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Mohammed Siraj has done his siuuu celebration a number of times at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the last seven years. Most times, it has been met with a roaring response. On Wednesday, he went on his celebratory run twice in the powerplay to pindrop silence.Having not been retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ahead of IPL 2025, Siraj had a point to prove. And he did it in some style by picking 3 for 19 off his four overs for Gujarat Titans (GT). But despite his economical show, RCB finished with 169 for 8 in their 20 overs, thanks largely to Liam Livingstone’s 40-ball 54, and Tim David and Jitesh Sharma’s cameos.Shubman Gill had no hesitation in fielding first, and his decision was vindicated with both Siraj and Arshad Khan working up good speeds. Siraj was driven for a four by Virat Kohli through covers, but Arshad soon snared him as Kohli helped a nonchalant back-of-a-length ball to deep-backward square leg.Siraj, meanwhile, was finding his lengths perfectly, and was targeting the stumps as he castled Devdutt Padikkal, who was looking to go over mid-off. Phil Salt had his moments when he was dropped by Jos Buttler, and then had a run-out chance missed by Siraj, but his luck soon ran out. Salt tonked a 95-metre six over deep midwicket, but the very next ball, had his off pole flattened by a 145.9kph Siraj thunderbolt.Rajat Patidar was caught plumb in front by Ishant Sharma as RCB slipped to 42 for 4 in 6.2 overs. Livingstone and Jitesh had a crucial 52-run stand off just 38 balls for the fifth wicket, with the latter being the aggressor.R Sai Kishore then got rid of Jitesh and Krunal Pandya in quick succession to silence the home crowd again. Livingstone then took on Rashid Khan, thrashing him for three sixes in an over to provide RCB the much-needed impetus. RCB smashed 64 runs in their last five overs, with David doing the bulk of the scoring as he fell off the final ball for an 18-ball 32.

Big picture: Variety the spice of both life and ODI bowling attacks

Jos Buttler, all though this ODI series, has been conscious of doing well for longer but also of playing watchable cricket. He picked up Rohit Sharma’s 72-ball hundred as an example of how that is a virtue worth striving for; that being “dynamic” and “aggressive” is how the game needs to be played in the modern day.Rohit, having suffered months where nothing went right – maybe a ball rolling off his forward defensive and onto his stumps at the start of the season should’ve been a clue – looked up and saw four fast bowlers coming at him on a slow and low pitch and all four of them were virtually the same. Mark Wood had a little more pace. Saqib Mahmood swings it a bit but essentially they were all tall guys operating in the 130-140 kph in conditions that were never going to help them.England, meanwhile, had to score their runs against a mystery spinner who had already run through them in the T20I leg of the tour. Varun Chakravarthy, on ODI debut, picked up a wicket in his second over. They had to navigate two very different left-arm spinners. Axar Patel doesn’t rely on turn. He round-arms it in looking for lbw and bowled. Ravindra Jadeja doesn’t distinguish between edges of the bat like that. He hunts both of them. Variety like that matters in ODI cricket. India have it, to the extent that Rohit doesn’t really see too much wrong with where his team is at.Everyone feels the need to play attacking cricket, and that’s not just now. One of the greatest ODIs ever played – the 438 game – took place even as the world had barely realised T20 was a thing and reiterated just the unmitigated thrill of run-scoring. Three-hundred playing three-hundred is boring but four-hundred playing four-hundred is edge of the seat. England made 500 seem gettable – twice – and that’s the dream they’re still chasing. Maybe they could put just as much attention into finding a bowling attack that isn’t so samey.

