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ScorecardTo be at The Oval on Friday night, with a sell-out of close to 25,000 enraptured by the brilliant brutality of Jason Roy, it seemed incongruous to consider that England’s domestic T20 is a tournament deemed to be in need of a rapid overhaul.No county does T20 better than Surrey. This typically boisterous crowd took Surrey’s total attendance for their seven home T20s to over 140,000, and the revenue these games have raised to over £4 million: both figures are records. On this night the crowd’s only gripe was the rain at Chelmsford, which eliminated Surrey, but, as they belted out renditions of in between the Icelandic football clap, no one seemed remotely perturbed.Whatever the future of English domestic T20, it will be all the better if it involves plenty more innings like this from Roy. While the blared out, Roy’s thunderous hitting was again the rhythm of the night at The Oval.In this mood, Roy has the swagger of a villain in a Western, brazenly bestriding his turf, ready to shoot down anyone with the effrontery to challenge him. Or so it seemed as he greeted James Tredwell’s offspin with a huge straight six then, as if insulted by how easy it had all been, promptly launched the bowler over wide long-on, the longest boundary.When Roy thrashed a full toss down the ground to bring up his fourth T20 century, off 51 balls, he removed his helmet, giving off the air of a gladiator appreciating the crowd’s acclaim.For all its destruction, this was an innings defined by far more than raw power. There was impudent improvisation too – reverse-scooping Darren Stevens over short third man for four, or waltzing across his stumps to lift the ball over the keeper. There was also ample evidence of Roy’s maturity as a batsman, the brain to go with his brawn. He scored off all but nine of the 62 deliveries he faced, a dot-ball percentage of just 14.5%. To put that into context, 40% of deliveries in the World T20 were dots.With Roy in this mood Aaron Finch, the world’s second-ranked T20I batsman, was relegated to the status of B-list support act; on most nights the violence underpinning Finch’s 79 would have been befitting something rather more. If the two did not quite break the records they threatened to – they fell five runs short of the English record partnership for any wicket and 14 short of the all-time record opening stand in T20 cricket – their 187 did break Kent.When Gareth Batty fired a delivery down the leg side after seeing Sam Billings giving him the charge, and Roy claimed Stevens, diving at full length after running in from the extra cover boundary, soon after, Surrey’s cruise to victory was assured.Yet it had all come too late to secure qualification for the quarter-finals. For the second consecutive season Surrey’s financial clout had failed to yield progress beyond the group stages.”We’ve put on an absolute spectacle tonight and showed what we’re capable of,” a downcast Roy said. “That’s the most disappointing thing – there were some crucial game we should have won, but we didn’t show that grit and determination.”At a time when the teams who take part in England’s elite T20 competition face being determined by ground size rather than on-field performance, some would see Surrey’s failure as a reminder of the need to keep the principle of meritocracy at the heart of the domestic English game.The debate will rumble on, long after the last remnants of spilled beer have been cleaned from The Oval’s stands.

West Indies allrounder Carlos Brathwaite has said adapting to spin in home conditions that aren’t too different from those in India will be key for a young side that is looking to build from their gains in Australia.West Indies lost that series 2-0 but showed signs of improvement, mainly in their batting, as the tour progressed. Brathwaite made his debut in Melbourne by scoring 59 and followed it with an attacking 69 in Sydney.”As a team, we ended that tour on a high note, but transforming it now from Australia to West Indies will be a challenge,” he said after a training session in Jamaica. “The pitches are slow here and the Indians will attack with spin, unlike Australia who went with pace. So it’s about being patient for us.”Brathwaite said Phil Simmons, the head coach, has been working with the batsmen over a period of time to get them spin ready ahead of the four-Test series that starts in Antigua on July 21. “Spin has plotted our downfall over the last two years, but I think we’ve gotten better,” Brathwaite said. “The coach has done a good job by getting a few batters in even during the off season, and the focus has been on playing spin better. It’s a matter of us having a few options to each delivery, being patient and playing the waiting game.”With Jerome Taylor having ended his Test career and Kemar Roach searching for match fitness after recovering from an injury following a poor tour of Australia, Brathwaite is part of an inexperienced pace attack alongside Jason Holder, the captain, Shannon Gabriel and uncapped Miguel Cummins, who have a combined experience of 31 Tests.Brathwaite said the challenge as a bowling group would be to remain persistent against a quality batting line-up. “Bowling plans are important because India, undoubtedly, are one of the more strong batting line-ups in the world both home and away. Unfortunately or fortunately, conditions here aren’t too different from India now, but we have our plans for each batsman. It’s about executing the plans and keeping at it even if things don’t go our way.”It’s a lot tougher challenge than our regional first-class cricket. It’s about being patient and understanding momentum. When you’re on top, you stay on top. If the other team is on top, it takes just one good hour to wrest the momentum. Once we understand ebbs and flows of the game, we should do well to put smiles on the faces of the West Indies fans.”

