It was a deeply physical Test that stretched these modern-day gladiators to their limits, till India experienced heartbreak in slow-motion and England celebrated a win that might not have been

Sidharth Monga15-Jul-2025

Shoaib Bashir is engulfed by team-mates after he picked up the last wicket•Getty Images

It is nearing 7pm on a balmy London evening. The sun is shining bright on Lord’s. Water sprinklers are on. The ground staff have dusted off the pitch all the loose dirt and debris and the pieces of spirit and heart left on it. It is covered now.It is a little over two hours after the epic finish to the Test between England and India, witnessed by a raucous day-five crowd built not of rich patrons and MCC members only who can afford tickets starting at 170 quid, but ordinary-class folk taking advantage of tickets worth 25 quid.The Indians’ balcony is deserted. Shoaib Bashir still sits in the England balcony, looking out at the stage of the great Test. At 4.53pm, Bashir bowled the ball to break India’s hearts. With a broken finger on the left hand, sustained when trying to stop a powerful straight hit from Ravindra Jadeja in the first innings, he came out to bowl as a last resort.Related

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India’s last two wickets were threatening to break England down. Ben Stokes had bowled spells of nine and ten overs. Jofra Archer, playing his first Test in four years, had roused himself to bowl arguably the ball of the series to get rid of the biggest threat, Rishabh Pant. Stokes had bowled one to match it, nipping it up the hill to get rid of the wall, KL Rahul, who scored 100 and 39 in the Test.Jadeja, though, was threatening to do the improbable. Whittle down the target one run at a time in the company of Jasprit Bumrah first and Mohammed Siraj later. Siraj had been there in England’s faces all Test. He was putting his body on the line now. He stood resolute with Jadeja. When an Archer short ball stayed low, he wore it on his left biceps. And there wasn’t enough pace in the pitch to regularly threaten him of physical harm.And then, 5.2 overs before the second new ball and 22 runs separating the two teams, the lethal blow came. In slow motion. Siraj defended the offbreak fairly well, off the middle of the bat really, but he played it with such soft hands that it topspun after dropping on the pitch towards the wickets. Immediately I texted “Srinath 1999” to those not at Lord’s. They had visualised the heartbreak even before they saw it on the telly.Siraj instinctively stuck his left leg out to try to kick it away, but missed. A football fan missed. Hawk-Eye doesn’t provide you these trajectories. Had it continued in a straight line, the ball would have missed the leg stump, but it turned the other way on the second bounce, then slowly tickled the leg stump with just enough force to knock one bail over.A soft, delicate end brought to a violent Test match where Pant nearly broke a finger, which ended Bashir’s series, where Ollie Pope and Siraj copped blows, a reminder of the irony of how hard the “soft” cricket balls still are. Stokes would later say the celebrations were most subdued for a Test that went into the final session of the final day and one they won by just 22 runs.Zak Crawley and Joe Root console a distraught Mohammed Siraj as India fell 22 runs short•Getty ImagesIn what seemed like just 30 seconds, they turned their attention to Siraj, who would go on to punch his bat hard. Siraj, who had earlier been booked for a send-off to one of them. Siraj, who was leading the sledging when Zak Crawley tried to run the clock down on the third evening. Siraj, who now had a tear in his eye. Siraj, now being consoled by them. Joe Root, whom he drew nine false shots out of in one spell without taking his wicket, was among the first ones to go to him.It was as much exhaustion as it was empathy. A competitor they respected, one who had got out in an unfortunate manner. Two marathoners in a photo finish. The winner checking on the one who came second, almost thankful that they pushed each other.

