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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrendon McCullum looks to paddle•Raton Gomes

Rangpur Riders came back to winning ways after their seven-run win over Sylhet Sixers at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum lived up to their billing as the star opening act but the Bangladeshi duo, Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain , gave Rangpur a real scare before Sylhet’s chase faded away.Rangpur now have two wins in five outings while Sylhet continue to struggle, losing for the fourth time. They haven’t won a game since leaving their home territory almost two weeks ago.The storm finally makes land-fallGayle played out a maiden over bowled by Hossain, a sure sign of settling down for the Jamaican giant. As he took things slowly, McCullum swatted Shuvagata Hom for two sixes in the second over before Danushka Gunathilaka dropped McCullum’s offering of a return catch in the fourth over.In the following over, Gayle officially got underway in the BPL. He slammed Nasir over his head for his first six before Gunathilaka was tonked for two sixes in a row, on either side of long on. He hit his fourth and fifth sixes off Liam Plunkett and Nasir, both over the square leg-side field.Rangpur’s slowdownWhen Nasir got McCullum in the ninth over, Rangpur started to slow down. McCullum had made 33 off 21 balls with three fours and as many sixes; in the 11th over it was Gayle who left, bowled by Abul Hasan for 50 off 39 balls, with his five sixes and two fours.With the destructive pair gone, Mohammad Mithun and Shahriar Nafees played out 14 balls without going anywhere before Andre Fletcher took a superb catch at backward point to get rid of Nafees in the 13th over. Only Ravi Bopara hit a six among the middle-order batsmen, as Rangpur reached 169-7 in 20 overs.Hasan finished with 2 for 24 from his four overs while there was a wicket each for Nasir, Bresnan and Plunkett.Sylhet lose three quicklySohag Gazi got the initial breakthrough, removing Gunathilaka in the second over. Babar Azam, playing his first match for Sylhet, holed out to deep midwicket off Mashrafe Mortaza before Andre Fletcher’s dismissal in the fourth over, caught behind off Rubel Hossain, made it 25 for three.Sabbir takes overSabbir and Nasir played well thereafter, for the first time in the tournament. The pair added 117 runs for the fourth wicket, taking only 13.4 overs. Sabbir made 70 off 49 balls with seven fours and two sixes but when he fell in the 18th over, Sylhet slipped out of the chase.Nasir ended up unbeaten on 50 off 43 balls with a four and a six while Tim Bresnan struck a six off the last ball but to no avail.Mashrafe, Sohag, Rubel and Thisara Perera took one wicket each as they combined to bring the big-spending Rangpur side a much-needed win.

Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari (302*) slammed his maiden triple-hundred and propelled his team to 584 for 5, before declaring the innings against Odisha in Vizianagaram. Resuming on 278 for 2, Vihari put on a 208-run stand with Ricky Bhui (100) and deflated Odisha, who had to wait 43.3 overs for their first wicket of the day. During the course of his 456-ball knock, Vihari smashed 29 fours and two sixes and added 159 to his overnight score. This was Vihari’s 13th first-class ton and second consecutive score of 150 or more.Bhui, meanwhile, brought up his fourth first-class hundred before Odisha captain Govinda Poddar trapped him lbw in the 134th over. In the next over, seamer Suryakant Pradhan dismissed D Ravi Teja to pick up his second wicket, but nothing was going to stop Vihari’s march. Odisha suffered an early jolt in their first innings when left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt had opener Natraj Behera lbw in the fourth over. Sandeep Pattanaik and Poddar, however, ensured there was no further damage as Odisha went to stumps at 32 for 1.B Indrajith (105*) and Washington Sundar (69) mounted a rescue effort with a fifth-wicket partnership of 157 runs to lift Tamil Nadu from 69 for 4 to 239 for 5 by stumps against Mumbai. Indrajith’s sixth first-class hundred, which included 12 fours, stood out as much for its elegance as its risk-free nature. While he mostly preferred to hit down the ground, he wasn’t averse to playing the horizontal shots on either side. Giving him useful company was Sundar, who drove and cut confidently, and responded swiftly to his partner’s calls for tight singles. Sundar, however, fell with 6.2 overs left in the day, after a half-hearted pull off Dhawal Kulkarni found deep square leg.Mumbai had hit the ground running in the morning with some quick wickets after being bowled out for 374. Seamer Akash Parkar cleaned up captain Abhinav Mukund in the fourth over before M Vijay (11) was caught behind by left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil in the 11th over. Mumbai captain Aditya Tare juggled the ball on a few occasions before snaffling it.After Kaushik Gandhi fell three overs later, Vijay Shankar, who had recovered from an injury scare to pick up his fourth wicket in the morning, looked to have settled down in the company of Indrajith. However, he gave Gohil the charge in the 25th over and was stumped. Indrajith, though, remained steady and took Tamil Nadu to safety in the company of R Ashwin.A 62-run partnership between opener Bishal Ghosh (65) and Gurinder Singh, who smashed a 55-ball 57, helped Tripura finish on 220 against Madhya Pradesh in Agartala after tottering on 88 for 6 at one stage.Tripura’s bowlers then reduced Madhya Pradesh to 200 for 7 to set up an interesting battle for the first-innings lead. Ishwar Pandey and Ankit Sharma finished with three wickets each for Madhya Pradesh. In their reply, Madhya Pradesh got off to a shaky start, as they lost opener Wasim Ahmed and Shubham Sharma inside the first 10 overs. With Naman Ojha (8) and captain Devendra Bundela (3), too, falling cheaply, it was left to opener Rajat Patidar (79) and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (70) to resuscitate the innings with a 104-run alliance for the fifth wicket.However, Gurinder trapped Patidar in front with his left-arm spin in the 52nd over before Ankit Sharma and Bhatia were dismissed in quick succession.

Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim has insisted that his side will continue to play aggressive cricket in a bid to secure their first series win over Australia.”There is no way we will play safe cricket,” Mushfiqur said. “We always play to win against every side. We could have played for a draw against England, by using a flat surface, but we didn’t do it. We wanted to look for a result by using our strength. Safe cricket is not an option for us because you can’t win against a side like this (Australia) by doing so. We have to be more aggressive than them.”Mushfiqur said his team expects a backlash from Australia, who suffered their first defeat against Bangladesh in Mirpur, but backed his team to deliver at home.”Winning doesn’t mean we can’t improve or work on our game anymore,” he said. “This is a crucial match for us as we are 1-0 ahead. The Australians have played many matches under such pressure, so they know how to bounce back. But we are confident because we do well in home conditions.”Mushfiqur called for a collective performance from the team, instead of relying on one or two players. Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal did the heavy lifting in Mirpur, adding 155 runs for the fourth wicket after the hosts were reduced to 10 for 3 in four overs. That stand contributed 59% of Bangladesh’s first-innings total, and helped them earn a lead of 43 runs.Tamim followed his 71 in the first innings with 78 in the second and Mushfiqur made 41, but the rest of the batsmen struggled. Shakib claimed a match haul of 10 wickets in the first Test, and was supported by offspinner Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam, the left-arm spinner. Mehidy and Taijul picked up nine wickets between them in Mirpur, but Mushfiqur wanted a stronger performance from them.”Apart from Shakib and Tamim, the rest of the line-up couldn’t give even 90% input,” he said. “I think everyone has to contribute, even the bowlers. Miraz and Taijul are capable of bowling better. The message is clear that all of us need to perform, not just one or two. They are all fresh, ready to go.”Mushfiqur said his side was mentally stronger after wins over Sri Lanka and England in the past year. “Some become rapt in happiness but we have talked about this,” he said. “But we don’t get these chances every day. We are 1-0 ahead but Australia will respond strongly. We bounced back well in our last two series. It proves the progress in our mental capacity.”

Sri Lanka, currently ranked eighth in ODIs with 88 points, can secure direct qualification for the 2019 World Cup if they win at least two matches in the upcoming five-ODI series against India, starting August 20 in Dambulla.Winning two games will push Sri Lanka’s tally to 90 while West Indies, currently placed ninth with 78 points, can at best reach 88 even if they win their six remaining ODIs – one against Ireland and five against England – before the September 30 cut-off. The top seven sides along with hosts England gain direction qualification for the tournament.If Sri Lanka manage to win only one match in the series, however, West Indies could pip them on decimal points, provided they win each of their upcoming six ODIs. A loss against Ireland would rule West Indies out of direct qualification, even if Sri Lanka get whitewashed by India.Sri Lanka’s recent form at home isn’t encouraging: they lost 3-2 to 11th-ranked Zimbabwe last month. They have, in fact, lost seven of their last 10 completed ODIs at home.West Indies’ ODI form isn’t encouraging either: in the last five years, and among Full Members, their average of 27.20 and run-rate of 5.10 are only better than Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe.