Form guide

India WWLLT (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
England LLLWL

In the spotlight: Harshit Rana and Jos Buttler

Harshit Rana hated missing out on an international cap. He needed to be consoled when that kept happening, by his father, by his coach. Now though he’s an all-format player – Test, ODI and T20I debuts happening all in the space of four months – and with the Champions Trophy on the horizon his star might rise even higher. India are valuing his knack of picking up wickets over his tendency to leak runs and that is a trade-off worth pursuing, especially if it gives them a leg up in the middle overs.Harshit Rana, on ODI debut, picked up some big wickets•AFP/Getty Images

In Cuttack, at 219 for 3 in the 39th over, England were actually doing well, until their captain’s attempt to clear mid-off didn’t happen. Buttler could well have been playing that sequence in his mind when he said, “we are making steps again in the right direction but not the perfect, complete performance with the bat.” Had that shot gone for four, which it has hundreds of times before, things could’ve been different. Buttler needs for them to be different. The last 50-over ICC event that took place in the subcontinent didn’t go so well for him or England.

Team news: India to bring back Kuldeep?

When they named their squad for these ODIs, India had hoped to see if Jasprit Bumrah might be able to play this third one, following his back injury in the New Year’s Test against Australia in Sydney. That has turned out to be wishful thinking and it appears the way they front up now might be the way they front up in the Champions Trophy too, without their premier fast bowler. A different, but perhaps just as important member of their bowling attack, might be making his way back to the XI though. It was strange that Kuldeep Yadav was rested in the first place when he had played just two competitive matches since the middle of October 2024India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Harshit Rana, 11 Mohammed ShamiIt is a dead rubber so England might not push to bring back some of the players they rested in the last game, unless they are fit and able, in which case they could really use them considering Paul Collingwood and Marcus Trescothick had to volunteer for sub fielder duties. Tom Banton might be in line for an ODI recall, but given he usually does his best work at the top of the order, what does it mean for the rest of the line-up?England: 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Phil Salt (wk), 3 Tom Banton, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jos Buttler (capt), 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Saqib Mahmood/Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

Pitch and conditions: Win toss, win match?

A hot, humid day is forecast for the game in Ahmedabad. Both England and India are painfully aware that the best chance of winning a white-ball game there is to chase.

Stats and trivia: Twin peaks waiting for India’s stars

• Rohit needs 13 runs to score 11,000 in ODIs. On Sunday, he went past Rahul Dravid into the top 10 run-getters in the format’s history
• Virat Kohli needs 89 runs to get to 14,000 in ODIs. Only Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar have ever got to that peak.
• England and India have both won the same number of matches since the end of the last ODI World Cup – 4 – just that England have also lost as many matches (9) as India have played in that same time.

Quotes

“We want to keep getting better as well. Nothing specific we want to work on but overall we want to keep getting better as a player and team. That is what we want to do. As long as guys are clear about what they are supposed to do, if they keep doing that not much to think about.”

Jemma Botha admitted being nervous heading out to bat with South Africa chasing 106 against Australia for a place in the Women’s Under-19 World Cup final, but said talking to head coach Dinesha Devnarain and having Simone Lourens alongside calmed her.”I think before the game I spoke to the coach because I was really nervous. But nerves are good. It means that we care,” Botha said after South Africa’s five-wicket win. “And I think if you don’t have nerves going into a semi-final, then you’re not human. Going out to bat with Simis [Lourens] is always nice. I think we complement each other in many ways. She really helps with a lot of my anxiety and my nerves.”Botha came storming out, smashing five fours and two sixes in her 24-ball 37 to set up a solid foundation for the chase. Riding on her knock, South Africa raced to 50 for 2 in the powerplay which made the task easier for the rest of the batters. Captain Kayla Reyneke shepherded the team towards the finishing line.Related

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There were a few nervy moments at the end but South Africa won rather comfortably with 11 balls to spare.”Simis going early was… I had a stressful moment there, but then I knew that it wasn’t about my stress or Simis’ wicket because there are still other batters and it’s not about us, it’s for the country,” Botha said. “And I think the country really needed us to go to the final and they need us to win it. So I’m happy that we can do this for them.”There was a lot of nerves and anxiety throughout the batting innings, but I’m glad that we [are] in the final.”This will be South Africa’s maiden appearance at the Women’s Under-19 World Cup final. They failed to make it to the semi-final in 2023 on run-rate but this time they have had an undefeated run in the tournament.”I think the 2023 group feels it the most because missing out due to net run rate is not the best thing,” Botha said. “And a lot of the management really deserve it because they put in so much hard work and so many hard hours.”I think us coming off and doing what they say is our way of thanking them for all that they do for us. Yeah, I think [the] 2023 group is really happy. I know some of the girls back home are watching us.South Africa will play the winner of the second semi-final between India and England in the final in Kuala Lumpur on February 2.

