunities, who gave me ample time and space to grow as a cricketer, who saved me from getting dropped many a time.”There’s a lot of mutual respect between us because he understands that having been given the opportunity, I have actually worked hard on my game and improved the mental side of things. We share a great friendship and I couldn’t be luckier to have him around for his ideas.”It’s something I’ve been preparing for in my own head, and MS has been talking to me as well about strategies, how to approach situations, etc because he also understood how important it is to guide me.”Dhoni’s spot in the batting order has been a point of wider debate of late, with some suggesting it would be best for him at this later stage of his career to bat up the order and guide the innings instead of taking on the mental and physical demands of finishing games. Kohli, too, said he would like to have Dhoni batting up the order. “I would love to see him bat higher up than he has been for the last few years and totally enjoy his cricket. If MS Dhoni enjoys his cricket and plays the way he did in his initial years, then the team is in a very solid space.””I’ll be able to execute plans with more conviction starting off [as limited-overs captain], which wasn’t the case when I became Test captain”•ICC

Kohli said he thought he was better prepared for the limited-overs captaincy than he was when he took over in Tests in January 2015; then, Dhoni had retired from the longest format midway through India’s tour to Australia, captaining on Boxing Day but handing over to Kohli for the New Year’s Test. At that point, Kohli had played 32 Tests. Now, he has 176 ODIs and 45 T20Is behind him.”I feel confident taking it up because of the kind of cricket I’ve played in the shorter format and what I’ve learnt from playing in the different situations in that format. So I’ll be able to execute plans with more conviction starting off, which wasn’t the case when I became Test captain.”I was told a day before that MS is not going to play… and I’m going to captain the country; it was quite surprising for me because, in my head, I was still finding my feet in Test cricket.”Kohli said captaining India at the 2019 World Cup will be the “biggest achievement of my life”, but, even while preparing for that tournament, he would not want to lose sight of playing to win in every game. Winning, he said, would be the best preparation.”Just hearing about the World Cup gives me goosebumps. I think it’s a wonderful phase in Indian cricket where the youngsters have an opportunity to come in and seal their spots for that big occasion. The main goal is to identify players who can play in different positions and can work around the batsmen who’ve been featuring in the ODI set up for a long time, at the same time giving them ample time to prepare for those big events and not rush them into any kinds of plans that they can’t execute.”[But] there is a lot of time to go for it. Our basic goal is to win every game that we play – not taking this process for granted, saying it doesn’t matter if we win or lose games. I don’t think that will create confidence.”When you’re put under pressure, that situation is too overwhelming for a lot of people and you don’t know a way out. But if you’re encountering those situations and know how to win from different situations, it makes a mindset for big tournaments, for big games, for big oppositions and that’s what you start craving for. So I think it’s a gradual process where the main aim will be to win games and give guys the vision and mental strength, and the ability to counter situations and come back and win games.”Being in charge, Kohli said, has made him a better cricketer overall. “Responsibility has always been good for my game, in the sense that there’s no room for complacency. In the IPL, when I’m captain [of Royal Challengers Bangalore], it’s very easy for me throw my wicket away after 60-70, but the reason I push on is that I realise as captain I need to set an example, make that kind of effort before I can ask the same from others. That’s something I’ve always believed in.”It makes me a better player, it makes me a better person, it makes me understand the game more and it makes me much more focused on the game – understand the minute details that win or lose you the game. It works beautifully for me.”

Scorecard
Mitchell Johnson took three wickets to rip through the Strikers’ middle order•Getty Images