A decision on whether November’s Adelaide Test between Australia and South Africa will be played as a day-night fixture will be made public by Wednesday, June 8. Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association, told ESPNcricinfo the player body is “still dealing with the issue”, and will have a “final decision one way or the other within the next two days”.South Africa’s players initially rejected the idea of a pink-ball Test but have been in negotiations with Cricket Australia (CA), and the Australian board said last week that it was “hopeful” of the match taking place under lights. On Friday, Australia’s reported that the South African players had changed their mind during the Indian Premier League.Talk out of the South African camp in the last few weeks has suggested otherwise. AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada had all voiced their objection to a day-night Test, citing the lack of practice with the pink ball. Even though CA offered South Africa a warm-up match under lights, Philander said the players would need to have “experimented on the domestic front” and “tested the pink ball properly”, before agreeing to play a Test with it. He said it would take “a few games” before they felt comfortable.The other major reason for South Africa’s stance was that they are chasing a Test revival after slipping from No.1 to No.6 in the ICC rankings last season and do not want to risk missing out on a rise up the rankings because of unfamiliarity with the pink ball. “The players’ strong desire to play this as a normal Test match is testament to how much they actually care about the series,” Irish said in April. Irish also stressed that the players’ views should be treated with importance and pointed out that both South African and Australian players had concerns.Australia have already played one day-night Test, the inaugural match against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November last year. Then, CA had provided New Zealand with a million-dollar financial incentive to compete in the match. It is not known if the Australian board has offered the South African players a similar sum but with the declining rand, any amount may prove difficult to turn down.

ScorecardBowlers dominated on a fluctuating first day at Arundel where Clint McKay’s four wickets gave Leicestershire hope that they can win their first game of the season in the Specsavers County Championship.The wholehearted Australian fast bowler picked up 4 for 59 in searing heat at Arundel as Sussex were bowled out for 262 and appeared to have squandered the advantage of winning the toss.But a two-paced pitch, which is expected to turn, gave seamers assistance all day and Sussex’s new ball pair Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer each picked up one of the Leicestershire openers as they closed on 77 for 2.It was a day to remember for Leicestershire’s 19-year-old debutant William Fazackerley. Guernsey-born but educated just down the road from Arundel at Lancing College, he claimed his maiden Championship wicket when he had Jordan lbw for 34.Jordan was one of several Sussex players who got starts without pushing on. Eight of their batsmen got to 20 but only South African Stiaan van Zyl, who top scored with 49, looked capable of dominating a persevering Leicestershire attack.Van Zyl shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 62 in 12 overs either side of lunch with Luke Wright, whose first scoring shot for the second successive game was a six.But from 138 for 4 Sussex lost three wickets adding 27 runs. Wright played on to Richard Jones for 25, van Zyl was lbw half-forward to McKay after hitting nine boundaries before skipper Ben Brown drove McKay’s slower ball to cover for 19.Jordan and leg-spinner Will Beer, who took 11 wickets at Arundel last month against South Africa A, put on 54 for the seventh wicket but Leicestershire wrapped up the innings with three wickets after tea, two of them to Matt Pillans.Earlier, Luke Wells had passed 700 Championship runs after being restored to the top of the order. The left-hander lost opening partner Chris Nash, who played on to McKay before Harry Finch fell for a golden duck shuffling in front to a ball from Jones which nipped back.Wells and van Zyl briefly prospered together, taking the score to 74 before Wells, who had struck eight fours in a fluent 42, was caught behind off Pillans.By then umpire Martin Saggers was on the pitch, his arrival having been delayed by traffic congestion. Martin Bodenham, who retired from the first-class list last season but lives in nearby Ferring, stood at square leg before Saggers arrived.