England 143 for 6 (Sciver-Brunt 59, Jones 31, Marx 3-19, de Klerk 2-20) beat South Africa 142 for 5 (de Klerk 29*, Dean 2-21) by four wicketsNat Sciver-Brunt brought up her 15th T20I half-century – the most by any non-opening batter in the women’s game – and ensured England took the opening honours on their tour of South Africa. She eclipsed an excellent allround effort by Nadine de Klerk, who scored a 19-ball 29 to push South Africa over 140 and took 2 for 20 to keep South Africa in it, but their bowling inexperience showed.In an XI without Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka, who are both being rested for this series, South Africa’s discipline was under the microscope. Sune Luus opened the bowling for the first time in a T20I, and was one of three bowlers to concede at more than six runs an over. South Africa may also be disappointed with their batting effort. While six of their top seven got starts, no-one kicked on and they had no half-century stands.England, despite a sometimes messy effort in the field, put it together where it mattered most. Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones put on 50 for the fifth wicket, which was the key to their successful chase.Wolvaardt starts well but England get the openers early South Africa’s opening pair of Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits picked up from where they left off at the T20 World Cup, with a typically industrious start. Wolvaardt found the boundary off the second ball when Sciver-Brunt strayed down leg to be clipped behind square, where a misfield gave her four. She went on to cream Lauren Bell through the covers and smear Sophie Ecclestone over midwicket for two more boundaries in successive overs while Tazmin Brits only faced five balls in the first three overs. Wolvaardt looked dangerous until she advanced on Charlie Dean, missed a straight one and was bowled. Brits started to find her touch and took on Ecclestone with a confident sweep but her ambition got the better of her. Like Wolvaardt, Brits danced down the track and was beaten for pace, which gave Jones a simple stumping.England’s fielding: The ridiculous and the sublime Perhaps it was not quite that extreme but England’s full range was on display in the mid-section of South Africa’s innings. There were shades of their drops against West Indies in the T20 World Cup semi-final when an Anneke Bosch chance slipped through Sciver-Brunt’s fingers at deep backward square. Bosch, on 13, swung at a Sarah Glenn delivery and hit it with the wind, which may have been what foxed Sciver-Brunt despite being in a good position to take the catch. That only cost England five runs before Bosch was bowled by Freya Kemp. In the next over, Ecclestone timed her movements well to take the catch that dismissed Sune Luus for a duck. Luus, who only has one 50 from her last 15 T20I innings, hit Dean in the air to mid-off, where Ecclestone had to move left and jump to take a sharp catch, and did so with ease.De Klerk’s cameo South Africa’s hundred came up in the 16th over, when the 36-run stand between Annerie Dercksen and Nondumiso Shangase was broken, which gave de Klerk four overs to show off her finishing skills. Her first boundary was a strong sweep off Bell but she was kept quiet until the last ball of the penultimate over when she hit Ecclestone’s final ball to fine leg. De Klerk took control in the last over when she hit Bell for two more boundaries in an 18-run over, to finish unbeaten on 29 off 16 balls. Her 42-run sixth-wicket partnership with Dercksen was South Africa’s highest of the match and pushed them over 140.Sophie Ecclestone takes the plaudits after catching Sune Luus•Gallo Images/Getty Images

