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Ben Stokes is willing to accept criticism of England’s performance in the first Test as “rubbish” but feels labelling his side “arrogant” is a step too far.Australia’s victory in Perth has seen the tourists come under heavy fire, after succumbing to defeat inside two days. Despite holding a strong position on day two – 105 in front, with nine second innings wickets in hand – England capitulated, losing 9 for 99 through questionable shot selection, before Travis Head completed the rout for an eight-wicket victory.With an 11-day gap between the end of the first and the start of the second Test at The Gabba next Thursday, there has been ample space for postmortems, particularly in the Australian media. Publications and pundits have lined up to take shots at not just England’s approach in the match, but around it, too. Mitchell Johnson was the latest former Australian cricketer to seek his pound of flesh with his column on Friday. Such critiques have also come from the UK.Related

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A lack of an intense warm-up ahead of the series, with a three-day match against the Lions at Lilac Hill, has been followed by a decision for all but three unused squad members to miss the Prime Ministers’ XI match in Canberra this weekend – a two-day pink-ball fixture ahead of Brisbane’s day-night Test. Factor in paparazzi shots of the team playing golf and an unflattering picture has been painted of an unserious team not committing wholly to one of the most anticipated Ashes tours in recent history.Stokes, however, was keen to set the record straight in England’s first official media engagement since the end of the Perth Test. Prior to an additional training session at Allan Border Field on Saturday morning – the first of five ahead of the second Test – England’s Test captain ceded they must wear what comes their way, but stressed not all of it was valid.”Look, you can call us rubbish, call us whatever you want,” Stokes said. “We didn’t have the Test match that we wanted to. We were great in passages of that game… but I think arrogant might be a little bit too far.”But that’s okay. We’ll take the rough with the smooth. I’d rather words like ‘rubbish’, but ‘arrogant’, I’m not so sure about that.”Ben Stokes speaks to the media as England resume training•Getty Images

Stokes also defended England’s decision not to send more of their first-string to join the Lions for the PM’s XI match, which starts on Saturday afternoon. Only Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts are at Manuka Oval, with the remainder of the Ashes squad in situ in Brisbane since Wednesday.It left Lions captain Tom Haines in the uncomfortable position of fielding questions from local media on Friday at the captain’s press conferences, asking if England had disrespected the match – and by association – prime minister Anthony Albanese.”I do understand it,” said Stokes of the blowback to shunning the fixture. “We have a pink-ball match coming up in Brisbane, and we have an opportunity to play some pink-ball cricket. When you look at it just like that, I don’t want to say it makes sense, but I totally understand it [that view].”But there’s obviously a lot more to it than just that. There’s where it is, in Canberra, which is a different state from Brisbane. The conditions are going to be completely different to what we are going to have coming up.”You take all the factors into consideration, the pros and cons, whatever it may be. We then discuss that and decide what we think is the best preparation. We have a few more days off than we planned after that Test. We had to go away and ask how we use these next few days wisely in order to be prepared for what it will be like in Brisbane.”We schedule everything as if the Test match is going to go five days. It didn’t go five days, so we had three days planned of training, and that obviously had to change. That’s why now we have a longer build-up for this pink-ball game.”Saturday’s session lasted close to three hours before rain arrived in Brisbane. The week has been punctuated by thunderstorms, with more expected in the next few days that could hamper both team’s preparations and the Test itself although the forecast does become more settled.Pink ball in hand: Jofra Archer prepares for the day-night Test•Getty Images