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It is 8pm, and the sun is still out, although there have been patches of cloud in between. The sprinklers have stopped. England are still there celebrating although not out on the balcony. The ground staff are over by their shed, celebrating rolling out a pitch that has been as much a hero as the main cast. The first two Tests contrived to produce excitement in the end. This one had just enough in it for the bowlers to make each day exciting without making batting perilous.Runs came at only 3.08 an over. There was a session of just 51 runs and one wicket that had more tension and drama in it than a day full of runs on a flat pitch can have. There were moans about over rates and player behaviour, but these are elite cricketers just competing at their fiercest and most intense in one of the hottest Tests at Lord’s.It was a deeply physical Test played by some battered players. Bumrah, who must preserve his body if he wants to continue playing Test cricket, bowled 43 overs in the match, only behind Stokes, only by one over. Stokes, about whom his team worries he gets carried away and bowls spells that are too long. Archer, with no miles in his legs, struggled to hold length, but showed what raw pace can do: when he got it right, he took five wickets in just 36 false shots.Tempers frayed more than once, but that can happen when alite players are giving it their all•Associated PressJust like life, the game can be unfair. India created more chances throughout the match, which is often enough to win Tests. Bumrah bowled more good balls than anyone, but ended up with just seven wickets in 82 false shots.India swung the ball more, bowled a higher percentage of high-seam deliveries, stayed on good lengths for longer, kept England in the field for longer, but England seized the brief windows of opportunities to inflict maximum damage. Just like India were on day four, England’s bowlers were relentless on day five. They didn’t have the added threat of spin that India had with the old ball, so it was imperative they got into the tail before the ball went soft.On the fourth evening, Brydon Carse sensed India were not quite picking full lengths early enough, and bowled 63% balls fuller than good length to take two wickets, one of them Shubman Gill. Archer, dismissively charged at by Pant, channelled his anger to find the perfect length and just enough seam against the angle from around the wicket. Running on fumes, Chris Woakes produced a peach to get rid of Nitish Kumar Reddy in the last over before the final lunch break, with the ball beginning to go soft.When the ball did go soft, India just didn’t have enough batting to punish the bowlers, who kept coming hard at them, over after over, even when they knew they had a wicket-taking opportunity for one or two balls every over. In that session, they just outlasted Jadeja.There was a time when India had lost seven second-innings wickets in just 30 false shots, reminiscent of the 36 all out in Adelaide when they were bowled out in 32.1:07

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Then again, they should never have been in this position. Fourth innings on deteriorating pitches are often lotteries. In the second innings, they had England where they wanted them, but the pursuit of a personal milestone before a break got the better of them.It was not necessarily selfish. It was an error. A human imperfection. A reminder that the game is not played by robots. India will acknowledge they need to learn, but must the lessons always be this harsh?

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It is almost 9pm. The teams have left. There is a ceasefire for a week. As there is every evening actually. It is this break and then the resumption of the contest from the same position that makes Test cricket special.On the third evening, the two sides were going at each other as though they might need an actual ceasefire. Only for Rahul to say minutes later that he could empathise with what Crawley was doing: running the clock down to play as few balls as possible when India tried to get as many in as possible before stumps.Hostilities resume and cease, flow of time has its say on conditions, human imperfections and brilliance dance together, endurance and sharp bursts both matter. Every once in a while, they all conspire to create a result as magical as the one at Lord’s: only the ninth Test in 2594 to be tied on first innings, two teams separated by just 22 runs after 15 sessions of attrition, ending in the most poignant and chaotic of manners, a solid defensive shot by a No. 11 rolling onto the stumps.Outside Lord’s, nothing much has changed. The No. 13 to Baker Street Station is not on time but it does arrive. It marries seamlessly with the Metropolitan Line tube to Farringdon and the Thameslink from there to Herne Hill. It doesn’t feel like the usual long journey. The mind is engaged. It is basking in the Test. It will take a while before it stops doing so.

England spinner stepped into big shoes for the Hundred, but has guided her side to the Eliminator