Hlubi’s horror start It is only Ayanda Hlubi’s third T20I match so it’s difficult to be too harsh on her but she seemed to struggle with her run-up and rhythm immediately. Her first ball was short and down leg and Maia Bouchier helped it on its way for four. Then, she overstepped. Bouchier popped the free hit up to mid-off (who dropped it, though it didn’t matter), but two balls later, Hlubi overstepped again. And then again. Bouchier could not take advantage of any of the free hits and the over finally ended after nine deliveries with England 11 without loss. Hlubi’s second over was more disciplined but her third cost 22 runs, including another no-ball that was hit for four by Jones, who launched the resultant free hit for the innings’ only six.How low can you go? Buffalo Park is not known for its bounce and tends to get slower and lower as matches go on. That’s exactly what happened through England’s innings as Eliz-Mari Marx, on comeback, took full advantage. When Bouchier premeditated a switch-hit of sorts over backward point, in the fifth over, and missed, Marx bowled her but her came when she was brought back on in the 11th over. Marx stunned England captain Heather Knight, who stayed back in her crease to a full delivery, and inside-edged onto her stumps. England were 65 for 4 in the 11th over, and needed 78 runs inside 10 overs to win.No getting past Nat Sciver-Brunt Some of the others may have looked rusty but Sciver-Brunt was in fine touch as early as the second ball she faced. She punched it off the back foot through the covers to get going. Her ease against South Africa’s spinners saw her score 33 runs off the 31 balls she faced against them and her dominant on-side play meant South Africa could not plug the gaps quickly enough. Sciver-Brunt scored 48 of her 59 runs in the on-side, including five of her seven boundaries. She scored 20 runs off 15 balls in the last five overs, to keep England in touch with the required run-rate and clear the path for a win.

Cricket Australia has handed former Sri Lanka Test player Dulip Samaraweera with another ban after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a second player while coaching.Already suspended from any involvement in Australian cricket for 20 years after being found to have behaved inappropriately towards a female player, Samaraweera has since been accused of further misconduct.The second matter relates to his time when he worked as a private coach, while employed by Cricket Victoria. Samaraweera has denied the claim but chose not to participate in the investigation and has been banned for 10 years for breaching the sport’s code of conduct.The ban will be served concurrently with his initial 20-year suspension, meaning he is still not able to return to any coaching role with Australia or a state or territory body until 2044 when he will be 72.AAP understands neither complainant has so far opted to pursue criminal charges.The seven-time Test representative had been involved in Cricket Victoria’s women’s program for almost 16 years, including as a long-time assistant coach at the WBBL’s Melbourne Stars, before resigning in May.Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins had previously labelled Samaraweera’s conduct “utterly reprehensible” and “a betrayal of everything we stand for” after CA released the findings of its initial investigation in September.”The victim in this case has demonstrated incredible strength of character and courage in speaking up,” Cummins said after the initial charge.  “She will continue to receive our ongoing support to allow her to achieve her goals on and off the field.”From an organisation perspective, the safety and wellbeing of everyone at Cricket Victoria is paramount. We will not tolerate any behaviour which compromises that position, or our people, and will always support our culture of speaking up.”The Colombo-born Samaraweera opened the batting in seven Tests for Sri Lanka between 1993 and 1995, before later moving into coaching. He was an assistant coach with the Stars from the inaugural WBBL season in 2015, and even served as Victoria’s interim head coach for most of last summer.Samaraweera had been due to take over the role full-time, but resigned in May when Cricket Victoria’s conflict of interest policy prevented him from hiring his brother Thilan to the coaching staff.

India are unfazed by the recent form of their senior spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, their captain Rohit Sharma has said. On a slow, dry Pune pitch, India’s spin trio, which included Washington Sundar, was outbowled by New Zealand’s as India suffered their first Test series defeat at home since 2012.”I mean, see look, there is too much expectation on those two guys,” Rohit said of Ashwin and Jadeja. “Every game they play, they are expected to take wickets, they are expected to run through the team, and they are expected to win Test matches for us. I don’t think that’s fair, it’s the responsibility of all of us to make sure that we get Test match wins, not just the two guys.”After having conceded 94 runs in 16 overs for just one wicket in the second innings in Bengaluru – his worst figures, in terms of economy rate, in a Test innings where he has bowled at least ten overs – Ashwin went at almost four runs an over in the third innings in Pune. He had started well in the second Test by turning his fifth ball and having Tom Latham lbw for 15 in the eighth over. However, when the New Zealand batters brought out a variety of sweeps, Ashwin struggled to provide India with the control that he is usually known for, especially in these conditions.Related