Regardless of the weather, Australia will be seen as the dominant force coming into next week. They boast an impressive 13 wins from 14 in day-night Tests, suffering their first defeat against West Indies at the Gabba in 2024. Mitchell Starc, fresh from 10 wickets in the first Test, is the standout with the pink ball, with 81 dismissals at an average of 17.08.With the odds stacked against England, Stokes issued a rallying cry to his team – and supporters – as he seeks to right the wrongs of Perth.”We did some amazing things in that Test match,” he said. “The way we bowled in the first innings, and we were [effectively] 100 for 1, and put a score on the board that we felt was definitely defendable. We all know, and have looked back on it, that there were moments in that game where we could have been a lot better to help us gain even more of an advantage.”The important thing we need to do as a team and individuals is learn from it. We have identified those moments, spoken about them as a group, that’s what we need to do. In terms of execution, could we have been better at executing what we want to do, definitely. But again, we have a mindset of playing the game which is looking to put the opposition under pressure, but also absorbing pressure.”Sometimes when you go out there and make a decision, it doesn’t always pay off, or work the way you want it to. That’s the key for the rest of this tour, staying true to the beliefs of how we play our cricket. But also we do know we could have been a lot better in certain ways.”We know that there’ll be a lot of disappointed fans in England after that first defeat. But it’s a five-game series, we’ve got four games to go, we’ve lost the first one – we’re absolutely desperate to come home with that goal from before we even started the series, which is to win the Ashes.”

India batter KL Rahul will captain the side in the three ODIs against South Africa starting on November 30. Rahul steps in with regular captain Shubman Gill still recovering from the neck injury he suffered during the first Test in Kolkata earlier this month.Rishabh Pant was back in ODI mix as the second wicketkeeper, having last played the format in August 2024. Jasprit Bumrah was rested having featured in all four home Tests this season, the T20 Asia Cup as well as the ODIs in Australia over the past two months. Shreyas Iyer too wasn’t in the squad as he continues to recover from a lacerated spleen.With Shreyas unavailable, a middle-order spot opened up for Tilak Varma, the left-hand batter, who featured in a recent one-day series against South Africa A in Rajkot.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Tilak has so far played four ODIs with modest returns, but has established himself as a regular in the T20I set-up. He could compete with Pant for a spot in the middle order that also has Virat Kohli, Rahul as well as Ravindra Jadeja, who was rested for the Australia ODIs. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar are the other allrounders in the mix. There was no spot for Axar Patel.In Gill’s absence, Yashasvi Jaiswal is expected to open the batting with Rohit Sharma. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was in sparkling form for India A during the one-dayers against South Africa A is the reserve opener. Gaikwad, who last played in an ODI two years ago, made scores of 117, 68* and 25 during India A’s 2-1 series win.Mohammed Siraj has been rested, presumably to manage his workloads after he featured in each of the four home Tests, with Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana as the frontline pace bowlers. The squad also comprises Dhruv Jurel as the back-up middle order batter.Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, is undergoing the final phase of his rehab for a quadriceps injury at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He has been named in Baroda’s squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s that start on November 26, and could play the first three rounds of matches before the selectors take a call on him for the T20I series against South Africa. Hardik, who was part of the Champions Trophy wining squad in March, missed India’s previous ODI assignment due to the injury he picked up during September’s Asia Cup.The three ODIs against South Africa will be played on November 30 in Ranchi, December 3 in Raipur and on December 6 in Visakhapatnam.

India’s ODI squad for South Africa series

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (capt & wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel

Jack Carson’s five-wicket haul wrapped up a simple three-day victory for Sussex as they won on the road for the first time in the Rothesay County Championship this season.Offspinner Carson found turn, bounce and a bagful of Hampshire wickets as he ripped through three of the four remaining batters to pick up five for 26 – his best of the campaign.Hampshire were bowled out for 165, and despite Oli Carter falling, Tom Haines and Tom Alsop easily knocked off the 23 runs needed to take them past the winning line before lunch.Sussex’s third win of their return to Division One came with 20 points, to keep tabs on the leading title contenders.Hampshire began the day trailing by 29 runs, but they had only whittled that down to 15 before Brad Wheal turned Carson around the corner to leg slip.There was a mini-flashpoint when James Fuller and bowler Nathan McAndrew collided during a single. Liam Dawson wasn’t impressed, although the umpires calmed things quickly.Dawson took the hosts into a slender lead, his two accompanied by a huge cheer, but just 10 runs later he tried to ride Carson’s turn, but tickled behind to John Simpson.Dawson had been the main hope for Hampshire to test Sussex, but his exit for 48 saw Kyle Abbott edge to slip three balls later.Henry Crocombe put Hampshire out of their misery when John Turner prodded a short ball to short leg.Dawson managed to get Carter’s edge but it was a rare moment of joy as Sussex ticked off the runs in under 15 minutes.It was a particularly revered victory for the visitors, with strike bowler Ollie Robinson rested with an ankle injury and overseas opener Daniel Hughes absent awaiting the birth of his first child.Captain John Simpson had noted his side had “punched above expectation” so far this season. They leapfrogged Hampshire with the win, and also kept in touching distance of the title pacesetters.Simpson’s third century of the season, in a 173-run stand with Fynn Hudson-Prentice, was the difference in the match, while Crocombe’s first appearance of the season was a huge success – four explosive wickets in the first innings were followed by a tidy two for 44 in the second.For Hampshire, it was their first home defeat in the Championship since July 2023, with this only their fourth loss at Utilita Bowl since April 2019.Although this fixture was the first between the two south coast counties in a decade, Sussex have still only lost once on this ground in 10 red-ball outings – 20 years ago.Hampshire have endured a rollercoaster trio of matches heading into the Vitality Blast portion of the season.A dismal performance against Nottinghamshire was followed by a sensational victory at Edgbaston, which relighted excitement of a potential title charge, only for a seven-session mauling.Their six batting bonus points in the first block of Championship games is only better than bottom-side Worcestershire, with only Ben Brown of the regulars to average over 40. Only he and Nick Gubbins have recorded centuries.They didn’t get a batting point in this match, and only took three points from a dire week.

Nottinghamshire 297 for 5 (Slater 92, McCann 79) trail Durham 378 (Ackermann 116, O’Neill 5-81) by 81 runsA couple of key scalps for seamer Paul Coughlin in the final session left Nottinghamshire with work to do on day two of their Rothesay County Championship match against Durham.The Sunderland-born 32-year-old, whose had two injury-plagued years at Trent Bridge, bowled key man Joe Clarke (37) and had 19-year-old prospect Freddie McCann (79) caught behind before Nottinghamshire closed the day on 297 for five in their first innings in reply to Durham’s 378, having also lost Jack Haynes just before the close.Nottinghamshire had looked well placed at 225 for two after opener Ben had provided a platform with a fine 92, before Coughlin’s spell set them back.Earlier, following a start delayed by 45 minutes after a sprinkler malfunction left pools of water on the outfield, Coughlin had been last Durham man out as Australian fast bowler Fergus O’Neill completed a debut five-wicket haul.For spectators present when the bails failed to drop after Durham’s Colin Ackermann was bowled on day one, the delay was another freakish occurrence they could have done without under a near-cloudless sky, even if it initially brought amusement.As the umpires’ attention was drawn to a leaking sprinkler nozzle a few feet from the stumps at the Stuart Broad End, comic scenes ensued as the offending sprinkler and several others then suddenly burst into life, sending players and officials scurrying to avoid a soaking.The water was turned off after a matter of seconds. Yet enough was deposited on the playing area to hold things up for a frustratingly long period.Once play did start, the players went off again after just 14 minutes for the change of innings after Durham, 370 for nine overnight, lost their final wicket.Not that O’Neill was complaining. A leg-before verdict against Coughlin gave the bustling seamer figures of five for 81 on debut.Durham could have done with O’Neill’s in-form Australia A team-mate Brendan Doggett at their disposal with injuries depleting their pool of seam bowlers here, although in the event, the available quartet served them well.Doggett, who took 11 wickets in the match to help South Australia win the Sheffield Shield final a week ago, will join them for next week’s home fixture against Warwickshire.Nottinghamshire openers Slater and Haseeb Hameed negotiated the first 16 overs to be 48 without loss at lunch, Hameed surviving a chance to wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson off England’s Matthew Potts on eight. By tea, the home side were probably where they wanted to be at 166 for two, although they had suffered a blow moments before when Slater fell.Potts had got his man when skipper Hameed was leg before for 27 but the left-handed Slater looked in imperious form, having just pinged away his 19th four, most of which raced away to the short boundary on the Bridgford Road side.But when Will Rhodes dropped one in short on the leg side, Slater was irresistibly tempted by the longer boundary, only to find Emilio Gay lying in wait at long leg. His meaty pull could not have picked out the fielder any more accurately, enabling Rhodes to celebrate a debut wicket and end a 95-run stand with McCann.Clarke began with a streaky four off an inside edge but settled quickly and was building another potentially valuable partnership with McCann until a belter of a delivery from Coughlin uprooted his middle stump.McCann, a tall, technically elegant left-hander who scored two centuries in five matches after being promoted to the Championship side towards the end of last season, continued where he left off and after 10 boundaries few would have bet against another hundred until he dabbled with a ball he need not have played outside off stump and was well taken by Robinson, before Ben Raine turned the screw by dismissing Haynes leg before for 30 with the second new ball.

Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill chose to bowl on a black-soil surface in Hyderabad. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins said that they were happy to bat first and that they will not veer away from their aggressive approach with the bat, despite having suffered three losses in a row.Harshal Patel was unavailable for this match because of an illness, according to Cummins. In his absence, SRH handed left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat his first match of the season.GT also made one change, giving offspin-bowling allrounder Washington Sundar a franchise debut. They shored up their spin attack at the expense of left-arm seam-bowling allrounder Arshad Khan. Rashid Khan, who will be facing his former franchise SRH for the first time in Hyderabad, and R Sai Kishore will lead their spin attack.Gujarat Titans XI: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 B Sai Sudharsan, 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Rahul Tewatia, 5 M Shahrukh Khan, 6 Rashid Khan, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Mohammed Siraj, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Ishant Sharma
Impact subs: Sherfane Rutherford, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Arshad KhanSunrisers Hyderabad XI: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Kamindu Mendis, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Zeeshan Ansari, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Mohammed Shami
Impact subs: Abhinav Manohar, Sachin Baby, Simarjeet Singh, Rahul Chahar, Wiaan Mulder

Who’s playing

Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Giants
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, 7.30pm IST

What to expect – contrasting powerplays and middle overs

Even though Delhi Capitals have had a better squad on paper over the years and Gujarat Giants have relied a bit too much on their overseas contingent for a poor overall record in WPL, only two points separate them right now in the fledgling stages of the 2025 season. DC have won half their games so far whereas Giants have points from just one out of three, and even though the sample sizes are small, both teams have shown holes in their performances which they will hope don’t get compounded as the season progresses.DC, to start with, have had strong powerplays thanks to their prolific opening pair of Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma. It’s in the middle overs (7-16) where they have failed to take off from the platform set for the middle order. DC have not only lost the most wickets (18) in that stage, they have also been the slowest (6.67) in those 10 overs that has led to them being bowled out twice already.Related

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In their last game, which they lost to UP Warriorz, DC’s all-international bowling attack also leaked 12 wides, something they “are looking to really tighten up,” according to head coach Jonathan Batty.Giants, contrastingly, have had to bank on their middle order despite having two reputed international names in Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney at the top. Giants have managed to score at just run a ball in the powerplay, with Wolvaardt striking at 80 and Mooney at 104.16, which has mounted pressure on the prolific Ashleigh Gardner and hard-hitting Deandra Dottin. Giants could not only do with a quicker start against arguably the most potent attack in the league, but they would also love for some runs from their Indian contingent of D Hemalatha and Simran Sheikh, who have scored just 27 runs off 36 balls together this season. What will perhaps boost their confidence is that DC are having their worst season with the ball so far in the powerplay, leaking 8.41 runs an over compared to 6.51 last year and 5.74 the in 2023.

Team news and likely XIs

Despite coming on the back of a loss, DC have a solid XI and may not feel the need to tinker unless they want to bring in left-arm spinner Radha Yadav for offspinner Minnu Mani as Giants have only one left-hand batter in their top seven.Delhi Capitals (probable): 1 Meg Lanning (capt), 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Marizanne Kapp, 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Sarah Bryce (wk), 7 Niki Prasad, 8 Jess Jonassen, 9 Shikha Pandey, 10 Arundhati Reddy, 11 Minnu Mani/Radha YadavIf Giants want to replace Hemalatha at No. 3, their only Indian option is Bharti Fulmali.Gujarat Giants (probable): 1 Laura Wolvaardt, 2 Beth Mooney (wk), 3 Dayalan Hemalatha/Bharti Fulmali, 4 Ashleigh Gardner (capt), 5 Harleen Deol, 6 Deandra Dottin, 7 Simran Shaikh, 8 Kashvee Gautam, 9 Tanuja Kanwar, 10 Sayali Satghare, 11 Priya Mishra