Andrew Miller30-Aug-2025Twelve months on from London Spirit’s victory over Welsh Fire in the 2024 Women’s Hundred final, Charlie Dean breaks into a grin as she recalls Deepti Sharma’s winning six over long-on, and her team’s agog reactions in the dugout by the boundary’s edge.”Every time you look at that clip, you see something different,” Dean tells ESPNcricinfo, thinking back to Spirit’s tightly fought four-wicket win, sealed in euphoric style with two balls to spare, and with Dean herself 1 not out at the non-striker’s end.Cordelia Griffith was the star of the subsequent meme: eyes out on stalks as she tracked Deepti’s shot, all the way off the bat and just out of the reach of a backpedalling Shabnim Ismail, but every player in the frame lived the moment in a different way.”There’s Eva [Gray] taking her helmet off, then putting it back on, then throwing it away,” Dean recalls. “I’d faced one full-toss and hit it straight to the fielder, so when Deepti hit the ball over the boundary there’s just a lot of relief. I’ve seen so many replays of the girls celebrating off the bench. It brings back a lot of good memories, a lot of good feelings. That’s why you play the game, isn’t it? To win big games like that. If we can replicate any of those feelings again this year, that would be amazing.”Spirit have certainly done the needful to give themselves a shot at back-to-back titles. For the second year running, they have qualified third in the table, meaning they will once again have to come through Saturday’s Eliminator at the Kia Oval to give themselves a chance to face Southern Brave in the Lord’s final.If there’s a slight nervousness about the weekend’s weather forecast, and the danger that a washout could send second-placed Northern Superchargers straight to the final without a ball being bowled, then Dean is unfazed. Not only has her team been in this position before, but now – as captain, in the wake of Heather Knight’s season-halting hamstring injury – she feels all the more ready to cope with whatever circumstances crop up in the coming days.Grace Harris opened the tournament with a blistering 89 not out•ECB via Getty Images”I’ve really enjoyed this year,” she says. “I’m in a place where I know my game quite well, and I can think about other people, and I feel like I’ve had a lot of personal development. I’ve gained a bit more confidence with my public speaking, and bits like that … things that would probably have challenged me a lot more in previous years.”The core group of girls is pretty similar to last year and the year before, with a few brilliant changes, so be able to lead this group is a bit of an honour,” she adds. “It’s lovely to have Heather still here with us, offering a bit of guidance and advice, then there’s Chris Liddle – it’s his first time being head coach, but you wouldn’t know it – so I’m incredibly lucky that I’m really well supported.”We work really well as a core leadership group, and that just makes my job so much easier. I trust my gut and go with how I see the game playing out on the pitch. The girls have performed really well, and different people have stood up at different times, so it certainly makes a captain’s job easier when that is the case.”The chance to captain Spirit – untimely though it has been for Knight – has the potential to transform Dean’s standing within English cricket. Back in March, when Knight left her role as England captain, Dean’s name had been one of many tentatively mentioned for the succession, but everywhere you looked, the problem was the same. Knight’s sheer longevity – eight years in the role – had inadvertently prevented anyone else within the England set-up from honing their leadership skills.Related