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Jadeja also struggled to counter New Zealand’s aggressive approach. Despite India posting a short third and deep point, Devon Conway, for instance, kept sweeping and reverse-sweeping with attacking enterprise. Such shots not only messed with the lines and lengths of the senior spinners but also the fields that Rohit had set.At various stages, the India captain was forced into having extra protection on the boundary. Jadeja ended up with just three wickets in 37.4 overs across both innings – two fewer than Ashwin’s match haul of five wickets. In contrast, Mitchell Santner, the New Zealand left-arm fingerspinner, came away with 13 for 157, the third-best figures by any visiting bowler in India.Rohit refused to read too much into these numbers and said it was natural for even Ashwin and Jadeja to have off days.”Of course, by their standards, they know where they stand and what they haven’t been able to do or what they haven’t done really well,” Rohit said. “But again, both of them have played so much cricket here and have such huge contributions to our success of having that home streak of 18 series [wins]. These two have played a major role in that. A couple of series, I am not going to look into too much, especially with those two guys.Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets in the second Test•AFP/Getty Images

“They know exactly what happens and sometimes they are allowed to have some bad games here and there and not go by that expectation that this is the opportunity for me to take wickets and run through the opposition. That’s not going to happen every time. So you got to be ready with the other guys also to step in.”Rohit was also against putting too much pressure on Ashwin and Jadeja and called for the responsibility to be shared among the other spinners.”Like we keep talking about with the batters it is not the responsibility of a few individuals, it is the collective batting unit that needs to come together,” Rohit said. “So it’s the same with the bowling unit as well. If Ash doesn’t do well, it’s Jadeja who needs to come to the party or Washy [Washington Sundar] or Kuldeep [Yadav] or Axar [Patel], those guys.”Washington did step up in the first innings in Pune, marking a serendipitous return to Test cricket after three-and-a-half years with career-best figures of 7 for 59. He took four more wickets in the third innings, which perhaps influenced his selection for the upcoming Test series in Australia.”Washy had a great game, I am really proud of that,” Rohit said. “He is proud of that and we are happy with his performance. He bowled so well.”

A fighting unbeaten half-century from Tasmania captain Jordan Silk has kept the visitors in the contest after Victoria threatened to take a massive first-innings lead on the back of a strong all-round day from Mitchell Perry at the Junction Oval.Silk and Beau Webster guided their side to stumps at 201 for 4 after Perry’s unbeaten 58 and two wickets had earlier put Victoria well on top. Following the opening-day centuries from Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb, Perry added a combined 116 with Fergus O’Neill and Todd Murphy for the eighth and ninth wickets, respectively, on the second morning, before Victoria declared at 428 for 9.Perry struck seven fours and a six in his knocj of 58* to register his third Sheffield Shield half-century, while O’Neill made 36 and Murphy 20 as Tasmania’s bowlers toiled on a Junction surface that flattened out significantly.Both sides have identified that the new ball is the key period, and Tasmania began cautiously in response to try and avoid the same fate that Victoria suffered against the new ball on day one. Opening batters Caleb Jewell and Jake Weatherald added 41 in 19 overs, before Perry broke through with an excellent delivery that just did enough off the seam to catch Jewell’s outside edge for 32.Charlie Wakim also got started, moving to 18, before trying to force Sam Elliott off the back foot. Some extra bounce caught the edge and Sam Harper took a classy diving catch.But catch of the day belonged to Ash Chandrasinghe at short leg. Todd Murphy’s offspin proved very difficult to get away despite very little grip in the surface. Weatherald’s painstaking and uncharacteristic 28 off 101 balls came to an end when Chandrasinghe plucked a stunning reflex catch close in.It left Tasmania 80 for 3 and vulnerable to conceding a big lead. Silk and Jake Doran steadied them with a 63-run stand. But like those before him, Doran failed to kick on, chopping Perry on to his stumps for 33. Silk dug in alongside Webster, as Victoria’s bowlers tried everything possible to create a chance. O’Neill bowled a spell late in the day with three catching midwickets and just two men on the off side at cover and mid-off to try and force a mistake.But Tasmania’s best two players did not take any risks, and guided the visitors past 200 on stumps without any further loss.