Players to watch: Meg Lanning and Priya Mishra

Closing in on 800 runs, Meg Lanning is the most prolific batter in WPL, but she has looked far from her best this season. Barring her 69 against UPW, Lanning has struggled against the swinging new ball in both Vadodara and Bengaluru. What augurs well for her is she came into the WPL while averaging a healthy 51.14 for Victoria in the domestic one-daters last month which means she won’t be short on confidence.Legspinner Priya Mishra, who has played nine ODIs, has been among the top Indian performers this WPL. With five wickets under her belt so far, that places her on top of Giants’ charts; her scalps include Yastika Bhatia, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris and Deepti Sharma. Her pace variations through her flight and sliders have foxed batters so far and she will hope it continues on Tuesday too.

Key stats

• Giants are yet to win a game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. This will be their first game in Bengaluru this season and they lost all four there last season
• Teams batting first and second in Bengaluru have won one game each and the record in WPL 2024 in Bengaluru stood at 4-7
• DC and Giants have been among the poorer fielding sides this season, having put down six and four chances each

Hobart Hurricanes overcame the late withdrawal of captain Nathan Ellis to hand Sydney Sixers their first BBL loss of the season.Ellis pulled out from Wednesday afternoon’s game at Ninja Stadium with illness, but his bowling team-mates stood up against the table-topping Sixers.Hurricanes posted 161 for 6 and bowled out Sydney for 111 in 19.3 overs to jump to fourth on the ladder with a third win in a row. Chris Jordan picked up 3 for 22, including the big wickets of James Vince early and noted finisher Jordan Silk in the middle overs. He was assisted by fellow import Waqar Salamkheil, who took 2 for 22 with his left-arm wristspin and bowled Kurtis Patterson with one that turned the other way.Allrounder Nikhil Chaudhary was impressive, top-scoring with 42 from 31 deliveries and picking up 1 for 15 with the ball.Sixers, who stay in first place on the ladder, had won four from four prior to the match, while Hurricanes are on the rise after being flogged by Melbourne Renegades in their opening game.Earlier, evergreen Sixers quick Jackson Bird took career-best T20 figures of 4 for 16 on familiar turf in Hobart after his side won the toss and elected to bowl.Jackson Bird returned 4 for 16 but there wasn’t a lot of heroics from the other Sixers bowlers•Getty Images

Bird, the 38-year-old who played for Tasmania for more than a decade, removed big-hitters Matthew Wade, Shai Hope, Ben McDermott and Tim David.Opener Mitchell Owen got Hurricanes off to a brisk start with 33 from 17 balls but couldn’t go on.Returning from a calf injury, Wade was scratchy in a 16-ball 15 and became Bird’s first victim off a nifty caught and bowled. Bird then had West Indian Hope caught behind two balls later as Hurricanes lost three wickets within ten runs.McDermott (34 from 25) came to life in the power surge, hitting 20 off one Hayden Kerr over, but he was undone by Bird, who also returned late to get rid of David via a top edge.Sixers’ chase had a bright spark early when English opener Vince launched a Billy Stanlake delivery over the hill. But they wobbled to 28 for 3 inside the first five overs and couldn’t stem the flow of wickets.Hurricanes spinner Peter Hatzoglou, who replaced Ellis and played his first game of the season, finished with 1 for 15.