The BCCI has done a u-turn on the appointments of Zaheer Khan as bowling consultant and Rahul Dravid as overseas Test batting consultant; the appointments were announced on July 11.Now, the chairman of the committee of administrators (CoA) has said those were mere recommendations that needed action from the CoA “in consultation with the head coach”. Ravi Shastri, India’s new head coach, meanwhile, is set to get his own support staff as that has been decided “in consultation with the head coach already”.As for Dravid and Zaheer, yet another committee has been formed to decide if they are needed at all, and terms of engagement if they are. The committee, comprising acting BCCI president CK Khanna, secretary Amitabh Choudhary and CoA member Diana Edulji, will have a meeting with Shastri. The meeting will be convened by BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.This is yet another process after a month-long farcical drama finally ended with a definitive BCCI release on July 11. It said, “The BCCI announces the appointment of Mr. Ravi Shastri as the Head Coach, Mr. Zaheer Khan as the Bowling Consultant and Mr. Rahul Dravid who will be the Overseas Batting Consultant (Test cricket) for the Indian Cricket Team.” It was followed by praise for the appointees and gratitude for the cricket advisory committee (CAC) comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, who had been tasked with identifying the new coach. The release was signed by Choudhary.

Other decisions made on Saturday

• Advertisement to be released inviting applications for the jobs of administrative managers of the India, India A and India Under-19. The deadline for applications for the senior team is July 21, and the manager’s term will be one year. The manager will be a college graduate, and will preferably be a first-class or international cricketer who has preferably “successfully” managed a state team in India or an international team. Alternatively the candidate could hold at least 10 years of work experience in public or private sector. “Sound knowledge of cricket and playing conditions” will be non-negotiable.

• The committee of Khanna, Choudhary, Edulji and Johri will decide on the India manager on July 22 in Delhi. Before that it will meet Shastri in July 18 and finalise coaching requirements and appointments, and also the financial terms of the coaches’ contracts.

• To ensure proper co-ordination and implementation, the CoA has now decided to invite the BCCI office bearers to its meetings.

On July 13, an unnamed source from the CoA – which was about to be reduced from three to two members – was quoted as saying that the CAC had exceeded its brief in appointing the two consultants. On the same day, the CAC wrote an email to the CoA expressing its displeasure, and saying it had appointed Dravid and Zaheer after discussions with Shastri.On July 15, the CoA met some BCCI officials in Delhi, and then its head Vinod Rai confirmed the u-turn. “There is no such thing as a contract yet,” Rai said, when asked if the appointments of Zaheer and Dravid had been put on hold. “It is not an appointment. The recommendation has been made. And the CoA has to act on the recommendation. That recommendation will be acted upon in consultation with the head coach.”When asked if Shastri had demanded his own support staff, Rai said: “The support staff has been decided in consultation with the head coach already. There is going to be a core support staff, which will be fielding, batting and bowling, which has been decided. Any other ancillary etc, he [Shastri] will be coming back tomorrow [from England] and we will decide.”It has been widely reported that Shastri wants B Arun back as the bowling coach. Arun, Shastri’s team-mate from Under-19 and India days, was India’s bowling coach during Shastri’s previous stint as team director too.Rai’s latest assertions, though, go against yet another BCCI release, titled “COA hails CAC coach recommendation”, sent on July 12. The email was not signed by any person, but it said, “The Cricket Advisory Committee has made its recommendation regarding the coach. It is a comprehensive recommendation covering all aspects of the coaching requirement of any team. They have applied themselves to the cause at hand with dedication and commitment. This is exactly what we had expected from a committee of such distinguished cricketers. On behalf of all interested in ‘Cricket India’, BCCI and the COA, I thank them for the service so willingly rendered by them. We accept their recommendation in totality.”The release went on to use the term “new combination”. “Now that they have made the choice, we sincerely feel that the new combination will steward the team to number 1 position in the World Cup,” the release said. “We need to put the immediate past events to rest and wish the team, the Captain, coach and support staff a very ‘happy Innings’ in the run up to the World Cup.”The BCCI’s tweets on July 11:
The CoA’s role in the coach-appointment saga has been curious to say the least. On July 10, the day the candidates were interviewed, the CAC had announced in a press conference that it needed more time and more consultation with captain Virat Kohli before it could decide on the coach. The following morning, though, various BCCI officials confirmed that they were asked by the CoA to announce the name of the new coach “as soon as possible”. The name of Shastri as new coach was then announced late on July 11.”I don’t know what exactly happened because I was not in the country at that time,” Rai said about the sudden change in timelines. “The CAC decided to decide the next day; they made the announcement.”When asked if the CoA had given any instructions, Rai said, “We need not go into the details of any of those things. There was a process, that process was followed, and the announcement was made well in time.”Explaining the CoA’s role in the whole matter following the announcement of the appointments, Rai insisted on calling them “recommendations”.”Recommendations have come to the CoA, it will be discussed with the office bearers, and it is only courtesy that we discuss with the head coach as to who the other coaches should be,” he said.When told of the CAC’s displeasure with the new turn of events, especially because, according to the CAC, it had consulted Shastri before making its choices, Rai confirmed Shastri had indeed been consulted, but only by the CAC.”It is a fact that he was consulted,” Rai said. “There was some conversation that took place. I can’t clarify on that because I was not a part of it. We didn’t know. We had left it entirely to the CAC to decide, we were told that he was consulted, but since we were not privy to it…”When asked about the CAC’s letter to the CoA, which expressed severe disappointment with the media reports attributed to the CoA, Rai neither denied nor confirmed receiving such correspondence. “CAC members have corresponded a lot with the CEO, and me also,” he said. “Some of the emails have come to me, some have been copied to me. We reacted to each one of those things.”Rai went on to add that they needed to check if Dravid and Zaheer were in conflict of interest if given these roles. “The fact of the matter is they have made a recommendation,” Rai said. “Before we put that recommendation into fact, we have to find out conflict-of-interest issues, their willingness issues, their availability issues. We have to do that.”When asked if the CAC hadn’t already spoken to the two, Rai said, “They may have spoken; we haven’t. Rahul, I am sure, is engaged elsewhere. Zaheer is also engaged elsewhere. So we have to ascertain their availability.”