Kieron Pollard produced a sensational display of hitting to inspire Southern Brave to a thrilling two-wicket win over Trent Rockets at Utilita Bowl and move his side level on points with Oval Invincibles at the top of the table.Pollard had struggled his way to 6 from 14 balls in a contest which appeared to be slipping away from the hosts before he dispatched Rashid Khan for five consecutive sixes in one set.The former Windies captain was run out after making 45 from 23 balls but Chris Jordan held his nerve, hitting the penultimate delivery of the match for four to see Brave home.Brave had been cruising at 43 for 0 in pursuit of 127 but the innings stalled after Alex Davies nicked behind off Sam Cook for a sprightly 28 and Andre Fletcher was cleaned up by a Rashid googly.John Turner, who had to be removed from the attack in his previous match after bowling successive beamers, produced a brilliant spell of fast bowling, taking 3 for 24 including the prize scalp of James Vince for 28, before Pollard turned the match on its head.Earlier, Tom Banton was fast out of the traps for the Rockets, dispatching Akeal Hosein for three fours and a six in the first 10 deliveries. Adam Lyth hit a brace of boundaries in Tymal Mills’ opening over but Banton (30 from 17) holed out to Pollard at long-on in Danny Briggs’ opening set and the Rockets stuttered.Lyth (16) was caught in the deep off Hosein, Briggs had Alex Hales (15) stumped and Jofra Archer dismissed Joe Root (16) with a leg-cutter which took a thick outside edge and flew to Davies, who snaffled a screamer.Mills’ third set proved expensive, leaking three boundaries as Rovman Powell (16) and Lewis Gregory (19) threatened to tee-off, but Jordan dismissed the Windies T20 skipper before Archer, who finished with 2-18, accounted for Gregory with a well-executed slower ball.The Rockets could only manage 10 runs from the final 10 deliveries to finish on 126 for 8, Jordan dismissing Rashid and Luke Wood to finish with 3 for 22 and cap a superb bowling performance from the hosts.Pollard, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “I had to make a play at some point. I was really slow to start but I didn’t think it was a pitch where you could just come in and hit the ball, so I had to really try and calculate and pick my bowler.”I’ve played against Rash a lot and he’s got me out a lot of times so I had to see what was happening but I knew the sort of line and length he was going to bowl. If he bowled full I was going to back my strength which is hitting straight and he bowled three fuller balls and it was right in my arc. I couldn’t stop at that point in time, I had to get maximum. Rash is a world-class bowler but this was just one of the days where I took victory.”

Fast bowler Jeremiah Louis has been ruled out of the final Test between West Indies and England due to a hamstring injury, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced in a statement. The visitors have opted for a like-for-like replacement, bringing Akeem Jordan into the squad.Louis, who did not feature in the first two Tests, picked up the injury during the second Test at Trent Bridge. He will remain with the squad for further treatment. Jordan, who was playing cricket in the UK at the time of his call-up, has already joined the squad and will take part in Wednesday’s training session at Edgbaston.Jordan is yet to make his Test debut but has featured in 19 first-class games, taking 67 wickets since 2022 at an average of 24.10. His performances include two five-wicket hauls with a best innings haul of 5 for 44.Apart from Jordan, West Indies already have Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales and allrounder Jason Holder as their seam-bowling options in the squad. The visitors are 2-0 down in the series, having conceded the Richards-Botham Trophy with one game still to go, after losing at Lord’s by an innings and 114 runs and then at Trent Bridge by 241 runs last week. The third Test gets underway on Friday, July 26.