Dubai has been confirmed as the venue for all matches of the Champions Trophy 2025 involving India, including one of the semi-finals and possibly the final, too, if India get there.The schedule, officially released by the ICC on Tuesday, specifies that “semi-final 1 will involve India if they qualify” and will be played in Dubai, and, similarly, “semi-final 2 will involve Pakistan if they qualify”. Also, Lahore has been finalised as the host city for the final, but “if India qualifies for the final it will be played in Dubai”. Both the semi-finals and the final will have reserve days, an ICC statement confirmed.As reported by ESPNcricinfo on Sunday, the decision to host India’s matches at the eight-team Champions Trophy away from Pakistan, the official host country, and in the UAE was finalised after Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chairman, met with Sheikh Nahyan Al Mubarak in Pakistan. Sheikh Nahyan is a senior UAE minister and also the head of the Emirates Cricket Board.Related

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Naqvi, the PCB chairman, said, “We are pleased that an agreement has been reached based on the principles of equality and respect, showcasing the spirit of cooperation and collaboration that defines our sport.”Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to the ICC members who played a constructive role in helping us achieve a mutually beneficial solution. Their efforts have been invaluable in promoting the interests of international cricket.”The marquee Pakistan vs India match in the group stage will be played on February 23, a Sunday. The other two teams in that group are Bangladesh and New Zealand. India will face Bangladesh on February 20, and New Zealand on March 2.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Pakistan, the defending champions of the tournament, will start things off on February 19, against New Zealand in Karachi. Pakistan’s last league match, against Bangladesh, will be played in Rawalpindi on February 27.The second group has Afghanistan, Australia, England and South Africa. The matches for both groups – apart from the India games – will be played across Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.The two semi-finals are scheduled for March 4 and March 5, and with both games being allocated reserve days, it’s not impossible that they end up taking place on the same day, though Dubai is usually dry at that time of the year.The hybrid model was finalised after the parties involved agreed that, in return, Pakistan’s matches at ICC events hosted by India till 2027 will also be at neutral venues. In all cases, knockout games such as the semi-final and the final will also be held at neutral venues.The agreement begins with the Champions Trophy, and will apply to the 2025 women’s ODI World Cup in India, and the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. It will also apply to the 2028 women’s T20 World Cup, the first tournament of the next events cycle that has now been awarded to Pakistan.

Bridget Patterson was involved in a nasty incident while wicketkeeping during Adelaide Strikers’ victory over Sydney Sixers at North Sydney Oval where Amanda-Jade Wellington produced a key all-round display.In the fourth over of Sixers’ chase Patterson took a ball in the face from a 119kph delivery by Darcie Brown which pitched in front of her and kicked up, striking near the right eye. Patterson stayed on the ground with a physio and doctor quickly onto the field and after a few minutes was able to walk off. She remained at the venue for remainder of the game and will be further assessed in the coming days.”It was a nasty injury,” Strikers coach Luke Williams said after the match. “Obviously we were all worried about her, but it looks like she’s escaped major injury. It certainly was nasty at the time with the cut.”Patterson had earlier played a key role with the bat as Strikers’ middle-order produced a powerful counterattack to enable the visitors to claim the first win of their title defence.In reply, Ellyse Perry dominated the early stages of the chase with a 26-ball fifty then Sarah Bryce impressed again with 62 off 44 balls but when she fell to Megan Schutt the innings faded swiftly in a collapse of 6 for 18. Legspinners Wellington and Anesu Mushangwe were superb in the closing overs with the former comfortably defending 14 off the last.Patterson, Wellington and Orla Prendergast combined to make 123 between them off 92 balls with 32 runs coming off the two power surge overs. Wellington, inparticular, cut loose inside the restrictions with two sixes and three fours off Ash Gardner and Lauren Cheatle to finish with 40 off 16.Those contributions enabled Strikers to recover from 51 for 4 in the seventh over after Cheatle had made early inroads before Perry held onto a stinging return catch – with a juggle – to claim Laura Wolvaardt.Perry and Bryce added 80 in 50 balls for the second wicket with Perry lacing 11 boundaries although she was dropped at long-on on 17. The impressive, and quick, Brown removed Perry when she top-edged a short ball to fine leg and Sixers suffered another huge blow when Gardner fell for a five-ball duck.But Bryce and 19-year-old Elsa Hunter, on her WBBL debut, put on 53 off 35 balls to bring the target in sight aided by some poor catching from Strikers but they couldn’t finish the job for a Sixers side stretched to the limits by injury.