Liam Dawson hopes to be able to pick the brains of Shane Warne during the Test series against South Africa but believes he remains primarily a batsman with his bowling a valuable second string.Dawson, who made his Test debut against India in Chennai, was a surprise inclusion in Joe Root’s first Test squad as captain. He had a mixed experience at Lord’s, bagging a pair but also picking up four wickets including the key scalp of Hashim Amla with a beautiful delivery in the second innings.The view of his own game, that the batting still holds sway – he has opened in the County Championship for Hampshire this season and made 66 on his Test debut – seems to go against the role he was given in the first Test where he was billed as the team’s main spinner. Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, said the reasoning behind that had been to take the pressure off Moeen Ali who responded with his first 10-wicket haul in Tests.Dawson said that he and Moeen were “equal” in terms of their bowling but that he was keen to evolve his left-arm spin by seeking out Warne who was the Hampshire captain when Dawson made his first-class debut against Yorkshire in 2007.”I will try and catch up with him over the course of this series and have a chat with him about bowling. That would be brilliant to do,” Dawson said. “Someone who is that good, been that successful and a legend of the game, you can only pick their brains. You might pick up something that might give you a little edge when you are out there and that can only be a positive.”I am an allrounder but batting is my strongest suit,” he added. “I can do a good job with the ball. Having two strings to your bow is always helpful.”Dawson admitted he had to battle nerves at Lord’s and was disappointed with his first-innings performance with the ball where although he claimed two wickets he conceded more than four an over. However, despite missing a big full toss from Kagiso Rabada to complete his pair on the fourth morning, making it three Test ducks in a row, he felt far more assured when he was brought on in the second innings and had the joy of straightening one on Amla to trap him lbw.”I usually deal with nerves pretty well, but this time I was just too nervous and I have got to handle that better next time and I think I will be better for it,” he said. “It is just part of sport and you have just got to try and deal with it and I did in the second innings. I was more relaxed second innings because I was out there again and enjoying every minute of it.”Dawson has been well-regarded by the England management since taking three wickets on his T20I debut against Sri Lanka at the Ageas Bowl last season. Bayliss has previously said “he has something about him” and Dawson prides himself on being a “smart” cricketer.”People probably watch me and think ‘you know he is not the best cricketer’ but I have got to use my cricket brain. That has always helped me for Hampshire. That is another thing I pride myself on, being smart and clever. I think I am always trying to get into a battle and enjoy it. It is nice when that happens. Test cricket is suited to that. It is hard. I have only played two Test matches and it is extremely hard but it is so rewarding when you get a win like we did.”The indications after the victory at Lord’s were that England would retain the same XI at Trent Bridge with Bayliss’ view that a fifth quick bowler in the side would be overkill regardless of how green the surface was. Toby Roland-Jones, the uncapped Middlesex seamer, is the 12th member of the unchanged squad.

