England and Australia are poised for a thrilling conclusion to the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston after Stuart Broad rocked the tourists with two huge wickets late on day four.
Broad stepped up deep in the evening session to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith – the top two Test batters in the world rankings – and leave the tourists 107 for three chasing 281.
Despite the threat of rain on the final morning there should be enough time to avert a draw, with England hunting seven wickets and their rivals needing 174 runs to get over the line.
Memories of ‘the greatest series’ loom large
The fervour of the build-up to this series drew comparisons to the unforgettable series 18 years ago, when England reclaimed the urn after an 18-year wait. Key to that result was a nail-biting two-run win here in Birmingham, where Steve Harmison had Michael Kasprowicz caught behind just as Australia looked to have won it. The target that day was 282, just one more than today’s magic number. The tourists were much worse off on that occasion, ending on 175 for eight overnight, but could it possibly go as close again?
What they saidTweet of the day
Comedian and author Mark Steel attempts to paint a picture of ‘Bazball’ for the uninitiated.
Joe Root 2.0
Joe Root’s knock on the fourth morning exemplified his willingness to adapt towards a more high-risk, high-reward style under the current regime. He surprised everyone in the stadium by attempting to reverse scoop Pat Cummins over slip from the first ball of the day. The shot did not come off on that occasion but in the next over, he hit Scott Boland for six and four in successive deliveries with the same stroke. Root’s innings of 46 in 55 balls featured five boundaries and ended in unexpected fashion…
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In England’s second innings, Root came charging down the pitch to Nathan Lyon and was out stumped for the first time in a career spanning 131 games and 240 innings. In the space of three months, Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey has now stumped Root and Virat Kohli for the first time in their careers.
England target Boland
Scott Boland was a thorn in England’s side in the 2020/21 Ashes in Australia, picking up six wickets for seven in a stunning debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He finished the series with 18 wickets in three Tests and arrived at Edgbaston with an impeccable record. His effectiveness has been built around his meanness – with an economy rate of 2.31 prior to this week. England appear to have made a point of knocking him off stride, scoring at 5.61 against him over the course of the Test. It was telling that Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey began to stand up to the stumps to Boland to prevent the English batters from charging down the pitch.
Top five fourth-innings chases at EdgbastonMo blow
The final day of a Test frequently means bringing a spinner into play but concerns abound about Moeen Ali’s index finger – the digit he uses to spin the ball which is blistered because of his increased workload in his first red-ball appearance since September 2021. The all-rounder was described as “fine” by team-mate Stuart Broad but Moeen bowled seven unexceptional overs on Monday. His effectiveness is set to be tested by his problematic finger and will place question marks over his involvement through the series. There is just eight days’ rest between the end of this Test and the start of the next one at Lord’s, a match he will be doubtful to play unless the injury settles down.
IPL: Yadav century ends Mumbai's losing streak in style
Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten century to lead Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
Yadav hit a sensational 102 not out off 51 balls with six maximums as Mumbai successfully chased a target of 174 with 16 balls to spare, lifting them off the foot of the table.
Despite a slow start to the Indians' innings in which SRH took three wickets in the first five overs, Yadav’s introduction turned things around as he put on a partnership of 143 with Tilak Varma (37 not-out).
Sunrisers had started well, with Travis Head reeling off a quick 48, but Piyush Chawla (3-33) and Hardik Pandya (3-31) limited Hyderabad to 173-8, with Anshul Kamboj claiming his maiden IPL wicket by bowling out Mayank Agarwal.
Pat Cummins finished with a flurry, knocking 35 runs from 17 balls, and the Australia captain helped SRH put the Indians on the ropes when he dismissed Rohit Sharma in the fourth over.
Yet Mumbai would lose only one more wicket as Yadav inspired them to victory that snapped a four-match losing run.
Data Debrief: Yadav star of the show
This was Yadav's first IPL hundred of the season, with his knock including 18 boundaries (12 fours, six sixes), taking him up to 334 runs so far this campaign.
He is 16th in the overall rankings, and some 108 runs behind leader Virat Kohli.
Matthews among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for April
West Indies Women’s Captain Hayley Matthews has been named among three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for April.
A past winner of the award and current holder of the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year, Matthews is another top-ranked performer to have grabbed headlines in April.
The 26-year-old skipper piled on the runs in her six outings for the West Indies, notching two brilliant ODI centuries followed by back-to-back half-centuries in the T20I contests against Pakistan.
Alongside her 451 runs in April, Matthews also flourished with the ball, taking 12 wickets; six in the ODI matches at an average of 14, and six more in the T20Is at 10.50.
Matthews’ competition for the award are South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu.
The South African opener is looking to claim her maiden Player of the Month award in what is her fourth nomination, and is a strong contender after another historic series of displays in April.
Wolvaardt started the month with a half-century in the final T20I contest against Sri Lanka before carrying her excellent form into the ODI series.
Her innings of 41 in the first match preceded an emphatic 110 not out in the second to claim a vital win, but the 25-year-old saved her best score for the last game, blasting a national record score of 184 in 147 balls only for South Africa to be outdone by the brilliance of Athapaththu.
Athapaththu, last year’s ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, continued her dominance in the 50-over format, reclaiming the top spot in the ICC Women’s ODI Batting rankings after a stellar showing in April.
Records tumbled for the Sri Lanka skipper, thanks to a sparkling unbeaten 195 in Potchefstroom against South Africa as the tourists won in a record run chase.
258 ODI runs was complemented by 148 runs in T20Is, which included two half-centuries in South Africa, plus another against Scotland in the ongoing Women’s T20WC Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, where Sri Lanka eventually sealed their qualification thanks to semi-final success on Sunday.
Knight Riders dispatch Super Giants to move top of IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders moved to the top of the Indian Premier League courtesy of a 98-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants.
Sunil Narine hit a sensational 81 from 39 balls, and he was ably supported by Ramandeep Singh's 25 from six deliveries, as KKR reeled off a third straight win on Sunday.
Ramandeep enjoyed a great day in the field too, as he took one of the catches of the season as LSG managed just 137 in response to KKR's 235.
Phil Salt struck 32, but it was fellow opener Narine who did the damage for KKR.
Ravi Bishnoi eventually ended his stand, but only when KKR had reached 140. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32) had to be substituted out, but Shreyas Iyer added a useful 23 before Ramandeep hammered 25 from just an overs' worth of deliveries.
KL Rahul (25) and Marcus Stoinis (36) tried to get Lucknow going either side of Ramandeep's spectacular catch to dismiss Arshin Kulkarni, but the Super Giants never set the pace to truly trouble Kolkata.
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