Big picture: Rawalpindi? Rawalspindi…

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.Has a team ever taken Mike Tyson’s famous aphorism more literally than Ben Stokes’ England? Their jutted-jaw attitude to risk and reward has served up a glut of remarkable Test matches in recent years, but in Multan last week, their fifth defeat out of seven in the subcontinent was a stone-cold knock-out.At 73 for 0 and 211 for 2 in the first innings, England’s fists were whirling – most particularly those of Ben Duckett, whose fourth Test century featured another preposterous array of sweeps. Thereafter, however, England mustered 224 for 18 wickets in the remainder of the match, as they ran smack into a pinpoint one-two combo from Pakistan’s spinners, Sajid Khan and Noman Ali. Ordinarily, forewarned would be forearmed for the rematch, especially with the series now very much on the line. But that’s not how this England team roll. They see a clear logic in taking the aggressive approach in bowler-friendly conditions, to get their runs on the board before that ball with their name on it arrives. For, as England showed in going into their shell at the back end of their India tour earlier this year, dying in a hole isn’t really a better option either.And, as England famously showed at this very venue two years ago, they don’t hang around if the going is good either. Pakistan’s dead-deck policy was in full force back in 2022, when the visitors surged onto the offensive on an extraordinary opening day, racking up 506 for 4 in 75 overs, with centuries for Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook, all four of whom will be back for a second helping in the coming days.And that’s the sort of punch in the mouth that Pakistan themselves will be hoping to avoid, as they carry their own cunning plan forward from Multan.There could yet be a significant difference between last week’s reused surface, one that had already seen five days of hard-fought Test action in England’s extraordinary victory in the series opener, and this one, which has undergone an emergency de-laying in the four days between matches.For all the work that the groundstaff have put in, with industrial fans and commercial heaters at either end creating a wind-tunnel of deconstruction, they may still struggle to open up any cracks in the surface if there were none there in the first place. England certainly aren’t preparing as if it’s going to a first-day minefield. Instead, they lined up before practice for a six-hitting competition, with Rehan Ahmed beating Brook in the final, and Brendon McCullum pipping Stokes for the day’s longest hit.They are, however, planning for a lack of reverse-swing on a relatively lush outfield, and have mitigated their omission of a second frontline seamer with the inclusion of Rehan – whose legspin is as likely to conjure a wicket from nowhere when the going gets tough, as was the case with the long-hop to Babar Azam that ignited his debut five-for, as run through a line-up when the going is in his favour.Back comes Gus Atkinson too, a very handy man to be able to bring off the bench, although the absence of Brydon Carse will be a tough gap to fill. He claimed nine wickets at 24.33 in his first two Tests, which is an admirable return by the standards of any debutant. To achieve such figures in the heat and dust of Multan, however – and in the shadow of England’s epochal 823 for 7 declared – was truly exceptional.Either way, we’re braced for the sort of grandstand finish that hadn’t looked remotely on the cards after England had flexed their muscles in their first-Test innings win. Pakistan haven’t won a series on home soil since February 2021, but there’s a confidence back in their cricket now. That is best epitomised by the complementary but contrasting spinning styles of Noman and Sajid, but it’s visible too in Kamran Ghulam’s composed arrival in the side, and the doughty lower-order resistance that Salman Agha oversaw in their pivotal second innings in Multan. For all the flaws that remain in their set-up, they’ve got a puncher’s chance now.Rehan Ahmed beat Harry Brook in a pre-match six-hitting competition•Getty Images