An increased level of intensity, thanks in part to exposure against Sri Lanka, is leading to better results for Scotland cricket according to allrounder Richie Berrington. Speaking after his side’s 51-run win over Namibia, Berrington credited the aggressiveness of the team for playing a key role in coming out on top.”I thought just the way we turned up today, the bowlers were excellent and had clear plans and just kept coming with that intensity which created chances throughout the innings,” hetold ESPNcricinfo after the win. “It’s something that our bowling attack have really been working on, bringing that intensity from ball one.

Berrington on Mommsen

Scotland’s win marked the return of former captain Preston Mommsen. The 29-year-old had announced a shock retirement in November but later declared his availability again for the matches against Namibia and the two ODIs against Zimbabwe.
Despite being away for seven months, he hardly skipped a beat in his return with an unbeaten 49 off 35 balls, including a century stand with Berrington.
“It was great to have him back in the team obviously, such a quality player,” Berrington said. “To know he’s coming in at No. 5 is really good for us. We’ve played together quite a lot so we both have that understanding when we’re batting together and I think that showed when we managed to get a lot of twos in the outfield, which is massive on this ground. I also forgot how fast he is and how much he does make you run.”

That intensity was personified best by 23-year-old fast bowler Chris Sole. Though he didn’t bowl in the 5.1 overs of Namibia’s innings completed on Sunday, Sole was given the ball right away for the resumption of play on Monday and turned in a hostile spell that ended with two wickets. One of those deliveries included a first-ball bouncer to Christi Viljoen that tagged the Namibia allrounder flush on the helmet, a sequence that set the tone for the rest of the day.”Soley has done that excellently in the games he has played,” Berrington said. “Looking back to [the win over] Sri Lanka as well, that’s where he had a lot of success running in with that intent, so that’s something he’ll keep looking to do.”Berrington said the higher-intensity approach was also evident in the late surge in Scotland’s own innings; he shared in a turbocharged stand of 101 in 9.4 overs with Preston Mommsen to rocket Scotland past 250. Berrington ended with a career-best 110 off 90 balls after having started on 14 off 35 balls. However, Berrington said the true catalyst for that surge was the earlier role played by Craig Wallace, who repeatedly pulled out a slog sweep for use, not just against Namibia’s spinners but their medium pacers as well.”The Namibian bowlers bowled really well after they got those two wickets, put us under a bit of pressure, bowled really tight lines which on that surface wasn’t always easy to get away,” Berrington said. “So it probably took us a bit longer to get ourselves in. Going on and off wasn’t particularly easy but we’re used to those kinds of scenarios. I think once we did come back on, Craig Wallace came in and managed to lift the intensity a bit which helped myself as well.”The wind also played a role in the match with the Berrington-Mommsen stand aided in part by their utilisation of a strong cross-breeze which made scoring easy on the eastern side of the ground. Namibia tried to get Scotland’s batsmen playing against the turn to counter the breeze, but Berrington says their batsmen were not fazed taking on the left-arm spin of Bernard Scholtz.File picture – Chris Sole set the tone for Scotland on Monday with a first-ball bouncer to Christi Viljoen that hit the Namibia batsman flush on the helmet•Peter Della Penna

“I think we do have to use the conditions here when it’s windy like that because there is a big advantage to scoring on one side of the field at times,” he said. “We back ourselves to hit strong areas of the field and for most of us that is a strong area. There wasn’t particularly a lot of turn in the pitch so that wasn’t a concern to be honest.”Conversely, Namibia captain Sarel Burger said he was disappointed with the shot selection of his top-order batsmen despite the wind being even more of an aid during their own innings on Monday. Tailender Zhivago Groenewald top-scored with 42 off 20 balls through orthodox strokeplay, further underscoring how good the pitch remained until the end of play, and Burger says his batsmen needed to show more responsibility.”I think it was obviously very disappointing, especially in the top order, the shots the guys got out to,” Burger said. “Besides the wind blowing in that direction, I think the shot selection itself wasn’t that great. Early in the innings, the idea was for guys to get in and from there get going. Not getting in and spending time at the crease makes life even more difficult hitting into the wind. So I think it was the shot selection that was the bigger factor, not the wind itself.””I felt 268 was always chaseable, especially looking at the condition of the wicket which was playing really good. The way Richie batted, it was a great innings he played and he kept the innings together and I think that’s where Namibia fell a bit short. He took his time during the difficult stages while the ball was still new to get himself in. I think that made life a bit easier for him. Unfortunately on our side, we didn’t have anyone taking responsibility hanging around for a while to do a similar type thing.”