Perth Scorchers opened their Big Bash season with a 48-run win at the WACA, racking up 197 for 7 before holding the Adelaide Strikers to 149 for 9 in reply. Ian Bell and Mitchell Marsh drove the innings past the halfway mark before Ashton Turner finished it off with an unbeaten 44 off 19 balls.Ben Dunk and Jay Weatherald had put on a partnership of 133 in Adelaide’s so-nearly run chase against Brisbane Heat two days earlier, but they contributed one run between them against Perth. David Willey got them both after opening the bowling, and after three overs of the chase Adelaide were 2 for 7. That slipped to 3 for 15 in the last ball of the fourth when Travis Head nicked Jhye Richardson behind off an extravagant cut.Brad Hodge played a gem in resistance, including four consecutive fours off Richardson after the fall of Head, a cover slash for four to welcome Mitchell Johnson back to competitive cricket, and a top-edged flick for six off Andrew Tye. But Johnson got Kieron Pollard that same over, and Hodge’s eventual 56 off 33 balls wasn’t enough.Bell tolled you soIan Bell was in ordinary form when he was squeezed out of the England Test team, but that middle order hasn’t had a convincing replacement since. It may seem far-fetched to suggest that a good BBL could vault him back into the reckoning, but it wouldn’t hurt his cause.Bell’s first ball in the BBL was dropped by Weatherald at midwicket from a top-edged pull, but thereafter the new signing was a picture of composure and class. English batsmen are supposed to struggle with the bounce of Australian pitches, but Bell’s cross-bat shots were a feature of his innings. The highlight, though, was his cover drive for six off one-time England teammate Chris Jordan. Bell was out in the 16th over, and his 61 off 42 balls had set up the match.The engine room deliversWith Bell steaming along like a well-tended bain marie, Marsh came out to join him at 2 for 64 in the eighth. Another player recently dumped from his country’s Test team, Marsh came good with a couple of massive sixes in his 31 from 19 balls.By the time he fell it was 3 for 121 in the 13th over, a platform was set. Turner hit four sixes and two fours to build it skywards, and the resultant scoreboard pressure undid the Strikers from the first over of their chase.If you can’t win tough, win funnyPerth crowds have quickly become accustomed to success during the Big Bash, and didn’t smile much at missing out last year.They managed a good laugh during the end of their batting innings, though, as Ashton Agar slapped a single towards cover and tried to come back for a second. There was not even half a run there and the allrounder should have been run out by yards. Instead, as he watched helplessly, wicketkeeper Dunk couldn’t handle the throw. It went through his gloves to backward point where it was kicked even further away on the slide, and a single plus a wicket had instead become three runs and no dismissal. Commentators called for the Benny Hill music, and the orange-clad throng in the crowd lapped up every second.Strikers teeter early, Scorchers solidify Two adverse results, and the Strikers are in early trouble. They haven’t managed to chase successfully from two attempts this season and now they have to wait for New Year’s Eve for their next chance at home against Sydney Sixers.A good start for Perth though, with all the confidence that will flow from an early win in which all departments excelled – Johnson with three wickets, new boy Bell with runs, and Marsh showing that he isn’t downcast after his Australian troubles. A trip to Sydney two days after Christmas to tackle the Sixers is next.

He has been cleared to play in Hamilton, and doctors are confident he will recover well, but Ross Taylor admits the experience of going into a Test match with doubts over his vision was a galling one. Taylor had received news that the pterygium on his left eye had worsened the day before he went out to bat in the previous Test.A batsman who has had his run of form – he averaged 14.83 in the Tests in India and scored only three runs in three Test innings in South Africa – may have had doubts about his game in any case; the optometrists’ diagnosis only added to them.”When you play and miss your first couple of balls after seeing an optometrist, there are some interesting things that go through your mind,” Taylor said. “Finding out during the Test match was a little bit distracting mentally. Eyes are pretty important. Hopefully I can come back and get back to the form I was in a few years ago.”Taylor has had the pterygium – a growth on the tissue that lines the eyelids – for “five or six years”, but has seen it deteriorate over the past few months. He had initially noticed it hindering his play in a Test in Brisbane last year. Having received eye drops on that occasion, he went on to score a career-best 290 in Perth. He will now require surgery to remove the pterygium, however, and a recovery period of four to six weeks will follow.”The surgery involves cutting your eye, and cutting the growth,” he said. “Then they’ll take a little bit from under the eyelid and glue it in so the growth doesn’t come back.”With any operation there’s always a chance that things don’t go as well as possible. The surgeon I talked to last night was pretty confident that the recovery time is as we had said. After four to six weeks there could be a period when it does deteriorate a little bit, but hopefully I can get it back after a little while.”Taylor is confident his vision remains good enough to play the Hamilton match, though he does expect criticism of the decision should he fail.”All the tests said I had very good vision – I guess the growth was just coming across. I prepared to play, even before I saw the specialists. I am looking forward to this Test. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the operation, given what it entails, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.”Among the challenges Taylor will have to overcome will be swing and seam movement, given the colour of the pitch the teams will play on, and the wet forecast for the first three days. With New Zealand surfaces having become increasingly seam-friendly over the past few years, the hosts’ batsmen have begun to relish playing on them, Taylor said.”There’s been a mindset change in the team. In the last three or four years we’ve always played on green seamers, or wickets that have got a little bit in it for the seam bowlers. The way the guys train – a few years ago no one would have wanted to go and bat in the green net. But now, in the green net in Hamilton – all the boys want to go and bat in that to test themselves out. There’s no use going to bat on a flat wicket when you know the ball’s going to do a bit out there on day one and two.”