Form guide

Pakistan WLLLL
England LWLWW

In the spotlight – Kamran Ghulam and Rehan Ahmed

It was one of the great debuts in Multan, as Kamran Ghulam came in from the cold, after a decade of service on Pakistan’s domestic circuit, and in place of one of their modern greats in Babar Azam. His resolute and measured century proved to be ideally paced for the conditions, as he absorbed the pressure from England’s attack, hit back when the opportunity arose, and drove his side towards a first-innings total of 366 that proved decisive as the pitch began to heat up over the final three days of the match. The challenge, of course, is to back that effort up, especially if Pakistan lose the toss this time around and find themselves chasing the game on a wearing surface. But one advantage of his years in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy is that he’s seen all these surfaces before, and as that debut showed, he’s unfazed by the step up to Test level.Second-season syndrome is a familiar challenge for many young cricketers, but young England spinners have it tougher than most. Rehan Ahmed was the toast of England cricket after his fairytale debut in Karachi two years ago, but he has since had to wait eight months between international opportunities, having made an underwhelming impression on the tour of India in February, with 11 wickets at 44.00 in three losing appearances. He’s been mothballed by the white-ball set-up too, with Adil Rashid showing no sign of relinquishing his crown, and at the age of 20, Rehan has also had to contend with the sense that he’s no longer the most acclaimed cricketer in his family, with his offspinning younger brother Farhan, 16, making a splash in the County Championship for Nottinghamshire after his impressive displays for England Under-19s. But if Rehan’s Pakistan counterpart Zahid Mahmood felt like a spare part during the second Test in Multan, there’s little danger that England’s captain Stokes will be as unaccommodating in his captaincy. Expect him to be trusted for key breakthroughs with attacking fields, and he’ll be itching to repay the faith.Sajid Khan in the nets ahead of the third Test•Associated Press

Team news: Rehan returns, Pakistan unchanged

Why change a winning formula? Pakistan didn’t look perfectly balanced in the second Test, with Sajid and Noman bowling more than 87% of their overs across two innings, but it worked a treat, and if the Pindi pitch behaves as intended, a repeat performance will more than suffice. Aamer Jamal’s batting provided important balance in the lower-middle order, even if his six overs of seam were an afterthought, while Zahid the legspinner is returning to the scene of his debut in 2022, where he claimed the eyewatering figures of 4 for 235 in 33 overs.Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Kamran Ghulam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Agha, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Noman Ali, 11 Zahid MehmoodEngland have rolled the dice on a surface that has clearly been tailored towards spin, and recalled Rehan as part of a three-spin attack. It’s an echo of their approach in the third Test of their last tour of Pakistan, when he was again called up for the series finale and stole the show with a second-innings five-for. On the seam-bowling front, Atkinson returns after sitting out the second Test, in place of both Carse – the outstanding quick on either side in this series – and Matthew Potts, and ahead of Olly Stone, back in the country after his wedding and maybe wishing he’d gone on honeymoon after all. Stokes, who bowled just five overs after returning to the team last week following a hamstring tear, may need to up his workloads if there’s any assistance off the pitch or, more likely, through the air.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir.

Pitch and conditions: Rake and ruin?

Pakistan’s cunning plan worked a treat in Multan, so out come the industrial fans once more, in another bold gambit to inject life into one of the flattest, most run-laden surfaces in existence. Brook was talking about the pitch having been “raked” as well, as the groundstaff attempt to exacerbate whatever rough may exist on a pitch that clearly suited England’s Bazballers just fine on their last visit two years ago. The relatively lush outfield may not aid reverse-swing to the same degree as was evident in last week’s second Multan Test. The more northerly venue, allied to the onset of winter, means that a few early finishes for bad light may be in prospect.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have won five of their previous 15 Tests in Rawalpindi, though none since 2021, when they beat South Africa by 95 runs. Since then, they’ve lost three out of four – including a draw against Australia – with England’s win in 2022 being followed by Bangladesh’s two in two for a historic series win.
• Despite twin scores of 9 and 16 in the second Test, Harry Brook still averages 101.25 in five Tests in Pakistan. If he makes another 100 runs in the third Test, in fewer than 146 balls, he’ll break Ben Duckett’s new record for the fastest batter to 2000 Test runs (2293 balls).
• Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub achieved their first double-figure opening partnership of 15 in the second Test at Multan, but their average of 4.70 after ten innings remains by a distance the lowest for any regular partnership in that role.
• Mohammed Rizwan needs 16 more runs to reach 2000 in Tests.
• Zak Crawley will be playing his 50th Test for England. His average of 32.36 isn’t much to write home about, but his penchant for going big when set certainly is. He made a century on his last appearance in Rawalpindi, and needs 184 to reach 3000 in Tests.
• England have lost seven tosses in a row, dating back to the second Test against West Indies in July.

Quotes

“Adding Rehan’s free spirit and desperation to change the game every time he’s got the ball in his hand is a massive bonus for us this week. Legspinners have an amazing ability to break a game open… You’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”