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It’s an issue Dean recognises and accepts. “It’s hard, as an England player, to be in and out of domestic teams and still be a leader. You can’t captain a domestic team if you’re not there all the time. So opportunities to captain are few and far between, but I always relished the chance to step up in other leadership ways. This has been a perfect opportunity for me to test out how I’ve grown, and see where it takes me.”In the immediate future, Dean hopes it will take her north of the river once again, after this afternoon’s Eliminator, and back to the base-camp that she has been proud to call her midsummer home for the past five seasons.”Lord’s massively feels like home for us,” she says. “It really does feel like the norm to be able to go out and play there, which is crazy when you think, 5-10 years ago, you really wouldn’t be able to say that at all. Women’s cricket deserves that platform … the skill levels are increasing, day in, day out, with more professionalism and the chance to showcase our skills.”Even so, the Lord’s factor is a very real aspect of Finals Day, and so the chance for Spirit to have familiarised themselves with the surroundings, and the ground’s idiosyncrasies (“I don’t know if you know, but there is a slope here,” Dean jokes…) is undoubtedly a bonus.Lord’s ‘massively feels like home’ for London Spirit women, Dean says•ECB/Getty Images”It does give it a little home advantage, but a final is a final,” she adds. “You have to be the better team, but you also have to be smart. It’s not like The Oval or Headingley, where it’s a batter’s paradise most of the time. But equally, those are the games of cricket that really excite you as a player, when you have to engage a bit more, and plan for different scenarios – left-hand, right-hand, a smaller boundary, or whatever it is. Those are the things that really excite me as a player. It gets the brain ticking.”As Dean acknowledges, many of the same characters from the 2024 victory are still present in the Spirit dressing-room, from Georgia Redmayne at the top of the order, via Griffith and Dani Gibson in the middle, through the spin duo of Dean herself and Sarah Glenn, and with Gray topping their averages with nine wickets at 17.77.But Kira Chathli’s arrival as Knight’s replacement has been a revelation – 214 runs at a strike-rate of 150 has helped to propel their powerplays – while the return of Grace Harris alongside the marquee signing of Issy Wong has given Spirit a sprinkling of extra impetus as they seek to become only the second team after Oval Invincibles to land back-to-back women’s Hundred titles.”We picked up Kira before the wildcard draft, and that was gold-dust, really,” Dean says. “She’d had brilliant form in the Vitality Blast for Surrey, so it was a no-brainer for us to promote her to the top of the order and just encourage her to play the way that she’s been playing for Surrey.”As for Harris, she announced her return in irrepressible fashion in the tournament opener against Invincibles, where she clubbed a matchwinning 89 not out from 42 balls. Her returns since then may have been more hit-and-miss, but her threat has been ever-present, along with her indefatigable dressing-room attitude.”She’s a fantastic cricketer to have in your team,” Dean says. “The energy that she brings and the way she goes about her business, she just cracks on and gets it done. She set the tone with that opening game, and has been just fantastic for us. We let her go and express herself. And she does it really well, even though at times you may be like, ‘Wow, she really doesn’t stop!’ But it is fantastic to have someone in your dressing-room who just exudes energy, because it really brings everyone up with her.”And then there’s Wong, a player whose personal journey in recent seasons has arguably epitomised that of the women’s game as a whole. The huge promise, the inflated expectations, the inevitable dip in performance amid the glare of ever-building scrutiny. But now, still only 23, she’s been on the comeback trail for Warwickshire, England and Spirit all season long, and after a series of critical contributions with bat and ball alike, Dean believes she’ll be ready to deliver when her team needs it most.”Issy is someone that will always stand up under pressure,” she says. “That’s one of the qualities you really want in a player. She thrives in the battle and she’s really become resilient, and developed ways of bouncing back, because she’s had a few struggles.”She’s a fantastic bowler to have in our armoury. She’s come in and really owned what she’s doing, and she’s back with a bang, which is so exciting for English cricket. And for her, on a personal level, knowing how much work that she’s put in over the past couple of years.”

England’s incumbent has been given the backing of his captain for now, but he knows he needs to produce

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Jun-2025Ollie Pope’s journey as an England cricketer began against India in 2018. Seven years on, as he prepares to lock horns with them once more, we might finally be about to find out what he’s about.There’s an important differentiation. Because after 56 Tests, all we know of Pope is what he does. A bit of everything, really. Some bits he’s done before, others he has not. He’s become English cricket’s own handyman. And a damn good one.That debut at Lord’s came at No.4, despite having made his case at No.6 for Surrey. The selectors saw a 20-year-old wunderkind and sought to let him loose. His first walk out to the middle in England creams was also the first time he had gone into bat in the first 20 overs of an innings.He is by no means a full-time wicketkeeper, yet he donned the gloves in Pakistan in 2022 and New Zealand in 2024 to help the team out of issues of illness and injury. He has deputised for Ben Stokes as captain on four occasions and won three.His recent active, altruistic service has included three years (and counting?) at No.3, smoothing over a problem position by being the responsible one when, deep down, he’d much rather hang with the rest of the dashers in the middle order. And it is this reason that even external talk of jeopardy around Pope’s position, ultimately triggered by the internal temptation to throw the latest wunderkind, Jacob Bethell, into the mix, had Stokes on the front foot a day out from Headingley’s series opener.”It would be remarkable to choose someone else if their last knock was a one-seventy (171),” Stokes said, thrusting Pope’s last knock against Zimbabwe like a shiv, in response to a question on whether there was a decision to be made at first drop. “And that’s pretty much all I need to say on that.”Ollie Pope received his Test cap from Alec Stewart at Lord’s in 2018•Getty ImagesStokes’ admiration for Pope developed before his tenure as captain. He has always rated him, and took him under his wing during the 2021-22 Ashes when Pope was in a rough patch of form. Stokes even negotiated with then-captain Joe Root to fix Pope at No.5 for the third Test of that Australia tour, with Stokes volunteering to move up to four. He went as far as telling Pope the plan had been agreed, only for the management to drop Pope for the next two Tests.Pope was also the first Bazball “project player” – the first raw talent hot-housed in the greenhouse of good times. As newly appointed managing director Rob Key explained in May 2022, Pope’s placement at No.3 came in a bid to “unlock him”. You could argue they’ve done that – an average of 28.66 across 40 innings leading into that summer has been followed by 39.80 (and seven centuries) in the next 58 knocks.Pope’s specific No.3 average is 43.06, though this figure includes the 205 he made against Ireland in 2023, as well as the recent Zimbabwe 171. Without those knocks, his average slips to 36.62, which puts us back in the zone of yearning for a little more, as do his averages of 24.60 and 15.70 against India and Australia respectively. And so the allure of Bethell’s remarkable talent and unblemished (almost empty) record comes back into the frame.There’s an argument to say Stokes and Brendon McCullum have played it safe behind closed doors. For all Stokes’ bolshiness in his press conference, picking Bethell would sit neatly alongside the various calls over the last six months – the selections of Shoaib Bashir and Jamie Smith at the expense of Jack Leach, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes. Even McCullum left last year’s New Zealand tour admitting a serious decision needed to be made after Bethell’s impressive showing. Well, the decision has been made and, surprisingly, it is a safe one.Perhaps that reflects the life cycle of this team. An initial period of wild, enthralling adolescence, followed by the familiar lurch into conservatism with age. A group of one-time free-spirited vibe mongers are now, on the eve of a five-match series against India that leads into a winter Ashes, considering things like “consequences”.Related