ESPNcricinfo keeps you up to date with all the player movements ahead of the 2017 seasonRilee Rossouw has joined Hampshire on a Kolpak deal•Getty Images

DerbyshireIN: Hardus Viljoen (Kolpak), Gary Wilson (Surrey), Luis Reece (Lancashire), Daryn Smit (SA, Kolpak).
OUT: Neil Broom (NZ), Callum Parkinson (Leicestershire), Chesney Hughes (released), Andy Carter (retired)
OVERSEAS: Jeevan Mendis (SL, April-June), Imran Tahir (SA, June-September), Matt Henry (NZ, T20)DurhamIN: Cameron Steel
OUT: Scott Borthwick, Mark Stoneman (both Surrey), Asher Hart (Hampshire), Gordon Muchall (retired), Phil Mustard, Calum MacLeod, Jamie Harrison, Gurman Randhawa (all released)
OVERSEAS: Stephen Cook (SA, April-July), Tom Latham (NZ, July-September)EssexIN: Varun Chopra (Warwickshire), Adam Wheater (Hampshire), Simon Harmer (Kolpak)
OUT: Graham Napier, David Masters (both retired), Jaik Mickleburgh, Tom Moore (both released)
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Amir (Pak, June-September), Neil Wagner (NZ, April-June)GlamorganIN: Marchant de Lange, arry Podmore (short-term loan, Middlesex)
OUT: James Kettleborough, Dewi Penrhyn Jones (both released), Mark Wallace (retired)
OVERSEAS: Jacques Rudolph (SA)GloucestershireIN: Phil Mustard (Durham)
OUT: Tom Hampton (released)
OVERSEAS: Michael Klinger, Cameron Bancroft, Andrew Tye (T20) (all Aus)HampshireIN: Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw (both SA, Kolpak), Asher Hart (Durham), Fraser Hay
OUT: Adam Wheater (Essex), James Tomlinson, Andy Carter (both retired), Joe Weatherley (Kent, loan)
OVERSEAS: George Bailey (Aus)KentIN: Will Gidman (Nottinghamshire), Joe Weatherley (Hampshire, loan), James Harris (Middlesex, loan)
OUT: David Griffith, Sam Weller (both released), Fabian Cowdrey (retired)
OVERSEAS: TBCLancashireIN: Dane Vilas (SA, Kolpak), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI, Kolpak), Brooke Guest
OUT: Tom Smith (retired), Nathan Buck (Northamptonshire), Gareth Griffiths (Leicestershire), Luis Reece (Derbyshire), George Edwards, Alviro Petersen (both released),
OVERSEAS: Ryan McLaren (SA), Junaid Khan (Pak, T20)LeicestershireIN: Gareth Griffiths (Lancashire), Callum Parkinson (Derbyshire), Richard Jones (Warwickshire), James Burke (loan, Surrey), Dieter Klein, Colin Ackermann (both European passport)
OUT: Jigar Naik, Ollie Freckingham, Michael Burgess, Atif Sheikh, Rob Taylor, Niall O’Brien (all released)
OVERSEAS: Clint McKay (Aus), Luke Ronchi (Pak, T20), Cameron Delport (SA, T20)MiddlesexIN:
OUT: Andrew Balbirnie (released), Max Holden (loan, Northants), James Harris (loan, Kent), Harry Podmore (loan, Glamorgan), Cameron Steel (Durham)
OVERSEAS: Brendon McCullum (NZ, T20), Adam Voges (Aus)NorthamptonshireIN: Nathan Buck (Lancashire), Max Holden (loan, Middlesex)
OUT: Olly Stone (Warwickshire)
OVERSEAS: Rory Kleinveldt (SA), Seekkuge Prasanna (T20)NottinghamshireIN: Ben Kitt
OUT: Will Gidman (Kent), Sam Wood (released)
OVERSEAS: James Pattinson (Aus), Daniel Christian (Aus, T20), Ish Sodhi (NZ, T20)SomersetIN: Steven Davies (Surrey), George Bartlett
OUT: Chris Rogers (retired), Alex Barrow (released)
OVERSEAS: Dean Elgar (SA)SurreyIN: Scott Borthwick, Mark Stoneman (both Durham), Kevin Pietersen (T20)
OUT: Steven Davies (Somerset), Gary Wilson (Derbyshire), James Burke (loan, Leicestershire), Azhar Mahmood (released)
OVERSEAS: Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Aaron Finch (Aus, T20), Moises Henriques (T20)SussexIN: Laurie Evans (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (UK passport), Stiaan van Zyl, David Wiese (both SA, Kolpak)
OUT: Craig Cachopa, Fynn Hudson-Prentice (both released), Lewis Hatchett (retired)
OVERSEAS: Vernon Philander (SA, April-June), Ross Taylor (NZ, T20)WarwickshireIN: Olly Stone (Northamptonshire), Grant Elliott (NZ, Kolpak, T20)
OUT: Varun Chopra (Essex), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Richard Jones (Leicestershire), Recordo Gordon, Jonathan Webb, Freddie Coleman (all released)
OVERSEAS: Jeetan Patel (NZ), Colin de Grandhomme (NZ, T20)WorcestershireIN:
OUT: Chris Russell (released)
OVERSEAS: John Hastings (injured, arrival uncertain), Mitchell Santner (T20, NZ)YorkshireIN: Azeem Rafiq
OUT: Andrew Gale (retired)
OVERSEAS: Peter Handscomb (Aus), Travis Head (Aus, T20)