Where Zimbabwe had faltered on Friday, Sri Lanka followed through in consummate fashion. Set a target of 278 in the second and final ODI in Harare, the visitors tracked it down with five wickets and three deliveries to spare. And with it, they swept the series 2-0.Similar to the first ODI, this too went down to the wire, and like that game on Friday, the chasing side seemed in control right until the last. But here with wickets in hand, and a deep batting line-up, Sri Lanka held firm and saw the game through.That said, Sri Lanka perhaps made life more difficult for themselves than they needed to. They did not score a boundary in the final powerplay until the 48th over – two ended up coming off that one, to leave the equation at 12 needed off 12 – but it meant the game was heading for yet another final over finish.In the penultimate over, Charith Asalanka got a boundary after deep midwicket had misjudged a skier, but was caught a ball later, having scored a crucial 71 off 61. Then, Kamindu Mendis defied space and time to inside edge an attempted reverse lap sweep for four, off a pinpoint Ngarava yorker to bring the equation down to 6 off 2. After that, the rest was a formality.Nissanka found boundaries to keep the required rate in check•Zimbabwe Cricket

The scorecard might indicate that the game was closer than it might have been, but with the chase anchored around Pathum Nissanka’s seventh ODI hundred – as he shared successive stands of 48, 20, 78 and 90 with Nuwanidu Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama and finally Asalanka – the visitors were always in control.It was in that final stand with Asalanka that Sri Lanka would say they broke the spine of the chase, with their partnership, at a touch over run-a-ball, ensuring the scoring was brisk through the middle overs.Indeed, this period was one of the main points of differentiation between the two sides. Where Zimbabwe scored 139 runs for the loss of four wickets between overs 15-40, Sri Lanka struck 27 more runs and lost one less wicket in the same period.It meant heading to the death overs, the scoreboard pressure was minimal for Sri Lanka, who were left needing just 67 off 60, with seven wickets in hand. Zimbabwe, by comparison, had scored 83 at the death just to push their total to competitive territory.Perhaps if a straightforward chance off Nissanka, when he was on 78, had not been spilled, Sri Lanka might have had a tougher time. In the end, however, they saw the game through to victory with minimal peril – even if ideally it should have been wrapped up sooner.Sikandar Raza was crucial to Zimbabwe’s batting effort•Zimbabwe Cricket

Nissanka’s innings of 122 off 136 was exactly what was required in a chase of this variety. It earned him both the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards. His frequent boundaries during the opening powerplay ensured the lack of strike rotation was not as keenly felt, and then, through the middle overs, his ability to find boundaries to punctuate lulls in play meant Sri Lanka never let the required rate get out of hand.Once Asalanka joined him, the boundary scoring burden was alleviated somewhat, with the Sri Lanka skipper willing to up the ante when required – most notably, with a trio of boundaries in the 40th over off Blessing Muzarabani.The target, however, had always seemed a touch below par on a fresh surface that was expected to suit the batters. Zimbabwe, having been put in to bat, did reasonably well at the start and end of their innings, but Sri Lanka controlled the middle overs to restrict the hosts to 277 for 7.That they got even that much was down to an unbeaten 59 off 55 from Sikandar Raza, as part of 76-run sixth-wicket stand with Clive Madande (36 off 36), and then smaller stands with the tail-enders.Ben Curran top-scored for Zimbabwe•Zimbabwe Cricket