Angus Robson has been granted an immediate release from his Leicestershire contract after concluding that his relationship with the club has broken down.Robson, a key figure in the side under previous coach Andrew McDonald, has requested his release in pursue his career elsewhere. He is not thought to have a deal with another club at this stage.Robson, aged 25 and a fixture in the Championship side over the last three seasons, had appeared to be a pillar on which a new Leicestershire side could be built. While he has scored only two centuries in 53 first-class games, nobody in either division of the County Championship has reached 50 more often (28 times; Marcus Trescothick has recorded the same number over that period) over the last three seasons. He has been out four times in the 90s in first-class cricket.But he has been unable to build a relationship with the club’s new director of cricket, Pierre de Bruyn. De Bruyn made it clear over the winter that Robson’s place in the side was in doubt and has preferred 19-year-old Harry Dearden and 34-year-old Paul Horton at the top of the order at the start of the season.Robson has sensed he was “on the outer,” as he puts it, and decided to build a new future at a club where he feels he will have more chance of progression. Robson’s contract was due to expire at the end of the season.It is a brave decision. The market for solid, red ball players is not vibrant at present – Jaik Mickleburgh is another fine player who finds himself without a first-class county at present – and some would have been content to sit in the seconds, accept their salary and wait for another opportunity. But not Robson.”I need to be playing,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I’m an ambitious player and I feel I’m good enough. I realise I’ve not scored enough hundreds, but nobody has scored more 50-plus scores and I feel my career will best be served with a fresh start elsewhere.”Over the years Leicestershire have been very good to me and I thank them for the opportunities. But the relationship has broken down of late so I went to the club and asked for my contract to be terminated. I’m very disappointed by the way it’s ended, but I have a lot of friends in that dressing room and I’ll be wishing them well in the future.”Yes, some people would sit in, but I’m not that sort of player and not that sort of man. I don’t want to waste time in my career and I feel that to give myself the best chance of having the career I want, now is the time to accept a new challenge. I’ve nothing specific organised right now, but I’m pretty confident something will come along.”Leicestershire’s chief executive Wasim Khan said. “We are disappointed to lose Angus at this stage of the season but we have a big squad and fully understand that he wants to have an opportunity to start a new cricketing chapter in his life. We thank Angus for his contribution over the last four years and wish him well for the rest of his career.”The episode sustains a turbulent start to de Bruyn’s career with the club. His determination not to accept the mediocrity that has characterised much of Leicestershire’s cricket over recent seasons is admirable, but there does seem to be something of a culture clash between his intense approach and the more relaxed attitude of his predecessor, McDonald.And, while there will be respect for de Bruyn’s decision to grant more opportunities to young players and there should be some acceptance that such a tactic will take time to bear fruit, the fact that Leicestershire were bowled out for 81 in the second innings of their opening Championship match against a very strong Nottinghamshire attack and penalised 16 points for disciplinary issues will provide his critics with ammunition.”It’s not been ideal,” de Bruyn told ESPNcricinfo. “I’m shocked and disappointed that Angus has gone. He was next in line and he leaves a big gap in the squad. His agent first approached us about five months ago and asked if they could look elsewhere, so I presume they have now found something.”But we are at the bottom of county cricket and things needed to change. We were averaging something like 14 for 2 in terms of our starts at home in the Championship last season, so I wanted to encourage healthy competition in the squad and provide opportunities for young players.”We’ve raised the bar this season and everyone has brought in. We’re a solid, happy club and, over the next three years, you’ll see progress.”As for the 16-point penalty, it was a massive blow. I largely consider that something I inherited but what can you do? It’s happened and we move on. It may take some time to build the culture we want at Leicestershire, but we’re heading in the right direction and I’m excited by the challenge.”