Amid the disappointment of having lost a Test, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson felt the team had the skill to compete but has asked his team-mates to apply them for much longer durations. There were times when New Zealand had India under pressure, the batsmen combating unfamiliar conditions, but such is the dominance of India’s spinners in their own conditions that New Zealand still lost by a whopping 197 runs. Williamson identified the breaks in concentration as something that could be improved despite the short turnover involved while playing three back-to-back Tests.”On the scorecard it looks like a biggish defeat, but there were a couple of moments that I would reflect on as where the game turned slightly more in their favour,” he said. “The back end of our first innings with the bat and certainly when we bowled in the second innings there was probably a three-hour period where we didn’t bowl very well and they got away from us. It’s a combination of us not quite being at our best at certain times, and they played very well.”New Zealand lost the toss in Kanpur but had competed with India evenly for the first six sessions. They had five wickets in hand and a first-innings lead was only 63 runs away when they collapsed from 255 for 5 to 262 all out. India ended up with a 56-run advantage – which is as good as 150 in these conditions – and it showed in how demoralised the New Zealand bowlers were in the second innings, and how freely the India batsmen were able to score.”Obviously, whenever you lose it’s disappointing,” Williamson said, “but credit certainly has to go to India. They’re a good side, particularly in their home conditions and they showed that again. In saying that, there are certainly positives for us to take from this Test into the next one. The way Mitch Santner played, and Luke Ronchi, coming back into the side [making 38 and 80] were a couple of highlights. As a unit we want to be able to apply that pressure for longer, which isn’t always easy in this part of the world against a side like India. But it’s certainly a challenge for us moving forward.”New Zealand have three days left for the next Test in Kolkata. They would need to recover physically, and then figure out ways to be better, both individually and as a team.”The first thing is the guys need to recover well,” Williamson said. “There were a lot of good things to come out of this game, and for a number of players it is their first time batting in these sort of conditions. There will be a lot of lessons learnt, reflecting on those and looking to apply the skills that worked for a period of time for a lot longer. That’s certainly what the Indian players do, it is very important.”[R] Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja are both very good bowlers but there were a lot of positives for us,” Williamson said. “Guys who hadn’t played here before spent some valuable time in the middle and made some valuable contributions. Mitch Santner for one and Luke Ronchi another who certainly showed they had the skill-sets to perform well in these conditions. I do think it’s applying ourselves for longer.”As he had said in the lead-up to the Kanpur Test, Williamson pointed out how his team could learn from India. “It is a challenge against a very good attack but they [the New Zealand players] have got the skill-sets, and it’s being able to stick to it for a lot longer. That is the same with the ball for our young spin attack, who are extremely talented. Being over here in these hot conditions, being able to remain focussed for a long period because you know if you put the ball in the area for long enough, you’ll get your rewards. That’s what the Indian team showed us.”One of the reasons for Williamson hoping New Zealand could put up a better fight as the series wore on was Santner, who became the first player from his country to aggregate more than 100 runs and five wickets in a Test since 2011.”He played outstandingly well,” Williamson said. “It’s his first time in this part of the world playing Test cricket, and it was a great step in the right direction for his game. We all know he has got the talent with bat and ball and in the field. To apply himself like he did and bowl a number of overs and be successful was very good against good players of spin. It was a huge positive for us. He’ll look forward to the next one, and I’m sure he’s learnt a lot from this experience.”Martin Guptill, on the other hand, had an underwhelming Test with 21 in the first innings and a duck in the second. Williamson didn’t say if Guptill’s position was in threat yet. “This game has just finished so we get to sit down and talk about whatever the team may be for the next one and what balance will go in with. In the first innings, he got off to a good start and was perhaps a bit unfortunate in the second innings, but he has certainly shown his class in the white-ball format and we are backing him to show that in the red-ball [format]. He is working hard at his game and looking to improve. It isn’t the easiest of places to play sometimes. We’ll sit down in the next day or two and look at the side we might go with.”