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Ironically, Pope’s life under Baz and Ben has almost entirely been about dealing with the consequences of his various roles, or at least minimizing the fallout that they caused. When Stokes took the job and spoke of wanting to be flanked by 10 selfless cricketers, Pope stood tallest. It is no coincidence Stokes chose him as his deputy.And look where that got him? Under-appreciated and under pressure. Had he not put team balance first and assumed the gloves in New Zealand, Bethell would not have got the opportunity to strum 260 compelling runs. This conversation would not be happening, and Pope could be looking ahead to the 10 legacy-defining Test matches to come. Now, even this first one feels tetchy.Of course, Pope still has a say here. He might not have had it in him to say, “you know what Jacob, settle down, I’m at 3” six months ago. But here and now, as the man in possession, he can make a statement.Does he have it in him? Maybe, you know. It is clear Pope’s patience for the discussion around his position has, naturally, diminished. He appreciates this is the lot of an international sports star, but there is a growing annoyance – and it’s spilling into anger – at the lack of respect given to his name and what he has done for this team.Rather than ignore it, he could do with harnessing some of that negative energy. One of England’s most selfless cricketers needs to be a lot more selfish, and seek the “I’m him” glory that came with that incredible 196 in Hyderabad.Even the babiest of baby faces need a heel-turn once in a while. Now is the time for his. With his Test future still in the balance, he should remember there’s a “me” in team, and an “I” in Ollie Pope.

Early next year the selectors will need to decide if there’s a spot in a 15-player squad for a reserve keeper

Andrew McGlashan13-Aug-2025

Alex Carey completed an unusual stumping on his T20I return•AFP/Getty Images

The second T20I in Darwin was lit up by Dewald Brevis’ century, but it also highlighted a question Australia have to answer before the T20 World Cup: do they need to have wicketkeeping cover in their 15-player squad?With Josh Inglis suffering from flu which he had played through in the opening game, Alex Carey was flown in ahead of schedule and earned his first T20I since 2021. He pulled off one of the more unusual stumpings to remove Lhuan-dre Pretorius and was Australia’s second-highest scorer with 26 off 18 balls.Related