New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne is in discussions to play in this season’s NatWest T20 Blast as an overseas player. Milne’s agent has confirmed that, while a number of clubs were interested in signing the 24-year-old, he has only entered into talks with two, one of which ESPNcricinfo understands is Kent.The signing of Milne would be a boost for Kent, who have struggled to get new recruits through the door at Canterbury. Visa issues have so far prevented Allan Donald from taking his position as assistant coach, though Jason Gillespie provides more than adequate cover as Donald sorts the relevant qualification.Kent were understood to be close to acquiring South Africa pace bowler Duanne Olivier as an overseas player for the first three months of the season. However, just as the club were preparing to announce his signing, Cricket South Africa intervened at the 11th hour to block the move, on the ground of managing Olivier’s workload ahead of the Champions Trophy. Further misfortune arose when two other potential signings on their shortlist went down with injuries.Milne has now emerged as an alternative. One of the quickest bowlers in the world – he has been clocked above 95mph – he is also a fine death bowler, with a record of 21 wickets at an average of 21.80, and an economy rate of 7.36, in T20 internationals. He also offers excellent fielding and runs lower down the order.As ever with Milne, there will be questions over his fitness. This year’s NatWest T20 Blast takes place in a block, with each team playing 14 matches in a six-week period between July 7 and August 18. While a condensed schedule has made it easier for counties to obtain players of Milne’s profile, they will also have to consider managing the workload of a player with Milne’s injury record.He has not played for New Zealand since the World T20 and, while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IPL last April, he suffered a hamstring tear – the first of three issues that meant he did not play again in 2016. Elbow surgery in the summer saw him unable to fulfill a seven-match commitment for Essex in the Blast.He sat out an ODI series in India to regain his fitness but picked up a side strain in the nets at the end of 2016, meaning he had to bide his time until March for a competitive comeback. Both New Zealand and his suitors will be encouraged that he has emerged unscathed from three Plunket Shield matches for Central Districts in the last four weeks.Milne is set to travel to India in the hope of completing his first full IPL with RCB (he missed the 2015 season with a heel injury) and is expected to make New Zealand’s squad for the Champions Trophy in England, which starts in June.

ScorecardFile Photo – Amy Satterthwaite equalled Kumar Sangakkara’s record of four consecutive ODI centuries•IDI/Getty Images

Amy Satterthwaite’s unbeaten knock of 102 helped New Zealand women achieve their target of 276 with five balls to spare against Australia women in Auckland to go 1-0 up in the three-ODI series. Tight bowling from Lea Tahuhu, Holly Huddleston and Suzie Bates bowled Australia out in 48.4 overs after a flying start from opener Beth Mooney (100), and fifties from Rachael Haynes and Elyse Villani, had led them to 237 for 3. Satterthwaite, whose past three ODI scores were 137*, 115* and 123, compiled a record fourth consecutive ODI ton and sixth century overall.Satterthwaite came to the middle after the dismissal of opener Rachel Priest, who had added a solid partnership of 58 with Bates. Satterthwaite and Bates then added 41 runs for the second wicket before Bates fell for 55 in the 21st over, after completing her 22nd ODI half-century. The left-handed Satterthwaite then partnered Katey Martin (43) and Katie Perkins (29) in stands of 74 for the third wicket and 77 for the fifth wicket respectively to take New Zealand past the finishing line off the first ball of the final over. Satterthwaite, who reached her hundred with a four in the 49th over, was declared Player of the Match.File photo – Lea Tahuhu’s four wickets ensured Australia could not build on Beth Mooney’s century•Getty Images

Late wickets from New Zealand’s bowlers meant the last six Australia batsmen tallied only 28 runs among them. Mooney struck her maiden ODI century, while identical scores of 50 from Haynes and Villani – the latter’s first ODI half-century – gave Australia a platform to aim for a large total. But it wasn’t to be as Tahuhu finished with figures of 4 for 59, while Huddleston took three wickets.Satterthwaite said she was pleased beating a “classy” Australian side but remained wary of the opposition, to whom they lost the series last year after taking a similar one-nil lead.”Australia are a classy unit and they don’t roll over easily,” Satterthwaite said. “We were in this position [1-0 up] last year and Australia came back and ended up winning the series so we have a lot of hard work to do. We need to step up a notch because Australia will be coming back hard.”The win was New Zealand’s third straight limited-overs victory over Australia, after they clinched the three-match T20I series 2-1 in Australia last week.