England will continue to check on Ollie Pope’s injured shoulder as they look to keep their Ashes hopes alive at Headingley this week.
The vice-captain hurt his shoulder while fielding in the first innings of the 43-run defeat at Lord’s and went on to aggravate the problem when a misunderstanding with the match officials led England to believe they could not use a substitute fielder later in the game. He made 42 and three in the match, batting in his regular spot at three.
The 25-year-old has been retained in a 15-man squad for Thursday’s crucial third Test, which England need to win to stand a chance of overturning a 2-0 deficit, but it is not yet clear if he will be passed fit.
Essex batsman Dan Lawrence, who won the last of his 11 caps in the West Indies 16 months ago, is the spare batter in the squad and would be in line for a recall if Pope is forced to pull out.
Head coach Brendon McCullum said: “We will check Ollie and work it out. We will see how he is.
“I was so proud of Ollie, to do what he did (at Lord’s). He’s a tough kid to bat at number three and want to make an impact.
“That 40-odd in the first innings, he was suffering a lot of pain, but he was able to invest in the team and put that to one side and operate.
“He’s obviously our vice-captain as well and a fantastic leader in the group, albeit at a young age.”
England could look to freshen up their bowling attack after a brief three-day turnaround, with James Anderson and Ollie Robinson the likeliest to make way.
Spinner Moeen Ali, who was not risked for the second Test due to a nasty wound on his right index finger, is in contention to return and Mark Wood will bring his express 90mph pace to the side if the medical staff are confident he can get through the match.
Wood has not played competitive red-ball cricket since December and could not guarantee he would be able to operate at top speed consistently at Lord’s. Chris Woakes is also available and brings a strong home record with the Dukes ball as well reliable lower-order batting.
IPL: Du Plessis shines as RCB revival continues against Titans
A rapid 64 from captain Faf du Plessis helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a third consecutive Indian Premier League win as they again saw off Gujarat Titans.
RCB comfortably defeated the Titans in an away game six days ago and then comprehensively saw off Shubman Gill’s side once more on Saturday, this time at home.
After the Titans were bowled out for 147, RCB raced to a four-wicket victory with 38 balls to spare to move off the bottom of the IPL table, jumping up to seventh after overcoming a brief scare towards the end of their chase.
Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak took two wickets apiece as the Titans struggled batting first, falling to 19-3 midway through the sixth over. They needed Shahrukh Khan (37), Rahul Tewatia (35) and David Miller (30) to post some kind of total, with Tewatia passing 1,000 career IPL runs.
Any faint hopes of halting RCB’s run of form were ended when Du Plessis fired 64 from just 23 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, ably supported by opening partner Virat Kohli (42).
A brief spell of chaos saw RCB fall from 92-0 to 117-6 with Josh Little taking 4-45, but Dinesh Karthik (21 not out) and Swapnil Singh (15no) steadied the ship and finished off the chase.
Data Debrief: Kohli regains Orange Cap
While Du Plessis top scored in this game, another good knock from Kohli, who hit four maximums, saw the India great regain possession of the Orange Cap. With 542 runs in IPL 2024, Kohli has a narrow lead over CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (509).
Kohli is averaging 67.75 and striking at 148.08, with four fifties and a century to his name from just 11 innings in a memorable campaign.
He has helped RCB recover from being beaten in seven of their first eight games, while the Titans, finalists in each of the last two editions, have now lost four of their last five.
Windies A end Nepal tour with six wicket defeat; top five-match series 3-2
West Indies A concluded their tour of South Asia on a losing note, as they were handed a six-wicket beating by Nepal in the final encounter of a five-match T20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Despite the loss, the Caribbean side topped the series 3-2, but had very little to celebrate, as they failed to really put together a dominant collective display. Instead, the series win was lined with individual performances, namely from captain Roston Chase, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Alick Athanaze, as well as stellar efforts from Gudakesh Motie and Obed McCoy with the ball.
It was more of the same in the curtain call contest, where Athanaze’s unbeaten 29-ball 42 and Chase’s 33 off 23 balls, were the highlight of the West Indies A innings, which ended at 172-7, after they opted to take first strike.
Sagar Dhakal (3-17) and Sompal Kami (3-16) did the damage for Nepal with the ball.
In reply, Nepal, courtesy of half-centuries from Aasif Sheikh (51) and Anil Sah (58), easily got to their target with seven balls to spare.
McCoy led West Indies A bowlers with 3-36.
Scores: West Indies A 172-7 (20 overs); Nepal 173-4 (18.5 overs)
After losing opener Kushal Bhurtel (13) to McCoy in the second over, Nepal had very little trouble fending off West Indies A’s bowling attack, as Sheikh and Sah put together a 96-run second wicket stand, which laid the platform for the victory.
Wicketkeeper Sheikh smashed two fours and five sixes in his 35-ball knock, while Sah had four fours and four sixes in his 58 off 45 balls.
Even when that partnership was eventually broken by McCoy, who removed Sheikh in the 14th over, the host remained in firm control, and the win was inevitably wrapped up by Kushal Malla, who struck three fours and three sixes in a brisk unbeaten 18-ball 37.
Earlier, West Indies A lost their top order in the eighth over with just 60 runs on the board, as Johnson Charles (24), Kadeem Alleyne (11) and Mark Deyal (11), all failed to repel the attack of Dhakal’s slow left-arm orthodox spin.
Chase, who struck five boundaries in his 23-ball 33, and Athanaze, who had one four and three maximums, tried to repair the damage with a 40-run fourth wicket stand, before the former fell in the 14th over.
Matthew Forde, with a 12-ball cameo of 23, including three sixes, added some impetus to the innings, but when he fell to Kami, West Indies A lucked out, as the right had medium fast bowler also removed Fabian Allen (three) and Motie (one) in quick succession.
Athanaze and Hayden Walsh (seven) were left not out.
West Indies win fifth T20I by eight wickets to secure 4-1 series victory
The West Indies Women defeated hosts Pakistan by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20 International at the Karachi National Stadium on Friday to complete a 4-1 series victory.
Pakistan, after being put in to bat by the West Indies, had an excellent start to their innings with Ayesha Zafar and Sidra Ameen putting on 38 for the first wicket before Zafar fell in the fifth over for 22.
Ameen and Muneeba Ali then put on a further 46 before the latter fell for 25 in the 13th over.
That same over saw Pakistan reduced to 86-3 when Nida Dar fell for two.
What proceeded that can only be described as a collapse as the hosts then lost their next five wickets for just 35 runs in five overs.
They eventually ended their 20 overs 134-8. Ameen was the final person out for a top score of 48 as Afy Fletcher was excellent with the ball for the Windies with 3-17 from her four overs.
Qiana Joseph also bowled well with 2-26 from four overs.
The successful chase was then anchored by superstar batter Hayley Matthews.
The skipper faced 59 balls and hit 11 fours on her way to a top score of 78 as the West Indies needed just 18.2 overs to reach 136-2.
Shemaine Campbelle provided good support with 33.
Matthews was named player of the series thanks to her 205 runs and seven wickets.
Full scores: Pakistan 134-8 off 20 overs (Sidra Ameen 48, Muneeba Ali 25, Ayesha Zafar 22, Afy Fletcher 3-17, Qiana Joseph 2-26)
West Indies 136-2 off 18.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 78, Shemaine Campbelle 33)
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