Ben Curran top-scored in the innings with a 95-ball 79, but unlike Nissanka later in the day, he was unable to be around for the final overs. Where the Zimbabwe innings lost their way was losing wickets at crucial points through the middle overs.After Zimbabwe’s fast start – scoring 55 inside the opening powerplay – the entry of a rusty Brendan Taylor allowed Sri Lanka to apply the brakes on the scoring. Taylor and Curran put on a stand of 61, but since it came off 84 deliveries, it allowed Asalanka to sneak in several overs of the fifth-bowler quota.Taylor laboured to 20 off 37 during this period, while Asalanka snuck four of his own overs in for just 17 runs. With six more fifth-bowler overs remaining, Asalanka brought on Janith Liyanage, who dismissed Taylor in his second over, as the experienced batter mistimed a scoop to short fine while seeking to up the scoring.Sean Williams then entered, and all it took was one monster strike down the ground for Liyanage to be removed from the attack. With Williams generally looking to attack, both Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera kept things tight during this period.Dushmantha Chameera was the pick of the bowlers•Zimbabwe Cricket

Curran had done well up until this point, but his nine boundaries had come early on. His rhythm too had been interrupted by the lack of strike rotation during his partnership with Taylor – something perhaps impacted by a seeming hamstring niggle Taylor picked up during the innings.With the pressure building, the expensive Asitha Fernando was brought back and he delivered instantly, bookending his over with the wickets of Curran and Williams – both succumbing to short deliveries, with the former top edging one and the latter a delivery dragging on to the stumps.At 155 for 4, this shifted the momentum decisively in Sri Lanka’s favour. Liyanage was allowed to bowl a few more cheap overs to complete the fifth over quota, and while both Raza and Tony Munyonga struck boundaries following a couple of overs of consolidation, Madushanka returned to dismiss the latter.It was at this point that Raza took the lead, setting the tone with a pair of boundaries – the first a deft late dab, the second of inside out lofted cover drive – to signal Zimbabwe’s late charge.While boundaries weren’t as frequent in the following overs, the running between the wickets – a highlight of Zimbabwe’s chase in the first game – was once more exemplary. Despite scoring just six fours and a six in the final ten, they managed to score at beyond eight an over in the death overs, and with it, put up a fighting total. In the end, however, it wasn’t enough.

A 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket between captain Tom Bruce and Curtis Heaphy, and a strong bowling performance led by Ajaz Patel and Blair Tickner took Central Districts past Hobart Hurricanes. That earned Central Districts their first points in GSL 2025.Having chosen to bat after losing their first and second matches in the competition having opting to field, Bruce got in after another poor start, with Central Districts losing Dane Cleaver and Will Young by the end of the powerplay, which came with 37 runs on the board.It soon became 40 for 3 in the eighth over, bringing Bruce and Heaphy together. And they were unseparated for 12 overs, batting through to the middle of the last over of the innings and scoring quickly. Their 113-run stand came in 73 balls, with Bruce being the aggressor by contributing 61 in 35 balls, and Heaphy 50 in 38. When Bruce fell, to Odean Smith, Central Districts had 153 on the board, and Matthew Forde went 6, 6 and 2 off the last three balls to take them to 167.The reply from Hobart Hurricanes was poor. They were two down in the powerplay, like Central Districts, and three down for 38 by the end of the eighth over. It got worse, as the wickets kept falling, and six batters were back in the dugout by the end of the 15th, with just 84 runs on the board. Ajaz had two of those six, and ended with figures of 4 for 18.That Hobart Hurricanes put up a fight and got to within 16 runs of matching their opponents was down to Mohammad Nabi, and his 65-run stand with Fabian Allen for the seventh wicket. Nabi scored a 25-ball 43, and Allen an unbeaten 36 from 16 deliveries with five sixes.The defeat meant all three of Hobart Hurricanes, Dubai Capitals and Central Districts are on two points from three games each. But Hobart Hurricanes are at No. 3 on the five-team table, followed by Dubai Capitals and Central Districts, who are at the bottom, based on their net run rates.