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In a home bilateral series it was easy enough for the selectors to make a quick phone call to Carey and have him fly up to Darwin at short notice. But things are trickier in global tournaments where squad sizes are restricted, replacement players need approval and once a player is removed from the squad they can’t return.Inglis is locked in as Australia’s white-ball keeper but there would be a risk of entering a World Cup without another option on hand to take the gloves, particularly with Inglis managing ongoing back problems. None of the other batters in the current T20I squad, which seems likely to form the core of the World Cup group, are viable alternatives behind the stumps.Australia nearly found themselves in such a situation at the 2022 T20 World Cup when Matthew Wade came down with Covid prior to the game against England. Inglis, who was in the original squad, had suffered a hand injury playing golf prior to the tournament and been replaced by Cameron Green. As it was, the match was washed out although Wade would likely have pushed through and played. Australia’s contingencies on that day were potentially David Warner, who once took the gloves in a Test match, and captain Aaron Finch.In Darwin, Alex Carey batted as low as No. 7 in a T20 only for the seventh time, and the first since 2018•Getty ImagesAt the most recent T20 World Cup in the Caribbean last year, Wade and Inglis were both in the 15-player squad, as they were for the 2021 edition in the UAE that Australia won. At the 2023 ODI World Cup, Inglis was in the squad and replaced Carey after one game. Now the duo feature together in the one-day side, with Carey playing as a batter in the Champions Trophy earlier this year.In the 50-over format they can both carry themselves as frontline batters, but that is not so clear cut for the T20I team. Tuesday was only the seventh time Carey had batted as low as No. 7 in a T20 and the first since 2018, with everyone else moved up a place in Inglis’ absence. His two BBL hundreds have come as an opener while he also has a solid record at No. 4. Overall in T20, Carey’s strike-rate is 129.04 compared to Inglis’ 150.98. However, in limited BBL appearances over the last three seasons, Carey has lifted his strike-rate to 146.52, which is higher than Inglis’ 138.57 over the same period.The issue the selectors will need to ponder early next year is whether there’s a spot in a 15-player squad for Carey, where the choice could come down to between him and another frontline batter, to cover for the eventuality where Inglis is unavailable for a game but hasn’t suffered a tournament-ending injury.On the recent tour of West Indies, a key reason Jake Fraser-McGurk was called in as a replacement when Spencer Johnson was ruled out was because the selectors are looking to build on the wicketkeeping side of his game and they wanted cover for Inglis in a condensed series.There is a chance he will have the gloves at some point for Australia A in the one-day series against India A in late September with him and Lachlan Shaw the two keeping options in that squad. But currently Fraser-McGurk doesn’t warrant a place as a batter in the national side – he made 2 in his one innings in West Indies to continue a lean year in T20s where he is averaging 19.41 albeit with a strike-rate of 150.22.

Rain took away Pakistan’s chances on what might have been their biggest night at the World Cup, but Fatima Sana, their captain, wrote her name on the game in indelible letters

Andrew Fidel Fernando16-Oct-2025

Fatima Sana picked up three wickets in her first five overs•ICC/Getty Images

Chapters have been written on captains and their trials in Pakistan men’s cricket, countless talk show and podcast hours have been devoted to the topic, and few positions in the game invoke so much mythology. Pakistan women’s captains know not to expect such things, of course. But if there is a shortage of attention paid, this is not because they have a shortage of stories to tell.In this World Cup alone, Fatima Sana has borne significant burdens. First, there is the inescapable, oppressive geopolitical heft of it all: that there is a Colombo wing to this tournament is down almost totally to Pakistan’s presence in it. In the approach to the tournament, there were also the expected questions about the tension surrounding the fixture with India, and then the entire drama over handshakes, which Sana – a 23-year-old – deserved least of all to be caught up in. She was distinctly uneasy in both instances, approaching these challenges as she might a pair of boulders that required rolling up a hill.But put a ball in the woman’s hand, set her down at the top of her mark, and she is transformed. Who is this person with the hairband and a look of intense determination? In this role, Sana plays in an even richer bloodline – Pakistan fast bowling. This World Cup, her performances have ranged from fierce to fearsome.Related