As far as wins go, it couldn’t have got more dominant than this. Bangladesh’s attempt to inflict scoreboard pressure fell flat, with Renuka Singh and Radha Yadav picking up six wickets between them to ensure India had a small target to chase. Their in-form openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma then got the job done themselves, with nine overs to spare. On Sunday, India will have a chance to clinch an incredible eighth Women’s Asia Cup crown (across white-ball formats), when they meet the winner of Sri Lanka vs Pakistan which will be played at the same venue later today.Related

• Sri Lanka face unfamiliarity of fan support while getting familiar with wins

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Renuka stings Bangladesh in powerplay

Renuka’s form had been on a decline leading into the Women’s Asia Cup. She was left out for two of the three T20Is against South Africa after an unremarkable 4-0-42-0 in her only outing in that series. Her early reputation as a powerplay swing queen was seemingly fading, especially on flat decks.With young Arundhati Reddy challenging for her spot – it’s likely India will most often accommodate only one other seamer alongside Pooja Vastrakar in their first XI – Renuka needed a big tournament here. On Friday, she delivered. Renuka’s powerplay salvo left Bangladesh with no answers, her three wickets in three overs upsetting Bangladesh’s plans of going on an all-out attack.

Dilara Akter muscled Renuka for a six off the third ball, but holed out to deep square off the fourth. Ishma Tanjim bailed out of a slog to get a leading edge to Tanuja Kanwar at short third, and Murshida Khatun mistimed a heave to midwicket two balls after being reprieved by Deepti Sharma at slip.Bangladesh had been reduced to 21 for 3 inside five overs.

Nigar resists, Radha thrives

From overs six to nine, Bangladesh managed a solitary boundary, hit by Nigar Sultana, and played out 19 dots. They were looking for the release they simply didn’t get because India’s bowlers kept coming at them.Introduced in the 10th over, Radha struck off her very first delivery when Rumana Ahmed, Bangladesh’s second-most experienced batter, was put out of her misery when she played all around a straight ball to be bowled.Rumana Ahmed was castled by Radha Yadav for 1 off 11•Getty Images

Still, Bangladesh tried to keep attacking. Rabeya Khan’s attempt to flat-bat Pooja Vastrakar led to a miscue that was brilliantly taken by Shafali Verma at mid-on in the 11th over.This forced Nigar to shelve any plans of a counter-attack, the focus quickly shifting to survival mode against the supremely-skilled trio of Deepti, Tanuja Kanwar and Radha Yadav – each very different from the other. Deepti kept them quiet with flight, Kanwar got the ball to drift and turn, while Radha troubled them with deliveries that didn’t turn.It was only in the 14th over, when Nigar was joined by Shorna Akter that they managed some kind of a move on – overs 17 to 19 brought 27. Then Radha produced a double-wicket maiden in the 20th, in which she had Nigar and Nahida Akter to finish with 3 for 14.

The Mandhana-Shafali party

India could’ve experimented if they liked. They could’ve seen what Uma Chetry, who replaced D Hemalatha at No. 3, brings to the table. They could’ve given Deepti some batting time. Or maybe even a hit-out to Jemimah Rodrigues. But they stuck to their tried, tested and in-form opening combination, who promptly delivered the knockout blow on Bangladesh.Mandhana challenged herself to take fielders on and cleared them at will, Shafali swept seamer Marufa Akter off her lengths in front of square, and the boundaries flowed. Mandhana treated the small crowd to her trademark drives, while Shafali shovelled and flat-batted the bowlers.

Bangladesh missed two chances on the field. First a run out in the fifth when Mandhana was ambling down, with Nahida firing a wayward throw with no one backing up at the bowler’s end. In the ninth, Nahida grassed a sitter at long-off to reprieve Shafali. And between those two, there was also a Mandhana reprieve off a no-ball.Mandhana continued on her joyride, hitting three back-to-back fours to get to a half-century and also seal a victory that was never in doubt from as early as the powerplay in Bangladesh’s innings.