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Before the match against England on Wednesday, Sana already had five wickets from three matches at an average of 23.4.At a venue best known for the turn it offers spinners, Sana was doing what Pakistan captains are often asked to do – make the best of less-than-ideal situations. Also the rain. It practically forced Sana to put England – a team that had won all three matches so far – in to bat on a track notoriously unkind to chasing teams. So she produced one of the seam-bowling spells of the tournament.Sana’s first wicket was the most aesthetically pleasing, wobble seam outside off, darting back off the surface, shooting between Amy Jones’ bat and pad and into the stumps. The wobble seam was crucial to this spell – some balls held their line, creating doubt in the batters’ minds, and gaps between their bats and pads. Sana bowled Nat Sciver-Brunt off her inside edge with another wickedly jagging ball and then, later in that same seventh over, pinned Heather Knight in front of the stumps.Fatima Sana’s new-ball spell that had set Pakistan on course for a rousing performance•ICC/Getty ImagesSana would get to throw her right fist into the air a fourth time, later in the match, when she had Charlie Dean caught at short fine-leg, after the first stretch of rain. But it had been the new-ball spell that had set Pakistan on course for a rousing performance. After she left England 39 for 4, even the Pakistan outfielders seemed to feed on Sana’s ferocity, running balls down more efficiently than they have all tournament.That rain returned following an excellent start to the chase from Pakistan’s openers felt especially cruel, given the good a victory could have done Pakistan. This could have turned out to be their most famous victory. They had never beaten England in any ODI, let alone in a World Cup.A win for Pakistan would also have been the first serious upset in what has been a tournament short of drama so far. Twice in two nights in Colombo, rain has ruined results that might have opened the tournament up – Sri Lanka also having been the likelier victor when the rains came on Tuesday in their game against New Zealand.With luck, this match will not be remembered long as a great miss for Pakistan women’s cricket. They have three matches left in this tournament, against three oppositions who will perhaps expect to beat them – New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka. But it should be remembered for Pakistan’s fast-bowling captain, as a match on which she wrote her name.

Somerset’s quarter-final hero hoping to sign off with more silverware despite impending departure

Matt Roller12-Sep-2025Sean Dickson is a sports psychologist in training and does not have to look far to find a compelling case study for his second career.On Saturday night, Dickson walked out to play his final innings for Somerset at Taunton’s County Ground determined to prove the club’s management had made a mistake in not offering him a new contract; 43 minutes later, he walked off having dragged them to T20 Blast Finals Day almost single-handedly.”I was very clear on what I wanted to do: I wanted to sign off, and I wanted to sign off properly,” Dickson says. “It was a fire within me to go and prove that they’ve made the wrong decision, and I wanted to show them that… Normally, nerves are flowing, but I just took a deep breath, looked around, and just took it in for a bit. I set out to go and prove a point.”He proved it emphatically, hitting 71 not out off 26 balls. Somerset needed 33 off the last two overs, then 19 off the final five balls; Dickson took them across the line in four. “That was my best T20 innings,” he says. “Everyone wants to be in that position where they need to score 20 off the last over and hit sixes to win the end of the game… It’s quite nice to say I’ve done it.”Related

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Devastating Dickson powers Somerset to Finals Day

Glamorgan sign Sean Dickson on two-year deal

Few would have seen it coming when Dickson, once a first-class triple-centurion with Kent, first signed for Somerset three years ago, ostensibly to strengthen their red-ball batting. He has struggled in the Championship, averaging 20.41, but his T20 record for Somerset is phenomenal: he averages 38.32 for them while maintaining a strike rate of 155.51.Somerset’s decision to let him go is not without logic, and Dickson acknowledges there is plenty of talent in the club’s “remarkable” academy. They have several promising young batters – including Tom Lammonby, Archie Vaughan, and James and Thomas Rew – and know that they need to offer them first-team cricket across formats to keep hold of them in the longer term.But he was clearly hurt by it nonetheless, describing the realisation that he would not be offered a deal as “heart-breaking”. He will instead spend the next two seasons at Glamorgan, who have effectively signed him as a replacement for Sam Northeast; the proximity will enable his young family to stay put in the south-west, where his eldest daughter recently started school.Dickson turned 34 last week and could have several years left ahead of him: during his time at London Spirit in the Hundred, he sought advice from coach Justin Langer on how he could become a “permanent player within the franchise system”. But he is already setting himself up for life after cricket, launching a sports psychology business early last year.His interest in the field started over a decade ago when he was diagnosed with generalised anxiety: “I just thought it was normal to have these situations where there was almost a dissociation from me being able to be in the present moment. It wasn’t.” He has since completed a masters in it, and is working towards his full accreditation.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}();